LEO satellite operator Starlink appears to have had a pretty good week or two in Africa, with licence awards in Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau and Somalia making headlines. But it isn’t quite as simple as that.

State-owned Indian operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has reportedly defaulted on loan repayments of over INR83 billion about (US$971.5 million) to multiple banks.

Sam George, Ghana's Minister Of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, is widely reported to have set what is described as a firm deadline of June 2025 for the Next Generation Infrastructure Company (NGIC) to launch 5G services in the West African country. But will it be met?

Unitel has expanded its mobile network in the municipality of Cachingues to enhance voice and data services delivered over its 3G and 4G infrastructure.

The global smartphone market recorded just 1% growth year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, with persistent macroeconomic pressures continuing to weigh on consumer demand, according to analyst firm Canalys.

Vietnamese state telco MobiFone has reportedly applied to prime minister Phạm Minh Chính for approval to enter the country’s national defence and security sector as part of its future growth strategy.

Vietnamese mobile operators Mobifone, Viettel and VNPT have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a platform under the GSMA Open Gateway initiative to combat online fraud using open CAMARA APIs.

Pan-African operator Orange says it has launched the first-ever 'My Customer, My Boss' initiative simultaneously in its 17 subsidiaries in Middle East and Africa.

Payment and connectivity services company IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) and National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) have announced a strategic partnership to boost the digital payment landscape in Vietnam.

Private 5G networks may not be storming the market yet, but there is undoubtedly steady growth. In fact this week has seen the news that Bahrain operator Batelco by Beyon and tech giant Nokia have joined forces to deploy Bahrain’s first 5G private network.

Apple airlifted US$2 billion worth of iPhones from India to the United States last month, in a strategic move to shield against the impact of rising US import tariffs.

Mobile data consumption and the adoption of 5G services will be key drivers of mobile service revenue growth in Malaysia, according to analyst firm GlobalData.

MTN Uganda and PostBank Uganda have reportedly completed a six-month proof of concept (POC) of the operator’s  secure access service edge (SASE) business solution to power the bank’s digital transformation. 

The Moroccan government has signed separate MoUs with Nokia and Ericsson to accelerate its Digital Morocco 2030 plan, with both vendors agreeing to contribute to digital talent development among other things.

Viettel Networks, a subsidiary of military-owned telco Viettel, announced on Wednesday that the Vietnam-bound link of the Asia Direct Cable (ADC) is now live, more than doubling the country’s international bandwidth.

Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SecDojo, a cybersecurity training platform, to strengthen the country’s resilience against cyberthreats through what are described as targeted capacity-building initiatives.

Cloud services giant Amazon Web Services (AWS), has announced a collaboration with Manara, a social impact startup dedicated to unlocking the untapped potential of top technology talent in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), including women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Another initiative relevant to MEA mobile finance has been launched. This time global digital payments and commerce platform PayPal has announced a strategic partnership with TerraPay, a global money movement company, to enable real-time fund transfers for PayPal customers across the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Operator e& UAE has announced the launch of its autonomous drone-based cell tower inspection, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), calling it a major leap in telecom infrastructure management and operational safety.

Huawei showcased its Xinghe Intelligent Unified SASE Solution, an AI-powered cybersecurity system designed to tackle the rising threat of AI-driven attacks.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has reportedly directed all telcos in the country to proactively resolve internet access issues on a monthly, state-by-state basis rather than wait for customers to complain before taking action.

Malaysia’s second 5G operator U Mobile said on Tuesday it has selected Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE as key tech partners in rolling out its next-gen 5G network with the ambitious goal of achieving 80% coverage within the first year of deployment.

Globe Telecom has moved forward with its acquisition of a 50% stake in AB Capital Securities Inc (ABCSI), aiming to strengthen the stock brokerage capabilities of its fintech unit, Mynt, which operates the widely used GCash mobile wallet.

PLDT has credited its collaborative strategy for halving material losses caused by vandalism between 2022 and 2024.

United Bank for Africa (UBA), a leading pan-African financial services institution with a global footprint, says it has upgraded its point of sale (POS) terminals and revamped its UBA MONI banking app with the aim of accelerating digital payments.

Carbon neutrality has long been a priority for telcos, and despite the surge in AI innovation sweeping through the mobile industry, sustainability remains firmly on the agenda.

In an interesting alliance of mobile communications and e-commerce, Indian operator Bharti Airtel has announced a partnership with the platform Blinkit, one of the largest e-grocery companies in India, for the delivery of SIM cards to its customers within ten minutes.

South Africa-based MTN Group announced on Tuesday it is collaborating with Meta to enhance the quality and reliability of OTT voice and video calls on applications such as WhatsApp across 12 MTN markets, starting in Nigeria.

Bharti Airtel subsidiary Bharti Hexacom has reportedly postponed the sale of 3,400 telecoms towers to Indus Towers pending a new valuation of the deal requested by Hexacom’s minority shareholder Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL). 

Zimbabwe mobile operator NetOne has reportedly struck a deal with direct-to-device (D2D) LEO satellite operator AST SpaceMobile to expand the reach of its 5G services once the satellite network is available in Africa. 

Spanish telecom company Telefonica has finally confirmed  that it has agreed to sell its Peruvian unit, Telefonica del Peru, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection. It will be sold to Argentina's Integra Tec International for about EUR900,000 euros (about US$1.02 million).

Operator MTN South Sudan, part of the pan-African MTN Group, has secured a 15-year operating license from the country’s National Communication Authority. MTN had previously operated in South Sudan under a Sudanese license.