We reported last month that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) appeared intent on acquiring Telecom Egypt’s entire 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt, and reports now indicate that the deal could be finalised by September this year.

The Equiano submarine cable system is in the news again. This time it’s thanks to Telecom Egypt, which has announced the activation of an agreement with St Helena, the British Overseas Territory. St Helena is a remote volcanic outpost in the South Atlantic Ocean with a population of around 4,400, according to a 2021 census.

Ooredoo, Zain and UAE-based tower firm TASC Tower Holding entered talks to combine their tower assets and create the largest tower company in the MENA region.

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, one of the world's largest integrated energy and chemicals companies, and OQ Technology, described as the world’s first satellite 5G IoT operator that provides global cellular Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) communication solutions through satellites, have announced the signing of a new MoU.

Tonomus, the first subsidiary of Neom, a region in Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea coast described as 'building a future fuelled by the power of cognitive technology', has announced the opening of its first digital communications facility.

Israel’s Pelephone – the mobile unit of Bezeq – has been awarded 800MHz of spectrum in the 26GHz band by the committee in charge of the tender process.

Orange Jordan claimed to be the first to launch commercial 5G services in the country and was the second Orange unit in the Middle East and North Africa to deploy next-generation connectivity.

Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), Elettra, a specialist in marine works related to optical submarine cable systems, submarine infrastructure operator Medusa and operator Orange have announced the coming into force of the construction contract for the Medusa Submarine Cable System, an ambitious project that will boost connectivity across the Mediterranean.

DZS and Summit Technology Solutions have partnered to deliver hyper-fast fibre optic broadband connectivity to Africa’s tallest building.

TerraPay has partnered with Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank to facilitate real-time and seamless global money transfers directly to bank accounts in Morocco.

Digital payment solutions provider and fintech enabler Arab Financial Services (AFS), and Moamalat Financial Services, which specialises in electronic payment services in the Libyan market, have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enter into a strategic partnership for the development of Libya’s electronic payment ecosystem.

Ooredoo Qatar has announced two high-profile agreements this week, one with Dell Technologies and one with Ericsson.

Digital communications technology corporation Cisco has announced plans to establish a data centre in Saudi Arabia dedicated to cloud-delivered security.

Israeli state-owned energy firm EAPC (Europe Asia Pipeline Company) is set to build a fibre optic cable creating a continuous link from Europe to the Gulf and Asia.

Startup Hello Space, described as Turkey's first commercial ‘pocketqube’ satellite venture, has launched what it describes as the world’s tiniest satellite – with the help of SpaceX.

UAE-based du has selected Nokia’s Multi-Access Gateway (MAG) to deliver enterprise and residential broadband via 4G and 5G wireless access (FWA) networks.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is reportedly still in the mix to acquire Vodafone Egypt shares from Telecom Egypt Egypt, with a deal potentially to be announced this month, reported Daily News Egypt. 

Omani service provider Omantel has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with global two-way radio manufacturing company Hytera to launch what is described as mission-critical push to talk (MCPTT).

Samsung Electronics Egypt, a local division of the multinational company, has indicated that it has plans to establish a new mobile phone factory on an area of 6,000 square metres in Beni Suef, according to a recent statement by Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Smartphone sales in Africa mirrored other emerging markets as macroeconomic factors hit consumer pockets, leading to a decline in vendor shipments. 

China Telecom Global, a provider of integrated telecommunication services, and telecoms services provider and enabler STC Group of Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen their combined IoT business, and, as the partners put it, “explore business opportunities and innovations that will achieve common goals for both parties”.

Data centre expansion continues in the Gulf region – with a strong renewable energy angle. Digital infrastructure company Equinix has announced the launch of its third International Business Exchange data centre in Dubai to support digital opportunities for Dubai and the Middle East.

Moro Hub, a subsidiary of Digital DEWA, the digital arm of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has signed a collaboration with Red Hat, a major provider of enterprise open source solutions.

STC Group-owned company center3 and Alcatel Submarine Networks are planning to connect Saudi Arabia with Europe by building the EMC West subsea and terrestrial data cables.