Yettel Hungary announced it will switch off its 3G network next month, finally joining its rivals in ultimately sunsetting the legacy technology in Hungary.

Netherlands-based operator group Veon has announced that it has completed its exit from Russia with the closing of the sale of its Russian operations to a group of senior members of the PJSC VimpelCom management team, led by VimpelCom CEO Alexander Torbakhov.

The Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW), the leading stock exchange in the CEE region, has selected Equinix, a leader in hosting financial markets and trading ecosystems, as the provider of the state-of-the-art data centre where GPW’s proprietary Warsaw Automated Trading System (WATS) will be launched.

Telecom Egypt, one of the largest subsea cables operators in its region, and 4iG, a Budapest-based telecommunications and IT group, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to link Egypt and Albania via a point-to-point high-capacity subsea cable.

MTS Kosovo looks set to continue providing services in the market, with local media reporting that the country’s authorities have approved its appeal against the cancellation of its licence.

The Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), an advanced communications standard meant to replace the currently used GSM-R system, may soon be on its way to Poland.

An otherwise uncontroversial recent MoU from Hungary on government and private sector telecoms cooperation nevertheless contained some significant points about taxation policy.

Veon announced its Beeline Uzbekistan unit completed the first phase of its network upgrade as part of wider plans to improve 4G coverage from 78% to 85% and overall service. 

Orange announced it will begin switching off its 3G network at the end of September in six counties, to re-farm spectrum and enhance its LTE network to serve growing demand.

United Group, which describes itself as the leading multi-play telecoms and media provider in Southeast Europe, has confirmed that it has completed the sale of its mobile tower infrastructure unit (TowerCo) in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia to Tawal, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's STC Group and a leading integrated ICT infrastructure company in the MENA region.

The proposed sale of United Group’s mobile telephony towers in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia to Saudi telecom infrastructure company Tawal has been approved by Bulgaria’s Commission for Protection of Competition.

Authorities in Kosovo have reportedly revoked the licence of MTS Kosovo, a subsidiary of Telekom Srbija, with “seemingly” immediate effect.

Veon has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rakuten Symphony with a focus on rebuilding infrastructure in Ukraine through collaborative investment in Open RAN and digital services.

Georgian telecoms service provider Cellfie Mobile has announced that Nokia has won an expansion deal to upgrade its 4G network and introduce 5G-ready network services.

Nokia trimmed its sales and profit forecast for 2023 blaming a tightening economic landscape for cutting customer budgets.

A decision by Croatia’s regulator to remove restrictions on dominant player Hrvatski Telekom (HT) looks set to provoke a backlash from smaller competitors in the country’s fixed broadband sector.

Vivacom received the green light to acquire seven broadband and TV providers, despite backlash and furore from rivals who harbour concerns about competition. 

Ericsson is building a next-generation smart manufacturing and technology hub in Tallinn, Estonia.

Chinese companies have taken the majority of the Russian smartphone market after Western vendors departed the country for humanitarian reasons stemming from the invasion of Ukraine.

Hungarian operator group 4iG struck a deal to sell its mobile network assets and spectrum to Budapest-based wireless communications company Pro-M for HUF68 billion (US$199 million), via its subsidiary Antenna Hungaria. 

Operator iliad has sold its current stake (30%) in OnTower Poland, the Polish telecommunications infrastructure company controlled by Cellnex (which holds 70%). The company was set up by both operators in 2021 as part of Cellnex’s acquisition of the network of some 7,000 sites from mobile operator Play in Poland.

A1 Serbia has signed a deal to acquire a portion of Conexio’s infrastructure.

Operator Beeline Kazakhstan has launched a software company, QazCode, to boost the development of new digital products and services. This was announced by parent company, global digital operator Veon.

Illiad-owned Polish operator Play expanded its TV and broadband arms by acquiring 100% shares in rival provider Syrion. 

Russia’s MegaFon has issued a legal challenge against sanctions placed upon it by the European Union.

Azerbaijani operator Azercell expanded its 4G network to reach the city of Nakhchivan as part of its nationwide network modernisation project to blanket the Nakhchivan municipality with 4G by the end of the year.

All three bidders in Hungary’s 32GHz spectrum auction have procured licences.

Poland’s government is reportedly planning to commence the process of licensing 3.5GHz spectrum within weeks.