The initial phase of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s first open-access, carrier-neutral data centre - OADC Kinshasa; FIH1 - will go live in Q2 2023.

Jordanian operator Umniah will launch 5G in phases across the country and will do so in partnership with Ericsson which will be its main equipment supplier.

The Philippines reported operators have signed up over 30 million SIM cards in days since the introduction of the SIM card registration law to combat hackers and fraudulent activity.

iColo, a Kenyan carrier-neutral data centre provider with campuses in Mombasa and Nairobi, says it has opened its first data centre in Mozambique.

Saudi Arabian operator Zain KSA has announced the signing of two significant agreements in recent days during the global tech event, LEAP2023, hosted at the Riyadh Front Expo Centre.

Nokia is continuing to grow its presence in India, with both an extension to its manufacture of fibre broadband equipment and plans for a dedicated device testing facility for enterprise customers.

America Movil infrastructure company Sitios Latinoamerica concluded a deal to buy 1,388 towers from Claro in the Dominican Republic, boosting its presence in Latin America.

Reliance Jio expanded its standalone 5G network to 10 more cities in India taking its total base of cities to 236.

The pressure is still on Vodafone Idea (aka Vi), despite the Indian government taking a massive stake in the beleaguered operator. Third quarter dues are apparently overdue for payment, on top of which the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to closely monitor Vodafone Idea’s performance for the next three months.

Infrastructure vendor Mavenir announced it will supply Paradise Mobile equipment for the construction of its 4G and 5G network core, as the operator prepares for a commercial launch this year.

The latest in what appears to be a long line of undersea cable problems affecting Vietnam in recent years has brought comment from the General Secretary of the Vietnam Internet Association, Vu The Binh, who says that Vietnam needs at least two to three more undersea cable routes in the next five years to meet growing demand.

Paratus Zambia, a part of the pan-African telecommunications company Paratus Group, has been awarded a data gateway licence in Zambia; this is, apparently, the country's last available such licence.

Veon has confirmed that the sale of its Russian unit VimpelCom has been approved by Russian regulators.

United Group, the parent company of Croatian operator Telemach, denied it is putting the unit up for sale but rather its passive infrastructure to pay off debts, as part of wider plans for all of its units in Eastern Europe.

Having confirmed its acquisition of a 32% stake in Vodafone Idea, and helped to alleviate bankruptcy concerns hovering over the company, the Indian government is reportedly insisting that the country’s third-largest operator must press ahead with 5G rollout.

As the developing world in particular copes with fast-expanding data demand, the arrival of a new prefabricated modular data centre solution aimed at customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) may be timely.

Orange Cameron pledged to spend CFA150 billion (US$244 million) to upgrade its network over the next five years, as the operator aims to support the surge in data traffic on its network.

You might expect a major Indian 4G connectivity project to be awarded to one of India’s big mobile operators, However, RailTel, a PSU (Public Sector Undertaking or government-owned establishment) under the Ministry of Railways, was the recent winner of a State Bank of India (SBI) order to provide LTE connectivity for a large number of its ATMs.