Operators

Bharti Airtel is looking to reduce its African footprint through consolidation or stake reductions in six non-profitable markets.

NTT Communications has acquired a Virtual Network Operator – International Long Distance (VNO-ILD) licence in India through its affiliate, NTT Communications India Network Services (NTTCINS).

Having long held third place in the Thai mobile market, True Move has pushed into second place in Q1 2017 after the previous number two dtac recorded a poor first quarter.

China Mobile’s Pakistani unit Zong has pledged that it will upgrade all of its mobile base stations to 4G by the end of 2017.

Vodacom Tanzania is considering whether to push back the deadline for parties to register their interest in its upcoming IPO, which is thus far under-subscribed.

Fitch Ratings has pegged Thailand’s number two operator dtac as the most likely to have its proposal accepted for state operator TOT’s 4G public-private partnership contract.

Reliance Jio is extending its free service promotion across the summer, adding an extra three months during which its subscribers can access free voice and data.

In a bid to reduce its debt, Bharti Airtel has sold a 10.3% stake in its tower unit Infratel to a group of investors.

Indian market leader Bharti Airtel is acquiring the 4G unit of Tikona Digital Networks.

Orange is launching its brand in Burkina Faso, bolstering its offering in West Africa.

India’s state-owned provider BSNL is upgrading all of its 2G sites to 3G base stations and deploying 4G services in certain areas across the next fiscal year.

Millicom International Cellular S.A. and Bharti Airtel have agreed to combine their operations in Ghana.

NFS, holding company of Telecel mobile operations, is merging with international carrier Telecel Global (formerly Exxon Telecom).

Zain has partnered with Myca Health to develop and implement a mobile electronic medical health record (EMR) platform across its network.

Indian newcomer Reliance Jio has attracted 100 million subscribers in just five months, according to the operator’s chairman Mukesh Ambani.

MTN registered an overall loss in 2016 which it attributed in large part to the $1 billion fine it received from the Nigerian government.

Millicom has signed an agreement for the sale of its Tigo business in Senegal to Wari Group for $129 million.

Deutsche Telekom’s Romanian operations are reportedly up for sale, with the operator believed to be holding talks to sell off its fixed and mobile units separately.

Telenor’s Indian unit has floated the possibility of merging with Aircel & RCom once their proposed merger is complete.

Israeli operator Xfone has taken legal action in an attempt to prevent market leader Cellcom from forming a network-sharing arrangement with the owner of Golan Telecom.

Vodafone has confirmed that it is negotiating a potential merger of its Indian unit with Idea Cellular, in a move which would dramatically shake up the market.