The nation of Tajikistan has had to struggle through a further two years of economic hardship following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has included receiving millions of dollars in foreign aid and loans just to maintain liquidity in a country that is already one of the most impoverished in the region.

Pakistan continues to lag most other Asian countries in terms of the maturity of its telecom sector. This is partly due to the poor state of its fixed-line network following years of under-investment and neglect by the state-owned incumbent telco Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTC), with teledensity now down to almost 1%.

Kuwait’s telecom infrastructure is well developed, with a focus on mobile infrastructure and services. The telecoms sector is important to the country’s economy, and this will become more pronounced in coming years as the economy is purposefully transitioned away from a dependence on oil and gas to one which is increasingly knowledge-based and focussed on ICT and related services.

South African giant Vodacom Group’s bid for a controlling stake in Vodafone Egypt is set to proceed after the operator received shareholder backing.

Liberia’s state-owned mobile provider has received a rebrand as it prepares to launch its new GSM network.

After a fairly lengthy process that seemed to have culminated in a successful sale, Brazilian operator Oi may not be able to sell off its mobile assets after all.

An ambitious Brazilian project that aims to bring broadband connectivity to around a million people in two northern states has now been officially launched.

Kenya’s telecom market continues to undergo considerable changes in the wake of increased competition, improved international connectivity, and rapid developments in the mobile market.

Somalia’s economic difficulties in recent years have made it difficult for telcos and the government to sustain investment in infrastructure. The government has also had to contend with militant groups which continue on occasion to force the closure of internet services in many areas of the country.

South Africa’s telecom sector boasts one of the most advanced infrastructures on the continent. There has been considerable investment from Telkom, Liquid Intelligence Technologies, Broadband InfraCo, and municipal providers as well as from mobile network operators all aimed at improving network capabilities.

Benin’s telecom market continues to be restricted by the poor condition of the country’s fixed-line infrastructure. This has in turn hampered the development of fixed-line voice and internet services, and as a result there is negligible revenue derived from these sectors.

Burkina Faso’s telecom sector in recent years has made some gains in providing the necessary infrastructure and bandwidth to support telecom services.

Algeria has a steadily developing telecom infrastructure with growth encouraged by sympathetic regulatory measures and by government policies aimed at delivering serviceable internet connections across the country.

Chilean telecommunications company Grupo GTD, whose activities include data transmission, network interconnection, internet, mobile telephony, digital television, voice and other communication services, has announced plans to build its second data centre in Peru.

Argentina has joined the market for satellite-supported Internet of Things (IoT) services in agriculture with the launch of its first pico-satellite.

Cabo Verde Telecom (CVT) has signed a new 20-year concession to continue delivering telecommunications services in Cape Verde.

Orange has signed an EaaS (Energy as a Service) contract with Engie to convert its main African data centre to solar power.

Nepali operator Smart Telecom has missed the mid-January deadline for paying its outstanding dues of NPR5.5 billion (US$45.8 million), leaving the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) with little choice but to revoke its licence.

Pakistan’s state-backed operators are collaborating to develop telecommunications services in the country’s Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) regions.

Uruguay’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining confirmed that the long-awaited launch of mobile number portability officially came into force on 12^th January.

There’s been no let-up in 5G activity lately, with Zambia’s MTN announcing the country’s first 5G launch and Telia highlighting a dynamic spectrum sharing-based 5G launch now underway in Lithuania.

Diyar Al Muharraq, one of the largest real estate development companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Telecom Company-owned operator stc Bahrain, to construct and operate additional telecommunication towers.

India’s three largest mobile operators have called on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to slash the reserve price of 3.5GHz spectrum in its upcoming auctions.

Vodafone Idea CEO Ravinder Takkar has stated that the operator’s current management will retain full control of the business despite yesterday’s announcement of the Indian government taking a majority holding in the operator.

Transformation solutions provider Nexign has successfully replaced the BSS system for Uzbekistani mobile operator Ucell.

Zain Jordan has selected a suite of products from Infovista to help it modernise its network.

Mobile operator Entel Peru has got together with network intelligence and security-as-a-service (SECaaS) solutions provider Allot to protect mobile network users from cyberattacks.

Arsat, Argentina’s state-owned satellite company, is to run a 289 million peso (about $2.8 million) project to provide connectivity for free internet access in towns across the country.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered another investigation into Google following complaints that the firm had violated antitrust laws.