Virgin Mobile’s Middle East and Africa (VMMEA) unit has hit 2.5 million subscribers, claiming to be the fastest growing mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the region.

Iranian operator TCI (Telecommunication Company of Iran) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NFV & managed services specialist Italtel to develop and modernise its telecom network.

Omani operator Omantel is deploying Sigfox’s IoT network across the Sultanate.

UAE operator du has formed a VAS business management partnership with mobility solutions  provider Mahindra Comviva.

Middle Eastern payment provider Payfort has launched the SADAD Payment System on its next generation payment gateway, FORT.

Turkish market leader Turkcell is implementing Anite’s benchmarking solutions across its network.

Detecon Al Saudia has renewed and expanded its contract with Intelsat S.A. for Ku-band satellite services.

Middle Eastern data clearing house EDCH (Emirates Data Clearing House) has signed a partnership deal with Xintec to use its new fraud detection software.

MEA-focused managed IT services provider Orixcom has joined Epsilon’s Cloud Link eXchange (CloudLX) platform.

Middle East and Africa operator Zain has announced a strategic investment in FOO.

Ericsson has launched a live E-band link with 5Gbps capacity on Mobinil's network in Egypt.

Asiacell has launched Iraq’s first mobile money service, branded as AsiaHawala.

Etisalat Misr is partnering with embedded security software products provider Oberthur Technologies (OT) to launch M2M and IoT services in Egypt.

International communications provider Ooredoo has announced the launch of its mobile money service, AsiaHawala, in Iraq, claiming to be the first mobile money provider to launch in the country.

Cloud traffic in the Middle East and Africa will quadruple by 2019, according to the Cisco Cloud Index. Personal cloud storage, public cloud services, denser private cloud workloads and the Internet of Everything (IoE) are among the key drivers of growth.

Lebanese market leader Touch has expanded its use of Astellia’s 2G and 3G monitoring solution to its 4G network.

Israeli operator Partner Communications has ended its brand licensing agreement with Orange.

Facebook’s Free Basics continues to be beset by problems, with Egypt imposing a ban on the service while Indian tech companies balk over zero-rating concerns.

Leading Omani operator Omantel has selected Teoco to provide multiyear managed services that cover RAN planning and optimisation.

Ooredoo has selected GoSwiff as its partner for the implementation of its international mPOS (mobile point of sale) platform.

Syniverse has announced a new agreement to enable Ooredoo Oman to extend its LTE roaming reach.

The tender to find managing companies for Lebanon’s state-owned operators has been deemed unsuccessful by the country’s government.

Ooredoo Kuwait has tapped Mahindra Comviva to manage its end-to-end VAS business.

An Israeli-Palestinian agreement has been reached on the assignment of radio frequencies for the exclusive use by Palestinian cellular operators as well as on a shared basis by Palestinian and Israeli operators.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is looking to assume full control of Kuwaiti number two Viva with an acquisition of the 74% stake that it doesn’t yet own.

Ooredoo Group and Ericsson have signed a frame agreement for the supply of radio, core and transmission solutions, as well as related implementation and integration services.

Ericsson has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tunisia’s Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy to spur innovation in the country’s ICT sector.