Global communications company Viasat has confirmed that the scheduled launch date for the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite is 18 April this year. The ViaSat-3 satellite will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

There’s been good news recently for South Africa’s telecommunications sector, with Cassava Technologies and AWS announcing major investments and Vodacom saying it plans to enhance its network spending.

Mozambique’s state asset management unit is taking over the daily operations of Mocambique Telecom (Tmcel).

Senegal’s telecoms regulator announced plans to introduce national roaming between operators to bolster coverage in the country.

Digital infrastructure and technology provider Cirion has announced the expansion of its fibre network and data centre capabilities across Latin America “to better serve the growing demands of our customers and continue to migrate workloads to hybrid cloud solutions”, as the company puts it.

Meta Platforms launched a payments tool in WhatsApp designed for SMEs in Brazil, with plans in future to roll out the feature in other markets.

Uruguay’s regulator URSEC (Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones / Regulatory Unit of Communications Services) has agreed to delay the 5G spectrum auctions that it had scheduled for 28^th April in response to an extension request from Claro Uruguay.

Sri Lanka national ICT solutions provider SLT-Mobitel is to implement Netcracker Digital BSS and Professional Services to consolidate its billing system for upgraded fixed, mobile and online charging capabilities.

The wait is, apparently, nearly over. Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of global conglomerate the Aditya Birla Group, and one of the shareholders of operator Vodafone Idea (aka Vi), has been heard on Indian TV saying Vodafone Idea is to begin its 5G rollout soon.

Not long after last year’s efforts by Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA) to register SIMs, culminating in over 8 million unregistered SIM cards being deactivated, the NCA now plans to introduce shortcodes to verify SIMs linked to Ghana Cards.

With data drawn from Interpol’s member countries, private partners, and research conducted by its Africa Cybercrime Operations Desk, the latest Interpol African Cyberthreat Assessment Report looks back over 2022 and provides a comprehensive overview of cyberthreat trends in the African region.

Beleaguered Brazilian fixed-line provider Oi has been authorised to take out a loan of US$275 million from its creditors.

Armenia’s telecoms regulator the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) will reportedly block the proposed sale of MTS Armenia (Viva-MTS) due to national security concerns.

Apple officially revealed it will open its first retail stores in India this month, marking a significant expansion in India as the company seeks growth and refocus manufacturing in the South Asian nation.

BDx Indonesia, one the largest wholesale data centre and cloud-focused operations in the Indonesian market, recently held the ground-breaking ceremony for its greenfield data centre, CGK3A, in TB Simatupang, South Jakarta.

There’s been another piece of positive news for the still relatively nascent satellite-direct-to-standard-phone market with a contract in Ghana for Lynk Global.

One of the latest examples of 5G use in an industry-specific context comes from Uganda, where vendor Huawei has, alongside MTN Uganda and Hima Cement Company, launched what it describes as the country's first 5G industrial use case in a Hima cement plant.

SpaceX’s Starlink has been granted a licence to provide satellite broadband in the Bahamas.

UAE-based e& is acquiring a 50.03% stake in Uber’s Middle East subsidiary Careem Super App for US$400 million, in a deal that will significantly expand the operator’s e-commerce standing.

State-owned operator Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT-Mobitel) is reportedly facing a massive restructuring as the government announced plans to cut costs.

The World Bank has approved funding for digital initiatives in two African nations.

The Philippines government revealed only 36.79% of SIM cards had been registered before the hard deadline set for this month when unregistered SIMs will be deactivated.

Commercial 5G launches rebounded in the second half of 2022 as operators in developing markets – and notably Africa – turned on their networks. That’s one of the key findings of 5G Tracker, a report from Kagan, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Zain Jordan has selected Nokia in a multi-year deal to supply 5G radio access network (RAN) equipment throughout the country. Through the deal, says Nokia, Zain will be able to support the digital transformation of the country by offering superior 5G services with enhanced connectivity and capacity to customers. A major part of the deployment is expected to be completed during 2023.

Chilean regulator Subtel has granted the local unit of Claro provisional authorisation to offer commercial 5G services via its 3.5GHz spectrum.

Apple revealed a first look at its first retail store in India which will be located in the city of Mumbai, and sourced claimed it will be open in April, reported Reuters.

While a national consumer promotion would not normally be big news on these pages, the recently announced promotion by new market entrant Safaricom Ethiopia is possibly more significant than most.

Netplus Broadband, North India’s leading wireline internet service provider, has chosen OcNOS from IP Infusion, a provider of open network software and solutions for wireline and mobile network operators, to strengthen and scale its network as the company expands broadband services to all its customers across the region.

Uzbektelecom (Uztelecom) trialled its 5G network on consumers in the capital city of Tashkent as the operator prepares for a full launch, reported CommsUpdate.

Malaysian satellite solutions provider MEASAT has secured a contract with Intra Oil Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Perdana Petroleum, a company that provides offshore marine support services for the upstream oil and gas industry.