Operators

Vodacom South Africa confirmed up to 80 members of staff might be let go in a move to lower costs and continue its strategy to transition from a telecoms to technology company. 

Hormuud Telecom launched 5G in key locations across Somalia with 4G customers receiving free upgrades to the next generation technology starting from today (March 21). 

Philippines-base operator Globe Telecom closed the sale of 154 towers to Miescor Infrastructure Development Corporation (MIDC) for PHP 13.5 billion (US$242 million). 

UAE operator du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Samsung.

Viettel Group announced it has officially won the Ministry of Information and Communications’ auction for the 2500-2600 MHz band for 5G usage in Vietnam.

stc Bahrain has launched what it claims is the first instant mobile eSIM activation service that uses AI-powered facial recognition to authorise users, one month after Bahrain's telecoms regulator issued guidelines for facial recognition usage in telecoms services.

Indonesian telco XL Axiata and Nokia say that they have successfully completed a five-year project to modernise around 4,400 of XL Axiata’s existing sites in Central Java, to include 5G deployments in four cities.

A number of Indian press reports have suggested that state-owned operator BSNL has installed 3,500 4G-capable base transceiver stations (BTSs) in five north Indian states, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh West.

Research group Opensignal has produced its latest analysis of the mobile network customer experience in South Africa, in which, it says, MTN again takes home the largest haul of awards.

AIS partnered with Google Cloud to deliver a suite of business solutions to SMEs in Thailand, a move to push growth in its enterprise segment. 

Digicel Samoa announced on Monday that it has been granted conditional approval from the Government of Samoa to launch 5G technology, and is already working with Nokia to upgrade its cell tower sites.

Airtel Tanzania managing director Dinesh Balsingh revealed the operator had expanded its coverage with newly constructed towers, as part of an initiative to boost connectivity in rural locations, The Citizen reported.

As Nigeria’s MVNO sector gathers pace, software solutions provider Mobilise has launched Tier 5 MVNE services to cater to this burgeoning market segment.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) will upgrade its broadband footprint with Netcracker Technology to support expanding demand for its fibre to the home (FTTH) service. 

Bangladeshi operator Banglalink announced it will partner with SaaS platform company CSG to enhance its capacity to record daily call detail records (CDRs) to meet anticipated rising volume. 

Indonesian telco Telkomsel and Ericsson subsidiary Vonage revealed on Tuesday they have agreed to collaborate on communications and network APIs for developers, enterprises, and communications service providers (CSPs).

MTN South Africa has launched a new collaboration with the Gauteng Provincial Community Police Board in a bid to address network infrastructure theft and vandalism.

MTN Group warned that its annual profits could plunge by 90% due to the devaluation of the Nigeria’s currency affecting its MTN Nigeria unit. 

Ooredoo Group revealed on Sunday that it has partnered with Microsoft Azure and over-the-top (OTT) streaming solutions provider MediaKind to launch its first OTT streaming platform in six markets.

Nepalese telco Ncell revealed on Friday it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabian telco e& international to collaborate on delivering key digital services, products, and platforms in Nepal.

Cisco and NEC announced a collaboration with TIM Brazil to improve the operator’s network performance, service quality and end-to-end visibility. 

China Mobile International (CMI) announced at Mobile World Congress 2024 that it has struck an alliance with stc Group to advance deployment and implementation of IoT connectivity services for businesses.

UAE-based operator du is looking to build on its success in fixed wireless access (FWA) by launching more specialised consumer and enterprise products, as the operator pushes for more market share gains against main rival Etisalat (e&).

Equitel, Finserve's mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has announced the debut of its 5G network in Kenya. It is the first Kenyan MVNO to roll out 5G.

Among a number of significant announcements at MWC 2024 by Orange Middle East & Africa (OMEA), a major telecom player in the region, have been collaborations with Microsoft and the World Bank.

Telecom Egypt released a barrage of announcements at Mobile World Congress this week covering two 5G partnerships, Africa’s first 1.2 Tbps fibre connection and a 50G PON trial.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Tuesday that its digital operator in Pakistan, Jazz, has launched a new mobile service brand called ROX that targets digital natives with an “integrated lifestyle experience”.

At Mobile World Congress 2024, Malaysian operators CelcomDigi and U Mobile agreed to share 100 multi-operator core network sites across Malaysia, as well as collaborate on developing use cases for 5G-Advanced (5G-A).