Following a public tender, Mauritania’s Autorité de Régulation (ARE) has finally found bidders for the country’s three available provisional 4G licences.

Algeria’s regulator has issued fines to the country’s three mobile providers for failing to improve their 4G/LTE coverage.

Peruvian regulator Osiptel (Organismo Supervisor de Inversion Privada en Telecommuniciones) has ordered the local unit of Movistar to implement measures to let subscribers manage their subscriptions more easily.

Brazilian regulator Anatel has cleared operators with spectrum holdings in the 850MHz band to extend their rights up until 29th November 2028.

Ukraine is laying the foundations for the advent of 5G, with the country’s Cabinet of Ministers approving a plan aimed to boosting mobile quality within the next two years.

BT Group has closed the sale of its Latin American units and assets to CIH Telecommunications Americas.

A Philippines-based fibre-focused firm may soon be able to boast the country’s biggest-ever initial public offering.

The Czech Telecommunication Office (CTU) has confirmed that seven interested parties are seeking to bid in the Czech Republic’s upcoming sale of 700MHz and 3400MHz-3600MHz 5G-ready spectrum.

The Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) has signed a collaboration agreement with Huawei Kenya that seeks to deepen financial inclusion in the banking sector through further deployment of technology and building fintech capacity.

Veon is taking full ownership of Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (PMCL), which trades as Jazz.

Angola is edging further away from mobile duopoly status with the news that Leonel Augusto, the chairman of the Angolan Institute of Communications (INACOM) has supported Africell’s aim of launching services in the second half of next year.

Turkey’s regulator has cleared the government-backed Turkey Wealth Fund to take a controlling stake in fixed and mobile operator Turkcell.

Leading Indian operator Vodafone Idea (or Vi as it is now known) plans to upgrade its 3G users to 4G in key markets. However, it also plans to retain its 2G services.

Colombian provider Avantel has been cleared by the country’s Superintendency of Companies (Superintendencia de Sociedades, Supersociedades) to continue operations while reorganising its liabilities.

The Azerbaijani economy has a major dependence on oil resources and the ICT industry. The COVID-19 pandemic and oil price slump is expected to result in an economic contraction of 2.2% in 2020, and slow recovery afterwards. The telecom sector is also exposed to the risk of delays in infrastructure and the launching of services based on new technologies, including 5G.

Djibouti is one of the few remaining countries in which the national telco, Djibouti Telecom, has a monopoly on all telecom services, including fixed lines, mobile, internet and broadband. The lack of competition has meant that the market has not lived up to its potential.

Indonesia’s large population and complex geography pose a number of challenges for governments to develop economic growth. These challenges are mirrored in the telecom sector, which is well served by mobile infrastructure, but which has inadequate fixed-line capacity in many areas.

Morocco has developed one of the most advanced telecommunications markets in Africa, supported by the government’s Maroc Digital 2020 strategy to encourage the development of a digital economy and on the National Broadband Plan which aims to provide fixed or mobile broadband access to the entire population by 2022. The country had the fastest mobile broadband data rates in Africa as of June 2020, a testament to investments made by the MNOs over the years.

Zimbabwe since 2019 has been hit by significant macro-economic difficulties, a climate-related drought, and the effects of COVID-19. Revenue from the telecom sector came under pressure from a number of recent regulatory measures and taxes imposed by the cash-strapped government, though to alleviate the effects of inflation, mobile service tariffs have been increased three times since mid-2019.

Slovakia’s government has stated that it plans to commence its delayed 5G spectrum auction before the end of 2020.

Philippines operator Globe Telecom announced a large-scale network upgrade backed by massive investments, in a bid to boost connectivity services in the country by 2021 and adhering to government requests. 

Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance is reportedly looking to sell off a stake in state provider Ethio Telecom next month.

The United Arab Emirates’ telecommunications regulator set an ambitious target of 100% 5G coverage in the country by 2025, in a bid to become technology leaders of the network standard in the Middle East.

Indian operator Bharti Airtel wrote to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to confirm its first payment in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) due, in a bid to bring clarity to the complicated process.