Telkom Kenya, is an integrated telecommunications provider in the East African country, and Britam Holding, the financial services firm listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, have partnered to bring a mobile-based insurance solution that will see customers benefit from a bespoke mobile and insurance bundle that includes mobile data, voice minutes, SMS, personal accident and last-expense insurance.

Nokia has been selected by Qatar’s Ooredoo Group to supply 5G CPEs and whole-home mesh WiFi solutions to residential and enterprise customers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

WhatsApp shared the results of its pilot digital payments programme across 500 villages in the Indian states of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

“Transformational weather intelligence for resilient agriculture to Africa.” That’s the promise of TomorrowNow.org, a global non-profit helping vulnerable communities adapt to climate change, which has been awarded a $2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Leading Colombian fibre optic networks service provider Integra Multisolutions (IMS) is to use SES’s satellite-based trunking services to enable it to extend and enhance fibre-like connectivity for Colombian municipalities with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants located out of the reach of terrestrial infrastructure.

Pakistani satellite communications systems integrator Supernet has signed an agreement with SatADSL allowing it to use the latter’s neXat platform.

Ooredoo Qatar has selected i2C Inc’s agile payments technology to help it launch modern payment solutions for its users in Qatar, including digital-first prepaid cards and mobile wallets.

China's largest wireless carrier by revenue, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd has received the green light from Beijing regulators for what is shaping up to be the largest IPO in Shanghai in more than a decade.

Zain Jordan, part of Zain Telecom Group, announced a 15-year agreement to sell and lease back the passive physical infrastructure of its 2,607 towers in Jordan to TASC Towers for USD 88 million.

China United Network Communications Group Co (China Unicom) and Huawei jointly launched the Promotion Initiative for Smart Super Sensing with partners, calling for more joint research, application innovation, and standardization in 5G integrated sensing and communications to build an ecosystem for the smart super sensing industry.

Samsung Electronics and the Vietnamese multinational telecommunications company Viettel announced that the companies have started 5G commercial trials in Da Nang, the largest city in the Central Vietnam region.

Two very different recently announced initiatives are hoping to make some progress with the vexed question of managing data centre power use and emissions.

Bharti Airtel, a major Indian communications and solutions provider, and Capgemini, which describes itself as a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation, have announced that they will collaborate on bringing 5G-based enterprise-grade solutions to the Indian market.

As the debate over whether a single wholesale 5G network will be rolled out in Malaysia rumbles on, it seems that some of the country’s operators are now arguing for a second 5G provider.

Omantel, the leading integrated telecom services provider in Oman, has selected the JUPITER System from Hughes Network Systems, a major name in satellite and multi-transport technologies and networks, to extend its mobile networks.

Employees of Lebanon’s two state-owned mobile operators Alfa and Touch commenced a strike yesterday (13^th December).

Mongolian operator Unitel has selected SLA Digital as its managed service provider for carrier billing.

Bangladesh state-run operator Teletalk has partnered with leading global ICT solution provider Huawei to roll out 5G in the South Asian country.

Nozomi Networks and the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) partner to deliver OT(operational technology) and IoT (internet of things)security services and solutions for customers in a wide range of industries within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Russia's biggest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has agreed to purchase compatriot developer of face recognition systems VisionLabs for around RUB7 billion ($95 million) through a subsidiary set up to develop, launch and market compatible products globally.

Indian telecom operator Vi (formerly Vodafone Idea) announced its partnership with Hungama Music to launch premium music streaming offering through the dedicated Vi app.

Cassava Technologies, which describes itself as Africa’s first integrated tech company, has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Mitsui, one of Japan’s largest global conglomerates.

Telenor Pakistan has signed the GSM licence renewal template created by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) “under protest and without prejudice” to maintain continuity of its services.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) seems to have made a final decision on the licensing of 4G and 5G radio frequency spectrum with the publication of a new invitation to apply (ITA) to the industry late last week.

A parliamentary commission has called for the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to abolish a tax on mobile devices.

Senegalese regulator ARTP (L’Autorite de Regulation des Telecommunications et des Postes / Regulation Authority for Telecommunications and Posts) has fined the country’s three mobile providers a total of XOF20.284 billion (US$35 million).

MENA’s largest Open Banking platform Tarabut Gateway has announced a partnership with Zain Bahrain to provide the region’s first use case of Open Banking payments within a telco app.

Qatari multinational telecommunications company Ooredoo Group has received a delegation of senior representatives of its partner, the Chinese partially state-owned technology company ZTE Corporation to sign an extension of their existing partnership.

Indonesian digital communications company Indosat Ooredoo and Groundhog Technologies, a Mobility Intelligence provider, are developing an on-demand advertising software platform Programmatic, which aims to provide data-driven digital advertising solutions that help marketers achieve optimal advertising of Advertising Services.

The Human Rights Division of Ghana's High Court presided over by Barbara Tettey –Charway has struck out the application for an interlocutory injunction to halt the ongoing registration of SIM Cards.

Poland’s regulator UKE (Urzad Komunikacji Elektronicznej / Office of Electronic Communications) has confirmed its reallocation plans for the 2100MHz band.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded a grant to Smart Communications, the mobile unit of PLDT, to help the operator extend its 5G offering to 96% of the Philippines’ population.