Another attempt to manage virtual private network (VPN) use is under way in Pakistan, where the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has extended a deadline for unregistered VPN owners to give their details until the end of this month.

Underlining Saudi Arabia’s reputation as the fastest-growing data centre market in the Middle East are no fewer than three data centre-related announcements this week.

Analyst house Canalys revealed that the African smartphone market grew by 3% year-on-year in Q3 2024 despite macroeconomic challenges. It predicted that smartphone shipments would grow by a “cautious” 1% in 2025.

Indonesian telco Telkomsel said on Thursday it has teamed with ZTE to implement an AI-powered network solution in its 4G network to optimise base station performance after completing tests in Makassar and Kendari.

China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), which operates under the brand Zong 4G, says it has developed its own in-house large language model (LLM) designed specifically for customer service support for its telecoms services.

Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA), in collaboration with the ministry of communications and digitalisation and mobile network operators, recently began negotiations with relevant stakeholders in The Gambia to advance the implementation of the ECOWAS Free Roaming Initiative.

SpaceSail, a Chinese low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite company, has signed an agreement to enter the Brazilian market. The signing took place during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent state visit to the capital, Brasilia.

There’s been good news on the tax front for India’s telecommunications industry. However, one of the beneficiaries, operator Vodafone Idea, has received less positive news from banks relating to letters of credit.

Ukraine’s telecoms regulator said it raked in UAH2.8 billion (US$67.7 million) during its spectrum auction on Tuesday, with Vodafone, Kyivstar and Lifecell buying five lots of spectrum in the 2100, 2300, and 2600-MHz bands.

MTN South Africa and sportech company Telecoming said on Wednesday they have extended their partnership to launch a new cloud gaming service in South Africa.  

Apple has reportedly offered to invest an additional US$100 million in Indonesia to convince the government to approve its new iPhone 16 to be sold in the country.

Somalia is working to put in place a favourable regulatory framework to strengthen its digital infrastructure. In particular, regulator the National Communications Authority is preparing the introduction of new regulations on submarine cable landings.

Nokia has been awarded a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar extension deal by operator Bharti Airtel to deploy 4G and 5G equipment across key Indian cities and states.

Madagascar’s three mobile money operators – MVola, Orange Money and Airtel Money – have denounced plans by the government’s Directorate General for Taxes (DGI) to tax mobile money transactions, which they say will discourage financial inclusion and harm the economy.

Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS) and Indian realty firm RMZ announced on Tuesday that they have formed a joint venture to invest US$1.7 billion in data centre development in India.

African connectivity, digital and financial services company Vodacom Group says it has partnered with a number of technology providers to provide young people on the African continent with access to digital skills as part of its commitment to driving digital literacy for Africa’s next generation.

Cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky and AFRIPOL, the African Union’s dedicated police cooperation body, have signed a cooperation agreement focused on preventing and fighting cybercrime.

South African wireline and wireless telecommunications provider Telkom has suspended plans to sell part of its fibre business, Openserve, according to a statement by CEO Serame Taukobong this week.

Thousands of guests including industry leaders, technical experts, and partners from around the world, gathered in Paris last week at Huawei Connect 2024, to explore how digital and intelligent technology can accelerate Europe's twin green and digital transition.

5G connected cars are expected to be an increasingly hot item for India’s smart-device consumers next year as new models include 5G IoT connectivity and onboard GenAI as default technologies, says a new research report.

Telecom Namibia says it successfully completed eight FTTx projects worth NAB35.5 million (US$1.9 million) for underserved areas in 2023 and 2024, and will invest another NAB27 million to expand its fibre access network further in the coming year.

Malaysian telco U Mobile announced on Tuesday it has launch an Open API portal based on the GSMA Open Gateway Initiative, which also makes it the first operator in Malaysia to do so.

How should the telecommunications industry respond to the transformation that technology evolution – and especially AI – will drive? It’s a transformation that will affect strategy, services and operations, as Huawei’s Liu Kang explained at OTF2024.

Mobile money services MTN MoMo in South Africa and EcoCash in Zimbabwe have partnered to provide what are described as effortless direct cash transfers between the two countries.

Bahrain-based technology group Beyon has announced that its telecommunications arm, Batelco, has launched the first off-grid mobile site in the region powered entirely by renewable solar and wind energy.

As industries worldwide accelerate digital transformation in an AI-driven era, resilient, high-speed networks have become essential.

India’s competition regulator has ordered WhatsApp to cease sharing data for advertising purposes with other Meta-owned applications for five years and fined the US tech giant US$24.5 million for antitrust violations.

China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), which operates under the Zong 4G brand, says that it is now logging 7 billion recharge transactions per month via its digital channels, which now account for 40% of prepaid recharges.

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) says its India unit has broken ground on its edge data centre in Jaipur, which also marks its entry into India’s edge data centre market.

Global connectivity provider Angola Cables is reportedly planning to expand into Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to cash in on Africa's growing appetite for digital infrastructure – provided regulators make it easier to roll out that infrastructure.

Eutelsat OneWeb announced on Thursday it has signed a new multi-year agreement with satellite solutions and services provider Q-KON to expand LEO satellite services across Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the southern region.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and Indonesian tech firm GoTo Gojek Tokopedia said on Thursday they have begun work on Sahabat-AI, an open-source large language model (LLM) ecosystem specifically designed for Bahasa Indonesia and other local languages.

Operator MTN South Africa and leading tech vendor Huawei say that they have completed the first 5.5G network trial in South Africa at the MTN head office in Johannesburg.