The board of Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has reportedly approved draft rules that would require telcos to add biometrics to their SIM card registration processes.

C3ntro Telecom (C3ntro), a provider of AI-enabled fibre networks and data centre connectivity solutions, has announced the successful deployment in Mexico of a solution from Infinera, a global supplier of innovative open optical networking solutions and advanced optical semiconductors.

Officials from China, Myanmar and Thailand have reportedly reached a consensus on eradicating telecommunication fraud centres in Myanmar, a country with a long-standing fraud problem, exacerbated by the ongoing war in that country.

PAIX Data Centres, a leading data centre provider in Africa, has announced plans for the construction of a new state-of-the-art data centre in Dakar, Senegal.

Indonesia’s antitrust watchdog has ordered technology giant Google to pay IDR202.5 billion (US$12.4 million) for monopolistic practices related to payment services on its app store.

MainOne, Solutions by Equinix, which provides connectivity and data centre solutions in West Africa, said on Tuesday it has acquired and lit up capacity on the Equiano subsea cable to add more redundancy to its services.

Telkom Kenya, Rakuten Symphony and Airspan announced on Tuesday that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on testing Open RAN technology in Kenya.

Malaysia’s National Water Services Commission (SPAN) has reportedly warned that the country’s data centre boom could create a water crisis in the longer term unless reforms on data centre water usage are enacted in the next few years.

Armenia’s Ucom has tapped Cerillion to provide its pre-integrated BSS/OSS suite to boost the operator’s quadruple-play services portfolio.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said on Monday it has launched the AI Skills Coalition, an initiative to bridge the global AI skills gap that has the backing of 27 organizations, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, the East Africa Community and Cognizant.

ZTE said it has successfully collaborated with Viettel-backed Peruvian telco Bitel to upgrade its 4G mobile network ahead of the telco’s official launch of 5G on Monday.

Mobile internet users in Thailand are quite keen on the coming age of AI despite awareness of potential risks and privacy concerns, and most are already using it, according to a new Telenor Asia study.

STT GDC India, a division of one of the world’s fastest-growing data centre providers, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, has announced plans to build a data centre campus in Meerkhanpet, near Hyderabad in India.

This could be the year in which Pakistan starts to roll out 5G, according to documents cited this week in the local press relating to a 5G service launch schedule.

A strategic partnership to create one of India’s largest digital platforms for financial services. That’s the promise of the recently announced alliance between operator Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest service providers, and Bajaj Finance, the country’s largest private-sector non-banking financial company.

UnionPay International (UPI), which delivers cross-border payment solutions to the world’s largest cardholders, has announced a strategic partnership with Malaysian financial institution Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) to launch the UnionPay QR payment in Malaysia in the first half of 2025.

Airtel Malawi, one of the two dominant mobile operators in the Southeast African country along with TNM, has announced plans to boost its network with additional data links and to enhance reliability.

Apple entered the top five highest-shipping smartphone vendors in India, as the overall market recorded a 5% shipment increase in 2024, despite ending Q4 with a decline.

Chinese handset maker Oppo has reportedly apologised to customers in Thailand after admitting to the telecoms regulator that its devices came with pre-installed loan apps that had not been approved by the Bank of Thailand (BOT).

Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) has reportedly struck a multi-year, multi-million-dollar partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb to deliver LEO satellite services across Nigeria.

Malaysia’s second 5G operator U Mobile reportedly intends to complete the rollout its 5G network by mid-2026, and says it won’t need to partner with other operators to do it.

Mexican telecoms regulator, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (FTI), has cancelled the auction for 5G spectrum that was scheduled for this month.

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Mozambique has completed a nationwide assessment of telecom operators’ quality of service, revealing significant disparities in performance and compliance. Movitel emerged as the worst-performing operator for data services, while Vodacom demonstrated the highest reliability.

Malaysia’s mobile data service company U Mobile has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation Berhad (SDEC), the implementing agency driving Sarawak digital economy initiatives for the East Malaysian state that is home to an estimated 2.5 million people.

Satellite operator Arabsat says it has established a partnership with UAE-based digital and ICT solutions provide ZainTech to provide satellite-powered cloud, IoT, AI, drones, digital and data services across the MENA region.

State-owned Ethio Telecom revealed on Thursday that it has initiated strategic discussions with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to finance its digital transformation initiatives, amid reports that the telco also pushed back the deadline of its planned 10% share sale to mid-February.

Globe Telecom hailed the arrest of two Chinese nationals for attempting to sell pre-registered SIM cards.

The mixed fortunes of WOM Colombia, the country’s fourth largest operator, have been at least slightly boosted by news of an acquisition that will allow it to continue to operate.

Kazakhtelecom completed the US$1.1 billion sale of its subsidiary, Mobile Telecom Service LLP, to Qatari Power International Holding (PIH) in a move to align with the Kazakh president’s orders to demonopolise the Kazakh mobile market.

UAE-based satellite firm Space42 said on Wednesday it has successfully deployed the second of its Foresight earth observation LEO satellites in partnership with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation operator ICEYE.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reportedly issued an ultimatum for nine banks: pay up on their Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes or be disconnected before the end of this month.