Recent news from India and Africa underlines the continuing growth of IoT-based solutions for a diverse range of applications.

The start of work on building the new Satellite of the Republic of Indonesia (SATRIA) is reported to be imminent.

Globe Telecom has reached out to several independent tower firms in the Philippines in a bid to boost the quality of its mobile network.

IP connectivity supplier Telia Carrier penned an agreement with Equinix in Mexico to expand its network in North America, a move to expand its footprint and meet growing demand for high speed internet connections.

Ethiopia prime minister Abiy Ahmed announced plans to sell a five per cent stake in state-owned Ethio telecom to citizens, as part of plans to break the monopoly held by the operator and open up the traditionally closed market.

The government of Colombia has chosen Speedcast International for a project to provide high-speed internet to 250 sites across rural Colombia.

There's more news on the planned Singapore India Gateway (SING) cable system, for which a new contract has just been announced.

Following May’s announcement of plans for a 10 percent value-added tax (VAT) on the sale of digital products and services from 1 July 2020, there’s been further tax-related news from Indonesia.

Fintech start-up Thunes raised $60 million in Series B financing with Helios Investment Partners leading the latest round of funding, as the company continues expansions plans in emerging markets.

A large number of Indian news outlets have been reporting that India, the US and Israel are now collaborating on 5G technology.

Visitors to moitt.gov.pk, the website owned by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) of the government of Pakistan, may have noticed a brief, but potentially significant, announcement about the release of spectrum for 4G.

As another reminder of the growing strength of OTT services in mobile-dominated markets, OSN, (Orbit Showtime Network) has signed a multi-year partnership with Vodafone Egypt.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and global development company Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), launched a project to bridge the digital gender skills gap in Burundi, Ethiopia and Haiti.

It seems that last week’s decision against MTN Ghana in the Commercial High Court in Accra is not going to be the end of the story.

Two Liberian operators have had legal problems in recent days, with both Lonestar Cell-MTN  and Orange Liberia finding themselves at the wrong end of regulatory decisions.

About 27 rural districts in Mozambique are expected to benefit from a rural connectivity project launched by the government last week.

The Philippines government announced over a dozen new tower companies registered interest in opening operations in the country, due to early measures introduced to simplify building shared telecom infrastructure.

Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) chief executive Umar Garba Danbatta, predicted Nigeria will see “significant improvement” in its telecoms industry over the next five years, backed by network rollouts and fresh initiatives.

Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) is deploying the new AirPON breakthrough solution from Huawei to provide Gigabit broadband service to remote villages and old, low-rise residential buildings.

Both major operators in Laos have been trialling 5G but it’s the state-owned Lao Telecommunications Company (LTC) that has won the race to officially launch a 5G network in the country.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) – the country’s telecommunications regulator – has announced a new final date for the long-awaited auction of high-demand spectrum.

Papua New Guinea is set to gain a greenfield 4G mobile network, as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $25 million investment into a project for its construction in the Pacific country.

Satellite connectivity company Eutelsat Communications inked a multi-year distribution agreement with Paratus to bring high quality network connectivity to South Africa, meeting growing demand in the country’s underserved areas.

While much has been written about the potential of artificial intelligence in business, a practical application of AI has hit the headlines this week that focuses on its use for a more pressing problem in South Asia, at least at the moment: flooding.

The leading operator in Ghana has failed in its attempt to challenge its recent classification as a Significant Market Power by the regulator, the National Communication Authority (NCA).

Indian news outlets are suggesting that a resumption of talks between operator Vodafone Idea and potential investors is under way.

Data centre operator Rack Centre has announced an expansion programme that will increase capacity in its Lagos campus in Nigeria.