Heralding what the company calls the start of a new era of connectivity, Hughes Network Systems’ JUPITER 3 ultra-high-density satellite has successfully launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

We reported last month that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) appeared intent on acquiring Telecom Egypt’s entire 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt, and reports now indicate that the deal could be finalised by September this year.

MTN has formed a public-private partnership with the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) to address the issue of load shedding on South Africa's roads.

Elon Musk’s satellite broadband provider Starlink announced it switched on operations in Malawi, as the company continues its coverage expansion.

Airtel Uganda has confirmed plans to begin deploying 5G gear at 50 sites across central Kamapala from next week.

In a very upbeat projection of its prospects for the near future, state-run operator Ethio Telecom has forecast a 19% rise in revenue over the June 2023-July 2024 financial year. It has also forecast a 29% rise in the number of customers on its network using its mobile money services.

Kazakhstan’s state-backed operator Kazakhtelecom (KT) is planning to sell one of its mobile subsidiaries before the end of this year.

Globe Telecom reportedly saw a surge of over three million sign-ups on deadline day for SIM card registrations in the Philippines.

Analyst company GlobalData hailed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for its recommendations for adopting AI, stating this will fuel “ground-breaking advancements” in the Indian telecoms industry.

The African Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Cape Verde have signed a €14 million (about US$15.4 million) loan agreement to enhance the Cape Verde Technology Park, which opened earlier this year, by making it more climate-resilient and supportive of enterprise development.

Authorities in yet another West African country are responding to consumer dissatisfaction over mobile operator prices and quality of service (QoS). This time it’s happening in Cameroon, whose mobile operators have been instructed to modify off-net and on-net prices within two months.

Internet exchange (IX) operator DE-CIX has announced plans to establish a joint venture company called PT DE-CIX Indonesia, together with PT IDMarco Digital Solusi, a subsidiary of the Salim Group, a major Indonesian conglomerate.

Nokia equipped Mobifone with analytics tools to cut the Vietnamese operator’s overall energy consumption by 14%.

The Equiano submarine cable system is in the news again. This time it’s thanks to Telecom Egypt, which has announced the activation of an agreement with St Helena, the British Overseas Territory. St Helena is a remote volcanic outpost in the South Atlantic Ocean with a population of around 4,400, according to a 2021 census.

Chile’s telecoms regulator pledged it will monitor the shutdown of 2G networks by demanding operators submit their switch-off plans to prevent subscribers from being disconnected.

The four main mobile operators in the Nigerien market – Airtel, Zamani, Moov Africa, and Niger Telecoms – have been fined by the Nigerien telecommunications regulatory authority, ARCEP.

The South African government isn’t interested in selling its 40% stake in number three operator Telkom – in fact it may soon partner with Telkom on rolling out broadband products.

Satellite communications company AST SpaceMobile opened an R&D facility to build space technology in India, as it identified the South Asian market for growth in mobile broadband connectivity.

As of today (25^th July), Chile and Brazil have dropped roaming charges between the two countries following a six-month delay.

Argentinean fibre provider Telecentro has deployed Airties’ portfolio of Smart Wi-Fi software and services across its footprint.

Issues about pricing and quality of mobile communications service are continuing to anger consumers in Burkina Faso, where a new boycott campaign has been announced against the country’s three main operators.

A joint venture to develop high-quality, highly connected scalable data centres to meet the critical infrastructure needs of enterprises and digital services companies in India has been announced.

Ooredoo, Zain and UAE-based tower firm TASC Tower Holding entered talks to combine their tower assets and create the largest tower company in the MENA region.

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, one of the world's largest integrated energy and chemicals companies, and OQ Technology, described as the world’s first satellite 5G IoT operator that provides global cellular Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) communication solutions through satellites, have announced the signing of a new MoU.

Ubuntu Towers Uganda has announced the successful completion of its rebranding to TowerCo of Africa Uganda, which is 90% owned by TowerCo of Africa (TOA).

Kazakh conglomerate Freedom Holding has confirmed its intent to enter the country’s mobile market with a 5G start-up player.

There has been a significant boost for Tanzanian operators with the government’s decision, announced late last week, to slash the country’s telecommunications right-of-way (RoW) fee from US$1,000 per kilometre to only US$200 per kilometre.