Leading Kenyan operator Safaricom is reportedly unsure that Kenyan plans to assemble a $40 smartphone in-country can work. The issue, it argues, is taxes.

Less than a year after we reported that Brazilian data centre firm Odata had opened its first Mexican data centre to add to its operations in Brazil, Colombia and Chile, it has been sold.

It’s a bold claim, even for a pan-Africa service provider, but MTN this week launched what it called SME Day, with the stated aim of empowering over 40 million small businesses across the African continent.

Starlink continues to boost its presence in Latin America, launching connectivity in Panama and confirming that it has received an operating licence in Guatemala.

Regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has opened the lower part of the 6GHz spectrum band for Wi-Fi services. Lower 6GHz is the radio frequency range of 5925–6425 MHz band as allocated in the country’s National Radio Frequency Plan.

The Latin American smartphone market declined by 10% year-on-year in Q1 2023 to 28 million units, a fifth consecutive quarter of decline for the region but a rebound is predicted for H2, according to analyst company Canalys.

Two Caribbean markets are set to make 700MHz spectrum available for the provision of both 4G and 5G services.

Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT) will launch 10Gbps fibre with vendor partner Nokia, a move the vendor said is the first deployment of the broadband speeds.

MTN Ghana CEO Selorm Adadevoh said the unit is expected to exceed the US$1 billion infrastructure investment target it set out in 2021 by 2026.

In the recently announced Knight Frank SEA-5 Data Centre Opportunity Index Malaysia was identified as a top destination for data centre investment. As if to support this argument, two major data centre announcements relating to the country have been made in the past week.

Zain has acquired the UAE-based cloud and data analytics firm Adfolks via its enterprise unit ZainTech.

Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) claims to have launched the country’s first 5G network pilot.

China has banned US chip manufacturer Micron from participating in key infrastructure projects, citing the firm poses a risk to national security.

Analytics firm GlobalData has forecast Indonesia's fixed communications services market revenue to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6% from $1.2 billion in 2022 to $1.7 billion by 2027.

The slightly confusing saga of Brazilian operator Oi continues. It is now seeking a huge sum of money in emergency funding.

Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has unveiled a number of coverage and service provision targets during a recent meeting discussing telecommunications infrastructure expansion projects for this year.

Malaysian wholesale 5G provider Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) is deploying solutions from Ericsson to boost its network security.

Indian state-owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) ordered INR150 billion (US$1.83 billion) worth of infrastructure equipment and software from IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). 

Africa Data Centres, Africa's largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities, has announced a strategic partnership with The London Internet Exchange (LINX), the UK’s leading peering community, to explore growth and opportunities in current and new markets across Africa.

Tele2 Estonia has commenced its trial of mmWave 5G with a new 26GHz base station in the town of Lagedi, near the capital of Tallinn.

MTN Nigeria expanded its 5G network to 13 cities since its commercial launch in September last year and revealed there are no plans to shut down 2G and 3G networks. 

Philippines-based operator PLDT revealed it closed the sale and leaseback of 135 towers with Unity Digital Infrastructure. 

Angola Cables and Orange have agreed to an infrastructure sharing agreement on the West African Djoliba Network.

Uzbektelecom, which operates as Uztelecom, is pushing high speed fibre broadband access across Uzbekistan by deploying AirPON (Air Passive Optical Network) fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) technology.

Four of Vietnam’s major network operators have applied to compete for three spectrum licences at the country’s next auction, reported VietnamNet. 

Bahrain-headquartered technology group Beyon has made a number of significant announcements relating to digital infrastructure that will, it says, support the acceleration of Bahrain’s digital transformation and the growth of the country’s digital economy.

Hispasat, a provider of broadband and connectivity services, has reached an agreement with Comitas e-Health, a provider of telemedicine and tele-diagnostic solutions, to market a satellite telemedicine solution in remote areas of Latin America.

A Kenyan government official has promised that the country will unveil its first locally made – and affordable – smartphones in the next two months in an attempt to increase the penetration of internet-enabled mobile phones in the country.

Vietnamese state-owned operator Viettel implemented analytics software from Ericsson in a move to upgrade 4G quality of service.

Guyana’s Public Utilities Commission expects mobile number portability to go live across the country this July.