Operators

Pakistani operators Jazz and Zong have each been issued 5G test licences valid for six months by the country’s regulator, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

Oman Future Telecoms (OFT) is leasing towers from Oman Tower Company in order to bring its wireless offering to the market.

An entrant in Colombia’s recent spectrum auction has asked to retract its bid after accidentally offering to pay ten times more than the going rate for the licence.

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) must repay INR1.04 billion (USD14.4 million) to the bankrupt operator Reliance Communications (RCom) after the country’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has issued an interim order preventing Nepal’s government from collecting capital gains tax on Axiata’s acquisition of Ncell.

America Movil has closed its acquisition of Nextel Brazil for final total of $905 million.

Three of Uruguay’s leading operators have all procured spectrum in the country’s recent auction.

Middle Eastern operator Etisalat has claimed that Dubai’s Etisalat Metro Station is the first 5G-enabled metro in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Vodafone Idea has issued a statement denying that it was in talks with investment firms over the potential sale of fibre and data centre assets.

Strong growth in Malawi has prompted Airtel Africa to pursue an IPO of its local unit on the country’s stock exchange.

Three tower firms in Bangladesh have asked to defer fee payments to the government as clashes with local operators have prevented them from commencing operations.

Turkcell, the largest mobile operator in Turkey, has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding in relation to an eight-year term loan of 500 million euros with China Development Bank (CDB).

NEQSOL Holding, representing Azerbaijan's Bakcell, has completed its acquisition of Vodafone Ukraine from Russia's MTS.

How long can India’s beleaguered operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea handle high levels of debt? That’s the question arising from a recent report from credit rating agency Moody’s.

Poland’s P4, which operates as Play, has announced its intent to use frequencies that it holds in the 2100MHz band to offer 5G services without having to obtain spectrum at auction.

Zain, a major mobile operator in eight markets across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed a first in the MENA region with a new 5G roaming service.

The third market entrant in the Philippines, DITO, has signed tower sharing agreements with Leo Technologies Infrastructure Corp and Alt-Global-Solutions Inc.

Orange Group is selling its entire 95.5% holding in its Niger operation to Zamani Com after getting the green light from Niger’s telecom authorities.

Ratings agency Fitch has cautioned that the Indian government’s two-year moratorium on spectrum fees will not offset dues.

Mexican operator Telefonica Movistar has announced the signing of a last-mile wireless capacity access agreement with AT&T in Mexico. Parent company Telefonica, which has a strong presence in Spain, Europe and Latin America, says that this a long-term agreement.

The deputy prime minister of Thailand has told the country’s operators that they should aim to launch commercial 5G by mid-2020.

Is India’s Reliance Jio behind the extension of a bid submission deadline relating to the assets of bankrupt rival Reliance Communications (RCom)? Bharti Airtel seems to think so.

Cell C customers will be able to roam onto MTN South Africa’s network in any part of the country after the operators extended their roaming arrangement.

Thai regulator NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) has dropped plans to decommission the country’s 2G networks after a change of heart from the major operators.