The New Zealand-headquartered Hawaiki Submarine Cable Limited Partnership is back in the news with the announcement of the launch of the Hawaiki Nui submarine cable system, which it calls the first and largest spatial division multiplexing (SDM) cable linking South-east Asia, Australasia and North America.

Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has fined the country’s mobile operators a combined total of EGP25 million (USD1.6 million) after their services failed to meet minimum quality standards.

Despite the Ukraine government announcing grand plans in November 2020 to enable the commercial launch of 5G mobile services by the end of 2021 (including a spectrum auction slated for October), there has been remarkably little evidence of any progress being made towards putting those plans into action.

Turkey continues to develop its capabilities within its telecom sector, becoming one of the relatively few countries able to build and develop its own communications satellites. With the successful launch of the Turksat 5A satellite in January 2021, the Turksat 5B is expected to be launched by the end of the year, and will be joined by the Turksat 6A in early 2023.

The global Internet of Things (IoT) enabler Telit announced a strategic partnership with Brazilian engineering company WEG to conduct 5G private network tests in an electric motor plant.

Tele2 Latvia, a mobile network operator (MNO) in Latvia, has revealed its plans to expand its 5G network significantly.

Airtel Africa, the provider of telecommunications and mobile money services in Africa, and UNICEF have announced a new five-year pan-African partnership to help accelerate the roll-out of digital learning through connecting schools to the internet and ensuring free access to learning platforms across 13 countries.

PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel), an Indonesian wireless network provider, working in partnership with Chinese equipment manufacturer ZTE, has deployed the first operational 5G system in the country's easternmost province Papua.

A province in the west of Argentina is about to receive a major boost to its fibre optic provision after the signing of a new contract.

The market dominance issue rumbles on, with stories from Kenya and Ghana underlining how much of a problem it is becoming for a number of African operators.

STC is deploying Infinera’s ICE6 800G-capable technology on its submarine cable networks to enable new regional and international connectivity services and infrastructure development.

After many years of delays and legal challenges, Guyana's 2016 Telecommunications Act was brought into force in October 2020 by the newly elected government of the People’s Party Progressive (PPP).

Indonesian digital telecommunication firm Indosat Ooredoo and Cisco announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and intend to collaborate on the development of next-generation connectivity solutions for businesses of all sizes.

Zain Group, a mobile telecom service provider in seven markets across the Middle East and Africa, announced that Zain Esports has partnered with the Kuwait Olympic Committee (KOC), to promote esports and the overall gaming ecosystem within Kuwait, with a forthcoming event positioned to fuel further interest from the community.

Kcell, a cellular communication operator in Kazakhstan and part of Kazakhtelecom, has announced that it plans to cooperate with Ericsson in the field of development of 5G-ready networks.

Telefonica Brasil (Vivo), a Brazilian telecommunications group and subsidiary of Spanish Telefonica, approved the transfer of the company's IoT and big data activities to IotCo Brasil, in which it now holds a 50.01% stake in the company.

DCI Indonesia, a leading data centre provider in Indonesia, has opened the first phase of its second data centre campus outside Jakarta. H2 campus, as it is known, is sited on 791 hectares and has a total capacity of up to 600MW.

Oman’s first satellite will be launched into Earth’s lower orbit by the end of 2022.

The regular issues facing Vietnam’s undersea cable connections since 2017 have continued long into 2021. Not long ago, the Asia America Gateway (AAG) undersea cable broke down yet again. This is apparently the third time the cable has been broken this year.

Telkom Kenya has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ericsson and NEC XON to boost the operator’s network with an additional 2000 wireless sites by 2023.

Iraqi operator Asiacell has announced that it is extending its strategic partnership with Ericsson to enhance and improve its LTE services in the country.

Green Gibraltar, a new player in the Guyanese mobile market, claims to have received regulatory clearance to offer 5G mobile services.

Telecommunication infrastructure in the Solomon Islands requires significant investment due to the geographical make-up of the islands.

French Polynesia has one of the most advanced telecoms infrastructures in the Pacific Islands region. The first submarine cable was deployed in 2010 and additional cables have been connected to the islands in subsequent years, vastly improving French Polynesia’s international connectivity.

Banking software firm Temenos has announced contract wins in Cambodia and Egypt.

Indian multinational telecommunications services company Bharti Airtel has rolled out the "5G for Business" initiative to demonstrate a wide range of enterprise-grade use cases using high speed & low latency networks.

The net profit of the Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco), listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange, increased by 9% during the third quarter of 2021 to 15.7 million dinars ($ 41.6 million), compared to 14.4 million dinars (38. 2 million dollars) in the corresponding period of 2020.

Azerbaijan’s largest mobile network operator (MNO) by subscriptions, Azercell Telekom has announced its LTE network now covers 85.65% of the population and 74.30% of territory following additional site deployments and upgrades in the first nine months of the year.

Globe Telecom, the provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines, said it recently expanded its fifth-generation (5G) network coverage in new areas. It has completed site upgrades of its 3G legacy network to 4G LTE in key cities in Visayas and Mindanao while also expanding 5G coverage in these areas.

Airtel Networks Kenya has taken aim at regulator the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), alleging bias in favour of Airtel’s rival Safaricom.

As many commentators inside and outside Nigeria expected, the country’s federal government has approved the extension of the deadline for national identity number (NIN)-subscriber identity module (SIM) data verification to the end of this year.

Indian operator Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) has announced plans to test 5G-based solutions involving aerial traffic management and motion capture systems as part of its ongoing 5G trials on government-allocated 5G spectrum.