The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) said it is close to awarding new company Malcel a licence, enabling it to become the country’s third mobile operator, a move it hopes will bring competition against Airtel and Telekom Networks Malawi. 

Algérie Télécom Satellite (ATS), Algeria’s leading satellite services provider, has signed a reseller agreement with communications and IT services provider Speedcast to expand its business and widen its customer base.

The long-awaited launch of services by Ethiopia's new mobile operator Safaricom Ethiopia is due to take place this month. Meanwhile, state-owned incumbent operator Ethio Telecom is continuing to upgrade its offering. The latest improvement involves a new fraud management system to replace the operator's legacy system.

Internet Exchange operator AMS-IX has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MainOne’s Lagos data centre, MainData Nigeria (MDXi).

The Papua New Guinea Government said it will make a final decision on the partial privatisation of operator Telikom PNG soon.

Telecom Egypt and Orange Jordan have announced what is described as a strategic collaboration agreement to create a reliable terrestrial system connecting Iraq to Europe through Jordanian and Egyptian territories.

Nokia has entered a strategic alliance with network cabling firm Furukawa Electric that will see the partners accelerate optical LAN deployments in Latin America.

Leading regional satellite operator Türksat and satellite communications company ST Engineering iDirect have signed a multi-million dollar contract for the ground systems required to run a variety of services over the recently launched Türksat 5B satellite.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) gave 5G license winner Mafab Communications a five-month deadline extension to deploy its 5G services, reported Agence Ecofin.

The government of Poland plans to build what it calls a National Data Centre – or, more accurately, it has published a draft bill on what it hopes will be achieved by embarking on this ambitious project.

It’s being widely reported in the South African press that telecom regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is planning to license additional radio frequency spectrum for mobile networks, although whether via auction or some other process is not clear.

In what is said to be a first for Africa, Nokia says it has successfully piloted 4G and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) network slicing with Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom on its live commercial network.

Next-generation broadband satellite operator Kacific Broadband Satellites Group has partnered with recently launched mobile service provider Vodafone PNG to deploy the satellite operator’s mobile backhaul services in Papua New Guinea.

American Tower Corporation and IHS Holding are reportedly in the running for Brazilian operator Oi’s tower assets, competing against rival Highline which has already submitted a binding proposal.

There are still a few caveats, but it looks as though giant operator Vodafone is getting closer to selling its stake in India's largest mobile tower installation company after Indian news reports suggested a Canadian pension fund is considering making an offer.

Israel’s Minister of Communications Yoaz Hendel has announced plans to incentivize cellular companies to maintain cell site partnerships, which will include sharing passive network components, such as the mast, structure and electricity, along with antenna sharing.

New rules on data storage have been introduced in Vietnam, further limiting the room for manoeuvre of social media companies that are already trying to deal with guidelines that were announced last year.