Network International, an enabler of digital commerce in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and global digital payment and financial technology provider Ant International, have signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the extension of innovative digital payment solutions to businesses in the MEA.

The Communications, Space, and Technology Commission (CST), the Saudi Arabian communications authority established to regulate, monitor and empower the communications and IT sector, has granted a licence to provide specialised wireless telecommunication services to Aramco Digital.

Millicom International Cellular, a provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Latin America, has announced a tower sale agreement with SBA Communications Corporation (SBA), an independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure.

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata says it has added a café to its metaverse platform “Futureverse” via a collaboration agreement with Sri Lanka’s largest café chain Barista.

Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (NTRA) said it has signed an agreement with the government’s Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) to create a joint digital platform designed to resolve complaints about telecom services more quickly.

Brazil-based digital bank platform Nubank announced plans on Tuesday to join Brazil's increasingly crowded mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) space in a bid to expand its portfolio beyond financial services.

Global communications solutions provider iBasis said on Tuesday it has signed an deal with Peruvian mobile operator Claro Perú to implement its A2P messaging gateway solution.

Thai Airways and Turkish Airlines have signed on for Airbus HBCplus Ka-band satellite-supported broadband in-flight connectivity.

OMS Group, a Malaysian subsea digital infrastructure company, has signed a contract with Dutch maritime firm Royal IHC for the construction of a series of cable-laying vessels. OMS is backed by KKR, a global investment firm investing across private markets in every asset class all over the world.

A flurry of deals and agreements underlines the continuing competition for a piece of the still-growing digital payment market in Africa. Some of the big names in the frame in two of the most recent announcements are Standard Bank, Volante Technologies, Orange Middle East and Africa (OMEA) and Mastercard.

UAE-based operator e& International revealed on Monday it has signed an MoU with Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, and Intel to achieve Level 4 autonomy in all of its mobile networks by 2030, with backing from TM Forum.

Digital infrastructure company Equinix announced on Tuesday it will invest around US$500 million in phases over the next ten years to cash in on Thailand's bustling data centre scene, starting with two new IBX data centres in Bangkok.

Orex Sai – the Open RAN joint venture between NTT DoCoMo and NEC – says it has been selected by Cambodia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for a project to deploy a 4G Open RAN test network.

DigitalBridge Group, a global alternative asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure, has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Yondr Group a global developer and operator of hyperscale data centres, through one of its managed investment funds.

American Tower (ATC), a provider of digital communications infrastructure, and ProFuturo, a digital education programme promoted by the Telefonica Foundation and Spanish not-for-profit banking foundation la Caixa Foundation, have jointly announced the expansion of their alliance to Nigeria to foster digital inclusion in schools in Africa.

Huawei’s technology is revolutionising the energy sector in the Middle East, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia—two nations committed to achieving ambitious clean energy goals. At GITEX Global in Dubai, Andy Ding, Solution Vice President of Huawei Electric Power Digitalisation Business Unit, and Dr Moustafa Abdelhady M Shahin, Smart grid expert, discussed the rapid digitalisation of Dubai’s power grid, the role of smart infrastructure, the challenges of renewable integration, and other key issues.

The GSMA predicts that telecom reforms that spurred investment in mobile technology could add over ETB1.3 trillion (US$10. 3 billion) to Ethiopia’s GDP by 2028.

Malaysian telco CelcomDigi announced on Saturday it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AmBank and AmBank Islamic to deliver affordable digital healthcare solutions to medical providers over the next three years.

IP optical networking solutions vendor Ribbon Communications announced on Friday it has successfully completed a long-haul DWDM project to upgrade Indian telco Bharti Airtel’s optical transport network.

Indonesia’s Industry Ministry said on Friday that sales of Apple’s new iPhone 16 in the country remain illegal due to an ongoing certification dispute, but clarified that incoming travellers and air crew who own the devices can still bring them for personal use.

Odata, a Brazilian provider of data centre services for Latin America that is controlled by US group Aligned Data Centres, is reportedly investing US$1.3 billion to develop two more data centres in Colombia.

ZTE has unveiled the innovations of its RAN multi-agent collaboration solution with China Mobile during the China International Information and Communications Technology Exhibition (PTEXPO) in Beijing.

Costa Rican regulator Sutel has reportedly restarted the country’s 5G spectrum auction process, following the dismissal by The Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) of most of the objections of Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (Grupo ICE), the Costa Rican government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider.

Airtel Africa reported customer base and profit growth, but continued to grapple with currency devaluation on the continent as revenues and EBITDA declined.

Digital infrastructure company Equinix announced it has opened its first International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in South Africa, and is already onboarding new customers and partners.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has reportedly kicked off a pilot programme to allow foreign investors to operate wholly-owned data centres and other telecoms-related services in select locations.

At GITEX Global 2024, Huawei unveiled a ground-breaking innovation set to redefine the optical transport landscape — the industry's first end-to-end fine-grained Optical Transport Network (fgOTN) product portfolio.

According to industry body the GSMA, 43% of the global population still does not use mobile internet, highlighting device affordability and digital skills as the main barriers.

Ethio Telecom is back in the news – this time via plans to launch a smart city project in Bahir Dar, capital city of the Amhara region in northern Ethiopia, following the deployment of commercial 5G services.

Orange once again highlighted the “outstanding performance” of its Africa and Middle East unit, which led growth in its third-quarter financial results.

Industry association the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which includes Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea among its members, has questioned the continuation of licence fees in their present form.

As technologies such as AI, 5G-A, and cloud computing accelerate ever more rapidly, our physical and digital worlds are growing increasingly intertwined.