All Tech News

Airtel Africa has launched SmartCash Payment Service Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary, to provide secure and reliable financial services across Nigeria.

China Mobile-backed Pakistani operator Zong has partnered with ZTE to implement a dual-band (1800MHz and 2100MHz) FDD Massive MIMO upgrade on its 4G network.

Chilean operator Entel claims to have extended its 5G coverage to all regions in the country, with the deployment currently 83% complete.

Brazil may be about to join the rush to standardise smartphone chargers. The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), the Brazilian telecom regulator, has proposed making USB-C chargers mandatory for all smartphones sold in the country.

Satellite operator Inmarsat, satellite communication solutions companies Global Beam Telecom and Cobham, and global two-way radio manufacturing company Hytera have announced the launch of a new seamless push-to-talk (PTT) communications solution aimed at the Middle East market.

Philippines operator PLDT will switch on the United States-Transpacific Jupiter cable system next month, boosting its extensive fibre network.

MTN Nigeria, the country’s leading operator and the leading MTN operator by subscriber numbers, has taken 18 Nigerian banks to court over the alleged unauthorised transfer of ₦22.3 billion ($53.7 million) from an account owned by its recently-licensed mobile money Payment Service Bank (PSB) MoMo.

Fintech platform Nomanini has announced the launch of a new supply chain finance app called StockNow that connects fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) and financial service providers in order to serve Africa’s informal retailers at scale.

This week has seen the launch of a government-supported innovation to attract investors to Cameroon – in the form of SME-centric apps.

Two telecommunications satellites – one Indian and one Malaysian – have been successfully placed into geostationary orbit by the Ariane 5 launcher, operated by satellite launch company Arianespace.

Approved Apple repair centres in Russia are reportedly struggling to find legit parts to carry out repairs for devices after the nation was sanctioned by a raft of nations after beginning the invasion of Ukraine.

Is Kenya aiming to encourage an end to roaming charges in Africa? If reports from the local press are true, the country’s ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru may be hoping to pursue this course.

Elisa Estonia has confirmed the launch for fixed wireless access 5G services over its recently obtained 3.5GHz spectrum.

Etisalat UAE, the telecoms pillar of e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group), has announced the successful deployment and testing of mobile network slicing through 5G in collaboration with Huawei.

Local press reports in Nigeria are full of dire warnings about online retail superbrand Amazon’s plans for growth and how it could affect home-grown online retail. According to recently unearthed documents the company is apparently set to roll out in Nigeria in April 2023.

Philippines-based operator PLDT stated it blocked over 23 million spam texts over the span of three days, which were attempts to access consumer personal data, reported Bloomberg.

Zimbabwe is the latest African country planning to set to launch its first satellite into orbit. Next month, or possibly in August, ZimSat-1, a nanosatellite, will be launched from the Japanese KIBO Module – Japan's science module for the International Space Station (ISS).

Payments business Cellulant Zambia has announced a digital payment partnership with five leading Zambian water utility companies; Nkana Water, Kafubu Water, Mulonga Water, Chambeshi Water and Western Water.

Hungary’s Magyar Telekom has stated that its 3G network “will no longer be available anywhere from 1 July”, with phased shutdowns already in effect.

Is Kenya about to welcome its largest data centre to date? According to US-based cloud hosting company Cloudoon that may well be the case. The company has reportedly secured 6 billion Kenyan shillings (about $51.1 million) for the project.

Zain Group’s digital and ICT solutions unit ZainTech has partnered with LigaData to deliver cutting-edge, data-driven digital services to enterprise and government customers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Media Commerce, a telecoms operator in Colombia, says it has rolled out a new high-speed network using WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) coherent optical technology from networking systems, services and software company Ciena.

Indonesia-based investment company Sarana Menara Nusantara is reportedly considering the sale of its minority stake in tower company Protelindo, seeking as much as US$1 billion, reported Bloomberg.

South African data centre announcements are coming thick and fast. After yesterday’s news from Africa Data Centres comes another initiative, this time focused on edge services, from Open Access Data Centres (OADC), which says it plans to launch nine more edge locations in South Africa.

Cloud infrastructure and fibre provider Lightstorm is on a mission to expand connectivity in South and Southeast Asia with its neutral network, as part of aspirations for growth for the India-based firm.

Team Telecom Armenia has secured funding worth US$45 million from three separate banks to help it deploy high speed internet across Armenia, enabling the country’s digital economy.

Ericsson and Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) have successfully demonstrated a 5G Voice over New Radio (VoNR) call over the operator’s 5G network.

Continuing its fast pace of growth, Africa Data Centres, which boasts Africa’s largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities, has announced plans to build its second data centre in Cape Town.

Global payments technology company Mastercard and Ecobank Group, a leading independent pan-African banking group, are to partner to digitize agricultural value chains in Africa.

Hong Kong-based real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners has announced that the firm has completed the acquisition of greenfield land located in Saigon Hi-Tech Park for development into a carrier neutral Tier III Data Centre.

Mexico tapped into satellite technology to deliver ubiquitous coverage for its citizens, as part of a major scheme to connect those in extremely remote areas.