In what is claimed to be a first for Europe, service provider Vodafone and Czech power generation conglomerate ČEZ Group have introduced what they say is Europe's first private 5G mobile phone network (MPN) at a nuclear power plant – albeit in pilot form – in Temelin, a municipality and village in the south of the Czech Republic.

The World Health Organization found there is no link between brain and head cancer from use of mobile phones or being situated close to mobile towers.

Guinea's Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy (MPTEN) reportedly plans to interconnect the country’s national fibre optic network with the network of Côte d'Ivoire in yet another move to boost its international capacity.

China Mobile International (CMI) announced on Tuesday that the PEACE subsea cable running from Singapore to France is now fully activated end to end, adding more open and flexible connectivity between Southeast Asia and Europe.

Malaysian communications service provider Maxis has announced the latest addition to its managed services portfolio by becoming a managed service provider (MSP) for multinational information technology company Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in Malaysia.

Highlighting an increase in natural disasters in the Pacific Region, Digicel Pacific and SES have announced an agreement to bolster Digicel Pacific’s network with SES's service to enable critical communications to be restored quickly in the event of natural disasters. This agreement is an extension of the companies' long-standing partnership.

International money transfer operator Sasai Money Transfer has announced that it has partnered with Airtel Money, the payments division of operator Airtel, to expand what it describes as its revolutionary offer of free remittances to more African markets, this time targeting Uganda.

Hungary-based 4iG Group received backing from the North Macedonian government to launch its operations in the country, edging the operator closer to a commercial launch in the Western Balkan nation.  

The Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is reportedly preparing to tender a contract worth just over PHP37 million (around US$652,540) to roll out free wireless internet access services in 67 “roll-on, roll-off” (RoRo) ports across the country.

The government of Mauritius has launched a new scheme under which citizens aged 18 to 25 years are eligible to get free mobile internet services as part of a government drive to prepare the younger generation for the country’s digital future.

Indian telco Bharti Airtel, MediaTek and Nokia announced on Monday they have completed a trial that successfully combined TDD and FDD mid-band spectrum to boost 5G uplink speeds as high as 300 Mbps.

Qatar’s mobile operators have been given seven months to switch from FDD to TDD in the 2.6GHz frequency band by the country’s regulator.

Burkina Faso is planning to extend mobile and internet services to 1,000 remote areas over the next three years. These areas, known as ‘white zones’, are regions without access to telephony and internet services.

Will Albania soon join the club of 5G-ready countries? Telecoms regulator AKEP has officially opened the competition for the first frequencies to be used for 5G. This will involve five blocks in the 3400-3800MHz frequency band – two of 80MHz and three of 40MHz.

Brazil’s telecoms regulator Anatel announced 94.5% of Brazilian will theoretically have access to 5G from today (September 2) after releasing licences to operators for spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band.

Delivering a satisfying customer experience is essential to any sales process, but the expectations that telecom operators face are higher than most.

LEO satellite operator Starlink has scored another licence in the Pacific Islands to offer services – this one in the Solomon Islands, after two years of discussions with the government.

Google announced on Thursday it will invest US$850 million in its long-planned Terros data centre in Canelones, Uruguay, a month after convincing the government that the facility won’t exacerbate the country’s water shortage due to drought.

Malaysian telco CelcomDigi and agritech startup BoomGrow Productions say they have partnered to launch 5G and AI-powered machine farms that they say will enhance sustainable farming practices and food production in the country.

Indonesian operator Telkomsel announced an expansion of its ‘Hyper 5G’ network in Bali, as part of broader plans to deliver comprehensive 5G across the nation.

Nokia is expanding its Fixed Networks R&D facility in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Reliance Jio’s parent company, Reliance Industries Limited, is reportedly planning to build AI-ready data centres in Jamnagar as part of the company’s overall strategy of “democratising” access to AI infrastructure.

Orange Liberia and ZTE said on Thursday they have successfully completed a project to build new base station sites in rural areas across the country that they say significantly enhances network coverage in those areas.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has set 14 September 2024 as the final registration date for subscriber identification module (SIM) subscribers, just under four years since the country’s SIM registration procedure began.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, and tech giant Microsoft have signed a strategic agreement to identify and enhance investment opportunities in digital transformation across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Malaysian operator U Mobile joined rival Maxis in signing a 5G cooperation agreement with China Mobile International (CMI) to explore how to advance 5G connectivity.

Hong Kong-based global ICT service provider and network operator HGC Global Communications (HGC) announced on Wednesday that it has launched a data centre interconnect (DCI) solution in Bangkok.

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin said on Wednesday it has signed a strategic partnership with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison to develop ICE System 2, the latest announced leg of Telin’s Indonesia Cable Express subsea cable project.

There’s been a flurry of African news from Starlink – satellite communications company SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet service – in recent days, culminating with this week’s announcement that Botswana has granted an operating licence to the service.

Bite Group has selected Nokia’s Packet Core appliance-based solution as it seeks to deploy advanced 5G services while simplifying its network architecture in Latvia and Lithuania.