The take-up of 4G services has increased by 2.5 times in Indonesia across the past year, with penetration rates for LTE reaching 21%.

Telefónica Group subsidiary Vivo has extended its BSS Operations and Support contract with Netcracker until 2020.

Telenor Myanmar has launched direct carrier billing in Myanmar with mobile payments company Fortumo.

Indonesian market leader Telkomsel has acquired a 30MHz block of 2.3GHz spectrum for IDR1.01 trillion ($75 million).

Russia’s MTS has selected Ericsson to upgrade its network with software features that will be continuously developed during the next three years.

Zambia is a landlocked country with a focus on developing ICTs to spur growth in the digital economy.

Sudan has a relatively well-equipped telecommunications infrastructure by regional standards, including a national fibre optic backbone and international fibre connections.

Sri Lanka's telecoms market is relatively small but mature compared to neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The mobile sector has become an important component of Saudi Arabia's telecom industry and contributes around 75% to overall telecoms revenues.

Bangladesh ranks among the most densely populated countries on the globe, but its fixed-line penetration remains the lowest in South Asia.

CompuDyne, a leading telecommunications solutions provider in Malaysia, is partnering with SES Networks to bring high quality and cost-effective cellular backhaul service to Malaysia and its surrounding islands.

Flexenclosure has delivered a new high-altitude data centre in Bogota, Colombia.

Naguib Sawiris of Orascom, Egypt’s largest private sector employer, is seeking to annul the latest ICSID ruling in its long running dispute with the Algerian government.

Israel has a highly developed telecoms sector with wide coverage of fixed broadband services as well as both 3G and 4G mobile broadband available.

Significant improvements are planned for Lebanon's fixed network, according to Lebanon's new telecoms minister Jamal Jarrah.

Mobile services are widely available in Iran, with services on offer from three major mobile network operators - MCI, MTN Irancell and Rightel - which are able to offer services on a national basis.

The market is highly competitive with the three major operators - Zain, Orange and Umniah - all having over 30% market share each in terms of mobile subscribers.

The fixed line market in Nepal remains underdeveloped, with the dominance of the mobile segment a key factor in this.

Senegal's economic growth has improved steadily in recent years, with GDP estimated to have grown 5.1% in 2015.

There are many positive developments occurring in the liberalised telecoms market of Bahrain, according to Research & Markets.

For many years Uzbekistan has been struggling to bring its telecommunications system up to the standard found in developed countries.

Thai state-owned operator TOT has agreed to allow MVNO The WhiteSpace, branded as Penguin, to boost its capacity using TOT’s 2.1GHz spectrum.

The ICT sector in Cameroon contributes only about 3.5% of GDP, which is low for the region.

The focus of fixed broadband network deployment has firmly shifted to fibre in Qatar, with the number of DSL connections declining by around 100,000 since they reached their peak in 2011.

The Philippines’ Smart Communications has deployed an Amdocs solution enabling personalised and contextualised customer engagement.

Indonesian operator XL Axiata has has deployed Packet Design technologies to ensure optimum service delivery over its IP/MPLS mobile and core networks.

Kuwait’s Zain has partnered with Towershare in a deal to sell and lease back its local mobile towers to IHS Holding Limited for US$165 million.

Polish operator Netia has selected Comarch’s Fault Management central network monitoring system to detect network issues and service incidents promptly.