Wireless Networks

Small cells are back in the news again with an announcement that local vendor SAR Televenture is to deploy 4G small cell sites for Indian operator Vodafone Idea (aka Vi).

Indian telco Bharti Airtel announced on Monday that it has started refarming its existing 4G mid-band spectrum to support migration of 4G customers to 5G services, as well as its planned launch of standalone (SA) 5G.

Malaysian telco U Mobile said it has established a strategic backhaul partnership with Time dotCom as it continues its preparations to help build the country’s planned second 5G network.

Costa Rican company Radiografica Costarricense SA (RACSA, a Grupo ICE company) has claimed a 5G first in the country with the launch of 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) services on the market, supported, it says, by the country's first and only network designed for this technology.

Ericsson and Etisalat’s e& United Arab Emirates (UAE) say they have successfully conducted end-to-end verification of RedCap software on e&’s 5G Standalone (5G SA) network, which will enable it to support IoT devices as it evolves to 5G Advanced.

Rijeka Gateway has announced a 5G standalone (SA) connectivity partnership with Croatian telecommunications company Hrvatski Telekom (HT), involving the adoption of what is described as a next-level private 5G campus network.

LORIOT, a long-range IoT solutions company, and LORATECH, an IoT technological solutions business, have joined forces in a partnership they say is set to transform the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape in Latin America.

Nokia and Telecom Egypt are partnering for Egypt’s first 5G launch.

Indonesia's Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) said on Friday that it plans to complete construction of 630 base station towers in “unforeseeable areas” by the end of this year, despite ongoing challenges of accessibility and security.

Ericsson announced on Monday it has extended its R&D partnership with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) for another two years to continue research related to 5G and 6G technologies.

Digicel Samoa announced on Monday that it has officially kicked off its rollout of 5G services with five 5G sites going live in the Apia CBD.

Another funding win has been announced by for mobile and broadband wireless infrastructure supplier NuRAN Wireless, this time involving Cameroon.

Malaysian telco U Mobile and Axiata-owned telecoms infrastructure company Edotco say they have formed a partnership to accelerate the rollout of 5G under the government’s planned dual network model.

Nokia and telecom infrastructure organization Solis Tower Telecom do Brasil have partnered to provide connectivity to agribusinesses in rural parts of Brazil.

Indian telco Vodafone Idea revealed on Wednesday that it has been working with Samsung to trial new technologies, including virtualised RAN (vRAN) solutions, in Chennai for its 4G and 5G network.

Revenues from fixed communication services in Malaysia is expected to hit a compound annual growth rate of 0.7% from US$1.87 billion in 2023 to US$1.94 billion in 2028.

Chile’s Movistar Empresas, the business-focused division of operator Movistar, has announced the deployment of an LTE-M network in the country, which, it says, will allow organisations of various sizes to connect their Internet of Things (IoT) devices with greater energy efficiency.

A programme of indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi 6 access points, which provides internet resources for 1.3 million students across Morocco, is to use wireless technology from Cambium Networks, a leading global provider of wireless networking solutions.

Telecom Namibia said on Monday it has signed a five-year transformative partnership with Huawei Technologies to modernise and expand coverage of its mobile network, to include 5G.

Digitel South Sudan has launched what it says is the first 5G trial in the country, which it hopes can help address the digital divide in South Sudan where the majority of people remain unconnected.

The Saudi Arabian Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST) has announced that Aramco Digital, the digital technology services subsidiary of state-owned Saudi oil and gas company Saudi Aramco, has obtained what is called a Specialized Radio Network Licence in the 450MHz band.

NuRAN Wireless, a leading supplier of mobile and broadband wireless infrastructure solutions, has announced a five-year network-as-a-service (NaaS) agreement with pan-African service provider MTN for the deployment of 250 sites in Africa under the NaaS business model.

Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity service Sigfox has been chosen by South Africa’s National Treasury, which manages national economic policy, prepares the annual budget and manages the government's finances, to support South Africa’s new smart water meter ecosystem.

Ericsson announced on Monday that Vodafone Egypt has become the first mobile operator to deploy its triple-band radio, which supports both FDD and TDD spectrum, as part of its network modernisation and capacity expansion initiative.

Nokia announced on Monday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with university Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) to conduct joint R&D for 5G and 6G use cases in India’s transportation and logistics sector.

The LoRa Alliance, the global association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN standard for the internet of things (IoT) low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), has announced the accreditation of DEKRA’s Atibaia, Brazil, facility as a LoRa Alliance Authorised Test Lab (ATL). This is the first ATL in Latin and South America.

Mobile service revenue in India was predicted to yield a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3%  from US$27.7 billion in 2023 to US$32.6 billion by 2028, due to adoption of data services, according to analyst company GlobalData.

Four ministries in Malaysia reportedly held talks on Saturday to develop an action plan to implement the country’s second 5G network, while telcos are expected to meet this month’s deadline to finalise their investment in the first one, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB).

XL Axiata, one of the leading telecommunication companies in Indonesia, has partnered with Ericsson to deploy its dual-mode 5G core solution.

Ericsson and Huawei have made separate announcements showcasing advances in carrier aggregation for 5G microwave backhaul – one with Malaysian 5G wholesaler Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) and the other with China Unicom Inner Mongolia, respectively.