The latest African country to attempt to open up its telecoms sector to competition is Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

Starlink - Elon Musk's wireless satellite internet service - finally received authorisation to operate in Mexico for 10 years. It will be from October 28, 2021, when users in the country will be able to start using it.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued new regulatory guidelines aimed at encouraging national roaming.

Dr. Ashwini Vaishnaw, a Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament of India) Member of Parliament (MP) from the state of Odisha, and former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer has been allocated with three portfolios - Telecom, Electronics and Information Technology, and Railways.

The Telecommunications Agency of Guyana has confirmed plans to issue three 700MHz spectrum licences this month.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced that the new Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (MSQoS) will be effective on Aug 1, 2021.

CETIN, a wholesale provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications infrastructure, and NEC Europe Ltd have announced the signing of a large network security project relevant to a number of countries in Eastern Europe.

Thailand’s Supreme Administrative Court ruled that market leader AIS is not required to pay any additional compensation to state provider CAT Telecom.

Nepal’s regulator the National Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has confirmed plans to refarm the 900MHz spectrum band for 4G use.

India's Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash said that the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), formerly the Telecom Commission, approved backhaul satellite connectivity via VSAT for telecom services.

In a move that reverses plans announced a year ago, two Saudi operators have apparently decided to abandon a mooted tower merger.

Achieving mass production of 14nm chips will secure China’s place as a domestic chip producer at scale, says the deputy head of the country’s leading technology research centre.

The government of Nigeria has granted the nation’s mobile phone users additional time to register a valid National Identification Number (NIN) with their network provider.

The Romanian regulator National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (​ANCOM) has announced plans for a new auction for the frequencies remaining after selection procedures carried out in 2012 and 2015.

Netherlands-headquartered VEON Group has exercised its put option to divest its entire 45.57% holding in its Algerian unit Omnium Telecom Algerie.

Norway’s Telenor Group is considering an attempt to sell its Myanmar unit, reports Reuters.

Another region has made roaming easier; this time it’s the Western Balkans. In fact, the Roam Like at Home regime in the Western Balkans has just entered into force.

Israel’s Communications Ministry plans to shutter the country’s 2G and 3G networks by the end of 2025 as 5G becomes increasingly prevalent in the market.

Brazil’s much-delayed 5G spectrum auction has been moved a few times. Recent adjustments involved an auction late last year, after which June and July this year were among dates mooted. Now the dates have changed again.

Jio Platforms Limited, a product company focusing on innovation in the areas of 4G and 5G networks as well as cloud and edge solutions, and part of Indian giant Reliance Industries, has been busy building partnerships in the 5G space.

A new investment in an African tower specialist could boost tower building in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire – and possibly further afield.

Pakistan has changed its social media rules and, once again, ISPs and other social media-linked groups, both inside and outside the country, are unhappy with the results.

Qatar’s Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has issued a QAR3.5 million (USD950,000) fine to Ooredoo Qatar for engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.

The decision by the government of Pakistan to introduce tax on mobile phone calls has occasioned quite a lot of coverage – and comment – from local media.

Indian tech companies have submitted bids to participate in state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)’s proof of concept (POC) exercise to test indigenously developed 4G core and radio equipment and solutions.

India does not want to miss the 6G bus. The Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) Wednesday said it submitted its 6G vision with the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) to drive the direction of 6G technologies as part of the vision for IMT-2030.

It looks like some measure of privatisation is finally going to be applied to the state-owned operator Angola Telecom by the Angolan government.