Chinese LEO satellite operator Shanghai SpaceSail Technologies has reportedly tested its satellite broadband network in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan.

Philippine broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions said on Thursday it has landed the Philippine branch of the trans-pacific Bifrost Cable System at its cable landing station in Davao.

Vi Business, the enterprise arm of India’s Vodafone Idea, said on Wednesday it plans to deploy 12 million smart meters nationwide within the next three years in a bid to help transform India’s energy infrastructure.

The long-running merger between Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) and Telenor Pakistan is slowly progressing, as PTCL works to address regulatory concerns raised by the country’s competition authority.

OpenWay, a provider of digital payment software solutions, has expanded into Francophone Africa, saying it will empower banks and fintechs in the region with access to its payment technology and local service infrastructure.

Kalaam Telecom Group, a regional provider of digital infrastructure and ICT solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Silah Gulf, a customer experience and business process outsourcing provider, to jointly advance digital innovation and elevate service delivery standards across the region.

Orange announced on Tuesday it is expanding its collaboration with OpenAI to deploy two new advanced open-weight reasoning models in its data centre infrastructure to boost support for AI solutions development across its footprint, particularly in Africa.

Vodacom Eastern Cape said on Tuesday that it has completed targeted network upgrades in the Addo region and along the R335 route to fill mobile coverage gaps in a bid to combat truck hijackings.

Nepalese telco Ncell says it has become the first mobile operator in the country to expand its Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) international roaming service to include outbound travellers.

Malaysian clean energy solutions provider Gentari and cloud services giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) have signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for an 80MW wind power project in Tamil Nadu, India, a state on the south-eastern coast of the Indian peninsula.

Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), a research institution dedicated to enhancing agricultural productivity and rural development in Kenya, has partnered with SatSure Analytics India, a leading Earth Observation (EO) data refinery platform, to revolutionise agricultural productivity and resilience in Kenya through the use of advanced satellite data and analytics.

Indian state-owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), an oil and gas refinery in Assam in northeastern India, have signed what they call a landmark memorandum of understanding (MoU) relating to private network provision.

Vodacom has committed to investing ZAR620 million ($34.5 millon) in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province during its 2025–26 financial year, as it seeks to meet rising demand for connectivity.

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has launched a new mobile application called BEAC NG2020 to help the public and financial professionals authenticate BEAC banknotes from the Type 2020 series.

Czech telecoms firm České Radiokomunikace (CRA) says that it has obtained a building permit to construct a data centre on the outskirts of Prague, in the Zbraslav – Jíloviště area.

Operator MTN Uganda, its mobile finance business MTN Mobile Money (U) Limited, and the Uganda Hotel Owners’ Association (UHOA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), marking what they call the beginning of a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating digital transformation in Uganda’s hospitality sector.

Xtelify, a fully owned subsidiary of Indian operator Bharti Airtel that houses Airtel’s digital assets and capabilities, has announced the launch of what it describes as a sovereign, telco-grade cloud platform called Airtel Cloud, along with software platform deals in a number of territories.

Satellite communications firm EchoStar is moving ahead with plans to join the global direct-to-device (D2D) satellite race via a new LEO satellite constellation, and has awarded an initial US$1.3 billion contract to MDA Space to help build it.

PLDT and its wireless arm Smart Communications said on Monday they are testing fixed wireless access (FWA) technology from Radisys as a potential alternative for fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), particularly in areas in the Philippines where fibre is difficult to deploy.

Lao Telecom’s fintech unit Lao Mobile Money – which operates the MmoneyX mobile wallet – has become a strategic business partner with Visa in a deal aimed at boosting digital payments and financial inclusion in Laos.

Sri Lanka-based operator Dialog Axiata has expanded its 5G roaming footprint to 40 countries through partnerships with more than 150 operators worldwide.

MTC Namibia has reportedly teamed up with Letshego Micro Financial Services to launch a pilot for a new mobile microlending platform that will provide instant loans to customers via their mobile phones.

Indian telco Vodafone Idea said on Thursday it is launching 5G service in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh as of today, making it the ninth city this week and the 13th city in the past month where Vi has switched on its 5G network.

Operator MTN’s mobile money business in South Africa, known as MoMo, has announced plans to make 4G and 5G smartphones available on credit to prepaid customers – without the need for background credit checks.

Kyrgyzstan has decided to nationalise access to international internet traffic for a year. A presidential decree earlier this week said the government was "establishing a temporary 100% state monopoly on the supply and provision of international internet traffic on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic”.

Philippines-based Globe Telecom has closed the sale of 96 more towers raising a total of PHP89.3 billion ($1.5 billion) since kicking off its sale-and-leaseback initiative three years ago.

Eutelsat said on Wednesday it has signed a new agreement with India-based maritime communications firm Station Satcom to incorporate Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO satellite services into its maritime connectivity portfolio.

Google is reportedly planning to invest US$6 billion to establish its first data centre in India, with a planned IT load capacity of 1GW that would make it one of the largest such facilities in Asia-Pacific.

Reliance Industries, the parent company of Jio Platforms, is reportedly considering listing a 5% stake in its mobile unit in India, which could raise an estimated US$6 billion.

Space42, a UAE-based spacetech company, has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with tech giant Microsoft and GIS mapping software specialist Esri to deliver high-resolution, scalable base maps across all 54 African countries, serving over 1.4 billion people.

Money transfer services continue to make headlines in Africa. This time it’s the turn of Zambia where Western Union, Zoona Transactions Zambia Limited and Chipper Cash have announced the launch of international money transfer services in the Chipper Cash app.

Mauritania’s digital transformation ministry MTNMA (Ministère de la Transformation Numérique et de la Modernisation de l’Administration) and EllaLink, the owner of a high-capacity optic fibre submarine cable directly connecting Europe and Latin America, have signed a contract for the construction, operation and maintenance of an international link that will directly connect Mauritania to Madrid in Spain.

Orange has raised its full-year targets after its Africa and Middle East unit was once again recognised as the group’s primary growth engine.