All Tech News

Network International, an enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, says it has renewed its partnership with one of Nigeria’s largest financial service providers, Polaris Bank Limited, to deepen financial inclusion and digital transformation.

Cellcom, a leading service provider in Israel, and open RAN software platform provider Parallel Wireless have announced the launch of what they describe as their first-of-a-kind pilot, which will demonstrate the deployment of autonomous 5G standalone (SA) core sites in Israel.

Following on from last year’s announcement, reported on this site, that internet exchange operator AMS-IX had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MainOne’s Lagos data centre, MainData Nigeria (MDXi), AMS-IX and MDXi have announced the launch of a new internet exchange in the city.

A sustainability-linked debt facility of up to US$170 million in multiple tranches has been secured by Raxio Data Centres, a leading pan-African data centre developer and operator.

Telekom Romania Mobile has entered the country’s 5G market with a stealth launch via its existing spectrum holding.

Apple sales in India surged to hit almost US$6 billion in the year through March according to sources speaking to Bloomberg.

Global communications company Viasat has confirmed that the scheduled launch date for the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite is 18 April this year. The ViaSat-3 satellite will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Digital infrastructure and technology provider Cirion has announced the expansion of its fibre network and data centre capabilities across Latin America “to better serve the growing demands of our customers and continue to migrate workloads to hybrid cloud solutions”, as the company puts it.

Meta Platforms launched a payments tool in WhatsApp designed for SMEs in Brazil, with plans in future to roll out the feature in other markets.

Sri Lanka national ICT solutions provider SLT-Mobitel is to implement Netcracker Digital BSS and Professional Services to consolidate its billing system for upgraded fixed, mobile and online charging capabilities.

The wait is, apparently, nearly over. Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of global conglomerate the Aditya Birla Group, and one of the shareholders of operator Vodafone Idea (aka Vi), has been heard on Indian TV saying Vodafone Idea is to begin its 5G rollout soon.

Not long after last year’s efforts by Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA) to register SIMs, culminating in over 8 million unregistered SIM cards being deactivated, the NCA now plans to introduce shortcodes to verify SIMs linked to Ghana Cards.

With data drawn from Interpol’s member countries, private partners, and research conducted by its Africa Cybercrime Operations Desk, the latest Interpol African Cyberthreat Assessment Report looks back over 2022 and provides a comprehensive overview of cyberthreat trends in the African region.

Apple officially revealed it will open its first retail stores in India this month, marking a significant expansion in India as the company seeks growth and refocus manufacturing in the South Asian nation.

BDx Indonesia, one the largest wholesale data centre and cloud-focused operations in the Indonesian market, recently held the ground-breaking ceremony for its greenfield data centre, CGK3A, in TB Simatupang, South Jakarta.

There’s been another piece of positive news for the still relatively nascent satellite-direct-to-standard-phone market with a contract in Ghana for Lynk Global.

One of the latest examples of 5G use in an industry-specific context comes from Uganda, where vendor Huawei has, alongside MTN Uganda and Hima Cement Company, launched what it describes as the country's first 5G industrial use case in a Hima cement plant.

UAE-based e& is acquiring a 50.03% stake in Uber’s Middle East subsidiary Careem Super App for US$400 million, in a deal that will significantly expand the operator’s e-commerce standing.

Commercial 5G launches rebounded in the second half of 2022 as operators in developing markets – and notably Africa – turned on their networks. That’s one of the key findings of 5G Tracker, a report from Kagan, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Zain Jordan has selected Nokia in a multi-year deal to supply 5G radio access network (RAN) equipment throughout the country. Through the deal, says Nokia, Zain will be able to support the digital transformation of the country by offering superior 5G services with enhanced connectivity and capacity to customers. A major part of the deployment is expected to be completed during 2023.

Apple revealed a first look at its first retail store in India which will be located in the city of Mumbai, and sourced claimed it will be open in April, reported Reuters.

Netplus Broadband, North India’s leading wireline internet service provider, has chosen OcNOS from IP Infusion, a provider of open network software and solutions for wireline and mobile network operators, to strengthen and scale its network as the company expands broadband services to all its customers across the region.

Malaysian satellite solutions provider MEASAT has secured a contract with Intra Oil Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Perdana Petroleum, a company that provides offshore marine support services for the upstream oil and gas industry.

A press release attributed to the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda underlines the continuing issue of communications charges across Africa – this time relating to the internet.

Thuraya, the mobile satellite services subsidiary of the UAE’s flagship satellite solutions provider Yahsat, has concluded Heads of Terms for an investment agreement with Astrocast, a leading low Earth orbit (LEO) and Internet of Things (IoT) network operator.

Published last week but now attracting attention from many African news resources is a Vodacom Group paper arguing that mobile money taxation could hamper financial inclusion gains in Africa.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zambian government, committing to deploy more infrastructure to provide affordable connectivity to Zambians.

Brazilian broadband provider Unifique struck a deal to acquire regional provider Brick Servicos Digitais for BRL10 million (US$2 million), reported BNamericas.

Operator Ooredoo Qatar and Reailize, a company that says it injects automation intelligence into every aspect of telco operations, have announced that Ooredoo Qatar has implemented Reailize's Continuous Assurance (CA) solution to digitize its network operations centre (NOC) and provide what is described as a single pane of glass into the health of its network, service and customer experience.

Vehicle tracking and telematics company Netstar and Vodacom Business (the enterprise-focused ICT subsidiary of the Vodacom Group) have partnered to offer Wi-Fi to commuters on thousands of minibus taxis around South Africa.

Chinese company Highlander, which specialises in maritime and marine technology, has built what is described as the first commercial underwater data centre facility off Hainan island in China – and now wants to sell submerged data centre facilities to global customers.