All Tech News

The proliferation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites has caused a sea change in a sector which has long been dominated by geostationary orbit (GSO) providers.

MEA digital commerce firm Network International announced that telecoms operator Airtel has appointed it as an issuing payments processor for its operations across the African continent.

Malaysian 5G network operator Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) says it has struck a partnership with e-commerce firm Shopee that aims to encourage micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other sellers on Shopee’s platform to adopt 5G.

While mobile remains the dominant form of communications across much of sub-Saharan Africa, fibre is continuing to make inroads into many, arguably very tough, markets for fixed communications, including, if recent reports prove correct, South Sudan.

UAE-headquartered satellite solutions provider Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) says it has contracted satellite manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space for its new geostationary (GEO) telecommunications satellites, Al Yah 4 (AY4) and Al Yah 5 (AY5).

Infrastructure provider Bahrain Network (BNET) announced late last week the launch of a project to transfer all the kingdom's copper internet networks to an ultra-high-speed fibre network.

Thai energy company Gulf Energy Development announced on Friday it has launched an initiative with local telco AIS and the Highland Research and Development Institute (HRDI) to build up solar-powered infrastructure in Thailand’s remote mountainous regions.

ZTE Corporation, a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, recently released the company's Sustainability Report 2023, detailing its strategies, actions and progress in green innovations, social contributions and corporate governance.

Digicel Group has announced that its new subsea fibre cable Deep Blue One serving the Caribbean and the northeast tip of South America is now live, which is big news not only for the four countries connected to it, but also potentially for offshore oil and gas rigs along its path.

A group of telcos and data centre providers in Southeast Asia have formed an alliance called ASEAN Connect.One that aims to make it easier for data centres, carriers and OTT players across the region to collaborate on connectivity services.

The volume of data centre launch news items may perhaps only be matched by news of initiatives to mitigate the power demands of this fast-growing industry. One such this week involves Asia-focused data centre platform company Digital Edge (Singapore) and Peak Energy Investments, a leading renewable developer and independent power producer with operations across Asia.

NuRAN Wireless, a leading supplier of mobile and broadband wireless infrastructure solutions, has announced a five-year network-as-a-service (NaaS) agreement with pan-African service provider MTN for the deployment of 250 sites in Africa under the NaaS business model.

“Breaking news,” says the MTN Cameroon Twitter feed, continuing: “Canal+ is now available on MTN TV.” Yes, MTN Cameroon has partnered Canal+ to deploy a streaming platform. But how will this service benefit Cameroon’s leading network – and its users?

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin says it has broken ground for a new cable landing station at Pantai Mutiara in Jakarta for the Bifrost Cable System that will run between North America and Southeast Asia.

Telecom Egypt and subsea data system supplier SubCom said on Wednesday that they have successfully completed two cable landing stations in Egypt for the India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) subsea cable system.

Padtec, a Brazilian multinational specialising in high-capacity connections, and Peruvian telecommunications company Satelital have announced a partnership to meet the growing demand for submarine networks in Latin America.

Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity service Sigfox has been chosen by South Africa’s National Treasury, which manages national economic policy, prepares the annual budget and manages the government's finances, to support South Africa’s new smart water meter ecosystem.

Satellite operator SES and UZ-SAT, the Republic of Uzbekistan’s national broadband satellite service provider, have announced plans to sign an agreement to deliver what are described as unparalleled connectivity services throughout Uzbekistan via the SES GEO satellite NSS-12.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has partnered with Medi Telecom, part of the Orange Group, in Morocco.

NTT Data Middle East and Africa announced on Tuesday it has launched LEO satellite-based connectivity solutions across the African continent, and has already signed on nine customers from sectors such as retail, banking, mining, and logistics.

VGS, a major name in payment tokenisation has announced a strategic partnership with Onafriq, Africa’s largest payments network, that is aimed at bolstering security and innovation for fintechs across Africa and the Middle East.

Telecommunications operator and ICT provider Ooredoo Qatar has announced what it calls its pioneering Clean Energy – Super Hybrid programme.

Mobile banking remains the most popular form of banking in Cambodia as mobile-based transactions reportedly continue to grow, while internet transactions are now declining.

Ericsson announced on Monday that Vodafone Egypt has become the first mobile operator to deploy its triple-band radio, which supports both FDD and TDD spectrum, as part of its network modernisation and capacity expansion initiative.

Nokia announced on Monday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with university Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) to conduct joint R&D for 5G and 6G use cases in India’s transportation and logistics sector.

The LoRa Alliance, the global association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN standard for the internet of things (IoT) low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), has announced the accreditation of DEKRA’s Atibaia, Brazil, facility as a LoRa Alliance Authorised Test Lab (ATL). This is the first ATL in Latin and South America.

Constl, which delivers digital telecom infrastructure solutions within the B2B sector, says it is deploying networking systems, services and software company Ciena’s optical technology to offer high-speed metro area network (MAN) and national long distance (NLD) connectivity services across its pan-India network.

Mobile service revenue in India was predicted to yield a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3%  from US$27.7 billion in 2023 to US$32.6 billion by 2028, due to adoption of data services, according to analyst company GlobalData.

Global smartphone shipments are predicted to grow by 4% year-on-year in 2024 to 1.21 billion units due to rebounding consumer demand.

Four ministries in Malaysia reportedly held talks on Saturday to develop an action plan to implement the country’s second 5G network, while telcos are expected to meet this month’s deadline to finalise their investment in the first one, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB).

Amazon Web Services announced that its long-planned AWS Asia Pacific (Bangkok) Region will go live in early 2025 as it makes good on its earlier pledge to invest more than 190 billion baht (US$5 billion) in Thailand by 2037.