Russia has recently hardened its restrictions on the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), which are a popular way of getting round state censorship and accessing banned news sites, Western services, social media platforms and messengers.

Malaysian telco YTL Communications said on Wednesday it is partnering with US-based identity and fraud prevention platform Shush to deploy network authentication APIs, starting with Number Verification and SIM Swap.

MTN Ghana's independent mobile payments firm MobileMoney Fintech announced on Thursday that it has temporarily restricted some MoMo agent accounts as it conducts checks to ensure agents comply with guidelines and regulatory requirements.

Following yesterday's Hughes-Air India news, another partnership has been announced for in-flight connectivity (IFC). This initiative is designed to support the evolving connectivity needs of airlines and aviation customers across Europe, Turkey and the Middle East Africa (MEA) region.

Ooredoo and DE-CIX have connected Doha IX - Qatar’s first commercial Internet Exchange (IX) – to DE-CIX Marseille.

Kazakh telco Transtelecom JSC says it has signed a partnership agreement with national postal operator QazPost to expand telecoms services to rural areas in Kazakhstan’s Kyzylorda region.

Viasat Aviation, Turksat and SkyFive Arabia announced plans on Tuesday to enable seamless roaming for in-flight connectivity (IFC) services across Europe, Turkey and the Middle East-Africa (MEA) region.

Cirpack Software and Summa Networks are deploying Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services for Vodafone Polynésie.

Digital payment deals continue to makes headlines across Africa. This time Nedbank and Mastercard have announced what is called a landmark agreement to transform digital payments across Southern Africa.

The government of Sierra Leone has announced the relaunch of state-owned telecom operator Sierratel through a new private sector partnership.

Hughes Network Systems has announced that Air India has selected the Hughes In-Flight connectivity solution to deliver what is described as a consistent Wi-Fi experience using a common connectivity platform across its mixed widebody fleet.

Mauritanian telcos Moov Mauritel, Mattel, Chinguitel and Rimatel have reportedly bid MRU1.08 billion (around US$27.1 million) in total for 5G licences being auctioned by the Autorité de Régulation (ARE).

India’s Bank of Baroda and leading mobile operator Reliance Jio have announced a partnership to launch bob World Lite, described as the first comprehensive mobile banking app designed specifically for feature phone users, on the JioPhone Prima 4G device.

Gabon has introduced a sweeping new social media ordinance which eliminates online anonymity and imposes strict identity requirements, among other measures. It comes in the context of a recent wave of social media restrictions in Gabon.

Algeria’s telecoms regulator ARPCE last week launched a call for bids for two satellite licenses, a significant move in a sector so far only open to public companies.

TM Nxera – the JV comprising Telekom Malaysia and Singaporean data centre operator Nxera – completed construction of its first hyperscale AI-ready data centre in Johor on Friday.

Africa Data Centres announced on Monday it has signed a deal with South African fibre optic cable infrastructure provider Oni-Tel Fibre Networks to strengthen interconnectivity across its facilities in Gauteng province.

Cambodian telco Smart Axiata says it has secured a US$50 million financing facility from Maybank Cambodia to accelerate development of its digital and telecoms infrastructure, particularly its ongoing rollout of 5G.

Two partnerships, both announced at GITEX Africa Morocco 2026, are aimed at improve digital financial services and strengthening financial inclusion within Morocco.

Despite regular news stories in these pages highlighting the use of renewable energy in telecoms, reliance on diesel still appears to be widespread – which may explain why pan-African operator Vodacom Group has just released a new white paper entitled Decarbonising Africa’s ICT Sector.

Millicom International Cellular, a leading telecommunications company in Latin America, has announced a long-term commercial agreement with digital infrastructure provider Trans Americas Fibre System (TAFS).

Ethio Telecom announced on Thursday it has partnered with Ethiopian Toll Roads Enterprise (ETRE) to launch an RFID-powered digital toll payment solution for users of the Addis Ababa-Adama expressway.

AI infrastructure specialist Nexus Core Systems says it has signed an MoU with Moroccan government agencies to invest MAD12 billion (US$1.29 billion) to build an AI factory in the country next year.

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) will reportedly start regulating over-the-top (OTT) platforms and content as part of a coming revamp of broadcasting regulations.

Operator Telecom Namibia and regulator the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) have officially entered into a strategic partnership.

Social media platform TikTok and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the institutional representative of more than 45 million companies in over 170 countries, have announced the launch of the Digital Commerce Labs programme.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released an industry consultation paper to explore whether direct-to-device (D2D) satellite services should use existing terrestrial spectrum or mobile satellite services (MSS) spectrum.

State-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cables (BSCPLC) has warned that internet services will experience slowdowns or disruptions from now until Monday due to repairs being carried out on the SEA-ME-WE-5 subsea cable.

Moroccan telco Inwi announced on Wednesday it has partnered with China Mobile International (CMI) to deploy what it claims is the country’s first private 5G network dedicated to industrial use.

Equinix announced on Wednesday it has opened its fourth International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in Mumbai to support high-performance workloads and hybrid multicloud deployments in India.

Orange Maroc and Ericsson announced on Wednesday they have signed a partnership deal to co-develop and promote private 5G network solutions for Morocco’s enterprise sector.