All Tech News

Pan-African operator Vodacom has installed three new solar-powered sites in South Africa as part of what it describes as its energy and carbon management strategy and commitment to reducing its impact on the environment.

Satellite networking technology, solutions and services company Gilat Satellite Networks has announced that it has received a $12 million service award for recurring revenues from broadband services in Cusco, Peru.

The giant telecoms corporation America Movil, having decided on a reorganization earlier this year, is now to propose a spinoff of its towers business to shareholders.

Africa’s largest telecom company MTN Group is reportedly in talks with potential international buyers for its wireless business in Afghanistan, a bid to accelerate plans to exit the country, as per a Bloomberg report.

Dr. Amr Talaat, Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, has announced plans to provide more than 60 million people in rural areas with high-speed internet under an ambitious drive to unlock new pathways for economic growth.

UAE-headquartered satellite solutions provider Al Yah Satellite (Yahsat) has selected Cobham SATCOM, a provider of satellite communications solutions to the land, aeronautical and maritime industries, to deliver a comprehensive mobile broadband system, including ground infrastructure and products, to operate as part of its next-generation Thuraya 4-NGS system.

Investors continue to display a strong appetite for data centre investment in the Asia Pacific region. The data centre market across the region is expected to see another record year in terms of investment, with an estimated US$1.8 billion in direct investments already transacted in the first half of 2021.

Satellite and multi-transport technologies and networks specialist Hughes Network Systems and Bharti group-backed low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company OneWeb have signed an MoU for a strategic agreement to distribute satellite services in India to large enterprises, small and medium businesses, government, telcos, and ISPs in the rural and remote parts of the country.

International rating agency S&P maintained Bharti Airtel’s credit rating of “BBB-“, and upgraded outlook to stable from negative, indicating the company’s improved financial status and ability to pay back debt.

The principal telecommunications company in Bahrain Batelco has announced the expansion of its mobile network, to cover major housing developments currently being built by the Ministry of Housing and the private sector across Bahrain.

In an interesting example of cooperation to avoid duplication, Tanzania is planning to use electricity infrastructure to deploy broadband services.

ZTE Corporation has exclusively won the bid for 5G nomadic base stations from China Mobile Research Institute.

Latvian network operator Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT) has set up a 5G mobility innovation testbed at the Bikernieki racetrack in the capital city of Riga.

Netcracker Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, extended its contract with Maxis, Malaysia's converged service provider, for its Digital OSS, which provides the underlying digital and automation foundation for Maxis including fibre optic footprint and next-gen IP network.

Broadband satellite networks and services provider Hughes Network Systems and Indonesian operator DTP plan to connect citizens in Papua and throughout Indonesia with satellite broadband.

Indonesia’s biggest cellular operator Telkomsel chose Infinet Wireless solutions for building up a radio link of 180 km to provide connectivity in challenging terrain.

Namibia's largest telecommunications company, Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC Namibia) is set to list on the Stock Exchange (NSX) by the end of November 2021 and 367.5 million shares are to be made available to the general public, MTC chairperson Theo Mberirua said.

5G will accelerate the adoption of Smart Home IoT devices, such as Smart TV (29%), Smart Health Systems (21%), and Smart Speakers (17%), said a survey.

The Peruvian Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) has announced continued enhancements in its drive to expand mobile coverage in rural areas.

According to a number of reports, PLDT, a leading operator in the Philippines, is considering selling its data centres, with a potential value in the region of half a billion dollars. However, its towers, also the subject of sell-off speculation, could make even more money.

Africa’s largest fintech platform has been celebrating a major milestone with the news that M-Pesa has reached 50 million monthly active customers, cementing its position as Africa’s largest fintech platform.

Indonesian wireless network provider Telkomsel closed another tower sale with Dayamitra Telekomunikasi (Mitratel), selling 4,000 units for IDR6.2 trillion ($434.8 million) and agreeing on a ten-year leaseback.

Philippines' largest publicly-listed telco Globe Telecom said its diversification into non-core businesses was bearing fruit, allowing it to move beyond traditional telecommunications and transform the company into a “digital solutions group.”

Russian production company Star Media has unveiled the new streaming service 'Lava', which promises to offer more than 7,500 hours of content to a Russian-speaking audience abroad.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC), the provider of telecommunications services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said that its internet-services unit Arabian Internet and Communications Services Company is seeking to raise as much as 3.62 billion riyals (USD 966 million) from an initial public offering (IPO) in Riyadh.

India's telecom operator Bharti Airtel said that it has successfully demonstrated cloud gaming in the country over a 5G network.

Philippines telecommunications giant PLDT is doubling its existing total network capacity from 55 terabits per second to 92 Tbps by the end of 2021. That is almost more than triple from its capacity last year which was only at 30 Tbps.

Digital infrastructure products provider Vertiv announced a distribution agreement with the US IT services company Ingram Micro covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) distribution markets.

Data centre development in India’s largest city Mumbai looks like enjoying an enormous boost after some recently announced plans from major players in the data centre industry.

Altan Redes, the consortium tasked with deploying Mexico's 4.5G shared network – called Red Compartida – has announced that it has secured a $50 million loan from shareholders.

Cellulant has entered into a five-year partnership with Senegal-based Gainde 2000 to offer an end-to-end Pan-African technology infrastructure and payments solutions for trade, revenue & tax collection for governments and multinational companies.

India’s second-largest wireless telco Bharti Airtel's CAPEX to increase to about US$5 billion in FY 2022 from $4.6 billion in FY 2021, global rating agency Fitch said.