Thai regulator NBTC has cleared all five of the applications received for its upcoming spectrum auction, paving the way for a lucrative round of bidding.

Are the 2019 results announced recently by Emirati operator du positive, negative or both? It rather depends on how they are interpreted, it seems.

North Macedonia’s regulator, the Agency for Electronic Communications (AEK), is planning to award 5G spectrum in the second half of this year and has opened a public consultation on the initiative.

According to local press reports, UZI Zambia Mobile, the latest operator entrant in the Zambian mobile market, is still not up and running, despite acquiring a concession to operate in Zambia as long ago as April 2018.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s (MIIT) has granted China Telecom, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Network licences that will enable them to deliver indoor coverage via the 3.3GHz to 3.4GHz band.

Globe Telecom has detailed its 5G deployment plans for the Philippines across the next year.

It’s been a while since we last reported on the Right of Way regulations for telecommunications infrastructure rollout in India, and the problems the Department of Telecom (DoT) has had enforcing them. However, little seems to have changed in recent months.

The prime minster of Burkina Faso, Christophe Dabire, has labelled Orange’s propose price hike “unacceptable”.

A senior official in Colombia’s Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications is being investigated by the country’s Attorney General’s Office in relation to the country’s recent spectrum auction.

Recent third quarter 2019 results from the Vodafone Group highlighted a good performance in Africa for Vodacom, while efforts are continuing to simplify the group to two differentiated, scaled geographic regions: Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.

Both Zambia – through state-owned operator Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel) – and Nigeria appear to be pushing through new rules on mobile subscriber registration.

Guyana’s regulator has dismissed a proposal from Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) to settle a long-running tax dispute.

The regulator of Honduras has confirmed that it intends to release the 3.5GHz band for mobile use.

Hard on the heels of its recent 5G announcement comes more good news for Vodacom in the form of recently published results for the company that indicate impressive growth, especially in South Africa.

According to regional press reports, Cuba’s number of fixed line connections is growing and fast mobile growth is expected for this year.

Vodacom South Africa is lining up a 5G launch for this year.

Tele2 has been informed by Croatia’s competition authority that its proposed sale of its local unit will receive formal clearance within the next month.

MTN is planning to invest US$1.6 billion into its Nigerian unit across the next three years.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is acquiring Vodafone’s 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt.

As might be expected, the continuing drive to get 5G auctions and rollouts under way is throwing up a number of controversies. The latest policy debates have taken place in Poland and the Czech Republic.

It seems that industry sympathy for Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel after the two Indian operators were hit with a massive bill for unpaid dues may not be shared by some members of the general public.