Trans Pacific Networks (TPN) said on Tuesday it has struck a deal with Ciena to deploy its optical solutions on the Echo and Tabua cable systems connecting the US to Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Global digital operator Veon says it has launched the new network operations centre for Beeline Uzbekistan in Tashkent, as well as a new software development and AI company called BuildX.

NTT Global Data Centres (NTT GDC), part of NTT Data, and the world's third-largest data centre provider, has signed a 100MW power purchase agreement with Thai Energy company B.Grimm Power, through its Amata B.Grimm Power division, securing capacity for its upcoming Bangkok 4 Data Centre.

Hard on the heels of the EU agreement with Kenya reported earlier today on these pages comes more evidence of growing international concern about cybersecurity, with news of a Cambodia-Hong Kong MoU and Ghanaian plans to regulate would-be cybersecurity service providers.

Brazil is set to receive its largest delivery of fibre optic cable to date from trade partner China, bolstering efforts to connect remote communities in the north of the country with high-speed internet.

The European Union will provide KES454 million (EUR3 million) to strengthen Kenya’s national cybersecurity ecosystem as the country accelerates its digital transformation.

Vodafone Business, a division of the country’s leading operator Vodafone Egypt, has announced its entry into Egypt’s agriculture sector, marking what is described as a significant expansion of its enterprise services into one of the country’s most critical economic areas.

Mogo, an Egyptian provider of consumer finance solutions, has announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with Geidea, a Saudi-headquartered premier electronic payments company, to address the Egyptian payment market.

Expansion projects have been announced in the past week by both Cameroon and Madagascar aimed, in part, at delivering better connectivity to isolated areas.

Two very different approaches to powering data centres are making headlines in Dubai and Kazakhstan: one, which has been under way for some time, is solar-focused, the other, very much on the drawing board, may use coal.

Zimbabwe’s telecoms regulator has moved to quash reports claiming a new cybersecurity law has come into force, saying the information circulating on social media and in some media outlets is incorrect.

Gulf Edge, the digital infrastructure arm of Thai energy company Gulf Energy Development, has announced it is partnering with Google Cloud to transform Gulf and its affiliates into AI-native firms, with Thai telco AIS serving as the transformation model.

Telecom Fiji announced on Monday it will deploy Starlink-powered managed Wi-Fi solutions in Namosi and Lomaiviti as part of a new universal service obligation (USO) contract signed with the Telecommunications Authority of Fiji (TAF).

The government of Burkina Faso inaugurated two new mini data centres on Friday in a move to boost data sovereignty as well as the country’s digital infrastructure.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has commissioned Malaysian subsea cable developer SubConnex to study the feasibility of a new submarine cable system linking India with Singapore and major data centres across Southeast Asia.

Space World Group subsidiary Constl said on Thursday it is partnering with Nokia to deploy a dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical transport network across India to meet demand for webscale, cloud and AI-driven traffic.

Brazilian digital infrastructure and data centre group V.tal has announced plans for a new subsea cable system linking Brazil and the US, while its subsidiary Tecto Data Centers revealed separate plans to build a new data centre in Porto Alegre.

Saudi Arabia-headquartered global artificial intelligence company Humain and the National Infrastructure Fund, the Kingdom’s lead development financing partner for infrastructure, have announced a strategic financing framework agreement of up to US$1.2 billion.

The leading operator in Bangladesh, Grameenphone, has secured 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 700MHz band, marking the first-ever allocation of the low-band frequency to a mobile operator in Bangladesh. It was, apparently, the sole buyer.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has announced the launch of Airbel Ventures, a new humanitarian impact investing fund designed to accelerate the entry and scale of breakthrough technologies in crisis-affected communities.

India’s smartphone market contracted by 7% in the fourth quarter of 2025, shipping 34.5 million units, as rising prices and sluggish demand weighed on consumer purchases, according to analyst house Omdia.

Google Cloud launched its new Bangkok cloud region on Wednesday, with three availability zones offering customers in Thailand access to in-country Google Cloud services and AI technologies.

Orange Côte d'Ivoire has launched “Orange Sat”, a new satellite broadband internet service in partnership with Eutelsat that promises to bring data connectivity to rural “white zones” in the country unserved by 4G and fibre.

Philanthropic organisation the Gates Foundation and AI research organisation OpenAI say they plan to invest US$50 million to use AI to ease the impact of chronic staff shortages in 1,000 primary health clinics and surrounding communities in Rwanda and other African countries by 2028.

A new report by Berg Insight suggests that the market for smart metering in Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to see massive growth in the coming years.

India's policymakers seem finally to have put an end to the 6GHz debate between proponents of cellular and of Wi-Fi with government confirmation of plans to delicense the lower 6GHz band to help enable faster Wi-Fi indoors.

Jio Platforms has reportedly shortlisted Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to steer its long-awaited initial public offering, as preparations gather pace for what is expected to be one of India’s biggest listings.

Indian telco Vodafone Idea (Vi) said on Tuesday its has expanded its 5G network in Kerala to all 14 districts in the state, covering all major towns, commercial hubs, educational clusters, tourism corridors and high-density residential areas.

Ooredoo Group announced on Tuesday that its digital infrastructure unit Syntys has acquired Qatar-based hyperscale data centre operator Q Data QFZ, which will add another 12.5MW of IT load capacity to Syntys’ data centre offerings in Qatar.

Digicel Samoa said on Tuesday it has expanded its 5G coverage in Apia with five new sites, for a total of 25 5G sites deployed in the city and its surrounding suburbs.

The Republic of Congo has announced plans to connect the country to a, so far unidentified, new undersea cable following a number of reports regarding faults in the long-established WACS cable on which the country heavily relies.

Taiwanese vendor Asus has reportedly shelved plans to develop new smartphones in 2026 as it pivots resources towards emerging “Physical AI” projects spanning smart glasses and robotics.