Operators

Ericsson announced it will supply Telia with gear for its 5G deployment in Lithuania, the fourth contract to be awarded to the vendor by the operator in the Nordics and Baltics.

Employees of Kosovo Telecom threatened the government with protests and disruption to telecoms services, if the government does not take action against a private company it accuses of funnelling money.

Tunisia tipped 2022 to be the year the country launches commercial 5G services.

Reliance Industries raised $1 billion in investment from two sovereign wealth funds, a move for the oil-reliant company to diversify from its staple business.

Philippines operator DITO Telecommunity said it is on target to launch commercial services in March next year, saying it is on track to pass a government technical audit.

Veon announced it reached it an agreement to sell its Armenian unit to Team LLC, putting an end to months of dispute amongst rivals.

Orange stated its Guinea unit suffered a cut to its international communications for three days without any prior knowledge to it happening, as the country was rocked with protests.

Vodacom said it had seen a surge in base station vandalism and battery thefts in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, urging communities to aid it in preventing connectivity switching off in the region.

Network testing company Ookla reported UAE-based operator Etisalat had the fastest mobile data speeds in 2020 so far.

AT&T Mexico has returned a portion of its 800MHz spectrum to the country’s regulator in a bid to reduce its costs.

Telecom Egypt tapped Ericsson to leverage the vendor’s technology to migrate its international gateway, in a bid to accelerate services and commence entry into the IoT market.

Bharti Airtel announced it will exit the Ghanaian telecoms market with the government set to acquire all shares in its joint venture AirtelTigo.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) revealed it approved MTN Nigeria and Emerging Markets Telecommunication Service (EMTS) to carry out a network sharing trial, a move to spur resource sharing among operators to improve connectivity services.

Philippines operator PLDT announced it secured permission to double its tower presence in the country, as part of plans to meet growing connectivity demands and government targets.

Telecom Egypt announced plans to construct Egypt’s largest international data centre, in a move to fortify its standing in the country as the largest subsea cables operator in the region.

STC reportedly took a step forward in the potential IPO of its products and services arm Solutions by STC, by hiring banks to arrange the sale of shares in the subsidiary.

T-Mobile’s Czech unit will switch on its non-standalone 5G network on November 1 in two locations with the aim to cover 25% of the population by the end of the year.

Telenor Myanmar has apparently lost more than six million customers in the third quarter of this year. However, as parent company Telenor of Norway points out in its recent third quarter results summary, much of this is related to SIM deactivation.

Airtel Lanka, a Sri Lankan operator and subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, this week announced that it has been awarded 4G spectrum in the 850MHz band.

Indonesian operator Telkomsel announced an IDR10.3 trillion ($701 million) deal to sell 6,050 towers to tower company PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi (Mitratel), a deal to support its focus on main parts of the business.

Globe Telecom announced it completed the removal of consumer 3G SIM cards across its retail and distribution chains, a move in line with a goal to migrate customers to 4G and 5G services.

Zambian operator Zamtel announced it switched on 744 towers to vastly expand its network coverage, with its chief executive claiming the move repositioned the operator to have the largest coverage in Zambia.

Swedish vendor Ericsson beat rivals to supply equipment for Czech operator CETIN’s 5G network, Reuters reported.

Zain Group will transfer management of state-owned operator Touch to the Lebanese government by the end of this month, reported Lebanon’s official National News Agency.

Malaysian operator Digi Telecommunications announced it chose ZTE to supply equipment for its nationwide network modernisation project, as part of plans to prepare for a commercial 5G launch.

Vodacom KwaZulu Natal Region pledged to invest over ZAR320 million ($19.3 million) for infrastructure in the South African region, with a major focus on building new LTE base stations.

Liquid Telecom South Africa announced the appointment of Deon Geyser (pictured) as its new CEO effective from next year, as part of plans to reposition the company as a leading digital services provider.

Nextel Brazil has been rebranded as Claro-nxt after being acquired by America Movil in December last year.

Rakuten Mobile and STC signed a memorandum of understanding, with the aim to collaborate and improve mobile technologies through the use of open technology and wireless infrastructure.