Philippines operator PLDT announced it secured permission to double its tower presence in the country, as part of plans to meet growing connectivity demands and government targets.

Bulgaria has signed a 5G security declaration with the United States in a bid to protect its communications networks.

A reminder of one of the problems that undersea connectivity can bring comes from Bangladesh where undersea cable maintenance is under way, bringing some disruption to internet connectivity.

Microsoft has announced a cloud deal in Brazil and a virtual conferencing facility agreement in Kenya.

Telecom Egypt announced plans to construct Egypt’s largest international data centre, in a move to fortify its standing in the country as the largest subsea cables operator in the region.

A dramatic response from Cambodia’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC) to apparently unacceptable business practices has seen the ministry suspend or revoke the licences of 17 telecommunications operators.

STC reportedly took a step forward in the potential IPO of its products and services arm Solutions by STC, by hiring banks to arrange the sale of shares in the subsidiary.

Liquid Telecom is set to receive an equity investment of $40 million from CDC Group.

Benin-based ISP Isocel received a loan of €6 million from French public investment bank Bpifrance to expand its fibre optic network.

T-Mobile’s Czech unit will switch on its non-standalone 5G network on November 1 in two locations with the aim to cover 25% of the population by the end of the year.

The Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA) has been quick to add detail to its plans for artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships, with the signing of a number of MoUs during the kingdom’s recent Global AI Summit.

Telenor Myanmar has apparently lost more than six million customers in the third quarter of this year. However, as parent company Telenor of Norway points out in its recent third quarter results summary, much of this is related to SIM deactivation.

Airtel Lanka, a Sri Lankan operator and subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, this week announced that it has been awarded 4G spectrum in the 850MHz band.

Infinera, Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and Telefónica Peru are collaborating to commercially deploy a TIP-developed Disaggregated Cell Site Gateway (DCSG) solution using Infinera’s DRX-30 hardware and Converged Network Operating System (CNOS).

Kenya’s National Assembly has agreed to allow mobile money services as an accepted form of payment by gaming operators.

The Liberia Telecommunications Authority slapped Orange Liberia and Lonestar Cell-MTN with fines amounting to more than $4 million, punishing the operators for illegally raising floor prices on voice and data tariffs.

Saudi Arabia has launched a national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. This initiative, widely reported in both the regional and international press, aims to attract $20 billion in foreign and local investments by 2030 and to make the country a global leader in the AI field.

Indonesian operator Telkomsel announced an IDR10.3 trillion ($701 million) deal to sell 6,050 towers to tower company PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi (Mitratel), a deal to support its focus on main parts of the business.

Together with Sequoia Capital India and Flourish Ventures, Veon has become the first strategic corporate investor in Bangladesh’s ShopUp, a full-stack B2B commerce platform for small businesses.

Chad’s regulator ARCEP (L’Autorite de Regulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes,) has ordered parity between on-net and off-net tariffs.

Globe Telecom announced it completed the removal of consumer 3G SIM cards across its retail and distribution chains, a move in line with a goal to migrate customers to 4G and 5G services.

Zambian operator Zamtel announced it switched on 744 towers to vastly expand its network coverage, with its chief executive claiming the move repositioned the operator to have the largest coverage in Zambia.

Saudi Arabia watchdog the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) revealed it is on track to becoming a 5G regulator, while unveiling a strategy to leverage multiple facets of communications and technologies to spur the telecoms sector.

Reliance Jio partnered with Qualcomm to develop open and virtualised 5G network infrastructure, to fast-track the development and rollout of the next-generation technology, and services based on it in India.

Infinera and Seaborn Networks have launched new submarine network services on Seaborn’s AMX-1 submarine network segment connecting the U.S. and Brazil.

Filipino mobile provider Smart has selected Nokia to launch IoT services across the archipelago.

Swedish vendor Ericsson beat rivals to supply equipment for Czech operator CETIN’s 5G network, Reuters reported.

Brazil’s Vivo has selected Ribbon’s Session Border Controller to offer enhanced VoIP access and peering services.

Airtel Zambia signed up to Ericsson’s e-waste programme to minimise the operator's environmental impact, with the focus on the disposal of decommissioned gear in Zambia.

A letter from the GSM Association (GSMA), apparently sent to India’s secretary for telecommunications in September but only being widely reported recently, revisits the ongoing challenges in rolling out telecommunications infrastructure in India.