Amazon has started trialling its Leo (Project Kuiper) satellite broadband service with selected enterprise customers, marking the first phase of a broader commercial rollout planned for later this year to take on Starlink.

The three member states of the confederation known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso – have signed an agreement to coordinate the use of radio frequencies along their shared borders.

Vodacom Group has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud, adopting the company’s data analytics and generative AI technologies to build new digital services tailored for African consumers and enterprises.

ZTE and state-owned Ethio Telecom revealed on Monday that they have successfully deployed 152 rural base stations across Ethiopia’s remote regions, providing 2G, 3G and 4G mobile coverage for over 1 million users in underserved areas.

Reported last week but only recently receiving wider coverage is the news that a Brazilian company – Rio de Janeiro-based Sollar Machine – has announced an investment of about US$9 million to build a data centre in Paraguay that will operate independently of the national power grid.

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.

Edotco Bangladesh announced on Friday it has signed a new five-year space and power lease agreement with tower firm Summit Communications that it says sets the groundwork for a more integrated infrastructure model for accelerating tower rollouts,.

Ethio Telecom has partnered with Awash Bank to launch Tila, a new digital credit, savings and device-financing service available through the operator’s Telebirr mobile money platform.

NetBIT, the enterprise services unit of Mexican ISP ENI Networks, announced on Thursday it has collaborated with Ciena and Braxem to launch a new offering that leverages passive optical network (PON) access technology to drive digital transformation for Mexican enterprises.

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.

Airtel Malawi officially launched its 5G network in select districts on Tuesday along with the nationwide rollout of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) for its 4G network.

A move described as “a bold and visionary step” by Sylvia Owusu-Ankomah, CEO of the Digital Chamber of Ghana, has seen the Ghanaian government give the green light to plans to build fibre chambers alongside roads, effectively eliminating the capital cost of digging for telecom operators.

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.

Dhiraagu, the Maldives' leading telecommunications provider, has partnered with Infovista to implement comprehensive AI-powered optimisation across its generational networks from 2G to 5G.

IHS Brazil, part of the IHS Towers group, announced on Tuesday it has  expanded its distributed antenna systems (DAS) project at Afonso Pena Airport in São José dos Pinhais, Curitiba metropolitan area, in partnership with Motiva Airports.

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.

IFC, a global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, has announced a partnership with operator Orange Mali to support the company in upgrading its infrastructure, expanding broadband coverage, and ensuring equal access to telecommunications services for all communities.

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.

Ericsson announced on Monday it has inaugurated its new office in Lusaka, Zambia, which it said marks a significant step towards not only enhancing its local and regional presence, but also supporting Zambia’s digital transformation ambitions.

MTN Group has announced a new collaboration with Microsoft to broaden access to AI-enabled learning and productivity tools for millions of people across Africa, marking the operator’s milestone of reaching 300 million customers.

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.

Eutelsat says it has signed a new distribution agreement with Angolan telecoms service provider MSTelcom, to deliver Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO connectivity services across key vertical sectors such as oil & gas and maritime, as well as fixed land operations.

The African Development Bank Group has approved a US$100 million loan to the Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF), supporting efforts to scale sustainable infrastructure investment across the continent.

It’s clearly been a busy week in Cape Town, where a number of deals have been announced at the Africa Tech/ AfricaCom event, including a strategic agreement between Vanu and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

The government of Guyana and AI infrastructure company Cerebras Systems have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to build and operate an artificial intelligence (AI) data centre of up to 100MW in Wales in the Demerara region on the country’s coast.

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata says it has partnered with the Ministry of Environment’s Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) to launch a 5G-enabled autonomous water-surface cleaning robot.

Eutelsat and pan-African telecoms network services provider Paratus Group say they have signed a new multi-million, multi-year agreement to expand delivery of Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO satellite connectivity services across Southern Africa.

Efforts to curb alleged misuse of pre-registered SIM cards in Nigeria are continuing. Telecommunications regulator the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced new measures aimed at eliminating the sale and use of these cards, according to local reports.

Operator MTN Zambia and tech company Huawei have jointly launched what is claimed to be the world’s first AI-powered adaptive power backup solution for emergency resilient networks.