Hungarian IT service management company 4iG said it has signed a final contract to buy an 80.27% stake in Albanian telecommunications operator Albtelecom from Cetel Telecom, a majority-owned subsidiary of Turkey’s diversified holding company Calik Holding.

Operator AT&T Mexico has announced the start of deployment of its 5G network in the country. It also says it has plans to connect the first 50 mobile devices to the network, in order, it suggests, to test the browsing experience.

Indonesia’s Telkomsel is reportedly planning to sell further tower assets to Mitratel, the tower unit of its parent firm Telkom Indonesia.

Indian telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) has announced that it partnered with Nokia to demonstrate network slicing over the 5G standalone (SA) network.

Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), operating under the Vivacom brand, has reached an agreement to acquire 100% interest in local company Telnet, an operator with a well-developed network and distribution in the region.

PPF Telco, which controls over 90% of telecommunication company O2 Czech Republic (O2 CR), has obtained approval from the Czech National Bank (CNB) to start the buyout of shares from minority shareholders.

Brazilian regulator Anatel (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes / National Telecommunications Agency) has confirmed that the country’s government has authorised the 700MHz, 2.3GHz, 3.5GHz and 26GHz spectrum bands for 5G use.

The telecom regulatory authority of India (Trai) has directed all telcos to immediately enable the facility to send a text message or SMS shortcode 1900, which is used for porting from one carrier to another.

South African mobile communications company Vodacom has reduced out-of-bundle roaming data speeds on partner networks around the world by up to 88%.

Brazilian telecom operator Americanet announced the purchase of the ISP Omni, from the state of Goiás, for an amount of US$10.6 million.

Infrastructure firm Equinix has acquired West African data centre and connectivity solutions provider MainOne as it seeks to expand into the region.

South African multinational mobile telecommunications company MTN announced the launch of two new MyMTN Home Uncapped speed-based plans on 5G, promising fast data speeds, low latency, increased reliability, and good coverage.

The Ecuadorian government announced that the special consumption tax (ICE) for mobile phone services is scrapped in the country.

MTN Uganda is today proceeding with the listing of its 22.4 billion ordinary shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), with trading commencing immediately.

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund (SWF) Public Investment Fund (PIF) is selling a 5.01% stake in Saudi Telecom Co (STC) through a secondary share offering to raise as much as $3.1 billion.

The World Bank Group has approved US$100 million in financing under the International Development Association’s (IDA) Scale-Up Window to help the Government of Rwanda increase access to broadband and selected digital public services, and strengthen the digital innovation ecosystem in Rwanda.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied China Telecom Americas Corp.'s emergency motion to pause a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order revoking the company's authorizations to continue operating in the U.S.

MTN Cote d'Ivoire (MTNCI), a subsidiary of South Africa-based MTN Group, is currently conducting a pilot phase of 5G in the West African country with beach resorts and rainforests.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) confirmed Airtel Nigeria, MTN Nigeria and wholesaler Mafab Communications as the three qualifying bidders for its scheduled 3.5GHz spectrum auction.

Vodafone Qatar has announced its latest milestone in the development of its GigaNet 5G network, with the completion of Qatar’s first successful trial on the millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum.

Polsat Plus Group in Poland has officially announced the completion of the merger of its two mobile network subsidiaries, Polkomtel, trading under the Plus brand, and Aero2.

French ICT group Atos , Siemens and the Moroccan Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) have announced a project to install 100,000 smart meters (smart grid) throughout the Kingdom.

Veon has closed the sale of its Russian mobile towers to local firm Service-Telecom, a partner of VimpelCom’s Beeline, for RUB70.65 billion (US$957 million).

The state-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced the rollout of its 4G services across the country by September of next year and will generate around INR 9 billion in revenue, said local media reports.

Baltcom, an integrated telecommunications provider in Latvia, has completed its acquisition of Microlines Group, which comprises Microlines, Electrons.lv, Elektrons, Bit Telecom, QWERTY and Clouds 365.

Vodacom Business, a Pan-African Information, Systems, Technology and Communications service provider to enterprises across the continent, has expanded its Cloud Connect offering to support businesses across Africa.

DirecTV Argentina, now owned by local holding company Grupo Werthein, has signed an agreement with the Argentinian telecommunications service provider Metrotel to expand its fibre to the home network in the Buenos Aires province.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has released a consultation paper entitled “Auction of spectrum in the frequencies identified for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) / 5G”. This apparently comes in response to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) request on 13 September to TRAI to provide recommendations on the subject.

Leading Asian regional integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company edotco Group has announced a major acquisition that, it says, strengthens its aspiration to be a top five towerco in the world and cements its home market leadership position as the largest independent tower company in Malaysia, where it is headquartered.