Operators

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has reportedly urged the country’s  four main state-owned telcos to lead the charge in implementing the government’s semiconductor growth strategy.

Veon’s Ukrainian subsidiary Kyivstar revealed at Mobile World Congress 2024 on Monday it intends to purchase and deploy Open RAN and 5G technologies from Japan’s Rakuten Symphony into its network.

Malaysian telco Maxis announced on Monday at Mobile World Congress 2024 it has expanded its strategic collaboration with Google Cloud by integrating generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into its workflow and service offerings.

ABS-CBN Corporation and PLDT mutually agreed to terminate the sale of the former’s broadband and TV unit Sky Cable to the operator. 

Thai telco True Corp revealed on Tuesday its new Business and Network Intelligence Center (BNIC), which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to boost network reliability for True’s mobile and fixed broadband network services.

Vodafone Group announced it will install new Open RAN sites in 20 cities across Romania, to enhance industrial efficiency and boost innovation in the country.

The workers union of state-owned Indian operator BSNL said the operator is “sinking” into “crisis”, after claiming equipment from Tata Consultancy Services needed for its long-delayed 4G launch will take a year to be ready for commercial use.

An intervention by the employees union of Indian state-owned operator BSNL, suggesting that BSNL should engage in a limited network sharing deal with private operator Vodafone Idea, has highlighted concerns about the speed – or otherwise – of BSNL’s 4G rollout.

South Africa-based service provider CMC Networks announced it has partnered with diagnostic services provider Cerba Lancet Africa to drive innovations in digital health and boost healthcare across the continent.

Bayobab Group landed its 45,000km 2Africa cable in Ghana and Nigeria, marking the third and fourth in a series of six landings from the 2Africa subsea cable system. 

Telecoms tower company IHS Nigeria, a subsidiary of IHS Towers, announced on Wednesday that Airtel Nigeria has signed a deal renewing its contract and expanding its tenancies to almost 10,000 over the next five years.

Veon-owned Ukrainian operator Kyivstar revealed plans to broaden its capex spend up to US$1 billion in the next five years, as the operator rebuilds its operations stricken by war. 

Telefonica Peru reported over half of data traffic stemmed from fibre optic cables and is now aiming to have over three-quarters of traffic on fibre by the end of 2024. 

Vodacom Group reported revenue increased by 26.8% to ZAR8.9 billion (US$477 million) in Q3, fuelled by its acquisition of Vodafone Egypt, as well as hitting the 200 million customers milestone in the quarter, doubling its base since 2018. 

Polish IT company Comarch announced that it has signed a deal with Ukrainian telco Kyivstar to help modernize and update its field service maintenance activities.

Veon subsidiary Banglalink said on Wednesday it has completed the sale of part of its tower portfolio in Bangladesh to Summit Towers for BDT11 billion (US$100 million).

Liberty Latin America (LLA) switched on its 5G network in Costa Rica for localised tests as part of plans for commercial launch this year. 

Indonesian operator Telkomsel announced it has formed a strategic partnership with Google to provide rich communication services (RCS), including a rich business messaging (RBM) feature aimed at enterprises.

The third-biggest South African operator, Telkom, has released an announcement claiming it has helped to win convictions for cable theft and infrastructure vandalism at various operations across the country.

Russian operator group MTS offloaded its Armenian unit MTS Armenia to Cyprus-based Fedlico Group after finally gaining regulatory approval.

MTN Group pledged to invest US$215 million in infrastructure into Benin over the next three years after seeing positive results from 5G trials in the country. 

Operator Orange Madagascar has announced plans to double its network coverage to reach about 90% of the island country’s 29 million people by the end of this year.

Israeli operator Bezeq announced it will enter the electricity supply sector this year with aims to be a "major player", and seizing opportunity as the nation opened its energy sector to fresh competition. 

Cambodian operator CamGSM said on Wednesday that it has secured a US$70 million guaranteed loan from GuarantCo – a subsidiary of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) – to support its sustainability bond.

Malaysian mobile operator CelcomDigi announced a new partnership on Tuesday with Yinson GreenTech under which new postpaid 5G customers can also get an electric bike on an instalment plan.

Thailand’s state telco National Telecom (NT) is reportedly seeking government approval for a 5-billion baht (US$145 million) expansion plan that, among other things, calls for building two new data centres to satisfy cloud demand among state agencies.

Indonesian ISP Link Net is reportedly planning to raise up to US$500 million by selling a stake in its fibre business as it gears up to expand its network coverage.

It has been widely reported in the Indian press that Tata Communications Transformation Services (TCTS), a subsidiary of Indian digital ecosystem enabler Tata Communications, has issued a service contract  termination notice to operator Vodafone Idea (aka Vi) after the company did not pay TCTS on time.

Australia-based operator Telstra extended its network capabilities in Latin America by establishing a dedicated point-of-presence (PoP) in Dallas, Texas and collaborating with Mexican operators Axtel and Vivaro, in its pursuit of growth.