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.

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has reportedly asked all telcos in the country to provide details of Chinese equipment still being used in their networks.

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata announced on Friday it has brought Voice over New Radio (VoNR) out of the lab and into the real world after conducting what it claims is the country’s first successful VoNR trial on a live standalone 5G network.

Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) says that Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has issued a decree approving a Category 1 telecoms license to Omani Space Communications Technologies (OmanSat) to provide fixed communications services.

Philippines-based operator Globe Telecom expanded its partnership with telecom IT solutions provider Netcracker Technology, in a bid to expand operational efficiency.

Zimbabwe’s telecoms regulator is urging the government to introduce mandatory handset registration in a bid to tackle rising cybercrime and improve the safety of mobile money transactions.

Inflight connectivity tech firm SkyFive says it has signed a MoU with Kazakh telecoms operator Freedom Telecom to provide inflight connectivity to airlines and other aircraft operators using SkyFive’s air-to-ground (A2G) solution.

CSG International says that it has struck a deal with Liberty Latin America to streamline its wholesale business and unify its operations across multiple lines of business in 21 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

ICT solutions and smart devices giant Huawei, and Ektech, a solutions distributor, have announced a partnership to develop the internet service provider (ISP) market in Brazil.

Open payments platform Spreedly and EBANX, a global payment service provider specialised in emerging markets, have teamed up to offer international companies seamless access to popular alternative payment methods in Latin America – methods like Brazil’s Pix – as well as e-wallets and local cards.

At a time when Vietnam may be facing trading difficulties with the US, the announcement of a collaboration effort with industry organisation the GSMA seems a timely boost to its ambitions for economic growth – at least in telecommunications.

Axiata Group is reportedly seeking financial advisers as it explores a potential sale of its majority stake in tower subsidiary edotco Group, in a deal that could be worth up to US$3 billion including debt.

Axian Telecom is set to receive a financing package of US$100 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB Global) to help expand its mobile broadband infrastructure across Madagascar and Tanzania.

Somalian operator Hormuud Telecom has announced that its founder and CEO, Ahmed Yusuf, will step down on 1 June, with deputy chairman Mohamed Farah (pictured) set to take the reins. 

Orange Jordan announced on Wednesday it has become the first telco in the country to offer satellite broadband services for consumers and enterprises via the Eutelsat Konnect satellite.

The Philippine Chamber of Telecommunication Operators (PCTO) reportedly said on Wednesday it opposes plans by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to require mobile customers to register for SIM cards in person rather than online, saying it would slow down SIM registrations. 

NBCC (India) Limited, a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with RailTel Corporation, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) or government-owned establishment under the Ministry of Railways, to collaborate on developing data centre projects.

While many subsea cable stories recently have been about accidents and repairs in the world’s oceans, two recent stories from India and West Africa are land-based and underline some of the potential pitfalls of inadequate planning.

Brazil’s telecoms regulator, Anatel, has granted approval for SpaceX to operate an additional 7,500 Starlink satellites in the country’s airspace.

Global satellite operator SES announced on Tuesday it has landed a deal to provide inflight connectivity (IFC) services to Uzbekistan Airways, whilst also expanding an existing IFC deal with Thai Airways, which in turn launched a separate IFC service with Intelsat.

Telstra-owned Papua New Guinea telco Digicel PNG is reportedly investing PGK20 million (almost US$4.9 million) to upgrade its 4G network in Lae, the capital of Morobe Province and the second-largest city in the country. 

The announcement late last week that a UAE-based investor Rowad Capital Commercial (RCC) is to acquire a 60% stake in Uganda’s national telecom company, Uganda Telecommunications Corporation (UTel), begs a number of questions that are yet to be answered.

TIM Group's global operator Sparkle has announced the expansion of its network in Mexico with the opening of a new point of presence (PoP) in Querétaro, a city in the centre of the country.

Following what it describes as the successful launch of its 5G services in Mumbai, Indian operator Vodafone Idea says it has now expanded its 5G service to 11 cricket stadiums in India.

Poland-based telecoms infrastructure company Emitel has signed an agreement with Orange to build several hundred new mobile towers across the country.