India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Ministry of Communications said on Thursday they have signed an MoU with the government of Madhya Pradesh to establish India’s first Telecom Manufacturing Zone (TMZ) to boost the country’s domestic telecoms manufacturing ecosystem.

LEO satellite operator Starlink is reportedly in talks with Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications to conduct a trial of its direct-to-device (D2D) satellite service, potentially as a solution to improve broadband coverage on highways, among other things.

It’s been a busy week for Ethiopia’s second-biggest operator, which has introduced more new services via its M-Pesa mobile money service. However, its state-owned rival is also celebrating positive news, after announcing impressive customer and revenue growth figures.

Moroccan operator inwi has partnered with Huawei to commercially deploy what is described as an innovative 1.8GHz + 2.1GHz dual-band 8T8R solution across the country's major transportation corridors, including high-speed railway and highway routes.

Despite the growing concern about the development of data centres in the country – and particularly in Johor, as we reported on Tuesday – this week has seen some major financing deals that aim to further boost the data centre industry in Malaysia, though both deals emphasise their green credentials.

Ghana's National Communications Authority (NCA) has taken another step towards the rollout of 5G services by holding a pre-application briefing for prospective bidders interested in acquiring spectrum licences in the 700 MHz, 2.3 GHz and 3 GHz mid-band frequencies.

Morocco’s Ministry of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform announced it has signed an MoU with Vertiv to develop the country’s digital infrastructure and support the government’s sovereign cloud and AI ambitions.

Rwanda’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies and Innovation (MINICT) says it has received approval from the government for its plan to shut down 2G and 3G services over the next two years.

Payments technology company ACI Worldwide and dLocal, a payment platform connecting global merchants to emerging markets, have announced a strategic partnership that gives global merchants immediate and seamless access to leading local payment methods in parts of Latin America.

Angola's largest telecoms operator, Unitel, has suffered a cyberattack that disrupted voice, mobile data and internet services nationwide just one day before the company is due to begin trading on the country's stock exchange.

Angola has raised AOA300.3 billion (US$329 million) after selling a 15% stake in Unitel, with the initial public offering (IPO) of the country's largest telecom operator attracting demand that exceeded the shares available.

The Pakistani government has reportedly halted plans to rebrand the merged Ufone-Telenor Pakistan business as "e&" while it reviews the legal authority behind the proposed name change.

Operator MTN South Africa and integrated information and communication technology solutions provider ZTE Corporation say they have advanced the commercial validation of ZTE AIR RAN EnergyTurbo, an AI-native closed-loop energy intelligence solution.

International operator Orange has announced record first half growth driven, it seems, by record growth in Africa and the Middle East, where it is present in 18 countries and serves over 180 million end users.

ZTE revealed on Tuesday it has signed an MoU with Indonesian telco XLSmart to expand their existing cooperation into the realm of AI-powered 5G networks and fixed wireless access (FWA).

e& Carrier & Wholesale Services (C&WS), the international wholesale arm of global technology group e&, and Philippines telecommunications operator Globe have announced a strategic partnership for the management of Globe’s international voice traffic.

A story that has been in the regional press since last week but is now gaining wider coverage involves a decision in Israel to stop grid processing of new data centres for 140 days given the strain on resources. Is this a sign of things to come in other countries?

In case anyone was wondering what Amazon Leo’s plans were after the deal with Globalstar earlier this year, a recent filing with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may offer some clues.

PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications announced on Monday it’s struck a partnership with global cloud gaming firm Blacknut to bring console-level gaming to mobile users in the Philippines.

Rakuten Symphony announced on Monday it has landed a grant from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to partly subsidise its project with Ukrainian telco Kyivstar to expand their Open RAN tests from the lab to the field.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it signed an MoU with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) on Friday to deploy renewable energy for telecom infrastructure in Nigeria to bring down costs and boost reliability.

Senior figures from industry association the GSMA, and representatives of the governments of Nigeria, Togo, Kenya, Namibia and Benin have announced ATLAS Umoja AI – a new pan-African initiative to strengthen collaboration on African language AI.

A private network deal involving Brazilian operator TIM, described as marking a new level in the digitisation and modernisation of energy distribution in Brazil, has just been announced.

Mobile service Dolphin Telecoms South Africa says it has officially launched its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), delivering affordable mobile connectivity designed for people who live, work, study, or regularly travel in South Africa while maintaining strong ties with their home countries.

Bangladesh's telecommunications regulator has fined the country's four mobile operators a combined BDT86.8 million (US$710,000) after identifying thousands of SIM cards allegedly being used for illegal international call termination via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Vodacom Group has reported higher first-quarter revenue and service revenue, supported by strong performances in Egypt, its international operations and financial services, as the operator completed its acquisition of a controlling stake in Safaricom.

State-owned telco Telikom PNG announced on Friday it has signed an MoU with Papua New Guinea’s Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to strengthen cooperation in advancing digital public infrastructure.

Guinea has launched a new instant payment system called NimbaPay, which enables instant, secure, and interoperable payments between participating banks, electronic money institutions and microfinance institutions.

The Malaysian government is reportedly having second thoughts about its incentives to attract foreign investment for data centre projects as part of a broader move to rethink its strategy to build Malaysia into a major AI data centre hub.

Vodacom Lesotho has launched Tsetela, a mobile-based investment solution aimed at expanding access to formal investing among the country’s population.

Digicel has announced a major expansion of its fibre network in St. Lucia, with the operator aiming to extend coverage to more than 99% of homes across the Caribbean island.

Philippines-based operator Globe has entered into a strategic partnership with Japan's KDDI Corporation to explore new opportunities in mobile services and retail, as the companies look to enhance customer experience and expand digital offerings.

The continuing advances made by insurance services into the mobile communications sphere are illustrated by new insurance-related partnerships in two very different markets: Uganda and Jordan.