Indonesian telco Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison announced on Thursday it has launched a new AI-powered semantic search feature powered by Google Cloud in its customer service apps, which it says will enable smarter and more intuitive digital experiences for customers.

The Kenyan government is mulling a division of the nation’s largest publicly listed company, Safaricom, into mobile, tower, and mobile money units, citing potential efficiency and value gains.

NaiTel, a licensed telecommunications service provider in Jordan and the telecom arm of Aqaba Digital Hub (ADH – Jordan's largest carrier-neutral data centre), and telecom services provider Telecom Egypt, have announced the completion of the laying of the 15-kilometre express subsea cable Coral Bridge connecting Egypt and Jordan, the first direct subsea cable between the two countries in over 25 years.

Technology giant Nokia says it has been selected by INX-ZA, the internet exchange point division of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), a South African internet industry representative body, to modernise its exchange infrastructure. INX-ZA says it operates the only completely neutral and community-run internet exchange points in South Africa.

Turkey is officially going ahead with 5G spectrum auction plans. Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced earlier this week that the 5G frequency tender would take place in October.

Bharti Airtel subsidiary Bharti Hexacom has reportedly received approval from the majority of its shareholders to sell 3,400 telecoms towers to Indus Towers after its minority shareholder Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) initially opposed the deal.

Nokia announced on Wednesday that Indian ISP Netplus has deployed its 400G routing technology and software-defined access network (SDAN) platform to scale its high-speed broadband and IPTV services across Punjab and other cities.

Philippines-based challenger operator Dito Telecommunity has partnered with Rakuten-owned messaging app Viber to offer zero-rated plans on the platform, aiming to strengthen its competitiveness and attract new customers.

Ghana and Burkina Faso have reportedly begun a bilateral meeting to address cross-border signal interference. The National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana and Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP) of Burkina Faso began the meeting, held virtually, on 19 August.

Chinese technology company Lenovo has announced plans to establish a regional headquarters (RHQ) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, along with the appointment of its executive leadership team for the country, marking what Lenovo describes as a key milestone in the company’s regional growth strategy.

Thai telco True Corp said on Tuesday it has deployed an AI-powered solution for monitoring and managing base station signals to enhance the performance and stability of its networks along the Thai-Cambodian border.

Airtel Tanzania has reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zanzibar Communication and ICT Infrastructure Agency (ZICTIA) that outlines a framework to collaborate on key infrastructure projects in Zanzibar to expand access to telecoms and internet services.

The UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) and e& money, the fintech arm of technology group e&, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide wage protection services via the e& money platform. This enables individuals to manage salary payments for domestic workers in line with applicable legislation and regulatory frameworks.

Indian operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) has announced a strategic collaboration with tech giant IBM to help streamline operations, improve service reliability, enhance the customer experience, and accelerate the seamless delivery of digital initiatives, using artificial intelligence (AI) and the implementation of a unified DevOps execution model fuelled by automation.

Namibian operator Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) says it has launched a strategic rural network optimisation initiative following a comprehensive network audit in northern Namibia. The audit aimed to gain first-hand insight into coverage gaps and service quality challenges in underserved and uncovered rural areas.

Apple is reportedly ramping up iPhone production at five factories in India as part of its ongoing strategy to reduce reliance on China-based manufacturing.

Vodafone Idea has continued its rapid 5G rollout in India, with Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram the latest cities to go live.

Malaysian telco U Mobile on Monday officially launched Ultra5G – its standalone 5G network – in two locations with an initial focus on delivering 5G experiences in indoor environments.

State-owned Telkom Indonesia said on Monday it is set to carry out repairs on a damaged subsea cable that has disrupted internet connectivity in South and Central Papua since Saturday.

Maxis revealed on Monday that it is partnering with China Mobile International (CMI) to launch CMLink, its new mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business in Malaysia.

Data centre news is still pouring in from the Middle East, including recent announcements of significant developments in Dubai and coastal Oman.

State-owned telecom service provider BSNL has enjoyed a couple of decent headlines in the past week, unlike its much smaller sister company MTNL, whose financial woes seem to be worsening.

MTN announced a reshuffle of its leadership, appointing group chief risk officer Ferdi Moolman as CEO and executive director of MTN South Africa, succeeding Charles Molapisi as part of a strategic review and operational shift.

Operator Airtel Congo has announced the signing of a strategic partnership with Wing Wah, a private oil company under Congolese law and a subsidiary of the Chinese Southernpec group, for the deployment of a private telecom network at the country's Banga Kayo oil site.

Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud have teamed with Malaysian state-backed telecoms infrastructure operator Smartsel to launch Selangor Multi-Cloud Services (SMC), a state initiative aimed at accelerating AI adoption and driving digital transformation across Selangor.

Huawei announced on Friday that Ethio Telecom has deployed its tri-band massive MIMO solution that it says significantly improves the telco’s 4G network both in terms of performance and user experience.

CelcomDigi, Maxis and YTL Power International have injected an additional MYR350 million (US$82.8 million) into 5G wholesale network Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) to support its operations as it braces for the arrival of the second 5G network being deployed by U Mobile.

South Africa’s Competition Commission has approved Cell C’s proposed acquisition of Comm Equipment Company (CEC).

e& UAE says it has launched a new business continuity service – billed as "monitoring-as-a-service (MaaS)" – that it says provides enterprises complete observability over their infrastructure environments.

ZTE announced on Thursday that China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), which operates under the brand Zong 4G, is the first operator to commercially launch its high-power 8T8R ultra-broadband radio (UBR) and digital intelligent antenna (DIA) solution.

Alipay+, a global wallet gateway, and Kaspi.kz, the leading super app in Kazakhstan, say they have enabled international cross-border QR payment acceptance in Kazakhstan.

In a move that, unlike some regulatory initiatives, may actually prove popular with mobile operators and consumers, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a manual to aid in the assessment of digital connectivity in properties.

Ukrainian operator lifecell has completed a network modernisation project in Kyiv in just five months, delivering major improvements across key performance metrics to meet rising demand for connectivity.