Filipino operator Globe Telecom is rolling out fuel cell systems that can provide back-up power solution in cell sites identified as most critical to ensure delivery of telecommunication services during crisis situations – particularly natural calamities.

Zain Saudi Arabia is upgrading and expanding its networks with agreements worth SAR (US $1.2 billion), as part of its Reload project.

The mobile payments company Fortumo and mobile operator Telenor Pakistan are launching direct carrier billing in Pakistan.

Beeline Kazakhstan is upgrading its messaging infrastructure with the implementation of iAX Anti-Spam, Tango Telecom’s advanced messaging threat protection solution.

The Romanian and Slovakian units of Deutsche Telekom – Cosmote Romania and Slovak Telekom – have rolled out Jibe Mobile’s joyn service.

Malaysian infrastructure provider Sacofa is implementing Packet Transport Networking (PTN) solutions from Tejas Networks in Sarawak.

Vodafone has sold its 49% stake in Vodafone Fiji to the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF). The deal closed for FJD160 million (almost $87.5 million).

China Telecom and China Unicom have received licences to begin trialling FDD-LTE networks in 16 Chinese cities.

Zain Kuwait is transforming its operations support systems (OSS) to become more customer-centric.

Caribbean operator Wind Telecom has awarded ZTE a contract to build the Dominican Republic’s first 4G TD-LTE network.

Indian operator BSNL and Syniverse have signed a multiyear agreement which will implement Syniverse’s SMS Interoperability Solution to provide BSNL’s subscribers with greater mobile messaging reach.

Satellite service provider Gilat has signed a multi-year, multi-transponder agreement under which Gilat Colombia will use Intelsat Ku-band capacity to support the Kioscos Vive Digital 2 (KVDII) project.

Zain Jordan has deployed Jinny Software’s SmartGuard Messaging Control Suite for message filtering and content subscription control.

Zimbabwean operator Telecel is introducing WhatsApp Bundles to allow subscribers to chat and share videos, voice notes and files with anyone on any network without having to worry about running out of data.

Birdstep Technology and Syniverse are providing Samsung with an end-to-end solution for an enhanced & customised Wi-Fi connection management solution, including back-end billing integration.

Bahraini operator Menatelecom has successfully deployed its LTE network in tandem with its ongoing WiMAX network using Elitecore’s revenue and customer management platform.

Telekom Malaysia Berhad is transforming its delivery of data services for enterprises with the implementation of support systems from Accenture.

Brazilian operator Nextel has launched 4G/LTE services in Rio de Janeiro, allowing subscribers access to download speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G.

Micromax is launching two new smartphones running on the Windows Phone 8.1 OS, making it the first Indian smartphone provider to launch a device that uses the Microsoft platform.

Orange and the BNP Paribas group are offering retail banking customers in Africa direct access between their BNP Paribas account and their Orange Money account through their mobile phones.

Thailand’s ongoing political unrest has stalled its 4G auctions, with the country’s military ruling council requesting that the upcoming spectrum licensing process be postponed.

Bharti Airtel has now launched 4G/LTE services in Kolkata for certain smartphones.

Middle Eastern service provider du has signed a contract with Nokia to deploy its IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).

Sri Lankan operator SLT (Sri Lanka Telecom) is upgrading its NetCracker billing and mediation environment to the firm’s next-generation billing, rating and active mediation solutions.

ZTE and MNC Kabel Mediacom are deploying Indonesia’s first ultra-broadband Internet service, delivering connection speeds of up to 200Mbps to users for a richer and more interactive online experience.

Gemalto will implement its UpTeq Multi-Tenant NFC SIM for China Telecom as part of the operator’s commercial rollout of contactless services for mobile.

Voting technology and services provider Smartmatic has been awarded a contract by Brazil´s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to guarantee data and voice communications in the 15 most isolated states during the general elections to be held in October.

Seacom has deployed CDNetworks content clusters and caching nodes on its Pan-African IP network footprint in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.