Uruguay has approved the installation of Google's fibre optic submarine cable Firmina, removing another hurdle to the rollout of the longest cable ever with single-ended power supply capability.

Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata has claimed the country’s first successful mmWave 5G trial.

Lithuanian operator Bite began a plan to merge broadband subsidiary Mezon this year, a tie-up it claimed will provide competition against rival internet service providers, as Bite CEO Gintas Butenas bemoans a lack of competition in this segment. 

Kazakhstan’s 5G spectrum auctions have concluded, with both available blocks of spectrum acquired by the consortium of Kazakhtelecom subsidiaries comprised of mobile operators Kcell and Mobile Telecom Service (Tele2-Altel).

Nokia has announced that, in collaboration with operator Etisalat UAE, (aka etisalat by e&), it has demonstrated the fastest passive optical network (PON) speed in the Middle East and Africa region.

Multinational information technology services and consulting company Cognizant has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Garuda Aerospace, an Indian drone start-up, to power its drones with advanced digital tools.

The ongoing use of advanced technology to address potential mobile network customer satisfaction issues has been in the news in West Africa thanks to a partnership between operator MTN Benin and vendor Ericsson.

Singaporean operator Singtel says it has entered into a strategic partnership with Indonesian telco Telkom and Indonesian energy company Medco Power for what will be its first data centre project in Indonesia.

According to figures widely reported in the Indian press, India’s three major operators are well below Department of Telecommunications (DoT) targets for 5G base station rollout – and in fact Vodafone Idea seems not have started yet.

Operator Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE) and Welthungerhilfe to enhance food security through application of technology in the agriculture sector.

Mexican regulator the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT) has said that 2023 will see it make available up to 7,750 MHz of millimetre wave bands for 5G networks.

The recently reported SES MEO satellite launches are continuing to bring business opportunities for SES and its customers: this time Ecuadorian state telco CNT is involved.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the official regulator of the South African communications, broadcasting and postal services sectors, has suggested making additional radio frequency spectrum available for Wi-Fi broadband through a proposed amendment to regulations.

Angola’s government has appointed a consortium headed by asset manager Gemcorp to upgrade, manage and operate the national transmission network of state-owned fixed provider Angola Telecom.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has let go of around 10% of its workforce as the company cuts costs in the face of covid-19 outbreaks in China.

Telecoms and mining have come together in two recent projects involving technology vendor Huawei in South Africa and Laos. Both underline the potential of wireless in particular in industrial safety.

Filipino operator NOW Telecom has received a funding grant from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to deploy its 5G network.

Vodafone announced connectivity in the Cook Islands would be bolstered to 4G+ after signing a deal with SES to tap into the company’s new range of satellites.   

The Brazilian government has qualified 12 companies to operate the second section of Norte Conectado, an Amazon River fibre backbone project, as a consortium.

Ericsson says it is scaling up production capacity and operations with its partner, manufacturing company Jabil, in Pune, a city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, to meet the needs of 5G network deployments in India.

The judicial process involving the recovery plan of Brazilian service provider Oi seems to be over  – after more than six years of negotiations with creditors.

Vodafone Hungary tapped Netcracker for a cloud solution that supports fixed-mobile convergence for the operator’s consumer and SME enterprise customers.

Hot on the heels of rival Globe’s recent sale, PLDT announced it has sold 650 more towers raising PHP9.2 billion (US$165 million), reported CNN Philippines.

Private 5G networks are again making headlines in India after Indian communications solutions provider Bharti Airtel announced a partnership with IT services and consulting company Tech Mahindra to deploy what it claims will be India’s first 5G-enabled auto manufacturing unit.

A so far unconfirmed report from Bloomberg suggests that MTN Group may be looking at divesting some of its smaller operations in West Africa.

The Chairman of regulator the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), PD Vaghela, has been widely quoted in recent Indian press reports as saying that TRAI is likely to come up with a model for the auction of satellite spectrum.

Dedicado has deployed a high-capacity resilient network between Argentina and Uruguay using solutions from Ciena.

French regulator Arcep has named the companies planning to bid in its upcoming auction of 5G-ready spectrum in the Caribbean.

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia’s (CRAN) CEO Emilia Nghikembua called for more private sector investments to boost the country’s telecoms sector, pointing out several regions are still underserved, reported CommsUpdate.