Philippines incumbent telco PLDT and wireless subsidiary Smart Communications have renewed their call for closer engagement with homeowners' associations (HOAs) to streamline telecoms network rollouts.

Malaysian telco CelcomDigi is set to boost its home fibre broadband business via an infrastructure-sharing deal with communications service provider Time dotcom.

Nigeria’s Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) is having a  busy week already, with the industry association expressing concerns about unpaid bank debts and the cost of spectrum licenses.

UAE operator etisalat by e& has announced a 5G standalone (SA) deployment and a 5G downlink speed record.

Yettel Hungary announced it will switch off its 3G network next month, finally joining its rivals in ultimately sunsetting the legacy technology in Hungary.

Unifi Mobile, the mobile unit of incumbent telco Telekom Malaysia, is leveraging its Uni5G service to spice up coverage of Harimau Malaya home football matches with 360° livestreaming and virtual reality.

Malaysian operator CelcomDigi has teamed with DHL Supply Chain Malaysia to launch what is billed as Malaysia’s first autonomous inventory management system to be powered by both 5G and artificial intelligence (AI).

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata says it has successfully completed what it claims is the first-ever trial of Voice over New Radio (VoNR) on a Standalone (SA) 5G trial network in Sri Lanka.

Madagascar’s Axian has closed its acquisition of additional shares in Senegal’s Free.

Argentina’s communications regulator Enacom has confirmed the country's planned upcoming 5G spectrum auction for 24 October and suggested it will raise about US$1.05 billion.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) says it needs spectrum in the 6-GHz band to enable nationwide 5G coverage without sacrificing data speeds, and that allocating it for Wi-Fi use would be wasting it.

Fixed wireless access (FWA) services are still forecasted to gain traction across Southeast Asia to help bridge the digital divide – but the experience in the Philippines shows that operators shouldn’t take that growth for granted.

Netherlands-based operator group Veon has announced that it has completed its exit from Russia with the closing of the sale of its Russian operations to a group of senior members of the PJSC VimpelCom management team, led by VimpelCom CEO Alexander Torbakhov.

Thai mobile operator AIS has partnered with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) with a new campaign to boost the country’s tourism numbers by making mobile digital services easier to use.  

Plans for Colombian operators Tigo and Movistar to move towards unifying their networks have been approved by Colombian business regulator the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC).

Philippine startup telco NOW Telecom says that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has renewed its license to operate mobile services using the 800-MHz band, keeping its hopes alive to crack the market’s mobile sector.

State-owned telecommunications operator Mauritius Telecom says it is assessing opportunities in several African nations as part of what is describes as a key strategic initiative to diversify out of the Indian Ocean island market.

Pakistan and Indonesia are preparing to auction 5G spectrum in the near future.

Cambodian operator CamGSM PLC says it has cleared two key regulatory hurdles to listing its planned US$20 billion sustainability bond next month.

Philippines mobile operator Globe Telecom says it’s managed to reduce incidents of cable theft as it announces plans to boost collaboration with local government units (LGUs) and law enforcement authorities to combat the problem.

Philippines telco PLDT and wireless subsidiary Smart Communications say they have expanded their Ligtas Kit programme nationwide, with 58 kits now deployed to municipalities and cities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to provide resilient communications during natural disasters.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) has met with yet more financial woes after the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) dismissed its appeal relating to its outstanding licence fees for the fiscal years between 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has issued three 5G licences following its sale of spectrum in the 700MHz and 800MHz bands last week.

Mauritania’s regulator has once again threatened to issue fines to the country’s three main operators over poor quality of service (Qos).

Kenya’s cabinet is seeking to reverse the government’s purchase of a 60% majority holding in Telkom Kenya obtained from Helios Investment Partners in October 2022.

Brazilian regulator Anatel (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes) has confirmed that it plans to provide subsidies as an incentive to accelerate the transition from legacy 2G and 3G network architectures to 4G and 5G standards.

TikTok, the short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance, has ended its online retail operation in Indonesia after the country imposed a ban on e-commerce transactions on social media platforms.

Technology giant Huawei has announced a five-year investment initiative, totalling US$430 million, for the 28 African countries north of the equator.

A legal case brought against the Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) by operator NOW Telecom has been dismissed by the country’s Court of Appeals.