All Tech News

It’s been another busy week for satcoms, with Agility Beyond Space (ABS), a global satellite operator, and SpaceBridge, a provider of satellite network equipment solutions, targeting managed services in EMEA, while satellite communications service Starlink is reportedly pursuing a Wi-Fi deal with the Emirates airline.

There have been two recent announcements in Ethiopia involving the country’s main operators and digital offerings tailored to the needs of the transport sector.

Bharti Airtel has unveiled a free fraud detection service that uses artificial intelligence to detect and block malicious websites accessed through apps, email, and messaging platforms.

Digicel Pacific announced on Wednesday that it has launched a ‘Pacific Transfers’ service for its MyCash mobile wallet that it says enables direct, fast and relatively cheap money transfers via mobile between users in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Indian telco Vodafone Idea (Vi) launched its 5G service across the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) on Thursday in partnership with Ericsson, and said it was on track to roll out 5G in all 17 priority circles where it holds 5G spectrum by August this year.

Saudi Arabia-based Arabsat and Canada-based satellite operator Telesat announced on Wednesday they have signed a term sheet under which Arabsat will lease multi-gigabit capacity from Telesat’s planned Lightspeed LEO satellite constellation.

Georgian mobile operator Cellfie Mobile has expanded its partnership with Finnish BSS provider Qvantel to include managed services for its business support systems (BSS), in a move aimed at accelerating its evolution into a digital services provider.

Nokia announced on Tuesday that Saudi Arabian telco stc group has successfully completed a proof-of-concept (PoC) for network slicing over a GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) infrastructure using its Altiplano Access Controller.

UAE-based telco du has launched a GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) offering to enable enterprises and government entities to access the necessary compute power to adopt AI more cost-effectively.

Safaricom said on Tuesday it has entered into a strategic partnership with Kenya's iXAfrica Data Centres to offer services leveraging the new NBOX1 hyperscale data centre in Nairobi to enterprise and cloud solutions clients.

LEO satellite player Rivada Space Networks revealed on Tuesday it has signed an MoU with satellite solutions and services provider Q-KON to add Rivada to its Twoobii LEO Smart Satellite Services portfolio.

Eutelsat Group announced on Tuesday it’s extending its partnership with UAE-based VSAT service provider InterSAT Communication Services to enhance fixed data services over Central and Eastern Africa, with a possible LEO satellite component to be added later.

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin says it has signed a MoU with Phillippine telecoms service provider Radius Telecoms to boost cross-border connectivity services for enterprises in the Philippines.

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata has launched a location-tracking service for school vans, which it says will not only improve student safety, but also make school transportation more efficient.

Claro Colombia, a leading mobile telecommunications operator with more than 40 million users, has announced that it is implementing the modernisation of its more than 10,000 antennas nationwide.

Sri Lankan service provider Dialog Axiata has announced the launch in the country of the IAX (India Asia Xpress) submarine cable system, which it describes as a significant part of its total investments in international connectivity infrastructure (said to be over US$100 million) aimed at bolstering Sri Lanka’s international network and future-proofing the country’s digital infrastructure.

The Indian government has reportedly granted conditional approval for SpaceX’s Starlink to begin offering satellite internet services in the country, according to a report by CNBC-TV18.

Phase3 and Sonatel have activated a new terrestrial fibre route stretching 3,500km from Lagos, Nigeria, to Dakar, Senegal.

Cloud networking and security-as-a-service provider GTT Communications says it has expanded its global Tier 1 IP backbone in nine more countries in the Latin America and Asia Pacific regions.

Amdocs, a provider of software and services to communications and media companies, has announced the successful go-live of the Amdocs Customer Engagement Platform for Philippines service provider PLDT.

dLocal, a cross-border payment platform for emerging markets, has announced what it calls an expanded relationship with financial technology company PayPal to offer businesses access to payment processing and local payment methods in more than 40 new untapped emerging markets.

GX Group, a Netherlands-based fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and optical networking gear maker, has extended what it calls its ‘Ecoverse’ initiative aimed at manufacturing Wi-Fi routers and GPON optical network terminals (ONTs) with recycled and biodegradable materials. In this case it plans Wi-Fi routers made from Khadi and bamboo, with, it seems, an eye to the Indian market.

Malaysia is back in the data centre news again. Hard on the heels of news that Equinix has completed the second phase of a new data centre in Cyberjaya, Selangor, has come the announcement of an award by Google related to the building of a hyperscale data centre in the country.

Indonesian telco Telkomsel says it has expanded its 5G network coverage in Makassar, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, with the installation of 73 new 5G base stations in the city.

Bangladeshi telco Robi Axiata announced on Wednesday it has signed a tripartite MoU with two green-energy firms to establish a 100 megawatt-peak (MWp) solar-power park to power its operations in Bangladesh.

UAE-based satellite firm Space42 announced on Wednesday that its mobile satellite services (MSS) subsidiary Thuraya is collaborating with Danish software company Gatehouse Satcom to demonstrate the commercial viability of Thuraya’s upcoming direct-to-device (D2D) satellite IoT service.

There are both positive developments and a few problems for the digital infrastructure company Equinix in Malaysia, according to recent headlines.

Technology vendor Nokia has announced that Cybernet, Pakistan’s leading fibre broadband provider, has chosen Nokia’s optical transport solution for its new long-haul optical fibre cable (OFC) network.

Indian data centre firm RackBank says it has broken ground on a campus in the city of Nava Raipur in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Spanning 13.5 acres, the development will be Chhattisgarh’s first data centre campus.

Operator Orange Tunisie has announced the inauguration of a new data centre in Sousse in the central-east part of Tunisia. This latest-generation data centre is described as part of the country's digital transformation and, Orange Tunisie says, has been designed to meet the highest standards of performance, security and resilience.

MTN’s digital infrastructure arm Bayobab announced on Tuesday it has completed a 260-km fibre route in Uganda from Malaba to Kampala that interconnects with Bayobab’s recently completed fibre route in Kenya from Malaba to Mombasa.

MTN has announced that it will offer up to 1.2 million of its prepaid subscribers an option to buy a 4G smartphone for just ZAR99 ($5.42).