All Tech News

Vietnamese mobile operators Mobifone, Viettel and VNPT have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a platform under the GSMA Open Gateway initiative to combat online fraud using open CAMARA APIs.

Pan-African operator Orange says it has launched the first-ever 'My Customer, My Boss' initiative simultaneously in its 17 subsidiaries in Middle East and Africa.

Payment and connectivity services company IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) and National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) have announced a strategic partnership to boost the digital payment landscape in Vietnam.

Private 5G networks may not be storming the market yet, but there is undoubtedly steady growth. In fact this week has seen the news that Bahrain operator Batelco by Beyon and tech giant Nokia have joined forces to deploy Bahrain’s first 5G private network.

Apple airlifted US$2 billion worth of iPhones from India to the United States last month, in a strategic move to shield against the impact of rising US import tariffs.

Mobile data consumption and the adoption of 5G services will be key drivers of mobile service revenue growth in Malaysia, according to analyst firm GlobalData.

MTN Uganda and PostBank Uganda have reportedly completed a six-month proof of concept (POC) of the operator’s  secure access service edge (SASE) business solution to power the bank’s digital transformation. 

The Moroccan government has signed separate MoUs with Nokia and Ericsson to accelerate its Digital Morocco 2030 plan, with both vendors agreeing to contribute to digital talent development among other things.

Viettel Networks, a subsidiary of military-owned telco Viettel, announced on Wednesday that the Vietnam-bound link of the Asia Direct Cable (ADC) is now live, more than doubling the country’s international bandwidth.

Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SecDojo, a cybersecurity training platform, to strengthen the country’s resilience against cyberthreats through what are described as targeted capacity-building initiatives.

Another initiative relevant to MEA mobile finance has been launched. This time global digital payments and commerce platform PayPal has announced a strategic partnership with TerraPay, a global money movement company, to enable real-time fund transfers for PayPal customers across the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Operator e& UAE has announced the launch of its autonomous drone-based cell tower inspection, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), calling it a major leap in telecom infrastructure management and operational safety.

Huawei showcased its Xinghe Intelligent Unified SASE Solution, an AI-powered cybersecurity system designed to tackle the rising threat of AI-driven attacks.

Globe Telecom has moved forward with its acquisition of a 50% stake in AB Capital Securities Inc (ABCSI), aiming to strengthen the stock brokerage capabilities of its fintech unit, Mynt, which operates the widely used GCash mobile wallet.

United Bank for Africa (UBA), a leading pan-African financial services institution with a global footprint, says it has upgraded its point of sale (POS) terminals and revamped its UBA MONI banking app with the aim of accelerating digital payments.

South Africa-based MTN Group announced on Tuesday it is collaborating with Meta to enhance the quality and reliability of OTT voice and video calls on applications such as WhatsApp across 12 MTN markets, starting in Nigeria.

Zimbabwe mobile operator NetOne has reportedly struck a deal with direct-to-device (D2D) LEO satellite operator AST SpaceMobile to expand the reach of its 5G services once the satellite network is available in Africa. 

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata announced on Friday it has brought Voice over New Radio (VoNR) out of the lab and into the real world after conducting what it claims is the country’s first successful VoNR trial on a live standalone 5G network.

Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) says that Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has issued a decree approving a Category 1 telecoms license to Omani Space Communications Technologies (OmanSat) to provide fixed communications services.

Zimbabwe’s telecoms regulator is urging the government to introduce mandatory handset registration in a bid to tackle rising cybercrime and improve the safety of mobile money transactions.

Inflight connectivity tech firm SkyFive says it has signed a MoU with Kazakh telecoms operator Freedom Telecom to provide inflight connectivity to airlines and other aircraft operators using SkyFive’s air-to-ground (A2G) solution.

CSG International says that it has struck a deal with Liberty Latin America to streamline its wholesale business and unify its operations across multiple lines of business in 21 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

ICT solutions and smart devices giant Huawei, and Ektech, a solutions distributor, have announced a partnership to develop the internet service provider (ISP) market in Brazil.

Open payments platform Spreedly and EBANX, a global payment service provider specialised in emerging markets, have teamed up to offer international companies seamless access to popular alternative payment methods in Latin America – methods like Brazil’s Pix – as well as e-wallets and local cards.

Axiata Group is reportedly seeking financial advisers as it explores a potential sale of its majority stake in tower subsidiary edotco Group, in a deal that could be worth up to US$3 billion including debt.

Axian Telecom is set to receive a financing package of US$100 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB Global) to help expand its mobile broadband infrastructure across Madagascar and Tanzania.

Orange Jordan announced on Wednesday it has become the first telco in the country to offer satellite broadband services for consumers and enterprises via the Eutelsat Konnect satellite.

NBCC (India) Limited, a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with RailTel Corporation, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) or government-owned establishment under the Ministry of Railways, to collaborate on developing data centre projects.

While many subsea cable stories recently have been about accidents and repairs in the world’s oceans, two recent stories from India and West Africa are land-based and underline some of the potential pitfalls of inadequate planning.

Brazil’s telecoms regulator, Anatel, has granted approval for SpaceX to operate an additional 7,500 Starlink satellites in the country’s airspace.

Global satellite operator SES announced on Tuesday it has landed a deal to provide inflight connectivity (IFC) services to Uzbekistan Airways, whilst also expanding an existing IFC deal with Thai Airways, which in turn launched a separate IFC service with Intelsat.