All Tech News

Indonesian telecommunications tower company Mitratel (Dayamitra Telekomunikasi) pledged to put US$69.5 million into constructing new towers in remote locations across Indonesia.

Nokia is showcasing the UBT-T XP Dual Band radio, the latest addition to its award-winning Wavence product family, at Mobile World Congress 2022.

Dubai-based telecom infrastructure solutions provider Arc Solutions has signed an agreement with Israel ISP and IT solutions provider Bezeq International (BI) to deploy its network in Bezeq International’s data centre in Tel Aviv.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company invested US$350m (€309m) in Asian data centre operator Princeton Digital Group (PDG), backed by Warburg Pincus.

Satellite-direct-to-phone telecoms company Lynk Global, whose global commercial service is poised to launch later this year, says it has signed multiple commercial contracts with a number of mobile operators covering seven island nations in the Pacific and Caribbean.

Leading business services provider IBM has announced a multi-million dollar investment in its resources to help businesses prepare for and manage the growing threat of cyberattacks to organisations across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region – including new facilities in India.

Indian digital ICT solutions provider Sify Technologies Limited has concluded power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Vibrant Energy Holdings, which describes its  mission as 'to lead the transition of corporate and industrial customers to a more sustainable, resilient, and low-cost energy future', for 231 MW of solar and wind energy capacity.

Tonga has seen its connectivity restored as its international subsea cable was repaired after a volcanic eruption last month caused a communications blackout.

America Movil’s Telcel has switched on 5G services in 18 of Mexico’s largest cities.

Rohde & Schwarz China together with Zhuhai DingLi has won the 2021 China Mobile centralised procurement project for 5G scanners.

Intracom Telecom announced the extension of supply of its Point-to-Multipoint (PtMP) WiBAS-OSDR (hub) and WiBAS-Connect (terminal) at 10.5 GHz band to Lintasarta, an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) total solutions company in Indonesia.

From 2G – which is still popular in many regions - to 5G, more and more cellular systems are emerging and co-existing. A solution to balance between new technology and CAPEX/OPEX is necessary for telcos or system integrators.

Digicel is replacing its end-of-life IP Transfer Point (ITP) systems in use at 26 of its markets in the Caribbean and Central America with BroadForward’s Signalling Transfer Point (STP).

Ooredoo Maldives has partnered with Rakuten Viber to enable customers in the Maldives to easily send and receive money transfers on Viber’s m-Faisaa messaging platform.

The Satcom Industry Association of India (SIA-India) and the Indian Space Association (ISpA) have inked memorandum of understandings (MoU) with consultancy company Geospatial World, seeing collaboration as the key to growing India's satellite communications sector. 

PLDT, one of the Philippines' major telecommunications providers, has said it is to develop a 100MW data centre in Santa Rosa, in the Laguna province of the Philippines, which is situated southeast of Metro Manila. The purpose-built facility will be constructed through PLDT’s ICT arm ePLDT.

Cloud-related deals have been in the news recently – notably in the form of two major announcements affecting Thailand and the MEA region.

The State Bank of Pakistan approved MCB Bank to perform due diligence to acquire a majority stake in Telenor's financial operations in Pakistan.

Open RAN firm Parallel Wireless is collaborating with Türk Telekom and Juniper Networks on a multivendor Open RAN initiative to deliver state-of-the-art broadband communications.

Vietnam announced it will begin researching and developing 6G technology this year with ambitions to become a global leader in the digital world, earmarking cloud computing and digital platforms as beneficiaries to the future standard.

Cellcom, Israel’s largest cellular provider, and the compatriot telecommunications equipment supplier Novlesat aim to collaborate on a pilot of real-time video content distribution on 5G network infrastructure.

An uplifting recent story of African entrepreneurial success comes from South Africa where Lipa Payments, a local fintech start-up, has secured a R10 million (just under US$660,000) investment from Empowerment Capital’s Imvelo Ventures, which is backed by Capitec Bank.

Rival Indian service providers Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have made major announcements relating to their undersea cable interests.

Two of Somaliland’s operators, Somtel and Telesom, have agreed to enable interconnecting calls between their networks.

China Mobile joined hands with Huawei in building an optical network to connect the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao area. Huawei says that it is “the world’s largest green all-optical switching hub network”.

Philippines fibre broadband company Converge ICT has launched a new web portal and new app, both working in tandem as a one-stop shop for new and existing customers for application, payment, and other customer services.

Ukraine’s Lifecell has launched VoLTE services that it plans to expand “in stages”.

Pakistan’s largest bank network HBL is adopting Temenos’ core banking platform to improve the user experience of its domestic and international operations.

Following the intense competition, China’s smartphone shipments dropped 11% YoY in Q4 2021 with Apple ending on top and reaching its highest market share ever.

Iran has announced an ambitious project to connect over 20 million homes and businesses to the high-speed fixed fibre network in the country.

The role of entertainment content in offering new revenue streams for mobile operators has again been underlined after recent deals involving Indian giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel and content suppliers.

Infinet Wireless, the global developer and manufacturer of broadband wireless access solutions, has assisted ASTEL, Internet service provider in Kazakhstan, to expand its backbone network via radio links in the Almaty region.

Yahsat Government Solutions (YGS), the dedicated government arm of Yahsat, which offers multi-mission satellite services in more than 150 countries, has been awarded a contract, whose value is estimated at US$247.5 million, to provide enhanced managed services to the UAE government for its satellite communications capabilities.