Sixty-five nations have signed what is being described as a landmark United Nations treaty in Hanoi aimed at tackling cybercrime.

A new investigative report claims to document ways in which a group of large US brokers appear to be facilitating what is estimated to be a billion-dollar trade in exporting electronic waste to developing countries.

Following the news, reported earlier this month, that the world’s first commercial underwater data centre is now operational in Hainan in China, a Chinese company has now completed construction on what is claimed to be the world’s first wind-powered underwater data centre.

Two major international subsea cable connectivity announcements have just been made – both of them relevant to developing markets. One, not too surprisingly, comes from the Philippines. However, the other has a starting point in Greece – on the island of Crete.

State-owned company Telkom Indonesia, a multinational telecommunications conglomerate, has agreed to partially spin off its wholesale fibre connectivity business to its infrastructure-focused subsidiary Telkom Infrastruktur Indonesia in a deal valued at 35.787 trillion rupiah ($2.16 billion).

AdventEnergy, the retail electricity supply arm of Aboitiz Power Corporation, a power company in the Philippines that champions the use of both renewable and non-renewable energy sources, has entered into a strategic partnership with Philippines telecommunications company DITO Telecommunity by providing electricity to 1,642 of its cell towers.

It’s been a busy time for cashless payments in India, with two big announcements in the past week involving the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.

Myanmar is making telecoms news headlines yet again – and yet again this news is receiving attention well beyond the specialist press. This time it’s because the scam centre business that has burgeoned in the country is allegedly being enabled, in part, by satellite communications provider Starlink.

AI technologies-focused company Graphcore, a wholly owned subsidiary of multinational investment holding company SoftBank, says it is opening a new AI engineering campus in Bengaluru in India.

Papua New Guinea’s state-owned telecoms network wholesaler PNG DataCo says that internet services in the southeastern towns of Popondetta and Alotau have been disrupted due to a subsea cable break likely caused by an earthquake on Tuesday.

The world’s first commercial underwater data centre is now operational in Hainan, an island province of China and the nation’s southernmost point.

Private 5G continues to make steady inroads into the Indian market. Advanced 5G infrastructure specialist Tidal Wave Technologies and mission-critical communication solutions provider Consort Digital say they have successfully completed a pilot project for 5G-based mission-critical communications for the first time at a mine in India.

Airtel Business, the enterprise arm of India’s global communications solutions provider Bharti Airtel, says it has secured a multi-year contract from the Indian Railway Security Operations Centre (IRSOC) to deliver security services to safeguard the digital backbone of India’s railway network.

The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), the technical arm of India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Naya Raipur to jointly pursue research, innovation and standardisation in next-generation telecommunications technologies.

IT infrastructure and data centre solutions company ByteBridge, has signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in the past week, one targeting the Middle East with Naizak Global Engineering Systems, a Saudi-based engineering and technology solutions provider, the other addressing the Asia-Pacific market with FuriosaAI, an AI semiconductor company.

Airtel Business, part of global communications solutions provider Bharti Airtel Limited, has entered into a strategic partnership with precise-positioning-technology company Swift Navigation to launch India’s first AI/ML-powered, cloud-based location service.

Ooredoo Group, the international communications company operating across the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia, has announced the rollout of advanced cybersecurity services across its markets, in partnership with software development company Innovatix Systems.

Submer, a major name in data centre design and immersion cooling, has announced its strategic expansion into the Indian market, positioning the country as a central hub for manufacturing and serving the entire Asian region.

True Corp will challenge a decision by the Central Administrative Court which dismissed its appeal against an arbitration order requiring the operator to pay THB4 billion ($124.3 million) plus interest to National Telecom (NT).

PLDT Enterprise, the corporate arm of Philippines operator PLDT, has in recent days announced not only a remote connectivity initiative but a mixed reality (MR) trial that could benefit remote healthcare.

Huawei has launched a three-step "ACT" pathway to enable intelligent transformation for enterprises, with the aim of helping them harness the power of AI, as well as nine new industrial intelligence solutions developed with Huawei’s partners.

Japan’s SoftBank announced on Monday that it has formed a consortium with Meta, IPS, Telekom Malaysia and XLSmart to develop a new subsea cable system connecting Japan and Singapore, with several other stops in Southeast Asia.

Nokia has signed a contract to modernise Vietnamese operator Viettel’s broadband network in the capital city of Hanoi.

Princeton Digital Group (PDG), a leading Asia Pacific data centre provider, has announced a partnership with clean energy intelligence platform Flexidao and Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), one of India’s largest renewable energy companies, to pioneer the implementation of time-matched, carbon-free energy (CFE) consumption at its 150MW MU1 data centre in Mumbai.

SoftBank Corp tested new innovation in High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) technology that can beam stable 5G connectivity from the sky to the ground, as the company advances in the nascent technology that can plug coverage gap in rural areas.

Ericsson has opened a new base of operations in Vietnam, underscoring the country’s growth potential as it undergoes rapid digital transformation.

Thailand is the latest country to announce plans to offer spectrum for private use by factories and businesses.

Tata Consultancy Services, a major name in IT services, consulting and business solutions headquartered in India, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian government group the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to accelerate the development of India’s sovereign cloud ecosystem.

Globe Telecom announced it has secured a PHP5 billion (US$87.5 million) loan from the Bank of Commerce to support its capital expenditure programme, according to ABS-CBN.

Fiji’s Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications has officially issued 5G spectrum licences to the country’s three major mobile operators.