Following today’s report on the need to reduce the mobile internet gender gap there is some, potentially, positive news from Nigeria, where operator MTN Nigeria has announced that it is aiming for gender equality by reserving up to 70% of recruitment and promotion slots for women.

The Togolese Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority (ARCEP) warned operators Moov Africa Togo (Maroc Telecom) and Togo Cellulaire (Axian), will face penalties if quality of service is not improved.

Industry body the GSMA said in its new report over 800 million women from low and middle-income countries (LMIC) across Africa, Asia and Latin America, must adopt mobile internet to close the digital gender gap by 2030. 

China Telecom Global, a provider of integrated telecommunication services, and telecoms services provider and enabler STC Group of Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen their combined IoT business, and, as the partners put it, “explore business opportunities and innovations that will achieve common goals for both parties”.

Data centre expansion continues in the Gulf region – with a strong renewable energy angle. Digital infrastructure company Equinix has announced the launch of its third International Business Exchange data centre in Dubai to support digital opportunities for Dubai and the Middle East.

South Africa's MultiChoice Group, usually best-known for video entertainment provision, has announced a joint venture, along with fintech company Rapyd and investor General Catalyst, aimed at developing an integrated payment platform for Africa. The joint venture will operate as a new company, called Moment.

The Costa Rican government granted Elon Musk’s satellite connectivity company Starlink an operations licence after a six-month wait, expanding the provider’s footprint in Latin America.

Russia’s MegaFon has issued a legal challenge against sanctions placed upon it by the European Union.

Moro Hub, a subsidiary of Digital DEWA, the digital arm of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has signed a collaboration with Red Hat, a major provider of enterprise open source solutions.

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has informed operators that they will not be required to collect biometric data from users wishing to register SIM cards.

It’s already been a busy week for Liquid Dataport, with an African fibre route launch and a major satcoms-related memorandum of understanding (MoU) announced in the past few days.

Beleaguered Indian operator Vodafone Idea has logged its first annual revenue increase since it was created in 2018 through the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.

Smartphone shipments in Thailand and the Philippines continue to slide as South East Asian economies continue to grapple with macroeconomic pressure.

Azerbaijani operator Azercell expanded its 4G network to reach the city of Nakhchivan as part of its nationwide network modernisation project to blanket the Nakhchivan municipality with 4G by the end of the year.

Satellite technology company Avanti Communications says it has completed the second phase of its project to build a new HYLAS 4 satellite gateway station and set it up in Dakar, Senegal.

CamTel, MTN, Orange and Viettel were fined a total of XAF6 billion (US$9.8 million) for poor quality of service in Cameroon, where subscribers staged protests in their demand for improved services. 

Ecuador’s telecommunications ministry revealed US$900 million was invested into the sector in 2022, which is expected to be topped this year as progressive reforms continue to reshape the industry.

The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) has opened applications for its upcoming multi-band auction of 5G spectrum.

All three bidders in Hungary’s 32GHz spectrum auction have procured licences.

STC Group-owned company center3 and Alcatel Submarine Networks are planning to connect Saudi Arabia with Europe by building the EMC West subsea and terrestrial data cables.