All Tech News

Vogel Telecom has partnered with Ciena to deploy Sao Paulo’s first 800G optical network.

Gilat Satellite Networks won another contract to boost mobile connectivity, this time to expand signal for two Mexican operators in a multi-million-dollar deal from AXESS Networks.

India’s Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) has written to the country’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT), hoping to get speedy implementation of recommendations on infrastructure sharing policy. 

Satellite operator Eutelsat Communications has signed a framework agreement with its distribution partner InterSat to provide connectivity services to the Post Office in Côte d’Ivoire.

Further proof of the vast strides being made by cashless payment on the African continent comes from Malawi where a new agreement aims to enhance the country’s e-commerce sector.

Recent publicity from Equatorial Guinean operator Getesa has confirmed that it is now offering 4G/LTE smartphone services.

There’s been adverse publicity about its planned privacy update, notably in the vast Indian market, but this week there’s been better news for WhatsApp in India with the announcement that Reliance Industries plans to embed its ecommerce app JioMart into WhatsApp within the next six months.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) loaned satellite company Eutelsat €200 million, to launch a satellite designed to boost capacity, and provide ubiquitous and affordable fixed and mobile broadband services in Europe.

A partnership to help satellite service providers access Brazil’s connectivity market has been announced between satellite connectivity provider SatADSL and Telespazio, a satellite solutions and services company with a wide international network of space centres and teleports.

The formal establishment of Ethiopia’s first-ever carrier-neutral hyperscale data centre park, located in the ICT Park, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, took place this week when wingu.africa, a pan-East African data centre operator based in Djibouti, broke ground on the development.

IT and network technologies giant NEC Corporation has signed a contract for a cable project involving Palau, an archipelago of over 500 islands, part of the Micronesia region in the western Pacific Ocean.

Turk Telekom and Juniper Research struck a partnership agreement to develop Open RAN 5G technologies, a move to accelerate innovations and ecosystems in the technology.

For the second time this week comes news of an offering of streamed film entertainment aimed at a mobile-centric market. This time the market is India.

Lightstorm Telecom Ventures (LTV) has deployed Ciena’s coherent optics, network management and advanced automation software to serve OTT, data centre and cloud providers across India.

Molotov, an OTT distribution platform that can be made available on all screens and connected devices, is making a major push into French-speaking Africa, adjusting its offering to the needs of a heavily mobile phone-dependent viewership.

SKY Brasil, the largest satellite pay TV operator in Brazil, and Viasat Inc, a global communications company, have announced a partnership to increase the availability of fast, reliable satellite internet across Brazil.

The founder of Indian messaging app Hike has called on users to shun services from Facebook and opt instead for privacy-focused apps such as Telegram and Signal as his company exits the messaging market.

Plans to increase fibre production are often noteworthy, but the announcement by HFCL Limited, one of India's largest optic fibre manufacturers, that it is planning to increase fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) cable production by 33 percent at its Hyderabad facility could be very significant.

Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky has suggested that economic uncertainty is set to shape the 2021 cybercrime agenda in Africa.

The Turkish communications satellite Turksat 5A launched in the US last week, bringing with it, potentially, a new source of satellite-borne services to the aviation and maritime markets.

Philippines-based mobile wallet platform GCash gained an investment of over $175 million from private equity company Bow Wave Capital Management (Bow Wave) and shareholders, as part of the financial growth plans of Globe Telecom.

The advance of Sigfox in the IoT space continues: the global 0G network and cloud provider for industrial data has announced the addition of Ukraine to its coverage area.

A pilot project, recently launched in Uganda, aims to demonstrate more cost-efficient ways in which both electricity and ICT can be brought to rural areas. It comes at a time of renewed growth for the country’s telecoms sector.

Tele2 has selected Nokia to deploy its Standalone (SA) 5G Core and Voice over 5G (Vo5G) to enhance its cloud infrastructure and improve data and voice connectivity for subscribers in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Claro Brasil has selected Ribbon’s SBC Software Edition to expand and secure their extensive Voice over IP network.

In another example of how operator business models are changing as we approach wide-scale 5G rollout, Vodafone Romania has transferred its passive infrastructure to another Vodafone company.

SAP, a leading cloud company with 200 million users worldwide, has announced a major investment in the Indian market.

A new fibre optic deployment in Bolivia has brought broadband connectivity to residents of the highest city in the world.

Given the reported uncertainty surrounding spectrum availability, the news that Iran will see the launch of 5G this year may come as a surprise to some readers.

There’s been a boost for the relatively underpenetrated fintech services market in the Middle East with the award to operator Zain’s subsidiary Tamam of a Saudi microfinance licence.