The decision by the government of Pakistan to introduce tax on mobile phone calls has occasioned quite a lot of coverage – and comment – from local media.

Vodafone Turkey and Nokia have successfully completed a trial of the first intercontinental 1T (terabit) clear-channel IP interface linking Asia and Europe.

The telecommunications and media company Millicom which provides cable and mobile services in Latin America under the Tigo brand has announced the launch of ONEtv on Android TV (Google) in the markets where it operates in the region.

Mozambique’s Tmcel (Mocambique Telecom) has signed a US$23 million 4G expansion deal with Huawei that will also see the operator preparing for the advent of 5G services.

There have been a number of interesting recent telecoms-related announcements from Colombia, where 5G, remote connectivity and satcoms for humanitarian purposes are all in the news.

Following a number of announcements from other parts of West Africa, Senegal is the latest country in the region to make headlines in the data centre world with the official announcement of plans to migrate all government data and applications to a new government data centre.

The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei that will see African countries and organizations build capacity for ICT transformation.

A multi-year distribution agreement to extend high-speed network connectivity to South Africa has been confirmed  after satellite operator Eutelsat Communications and infrastructure provider and telecommunications company Vox signed a distribution agreement for Eutelsat Konnect capacity over South Africa.

It looks like some measure of privatisation is finally going to be applied to the state-owned operator Angola Telecom by the Angolan government.

Vivo, the Brazilian subsidiary of Telefónica Group, has selected Netcracker Technology for the next stage in its ongoing digital transformation program.

Carrier-neutral data centre provider MainOne has announced the imminent launch of its new data centre in Appolonia City, Accra.

With the granting by the country’s ICT Authority (ICTA) of 5G licences to three mobile operators, Mauritius is the latest African country to take a step towards launching 5G – but it has done so in a slightly different way.

A massive deal uniting two players in the Malaysian telecoms market to make the biggest operator in the country has finally gone through.

The complex consequences of unfettered access to social media and its opposite, banning social media, have been highlighted in recent news stories from India and Nigeria.

The Angolan minister of economy and planning, Sérgio Santos, has apparently invited the Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom to invest in the country.

Mexico’s rural communities are about to get a connectivity boost thanks to two satcoms-related businesses – ST Engineering iDirect and AXESS Networks – working alongside Altan, a major local operator.

There have been multiple reports over the past few days suggesting that Mocambique Telecom (Tmcel) may soon be unable to offer voice calls after an interconnection-related spat with fellow operator Vodacom Mozambique.

National regulator the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced two big initiatives: a licensing review and the approval of 73 new satellite permits.

Pakistan’s Jazz is implementing cloud communications provider Sinch’s managed SMS Firewall and application-to-person (A2P) service for domestic and international messaging traffic.

Atos, which describes itself as a global leader in digital transformation, is to build a new data centre in Kenya.

Bahrain’s National Broadband Network BNET has selected Mobileum’s Active Intelligence Platform for risk management.

Veon’s Georgian mobile operator Beeline has chosen Nokia’s cloud-native software to modernise its core network throughout Georgia and to strengthen customer services, network performance and security as it extends its 4G network with 5G-ready equipment.

Philippines’ third major player in the telecommunications industry DITO Telecommunity Corporation is approaching the one-millionth subscriber mark a few months after its official launch in March.

Altel Communications has been awarded a new allocation of 2x5MHz, totaling 10MHz of the 900MHz band for five years, reported Malaysian newspaper The Star quoting ministerial orders/direction (MO).

Argentina is in the subsea cable news again. Late last week wholesale telecom service provider GlobeNet’s new subsea cable system Malbec, which connects Argentina and Brazil, was launched.

The process that will lead to the sale of just under half of Ethiopia’s state-owned operator Ethio Telecom is apparently under way.

As part of what is described as an ambitious plan to strengthen Ghana as a maritime forerunner in West Africa, the Ghana Maritime Authority and Danish commercial satellite operator Sternula have announced a new partnership involving e-navigation connectivity.

Ooredoo Oman has launched super-fast, reliable 4G and 5G fixed wireless (FWA) access throughout the country, powered by Nokia.

Colombia’s WOM announced that it has connected its 700MHz 4G network to 525 previously unserved rural areas.

IoT specialist Kerlink has partnered with wireless, real-time water-management systems provider WEGoT to expand and accelerate adoption of WEGoT’s solutions to help address serious water shortages in India.