The GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) has elected a new President, Patrik Cerwall, who will take the helm from 1^st January 2027.

Zain Group, a Kuwaiti mobile telecommunications company operating in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa and serving 51.2 million customers, has been awarded a 25-year licence to operate the former MTN mobile telecom network in Syria.

Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between French aerospace and defence corporations Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has announced the signing of a contract with Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, to develop a new-generation software-defined satellite.

Communications technology giant Tata Communications has announced strategic investments in subsea cable infrastructure to strengthen its connectivity solutions between the emerging AI hubs of Mumbai and Chennai in India and Singapore.

The Chad QoS saga, pitting authorities against operators, continues. This time operator Airtel Chad has presented a new investment plan to improve service quality as Chadian authorities intensify pressure on telecom operators over network performance.

Globe Telecom announced on Monday it has officially launched Starlink’s direct-to-device (D2D) satellite service across the Philippines after receiving regulatory approval National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Cambodian engineering and infrastructure firm Comin Asia said on Monday that it’s partnering with Nokia to to design and deploy AI-ready data centre infrastructure across Southeast Asia, starting with Cambodia and Laos.

The East African Communications Organisation (EACO) and the Smart Africa Secretariat have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen strategic collaboration in advancing the digital transformation and accelerating the realisation of a single digital market in Africa by 2030.

This week will see Tunisian plans to make mobile IDs mandatory for investment project declarations come into force.

The approval, early last week, of the installation of Google’s underwater cable linking Chile to Asia-Pacific means the Humboldt Cable, as it is known, is on track to be installed in the last quarter of 2026 and become operational in 2028.

Kenya’s Court of Appeal has lifted an injunction blocking the government’s planned sale of a 15% stake in Safaricom to South Africa’s Vodacom, reviving a transaction valued at KES204.3 billion (US$1.6 billion), reported to Bloomberg.  

Cambodian telco Cellcard (a.k.a. CamGSM) announced a strategic partnership on Saturday with auto manufacturer ZDG to launch a new connected electric vehicle from Chinese auto maker Lynk & Co.

Ukrainian telco Kyivstar announced on Friday it has signed an MoU with the country’s Ministry of Economy to establish a sovereign AI-ready data centre in Ukraine.

Tencent Cloud announced on Friday that Indonesian telco XLSmart has completed a large-scale migration of its operations to Tencent’s public cloud platform as part of its long-term digital modernization strategy.

China Mobile, the GSMA, Huawei and other partners have officially launched “OpenAN”, an open-source project that aims to enable collaboration and interoperability between O&M agents in autonomous networks, allowing them to evolve to Level 4 autonomy.

Starlink will provide one month of free satellite internet service to users in Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes that struck the country this week, helping restore communications in affected areas.

Satellite operators Amazon, Iridium, Telesat and Globalstar have announced the formation of a new trade association representing the non-geostationary (NGSO) satellite economy: the SpaceConnect Association.

UNESCO said on Wednesday it has launched the rollout of a new mobile-based teacher professional development initiative in South Sudan that focuses on empowering women school leaders and teachers.

Vodacom South Africa announced on Thursday it is expanding its partnership with Amazon South Africa to offer the latter's Amazon Prime membership service to its customers.

Globe Telecom CEO and president Carl Cruz says the key to telcos cashing in on AI is to embrace it, internalise it and make it foundational to their business operations before offering it to customers. It also helps if the population is highly digital, like the Philippines.

A hot topic at MWC Shanghai 2026 is AI tokens that enable telcos to monetise AI services. Chinese telcos are already doing it – but that market's unique environment raises questions over how telcos outside of China can follow their lead.

Amazon has announced plans to invest an additional US$13 billion to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in India, taking its total investment in the country to US$48 billion between 2026 and 2030.

Chad’s government has warned Maroc Telecom-owned operator Moov Africa Chad to improve network performance, amid growing frustration over what officials described as the deteriorating quality of mobile services across the country.

Operator Yas Tanzania and technology giant Ericsson have announced the first commercial deployment in Africa of Ericsson’s AIR 3285 radio, supporting what they describe as a major step forward in network performance and user experience across the country.

Tanzania Community Networks Company, a community-focused technology, information and internet business, has announced a deal with Korean IT company Innonet, to accelerate the deployment of TV white space (TVWS) connectivity solutions across East Africa.

The government of Zanzibar has announced a public-private partnership agreement with Yas Fibre, the broadband division of operator Yas Tanzania, to expand broadband infrastructure in the semi-autonomous archipelago off the coast of East Africa in Tanzania.

Malawian farmers will now be able to receive payments directly into their mobile wallets after a deal agreed between a local branch of Airtel Money and the country’s Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC).

Mauritius Telecom CEO Veemal Gungadin highlighted the operator’s progress  to build trust in AI-native learning across its home market, a strategy culminating in the creation of a national AI registry.

Philippine operator Globe Telecom has secured a PHP5 billion (US$88 million) loan from BDO Unibank to help fund capital expenditure, refinance debt and support general corporate requirements.