Brunei Darussalam seemed poised to start its economic recovery from the double blow it received to its GDP in 2020 from the Covid-19 crisis and a global slump in oil prices. However, expectations may have been dashed by the sudden emergence of the Covid-19 Delta variant in the country in August 2021, which followed months of zero cases.

With Indonesia’s government encouraging operators to quicken the pace of migrating their customers from 3G to 4G, market leader Telkomsel has confirmed plans to implement a full LTE upgrade this year on a “sustainable basis”.

Digicel has confirmed that limited international calling capabilities have been restored in Tonga, and that it is working on improving capacity.

Telenor’s planned sale of its 51 percent stake in Myanmar's Wave Money, a digital payment service provider, for $53 million to a subsidiary of Yoma Strategic, mentioned in these pages in early January, is finally going through.

Cambodian ISP and A2P messaging aggregator MekongNet has partnered with mobile identity solutions provider IPification to deliver seamless mobile data authentication services in Cambodia.

India’s RailTel, a central government PSU (public sector undertaking), has announced plans to work with a number of partners to create edge data centres at railway premises across 102 locations in India.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information, known locally as KemKominfo, has clarified that it is reviewing plans for a phased shutdown of 3G services in the country.

Yet another industry voice is being raised in India’s ongoing debate about 5G spectrum prices. This time the ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI), a non-profit telecom industry association, is getting involved.

The Independent Consumer & Competition Commission (ICCC) of Papua New Guinea has recommended approving the acquisition of Digicel PNG and its subsidiaries by Australian operator Telstra.

China’s state news agency Xinhua has reported that all of the nation’s administrative villages received broadband connectivity before the end of November 2021.

It may come as little surprise to most observers that, having tried to offload its Myanmar mobile communications business, Telenor now aims to sell its 51 percent stake in Wave Money, one of Myanmar’s biggest mobile payment services.

The demand for data-based services in the Pacific region is growing, aligning with similar trends around the world. In particular, the demand for mobile broadband is increasing due to mobile services being the primary and most wide-spread source for internet access across the region.

Fixed-line teledensity in Papua New Guinea has seen little change over the past two decades.

Fiji has a relatively sophisticated communications infrastructure with the highest mobile and internet penetration in the Pacific Islands. It is the leading market to watch in terms of both LTE and 5G development in this region.

For many years, GSM was the primary mobile technology for Vanuatu’s 300,000 people. Recent infrastructure projects have improved access technologies, with a transition to 3G and, to a limited degree, to LTE.

Samoa was one of the first Pacific Island countries to establish a regulatory infrastructure and to liberalise its telecom market. In 2006, it became the first in the region to see the market entrance of Digicel, which has since launched services in other Pacific nations.

Indian operators and network technology providers apparently want an extension of the deadline for responses to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) consultation paper on the sale of 5G spectrum.

Apple is bringing iPhone 13 production to the vast Indian market, with commercial production planned for early next year.

State-owned telco Thai National Telecom (NT), Thai MVNO The WhiteSpace (The WSP), power management and electronic components specialist Delta Electronics (Thailand) PCL and Taiwan service provider Chunghwa Telecom have announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for collaboration in a 5G private network.

In order to scale up the delivery of its broadband internet for the rural regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Kacific Broadband Satellites will migrate its IT infrastructure and critical business applications to Amazon Web Services (AWS) by 2022.

India’s operators are bracing themselves for yet another delay in the 5G spectrum auction process.

Telekom Malaysia has signed an agreement with state-owned wholesale operator Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) that will see the latter lease fibre as it seeks to accelerate its nationwide 5G deployment.

Indosat Ooredoo is shuttering its fixed broadband unit Indosat Mega Media (IM2) on the orders of the South Jakarta District Attorney.

Two very different recently announced initiatives are hoping to make some progress with the vexed question of managing data centre power use and emissions.

Bharti Airtel, a major Indian communications and solutions provider, and Capgemini, which describes itself as a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation, have announced that they will collaborate on bringing 5G-based enterprise-grade solutions to the Indian market.

As the debate over whether a single wholesale 5G network will be rolled out in Malaysia rumbles on, it seems that some of the country’s operators are now arguing for a second 5G provider.

Omantel, the leading integrated telecom services provider in Oman, has selected the JUPITER System from Hughes Network Systems, a major name in satellite and multi-transport technologies and networks, to extend its mobile networks.

Mongolian operator Unitel has selected SLA Digital as its managed service provider for carrier billing.