Ghana’s Ministry for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations has reportedly revealed plans to merge telecoms players AT and Telecel in hopes of creating a sustainable competitor to market leader MTN.

IDB Invest, a multilateral development bank committed to promoting the economic development of its member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean through the private sector, has partnered with technology giant Nokia to launch a US$50 million financing facility to strengthen digital connectivity in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Africa-focused telecoms firm Paratus Group has launched a private 4G/5G network in Namibia, positioning itself to compete with state-owned incumbents MTC and Telecom Namibia.

Axiata’s telecoms infrastructure company Edotco announced on Wednesday that its Sri Lankan subsidiary, Edotco Services Lanka, has received the country’s first licence to provide neutral-hosted infrastructure services in Sri Lanka.

Philippine telco PLDT and its wireless arm Smart Communications said on Wednesday they have expanded their grassroots programme to prevent theft of telecoms infrastructure by partnering with local communities, following its initial launch earlier this year.

Amid the regular news of connectivity initiatives and new satellite deployments targeting remote areas, a recent report from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency for digital technologies, reminds us that there’s still a long way to go.

The government of Chad late last week ordered mobile operators Airtel and Moov Africa to connect to its national fibre-optic backbone within seven days or face potential sanctions, after the Telecommunications Minister Boukar Michel met executives from both operators on Wednesday.

Two of Africa’s biggest operators – Vodacom and MTN – have, coincidentally, announced technology deployment firsts for the continent in the past few days – one involving MIMO, the other involving 5-band RRU commercial deployment.

Thai operator True Corporation has partnered with China Mobile International, T3 Technology and Tuya Smart to enhance its smart-home platform TrueX, aiming to migrate more than 3 million Thai users from Tuya’s ecosystem.

Vodafone Idea’s infrastructure subsidiary is reportedly seeking loans worth INR50 billion (US$570 million) to finance network expansion.

Telkom Indonesia’s mobile unit Telkomsel has reportedly fully restored 4G internet services in Papua province and the Aru Islands of Maluku after repairing a damaged backup subsea cable that disrupted service in nine areas.

Digicel Tonga announced that CEO Daniel Horan will step down from his role next month after just two years, citing personal reasons.

Argentina has apparently made plans to start allocating spectrum for private mobile networks. Regulator Enacom has assigned the 2300-2400MHz frequency band for private mobile wireless broadband systems. The spectrum allocation will be for ten years and can be used for indoor or outdoor deployments, according to the resolution published on Monday.

MTC Namibia has fired the starting gun in the country’s 5G race, launching commercial services across four locations.

Ethio Telecom CEO Frehiwot Tamiru (pictured) revealed ambitions for the state-owned operator to almost double revenue at the end of its financial year in June to ETB236 billion (US$1.6 billion), on the back of increasing users and data usage.

Legislation intended to make it easier for new players to enter the Philippines’ data services market lapsed into law on Sunday over the objection of telcos that have complained the bill is unfair to them and raises cybersecurity issues.

Japanese agriculture fintech Degas Limited has announced a US$100 million investment over the next four years to help establish Ghana as Africa’s first AI-powered agricultural hub, expanding a model that, it says, has already financed more than 86,000 smallholder farmers across 122,000 acres nationwide.

A feared increase in telecom service prices, an apparent extension of a 5% excise tax previously earmarked for telecommunications services in Nigeria, may not now happen.

Malaysia operator CelcomDigi announced CEO Datuk Idham Nawawi (pictured) will step down from the market leader, citing personal reasons.

PLDT’s Smart Communications aims to expand eSIM adoption in the Philippines with the launch of a “pluggable eSIM adapter” for Android users whose phones don’t support eSIM.

The Kenyan government is mulling a division of the nation’s largest publicly listed company, Safaricom, into mobile, tower, and mobile money units, citing potential efficiency and value gains.

Turkey is officially going ahead with 5G spectrum auction plans. Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced earlier this week that the 5G frequency tender would take place in October.

Bharti Airtel subsidiary Bharti Hexacom has reportedly received approval from the majority of its shareholders to sell 3,400 telecoms towers to Indus Towers after its minority shareholder Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) initially opposed the deal.

Philippines-based challenger operator Dito Telecommunity has partnered with Rakuten-owned messaging app Viber to offer zero-rated plans on the platform, aiming to strengthen its competitiveness and attract new customers.

Ghana and Burkina Faso have reportedly begun a bilateral meeting to address cross-border signal interference. The National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana and Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP) of Burkina Faso began the meeting, held virtually, on 19 August.

Chinese technology company Lenovo has announced plans to establish a regional headquarters (RHQ) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, along with the appointment of its executive leadership team for the country, marking what Lenovo describes as a key milestone in the company’s regional growth strategy.

Airtel Tanzania has reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zanzibar Communication and ICT Infrastructure Agency (ZICTIA) that outlines a framework to collaborate on key infrastructure projects in Zanzibar to expand access to telecoms and internet services.

Apple is reportedly ramping up iPhone production at five factories in India as part of its ongoing strategy to reduce reliance on China-based manufacturing.

Vodafone Idea has continued its rapid 5G rollout in India, with Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram the latest cities to go live.

Maxis revealed on Monday that it is partnering with China Mobile International (CMI) to launch CMLink, its new mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business in Malaysia.