The latest country to attempt to control internet activity is Indonesia, which, Reuters reports, is planning to introduce tough (though as yet not precisely defined) new rules that will allow it to fine, and even criminally charge, internet and social media platforms.

It’s been only a matter of days since Equinix announced plans to expand into Chile and Peru through its acquisition of four data centres from Entel for US$705 million. Now the digital infrastructure company is growing its presence in India.

The pan-African operator Airtel Africa, a division of India’s Bharti Airtel, is reportedly planning to raise $194 million via debt from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank.

The Indian government is reportedly going ahead this month with the planned merger of government-owned broadband infrastructure provider Bharat Broadband Nigam Ltd (BBNL) with the loss-making state-run operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

Citing next generation telecommunications business opportunities as a driver, Straits CommNet Solutions has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysian telecommunications infrastructure company Edgepoint Towers.

Cambodian telecommunications operator Smart Axiata has chosen enterprise data cloud company Cloudera to help it to accelerate its business performance.

Malaysia plans to make a final decision on its 5G network this week, according to the communications minister Annuar Musa.

There has been some good news and a legal setback in the past couple of days for Indian operator Vodafone Idea. It has announced a foray into the lucrative gaming market but lost a court case relating to interim relief on a financial penalty.

Wateen Telecom, a leading ICT company in Pakistan, and Beaconhouse, the country’s largest network of private educational institutions, have partnered to provide managed internet services over SD-WAN across the Beaconhouse network.

The wait for reliable connectivity is not going to be over for Tonga for some while. Recent reports suggest that the cable connecting the Tongan islands, which was ripped apart by January's devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami, could take a year to fix.

In what is apparently the first official Microsoft Azure region announcement of 2022 Microsoft has announced plans for a data centre in Hyderabad, India. It has also opened a new facility in China.

As it continues to finalise its exit from Myanmar and the sale of its Myanmar operations to the unit’s new buyers, Myanmar conglomerate Shwe Byain Phyu (SBP) and Lebanese investment firm M1 Group, Norway's Telenor is said to be transferring a large sum to the new owners.

Australia’s Telstra has been cleared to acquire Digicel Fiji by the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC).

Chinese consumer electronics and mobile communications company Oppo has set up what it calls a Power and Performance Lab at at its Hyderabad R&D centre in India as part of what are described as plans to building an entire product development ecosystem from India.

Leading Asian regional integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company edotco Group has further boosted its aim to be a major global tower player with the acquisition, through its local subsidiary PT edotco Infrastruktur Indonesia, of approximately 1,000 towers from Indonesian operator XL Axiata.

Australia is to fund new telecommunications towers in the Solomon Islands. The support for the towers was requested by the Solomon Islands government as part of its Covid-19 preparedness and response efforts.

India's Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (RSBVL) and US company Sanmina Corporation have entered into an agreement to create a joint venture through an investment in Sanmina's existing Indian entity.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and industry group the GSMA, which represents mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, have signed an agreement to advance the mobile industry in India.

Beijing 2022’s Winter Olympic Games experience was improved with the use of Prevail’s cutting-edge digitalized ticketing. Spectators were able to access the stadiums in 1.5 seconds, with the digital ticketing system using Prevail’s PDA to verify ticket QR codes.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) says it has selected mobile network testing solutions from test and measurement giant Rohde & Schwarz to assess and benchmark the performance, coverage and capacity of the country's mobile network operators.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, the leading Indonesian service provider, has been looking back on a busy MWC 2022 in which, it says, it has succeeded in strengthening its collaborations with strategic partners, including Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia.

Philippines telco PLDT and global satellite operator Telesat of Canada say they have successfully conducted the Philippines' first on-orbit testing of high-speed broadband connectivity with Telesat's Phase 1 low earth orbit (LEO) satellite.

Cambodian operator Smart Axiata saw a significant uptick in Fixed Wireless Access users during 2021, with the service attracting more than 100,000 registered users for that year.

Notwithstanding its concerns with corruption allegations and Ukraine, reported yesterday, Ericsson seems to have had a successful MWC in terms of agreements announced at the show. Deals involving Zain KSA, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and Ooredoo Qatar have all been highlighted by the telecoms giant during the event.

Matrix NAP Info, a telecommunication company based in Jakarta whose interests include cable, data centres, the cloud and the Matrix Cable Internet Exchange, has announced an agreement with PT Communication Cable Systems Indonesia (CCSI) on the establishment of a subsea cable joint venture.

Today, the IPv6 Forum themed "IPv6: Release Connectivity Potential, Boost Digital Economy" was held at MWC22 Barcelona.

ZTE Corporation has released series of new 5G products and solutions at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. 

India’s state-owned company Bharat Broadband Nigam Ltd has cancelled a massive tender worth somewhere in the region of US$2.52billion which aimed to connect villages across 16 states with an optical fibre-based high-speed broadband network.

Satellite-direct-to-phone telecoms company Lynk Global, whose global commercial service is poised to launch later this year, says it has signed multiple commercial contracts with a number of mobile operators covering seven island nations in the Pacific and Caribbean.