All Tech News

China's ZTE Corporation has been ranked first for the shipments of Passive Optical Network (PON) Optical Network Terminal (ONT) devices in the year 2021, said a report.

Following hard on the heels of yesterday’s report that it is to roll out 112,000 mobile towers across India comes the news that state-owned Indian operator BSNL has appointed a partner with which it will roll out 6,000 of the 4G sites.

Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel is exploring the possibility of punishing vendors of grey market devices with fines up to BRL50 million (US$10.5m) per infraction.

Asia Pacific spending on artificial intelligence (AI) systems will rise from $17.6 billion in 2022 to around $32 billion in 2025, said a study.

The shipments of mobile phones to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region grew 8.3% quarter on quarter (QoQ) in Q4 2021 to a total 6.10 million units, said a report.

Bharti Airtel, one of the leading operators in India, has announced the successful completion of what is described as India’s first open radio access network (open RAN)-based live 5G network validation in partnership with network software provider Mavenir.

The Philippines-based operator PLDT has reportedly selected two bidders for half of its towers valued at around US$1.5 billion, a move to cut its debt pile.

Iliad Group has closed its acquisition of cable operator UPC Poland from Liberty Global for a total of PLN7 billion (US$1.6 billion).

Zain Global Connect (ZGC), its wholly-owned subsidiary of Zain Global, has announced that it’s investing in the development of a submarine cable that will connect the Middle East with Europe through the J2M (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Marseille, France).

Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cable operators in the region, has announced that EG-IX, the first open access internet exchange in Egypt, is live and available for customers.

Digital infrastructure company Equinix has announced plans to build a brand-new data centre in the city of Salalah on the south coast of Oman.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of at least $500 billion, and Saudi telecommunications company STC Group have signed a joint venture agreement to establish a new company specializing in the Internet of Things (IoT).

Infobip has acquired a Service without Network (National) licence to operate in Zambia, which will help the firm expand in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

Bahrain Telecommunication Company, trading as Batelco, has partnered with e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group) to connect Manama Internet Exchange (MN-IX) with SmartHub Internet Exchange (SH-IX) to provide a seamless peering experience for customers, enabling a two-way data path utilising the robust global network remotely.

India’s networking market which includes Ethernet Switch, Routers, and WLAN segments witnessed a 13.6% year-over-year (YoY) growth in terms of vendor revenues during 4Q 2021 (Oct-Dec), said a study.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is set to build a new data centre in a bid to boost its economy.

Indian multinational telecommunications services company Bharti Airtel and compatriot information technology services and consulting company Tech Mahindra announced a strategic partnership to build and market innovative solutions for India’s digital economy by bringing together their core strengths. The partnership will co-develop and market 5G use cases in India.

Zambia’s regulator has claimed to have blocked over two million illegal SIM cards, a move that is part of plans to clamp down on illegal activities prevailing as citizens take up digital financial services.

Satellite operator Intelsat has been part of two very different deals recently, both underlining the diverse uses of satellite communications. One involves extending video connectivity in Brazil. The other aims to improve maritime connectivity across an area that includes Africa and the Middle East.

Togo is aiming to fiberise the country’s network of electrical power lines, according to the Minister of the Digital Economy and Digital Transformation Cina Lawson.

To enhance its wireless products offering, Tata Group’s company Tejas Networks will acquire a 64.40% stake in the wireless solution company Bengaluru (Bangalore)-based Saankhya Labs for INR 2.84 billion (USD 38 million) in a cash trade.

Supported by the growing fixed broadband service adoption, particularly in the emerging markets of the region, fixed communications service revenue in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is set to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.7% to reach USD 406.2bn in 2026.

Zain South Sudan has selected Tecnotree’s BSS suite for a major digital transformation initiative.

Cloud networking provider GTT Communications has partnered with Arc Solutions to consolidate and expand its service reach across the Middle East.

London Internet Exchange (LINX), one of the world’s largest internet exchange points (IXPs) and Saudi Arabian operator STC have announced the expansion of interconnection services to new internet exchange points in Riyadh and Dammam.

Vi (formerly Vodafone Idea) and L&T Smart World & Communication (SWC) have created a use case for a private 5G enterprise network in India.

Netcracker and NEC Corporation announced that e& (formerly Etisalat Group) has deployed Netcracker edge orchestration to innovate with 5G and new edge services in vertical markets.

The high-speed and low-latency PEACE cable system, designed to connect Asia, Africa and Europe, is back in the news.

EASSy, the 10,000-kilometre submarine cable system traversing Africa’s east and south coasts, is leveraging Ciena's GeoMesh Extreme to increase capacity and performance in sub-Saharan Africa.

Japanese telecommunications giant NTT and QD.TEK, one of the leading ICT distributors in Vietnam, have announced plans to establish a joint venture to develop a new data centre in Ho Chi Minh City, a major centre of the Vietnamese economy and home to many multinational companies.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has acquired a fibre pair on the Equiano subsea cable, allowing the firm to transport traffic up to 12 Terabits.