Operators

Communications company Ooredoo and telecommunications operator Zain Group have announced the first closing of their regional tower transaction, bringing together the initial tower portfolios within a regional tower platform jointly owned by Ooredoo Group and Zain Group, each holding a 50% stake.

Papua New Guinean telco Digicel PNG announced on Tuesday it has successfully activated its network service on a Vodafone PNG tower under a tower and infrastructure sharing agreement signed by both telcos last month.

Vodacom Mpumalanga says it will invest over ZAR600 million (around US$36.6 million) in network infrastructure and technology in the coming financial year to expand broadband connectivity and support growing demand for digital services across the province.

Global digital operator Veon – which owns Beeline Uzbekistan – said on Monday it has struck a deal to buy rival telco Rubicon Wireless, which operates under the “Perfectum” brand, for US$207 million.

Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) has completed a MYR5.2 billion (US$1.3 billion) Syndicated Islamic Term Financing, which it described as one of the largest syndicated loan facilities ever arranged for an unlisted company in Malaysia.

CelcomDigi and Maxis have both accepted spectrum assignments from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), with each operator bolstering its position in the 2600MHz band.

Operator Ooredoo Qatar has announced the launch of Qatar’s first 5G+ mobile network, building on the capabilities of 5G standalone, the network Ooredoo Qatar was the first to deploy.

Philippine operator Globe Telecom's chief intelligence and trust officer Anton Reynaldo M. Bonifacio will step down on January 1, 2027, after 12 years with the company.

Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal announced on Wednesday it has earmarked ZAR1 billion (US$60.3 million) for network infrastructure investment for the 2027 financial year.

State-owned Telikom PNG announced on Thursday it has signed a tower sharing licence agreement with Digicel PNG, marking the third such deal in Papua New Guinea’s telecoms sector in the past two months.

Philippine operator Globe Telecom has called for telecommunications networks to be prioritised alongside electricity and water during disaster recovery, arguing that connectivity is essential for emergency response and relief efforts.

Telefónica and KKR have appointed JPMorgan and Scotiabank to sell OnNet Fibra, their Chilean wholesale fibre joint venture, in a deal that could value the business at up to US$2 billion.

Flow Jamaica has completed the removal of its legacy underground copper network, freeing up capacity to move more vulnerable fibre transmission routes underground and protect them from severe weather.

Vodacom is investing more than ZAR500 million (US$30m) in network infrastructure in South Africa's Western Cape during the current financial year, with spending focused on network modernisation, 5G expansion and energy resilience.

Tigo is now officially a mobile operator brand in Ecuador. On 1 October the telecommunications brand owned by Millicom replaced Movistar and Tuenti, after Tigo completed its acquisition of Telefonica's operations in the country.

Brazilian operator Claro has completed the acquisition of a 72.83% controlling stake in fibre broadband provider Desktop.

Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom has established a subsidiary in Guatemala as it expands its enterprise ICT business from North America into Latin America and the Caribbean.

State-owned operator Nepal Telecom suffered around NPR88 million (US$5.8 million) in damage after extreme flooding affected parts of South and Southeast Asia.

Claro Colombia has entered the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) hosting market for the first time, signing an agreement with Movil Exito to provide network access alongside its existing arrangement with Tigo.

Telefonica is looking to exit Venezuela, with the Spanish group reportedly waiting for market conditions to improve before formalising a sale within the next year.

Cambodian telco CamGSM (a.k.a. CellCard) announced on Monday it has signed an MoU with Huawei to invest approximately US$300 million over the next few years to modernise its networks and data centre infrastructure.

Papua New Guinea’s state-owned telecoms network wholesaler PNG DataCo revealed on Sunday that recent service disruptions over the past month were due to separate incidents involving power supply problems, vandalism and subsea cable faults.

Telkom Indonesia signed an MoU with China Unicom Indonesia Operations on Monday to explore ways to collaborate on digital infrastructure, connectivity, and technology solutions for the Indonesian market.

Digicel announced on Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its El Salvador operations to General International Telecom El Salvador (GITES) as it sharpen its focus on its core Caribbean markets.

Azerconnect’s international backbone operator AzerTelecom announced on Friday it has entered into a strategic partnership with DE-CIX to launch a new internet exchange in Azerbaijan.

Vodafone Idea has secured about US$3.5 billion in debt financing from a consortium led by State Bank of India (SBI), providing the Indian operator with funding to rebuild its network and compete with rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

Vietnamese operator VNPT has selected Israeli telecom software provider Radcom to provide service assurance for its roaming network, replacing its incumbent vendor following a competitive tender.

Veon-owned Ukrainian telco Kyivstar announced on Monday it has completed its migration of over 1 million 3G subscribers to 4G (with a few exceptions), which has freed up more spectrum capacity for its 4G network.

Safaricom Ethiopia has surpassed 15 million 90-day active subscribers, less than four years after launching commercial services in the country.

Orange is partnering with Telco OI, Reunicable and La Reunion Connectee on a new submarine cable linking La Reunion directly with South Africa, aiming to reduce latency and strengthen the island's international connectivity.

Vietnamese telecoms group Viettel is preparing to enter the Dominican Republic after securing 240MHz of spectrum, making the Caribbean nation its 11th international telecoms market.