Philippines central bank, The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) says it has lifted its moratorium on new electronic money issuers from non-bank financial institutions (EMI-NBFI). The move is said to be aimed at enhancing digital payments in the country.

Global digital operator Veon Group says it has reaffirmed its confidence in the growth potential of Pakistan’s microfinance sector and Mobilink Bank, part of the Veon Group, by investing US$15 million in fresh capital to drive the bank’s strategic ambitions.

The military government in Myanmar, which seized power in a coup in February 2021, has enacted a new cybersecurity law which imposes wide-ranging controls on the flow of information. The measures were announced last Friday in state-run newspapers, though reports suggest they came into effect two days’ earlier.

LEO satellite operator Eutelsat OneWeb says last week’s service outage that lasted for 48 hours was down to a software glitch in its ground segment that didn’t take leap years into account.

Nokia announced on Friday it has completed the selloff of its subsea cable unit, Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), to the French government in order to focus on its core network infrastructure business.

UAE-based Space42 says it successfully launched its Thuraya 4 (T4) geostationary satellite, which it says will be key for launching new services across Africa, Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.

Pan-African operator MTN Group has announced the conclusion of the sale of its MTN Guinea-Conakry operation to the State of Guinea. This took place on 30 December 2024.

Two very different announcements regarding SIM registration have made headlines in two African countries in recent days: Togo is pursuing the policy, while Mauritius seems to be rejecting it.

Turkcell, globally a leading comprehensive telecom and digital services provider, has announced the successful completion of the world's first 2.4Tbps field trial on a live transmission network in collaboration with Huawei.

Operator MTN Uganda says it has secured UGX370 billion (about US$100 million) in committed debt financing from five local banks.

Before the end of 2025 Ukraine is expecting to be one of the first countries to have the Starlink direct-to-cell satellite service up and running, thereby enhancing the resilience of the country’s connectivity landscape, thanks to a deal between Starlink and local operator Kyivstar.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) to make unified payments interface (UPI) transactions via third-party mobile applications, a concept that may sound arcane on first glance, but one that could speed up the money transfer process in India.

While the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been widely reported as dismissing speculations that it plans an upward review of tariffs by January next year, it does seem as though one operator, satellite internet service Starlink, will have its planned tariff increase approved.

The telecommunications sector in the Republic of Congo is welcoming a new arrival with the announcement that Brazzaville-headquartered and state-owned operator Congo Telecom, known mainly for fixed services, has entered the mobile market.

While it’s been a holiday season in many parts of the world, it’s been a busy week for Safaricom Ethiopia – at least in terms of significant announcements involving M-Pesa services and coverage growth.

Recently, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority hosted the National Broadband Network Summit with the theme of "Gigabit For All" in Pakistan. The summit aims to bring together government and industry chain forces to promote Pakistan's digital economy by accelerating optical broadband deployment.

An internet law that gives the government power to regulate online content took effect in Vietnam last week. Decree 147, as the law is known, expands government control over access to information on the internet for reasons of ‘national security’ and ‘social order’.

Turkish telecoms giant Turk Telekom has announced a new 5G project focusing on smart agriculture in collaboration with Chinese telecommunications company ZTE.

Morocco’s Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Administrative Reform, last week announced that the country will soon launch a 5G internet service. The launch plans are described as part of preparations to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) football tournament and the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Indian startup Amantya Technologies has won funding under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme of the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) to develop a Made in India 5G standalone (SA) core for public and enterprise deployments.

Telecom Egypt, the country's main telecom services operator, has signed a commercial agreement with China Mobile International (CMI), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Mobile, to expand digital services.

Operator Movistar Colombia has announced the launch of its shared network with former rival operator Tigo. This comes after a fairly lengthy wait since we reported the companies’ signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to pursue a network sharing arrangement via a jointly owned infrastructure company in mid-2023.

Technology giant Ericsson and Bahrain-headquartered technology group Beyon have renewed their collaboration to expand their joint sustainability initiatives and circular economy practices for building energy-efficient networks in Bahrain.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a consortium of six international financial institutions have committed over US$900 million in financing to global data centre operator Yondr Group’s hyperscale data centre campus in Johor Bahru, a city on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.

Telin, a provider of premium international carrier voice, data services, and business solutions, and subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia, and Citra Connect, an Indonesian provider of connectivity services and digital solutions, have officially held a ceremony for a new cable landing station (CLS) at Nongsa Digital Park, Batam, the largest city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands.

There's been a major boost for troubled Chilean operator WOM after it won court approval to exit bankruptcy proceedings, having agreed to a takeover and restructuring bid from a group of creditors. This news comes eight months after WOM filed for Chapter 11, a US bankruptcy process that allows a debtor to reorganise its business or personal assets and debts.

Technology solutions provider ZTE has announced a partnership with ISP MiFibra to successfully commercialise ZTE's Smart Cloud Platform (SCP) in Peru.

The IFT-12 tender, in which spectrum will be made available for 5G networks in Mexico, will begin on 27 January when an invitation to would-be buyers to express their interest begins, according to an announcement from regulator the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT).

Telecom and digital services provider du has announced an exclusive partnership with Emirati firm Cyberspace Technologies for Tairra, a business management platform dedicated to optimising operations for teams of varying sizes.

Nokia has announced that servicer provider e& UAE is the first in the world to use its slicing solution to create a dedicated end-to-end network slice capable of meeting the speed and latency demands of today’s gaming applications.

The latest example of the growing trend for bring renewable energy to data centres comes from B.Grimm Power (BGRIM), the power business arm of B.Grimm Group, Thailand's oldest multinational conglomerate.

PalmPay, the Africa-focused fintech operating Nigeria’s most used mobile wallet, and Jumia, Africa’s e-commerce giant, have announced a strategic partnership to enhance the digital payment ecosystem on the continent, starting with payment integrations and co-marketing efforts in Nigeria.

Toni Eid, founder of Telecom Review Group, was undoubtedly right when he said: “5G-Advanced has seen remarkable progress in the Middle East.” He was speaking at the recent 18th Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit 2024 in Dubai where he was delivering the opening speech prior to a panel entitled World’s First 5G-A Region Sets Sail.

Satellite operator SES has added two more satellites to its next-gen O3b mPOWER constellation that are also the first two satellites with new designs to address power issues in the first six satellites.