All Tech News

Continuing what has been a very eventful period for the satellite operator, Intelsat has announced a partnership with the leading Kenyan operator Safaricom to expand LTE coverage in the country.

Safaricom, the newest telecom operator in Ethiopia, has signed a five-year lease agreement with state-owned power utility Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) to share dark fibre-optic infrastructure in the Horn of African nation, the first infrastructure deal with Ethiopia.

Colt Technology Services, a provider of network and voice connectivity to businesses in Europe, Asia and the US, has announced that it is enhancing the reach of its Polish metropolitan area networks (MANs) in six cities across Poland: Katowice, Wroclaw, Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk and Poznan.

Egyptian operator Etisalat Misr is modernising its Business Support Systems (BSS) using solutions from Ericsson.

Mobile wallet payments are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42.7% between 2021 and 2025 and reach INR305.6 trillion ($4.1 trillion) in 2025 in India, said a study.

Philippines-based operator PLDT announced it has received offers from six foreign companies to buy up half its towers for around US$1 billion, as the firm pushes on with plans to cut debt and invest in its broadband and mobile internet business.

M-Pesa, which is Kenya’s, and the African continent’s, best-known mobile payment system, has passed the 30 million user mark in Kenya.

Brazil’s Telefonica Vivo is deploying a simplified and automated, 5G-ready IP network for its converged mobile and fixed networks as part of the Fusion Network Project in Brazil using solutions from Cisco and NEC Corporation.

International payments platform Paysend has expanded its money transfer services with Pix, the Central Bank of Brazil’s instant payment platform.

Ooredoo Kuwait, the telecommunications company in Kuwait owned by the Ooredoo group, has appointed data analytics specialists LigaData to support data-driven digital transformation projects.

Airtel Africa, the provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, confirmed that it has completed the early repayment of its USD 505 million 5.125% Guaranteed Senior Notes, using cash balances available at the Group level.

EllaLink, the high-capacity and low latency fibre-optic submarine cable directly connecting Latin America and Europe, which recently announced a partnership with internet operator Group IP Telecom, has announced another strategic partnership – this time with internet exchange (IX) operator DE-CIX.

Malaysia’s largest operators Celcom Axiata, Digi Telecommunications, Maxis and U Mobile, hailed their collective efforts to achieve hit 96.9% coverage of 4G in the country, exceeding a government target.

South African mobile communications company Vodacom Group stated that its ICT unit Vodacom Business has launched V-Hub, an online resource portal, specifically designed to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Beyon Connect, a subsidiary of Bahrain's operator Batelco, has launched OneBox, as the first country in the Middle East to deliver digital postbox services.

From the start of this week, the users of Crnogorski Telekom in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica have had access to a 5G network in a number of locations, making the company the first operator in Montenegro to put a 5G network into commercial operation.

The wait for reliable connectivity is not going to be over for Tonga for some while. Recent reports suggest that the cable connecting the Tongan islands, which was ripped apart by January's devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami, could take a year to fix.

Altan Redes, the Mexican public-private initiative that seeks to expand mobile communications coverage in remote areas of Mexico, has been granted an extension of its coverage target timescale.

Zain KSA and Huawei announced the launch of the Middle East and Norther Africa's first 5G LAN network in the country, as the operator aims to tap into the growing B2B demand for 5G services. 

Indian multinational telecommunications services company Bharti Airtel and compatriot banking and financial services company Axis Bank have announced a strategic partnership to bring to market a range of financial offerings and digital services exclusively for Airtel’s more than 340 million customers.

Hard on the heels of last week’s trial announcement with Nokia, Saudi Arabian operator STC has announced another major partnership, this time involving a carrier aggregation proof of concept with Ericsson.

In what is apparently the first official Microsoft Azure region announcement of 2022 Microsoft has announced plans for a data centre in Hyderabad, India. It has also opened a new facility in China.

As would-be rival Safaricom Ethiopia gets ready to start operations, Ethiopian incumbent operator Ethio Telecom is expanding the scope of its mobile money service telebirr. According to the Ethiopian Herald news service the latest offering is a drivers' traffic penalty payment platform.

By 2024, 40% of Indian large enterprises will expand the use of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) across all business-critical horizontal functions like marketing, legal, HR, procurement, and supply chain logistics said a study.

Chinese consumer electronics and mobile communications company Oppo has set up what it calls a Power and Performance Lab at at its Hyderabad R&D centre in India as part of what are described as plans to building an entire product development ecosystem from India.

Hard on the heels of a busy MWC for both companies, Ooredoo Qatar and Ericsson have highlighted the successful implementation of what is described as the world’s first 5G indoor shareable solution in Qatar, achieving speeds of 1.5 gigabits per second (Gbps).

South African multinational mobile telecommunications company MTN Group and the Open RAN-focused vendor Rakuten Symphony sign an MoU to conduct 4G and 5G OpenRAN trials in South Africa, Nigeria, and Liberia based on Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP).

Beijing 2022’s Winter Olympic Games experience was improved with the use of Prevail’s cutting-edge digitalized ticketing. Spectators were able to access the stadiums in 1.5 seconds, with the digital ticketing system using Prevail’s PDA to verify ticket QR codes.

An executive revealed Cisco is replacing Chinese made equipment in Indian operator infrastructure while exploring the option of opening manufacturing plants in India.

Completing a very busy few days for Intelsat, the satellite operator has added deals in Brazil and Mali to the recently reported Ku-band-related agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.