Venezuela’s National Telecommunications Commission (Comision Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, Conatel) has published its National Telecommunications Plan for 2023-2025.

Network operator Paratus Group has announced plans to construct Angola’s first Tier-IV-by-design data centre in Luanda.

Following last week’s news that satellite operators Intelsat and SES have ended talks about a possible merger, there’s been evidence from both companies that it’s still business as usual with Intelsat highlighting a significant Indonesian deal and SES announcing a collaboration related to space situational awareness services.

Digital payment solutions provider and fintech enabler Arab Financial Services (AFS), and Moamalat Financial Services, which specialises in electronic payment services in the Libyan market, have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enter into a strategic partnership for the development of Libya’s electronic payment ecosystem.

Indian operator Vodafone Idea (aka Vi) says it is in advanced talks with various network vendors for finalisation of its 5G rollout strategy and has concluded device testing of all major OEMs on its upcoming next-generation mobile broadband network.

In a rather surprising move, an Angolan government minister has said that plans to privatise the troubled state-owned operator Angola Telecom have been cancelled and the government is now focusing on restructuring the company.

State-owned Indian operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has entered into a strategic partnership with engineering services company L&T Technology Services (LTTS) to drive and enable global enterprises in their private 5G network deployments.

Mobile service revenue in Indonesia was predicted to stay flat over the next four years as the decline in revenues from voice services outweighs steady data returns.

The Philippines’ telecoms regulator revealed over 100 million SIM cards have been registered since the country-mandated SIM registration programme, in a bid to tackle cyber-crime as the Philippines connects more citizens to the internet. 

Reliance Jio is reportedly negotiating loans with several banks to raise US$1.6 billion to purchase equipment from Finnish vendor Nokia. 

Kazakhtelecom JSC is working with A10 Networks to improve the reliability of broadband access for businesses and consumers nationwide.

Safaricom Ethiopia announced its first-ever CEO Anwar Soussa will depart his role on July 31 after taking the helm of the unit almost two years ago.

Ooredoo Qatar has announced two high-profile agreements this week, one with Dell Technologies and one with Ericsson.

Cashless innovation continues across Africa. This time Kenyan bank KCB is partnering with payment giant Visa and technology company Thales to enable contactless payment transactions.

The Indian government approved chip manufacturer Micron Technology’s plan to build a US$2.7 billion semiconductor packaging and testing facility in West India.

Guatemala’s regulator SIT (Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones) is reviewing several requests for spectrum licences in the 700MHz band.

American Tower Corporation has rebuked Smile’s allegation that it “illegally disconnected” the Ugandan operator from its network.

Lynk Global has partnered with Palau’s largest operator PNCC to provide satellite-direct-to-mobile phone services to the island nation using Lynk’s “cell-towers-in-space”.

Satellite company SES ceased merger talks with rival Intelsat, it confirmed in a statement today (June 22). 

South African operator Cell C has announced the successful completion of its move to a virtual radio access network model – some months before its originally announced target date.

Ericsson’s new Mobility Report highlights continuing global 5G growth, with India apparently leading the way.

STT GDC Indonesia, a leading data centre provider, has officially launched its first data centre facility, STT Jakarta 1, in Bekasi, Jawa Barat. The data centre campus will support up to 72 megawatts of critical IT capacity, with STT Jakarta 1 supporting up to 19.5 MW.

Somalian service provider Somtel is deploying the DZS Saber compact and environmentally hardened coherent optics solutions to future-proof its dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) backbone network for reliable, cost-effective delivery of high-bandwidth aggregation and transport services.

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has talked up the potential benefits of privatising state-owned ICT companies.

Safaricom and Kenyan operator Jamii Telecommunication have reportedly partnered with Shenzhen TeleOne Technology to locally manufacture smartphones, with a factory to be operational in two months' time. 

Nicaragua’s telecoms regulator Telcor (Instituto Nicaraguense de Telecomunicaciones y Correos / Nicaraguan Institute for Telecommunications and Posts) is set to have its powers expanded by the country’s National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional).

Winity, which became a new Brazilian national mobile operator in 2021, and satellite operator Hughes have announced a pilot project involving prepaid mobile internet in remote areas.

Malawian asset financier Yellow has closed $14 million in series B funding to expand its business, which involves digital and financial products related to connectivity and solar power.

Chile’s Entel is now offering 3.5GHz 5G coverage in Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island.

Google is reportedly searching for suppliers in India to build its Pixel smartphone range as the US company pivots away from manufacturing in China. 

Thai operator True Corp revealed ambitions to reduce e-waste dumping into landfills to zero by 2030, as it launched a campaign to spur customers to donate old devices to collection points. 

Russia’s Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has lost its longstanding legal battle against Turkmenistan after it was allegedly forced to abandon its operations in the market in 2017.