Saudi Arabia’s digital regulator the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) announced caller IDs will appear on all phone calls from next month, a move to safeguard callers from scammers. 

Service provider du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), and technology giant Nokia have signed a frame agreement aimed at heralding what they call a new era of 5G-driven advanced technology possibilities for UAE enterprises.

Huawei AUTIN solutions have successfully passed TM Forum ‘Ready for ODA’ certification at its first batch, demonstrating AUTIN’s industry standard compliance and product leadership in solution design, development and implementation.

Globe Telecom partnered with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) and four ISPs to fight back against piracy and protect intellectual property. 

Malaysia’s rural broadband service provider MEASAT says it is now connecting close to 600 school sites in remote locations throughout the country through its CONNECTme NOW high-speed wireless satellite broadband services.

Smartphone shipments in Africa saw growth of 7.6% to a total of 19.6 million units in Q2, snapping seven quarters of continuous year-on-year decline.

TM Forum's annual Digital Transformation World (DTW) is a major event in the communications industry, where innovation comes to life, inspiration is sparked, connections are made, and knowledge is gained. Around 3500+ attendees, 50+ CSP VPs, and above from 100+ countries joined this event.

Orange Guinea and Huawei have deployed FDD Massive MIMO across the operator’s entire network.

The Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO), which carries out oil and gas exploration, development and production operations in Egypt, has deployed a fixed wireless broadband network from networking solutions provider Cambium Networks’ to connect onshore and offshore operations and thus improve efficiency and safety.

Subsea cable developments continue to make headlines, with two more news stories just announced, this time relating to Asia Direct Cable (ADC) and Trans Europe Asia System (TEAS).

At Huawei Connect 2023, iFLYTEK and Huawei Data Center Network (DCN) initiated a joint innovation project to build a super-connectivity AI base.

MTS Kosovo looks set to continue providing services in the market, with local media reporting that the country’s authorities have approved its appeal against the cancellation of its licence.

Globe Telecom secured a PHP15 billion (US$263 million) loan from Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company to finance its network upgrade and debt refinancing.

Data centre provider Princeton Digital Group (PDG), has launched its 22MW hyperscale data centre facility Jakarta Cibitung 2 (JC2) in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia. Located, as its name implies, in Cibitung, the campus is 35 kilometres from Jakarta’s Central Business District.

Integrated network services company Paratus Group has entered an agreement as a distributor for high-speed services across the African continent on behalf of Starlink, the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit.

Last week saw a fascinating development in the cloud services area with news that TelCables Nigeria, a telecommunications provider and a subsidiary of Angola Cables, had launched what it calls its ground-breaking Clouds2Africa node in Nigeria.

Nokia is launching an Open Innovation lab in Dubai, UAE, with a focus on accelerating adoption of technologies including AI and machine learning for network automation and optimisation.

Indian feature phone vendor Lava International stated ambitions to take a third of the feature phone market in India within 12 months and transform into a significant player in the budget segment.

ZTE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China Mobile Research Institute and Guangzhou MINO Equipment to cooperate on 5G-A Industrial Field Network Technology.

Counterpoint Research predicted Apple will gain a larger share of the Indian smartphone market on the back of its latest iPhone 15 range launched last week. 

The Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), an advanced communications standard meant to replace the currently used GSM-R system, may soon be on its way to Poland.

SpaceX has reportedly opened discussions with the government of Burundi over a potential launch of its Starlink Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband service in Q2 2024.

Text and voice service WhatsApp has expanded its fast-growing payment offering in its biggest market with this week’s news that it has launched an in-chat payments service for businesses in India.

Brazilian fintech firm EBANX is expanding into eight new African markets.

Lebanon has reportedly received a multimillion-dollar donation from China to install solar energy for the country’s internet provider, according to Lebanon’s ministry of telecommunications.

India’s Vodafone Idea (Vi) has shot down speculation in the local press that it could be acquired by a US company.

The role of telecommunications in managing traffic, supporting the cars of the future and, potentially, helping the environment has been underlined by a smart parking initiative on the way in Qatar and an electric vehicle (EV) services agreement in Malaysia.

Tecnotree has signed a new contract with internet service provider Briclinks Africa Nigeria, which operates as BTEL.