Kacific has partnered with Indonesian operator Teleglobal to provide a large-scale deployment of mobile backhaul services to the archipelago’s major telecommunications operators.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has told leading operator Grameenphone that it must stop selling new SIMs in the latest escalation of an ongoing dispute over quality of service.

Malaysia’s communications minister has indicated that an announcement will be made by next week regarding the sale of a 70% equity stake in Digital Nasional Berhad.

The Philippines’ bureaucracy-busting Anti Red Tape Authority (ARTA) appears to have had second thoughts on a previous ruling in which it approved a spectrum holding to be issued to NOW Telecom.

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has laid out the rules for building captive non-public networks (CNPNs) – or private 5G networks.

Philippines operator PLDT will switch on the United States-Transpacific Jupiter cable system next month, boosting its extensive fibre network.

India’s controversial new cybersecurity rules may still be going ahead, but there has been a slight change of plan. There’s been an extension of almost 60 days to the date on which the legal requirement to report security breaches and keep customer information comes into force.

A number of spectrum announcements have been made in recent days that could further help India’s operators’ ongoing rollout plans – if they are put into effect.

Two telecommunications satellites – one Indian and one Malaysian – have been successfully placed into geostationary orbit by the Ariane 5 launcher, operated by satellite launch company Arianespace.

As the late July date for India’s 5G auctions approaches, operators will have to think carefully about where the money is coming from for the additional spectrum. However, it looks like Vodafone Idea (Vi) is already positioning itself financially, both to bid and to invest in its network, through a planned equity deal and a delay to AGR dues, among other plans.

There’s been some good news for telecoms giant Ericsson after four of its former executives were acquitted in Sweden early this week on charges of bribing high-ranking Djibouti officials.

Axiata and Telenor have deferred the deadline for the proposed merger of their Malaysian units, Celcom and Digi.

There’s good news for telecommunications companies in, or serving, India with the announcement by the Department of Telecommunications of additions to the area of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme relevant to telecoms and networking.

Ericsson and Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) have successfully demonstrated a 5G Voice over New Radio (VoNR) call over the operator’s 5G network.

Hong Kong-based real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners has announced that the firm has completed the acquisition of greenfield land located in Saigon Hi-Tech Park for development into a carrier neutral Tier III Data Centre.

Pakistan’s digital economy received a boost this week with news of a major investment in the country’s e-commerce sector.

Following years of isolationism and economic under-achievement, North Korea languishes near the bottom of the world’s telecom maturity index alongside Afghanistan and Turkmenistan (who also happen to be struggling under repressive political regimes).

Thailand’s telecom sector is relatively mature and hosts a mix of public and private sector players. The mobile market is highly developed and has experienced strong growth over the last seven years.

SoftBank Corp, a leading Japanese communication and information technology service provider, says it has secured an equity stake in German company 1NCE, described as the only provider of connectivity and software for IoT at a global flat rate. It has also signed an exclusive distribution deal covering the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.