Regulation, Content, TV, Middle East, MENA: The boom in free satellite TV channels in the Arab region may have stifled the growth of local terrestrial TV.

Satellite, Iran, MENA: Following our report that Cambodia is delaying 3G because the Prime Minister’s wife is upset about the possibility of immoral content being sent by 3G, we can report that the Iranian government is clamping down on that “decadent” institution called satellite television.

Regulation, Telephony, Cable TV, Mexico, CLA: Mexico is proving to be one of the world’s most difficult markets to expose to competition, due primarily to opposition from Mexico’s key fixed-line operator Telmex (Telefonos de Mexico).

Licensing, GSM, Kenya, Sierra Leone, MENA: The Kenyan Government has announced its decision to grant international gateway licences to the country’s two leading mobile operators.

Economics, privatisation, telecoms, Botswana: Botswana’s Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency will sell between 40% and 49% of the state-owned Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC).

Education, ICT, Africa, MENA: Bill Gates recently took the opportunity of the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum Africa 2006 to announce his company’s plan to train 45 million African citizens in ICT over the next four years.

Training, Education, Wi-Fi, Mobile, Paraguay, CLA: Progress towards making mobile Wi-Fi a widespread reality in Paraguay advanced via a training and implementation workshop held recently.

Internet, Africa, MENA: In reply to your article Internet - a rival to Africa’s mobile phone success? I would like to make readers of Developing Telecoms aware of some of the projects that are going on in Africa to improve the situation...

Markets, Mobile, India, Asia-Pacific, Global: Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, is set to expand his company’s subscriber base well outside India.

GSM, Mobile, British Virgin Islands: Cable & Wireless (C&W) and Nokia will be expanding their existing global agreement to supply and deployment a GSM network in the British Virgin Islands.

Markets, Morocco, MENA: GSM penetration in Morocco topped the 40% mark last year - and yet some 80% of GSM users are still using payphone services for national calls.