Bahrain Telecommunication Company (Batelco) has signed an Open RAN (Radio Access Network) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), aimed at increasing momentum for the technology and its solutions in the region, alongside other leading Middle East Operators.

South African multinational mobile telecommunications company MTN Group and the Open RAN-focused vendor Rakuten Symphony sign an MoU to conduct 4G and 5G OpenRAN trials in South Africa, Nigeria, and Liberia based on Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP).

India's Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (RSBVL) and US company Sanmina Corporation have entered into an agreement to create a joint venture through an investment in Sanmina's existing Indian entity.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and industry group the GSMA, which represents mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, have signed an agreement to advance the mobile industry in India.

Beijing 2022’s Winter Olympic Games experience was improved with the use of Prevail’s cutting-edge digitalized ticketing. Spectators were able to access the stadiums in 1.5 seconds, with the digital ticketing system using Prevail’s PDA to verify ticket QR codes.

An executive revealed Cisco is replacing Chinese made equipment in Indian operator infrastructure while exploring the option of opening manufacturing plants in India.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) says it has selected mobile network testing solutions from test and measurement giant Rohde & Schwarz to assess and benchmark the performance, coverage and capacity of the country's mobile network operators.

Completing a very busy few days for Intelsat, the satellite operator has added deals in Brazil and Mali to the recently reported Ku-band-related agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Saudi Arabian operator Zain KSA has announced its launch of a 5G local area network (5G LAN). This, it says, makes it the first operator in the Middle East and North Africa to adopt the technology. It made the announcement during MWC 2022.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, the leading Indonesian service provider, has been looking back on a busy MWC 2022 in which, it says, it has succeeded in strengthening its collaborations with strategic partners, including Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia.

Driven by 4G phones as well as high pent-up demand in the fourth quarter of the year, Vietnam’s smartphone shipments grew by 11.9% to 15.9 million units in 2021.

Vodacom, the South Africa-based connectivity, digital and financial services company, has announced the launch of Africa's first Amazon Web Services (AWS) Outposts Innovation Lab in collaboration with AWS and Intel.

Due to a steady decline in cable TV subscriptions and drop in overall pay-TV average revenue per subscription (ARPS), the pay-TV services revenue in China is expected to grow at a sluggish compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.6% from USD 35.1bn in 2021 to USD 36.2bn in 2026.

Philippines telco PLDT and global satellite operator Telesat of Canada say they have successfully conducted the Philippines' first on-orbit testing of high-speed broadband connectivity with Telesat's Phase 1 low earth orbit (LEO) satellite.

O-RAN activity continues to ramp up. Now a group of Middle East operators has established the region’s first open RAN centralised test lab in collaboration with the industry group the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and technology company Intel.

Mexican quad-play (cable television, broadband internet, fixed telephony and mobile telephony) operator Megacable has come to an agreement with AT&T Mexico whereby it will to be able to use AT&T’s network.

High-altitude platform systems (HAPS) are again in the news after UK company Stratospheric Platforms Limited (SPL), a partner of German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom, successfully trialled pioneering technology that provides 5G network coverage from the stratosphere in Saudi Arabia.

Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernández, has announced plans, which are now apparently underway, to connect schools around the country to the internet.

ZTE Corporation’s Next-gen Cloud AI Home Security Camera Pro has landed the Best Connected Consumer Device award at the Global Mobile (GLOMO) Awards during Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2022 in Barcelona, Spain.

Indoor coverage is a challenge for telcos or system integrators: whether small or medium sites, the work of RF design, device tuning, antenna installation, cable laying, and various passive components must be set in the right correctly to be easily positioned for future maintenance, resulting in continued project maintenance.

Cambodian operator Smart Axiata saw a significant uptick in Fixed Wireless Access users during 2021, with the service attracting more than 100,000 registered users for that year.

MWC 2022 saw the signing of an agreement between Telecom Egypt (TE) and AFR-IX Telecom regarding the construction of a landing station in Egypt for the Medusa submarine cable system.

Türk Telekom has announced a partnership with fellow Turkish firm Odine with to shape the future with 5G and new generation technologies.

STL, ASOCS and VMware have announced what they describe as the launch of the industry's first end-to-end 5G enterprise solution to address the growing demand for private 5G enterprise connectivity for campus, industrial and venue applications.

Notwithstanding its concerns with corruption allegations and Ukraine, reported yesterday, Ericsson seems to have had a successful MWC in terms of agreements announced at the show. Deals involving Zain KSA, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and Ooredoo Qatar have all been highlighted by the telecoms giant during the event.

Due to a drop in average revenue per user (ARPU) levels, the total fixed communications services revenue in China is expected to decline at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.9% from US$250bn in 2021 to US$239bn in 2026.

ZTE Corporation joined hands with Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), to deploy the service provisioning of TM’s IP CORE network of the NGN (Next-Generation Network), marking an important milestone of the project.

Finnish multinational telecommunications major Nokia and Saudi Telecom Company (stc) have announced the successful completion of the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region’s first trial of a 1-Terabit high-capacity channel.

Matrix NAP Info, a telecommunication company based in Jakarta whose interests include cable, data centres, the cloud and the Matrix Cable Internet Exchange, has announced an agreement with PT Communication Cable Systems Indonesia (CCSI) on the establishment of a subsea cable joint venture.

Vanu, a provider of equipment, tools and services that enable mobile network operators to profit by serving off-grid communities, has announced that, working with a local deployment partner, it has brought mobile network base stations to several communities in Nigeria.

Operator Turk Telekom is in the MWC news yet again, this time with an announcement that it has selected network software provider Mavenir and ComPro for an 4G/5G open vRAN pilot.

There are high hopes for Africarare, Africa’s first metaverse which is, its founders say, set to unlock African creativity and connect Africa to the global digital economy.