The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the country’s telecommunications regulator, is extending the temporary assignment of radio frequency spectrum again – but this time operators will be charged for its use.

Liquid Telecom is expanding fibre access through Botswana’s Lobatse border to Gaborone, an undertaking that, it says, will dramatically increase connectivity and network capacity in the country.

Vodacom Lesotho launched an appeal against the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA), which recently demanded operators must seek the watchdog’s approval before appointing senior staff.

The Indonesia Ministry of Communication and Information (MCI) began the process to award spare spectrum in the 2.3GHz band to operators, a move to boost operator capacity and encourage digital transformation.

Togocel (Togo Cellulaire) has been given the green light to conduct full-scale 5G trials using live network equipment, under real world conditions.

America Movil’s Colombian unit Claro launched a 5G network trial in an exclusive collaboration with Nokia, which is apparently the largest 5G pilot to take place in the country, to test the network standard in sectors such as health, smart cities and education.

French firm Global Technologies has been tasked with reviving the Central African Republic’s defunct fixed-line provider SOCATEL (Societe Africaine de Telecommunications) by the country’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPT).

NuRAN Wireless Inc has announced that it has received its first purchase order from iSAT Africa for an initial commercial rural deployment in what is described only as a sub-Saharan African country.

South Africa has a new MVNO – PnP Mobile – launched by the major retailer Pick n Pay.

Ooredoo Oman has selected Etiya to implement its digital Customer Relationship Management (CRM) transformation project.

Five firms have lodged bids through Chile’s Department of Telecommunications (Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones, Subtel) for the country’s upcoming public tender of 5G spectrum.

Saudi Telecom Company has selected Comtech’s Location Technologies group to upgrade its location-based services.

The telecommunications sector remains one of the fastest growing areas of the Georgian economy, accounting for between 5% and 7% of GDP. There is still room for further growth, with penetration rates in the mobile and broadband segments relatively low by the standards of European benchmark countries.

Côte d’Ivoire has two competing fixed network operators though the sector is dominated by Orange Group’s local unit, Orange CI. The company is also the dominant player in the mobile market, followed by MTN and then Moov.

The island nation of Mauritius has long been a pioneer in the telecom sector. It was the first market in the greater Africa region to launch mobile telecom networks (in 1989), the first to provide a 3G service (2004), the first in the world to develop a nationwide WiMAX wireless broadband network (2005), and one of the first to launch IPTV services (2006).

The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) continued its 5G deployment plan, granting state-owned operator VNPT-Vinaphone permission to conduct 5G trials.

Indonesian operator Telkomsel invested $150 million into taxi-booking firm Gojek, a move to expand their services and accelerate digital transformation in the country.

Togolese regulator ARCEP (Autorite de Regulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes) is cracking down on what it deems anti-competitive behaviour between two of the country’s operators.

Philippines operator Globe Telecom announced it expanded its 5G network to 17 key cities in populous areas Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, as the operator continues its mass connectivity upgrade campaign.

South African fixed wireless access (FWA) operator Rain is apparently planning to switch off 4G network capabilities on its 5G packages in the near future.

Recent news from the Philippines and Nigeria indicates growing penetration of broadband services, though by no means all of it is being delivered by fixed lines.

Paratus, a full-service pan-African telecommunications operator, has selected mobile network infrastructure solutions provider Star Solutions to supply its Sonata EPC core network platform for deployment in Namibia.

Covid-19 was supposedly a boost to mobile money use in Kenya after the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) allowed free M-Pesa and mobile banking transactions until the end of the year. However, Safaricom is apparently not thrilled by the possibility that this ruling may be extended into 2021.

Safaricom is expected to revise down its bid for an operating licence in Ethiopia following the revelation that mobile money offerings will be the exclusive preserve of local financial institutions.

Suriname’s Telesur is offering high-volume mobile data bundles for users on both its 4G and 5G networks.

Development within Benin’s telecom market continues to be restricted by the poor condition of the country’s fixed-line infrastructure. The use of fixed-line voice and internet services is low, and consequently little revenue is derived from these sectors.

Over the years, efforts to expand the telecom sector in Nepal have met with many challenges. The fixed line market in Nepal remains underdeveloped.

Senegal’s postal authority has signed an agreement with satellite communication service provider Spacecom. The deal will help the public company in charge of postal services in Senegal to provide internet services to the country’s rural population.

Econet Group tapped Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory for its high-speed internet solution to roll out affordable broadband offerings across its subsidiaries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Chile’s Grupo Gtd is using Netcracker solutions to digitise its customer experience and automate order and fulfillment processes.

Vietnamese company Vingroup secured a contract to manufacture two million 4G smartphones for an undisclosed US operator, a showing of overseas market expansion for the company.

After a number of years of threatening action on the issue the Mozambique telecommunications regulator has told mobile operators that unregistered SIMs will be blocked after 6 November.