All Tech News

Operator e& UAE has announced the launch of its autonomous drone-based cell tower inspection, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), calling it a major leap in telecom infrastructure management and operational safety.

Huawei showcased its Xinghe Intelligent Unified SASE Solution, an AI-powered cybersecurity system designed to tackle the rising threat of AI-driven attacks.

Globe Telecom has moved forward with its acquisition of a 50% stake in AB Capital Securities Inc (ABCSI), aiming to strengthen the stock brokerage capabilities of its fintech unit, Mynt, which operates the widely used GCash mobile wallet.

United Bank for Africa (UBA), a leading pan-African financial services institution with a global footprint, says it has upgraded its point of sale (POS) terminals and revamped its UBA MONI banking app with the aim of accelerating digital payments.

South Africa-based MTN Group announced on Tuesday it is collaborating with Meta to enhance the quality and reliability of OTT voice and video calls on applications such as WhatsApp across 12 MTN markets, starting in Nigeria.

Zimbabwe mobile operator NetOne has reportedly struck a deal with direct-to-device (D2D) LEO satellite operator AST SpaceMobile to expand the reach of its 5G services once the satellite network is available in Africa. 

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata announced on Friday it has brought Voice over New Radio (VoNR) out of the lab and into the real world after conducting what it claims is the country’s first successful VoNR trial on a live standalone 5G network.

Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) says that Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has issued a decree approving a Category 1 telecoms license to Omani Space Communications Technologies (OmanSat) to provide fixed communications services.

Zimbabwe’s telecoms regulator is urging the government to introduce mandatory handset registration in a bid to tackle rising cybercrime and improve the safety of mobile money transactions.

Inflight connectivity tech firm SkyFive says it has signed a MoU with Kazakh telecoms operator Freedom Telecom to provide inflight connectivity to airlines and other aircraft operators using SkyFive’s air-to-ground (A2G) solution.

CSG International says that it has struck a deal with Liberty Latin America to streamline its wholesale business and unify its operations across multiple lines of business in 21 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

ICT solutions and smart devices giant Huawei, and Ektech, a solutions distributor, have announced a partnership to develop the internet service provider (ISP) market in Brazil.

Open payments platform Spreedly and EBANX, a global payment service provider specialised in emerging markets, have teamed up to offer international companies seamless access to popular alternative payment methods in Latin America – methods like Brazil’s Pix – as well as e-wallets and local cards.

Axiata Group is reportedly seeking financial advisers as it explores a potential sale of its majority stake in tower subsidiary edotco Group, in a deal that could be worth up to US$3 billion including debt.

Axian Telecom is set to receive a financing package of US$100 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB Global) to help expand its mobile broadband infrastructure across Madagascar and Tanzania.

Orange Jordan announced on Wednesday it has become the first telco in the country to offer satellite broadband services for consumers and enterprises via the Eutelsat Konnect satellite.

NBCC (India) Limited, a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with RailTel Corporation, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) or government-owned establishment under the Ministry of Railways, to collaborate on developing data centre projects.

While many subsea cable stories recently have been about accidents and repairs in the world’s oceans, two recent stories from India and West Africa are land-based and underline some of the potential pitfalls of inadequate planning.

Brazil’s telecoms regulator, Anatel, has granted approval for SpaceX to operate an additional 7,500 Starlink satellites in the country’s airspace.

Global satellite operator SES announced on Tuesday it has landed a deal to provide inflight connectivity (IFC) services to Uzbekistan Airways, whilst also expanding an existing IFC deal with Thai Airways, which in turn launched a separate IFC service with Intelsat.

TIM Group's global operator Sparkle has announced the expansion of its network in Mexico with the opening of a new point of presence (PoP) in Querétaro, a city in the centre of the country.

Following what it describes as the successful launch of its 5G services in Mumbai, Indian operator Vodafone Idea says it has now expanded its 5G service to 11 cricket stadiums in India.

Canada-based network vendor NuRAN Wireless missed its target for new mobile sites deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo this month citing transit issues.

e& UAE said on Monday it has kicked off tests to utilise the 6-GHz and 600-MHz spectrum bands for 5G services, with both bands promising to significantly boost data speeds and extend 5G’s coverage range.

South Africa-based MTN Group announced on Monday it is getting into the video streaming business via a new partnership with UK-based video software provider Synamedia to develop a new streaming platform for mobile and fixed broadband subscribers across Africa. 

Malaysian telco CelcomDigi and Ericsson announced on Monday they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement AI-powered network analytics in CelcomDigi’s network to optimise its operations as 5G adoption in Malaysia continues to grow.

The Belarusian government has announced plans to roll out a single 5G network, following a similar approach taken by the Malaysian government.

Telco consumers increasingly expect a more personalized relationship with their service provider – they appreciate efficient interactions and proactive offers.

The Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) says that state-owned operator Libtelco and the Cable Consortium of Liberia (CCL) will relocate the country’s landing station for the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) subsea cable, which has been suffering from outages blamed on construction work at the current landing site.

Service provider Claro Chile, a subsidiary of America Movil, the largest telecommunications group in Latin America, and cyan AG, a provider of intelligent cybersecurity solutions, have announced a cooperative agreement that, says cyan, opens up the Latin American market and is an important milestone in its growth strategy.

The announcement, late last week, of the largest recycled water supply scheme of its kind in Malaysia to date underlines both the challenge data centre growth offers to water supply and the growing urgency of attempts to meet it.