News from Central & South Asia

Optical & Fixed Networks

PTCL signs network transformation deal with Huawei

Pakistan’s state provider PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited) has contracted Huawei to upgrade its IP Edge and Optical Transport...

Regulation

Pakistan imposes harsher social media rules

Pakistan has changed its social media rules and, once again, ISPs and other social media-linked groups, both inside and outside the country, are...

Wireless Networks

Axiata embraces O-RAN upgrades across Asia

Axiata Group Berhad, a leading operator in Asia, has been very busy in the open RAN space of late, with deals involving Mavenir and Parallel...

Regulation

Will proposed mobile taxes penalise Pakistan’s poor?

The decision by the government of Pakistan to introduce tax on mobile phone calls has occasioned quite a lot of coverage – and comment – from...

Business

Malaysia deal creates new leader in mobile operator market

A massive deal uniting two players in the Malaysian telecoms market to make the biggest operator in the country has finally gone through.

Devices & Platforms

Can social media survive in Vietnam?

The incredible reach of social media is causing issues for governments and social media companies alike as they struggle with conflicts between...

Consumer Ecosystems

Jazz secures A2P messaging in Pakistan with Sinch

Pakistan’s Jazz is implementing cloud communications provider Sinch’s managed SMS Firewall and application-to-person (A2P) service for domestic...

Business

Malaysia’s Digi and Celcom close to merger deal

Is the deal to merge the Malaysian mobile operations of telecoms firms Axiata Group Bhd and Norway's Telenor ASA finally done?

Wireless Networks

Veon selects Nokia for core network modernisation in Georgia

Veon’s Georgian mobile operator Beeline has chosen Nokia’s cloud-native software to modernise its core network throughout Georgia and to...

Enterprise Ecosystems

Kerlink and WEGoT expand IoT water management deal in India

IoT specialist Kerlink has partnered with wireless, real-time water-management systems provider WEGoT to expand and accelerate adoption of...

Optical & Fixed Networks

Nepal’s Subisu modernising optical network with Nokia

Nepalese service provider Subisu has selected Nokia to modernise its 1500-kilometer backbone network stretching across East and West Nepal.

Wireless Networks

Vodafone Idea and Huawei extend 4G deal ahead of new Indian rules

Vodafone Idea signed an agreement with Huawei to expand its 4G network shortly ahead of the

Optical & Fixed Networks

Nokia supplying GPON kit for CG NET’s Nepali fibre network

Optical & Fixed Networks

New fibre internet service could shake up Nepalese ISP market

Chaudhary Group, a Nepalese conglomerate which boasts over 100 companies under its umbrella and an investment outlay of over $1 billion, has...

Regulation

India hits social media firms with compliance orders for new IT rules

The Delhi High Court has given Twitter three weeks to demonstrate that its operations comply with intermediary guidelines implemented by India on...

Consumer Ecosystems

WhatsApp issues legal challenge to Indian government over privacy

WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit against the government of India over new legislation that would force the Facebook-owned messaging app to infringe...

Regulation

New 4G auctions on the way in Afghanistan

Could we be getting closer to full-scale 4G rollout in Afghanistan? Apparently, additional spectrum has become available in the country in the...

Customer Management

Bangladesh mobile subscribers reach 174.6m in March

Bangladesh ended March with more than 174.6 million mobile phone subscribers, up from 173.3 million in February, revealed the Bangladesh...

Consumer Ecosystems

Twitter ordered to block criticism of Indian government’s Covid response

The Indian government has ordered Twitter to block dozens of tweets criticizing its handling of the pandemic amidst a recent surge in cases that...

Operators

OCC to acquire Nepal’s Smart – once it pays its debts

Japanese group OCC (Ocean Cable & Communications Corporation) is reportedly acquiring Nepalese operator Smart Telecom for NPR12 billion...

Cloud & Virtualisation

Indonesian students to be offered secure cloud storage

Nearly half a million students at Indonesian universities are to get access to what is described as a personal cloud solution over the next three...

Mobile Finance

UPI and SLT-Mobitel aim to boost digital payment in Sri Lanka

Yet another initiative to increase the reach of the cashless society has been announced – this time in Sri Lanka.

Operators

Bharti Airtel announces restructure geared towards digital

Bharti Airtel’s board has approved a proposed restructuring of the operator’s business to shift its focus towards digital initiatives.

Customer Management

Beeline deploys ZTE’s virtualised SDM platform in Uzbekistan

Veon has partnered with ZTE to deploy Uzbekistan’s largest virtualised SDM (Subscriber Data Management) platform via its local unit...

Regulation

Sri Lanka overhauls QoS and RTT regulation to combat poor coverage

Sri Lanka’s regulator is introducing new legislation aimed at boosting mobile coverage and service quality across the island nation.

Data Centres & Networks

Tencent Cloud announces its first internet data centre in Indonesia

Tencent Cloud, the public cloud service provider business of multinational technology conglomerate holding company Tencent, has announced the...

Wireless Networks

Airtel upgrading to 5G in Kenya and bridging digital gap in Sri Lanka

Airtel’s Kenyan and Sri Lankan units are bolstering their coverage via 5G upgrades and new site deployments respectively.

Etisalat and Parallel Wireless partner for O-RAN implementation in Afghanistan

Wireless Networks

Etisalat and Parallel Wireless partner for O-RAN in Afghanistan

Etisalat has collaborated with Parallel Wireless, Intel and Supermicro to deliver Central Asia’s first cloud-native O-RAN compliant 5G 4G 3G 2G...

Operators

Airtel shifts 800MHz spectrum to Jio and sets up JV with Dixon

Bharti Airtel has agreed to sell its 800MHz spectrum for three of India’s telecom circles to larger rival Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Regulation

TRAI to reinstate nuisance SMS filter from 1st April

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has notified the country’s operators that they should reactivate filters aimed at tackling...

Regulation

WhatsApp under scrutiny from Indian competition authority

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has launched an investigation into WhatsApp’s delayed and highly controversial privacy policy...

Operators

Indian government exits former state provider Tata Communications

The government of India has fully divested its final 10% stake in Tata Communications.

Wireless Networks

5G trials on the way in Nepal as NT secures banking licence

Nepal is set to begin 5G testing in the cities of Biratnagar, Birgunj, Kathmandu and Pokhara, according to the country’s Ministry of...

Regulation

Sri Lankan regulator expects mobile number portability in October

The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) has finally indicated that both fixed and mobile number portability (FNP and...

Regulation

Kyrgyzstan shelves 5G trials but issues MegaCom 2300MHz licences

Kyrgyzstan’s regulator has issued two 2300MHz spectrum licences to the state-backed operator MegaCom while noting that the country’s 5G network...

Operators

Vodafone Idea boosts subscriber numbers for first time in a year

January 2021 saw Vodafone Idea (Vi) register its first monthly increase in subscribers for over a year, amid a broader nationwide trend towards...

Vendors

India seeks to shut out Chinese vendors from 5G networks

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is set to issue an approved suppliers list for operators looking to buy certain network equipment...

Operators

Bangladeshi operators spend big in latest 4G auction

Bangladesh’s latest round of 4G spectrum auctions has generated $898.2 million as operators seek to increase their holdings amid surging demand...

Optical & Fixed Networks

Telecom Armenia starts work on fibre NGN

Telecom Armenia has begun construction on a new fibre-optic Next Generation Network (NGN) in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.

IFC takes strides into Kyrgyzstan with ElCat invesment

Optical & Fixed Networks

IFC takes strides into Kyrgyzstan with ElCat investment

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is making its first investment into Kyrgyzstan in the form of a US$3 million loan to wholesale...

BuddeComm Market Reports

Uzbekistan proceeds with 2030 digital plan

For many years

Optical & Fixed Networks

Dialog Axiata connects Sri Lanka and Maldives with new cable

The Maldives Sri Lanka Cable system (MSC) is set to deliver high speed broadband connectivity between the two nations.

Regulation

PTA proposes new regulations to restrict tariffs

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued proposals that would increase its capacity to regulate operator tariffs.

Regulation

Nepali regulator proposes 5G spectrum bands

Nepal’s National Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has confirmed its selected spectrum bands for 5G use.

Investment

Vi seeks investment after promising quarter

Vodafone Idea (Vi) confirmed that it is in talks with possible investors after its optimisation strategy showed promising early signs in its...

Nokia MBiT 2021 reports Indian data traffic growth up 60-fold across 5 years

Data Centres & Networks

Indian data traffic growth up 60-fold across 5 years - Nokia MBiT 2021

Nokia has launched the 8th edition of its Mobile Broadband India Traffic Index (MBiT) 2021, outlining mobile broadband performance in India...

Operators

MegaFon forms JV to take over Uzbekistan’s Ucell

Russia’s MegaFon has formed a new joint venture with the government of Uzbekistan that will assume control over Ucell, formerly a unit of...

Regulation

India to challenge Vodafone’s arbitration victory in tax case

India’s government is refusing to yield in its longstanding tax dispute with Vodafone Group by appealing the case in the Singapore High...

Satellite Networks

BSNL connects remote Indian islands with ST Engineering iDirect

Indian state-owned provider BSNL is deploying solutions from ST Engineering iDirect to augment satellite bandwidth to the offshore Indian islands...

Regulation

Indian Supreme Court under pressure for clarity on AGR deadline

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked the country’s Supreme Court to clarify its previous ruling on the timeframe for the...

Name
E-mail
Company
Job Title
Country
Business Type
Job Function
Receive 3rd Party Email

Newsletter Sign Up

Latest White Papers

Report Downloads

Interviews, Articles & Case Studies

Sign-up to our weekly newsletter

Features

Follow us on Social Media