Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and operator Orange Egypt have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at expanding the use of telemedicine and delivering integrated, high-quality digital healthcare services to villages and to remote and deprived areas.

Ooredoo, Qatar’s leading ICT provider, and the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD), a research group with a strong emphasis on sustainability, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

As part of what appears to have been an upbeat overview of the country’s ICT sector the Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology recently highlighted some ambitious plans for local phone production.

Ooredoo Qatar has launched a new eSIM solution for IoT devices, which it says can help enterprises simplify device management, enhance security, and scale IoT operations across borders.

e& UAE says its EMIX IP transit platform has upgraded its UAE core with 400G links in collaboration with Cisco to meet demands for traffic growth that is growing over 20% annually.

PayTabs Kuwait, a member of the Saudi Arabia-headquartered PayTabs Group, which specialises in payment orchestration, has announced that it has entered a strategic partnership with BEDE Kuwait, a payment services company.

In what is described as a first for the EEMEA region, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and payment giant Mastercard have officially launched Mastercard’s proprietary mobile-first virtual card number (VCN) solution for businesses.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Bahrain has announced the launch of satellite direct-to-device (D2D) services in the country, although ‘launch’ may mean ‘authorisation’ in this case.

Ericsson and Zain Bahrain announced on Monday they have expanded their strategic partnership to include Ericsson’s 5G Edge User Plane technology, which Zain will deploy to enable Industry 4.0 technologies in Bahrain’s industrial sector.

The challenge of keeping businesses safe from cyberthreats is yet again in the news, this time in Qatar, where a leading telecommunications and ICT provider has announced a cybersecurity deal.

Bahrain-headquartered provider telecommunications and digital services Batelco by Beyon has signed an agreement with Cisco to modernise its IP backbone infrastructure.

Payments giant Mastercard say it has partnered with MoneyHash, a payment orchestration platform built for emerging and global markets, to expand merchant access to the newly launched Merchant Cloud across the Middle East and Africa.

Saudi Arabian telco stc group announced on Thursday that it has formed a a strategic joint venture partnership with Humain, a Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF)-owned AI company, to build AI data centres in the country.

The Medusa Submarine Cable System, the largest subsea connectivity project in the Mediterranean, reached another major milestone this week with the successful landing of its cable in Nador, Morocco.

Omani operator Omantel and Archangel Lightworks, a UK-based pioneer in optical and laser communications, have announced the signing of an agreement to accelerate the future of satellite and optical communication services.

The move towards greater digital efficiency in retail operations continues in Egypt with two deals that are particularly relevant to fuel and food retail.

Saudi Arabian digital enabler stc Group says it has signed a new five-year master frame agreement (MFA) with tech giant Ericsson to accelerate the delivery of advanced digital infrastructure and boost technology adoption across Saudi Arabia.

UAE-headquartered telecom and digital services provider du has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China Telecom Global (CTG), a division of China Telecom, one of the world’s largest providers of integrated telecommunication services.

Syria’s Central Bank (CBS) has announced a strategic partnership with Visa to accelerate the country’s integration into the global digital economy. Local press reports say that the agreement was formalised during a meeting at the Central Bank late last week.

Algeria’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has officially announced the launch of 5G rollouts following the approval of 5G licences issued to Mobilis, Djezzy and Ooredoo.

Hytera, a leading provider of critical communications technologies and solutions, and operator Vodafone Qatar have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) targeting some of the specific needs of Qatar's key industries.

Hatif Libya, a subsidiary of the state-owned Libyan Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Holding Company (LPTIC), has announced the gradual shutdown of traditional telecommunication exchanges.

Ooredoo and Vodafone Qatar announced the commercial release of network APIs standardised under the GSMA Open Gateway initiative that enable identity verification tools to combat digital fraud in Qatar.

Iraqi telco Asiacell announced a slew of AI-related partnerships at this week’s MWC Doha 2025 event with Google Cloud, Cisco, Enea, Evam and Druid AI, most of which are aimed at improving the customer experience.

Orange Morocco has opened a new 1.5MW data centre in Casablanca, expanding the operator’s local hosting and cloud capacity as the country pushes ahead with its Maroc Digital 2030 agenda.

Space Communication Technologies (SCT), Oman’s national satellite operator, has awarded a contract to Airbus Defence and Space, a major player in the aerospace industry, for OmanSat-1, the first Omani satellite.

The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), has announced plans to collaborate with UAE-based satellite company Space42.

UAE-based telco e& announced on Wednesday it has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Motorola Mobility to explore new market opportunities in the Middle East region, possibly including AI.

Mira Aerospace, the high altitude platform systems (HAPS) subsidiary of Space42, the UAE-based space technology company, has announced the successful completion of the first public test flight of its advanced, solar-powered HAPS model, ApusNeo18.

Meta has completed the core build of its 2Africa subsea cable system, marking a major milestone in one of the world’s largest connectivity projects, with further expansions already underway.

Omantel says it has launched a new regional managed optical fibre network (MOFN) in collaboration with Zain Group and Zain Omantel International (ZOI) with optical solutions from Ciena.

Google says it plans to deploy a new trans-Indian Ocean subsea cable system that will connect Oman, the Maldives Islands in South Asia, and Christmas Island, an Australian territory. It will be called Dhivaru after the line that controls the main sail on traditional Maldivian sailing vessels.