Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and Liquid Telecom entered a joint venture that will see the latter lease excess optical fibres from BPC’s network.

Xura has announced an agreement with the Telefónica Group to become a global messaging partner across all countries operated by the multinational.

Israeli incumbent operator Bezeq is undertaking a countrywide G.fast deployment with Adtran as the prime project vendor.

Subscriber driven access specialist Calix is partnering with Armenian service provider Ucom to deliver the benefits of NG-PON2 to the operator’s wireline and mobile subscribers.

Telecom Egypt is deploying Ciena’s GeoMesh solution and packet-optical platforms for low-latency connectivity.

Blue Arcus Technologies has selected Tecore Networks’ Mobility Virtualised Platform (MVP) for deployment in the Marshall Islands.

Vodafone and Iranian ISP HiWEB have announced a new non-equity Partner Market agreement for Iran.

Nokia and Bharti Airtel are to expand the deployment of 4G technology across nine circles in India as the country prepares itself for the next boom in mobile data demand.

C&W Communications is implementing a network expansion across its operations in the Caribbean and Panama using solutions from Ericsson.

John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer of the GSMA, has urged national governments to reassess their approach to spectrum auction reserve prices after India failed to sell any of the critical 700 MHz band last week.

Kuwait's telecom sector is characterised by a highly developed mobile sector with many multiple subscriptions.

Thai mobile service provider TrueMove H has deployed Procera’s ScoreCard technology to monitor the Quality of Experience (QoE) its network is delivering to subscribers across 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE.

Bangladeshi operator Banglalink has adopted Infobip’s its sGate SMS firewall to increase control and visibility of SMS traffic on the network and allow for a more secure and profitable messaging ecosystem.

Russian technology and AI firm Yandex has launched a global partnership programme for Android handset manufacturers and telecom operators.

Satellite communications and network service provider SpeedCast International has finalised a joint venture in Ghana, strengthening the company’s commitment to provide high quality Pan-African coverage.

Bank Albilad has formed a strategic partnership with CashU to develop innovative payment products and services for Saudi Arabia’s fast growing electronic payments market.

After stalling following deregulation, Pakistan’s telecom market now shows major growth opportunities, according to Research & Markets.

The planned sale of Polish operator Play (branded as P4) has been shelved after underwhelming bids from private equity firms.

Tunisie Telecom (TT) has successfully completed a series of lab and field trials of G.fast technology with Adtran.

Vodafone M-Pesa is simplifying mobile money payments and cash collection with businesses by implementing Ericsson’s M-Commerce Interconnect (EMI) service.

Pakistani operator Zong is aiming to create an additional 1,000 4G sites across Pakistan by the end of the year.

O3b Networks has announced that it has been commissioned to more than double the bandwidth capacity of South Sudanese ISP RCS-Communication.

Pan-African telecommunications provider Gondwana International Networks (GIN) has announced Africa’s first roll-out of Satmotion from Integrasys.

Apple is launching Apple Pay in Russia via a partnership with Mastercard and local bank Sberbank.

Facebook has launched its Messenger Lite app, aimed at “markets with slower than average internet speeds and a prevalence of basic Android smartphones”.

The GSMA has called for a renewed dialogue between the Egyptian authorities and the country’s mobile industry after the offering of 4G licences failed to attract any bids from Egypt’s three mobile operators.

Telefónica has partnered with Vivendi to offer customers in Latin America two new mobile entertainment services.