TrueBusiness – the enterprise unit of Thai telco True Corp – announced on Wednesday it has partnered with cloud communications service provider Infobip to launch a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) offering with AI capabilities.

Telecom Italia’s international arm Sparkle said on Wednesday it has signed a deal to provide international capacity services to state-owned telco Telecom Namibia via Google’s Equiano subsea cable.

Only days after the news that multinational telecommunications company Digicel Group had announced that its new subsea fibre cable Deep Blue One, serving the Caribbean and the northeast tip of South America, had gone live, Infinera, a supplier of open optical networking solutions and advanced optical semiconductors, has announced that Digicel has deployed Infinera’s GX Series modular platform.

A data centre campus, Narra Technology Park, is being planned in the Philippines, with a launch date for the first phase of the development taking place in late 2025.

Google recently published a blog about its sixth annual Google for Brazil event, where it shared news of investments and innovations in the country. Not surprisingly, the innovation that seems to have attracted the strongest press attention has been an anti-theft artificial intelligence (AI) feature for phones.

MTN South Africa and Huawei co-hosted the IP Day Summit themed "Net5.5G Network Development.”

Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia announced on Monday that it has launched commercial operations in the war-torn Tigray region, and is in the process of building a 4G network that will be upgradeable to 5G.

Cambodian telco CamGSM – which operates under the brand Cellcard – announced on Tuesday that it has earmarked US$180 million for network expansion for 2024, with a particular focus on extending coverage to underserved communities.

Communications and IT services provider Speedcast says it recently hosted an inaugural event to celebrate the new purpose-built teleport facility in Cali, Colombia that now serves as the ground infrastructure gateway in Latin America for Eutelsat OneWeb.

Yet another massive communications-related investment is coming Malaysia’s way, this time from ByteDance.

The Saudi Arabian Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST) has announced that Aramco Digital, the digital technology services subsidiary of state-owned Saudi oil and gas company Saudi Aramco, has obtained what is called a Specialized Radio Network Licence in the 450MHz band.

India has a new communications minister. His name is Jyotiraditya Scindia. The former civil aviation minister takes over some, though not all, of the portfolio of his predecessor, Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Smartphone shipments have for the first time surpassed feature phone stock in Africa,  showcasing the rise in adoption of more advanced handsets across the region.

Axiata’s banking unit Boost Bank launched its mobile app after gaining approval only five months ago from regulators to launch digital services.  

The proliferation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites has caused a sea change in a sector which has long been dominated by geostationary orbit (GSO) providers.

MEA digital commerce firm Network International announced that telecoms operator Airtel has appointed it as an issuing payments processor for its operations across the African continent.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Monday it is will invest an additional US$1 billion between 2023 and 2027 to help its Ukrainian subsidiary Kyivstar rebuild the country’s digital infrastructure as the Russian invasion continues.

Malaysian 5G network operator Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) says it has struck a partnership with e-commerce firm Shopee that aims to encourage micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other sellers on Shopee’s platform to adopt 5G.

While mobile remains the dominant form of communications across much of sub-Saharan Africa, fibre is continuing to make inroads into many, arguably very tough, markets for fixed communications, including, if recent reports prove correct, South Sudan.

UAE-headquartered satellite solutions provider Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) says it has contracted satellite manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space for its new geostationary (GEO) telecommunications satellites, Al Yah 4 (AY4) and Al Yah 5 (AY5).

Infrastructure provider Bahrain Network (BNET) announced late last week the launch of a project to transfer all the kingdom's copper internet networks to an ultra-high-speed fibre network.

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Indonesian operator Telkomsel says it has completed the first validation of Wi-Fi 7 in Indonesia together with the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) as it makes plans to adopt the technology for its fixed broadband services.

Maxis CEO Goh Seow Eng said on Friday that the telco is ready to sign off on its share subscription agreement (SSA) to take a stake in 5G wholesaler Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) and aims to play a major role in deploying Malaysia’s second 5G network.

Thai energy company Gulf Energy Development announced on Friday it has launched an initiative with local telco AIS and the Highland Research and Development Institute (HRDI) to build up solar-powered infrastructure in Thailand’s remote mountainous regions.

ZTE Corporation, a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, recently released the company's Sustainability Report 2023, detailing its strategies, actions and progress in green innovations, social contributions and corporate governance.

Digicel Group has announced that its new subsea fibre cable Deep Blue One serving the Caribbean and the northeast tip of South America is now live, which is big news not only for the four countries connected to it, but also potentially for offshore oil and gas rigs along its path.

A group of telcos and data centre providers in Southeast Asia have formed an alliance called ASEAN Connect.One that aims to make it easier for data centres, carriers and OTT players across the region to collaborate on connectivity services.

The volume of data centre launch news items may perhaps only be matched by news of initiatives to mitigate the power demands of this fast-growing industry. One such this week involves Asia-focused data centre platform company Digital Edge (Singapore) and Peak Energy Investments, a leading renewable developer and independent power producer with operations across Asia.

NuRAN Wireless, a leading supplier of mobile and broadband wireless infrastructure solutions, has announced a five-year network-as-a-service (NaaS) agreement with pan-African service provider MTN for the deployment of 250 sites in Africa under the NaaS business model.

“Breaking news,” says the MTN Cameroon Twitter feed, continuing: “Canal+ is now available on MTN TV.” Yes, MTN Cameroon has partnered Canal+ to deploy a streaming platform. But how will this service benefit Cameroon’s leading network – and its users?