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.

Hungary’s upcoming auction of 32GHz spectrum has attracted three bidders - Magyar Telekom, CETIN Hungary, and Vodafone Hungary.

A press release attributed to the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda underlines the continuing issue of communications charges across Africa – this time relating to the internet.

Following Monday’s news that Uruguay’s president had ordered the country’s regulator to hold a 5G spectrum auction within 30 days, URSEC has now confirmed the date as 28^th April and invited bidding applications from interested parties.

The Lithuanian communications regulator Rysiu Reguliavimo Tarnyba (RRT) won a spectrum dispute against Russia, as Lithuanian airwaves along its borders gained international protection against its neighbour. 

CamGSM, which operates as Cellcard, has had its application to list on the Cambodian stock exchange approved in principle by the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX).

Mexico’s Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT) has granted an additional 30 years of validity to concessions held by fixed line providers Telmex and Telnor.

Thuraya, the mobile satellite services subsidiary of the UAE’s flagship satellite solutions provider Yahsat, has concluded Heads of Terms for an investment agreement with Astrocast, a leading low Earth orbit (LEO) and Internet of Things (IoT) network operator.

Published last week but now attracting attention from many African news resources is a Vodacom Group paper arguing that mobile money taxation could hamper financial inclusion gains in Africa.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zambian government, committing to deploy more infrastructure to provide affordable connectivity to Zambians.

Brazilian broadband provider Unifique struck a deal to acquire regional provider Brick Servicos Digitais for BRL10 million (US$2 million), reported BNamericas.

Operator Ooredoo Qatar and Reailize, a company that says it injects automation intelligence into every aspect of telco operations, have announced that Ooredoo Qatar has implemented Reailize's Continuous Assurance (CA) solution to digitize its network operations centre (NOC) and provide what is described as a single pane of glass into the health of its network, service and customer experience.

Vehicle tracking and telematics company Netstar and Vodacom Business (the enterprise-focused ICT subsidiary of the Vodacom Group) have partnered to offer Wi-Fi to commuters on thousands of minibus taxis around South Africa.

Chinese company Highlander, which specialises in maritime and marine technology, has built what is described as the first commercial underwater data centre facility off Hainan island in China – and now wants to sell submerged data centre facilities to global customers.