Senegal finally launched its first-ever satellite, GAINDESAT-1A, into orbit on Friday – after numerous delays – marking the first stage of its budding national space programme SENSAT.

Malaysian telco Maxis says it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China Mobile International (CMI) to collaborate on exploring and developing private 5G applications and solutions for enterprises.

MTN Group and IHS Towers pledged to work constructively to resolve a governance issue as the firms push to bolster their relationship after resolving disagreements last year.

Bangladesh telcos Grameenphone and Robi Axiata have reportedly secured another 20 MHz of spectrum each in the 2.6 GHz band, after two years of haggling over the price per MHz.

Four out of Malaysia’s five mobile operators are officially in the running for the country’s second 5G network after submitting their bids to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Attempts across Africa to manage the proliferation of SIM cards are continuing. This time it’s Tunisia’s turn.

Blue NAP Americas, which provides businesses with data centre services, and Zella DC, an Australian company that manufactures micro data centres, have entered into a strategic partnership that initiates a reseller programme, enabling Blue NAP Americas to offer Zella DC's hybrid data centre solutions throughout the Caribbean.

Argentina’s telecoms regulator Enacom has permitted another big name in satellite services to enter the market.

Vodacom pledged to spend ZAR800 million (US$44.4 million) this financial year to upgrade its network and deliver connectivity to deep remote locations in the South African region of KwaZulu-Natal.

MTN subsidiary Bayobab signed a multi-year deal to integrate Eutelsat’s LEO satellites, a move to expand cellular backhaul and coverage in rural areas to meet rising demands from enterprise clients across Africa.

PLDT chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan said a deal is on the boil for a 49% stake in the operator group’s data centre business, despite negotiations with Japan-based Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) collapsing.

Malaysian telco Maxis announced on Wednesday it is partnering with Singtel to launch an all-in-one platform for 5G network, edge computing, cloud and services orchestration that enables vertical enterprises to incorporate 5G into their digital transformation strategies.

Axiata-owned telecoms infrastructure company Edotco says it has signed separate MoUs with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Axiata’s fintech firm Boost to accelerate infrastructure rollouts for digital enterprises and enable financial inclusion for tower landowners.

The first phase of OADC Texaf Digital, a joint venture between African data centre company Open Access Data Centres (OADC) and TEXAF, a major long-term investor in the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is now live in Kinshasa in the DRC.

In a deal that seems to have been finalised last week but has only recently been widely reported, Uganda plans to sell 60% of its troubled state-owned service provider Uganda Telecommunications Corporation Limited (UTel) to Dubai-based global contractor Rowad Capital for US$225million.

Malaysian operators CelcomDigi and U Mobile, alongside ZTE announced recognition in the Malaysia Book of Records for achieving the fastest mobile speeds in in the world.

United Group announced it signed a purchase agreement for financially troubled Slovenian quad-player T-2, a move that could save the company from bankruptcy, while bolstering its local unit’s mobile and broadband offerings.   

Lynk Global, a satellite-to-phone (sat2phone) telecoms provider, and Vodafone Kiribati, a leading mobile operator in Kiribati, have announced the start of initial satellite direct-to-mobile phone services to subscribers using what Lynk calls its “cell-towers-in-space” system.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) said on Tuesday it has officially issued a telecoms licence to SpaceX’s LEO satellite broadband operator Starlink to offer services in the country.

Local industry association the Association of Communications and Technology wants the South African government to lift its deadline for shutting down the country’s 2G and 3G networks.

The two competitors in what is an effective mobile operator duopoly in Ethiopia have both made headlines this week with upbeat news.

Private equity firm EQT has announced that its EQT Infrastructure VI fund has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a majority stake in the ground station infrastructure business of Eutelsat Group, a global leader in satellite communications.

The Indonesian smartphone market grew 20% year-on-year in Q2 boosted by the vendor promotion during the holiday season.

Maxis and Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) announced on Monday they will establish a new innovation centre to develop 5G-Advanced solutions with a focus on use cases, customer experience, operating efficiencies and nurturing local talent.

Safaricom announced on Monday that its 5G network is now available in all 47 counties in Kenya, which it claims makes it the biggest 5G operator in the country, although the network still only covers just 14% of the population.

Malaysian telco Telekom Malaysia (TM) and energy company Petronas announced on Monday they have deployed and launched a private 5G network at Petronas’ LNG Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak.

A number of news outlets in India are suggesting that cloud services provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) is looking to expand its data centre presence in Hyderabad, India, where it already has facilities that include three big data centres and its largest corporate building globally.

Azercosmos, Azerbaijan's space agency, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana have announced a new partnership, described as a ‘new milestone in connectivity’, to launch satellite services in Botswana.

Nigeria’s federal government has launched an initiative to establish digital free zones in the country. These zones will be designed to attract and support tech, finance and service-orientated businesses in what is described as “a conducive environment tailored to the 21st-century digital trade and technological age”.

Smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia grew 14% year-on-year in Q2 this year reaching 23.9 million units, as the region continues to recover from macroeconomic effects.

Latin America-focused operator group Millicom rejected Xavier Niel’s latest buyout offer stating that it is still being significantly undervalued, and maintained shareholders should reject Niel’s bid. 

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) seems to have confirmed reports that it has been quietly working with ISPs to redirect traffic from alternative DNS providers back to local DNS servers, preventing users from accessing web sites blocked by the MCMC.