The Medusa Submarine Cable System, the largest subsea connectivity project in the Mediterranean, reached another major milestone this week with the successful landing of its cable in Nador, Morocco.

Omani operator Omantel and Archangel Lightworks, a UK-based pioneer in optical and laser communications, have announced the signing of an agreement to accelerate the future of satellite and optical communication services.

The move towards greater digital efficiency in retail operations continues in Egypt with two deals that are particularly relevant to fuel and food retail.

Saudi Arabian digital enabler stc Group says it has signed a new five-year master frame agreement (MFA) with tech giant Ericsson to accelerate the delivery of advanced digital infrastructure and boost technology adoption across Saudi Arabia.

UAE-headquartered telecom and digital services provider du has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China Telecom Global (CTG), a division of China Telecom, one of the world’s largest providers of integrated telecommunication services.

Syria’s Central Bank (CBS) has announced a strategic partnership with Visa to accelerate the country’s integration into the global digital economy. Local press reports say that the agreement was formalised during a meeting at the Central Bank late last week.

Algeria’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has officially announced the launch of 5G rollouts following the approval of 5G licences issued to Mobilis, Djezzy and Ooredoo.

Hytera, a leading provider of critical communications technologies and solutions, and operator Vodafone Qatar have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) targeting some of the specific needs of Qatar's key industries.

Hatif Libya, a subsidiary of the state-owned Libyan Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Holding Company (LPTIC), has announced the gradual shutdown of traditional telecommunication exchanges.

Ooredoo and Vodafone Qatar announced the commercial release of network APIs standardised under the GSMA Open Gateway initiative that enable identity verification tools to combat digital fraud in Qatar.

Iraqi telco Asiacell announced a slew of AI-related partnerships at this week’s MWC Doha 2025 event with Google Cloud, Cisco, Enea, Evam and Druid AI, most of which are aimed at improving the customer experience.

Orange Morocco has opened a new 1.5MW data centre in Casablanca, expanding the operator’s local hosting and cloud capacity as the country pushes ahead with its Maroc Digital 2030 agenda.

Space Communication Technologies (SCT), Oman’s national satellite operator, has awarded a contract to Airbus Defence and Space, a major player in the aerospace industry, for OmanSat-1, the first Omani satellite.

The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), has announced plans to collaborate with UAE-based satellite company Space42.

UAE-based telco e& announced on Wednesday it has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Motorola Mobility to explore new market opportunities in the Middle East region, possibly including AI.

Mira Aerospace, the high altitude platform systems (HAPS) subsidiary of Space42, the UAE-based space technology company, has announced the successful completion of the first public test flight of its advanced, solar-powered HAPS model, ApusNeo18.

Meta has completed the core build of its 2Africa subsea cable system, marking a major milestone in one of the world’s largest connectivity projects, with further expansions already underway.

Omantel says it has launched a new regional managed optical fibre network (MOFN) in collaboration with Zain Group and Zain Omantel International (ZOI) with optical solutions from Ciena.

Google says it plans to deploy a new trans-Indian Ocean subsea cable system that will connect Oman, the Maldives Islands in South Asia, and Christmas Island, an Australian territory. It will be called Dhivaru after the line that controls the main sail on traditional Maldivian sailing vessels.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is set to sell around half of its stake in Ooredoo Group in a move to raise additional capital on the Qatar Stock Exchange.

Oman Airports has deployed Wi-Fi 7 technology, introducing next-generation connectivity at Muscat International Airport. It claims to be the first airport operator in the world to introduce the technology.

Technology giant Ericsson and Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), to reinforce collaboration over a three-year period and support the development of Egypt’s information and communications technology (ICT) and digital services industries.

The United Arab Emirates regulator, The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), has announced the launch of what it calls the 6th Generation (6G) Initiative in the country.

BENEFIT, a leading Bahrain company in fintech and electronic financial transactions, licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) as an ancillary service provider to the Kingdom’s financial services industry, has announced a deal that will help to enable real-time cross-border payments between Bahrain and India.

Morocco’s three main telcos – Maroc Telecom, Orange Maroc and Inwi – officially launched 5G services in the country on Friday, mainly in urban centres, four months after receiving their 5G licences.

Umniah by Beyon has signed a five-year agreement naming Ericsson as its exclusive radio access network (RAN) supplier for 3G, 4G and 5G technologies in Jordan.

UAE-based Space42 announced on Wednesday that its next-gen Thuraya-4 satellite is now globally available for customers in Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, with new markets including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia.

Ericsson announced on Tuesday that it has renewed its partnership with Bahrainian telco Batelco by Beyon, which will deploy Ericsson’s latest RAN solutions to expand coverage of its 5G network.

Bahrain-headquartered technology group Beyon has announced the establishment of its second fully green solar-powered data centre with the successful completion of Phase 3 of the Beyon Solar Park developed in partnership with solar solutions company Almoayyed Solar.

Orange submarine cable subsidiary Orange Marine announced the construction of two new cable ships to boost the resilience of digital infrastructure across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Two submarine cables – one linking the UAE and Kenya and the other linking Tunisia with France – have made news recently, the former thanks to a new launch, the latter because of a successful landing.

Smart utilities are again in the news after InfraX, a subsidiary of Digital DEWA, the digital arm of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, and technology giant Ericsson recently announced that they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to accelerate the digital transformation of the utility sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Qatar-based Ooredoo Group announced it is collaborating with Ericsson-led open network API joint venture Aduna to make its open network APIs available to businesses across the MENA region and around the world via the Aduna platform.