Indian global information technology and system integration company Echelon Edge has partnered with a number of IT businesses to support the ongoing 4G network rollout by state-owned operator BSNL, a project reportedly covering over 100,000 sites nationwide.

Galaxy Backbone (GBB), the information technology and shared services provider of the Federal Government of Nigeria, has announced the successful expansion of its state-of-the-art fibre optic network to Lagos, Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria, and Ilorin, capital of Kwara State in the north-central region.

EdgePoint Towers, part of EdgePoint Infrastructure, the ASEAN-based independent telecommunications infrastructure company, has announced the completed deployment of its Outdoor Common Antenna System (CAS) at The Exchange TRX, a 70-acre development by Ministry of Finance Malaysia in the heart of Kuala Lumpur for international finance and business.

Accenture’s Managing Director for Communications, Media & Technology Lead Africa, Nitesh Singh (pictured), warned telecom operators they must embrace digital transformation to survive, especially with innovative players like Starlink encroaching on the connectivity market.

UAE-based satellite operator Space42 announced on Tuesday it has signed a new AED18.7 billion (US$5.1 billion) contract with the UAE government to provide satellite services until 2043, which will also help fund construction of two new satellites in the pipeline.

Ufone 4G, the mobile arm of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), announced on Tuesday it has struck a partnership with US-based Jubilee General Insurance (JGI) to sell insurance products to Ufone customers.

Telkom South Africa said on Tuesday its US$355 million selloff of its Swiftnet tower business to infrastructure-focused private equity firm Actis has cleared its final hurdle after getting the green light from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).

Service provider Telekom Malaysia has announced an allocation of at least MYR4 million (about US$895,861), including cash assistance, to support immediate flood relief efforts for affected customers, communities, and employees nationwide. This is in support of an initiative aimed at ensuring timely support for those in need.

Nokia has partnered with Indian ISP Ishan Technologies to upgrade its broadband services in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Mobile network operator Vivo is set to provide private 4G networks to brewing company Ambev, using Nokia equipment, in a bid to enhance logistical productivity.

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres India (STT GDC India) a leading data centre solutions provider, says it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Indian state Uttar Pradesh to help the state government carry out its plan to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) city.

Telekom Malaysia’s enterprise and government sector digital solutions arm TM One announced on Monday it has formed a partnership with local property developer PR1MA Corporation Malaysia to leverage broadband, digital and IoT solutions to help build sustainable smart-housing projects.

National fibre broadband network operator Bahrain Network (BNET) announced on Monday it has completed the transfer of Zain Bahrain’s fixed fibre backhaul network assets to its wholesale fibre network.

Telecom Namibia confirmed on Monday that a hacker group exfiltrated customer data from its systems and posted it onto the dark web on Friday after the telco refused to pay a ransom to prevent it.

Payment giant Mastercard is back in the news in the Middle East this week thanks to a major artificial intelligence-related deal in Saudi Arabia and an SME-focused agreement in the UAE.

Beyon Money, part of Bahrain technology business Beyon Group, has secured two new licenses from the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE). The two licenses are RPSCS (Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes) and SVF (Store Value Facilities).

West African internet service provider Tizeti has launched its FreeFiber broadband service in Nigeria and Ghana, setting what it calls a new benchmark for internet speed and accessibility in the region.

Qvantel, a major name in digital business support systems (BSS), has announced that it has implemented the customer relationship management (CRM) system from Qvantel Flex BSS for Mexican mobile operator Altan Redes.

Colombia’s Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) and its Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) have announced the launch of a public consultation focused on OTT (over the top) digital services. It began on 11 December 2024 and will continue until 31 January 2025.

Ericsson Vice President Todd Ashton (pictured) believes the spread of 4G across Africa will help create unicorn companies, drawing parallels with Asia, where countries like Indonesia developed such firms through increased connectivity.

Smart Communications, the mobile arm of Philippine telco PLDT, is reportedly making moves to relaunch its original mobile money app, Smart Money, in an apparent bid to directly take on rival telco Globe Telecom’s GCash.

Telekom Malaysia (TM) announced on Friday it has launched what it says is the country’s first sovereign GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS), which it also says will boost Malaysia's AI infrastructure.

Singapore-based asset manager Keppel is reportedly in talks with Vietnamese conglomerate Sovico Group to develop a subsea fibre cable linking their respective home countries to meet regional demand for data centre capacity.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in collaboration with other UN departments established a new body aimed at strengthening the resilience of submarine cables in response to rising outages.

Spain's leading telecom operator MasOrange has successfully completed the first 1.2Tbps data transfer over a longer distance commercial optical transmission network, using a single wavelength or channel over terrestrial cable.

Singapore-based data centre park developer Doma Infrastructure Group (DIG) said on Thursday it has formed a joint venture with Thai technology park operator Silicon Tech Park (STP) to boost Thailand’s data centre capacity to gigawatt levels.

CelcomDigi revealed on Thursday that it has signed separate partnership deals with private healthcare provider KPJ Healthcare and Universiti Malaya to turn Malaysia into a regional healthcare tourism hub by leveraging technologies like 5G, AI and extended reality (XR).

Given its recent troubles, the Moody's Ratings downgrade of operator Telefonica del Peru’s Corporate Family Rating (CFR) and senior unsecured rating to Caa1 from B2 is not great news.

The University of Dubai and MEA-Comm UAE, a technology company working to transform the region into a thriving digital economy, say they have signed an MoU to launch the first regional 5G testbed to, as they put it, “accelerate Industry Revolution 4.0 in the UAE and MEA region”.

The Cameroon business of pan-African telecom giant MTN Group has received some encouraging news from its parent company in the form of a promised major injection of cash.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies completed its 730km fibre network expansion from South Africa to Botswana in a move to bolster network resilience and capacity.

Ukrainian telco Kyivstar announced on Wednesday it’s launching voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) services for eligible subscribers, enabling them to make calls via Wi-Fi access points in locations with weak mobile signals.

Global satellite operator Viasat said on Wednesday it has demonstrated its direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity technology for the first time in the United Arab Emirates, marking its third such demo in the last two months.