Turkcell has added a new partnership to its 5G technologies development programme.

Ooredoo Algeria has extended its contract with digital transactions firm eServGlobal for a further three years.

Orange Egypt has selected Openwave Mobility’s NFV-based Traffic Management solutions to improve Quality of Experience (QoE) for its subscribers.

The chief executive of Turkey’s Garanti Bank has stated that several parties have expressed interest in obtaining a stake in Turk Telekom.

Rajant and Minerva have signed a new distribution agreement to bring Rajant’s Kinetic Mesh wireless networks to companies in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Arabsat, a leading satellite services provider in the Middle East, is partnering with CETel to offer customers business continuity services.

Middle East-based mobile operator Ooredoo Group has selected CombaTelecom as its main supplier of antennas and associated products.

Qatar’s Ooredoo has confirmed that it has held discussions over the possibility of acquiring a stake in Turkey’s Turk Telekom, but noted that no tangible progress has been made on the matter.

Zain Group is leveraging Cisco advanced segment routing platforms and WAN automation to bring the benefits of distributed intelligence and centralised control to its network.

ICT provider Libatel is deploying the first IoT LoRaWAN smart-agriculture project in Lebanon in partnership with IoT specialist Kerlink.

Tunisia’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Anouar Maarouf has stated that the UAE’s Abraaj Group has obtained a 35% stake in Tunisie Telecom.

The short-term outlook remains difficult for telecoms operators in Yemen, reports Research & Markets.

Omantel has increased its holding in Zain Group, obtaining a 12.1% stake for $1.35 billion.

The Qatar Foundation has announced plans to shift its 5% stake in Indian market leader Bharti Airtel for around $1.5 billion.

Moroccan IT brand Accent has selected Spreadtrum's LTE platform SC9832 and WCDMA//HSPA(+) platform SC7731C for its smartphones.

Mobily has awarded Ericsson a modernisation contract to upgrade its access network in the western region of Saudi Arabia, deploying the latest features of the Ericsson Radio System.

Spacecom, operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, announced today that its AMOS-17 communication satellite has successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) and entered full production.

Nokia and Zain Saudi Arabia are deploying Nokia's FastMile technology to provide a superior customer experience to Zain's customers.

Tunisie Telecom (TT) is leveraging Adtran’s solutions to deliver next-generation copper-based broadband services.

Batelco has selected Ciena’s Converged Packet Optical Platform as the foundation for the new Batelco Gulf Network (BGN).

The mobile sector has become an important component of Saudi Arabia's telecom industry and contributes around 75% to overall telecoms revenues.

Naguib Sawiris of Orascom, Egypt’s largest private sector employer, is seeking to annul the latest ICSID ruling in its long running dispute with the Algerian government.

Israel has a highly developed telecoms sector with wide coverage of fixed broadband services as well as both 3G and 4G mobile broadband available.

Significant improvements are planned for Lebanon's fixed network, according to Lebanon's new telecoms minister Jamal Jarrah.

Mobile services are widely available in Iran, with services on offer from three major mobile network operators - MCI, MTN Irancell and Rightel - which are able to offer services on a national basis.

The market is highly competitive with the three major operators - Zain, Orange and Umniah - all having over 30% market share each in terms of mobile subscribers.

There are many positive developments occurring in the liberalised telecoms market of Bahrain, according to Research & Markets.

The focus of fixed broadband network deployment has firmly shifted to fibre in Qatar, with the number of DSL connections declining by around 100,000 since they reached their peak in 2011.

Kuwait’s Zain has partnered with Towershare in a deal to sell and lease back its local mobile towers to IHS Holding Limited for US$165 million.

Omantel has signalled its aim to acquire a further 12% holding in Zain Group by signing a letter of intent with Zain shareholder Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate (Al Khair).

Etisalat Misr has signed a four-year contract with Ericsson to modernise and expand its core network and business support systems.