Zain Bahrain, a leading telecommunications operator in Bahrain and part of the mobile voice and data services group that has a commercial footprint in seven Middle Eastern and African countries, has said that it has deployed the “most innovative Internet of Things (IoT) technology” in collaboration with Ericsson.

Africa Data Centres, Africa’s largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities, has received the first disbursement of US$83 million of what could be an up to US$300 million loan from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Following news that the South African government is unhappy with mobile-data-only network operator Rain suggesting a potential merger between it and rival Telkom, Rain has, in effect, reined in its claim.

All six of Malaysia’s main mobile network operators have now reportedly agreed to take up equity in a state-controlled 5G wholesale provider, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB).

It may not come as a major surprise, but independent analyst company Canalys has now supplied the figures to back up the expected news that smartphone sales are falling in Southeast Asia.

North International Bank (NIBank) has gone live with Temenos to digitally transform its retail banking and private wealth business lines.

Data centre company Ascenty, which has a strong presence in Latin America, has announced the opening of its second facility in Santiago, Chile. This is said to be its largest operation site in the country.

According to local press reports, Jordan has taken the first steps towards formalising 5G adoption, after the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) signed an agreement late last week with two operators, Orange and Umniah, in preparation for the introduction of 5G services in the kingdom.

Citing sources with knowledge of the matter, a number of news outlets have been reporting that a cable project may soon be formally announced that will connect Morocco with Mauritania through Western Sahara.

The South African government disapproved of operator Rain touting a potential merger between it and to merge with rival Telkom.

Roaming between Togo and Gabon may soon incur no additional charges after an agreement between the two states, which was made last week but only reported in recent days.

A third of Mexican households have no internet access, something the Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is keen to change with a massive proposed investment in internet connectivity.

To meet what it describes as growing demand for cloud services in Asia-Pacific, Google has announced plans to bring new Google Cloud regions to Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand. This is addition to similar plans for Berlin, Dammam, Doha, Mexico, Tel Aviv and Turin announced in July.

Telecom Egypt has signed a five-year national roaming deal with Orange Egypt.

ICT data infrastructure owner Seacom and UK-based telecommunications service provider BT have announced a strategic alliance which, they say, will help Seacom further secure its own infrastructure and deliver new networking, security and communications solutions to enterprise customers in Africa.

Globe Telecom hit back at rival Dito Telecommunity by requesting permission from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to sever interconnection lines until the operator pays back PHP622 million (US$11.1m) in fines, for failing to prevent fraudsters from accessing its network.  

Ericsson has partnered with multinational wireless communications engineering company SkyMax Network, in a move to construct a next-generation 5G broadband network and deliver digital services across sub-Saharan Africa.

Argentinian regulator Enacom has granted authorisation to Google to carry out the installation of its Firmina fibre optic cable in Argentine territorial waters.

West African solar-based internet and voice service provider Tizeti says it is set to expand its operations within Nigeria and Ghana and move into Cote d’Ivoire and Togo. It is also considering listing its Nigerian subsidiary.

The long-awaited spin-off of its Latin America cellular tower business by the giant Mexico-headquartered operator America Movil has finally been completed.

Bangladeshi operator Robi Axiata has revealed plans to power more than 1600 base stations using renewable solar energy.

The Equiano subsea internet cable reached South Africa on Monday. It landed at Melkbosstrand, north of Cape Town, said to be the last stop on its route south for the 12-fibre-pair system.

In its continuing drive to boost local industry, it now seems that India is taking aim at low-priced smartphones from China of the sort sold in large quantities in the country by companies like Xiaomi.

Paratus, described as a full-service network spanning the African continent and connecting customers internationally, has launched Namibia’s largest carrier-neutral data centre.