TowerCo of Africa Uganda has procured funding of US$40 million to boost coverage in rural areas of the country.

Demand for fixed-line telephone services has reportedly spiked in North Korea’s North Pyongan Province due to the easing of border restrictions with China, which has also led to a spike in installation prices.

The Indian government is reportedly set to classify satellite broadband as a telecoms service, which would make global satellite broadband players eligible for 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) automatically.

Chile’s ClaroVTR joint venture has signed a 15-year agreement with fibre optics company OnNet Fibra, which will allow the migration of the joint venture's cable modem customers to fibre optics.

Satellite and space tech company Thaicom has announced the selection of Astranis, a fast-growing satellite manufacturer and operator, to supply Thaicom-9, the newest addition to the Bangkok-headquartered company's fleet of high-throughput satellites, at 119.5 degrees East.

Bangladeshi operator Banglalink announced it will partner with SaaS platform company CSG to enhance its capacity to record daily call detail records (CDRs) to meet anticipated rising volume. 

Inmarsat Maritime, part of satellite communications company Inmarsat, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aramco, a global integrated energy and chemicals company headquartered in Saudi Arabia, to undertake a 5G mesh network trial that aims to provide high-bandwidth connectivity for Aramco’s offshore work in the Arabian Gulf.

Huawei President of Data Storage Product Line, Peter Zhou (pictured), urged the telecoms industry to utilise efficient data infrastructure to effectively leverage AI to bolster their operations.

Omantel announced that it has signed a strategic agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to address data residency and security requirements, especially for government entities and regulated industries in Oman.

Indonesian telco Telkomsel and Ericsson subsidiary Vonage revealed on Tuesday they have agreed to collaborate on communications and network APIs for developers, enterprises, and communications service providers (CSPs).

Ericsson has announced a strategic three-year neutral host provider (NHP) agreement with Advanced Communications and Electronics Systems (ACES), an international neutral host provider, aimed at the Saudi Arabian market.

An educational institution and a technology company in the UAE have announced a collaboration to drive IoT advances.

Zoho Corp, a leading global technology company, has announced the opening of two Middle East data centres in Saudi Arabia. Located in Jeddah and Riyadh, the two data centres are now fully operational. With this addition, Zoho Corp now has 18 data centres worldwide.

Oil and gas production are major industries in the Middle East, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and other regions covered by this publication. But should telecoms monitor the effect of these industries on the environment – and if so, how? Two possible answers come in the form of a recently launched satellite.

Huawei signed global patent licensing agreements with Amazon and Chinese smartphone firm Vivo, moves the infrastructure company said will provide consumers with more innovative products and services.

MTN South Africa has launched a new collaboration with the Gauteng Provincial Community Police Board in a bid to address network infrastructure theft and vandalism.

Nokia announced it partnered with Indian optical and digital solutions company STL to develop enterprise and government-focused connectivity solutions. 

BW Digital and Citramas Group announced on Monday they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly develop a carrier-neutral digital ecosystem using BW Digital’s upcoming new data centre in Batam’s Nongsa Digital Park (NDP) in Indonesia.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced on Monday that it plans to launch an AWS infrastructure region in Saudi Arabia in 2026, and pledged to invest more than US$5.3 billion in the country.

Indonesian telco XL Axiata announced it has partnered with Cisco to introduce a cloud-based IoT connectivity management platform to help customers in Indonesia securely scale their IoT businesses.

An ongoing dispute between Google and Indian start-ups over charges in its Android and Play Store app ecosystem seems to have escalated in the past few days.

MWC 2024 may be over, but MWC news relating to sustainability is still coming in, this time involving Qatar-headquartered service provider Ooredoo and tech giant Nokia, announcing that they have solidified their shared commitment to sustainable innovation by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Satellite technology company Avanti Communications has been granted the authorisation required for its HYLAS 4 satellite gateway station in Diamniadio, Senegal, about 32 kilometres from Dakar.

Smartphone shipments in Africa grew 6% to 68.7 million units in full-year 2023 due to rising consumer confidence in H2. 

MTN Group warned that its annual profits could plunge by 90% due to the devaluation of the Nigeria’s currency affecting its MTN Nigeria unit. 

Malaysian telco CelcomDigi on Friday said it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with satellite operator SES to find ways to use SES’s medium-earth-orbit (MEO) and geosynchronous satellites to connect businesses and communities in Malaysia.

Ooredoo Group revealed on Sunday that it has partnered with Microsoft Azure and over-the-top (OTT) streaming solutions provider MediaKind to launch its first OTT streaming platform in six markets.

Nepalese telco Ncell revealed on Friday it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabian telco e& international to collaborate on delivering key digital services, products, and platforms in Nepal.

Eutelsat Group and satellite engineering enterprise Q-KON have revealed that multiple digital banks in South Africa have now gone live on Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO satellite network.

Cisco and NEC announced a collaboration with TIM Brazil to improve the operator’s network performance, service quality and end-to-end visibility. 

At Huawei’s Day0 Forum 2024, taking place on the eve of Mobile World Congress 2024, MTN Group’s Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Chika Ekeji, gave a keynote speech to explain how 5G is driving digital progress in Africa.