Bahrain Telecommunication Company (Batelco) has become the first telecommunications company in the Middle East region to launch the AMS-IX (Amsterdam Internet Exchange) service, Manama-IX Reseller Service.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), an Indian multinational engaged in engineering, procurement and construction projects, hi-tech manufacturing and services in over 50 countries, and Microsoft India have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) related to cloud services.

The suspension of bidding for a second new Ethiopian mobile licence will not affect earlier licence winner Safaricom’s permission to offer mobile financial services, according to Dr Eyob Tekalgn Tolina, the State Minister of the country’s Ministry of Finance.

South Africa’s Independent Communications Authority (ICASA) will hold public hearings to review call termination rules, as the country’s largest operators dispute over a rule change eight years ago.

According to local news reports, the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) is supporting the country’s National Broadband Initiative by offering the use of its utility poles for the running of aerial fibre.

Customers of Ugandan operator Smile Communications have reportedly been unable to access its services for several days.

Elon Musk’s satellite company SpaceX is aiding the effort to restore telecommunications to the island nation of Tonga after the country was struck by the after-effects of a volcanic eruption.

Fledgling Philippines-based operator Dito Telecommunity announced more than PHP50 billion ($971 million) has been attained and will be pumped into expanding its network this year.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Ministry of Communications in India will engage telecom operators for developing 5G use-cases in the field of precision agriculture and smart farming in collaboration with the agriculture ministry.

Zain Cloud, the cloud computing service provided by Saudi’s mobile telecom company, Zain KSA, has launched a suite of new cloud computing products and services to support businesses in the kingdom.

Brazilian regional telecom operator Copel Telecom has acquired Curitiba-based ISP and data centre provider Nova Fibra from ABL group in a deal valued at BRL500 million (US$ 94.7 million).

Telkom Kenya claimed it is forced to pay half of its revenues to Safaricom and other rival operators due to high rates for ending customer calls on their network, rendering the country a loss-making territory for the operator.

The SIM registration trend continues. This time SIM registration is about to become law in the Philippines where the country's congress has ratified an act mandating ownership registration of all SIM cards for electronic devices and social media accounts. The bill now awaits the president’s signature.

Zimbabwe operator Telecel announced its network is back to full working operation and rebuffed rumours it was shuttering due to debt, as customers experienced service outages due to expired licenses.

Mexico could see a 5G spectrum auction later this year following the IFT (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones)’s approval of its Annual Work Programme 2022.

Bharti Airtel subsidiary Airtel Africa reported profit after tax almost doubled to $514m as revenue grew by 21.7% to $3.4 billion.

Vodafone Oman has tapped Syniverse to enable 5G roaming services in the Sultanate of Oman.

Sri Lankan mobile network operator company Bharti Airtel Lanka has tested 5G infrastructure over a commercial network and recorded the highest ever Internet speed in the country.

Singapore-based data centre provider SpaceDC is developing a 72-megawatt hyperscale campus in the eastern Greater Manila area as its first Philippine project. It claims that the data centre, called MNL1, will be the largest hyperscale facility and the first green server hosting facility in the country.

Ooredoo Maldives has announced the appointment of Khalid Al-Hamadi as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Another part of the Indian 5G spectrum auctions puzzle is nearly in place. The country’s Telecommunications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) recommendations on 5G spectrum will be available by March.

Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers has laid out its strategy for implementing 5G, which could see the technology become commercial available within 2022.

Following yesterday’s news that India is expecting a data centre development boom, activity in that sector also seems to be ramping up in Saudi Arabia, where internal and external investors have announced big plans.

The Estonian watchdog announced conditions for its much-maligned  5G auction has been set, which paves the way for the anticipated sale to begin this year.

Asian nations have greenlit a plan to produce a joint system to battle against the use of counterfeit and stolen mobile phones, and accelerate other future technologies.

Saudi Arabian operator Zain announced the rollout of the Kingdom’s first 5G standalone (SA) network in a bid to attract partners with ambitions to develop projects in vertical technologies such as IoT, AI and robotics.  

South African mobile communications company Vodacom Group and Amdocs, a provider of software and services to the communications and media industry, announced the creation of the African Centre of Excellence (CoE), which will assist the telco with operational efficiencies.

Russian infrastructure group New Towers has registered an interest to acquire network towers and masts from Russian operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS).

Telecom Italia Brazil has appointed its fourth permanent CEO naming Alberto Griselli as its head, a role which was vacated when Pietro Labriola was unanimously appointed as group CEO.

Saudi Arabian efforts to cut back on the kingdom's reliance on oil are continuing. The latest initiative involves $6.4 billion of investments in future technology.

India has been a target market for data centre builders and investors for some while. Now, however, Indian plans to classify data centres as infrastructure could speed up the data centre development process.

Indonesia’s XL Axiata and the Philippines’ Globe Telecom have signed separate multi-year agreements with software and services provider Amdocs.

Ethiopia state-owned operator Ethio Telecom missed its H1 revenue target by 13.6% due to ongoing military conflict in the country.