Senegalese operator Expresso Telecom has switched on its 4G network and will begin providing commercial services on 31^st March.

Batelco and Aptilo Networks have entered into a partnership to deliver business-to-business (B2B) or (B2B2C) Wi-Fi services in Bahrain.

Actis, an investor of private capital into global emerging markets, has announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Rack Centre, a Nigerian provider of data centre colocation and cloud services.

Reliance Jio looks set to snap up the assets of its bankrupt former rival RCom (Reliance Communications) after the State Bank of India approved an insolvency proposal.

Not everyone is convinced that the floor prices for voice and data services that Indian operators are calling for would be a good idea.

Vodafone Ukraine has extended its branding and access partnership with Vodafone Group.

Tele2 has completed the sale of its Croatian unit to the United Group for EUR220 million (USD241 million).

Cameroon has ordered MTN and Orange to implement ID checks for all parties involved in mobile money transactions, after it emerged that ransom payments had been made using their transfer services.

The US-backed telecoms group Africell Holding has been asked to submit a bid for the fourth Angolan Unified Global operating licence.

Romania has become the latest country to announce a 5G spectrum auction. According to the Romanian regulator, the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), the auction will take place in the fourth quarter of this year.

Bhutan’s regulator has set out its roadmap towards 5G adoption, with deployments expected to begin in 2022.

Saudi operator Mobily has signed a deal with Nokia for next-generation telecom technologies.

According to a recent press release from A1 Belarus the operator has begun work on launching voice and data mobile communications at all new stations on the Minsk metro, as well as along the lines connecting them.

Mexican cable operator Megacable is deploying fibre GPON infrastructure across its footprint via a US$400 million investment.

Ericsson’s 2019 annual report seems to have confirmed what many people suspect – that 5G deployment in India will be delayed due to spectrum allocation-related constraints in the market.

India’s Vodafone Idea has launched a new pilot deployment of cloud-native Optiva Charging Engine on its Universal Cloud.

Internet services group Rakuten and telecoms and technology service provider Vodafone have become the lead investors in a satellite venture that aims to extend mobile coverage to more people and devices across the planet.

The DARE1 consortium has landed cables in Somalia’s two largest coastal cities, Mogadishu and Bosaso.

Internet para Todos Perú (IpT Peru) has partnered with Parallel Wireless to deploy hundreds of programmable virtualised 4G OpenRAN sites for mobile broadband.

Expanded internet access is coming to rural customers throughout Mexico over the next three years thanks to thousands of new Wi-Fi hotspots.

India has given Apple the go-ahead to open branded retail outlets in the market, with the US firm planning a launch in 2021.

Now Indian banks are getting involved in the ongoing pricing and debt issues afflicting operators in the country. In particular, suggestions that there should be a hefty raise in mobile tariffs seem to have worried the Reserve Bank of India.

Chile is implementing a new tax law that obliges overseas providers of OTT and e-commerce services to pay VAT from 1^st June 2020.

Telefonica has completed the process of returning its Mexican spectrum licences and raised EUR95 million (US$104 million) as a result.

A Rwandan data centre that hosts servers related to the country’s government has been brought offline by hackers.

Pioneering South African operator Rain, which launched a 5G service late last year, has now launched a new payment product, called the Standard Plan, which offers subscribers an uncapped 30Mbps service for R699 (about $44.75) per month.

Orange, a multi-service telecommunications operator present in 18 countries in Africa, will be the first operator to adopt the O3b mPOWER  from SES, a next-generation medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite communications system, starting in the Central African Republic.

A new open-access agreement has been signed by six broadband providers in Saudi Arabia.

In the mobile broadband data era it is forecast that over 80% of traffic will occur in indoor locations creating demand for new indoor coverage solutions.

The Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) has partnered with tower firm K-Net to deliver connectivity to one of the country’s more remote regions.