Starlink will provide one month of free satellite internet service to users in Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes that struck the country this week, helping restore communications in affected areas.

Satellite operators Amazon, Iridium, Telesat and Globalstar have announced the formation of a new trade association representing the non-geostationary (NGSO) satellite economy: the SpaceConnect Association.

UNESCO said on Wednesday it has launched the rollout of a new mobile-based teacher professional development initiative in South Sudan that focuses on empowering women school leaders and teachers.

Vodacom South Africa announced on Thursday it is expanding its partnership with Amazon South Africa to offer the latter's Amazon Prime membership service to its customers.

Globe Telecom CEO and president Carl Cruz says the key to telcos cashing in on AI is to embrace it, internalise it and make it foundational to their business operations before offering it to customers. It also helps if the population is highly digital, like the Philippines.

A hot topic at MWC Shanghai 2026 is AI tokens that enable telcos to monetise AI services. Chinese telcos are already doing it – but that market's unique environment raises questions over how telcos outside of China can follow their lead.

Amazon has announced plans to invest an additional US$13 billion to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in India, taking its total investment in the country to US$48 billion between 2026 and 2030.

Chad’s government has warned Maroc Telecom-owned operator Moov Africa Chad to improve network performance, amid growing frustration over what officials described as the deteriorating quality of mobile services across the country.

Operator Yas Tanzania and technology giant Ericsson have announced the first commercial deployment in Africa of Ericsson’s AIR 3285 radio, supporting what they describe as a major step forward in network performance and user experience across the country.

Tanzania Community Networks Company, a community-focused technology, information and internet business, has announced a deal with Korean IT company Innonet, to accelerate the deployment of TV white space (TVWS) connectivity solutions across East Africa.

The government of Zanzibar has announced a public-private partnership agreement with Yas Fibre, the broadband division of operator Yas Tanzania, to expand broadband infrastructure in the semi-autonomous archipelago off the coast of East Africa in Tanzania.

Malawian farmers will now be able to receive payments directly into their mobile wallets after a deal agreed between a local branch of Airtel Money and the country’s Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC).

Mauritius Telecom CEO Veemal Gungadin highlighted the operator’s progress  to build trust in AI-native learning across its home market, a strategy culminating in the creation of a national AI registry.

Philippine operator Globe Telecom has secured a PHP5 billion (US$88 million) loan from BDO Unibank to help fund capital expenditure, refinance debt and support general corporate requirements.

Jordan’s Department of Statistics and operator Orange Jordan have signed a technical and institutional cooperation agreement under which the company will develop and implement the software system and digital solutions supporting the 2026 General Population and Housing Census project.

African operator Airtel Madagascar has announced the introduction of the new 035 mobile prefix, suggesting that this marks a significant milestone in the operator’s expansion strategy as it continues to grow its customer base and network coverage across the country.

Yet another deal has kept the Philippines in the technology news in recent days. The Philippines Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and Google Cloud have announced an expanded, multi-year collaboration to embed enterprise AI into the country’s public service delivery.

Namibia’s communications regulator has dismissed an appeal by Starlink against the rejection of its licence applications, reaffirming that the satellite broadband provider failed to meet the country’s local ownership requirements.

Ericsson said on Monday it’s forecasting Sub-Saharan Africa to be the fastest-growing region for 5G subscriptions over the next five years, from around 30 million in 2025 to roughly 370 million by 2031.

Philippine telco PLDT’s data centre arm Vitro is officially moving ahead with plans for an IPO after filing a registration statement and real estate investment trust (REIT) plan with the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Wego, which claims to be the number one travel app and the largest online travel marketplace in the MENA region, has announced a strategic partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

True IDC, the largest data centre and cloud service provider in Thailand, has announced what it calls a continuous investment of over THB6 billion (about US$182.1 million) and held a groundbreaking ceremony for its seventh data centre in Northern Bangkok.

A strategic partnership announced last week in the Philippines continues the trend towards using IoT to enhance business and public service efficiency across a wide range of use cases.

The Republic of the Congo could unlock FCFA870 billion (US$1.5 billion) in additional economic value, create more than 144,000 jobs and connect over 540,000 new mobile internet users by 2030 if it implements targeted digital policy reforms, according to a new report from the GSMA.

Messaging platform Telegram has lost its bid to overturn a government order that temporarily blocked access to the app during national medical entrance examinations, after an Indian court ruled the measure was legal and proportionate, Reuters reported.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced on Friday that its new Local Zone in Hanoi, Vietnam is now generally available, extending core cloud services such as compute, storage, networking and other services closer to customers in Hanoi.

Lao Telecom announced on Friday it has signed a cooperation agreement with Lao-China Railway Company Limited to build a 4G signal network along the Lao-China railway that will also serve passengers.

ICT company Azerconnect Group has landed a US$20 million Shariah-compliant facility from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) to help finance telecom infrastructure development in Azerbaijan.

PLDT’s wireless arm Smart Communications said on Friday it has switched on a new mobile site in San Vicente, Palawan, as part of the Philippine government’s Bayanihan SIM programme to connect geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs).

Chinese vendor Huawei has announced a patent licensing royalty rate of US$0.50 per device for products compliant with the Wi-Fi 7 standard, as it seeks to provide greater transparency around its intellectual property licensing framework.

It’s being widely reported that Indian telecommunications company Reliance Jio is planning to develop and launch its own low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of 1,600-1,650 satellites at an altitude of about 650 kilometres in the next two to three years.