In the rapidly evolving world of telecommunications, Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable (YOFC) company has emerged as a global leader. At the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, we had the opportunity to speak with Dr Zhuang Dan, executive director and president of YOFC, about the company’s international expansion, innovative product offerings, and strategies for the future.

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has reportedly revoked the telecoms licence of mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) K4 Communication Company after its directors were arrested for alleged fraud.

The Indian government has reportedly expanded its ownership stake in Vodafone Idea from 22.6% to 48.99% by converting around INR369.5 billion (US$4.3 billion) of the telco’s spectrum payment dues into equity shares.

Angola Cables subsidiary TelCables West Africa says it has partnered with global network-as-a-service (NaaS) provider Megaport to gain access to its portfolio of data centres and cloud nodes, making it the second such deal between Megaport and Angola this month.

Viamericas, a provider of remittance and international money transfer services, says it has launched its open payment network in the Philippines.

Moroccan operators Maroc Telecom and Inwi have announced the signing of what is described as an expanded partnership agreement aimed at accelerating the deployment of fibre optic and 5G technologies across Morocco.

Oman’s telecoms regulator has approved Starlink to provide broadband internet services across the country using its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation.

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Satellite-direct-to-device (D2D) provider, Lynk Global has had a busy week with the announcement of successful tests of its service in Turkey followed by further positive news – this time in South Africa.

Singtel subsidiary and technology services company NCS is expanding its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region by acquiring a 51% majority stake in Globe Telecom’s IT unit, Yondu.

Vodacom Lesotho has expanded its M-Pesa mobile money service to all users in the country, regardless of which mobile network they subscribe to, in a bid to increase financial inclusion.

Zoho, an Indian multinational technology company that makes computer software and web-based business tools, says it has teamed up with online B2B enterprise marketplace Loita Business, part of the pan-African Loita Group, to support small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa.

South African operator Telkom has entered the country’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market through a partnership with a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) platform provider.

Bharti Airtel paid INR59.85 billion ($697.5 million) to India’s Department of Telecom to fully repay a high-interest loan used for spectrum at auction last year.

During MWC 25 in Barcelona, Kim Jin, Vice President of Huawei Optical Business Product Line, officially unveiled a full series of 10G smart OLTs at the Green All-Optical Summit. The products can help operators maintain business competitiveness in the broadband service domain for the next decade, ultimately promoting the smart upgrade of global optical access networks.

Telefónica Ecuador and Telefónica Móviles del Uruguay are extending their existing partnership with Netcracker.

Bharti Airtel has announced its role as the landing partner for the 2Africa Pearls cable in India, a subsea network connecting Africa, India, and Europe via the Middle East. 

Vietnam's government said on Wednesday it will allow SpaceX to launch its Starlink LEO satellite broadband service in the country on a trial basis for the next five years.

Digicel Jamaica announced on Wednesday it has struck a partnership with renewable energy solutions provider Caban Energy to diversify energy sources for its cell towers with solar technology.

Ethio Telecom has announced a meeting with financial giant Mastercard to explore how the two companies can leverage technology to upgrade digital financial services.

Airtel Africa and MTN Group have partnered to share network infrastructure in Uganda and Nigeria, aiming to expand coverage and improve cost efficiencies.

Philippine fibre broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions said on Tuesday it is fattening its enterprise service offerings via a reseller partnership with LEO satellite operator Starlink and an expanded fibre deal with Ribbon Communications.

Malaysian telco YTL Communications said on Tuesday it has signed two separate MoUs it says will beef up its ability to support adoption of AI in the country – one with Equinix and the other with free-space optics firm Transcelestial.

ACES, a leading Saudi Arabian neutral host operator which provides in-building solutions, Wi-Fi-DAS, fibre optics, data centres and managed services, has announced a collaboration in a strategic open RAN partnership with RANsemi, a British wireless semiconductor innovator specialising in 5G open RAN baseband technologies.

Visiosoft, a South African technology company, says it is working with French firm Kinéis, a space company, satellite operator and global connectivity provider for IoT and automatic identification systems, to bridge the connectivity gap using a satellite Internet of Things (IoT) solution.

Alibaba.com, a major B2B e-commerce platform headquartered in China, and Kwik, a leading digital platform for logistics services in Nigeria, have announced a partnership to support Nigerian exporters.

Smarter trade is a continuing aim of digitisation efforts by industries across the world, as shown by two recent deals involving natural gas supply and port management led by companies in the Middle East.

In what appears to be a first for the country, the Somalia Payment Switch (SPS) payments infrastructure under the Central Bank of Somalia has introduced an instant payment system that includes support for QR payments.

African technology company Cassava Technologies has announced that it plans to build Africa’s first artificial intelligence (AI) factory — a powerful and super-secure data centre facility powered with AI computing technology from multinational corporation and technology company Nvidia.

Malaysian operator Maxis has partnered with Nokia to deploy data centre networking solutions for large enterprises, aiming to meet the growing demand for AI and cloud adoption.

WIOCC Group subsidiary Open Access Data Centres (OADC) reportedly plans to invest up to US$240 million to expand the capacity of its new data centre in Lagos from 1.5MW to 24MW by 2027.