Madagascar's strengthening economic output is helping to increase consumer spend on telecom services, reports Research & Markets.

Bharti Telecom, a holding company for Bharti Airtel, is looking to clear its debts by selling a 2.75% stake in the operator for US$1 billion.

Intelsat and Mindset Network NPC have extended their partnership to provide students, teachers, healthcare professionals and patients across Africa with access to free online educational content.

Although delayed by the long civil war which ended in 1992, Mozambique was one of the first countries in the region to embark upon telecom reform, reports Research & Markets.

Regulatory issues continue to be in the news for operators in India as they look for progress on 5G spectrum pricing and the apparently more urgent issue of the fixing of floor prices for tariffs.

KKR has become the fifth major foreign investor in Jio Platforms in a month, acquiring a 2.32% stake in the digital unit for INR113.7 billion (US$1.5 billion).

Jamaican operator Digicel has filed for Chapter 15 recognition in a US federal bankruptcy court as it moves to the next stage of its debt restructuring strategy.

Among recent financial results from telecommunications service providers are two contrasting reports from Malaysia.

According to reports in the West African regional press, the World Bank has allocated $30 million to Gambia for use in telecommunications and energy.

Angola’s government has issued the country’s fourth mobile licence to Africell Holdings.

It now looks pretty certain that there won’t be a 5G spectrum auction in India this year. However, there may be an auction of some sort – involving 4G.

Telecommunications company takeovers and sales have been in the news in Brazil recently as a regional broadband provider plans to buy up three rivals and a delayed auction of a power group’s communications subsidiary is put back to later this year.

Two news stories related to the ever-topical subject of taxation of service providers have recently emerged: in Indonesia a new tax is about to be imposed, while in Syria an unpaid tax is being pursued.

Reliance Industries is on something of a hot streak of overseas investment, having sold a 1.34% stake in its digital unit Jio Platforms to US-based private equity firm General Atlantic.

The three leading Indian operators may be looking at even more fines – this time for missing rollout targets, though at least some of the blame for this is being assigned to the recent lockdown.

Saudi Arabia offers one of the most progressive telecoms markets in the Middle East and is well positioned to capitalise on the potential opportunities offered by 5G, reports Research & Markets.

The ICT sector in Cameroon is making steady progress enabling the country to make better use of the digital economy, reports Research & Markets.

Helios Towers is acquiring 65 wireless telecommunications sites in South Africa from Eagle Towers SA.

The Sultanate of Oman has established a progressive mobile sector that comprises substantial coverage of both 3G and 4G LTE networks, reports Research & Markets.

The Colombian Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (MinTIC) has now issued all of the 2.5GHz spectrum licences won during the country’s multi-band spectrum auction in December 2019.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a troubled history, and accordingly its national telecom system remains one of the least developed in the region, reports Research & Markets.

Mobile money was a key driver of revenue growth for Airtel Africa’s first year-end results since its IPO in July 2019.

Ethiopia was one of the last countries in Africa to allow its national telco a monopoly on all telecom services including fixed, mobile, internet and data communications, reports Research & Markets.

Reliance Industries has attracted a further INR113.7 billion ($1.5 billion) of investment into its Jio Platforms tech unit, this time from Vista Equity Partners.