Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has launched the third phase of the free local roaming service and expanded the service to 691 more villages in the Eastern Province, Northern Borders region, and Al-Jouf.

MTN Group Limited, a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries, has announced that it will be investing over $120m in capital expenditure in South Sudan over the next 3 years.

The name of the UK company investing in troubled Gambian operator Comium and, importantly, promising to rid it of its outstanding debts has been revealed. It is Monty Mobile.

Serbian state-owned telecommunications operator Telekom Srbija has taken over all cable providers in Serb enclaves in Kosovo-Metohija, the chief executive officer of Telekom, Vladimir Lucic, announced.

Brazil's national telecommunications agency ANATEL has approved the framework authorizing using a TV White Area (TVWS).

It seems that reports of the demise of Gambian operator Comium may have been premature. The Gambian media is now suggesting that, following a suspension of its activities imposed by the Public Utilities and Regulatory Authority (PURA) until 4 November, Comium may be planning to pay back its debts.

The years of civil war and destruction to infrastructure continue to have a toll on the telecoms sector in Syria. Although over the years the major mobile service providers Syriatel and MTN Syria have endeavoured to restore and rebuild damaged networks, the operating environment has been difficult.

Saudi Arabia’s telecom and ICT sectors continue to benefit from the range of programs aimed at diversifying the economy away from a dependence on oil, and establishing a wider digital transformation over the next decade.

Qatar had developed a mature telecom sector which has been able to absorb the additional data demands made on it during the pandemic. Mobile services based on LTE are universally available, and this has helped the two operators Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar to migrate to 5G. In combination with a strong fibre rollout, the country is aiming to provide gigabit services nationally.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has slated the country’s 5G spectrum auctions for 13^th December.

Malaysia’s Axiata Group and Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group are reportedly in discussions over a possible merger of their units in Indonesia.

Russian telecommunications services provider MCN Telecom has started providing mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services in three new regions in the cities of Kursk, Ulyanovsk, and in Ulan-Ude in the Republic of Buryatia.

České Radiokomunikace, a telecommunications company in the Czech Republic, has entered into a strategic partnership with Vantage Towers, which manages approximately 4,000 broadcasting base stations in the country.

Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that the tech giant will invest $1 billion into Africa across the next five years.

All 1700MHz/2100MHz AWS and 1900MHz PCS frequencies went unsold at the latest auction of unused 4G frequencies in Mexico.

The Indian government has confirmed that it will be applying two of the reforms to the telecommunications sector that it announced on 15 September.

Telenor subsidiary Grameenphone has selected NEC to supply equipment for the modernisation of its network in Bangladesh.

Egypt Digital Company for Investment (EDCI), the largest shareholder in Egypt Towers for Technology Services Company, has signed an agreement with IHS Towers to obtain a licence from the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to erect and lease telecom towers.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information (MCI, aka KemKominfo) stated that it has completed the refarming of the 2.3GHz band after selling the frequencies at auction in May 2021.

Indonesian mobile operator Indosat Ooredoo plans to expand its 4G LTE coverage to a further 645 remote villages across the archipelago by next year.

In what could be the largest IPO in Uganda to date, MTN Uganda has announced its intention to float 20 percent of its shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).

Guyana’s government has demanded that U-Mobile, which operates as Digicel Guyana, pay overdue fees totalling GYD1 billion (US$4.6 million).

Airtel Africa plc, the provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, announced the appointment of Olusegun "Segun" Ogunsanya, as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with effect from October 01, 2021.

Smart Communications, the mobile arm of Philippines telecoms giant PLDT Inc., has switched on its 5G Standalone (SA) mobile network in Makati City, powering up one of the first 5G SA networks in the world.

Turkey Wealth Fund (TWF), the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) of the country, is considering a majority takeover of fixed and mobile operator Turk Telekom or Turk Telekomunikasyon (TT), according to a report by Bloomberg.

At what is an inconvenient time for the beleaguered Vodafone Idea, to say the least, the Indian Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued notices to Vodafone Idea and fellow operator Bharti Airtel telling them to pay massive fines related to the flouting of licence conditions.

Orange Romania has closed its acquisition of a majority holding in Telekom Romania Communications (TKR) from Greece’s OTE.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has concluded the auction of 1800MHz spectrum in two of the country’s regions, with several operators acquiring holdings.