Pakistan’s state-backed operators are collaborating to develop telecommunications services in the country’s Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) regions.

Uruguay’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining confirmed that the long-awaited launch of mobile number portability officially came into force on 12^th January.

Tizeti Network, West Africa’s pioneer solar-based internet service provider, is launching its high-speed 4G LTE network in Oyo State, South-West Nigeria.

India’s three largest mobile operators have called on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to slash the reserve price of 3.5GHz spectrum in its upcoming auctions.

Telefonica Colombia, the largest telecommunications company in Colombia, has closed the sale of its fibre to the home (FTTH) assets in the country to American venture capital giant KKR for a total of around EUR 175 million after receiving the corresponding regulatory clearance.

Hutchison Telecommunications Lanka (Private) Limited and its infrastructure partner edotco Services Lanka (Private) Limited (edotco) have launched an Open-RAN trial, to further reduce the cost of GB data and thereby passing the cost-benefit to its customers.

Vodafone Idea CEO Ravinder Takkar has stated that the operator’s current management will retain full control of the business despite yesterday’s announcement of the Indian government taking a majority holding in the operator.

Russian telecommunication holding company ER-Telecom, in cooperation with the state-owned corporation Rostec, has acquired a 75 percent stake minus one share in the company Akado Holding, running the regional operator Akado Telecom. The minority stake will be held by the company AVK Investments.

Smart Communications, the mobile arm of Filipino telco PLDT Inc., is teaming up with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics to accelerate the deployment of 5G Standalone (5G SA) technology in the Philippines.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered another investigation into Google following complaints that the firm had violated antitrust laws.

Telecom service providers (TSPs) ' gross revenue (GR) declined by 1.36% on a year-on-year basis to Rs INR 673 billion (GBP 6.7bn) in July-September 2021 quarter.

No sooner has number three South African operator Telkom tried to stop the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) from holding a spectrum auction in March than the number one operator has got involved – on ICASA’s side.

Yet another industry voice is being raised in India’s ongoing debate about 5G spectrum prices. This time the ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI), a non-profit telecom industry association, is getting involved.

Investment firm Kismet Capital Group, through its joint venture with telecoms company Megafon, can apparently now boast the largest tower asset portfolio in Russia after a major acquisition involving a Russian infrastructure company.

The Independent Consumer & Competition Commission (ICCC) of Papua New Guinea has recommended approving the acquisition of Digicel PNG and its subsidiaries by Australian operator Telstra.

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) of the Bahamas has floated the possibility of introducing a third player to the market this year in its proposed Annual Plan for 2022.

Multinational operator Airtel Africa has confirmed what is referred to as the first closing of the transaction to sell its telecoms tower assets in Tanzania for some $176.1 million.

The wait for 5G rollout and expansion of 4G capacity in South Africa may now go on even longer thanks to efforts by operator Telkom to delay the spectrum auction due to happen in March.

Bharti Airtel has decided not to restructure its business after determining that its current structure is “optimal for leveraging” reforms announced by India’s government in September 2021.

Montenegrin regulator EKIP (Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services) confirmed that the country’s latest round of spectrum auctions saw 220MHz of frequencies sold.

Qatar’s telecoms company Ooredoo and Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd has completed the $6 billion merger of their Indonesian telecom businesses after securing all shareholder and regulatory approvals.

The new year has seen another multi-country roaming agreement come into effect as residents of Andean Community countries see roaming charges abolished.

Although Nigeria’s NIN enrolments are now said to have reached 71 million, the country’s government evidently feels not enough Nigerians have linked their National Identification Number (NIN) to their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) and has approved a further extension of the deadline for the exercise to 31 March this year.

Latvia’s Public Utilities Commission (Sabiedrisko Pakalpojumu Regulesanas Komisija / SPRK) has named the winning bidders in its recent auctions for technology neutral spectrum licences in the 700MHz band.

El Salvador’s competition watchdog has ruled that the sale of Telefonica’s Movistar and Telefonica Multiservicios units to General International Telecom Limited requires no antitrust authorisation.

Bite Group, a telecommunications and media group in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, announced that business subscribers for its Bite Latvia ICT services grew by 14% in 2021. It also plans to invest more than 70 million euros in the next three years, building several hundred 5G base stations in Riga and major Latvian cities.

Vodafone has announced the launch of services by its new Oman operation – the third operator in the sultanate. Vodafone Oman launched late last week.