UAE operator du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Samsung.

UAE operator etisalat by e& has become the first telecom operator to partner with UAE-based satellite operator Yahsat for its Direct-to-Device (D2D) strategy to enable satellite connections for standard smartphones.

stc Bahrain has launched what it claims is the first instant mobile eSIM activation service that uses AI-powered facial recognition to authorise users, one month after Bahrain's telecoms regulator issued guidelines for facial recognition usage in telecoms services.

Last week’s inauguration of Tunisia’s Ifriqiya submarine cable is part of a wider plan to boost the country’s international connectivity, according to a number of reports.

Inmarsat Maritime, part of satellite communications company Inmarsat, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aramco, a global integrated energy and chemicals company headquartered in Saudi Arabia, to undertake a 5G mesh network trial that aims to provide high-bandwidth connectivity for Aramco’s offshore work in the Arabian Gulf.

Omantel announced that it has signed a strategic agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to address data residency and security requirements, especially for government entities and regulated industries in Oman.

Ericsson has announced a strategic three-year neutral host provider (NHP) agreement with Advanced Communications and Electronics Systems (ACES), an international neutral host provider, aimed at the Saudi Arabian market.

An educational institution and a technology company in the UAE have announced a collaboration to drive IoT advances.

Zoho Corp, a leading global technology company, has announced the opening of two Middle East data centres in Saudi Arabia. Located in Jeddah and Riyadh, the two data centres are now fully operational. With this addition, Zoho Corp now has 18 data centres worldwide.

Oil and gas production are major industries in the Middle East, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and other regions covered by this publication. But should telecoms monitor the effect of these industries on the environment – and if so, how? Two possible answers come in the form of a recently launched satellite.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced on Monday that it plans to launch an AWS infrastructure region in Saudi Arabia in 2026, and pledged to invest more than US$5.3 billion in the country.

MWC 2024 may be over, but MWC news relating to sustainability is still coming in, this time involving Qatar-headquartered service provider Ooredoo and tech giant Nokia, announcing that they have solidified their shared commitment to sustainable innovation by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Smartphone shipments in Africa grew 6% to 68.7 million units in full-year 2023 due to rising consumer confidence in H2. 

Ooredoo Group revealed on Sunday that it has partnered with Microsoft Azure and over-the-top (OTT) streaming solutions provider MediaKind to launch its first OTT streaming platform in six markets.

China Mobile International (CMI) announced at Mobile World Congress 2024 that it has struck an alliance with stc Group to advance deployment and implementation of IoT connectivity services for businesses.

UAE-based operator du is looking to build on its success in fixed wireless access (FWA) by launching more specialised consumer and enterprise products, as the operator pushes for more market share gains against main rival Etisalat (e&).

Among a number of significant announcements at MWC 2024 by Orange Middle East & Africa (OMEA), a major telecom player in the region, have been collaborations with Microsoft and the World Bank.

The GSMA has announced at MWC 2024 the return of the M360 MENA event, one of a series of global events that aim to unify the regional mobile ecosystem.

At Mobile World Congress 2024, Ericsson and Turkcell signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance 6G research and development in Turkey.

Telecom Egypt released a barrage of announcements at Mobile World Congress this week covering two 5G partnerships, Africa’s first 1.2 Tbps fibre connection and a 50G PON trial.

Turkcell, the largest mobile operator in Turkey, and satellite-direct-to-mobile-telecoms (Sat2Phone) provider Lynk Global have announced a contract signing signalling the start of initial Sat2Phone services utilising what Lynk calls its ‘cell-towers-in-space’.

Ericsson and Saudi Arabian IoT digital solutions provider iot squared have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at MWC 2024 to offer the Ericsson Connected Recycling (ECR) platform as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) in Saudi Arabia.

There’s been another announcement at MWC 2024 from Intelsat, operator of one of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks, this time involving a project with prominent telecommunications firm and systems integrator Saudi Net Link (SNL).

Egyptian operator Etisalat Misr by e& and digital BSS specialist Qvantel have announced that they have signed an agreement at MWC to implement the Qvantel Flex BSS solution to help in the digital transformation of Etisalat BSS.

ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin has announced over US$9 billion in investment commitments from mobile operator groups to extend global connectivity. The announcement was made yesterday at MWC 2024.

Jordan-based operator Umniah has awarded business support systems company Tecnotree a new multimillion-dollar deal.

Smart city solutions provider Tadoom announced on Sunday it has struck a strategic cooperation agreement with China Telecom to deploy an AI-powered, cloud-based CCTV open management platform in Oman.

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, one of the world's leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, and TWTG, a pioneer in Industrial Internet of Things (I-IoT) solutions, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Open RAN vendor Parallel Wireless says it has expanded its collaboration on Open RAN initiatives with Türk Telekom to include its energy-saving xApps solution and AMD-based 5G massive MIMO solution in the operator’s trial cluster.

EDGNEX, a global digital infrastructure provider owned by Damac Properties, a leading luxury real estate developer in the UAE, has announced the establishment of a joint venture company with Vodafone to build a data centre in Izmir, a city in western Turkey on the coast of the Aegean Sea, with an estimated investment of US$100 million.

Nokia unveiled what it claimed to be the telecoms industry’s first Multi-Access Edge Slicing service which it will showcase with UAE operator e& at MWC this month, and how operators can generate new revenues with it.  

UAE-based satellite operator Yahsat has announced the launch of what it calls an ambitious direct-to-device (D2D) strategy to elevate global connectivity by directly enabling smartphone users and IoT devices across the world to leverage the power of space tech, regardless of location.

Bahrain service provider Batelco and state-owned UAE telecommunications company e& (Etisalat and) have signed an MoU for the landing of the Al Khaleej Cable in the United Arab Emirates.