Cable & Wireless Panama (CWP), which is 49% owned by Liberty Latin America (LLA), is acquiring Claro Panama from America Movil (AM) for US$200 million.

As part of its drive to address Africa’s vulnerability to climate risk, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has created an independent asset management arm, AFC Capital Partners, with a debut offering: the Infrastructure Climate Resilient Fund (ICRF).

Mauritius Telecom, a telecommunications company in Mauritius, has begun providing 1 Gbps broadband connectivity, claiming Mauritius is just the second African country after South Africa to provide gigabit speeds to residential subscribers.

The artificial intelligence (AI) subsidiary of MTS, Russia’s largest telecoms operator, has launched a US$ 100 million venture capital fund to accelerate investments in startups.

US-based open RAN software company Parallel Wireless has announced plans to continue growing its footprint across the globe with the expansion of its open RAN research and development work in a number of countries that include Israel and India as well as the US and UK.

As expected, the Ethiopian government has formally announced its proposal for the partial privatisation of state-owned operator Ethio Telecom.

The merger of Papua New Guinea’s state providers Telikom PNG and bmobile is reportedly on track to close by the end of this month.

Telenor has confirmed that it still aims to exit the Myanmar market through a sale of its local unit.

The Angolan government has launched an international public tender offering a concession to manage, operate and expand state-owned operator Angola Telecom’s national and metropolitan transport backbone network.

Telekom Srbija is acquiring ISP Posta NET from Post Srbije, a Serbian postal service provider.

A1 Slovenija, the second-largest mobile operator in Slovenia, has launched commercial 5G services, offering download rates of up to 1Gbps.

MTN South Africa partnered with Nokia to modernize its network, and enhance connectivity and voice services, a move the operator argued puts it on a strong path to 5G evolution.

Pakistan’s state-owned Ufone obtained a further 2×9MHz of 1800MHz spectrum in the country’s latest spectrum auctions.

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technology of Azerbaijan has extended the license agreements of mobile network operators Azercell, Bakcell, and Azerfon (Nar) for ten years.

Greece's Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) has completed the acquisition of a 30% stake of Telekom Romania Mobile Communications (TRMC) from fixed-line operator Telekom Romania Communications (TKR).

African telecommunications giant MTN Group and its Nigerian operation have had a good week with both the announcement of a new multi-country mobile payment deal for MTN Group and also a licence renewal for MTN Nigeria in the past few days.

The mobile telecommunications provider in Malaysia, Celcom Axiata Bhd is prepared to launch its 5G technology services by the end of this year.

Uganda’s number three operator, Africell, is to leave the country after seven years.

The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has submitted an offer to buy a 60% stake in the mobile phone towers unit of the kingdom’s second-largest telecom company, Zain KSA.

The South African dispute that has delayed a planned spectrum auction in the country still hasn’t been resolved. However, communications regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) on Tuesday moved to avoid a lengthy court battle over the issue, saying it believes the auction could still happen by January.

Debt-laden telecommunication services provider Vodafone Idea (Vi)’s precarious risk position is likely to impact its rivals, the government, and the other stakeholders at large and could jeopardise the telecom industry in India.

Ghana’s Minister of Communications and Digitisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has announced that the country’s national SIM card re-registration process will start at the beginning of October. Ghanaians over the age of 15 will have until 31 March 2022 to re-register their SIM cards.

Tower sales are back in the news. This time an operator is selling its towers in Russia to a company keen to expand its infrastructure portfolio – and making just under a billion dollars from the deal.

Indian telecom sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that special mobile number portability (MNP) specific tariffs are discriminatory and a violation of current rules.

Telecom operators in Rwanda will be implementing new directives for SIM card registration in a move Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) said will help curb fraud.

Russian communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has blocked six providers of virtual proxy networks (VPNs), which people can use to circumvent government restrictions on the Internet.

Toko Wireless (Tonga) and WanTok Networks (Vanuatu) have announced the formation of WanTok Pacific Corporation, a company that will launch a new local mobile operator and, it says, provide a full suite of additional telecom services.

The UAE has a strong mobile market, dominated by Etisalat and du. Both are majority-owned by the government. In a bid to attract additional foreign investment, it was resolved in early 2021 that the stake held by foreigners in the two companies could be increased.

Jordan’s government has focussed on the use of ICT in a range of sectors, aimed at transforming the relatively small economy through the use of digital services.

Iraq continues to face a number of political and economic challenges, though increasing civil stability has made it easier for mobile and fixed-line operators to rebuild telecom services and infrastructure damaged during the last few years.