Operators

MTN Cameroon and Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel) have signed a memorandum of understanding for a network infrastructure sharing deal for the implementation of national roaming services.

Kazakhstan’s state provider KT (Kazakhtelecom) is selling a 24% stake in its majority-owned mobile subsidiary Kcell.

Guinea-Bissau’s National Regulatory Authority for ICT (ARN) is reviving the country’s state-backed Guine Telecom (Companhia de Telecomunicacoes da Guine-Bissau) including its mobile unit Guinetel.

Pakistan’s government has settled a long-running spat with Etisalat that arose following the UAE-based group’s purchase of a minority stake in PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited).

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), the largest mobile network operator in Russia, has deployed two 5G network pilot areas for Russian bank Sber.

Polish wireless operator Aero2, an affordable mobile operator, with the legendary Free Internet Access (BDI) offer, will merge with the operator cellco Plus (Polkomtel).

Iliad Group has signed an agreement to acquire cable firm UPC Poland from Liberty Global for PLN7 billion (US$1.8 billion).

Indonesia-based mobile telecommunications services operator XL Axiata said that it has started operating a 4G network spread across 14 districts in Maluku and 10 districts in Papua and West Papua.

Globe Telecom, provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines, deployed Infinera's Auto-Lambda platform, to upgrade its existing 4G access and aggregation networks and in anticipation of providing future 5G services.

Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL) will no longer charge for calls made from its network of public phone booths to emergency numbers or any TFL landlines.

Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) claimed to have recorded a peak speed of 3.7 gigabits per second (Gbps), the highest by any operator in India, during 5G trials in Pune (a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra) on the mmWave spectrum band.

Cable & Wireless Panama (CWP), which is 49% owned by Liberty Latin America (LLA), is acquiring Claro Panama from America Movil (AM) for US$200 million.

Mauritius Telecom, a telecommunications company in Mauritius, has begun providing 1 Gbps broadband connectivity, claiming Mauritius is just the second African country after South Africa to provide gigabit speeds to residential subscribers.

The merger of Papua New Guinea’s state providers Telikom PNG and bmobile is reportedly on track to close by the end of this month.

Telenor has confirmed that it still aims to exit the Myanmar market through a sale of its local unit.

Telekom Srbija is acquiring ISP Posta NET from Post Srbije, a Serbian postal service provider.

A1 Slovenija, the second-largest mobile operator in Slovenia, has launched commercial 5G services, offering download rates of up to 1Gbps.

MTN South Africa partnered with Nokia to modernize its network, and enhance connectivity and voice services, a move the operator argued puts it on a strong path to 5G evolution.

Pakistan’s state-owned Ufone obtained a further 2×9MHz of 1800MHz spectrum in the country’s latest spectrum auctions.

African telecommunications giant MTN Group and its Nigerian operation have had a good week with both the announcement of a new multi-country mobile payment deal for MTN Group and also a licence renewal for MTN Nigeria in the past few days.

The mobile telecommunications provider in Malaysia, Celcom Axiata Bhd is prepared to launch its 5G technology services by the end of this year.

Uganda’s number three operator, Africell, is to leave the country after seven years.

Debt-laden telecommunication services provider Vodafone Idea (Vi)’s precarious risk position is likely to impact its rivals, the government, and the other stakeholders at large and could jeopardise the telecom industry in India.

Toko Wireless (Tonga) and WanTok Networks (Vanuatu) have announced the formation of WanTok Pacific Corporation, a company that will launch a new local mobile operator and, it says, provide a full suite of additional telecom services.

Honduras’ state-back operator Hondutel has revealed that its losses topped HNL298.9 million (US$12.4 million) for the first half of 2021, reportedly prompting a rescue package from the country’s government.

MegaFon, the second-largest mobile phone operator and the third-largest telecom operator in Russia, announced that its revenues grew by 7.1% year-on-year to RUB84.1 billion (USD1.1 billion) in the second quarter of 2021, with underlying service revenue improving by 4.5% to RUB76.6 billion.

Israeli mobile network operator company Partner Communications, formerly known as Orange Israel, has made a bid for Marathon (018) Xfone, offering ILS187 million (USD58 million) for the business activity of its smaller rival.

Indonesian digital telco Indosat Ooredoo launched a commercial 5G network in Jakarta.

Chinguitel, the telecommunications service provider in Nouakchott, Mauritania has announced the launch of its first LTE-based services - 4G services - in the country capital as well as six other regions after being awarded a 4G licence last September.

Cameroon’s state-owned CamTel has revealed that it will begin offering mobile and data services nationwide using the brand name Blue.