Top executives at Zimbabwean operators Econet Wireless and Telecel have urged the government to reduce the tax burden faced by the country’s service providers.

ALTAN Redes has been declared bankrupt by the Seventh Judge in Civil Matters of Mexico City.

One month after Vietnam announced plans to pilot mobile money services across the country, and eight months after Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed off on approval of the pilot programme, MobiFone has become the first Vietnamese operator to be permitted to provide mobile money services in the country.

Africell Angola has awarded Digis Squared a multi-year contract to provide end to end Managed Services to support the launch of its new network.

Romania’s National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) confirmed that just two companies submitted qualifying bids to obtain short-term licences for spectrum in the 800MHz, 2600MHz and 3.5GHz bands.

China is planning to triple the number of its 5G base stations in the next five years. The country aims to get 56 percent of the country on 5G networks by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), up from 15% in 2020.

The South Korean tech giant Samsung has reportedly decided to shift some of the manufacturing of its smartphones from Vietnam to India.

Brazilian regional operator Brisanet will start the rollout of its 5G network in the second half of 2023.

UPC Poland, the provider of triple-play services in Poland, has signed a deal with the Polish energy company Tauron on the use of Tauron's network for providing services to customers.

Boku is expanding its mobile payments network M1ST into Thailand via support for the country’s two most popular mobile wallets, TrueMoney and Rabbit LINE Pay.

IHS Towers has closed its acquisition of a 51% stake in FiberCo Solucoes de Infraestrutura from TIM Brasil for BRL1.096 billion (US$198.9 million).

Nepal’s leading broadband provider WorldLink Communications is using Nokia solutions to offer a seamless home Wi-Fi experience for its customers.

Three of Russia’s mobile operators - Veon, MTS, and MegaFon - are in the process of offloading their tower portfolios.

Serbian mobile network operator Telenor Serbia has entered the fixed market with the launch of its Hipernet, a new household service that includes optical internet, digital television service.

Chayora, a data centre service provider based in Hong Kong, has launched its 54MW Shanghai hyperscale data centre campus, its second campus development in the portfolio.

Chilean gas distributor Lipigas has created a new company in neighbouring Colombia to offer internet services to residents of small and medium-sized cities where internet penetration is less than 20%.

An impressive example of telecommunications’ potential as a contributor to environmental awareness comes from Malaysia where operator edotco is helping to control greenhouse gas emissions in an ingenious way.

FSS (Financial Software and Systems) is collaborating with Bangladesh’s BRAC Bank to facilitate digital commerce in the market.

Following a flurry of investment activity recently, operator Vodacom is apparently now considering a separate listing of its South African financial services unit.

Qatari telecommunication operator Ooredoo has announced a major partnership with technology giant Ericsson that will see the two entities working together to ensure an unrivaled 5G experience for fans at the major football event in Qatar in 2022.

Haier, China’s largest consumer electronics and home appliance producer, collaborated with Huawei and China mobile to apply innovative manufacturing solutions combining 5G and mobile edge computing in its smart factories. The three announced the breakthroughs in Qingdao, China.

Polish mobile phone network operator T-Mobile Polska (T-Mobile Poland) has launched a trial of 5G standalone (SA) services at a test environment in the city of Lodz and via two commercial base stations in Zambrow and Halinow.

BNET, the national network responsible for providing broadband network services across Bahrain, has announced the launch and implementation of its new portability process for broadband Internet.

SatADSL has announced a new partnership with global satellite operator ABS which will provide the latter with access to SatADSL’s neXat platform.

The Nigerian regulator has announced what it calls strategic plans to boost the country’s telecommunications sector in the coming year.

Indian operator Bharti Airtel says it has appointed a committee to work on its efforts towards an environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) initiative.

The growth of mobile advertising indicates the continuing importance to operators of diversifying their business models, something that has been further underlined by an agreement between Indonesian operator  Indosat Ooredoo and mobile advertising and data monetisation specialist Out There Media.

Satellite firm Viasat is partnering with Intercorp Peru to expand digital and social inclusion across Latin America.

In-flight entertainment and communication systems company Panasonic Avionics Corporation has announced agreements with both Iraqi Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia). The Saudi national carrier also plans to offer a broadband solution from satcoms giant Inmarsat.

The vast telecommunications company Saudi Telecom Co (STC) has announced plans to invest $400 million in expanding its data centre rollout.