Will Albania soon join the club of 5G-ready countries? Telecoms regulator AKEP has officially opened the competition for the first frequencies to be used for 5G. This will involve five blocks in the 3400-3800MHz frequency band – two of 80MHz and three of 40MHz.

Bite Group has selected Nokia’s Packet Core appliance-based solution as it seeks to deploy advanced 5G services while simplifying its network architecture in Latvia and Lithuania.

Magyar Telekom announced the sale of spectrum to rival Yettel in a move to optimise its frequencies portfolio, and increase capacity in 4G and 5G services.   

United Group announced it signed a purchase agreement for financially troubled Slovenian quad-player T-2, a move that could save the company from bankruptcy, while bolstering its local unit’s mobile and broadband offerings.   

Hungarian operator group 4iG’s chairman met with North Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minster to explore the possibility of launching its operations in the country.

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.

Amsterdam-based Veon Group announced it will install more energy infrastructure for its Ukrainian unit Kyivstar to battle against extended blackouts caused by attacks on national energy infrastructure.

DIDWW, a provider of two-way SIP trunking services to operators and businesses all over the world, says it has expanded the coverage of its virtual phone numbers to another five territories.

Hungary-based 4iG Group announced the acquisition of regional operator PR-Telecom for an undisclosed fee to expand its optical network coverage.

Romanian operator group Digi Communications secured a three-year loan amounting €150 million to repay a €450 million bond due in 2025.

Amsterdam-headquartered operator group Veon completed upgrades to its unit Beeline Kazakhstan’s network using ZTE equipment, to support growing demand of connectivity in the country.

Intelligent power and sensing technologies company onsemi has announced plans to establish a state-of-the-art, vertically integrated silicon carbide (SiC) manufacturing facility in the Czech Republic.

State-owned telco Kazakhtelecom JSC has reportedly signed separate deals this week – one to finalise the selloff of its mobile unit MTS, and the other to build a subsea cable connecting Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Southeastern Europe-focused telecoms player United Group reportedly lined up potential buyers for its operations, with aims to gain €8 billion (US$8.57 billion) from potential sales, reported Bloomberg.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Monday it is will invest an additional US$1 billion between 2023 and 2027 to help its Ukrainian subsidiary Kyivstar rebuild the country’s digital infrastructure as the Russian invasion continues.

­­Orange completed the merger of Orange Romania S.A (ORO) and fixed provider Orange Romania Communications S.A (OROC), a move to create a fixed-mobile convergent player and remain competitive.

Nokia has moved closer to exiting Russia, with the country’s President Vladimir Putin authorising state-backed Rostelecom to acquire the Finnish vendor’s stake in a Russian joint venture.

Greek operator OTE Group inked an agreement to sell its Romanian mobile unit to Digi Communications.

Orange and Vodafone announced extension of their open RAN network pilot project in rural Romania to boost coverage and integrate 2G virtualised RAN (vRAN) technology, a vital step towards cloud migration. 

Ukrainian operator Kyivstar allocated US$90 million to defend against suspected Russian cyberattacks against its network, a move that affected growth said Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov.

GlobalNet, a Dutch backbone provider, says it has confirmed its expansion into Central Europe with one new point of presence (PoP) in Warsaw. The new PoP is based at the Equinix WA1 data centre.

Hungary’s 4iG Group and Elisa Polystar have signed a cooperation agreement for the implementation of an automated network management and customer experience monitoring system.

United Group acquired Bulsatcom, a direct-to-home satellite television and broadband internet provider in Bulgaria.

Veon’s Ukrainian subsidiary Kyivstar revealed at Mobile World Congress 2024 on Monday it intends to purchase and deploy Open RAN and 5G technologies from Japan’s Rakuten Symphony into its network.

Vodafone Group announced it will install new Open RAN sites in 20 cities across Romania, to enhance industrial efficiency and boost innovation in the country.

Vodafone Romania said on Monday it has signed a six-year partnership agreement with Ericsson to upgrade its RANs to standalone 5G and develop 5G services for consumers and enterprises.

Ciena announced on Monday that Telia Lithuania is using its coherent optics gear to launch the first 800G wavelength service between major cities in the country as part of a nationwide upgrade of its fibre-optic network.