The government of the Cook Islands has appointed a new chairman to the country’s regulator ahead of a planned break-up of the monopoly currently held by Vodafone in the market.

Thailand’s AIS has earmarked an initial THB10 billion ($318.8 million) budget for deploying 5G across the next year, with the potential for this to increase to THB15 billion.

Indosat Ooredoo has cut 677 jobs in a bid to deal with fierce competition in the Indonesia mobile market.

Malaysia has stated that it will adhere to its own security standards in selecting vendor partners as it prepares to deploy 5G this year.

Indonesia’s XL Axiata has sold off nearly 2,800 towers with an estimated value of IDR4.05 trillion ($296 million) to alleviate its debt burden.

Thai regulator NBTC has cleared all five of the applications received for its upcoming spectrum auction, paving the way for a lucrative round of bidding.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s (MIIT) has granted China Telecom, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Network licences that will enable them to deliver indoor coverage via the 3.3GHz to 3.4GHz band.

Globe Telecom has detailed its 5G deployment plans for the Philippines across the next year.

Myanmar’s state-owned MPT has launched its mobile money platform after getting the green light from the country’s central bank in October last year.

Thai regulator NBTC expects the country’s upcoming spectrum auction to bring in THB64 billion ($2.1 billion) now that state-owned operators TOT and CAT are allowed to participate.

Telenor has rekindled rumours of a possible merger with Axiata after reaching out to the Malaysian group’s largest shareholder to discuss the acquisition of a minority stake.

Avaroa Cable Ltd (ACL), a wholesale fibre optic operator providing managed wholesale connectivity services to and between the Cook Islands, has confirmed that the Manatua One Polynesia submarine cable system has successfully been brought ashore in Rutaki village, Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands.

With fixed teledensity having seen little change over the past two decades, progress in Papua New Guinea’s telecommunications has come primarily from mobile networks, reports Research & Markets.

With a population of a little over 400,000, telecommunications infrastructure and services throughout Brunei are of a generally high standard bolstered by a high GDP per capita, reports Research & Markets.

The third market entrant in the Philippines, DITO, has signed tower sharing agreements with Leo Technologies Infrastructure Corp and Alt-Global-Solutions Inc.

Malaysian satellite operator MEASAT and satellite services provider Arianespace have announced the signing of a launch services contract for MEASAT-3d that could boost 4G and 5G growth in Malaysia.

The deputy prime minister of Thailand has told the country’s operators that they should aim to launch commercial 5G by mid-2020.

Thai regulator NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) has dropped plans to decommission the country’s 2G networks after a change of heart from the major operators.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has issued new regulation that will see the country’s operators introduce mobile number portability (MNP) services on 1^st December.

Thailand has seen a very rapid increase in mobile broadband penetration over the past six years driven by strong growth of 4G mobile subscribers, reports Research & Markets.

Nokia has signed a contract with leading telecommunications service provider Hutchison 3 Indonesia (3ID) to provide IoT coverage to enterprises in Indonesia.