Wireless Networks

Philippines operator Smart Communications has announced plans to upgrade 40 per cent of its sites to 5G by the end of 2021.

As expected, Viettel has now become the first 5G carrier in Vietnam, after the launch of a 5G commercial trial following a period of technical tests.

Ukraine’s Kyivstar has extended its 900MHz 4G LTE services to all 25 regions in the country four months after launching the offering.

Leading operator Telefonica Movistar Argentina has deployed a complete traffic management solution from telecommunications software company Enea to help it handle the high consumption of data being experienced in Argentina due, in part, to the ongoing pandemic.

Zain KSA – the Saudi Arabian operator and part of Kuwaiti mobile telecommunications company the Zain Group – has announced the expansion of its 5G network coverage in Saudi Arabia to Dammam’s Second Industrial City.

A1 Bulgaria’s 5G network is now live in the country’s capital of Sofia.

Togocel (Togo Cellulaire) has been given the green light to conduct full-scale 5G trials using live network equipment, under real world conditions.

Another day, another Ericsson deal. This time UAE operator Etisalat has awarded the giant networking and telecommunications company a 5G-related contract.

NuRAN Wireless Inc has announced that it has received its first purchase order from iSAT Africa for an initial commercial rural deployment in what is described only as a sub-Saharan African country.

India’s second-biggest operator, Bharti Airtel, has started deploying 4G technology in bandwidth formerly used for 2G.

Saudi Arabia is to provide 60,000 free Wi-Fi points in a number of public places thanks to a newly announced initiative.

Estonia’s first commercial 5G network is now live, with Telia Eesti launching services in the city centres of Tallinn, Tartu and Parnu.

Telia Lithuania (also known as Telia Lietuva), the country’s biggest telecommunications and IT company, has announced the launch of a 5G mobile network in Lithuania.

A further example of the continuing drive to meet the growing demand for mobile communications on metro services comes from Belarus where operator MTS has announced that it will provide communication for passengers on the new line of the Minsk metro.

There's positive news for Huawei from Indonesia, where operator Indosat Ooredoo has announced its continued partnership with Huawei Indonesia as one of its strategic partners to build a state-of-the-art, programmable, 5G-ready transport network powered by segment routing IPv6 (SRv6).

Hrvatski Telekom, a leading operator in Croatia, has claimed a first with the launch of a commercial 5G network, which, it says, places Croatia alongside developed European and world markets.

Vodacom South Africa is deploying Nokia’s 5G radio, core and fixed network solutions to enable ultra-fast 5G services for its subscribers.

Infinera, Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and Telefónica Peru are collaborating to commercially deploy a TIP-developed Disaggregated Cell Site Gateway (DCSG) solution using Infinera’s DRX-30 hardware and Converged Network Operating System (CNOS).

Madagascar is the latest African country to join the trend towards offering free internet access to its people. The government-supported rollout of Wi-Fi terminals across Madagascar has now begun.

Vodafone Hungary is boosting its 5G network in Budapest with the addition of around 200 new base stations.

Roke Telkom, which describes itself as a Ugandan public service provider for voice and data communications services, has announced a partnership with global social networking giant Facebook.

The reopening of the Indian economy and of some physical retail outlets seems to have had a positive effect on mobile subscriber numbers, which saw a rise of 3.5 million during July. This makes up, in part, for the loss of 3.2 million subscribers in June. The overall base is now 1.144 billion.

MTN Group and Telecom Infra Project (TIP) have joined forces to support the evolution of MTN’s communication transport infrastructure, which, says MTN, will become a platform for future revenue growth and profitability.

WorldLink Communications Ltd, the largest internet service provider in Nepal, has announced a partnership with Facebook, or more accurately, Facebook Connectivity,  an umbrella platform for Facebook’s global internet connectivity initiatives, to deliver fast, affordable and reliable Wi-Fi in Nepal.

It’s no surprise that more 5G pilots are under way – most recently in Brazil and Slovakia. However, these two pilots do raise a few questions about what this means for the participants and for spectrum availability.

Telekom Slovenije  has begun rolling out 5G technology for mobile phone users, Slovenia's biggest telecom operator said earlier this week.

Mobile network operator Vodafone Czech Republic has launched its non-standalone (NSA) 5G network in a number of major cities throughout the country.

Batelco has announced that it has successfully activated 5G coverage across Bahrain.

Huawei is set to deploy over 2000 telecom sites in rural locations across Ghana.

There’s been a flurry of 5G news recently in the Philippines, where, over the past few days, one operator has announced FWA trials and another has begun the nationwide rollout of its fifth-generation mobile network.