Ericsson has been selected by Etisalat to deploy a 5G radio network in the United Arab Emirates to help position the UAE at the forefront of 5G network deployment globally. The deal is part of a strategic partnership which will also see Ericsson and Etisalat working together to explore 5G opportunities.

Rain and Truphone have partnered to launch eSIM in South Africa. Truphone’s eSIM remote SIM provisioning platform will allow Rain to provide its customers with seamless and efficient SIM provisioning experience – directly through their devices –becoming the first carrier in South Africa to do so.

Ericsson has been selected by Tele2 Russia to upgrade its network with the 5G-ready Ericsson Radio System, including software. More than 50,000 base stations will be deployed across the country as part of the five-year network modernisation deal.

Nokia's Nuage Networks VSP solution will be deployed by Bharti Airtel in 15 circles (service areas) in the northern and southern part of India to automate its data centre networks.

Indian wireless operator Jio, in partnership with Ciena, has taken another major step in future-proofing its national transport network with ‘Transport SDN’ capabilities.

Huawei has released a rural network solution, RuralStar Lite, that is tailored to cost-efficiently bring voice and mobile broadband services to rural villages with a population of 500 to 1,000 people.

NTT DOCOMO Inc and NTT DOCOMO ASIA Pte. Ltd have begun conducting a trial of an IoT monitoring system to improve the manufacturing performance of a synthetic fibres factory in Thailand. The trial will last until the end of March.

Ericsson and Telefónica have penned a new four-to-six-year managed services deal for AI-powered network operations in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Uruguay. The agreement also covers the UK.

Nokia and Dawiyat Integrated Telecommunications and Information Technology Company, part of Saudi Electricity Corporation (SEC), will collaborate on multiple projects to develop the ecosystem for Industry 4.0 in the country.

Telserv and Etisalat have formed a strategic partnership to further enhance portfolios of both parties to serve customers around the world.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development and testing of telco cloud solutions has been signed between Kazakhtelecom and Cisco in Barcelona during the MWC 2019 event.

SES has announced that its newest satellite, SES-12, is now ready to serve its video, fixed data, mobility and government customers across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

MainOne has announced a metro fibre infrastructure project in two states of Nigeria, with support from Facebook. The infrastructure collaboration is part of Facebook’s efforts to connect more people to broadband internet.

Hammer Fiber Optics Holdings Corp (HMMR) and WCI have announced the signing of their second Letter of Intent (LoI) to provide fixed wireless, mobile data, voice and SMS services in Jamaica.

India’s Bharti Airtel is deploying Ciena’s coherent optical and intelligent software platforms to build one of the world’s largest photonic control plane networks.

Optical component and transceiver supplier Source Photonics, has opened a new $50 million-plus fabrication facility in Jintan, China, in support of its global growth plans.

Ericsson and China Unicom are developing a 5G smart harbour at the Port of Qingdao in China. The news follows a successful technical solution verification at the port.

Global cross-border payments network for emerging markets Thunes has partnered with Singtel to enable the Myanmar diaspora in Singapore to send money back to their home country through their mobile devices.

Etisalat and Huawei have formed a strategic partnership to deploy an end-to-end 5G network in UAE in 2019.

Uruguayan telco Antel and Tata Communications have joined forces to serve mobile and IoT providers in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The partnership will act as the foundation for next-generation mobile and IoT services in sectors such as retail, utilities, construction, IT and banking.

Telefónica, Facebook, IDB Invest and CAF (Development Bank of Latin America) are launching Internet para Todos (IpT) Peru, an open access wholesale rural mobile infrastructure operator which aims to help bridge the digital divide in Latin America.

Ericsson has been selected by Ooredoo Qatar to make its ‘Supernet’ fully 5G-enabled and enhance the digital lives of people, enterprises and industries across Qatar.

Nokia and Saudi Telecom Company (STC) have signed a deal to set up a 5G network first in the western and southern part of Saudi Arabia, including the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. The rollout phase is already ongoing and is expected to be completed by end of 2020.

Kazakh mobile operator Kazakhtelecom JSC and Swedish teleccom giant Ericsson have announced plans to cooperate for the development of 5G in Kazakhstan.

Prefabricated data centre specialist Flexenclosure is further expanding its footprint in Latin America with a new eCentre data centre order in El Salvador.

Irish tech company Zyalin Group is launching its new internet control technology product suite, iKydz, with several different providers across Ghana and Lebanon. The intention is to make internet safer for children throughout these markets.

Standard Chartered has completed a simultaneous multi-market launch of its digitally-led retail banks in Tanzania and Ghana, with Kenya’s roll out scheduled to occur shortly.

Nokia has mounted a successful field trial of its Cloud RAN architecture on the China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC) live 5G NSA network in Shanghai.

The South African smartphone market enjoyed solid growth in 2018, with unit sales rising 7.2% year-on-year to around 13.5 million, and value growing 13.2% to just under R35 billion.

Turkcell and Airspan have announced the first deployment of AirDensity to deliver coverage and capacity to the most constrained indoor locations in Turkey.

Although most, or 65%, of mobile Internet users visit Google, they spend most of their time on social networks Youtube and Facebook, according to Latvia’s mobile operator BITE. These websites also consume the largest amount of Internet capacity.

PPF Group has acquired a 100% stake in Serbia-based Telenor Banka from Telenor Group, having obtained the necessary regulatory approval from National Bank of Serbia.

Bolivia’s Telecommunications and Transport Regulation and Control Authority - ATT - reports that, at the end of 2018, there were 11,445,830 mobile connections in the country. This represents a penetration of just over 100%.