Telecom Egypt has appointed Tamer El Mahdi (pictured) as its new CEO and managing director, succeeding Mohamed Nasr.

True Corp will challenge a decision by the Central Administrative Court which dismissed its appeal against an arbitration order requiring the operator to pay THB4 billion ($124.3 million) plus interest to National Telecom (NT).

The World Bank Group has approved the Digital Zambia Acceleration Project (DZAP), a project that aims to support Zambian government efforts to increase access to, and inclusive use of, the internet and digitally enabled services.

Huawei has launched a three-step "ACT" pathway to enable intelligent transformation for enterprises, with the aim of helping them harness the power of AI, as well as nine new industrial intelligence solutions developed with Huawei’s partners.

Loc8 has reportedly entered Namibia’s 5G arena, aiming to launch its network in Q1 2026 after years of securing telecoms licences for both 4G and 5G spectrum.

Operator Airtel Chad is reportedly planning a XAF50 billion (about US$90 million) investment plan aimed at improving network quality and expanding digital connectivity across the country.

Nokia has signed a contract to modernise Vietnamese operator Viettel’s broadband network in the capital city of Hanoi.

It’s been a busy week for ICT in Zambia with the approval of two new bills for the digital economy, a new strategic plan announced by Zambia's ICT regulator and the awarding of a World Bank grant that reports suggest may be used for digital infrastructure.

Vodafone Romania and Digi Romania have entered binding agreements to acquire separate parts of OTE’s subsidiary Telekom Romania Mobile Communications (TKRM), reducing the number of mobile operators in the country to three.

There’s been an interesting new development in the ongoing story of the repositioning of Nigerian operator 9mobile as T2 Mobile. It involves a spectrum deal with one of the country’s leading operators, MTN Nigeria.

The Tunisian government has reportedly announced plans for a staggering 138 projects to accelerate the digital modernisation of government administration over the period 2025–2026.

The latest government attack on internet connectivity – and one of the most drastic so far – comes from Afghanistan, where ruling group the Taliban this week imposed an internet ban on the northern Balkh province, where a Wi-Fi shutdown was confirmed on Tuesday. The Taliban has said that the fibre optic internet ban will eventually be nationwide.

ZTE announced on Tuesday that it has completed the first phase a network modernisation project for telecoms provider Mobiuz in the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan and the Khorezm region in Uzbekistan.

According to local news reports, operator Vodacom Tanzania is planning a number of technology modernisation programmes likely to involve an outlay of more than US$100 million.

Four of Peru’s mobile operators – Bitel, Claro, Entel and Integratel - have obtained spectrum for 5G deployment. A fifth, Americatel, which had prequalified for the bidding process, reportedly did not participate in the auction.

Ericsson has opened a new base of operations in Vietnam, underscoring the country’s growth potential as it undergoes rapid digital transformation.

Vodafone Idea is pushing back against a fresh demand from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which is seeking INR94.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) in outstanding adjusted gross revenue (AGR) charges from both Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel.

Globe Telecom announced it has secured a PHP5 billion (US$87.5 million) loan from the Bank of Commerce to support its capital expenditure programme, according to ABS-CBN.

Airtel Gabon and Moov Africa-Gabon Telecom signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday to share digital infrastructure, which they say will improve connectivity and accelerate digital transformation in Gabon.

Fiji’s Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications has officially issued 5G spectrum licences to the country’s three major mobile operators.

Vodacom pledged to invest ZAR435 million (US$25 million) into the Northern Gauteng Area of South Africa this financial year to meet growing connectivity demand.

Iraqi telco Asiacell says it has launched the country’s first Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) service that enables users to make and receive voice calls in spaces with Wi-Fi coverage in areas – especially indoors – where cellular signal quality is poor.

Around 3.1 billion people are not connected to the internet despite living in coverage areas, highlighting a massive global usage gap.

America Movil central American subsidiary Claro CENAM signed an agreement with Proximus Global to support the monetisation and security of its application-to-person (A2P) messaging services across Latin America.

Industry body the GSMA has warned that a large connectivity usage gap is limiting Ghana’s economic potential.

UPDATE: The BBC has reported that Nepal has lifted a social media ban, which sparked protests and led to clashes with police that left at least 19 people dead and injured more than 100 others.

The Ghanaian government has reportedly appointed KPMG to advance plans to merge AT Ghana and Telecel in a bid to stem mounting losses from its acquisition of the former, while building a stronger rival to market leader MTN.

Can countries balance access to an undoubtedly popular and convenient service with an effective response to predatory lending practices, data abuse, high interest rates, and aggressive debt collection practices, to name only a few? That’s the question about digital lending that regulators in Kenya and Nigeria are trying to answer.

There has been a flurry of announcements from Nigerian operator T2 Mobile in recent weeks. If that name doesn’t seem familiar, that may well be because until August the operator had been known as 9mobile. Here are a few brief updates.