Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) has approved the takeover of an 18.29% stake in Altan Redes by Australian investment group Macquarie.

Yet another country has mandated SIM registration and set a deadline after which unregistered subscribers may be penalised. This time it's Mauritania, where the authorities are pushing for a process that will involve biometric data in the interests, they say, of enhancing national security and a government drive to combat increasing mobile fraud.

Safaricom Ethiopia has reportedly hit five million subscribers less than a year since it launched in the populous East African nation, with ambitions to double that figure in March.

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has reportedly sent a reference to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to ask for a reserve price for a number of bands to be sold in the next 5G spectrum auction – but they don’t seem to include 6GHz.

The Ecuadorian government announced it will extend America Movil’s current service contract, enabling the operator to continue operations in the country until a new permanent deal is hammered out.

CelcomDigi revealed in the first half of the year it saw a gain of 391,000 subscribers taking its total to 20.48 million since its mega-merger six months ago, as it reported its H1 results.

Another African country has clamped down on social media. This time it’s Somalia, which has banned TikTok and Telegram.

Ericsson announced it will open an AI laboratory in Vietnam in a move to enhance education on emerging technologies such as AI and 5G.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-based operator Flow announced plans to shut down its 2G network this year to free up spectrum to bolster 3G and 4G services.

The Chadian government fined Airtel Chad XAF5 billion (US$8.3 million) for failing to meet quality of service requirements.

Telenor Pakistan promoted COO Khurrum Ashfaque (pictured) to CEO, replacing Irfan Wahab Khan who will take a new role as SVP in Telenor Asia.

Now Telecom parent company Now Corporation teamed up with US equipment vendor Celona to deliver private 5G networks to the enterprise sector in the Philippines.

A number of policy initiatives have been announced by India’s Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw this week, focusing on improving the reach of IT and the issues of SIM card security and bulk connections.

A US Trade and Development Agency-funded feasibility study for Nigeria’s Hotspot Network Limited has led to the issuance of financing for the deployment of 120 solar-powered rural telecommunications base stations across 22 states in Nigeria.

The proposed sale of United Group’s mobile telephony towers in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia to Saudi telecom infrastructure company Tawal has been approved by Bulgaria’s Commission for Protection of Competition.

Veon has applied for a digital banking licence via its Bangladesh-based unit Banglalink, as the group looks to expand into fintech services.

Despite recent good news regarding a loan of 20 billion rupees (about US$240 million) to meet payment obligations, Indian operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) has reported widened net losses during the first three months of its financial year to the end of June 2023.

Indian equipment provider Tejas Networks won a contract worth INR74.9 billion (US900 million) from BSNL to supply gear, support and maintain annually the operator’s 4G/5G network.

Thai state-owned operator National Telecom (NT) gained approval from its board to invest THB800 million (£17.7 million) to build its network to tap into spectrum in the 26GHz band, to provide FWA services and connect enterprises to private 5G networks. 

Kenya’s leading operator Safaricom says it has increased account limits on its wildly popular M-Pesa mobile money service to KSh500,000 (about US$3,477) following approval from the Central Bank of Kenya.

Reliance Jio completed a nationwide rollout of 5G services ahead of schedule across 22 regions in India tapping into multiple spectrum bands, before the end of December as initially expected.

Indian operator Vodafone Idea received a loan of INR20 billion (US$240 million) to aid it in making scheduled payments, as the operator continues to grapple with high debt.  

Globe Telecom stated in its Q2 results its full-year revenue projection will be lower than expected due to continuing macroeconomic pressures, extended high inflation, and low consumer spending power.

Malaysian operator Maxis has finally launched 5G services today (August 15) after state-owned 5G wholesaler Digital Nasional Berhad signed access agreements with the nation’s operators.

Vietnam is preparing to auction 700MHz spectrum for mobile use.

Senegal’s mobile operators have implemented agreements to enable nationwide roaming between their networks.

Safaricom has confirmed the resignation of its Board Director and longstanding employee Michael Joseph.

Airtel Uganda has announced that it is set to make an initial public offering via the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).

Service provider Vodacom’s plans to buy two fibre operators have been blocked by South Africa’s Competition Commission, which says it has found no major benefits from the proposed transaction that were not already in existence.