Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) has signed a two-year extension with Nokia to expand its 4G and 5G network across Indonesia.

There’s been a new development in the ongoing issue of how much local input must be included in smartphones sold to Indonesians. The Indonesian government is now reportedly planning to increase the local component requirement for such phones.

Data centre colocation services provider ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has announced a collaboration with Zenlayer, described as the world’s first hyperconnected cloud, to bring high-performance private connectivity to STT GDC’s global data centre platform, starting with selected markets in Southeast Asia.

Development financier and impact investor Finnfund has announced a 10 million euro (about US$10.5 million) equity investment to boost the expansion of a major fibre network in Nepal.

The China Satellite Navigation System Management Office (CNSO) has reportedly revealed its roadmap to upgrade China's Beidou positioning and navigation system by 2035 by adding next-generation LEO satellites to the mix.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) stated that 227 million new people connected to the internet for the first time in 2024, bringing the total number of connected people to over 5.5 billion.

A reminder of the difficulties that can be faced by a global brand working in multiple territories with specific local rules and concerns comes from multinational technology company Apple, which is facing two very different regulatory challenges in two very different regions. 

Another distributed antenna system (DAS) contract relating to transport hubs has been won by Indian RF equipment manufacturer Frog Cellsat, this time in the largest city of the Indian state of Assam in northeastern India.

Mobile broadband service revenue in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2%, from US$229.6 billion in 2024 to US$296.2 billion over the next four years, driven by the availability and adoption of 5G services.

Another attempt to manage virtual private network (VPN) use is under way in Pakistan, where the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has extended a deadline for unregistered VPN owners to give their details until the end of this month.

SpaceSail, a Chinese low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite company, has signed an agreement to enter the Brazilian market. The signing took place during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent state visit to the capital, Brasilia.

There’s been good news on the tax front for India’s telecommunications industry. However, one of the beneficiaries, operator Vodafone Idea, has received less positive news from banks relating to letters of credit.

Nokia has been awarded a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar extension deal by operator Bharti Airtel to deploy 4G and 5G equipment across key Indian cities and states.

Yet another renewable energy deal aimed at the power-hungry data centre market has been announced this week. It involves digital infrastructure company Equinix and renewable energy provider CleanMax, with which Equinix has signed its first power purchase agreement (PPA) in India.

Digital infrastructure platform Empyrion Digital has announced its strategic expansion into Thailand to develop a minimum 12MW (IT load) edge co-location data centre in Bangkok. It’s Empyrion Digital’s first major investment in Southeast Asia following its establishment in Singapore in 2021.

ZTE revealed on Tuesday that China Mobile is deploying its AI telco cloud solution within its network to improve energy efficiency and lower opex costs following verification tests in Hunan and Anhui provinces.

Digital ecosystem GoTo Group, along with leading cloud company Tencent Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of China’s Alibaba Group, have signed agreements that, they say, will boost cloud infrastructure and digital talent development in Indonesia. All three companies will work closely with the Indonesian government.

Visa says it is collaborating with QR payment providers across the Asia-Pacific region to kick off a scheme that would enable digital wallet users in the region to make QR payments at merchants when traveling abroad.

There’s been yet another announcement from Ericsson in what has been a busy few days for the tech giant. This time it involves Bangladesh’s largest mobile telecommunications operator, Grameenphone.

Pakistan operator Jazz has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the country’s National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) and the National Information Technology Board (NITB).

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) and Ericsson have unveiled a full-stack Digital Monetisation Platform (DMP), which the companies claim will drive Indonesia’s digital transformation.

Sri Lankan operator Dialog Axiata has claimed a first: the deployment of the world’s first commercial virtual base station controller (vBSC) with Ericsson.

Mastercard announced on Tuesday it has launched Mastercard Pay Local, a new global service that enables digital wallet users in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa to pay locally when they travel.

In news that is likely to be relevant to developing world markets where coverage of remote areas remains a problem, iPhone maker Apple has announced that it will invest up to US$1.5 billion in Globalstar, a provider of satellite and terrestrial connectivity services, to fund the expansion of its iPhone communication services.

Nokia has announced that Vietnam’s largest service provider, Viettel, will use its optical transport solution to cost-effectively address growing demand for 5G and data centre interconnect (DCI), consumer data consumption, and cross-border connectivity.

Thai Airways and Turkish Airlines have signed on for Airbus HBCplus Ka-band satellite-supported broadband in-flight connectivity.

OMS Group, a Malaysian subsea digital infrastructure company, has signed a contract with Dutch maritime firm Royal IHC for the construction of a series of cable-laying vessels. OMS is backed by KKR, a global investment firm investing across private markets in every asset class all over the world.

DigitalBridge Group, a global alternative asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure, has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Yondr Group a global developer and operator of hyperscale data centres, through one of its managed investment funds.

ZTE has unveiled the innovations of its RAN multi-agent collaboration solution with China Mobile during the China International Information and Communications Technology Exhibition (PTEXPO) in Beijing.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has reportedly kicked off a pilot programme to allow foreign investors to operate wholly-owned data centres and other telecoms-related services in select locations.

According to industry body the GSMA, 43% of the global population still does not use mobile internet, highlighting device affordability and digital skills as the main barriers.