All Tech News

Major Latin American and Caribbean-focused telecommunications group Liberty Latin America (LLA) has announced that it has selected Ericsson for a major network evolution drive involving virtualisation of its core networks.

Saudi Telecom Company (stc) is deploying CommScope’s new 30-port antennas as it looks to demonstrate use cases for next generation wireless technologies.

Intelsat and Liquid Telecom are extending their partnership to connect more than 2000 additional VSAT terminals across Africa.

Rain claimed a first in 2019. Vodacom, with a little help from temporary spectrum, followed in May this year. Now it’s the turn of South Africa’s number two mobile operator MTN to launch 5G.

Telenor Group is selling its entire 34.2% stake in Wave Money to Yoma Strategic Holdings for $76.5 million.

UAE operator group Etisalat is unlikely to introduce standalone 5G for at least two years, and will instead focus on non-standalone (NSA) 5G architecture in this period.

Croatia’s Hrvatski Telekom (HT) has awarded a five-year 5G RAN contract to Ericsson.

According to Bloomberg and recent Indian news reports, the country is looking at proposals to reduce the license fee for fixed-line broadband services to households.

Ukraine’s three largest mobile operators have commenced “joint actions” to expand their 4G-LTE networks using redistributed 900MHz frequencies.

Meeza, an end-to-end managed IT services and solutions provider based in Qatar, has announced plans to build a data centre in the capital, Doha. It will be the company’s fourth such project in the country.

Supermarket chain Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica is now offering MVNO services in Mexico, branded as BAIT (Bodega Aurrera Internet y Telefonia).

TurkNet is upgrading its core network with 400Gbps optical transport solutions from Ekinops.

At a time when the future of energy – not just oil and gas but renewables – is again a hot topic, Inmarsat, which owns and operates a global portfolio of mobile telecommunications satellite networks, plans to expands its presence in the Middle East by joining the Energy Industry Council.

O2 Czech Republic is launching its commercial 5G network next month, becoming the first operator in the market to achieve this milestone.

Chinese internet giants Tencent and Baidu are strengthening their existing relationship with Nokia to build out their software-defined data centre interconnect (DCI) infrastructure.

Orange’s Slovakian unit is increasing its 5G spectrum holding while also discussing a potential network-sharing arrangement with Slovak Telecom.

Estonia’s Telia Eesti is planning an investment of €10 million (US$11.3 million) into its mobile networks for 2020.

Indonesian mobile operator Telkomsel has announced that it is extending its 4G LTE coverage to more areas of the country.

A useful reminder that fibre is still a strong player – even in mobile-dominated markets – comes from Oman and Myanmar, where expansion of fibre-to-the-home services is under way.

Cambodian mobile market leader Smart Axiata is implementing a network-based authentication solution for service providers from Benefit Vantage.

China Unicom has chosen Nokia to support the build-out of its 5G SA Core network in China.

Thailand’s True Move is implementing direct carrier billing from Docomo Digital, making it easier for its customers to make purchases using their existing mobile accounts.

Globalstar, a provider of mobile satellite voice and data services, has announced the deployment of a new ground station with second-generation technology in Córdoba, Argentina.

In the face of regulatory constraints and bureaucratic delays in some countries, it’s worth highlighting ways in which governments are supporting telecommunications by enabling or encouraging rollout, most recently in Colombia and Vietnam.

Asia Direct Cable (ADC) Consortium has selected NEC to build a high-performance submarine cable connecting China (Hong Kong SAR and Guangdong Province), Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Liberian operator Lonestar Cell MTN has announced two initiatives to make mobile payment and social media access easier for its customers.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has deployed Nokia automation, analytics and machine learning software to enhance the customer experience and improve customer service accuracy and efficiency.

In a further boost to data centre development in Inner Mongolia, the company that owns popular Chinese video-sharing app Kuaishou has announced plans to spend a cool $1.4 billion to build a data centre in Northern China.

Colombian services provider SkyNet and satellite operator SES Networks have announced that they have extended their partnership and increased network capacity in the country to support coronavirus mitigation efforts.

Local press reports in Fiji indicate that plans are under way for a major network upgrade for mobile operator Digicel Fiji. Its estimated cost is about $13.7 million. The network upgrade aims to boost LTE coverage across the country’s islands.