Oman’s first satellite will be launched into Earth’s lower orbit by the end of 2022.

Iraqi operator Asiacell has announced that it is extending its strategic partnership with Ericsson to enhance and improve its LTE services in the country.

Banking software firm Temenos has announced contract wins in Cambodia and Egypt.

The net profit of the Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco), listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange, increased by 9% during the third quarter of 2021 to 15.7 million dinars ($ 41.6 million), compared to 14.4 million dinars (38. 2 million dollars) in the corresponding period of 2020.

Lebanon’s economic crisis has had a dire effect on the country’s telecom services. Although some progress has been made with developing 5G, the poor economic conditions have contributed to an erratic electricity supply and a lack of fuel to maintain generators.

Satellite broadband service provider Yahclick, an Abu Dhabi-listed Yahsat subsidiary, has signed a partnership with iSat Africa to expand its enterprise business in Nigeria, Zambia, the DRC, and East Africa.

Technology group Liquid Intelligent Technologies and telecommunications carrier Orange have announced a new partnership to leverage each other's existing networks in Africa, allowing them, as they put it, even greater access and opportunity to build their businesses throughout the continent.

Bharti Group-backed satellite broadband startup OneWeb and Saudi Arabia's Neom Tech and Digital Holding Company have signed a pact for a USD200 million joint venture to provide satellite-based services to the Middle East and East African countries.

Iraqi internet service provider ScopeSky has tapped Nokia’s Nuage Networks to deploy its Virtualised Network Services (VNS) Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN).

With network traffic surging, Omantel has deployed Ciena’s coherent optical technology to connect data centres, submarine cable landing stations and telecom exchanges in various regions across Oman.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Saudi Arabia-based digital company that offers telecommunications services, has deployed Huawei's BladeAAU Pro solution on its sites for the first time.

Emirates Telecommunication Group Company (Etisalat) and Microsoft have joined forces to unlock new 5G scenarios with Azure Multi-access Edge Computer as part of their strategic partnership.

Etisalat Group, a leading telecom group in emerging markets, and AI and cloud computing company Group 42 have announced plans to merge their data centre businesses.

Analysts from direct carrier billing (DCB) protection firm Evina, and DCB implementation specialists Telecoming, have developed the first Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) Index. This aims to provide an overview of the current state of the DCB business and its potential.

Iran’s telecom infrastructure has suffered from sanctions in recent years, which prevented the import of equipment and devices and encouraged widespread smuggling, with a consequent loss of tax revenue. To address this, the government introduced a device registration scheme, and bolstered the capacity for domestically manufactured mobile phones.

Yemen continues to provide an exceptionally challenging market for telcos. Civil unrest has caused havoc and devastation across most parts of the country, while the threat of sanctions has also made it a challenging environment in which to operate.

Bahrain continues to develop its telecoms sector in a bid to develop its long-term Economic Vision 2030 strategy. This is a multi-faceted strategy aimed at developing a digital transformation across numerous sectors, including e-government, e-health, e-commerce, and e-banking.

Arc Solutions, a joint venture between UAE's du and Bahrain's Batelco, has selected Nokia to provide a high-capacity data center interconnection solution in the Middle East.

MENA-based integrated networking services provider Arc Solutions has expanded its network footprint to Oman with a presence in Equinix’s International Business Exchange(IBX) data center in Muscat.

Operator Vodafone Turkey, and wholesale telecoms platform provider Linxa have announced the deployment of Linxa Connect, which, the partners say, enables Vodafone Turkey to bring the automation, control and efficiency of its international and national voice wholesale business to the next level.

Mobile Telecommunications Company Zain Group, which has presence in eight countries across the Middle East, announced the establishment of ZainTech, a new regional entity that unifies the group's ICT assets to offer comprehensive digital services for enterprise customers in the Middle East.

Zain, the digital service provider in Kuwait, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with its global partner Huawei to advance its 5G infrastructure for achieving the best user experience and enhancing the network’s quality.

Oracle has opened a data centre in Israel which it claims is able to withstand rocket attacks to ensure continued resilience in the troubled state, according to local news reports.

Israel’s Ministry of Communications (MoC) has launched its first tender for the so-called ‘Incentive Areas’ that will likely not be covered by commercial fibre-optic deployments.

Razer Gold, an independent virtual credit for games and entertainment, is now live with Vodafone Turkey, enabled by mobile commerce enabler Docomo Digital.

Having announced a preliminary agreement in June, Hungary-based IT and ICT company 4iG has now confirmed that it is to buy Israeli satellite operator Spacecom.

Qatar has said that Hamad Port is now the first 5G-enabled seaport in Middle East – with a little help from local operator Ooredoo.

In what is said to be a first for Sudan, a local company called alsoug has announced the close of a $5 million fundraising effort to establish a national payments network enabling quick, easy and safe transactions for all Sudanese.

Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has launched the third phase of the free local roaming service and expanded the service to 691 more villages in the Eastern Province, Northern Borders region, and Al-Jouf.

MTN Group Limited, a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries, has announced that it will be investing over $120m in capital expenditure in South Sudan over the next 3 years.

Paltel the leading telecommunication company in Palestine, has selected Juniper Networks, which specialises in secure, AI-driven networks, to upgrade and develop parts of its network and infrastructure.

The years of civil war and destruction to infrastructure continue to have a toll on the telecoms sector in Syria. Although over the years the major mobile service providers Syriatel and MTN Syria have endeavoured to restore and rebuild damaged networks, the operating environment has been difficult.

Saudi Arabia’s telecom and ICT sectors continue to benefit from the range of programs aimed at diversifying the economy away from a dependence on oil, and establishing a wider digital transformation over the next decade.