Aspiring direct-to-device (D2D) satellite player Astrum Mobile said on Monday it has contracted Switzerland-based satellite manufacturer SWISSto12 to build its NEASTAR-1 satellite that will provide 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) broadcast services across Asia-Pacific.

Kacific Broadband Satellites Group announced on Tuesday it is partnering with satellite operator Paksat International and Pakistan’s national space agency, the Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), to expand high-speed, affordable satellite internet across the country.

Vietnamese telco VNPT announced on Sunday that its digital services unit, VNPT-Media, has signed a partnership deal with Visa to develop advanced digital payment solutions and boost financial inclusion for consumers and SMBs in Vietnam.

Tencent Cloud and TrueWatch have announced a partnership to launch what is said to be Indonesia's first multi-cloud SaaS observability platform.

The PEACE subsea cable cut in the Red Sea, reported by a number of news outlets early last week, could be a long-term issue, with repairs taking months.

Hard on the heels of recent news, reported here yesterday, that the long-anticipated sale of financially troubled Brazilian operator Oi’s fibre broadband unit ClientCo to fibre provider V.tal had gone ahead, the Brazilian market will soon gain a new fibre services player with the launch of Nio.

During MWC 2025 in Barcelona, IDATE held the Green All-optical Network Forum themed "AI-Centric All-Optical Network for New Growth". More than 200 industry leaders from the European telecom regulator BEREC, the FTTH Council, carriers, and device vendors all gathered together to discuss the opportunities as well as challenges coming from all-optical networks in the AI era, from policies to markets, from services to network architecture, and from technology innovation to business models.

The Bangladesh government is reportedly planning a major overhaul to the country’s telecoms policy to speed up its transition to a digital economy and improve service quality.

NTT Data announced on Friday that its global cellular connectivity subsidiary Transatel has formed a partnership with Toyota Motor Corp to support the car maker’s deployment of connected vehicle services in Latin America.

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata said on Friday it has wrapped up a successful trial with Meta to integrate AI into its network to enhance network optimisation and quality of experience (QoE) for its customers.

Malaysian 5G network provider U Mobile announced on Friday it has signed an MoU with China Unicom Operations Malaysia (CUMY) to develop IoT, smart mobility and sustainable technology solutions, with the additional goal of strengthening economic ties between Malaysia and China.

Tech giant Microsoft has announced two major investments – in South Africa and India – though with two very different focuses. One involves cloud expansion. The other involves afforestation. 

Troubled Brazilian operator Oi has hit another landmark its ongoing corporate restructuring and asset disposal push, with the disposal of both its fibre broadband and pay-TV businesses.

Botswana  is the latest African country to successfully send a satellite into space with the recent launch of BOTSAT-1.

Several Bangladeshi firms have reportedly partnered with satellite operator Starlink to support the setup of earth stations in Bangladesh.

Turkcell (NYSE: TKC) (BIST: TCELL), Türkiye’s leading telecommunications and technology company, in collaboration with Huawei, has successfully implemented autonomous network functions within its IP Backbone Network. This milestone marks a significant advancement in the evolution of telecom infrastructure, enhancing the automation, efficiency, and intelligence of Turkcell’s network management systems.

Subsea cable provider Seacom tapped satellite firm Q-KON to enhance its LEO satellite services, and bolster the resiliency of its network across its footprint in Africa.

On Day 3 of MWC2025, James Chen, President of Carrier Business, Huawei, gave a speech focused on how AI innovation will drive value creation.

At Mobile World Congress (MWC 2025), Huawei Service and Software held the Intelligent Operations Summit. During the event, Huawei, in collaboration with Appledore Research, released ‘Towards Next Generation Telco Billing 3.0’, a white paper on Next-Generation Convergent Billing Solution.

Global satellite operator Viasat announced on Thursday it has completed a trial in Brazil with ecosystem partners GuardianSat, Quectel, and Acceleronix to showcase direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity for the automotive industry.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) says that its Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition has now reached US$73 billion in pledges for universal connectivity, including fresh commitments this week from South Africa’s MTN Group and LEO satellite operator Globalstar.

Nigerian last-mile connectivity and tower operator Hotspot has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a consortium led by solar-power company Clear Blue Technologies to deploy 312 solar powered mobile sites across Nigeria.

UAE-based telco du announced at Mobile World Congress 2025 on Thursday it is collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Nokia to implement 5G cloud RAN technology in its network. 

Cambodian telco Smart Axiata said on Thursday it has joined the GSMA Open Gateway Initiative and signed an MoU at Mobile World Congress 2025 to collaborate with rival telcos CamGSM (a.k.a. Cellcard) and Metfone on deploying federated CAMARA APIs.

CelcomDigi said on Thursday it has signed several MoUs at Mobile World Congress 2025 – two with Huawei and ZTE related to AI-powered network evolution, and and one with Ericsson to develop private 5G solutions for Malaysia’s oil and gas sector.

Airwallex, a global payments and financial platform for growing businesses, says it has signed definitive agreements to acquire CTIN Pay, an intermediary payment service (IPS) licensed company in Vietnam.

India’s Tata Electronics and Taiwanese companies Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) and Himax have announced a semiconductor-related memorandum of understanding (MoU).

The mobile payment group Safaricom M-Pesa, along with another, unnamed financial service provider, has signed a service level agreement (SLA) with the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia to transform healthcare payments through a secure, efficient and scalable digital payment system.

Viettel High Tech, a Vietnamese end-to-end 4G/5G solution provider and part of the state-owned multinational telecommunications, technology and manufacturing conglomerate Viettel Group, has officially announced the launch of its 5G equipment trial with the UAE's Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (du), a leading telecom operator in the Middle East, at MWC25.

Qvantel is back in the MWC25 news headlines. The BSS specialist has announced a significant milestone in its partnership with Uzbek mobile operator Perfectum and tech giant Nokia.

Pakistani telco Jazz – owned by global digital operator Veon – announced at Mobile World Congress 2025 on Wednesday it is collaborating with Huawei to deploy solar power tech at 1,000 of its mobile base station sites across Pakistan.

Indonesian telco Telkomsel is having a busy week at Mobile World Congress 2025, following up MoUs with ZTE and Huawei on Monday with a flurry of deals with Ericsson, Pegatron and TikTok covering cloud-native edge computing, 5G factories and user verification.