Vodacom Group reported a revenue increase of 14.8% to ZAR30.7 billion (US$1.76bn) driven by the recent acquisition of Vodafone Egypt.
Telecom Egypt acquired 5MHz of spectrum in the 1,800MHz band for US$125 million as the operator looks to support rising traffic on its network.
YahClick, the data solutions subsidiary of UAE-headquartered satellite operator Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), has signed a US$15 million six-year strategic partnership agreement with Canar Telecommunication Co of Sudan, further expanding YahClick’s satellite broadband presence in Africa.
Electronic financial service ZainCash Iraq has announced the launch of Western Union international money transfer services through the ZainCash mobile application, enabling customers in Iraq to connect to more than 200 countries and territories.
Operator Ooredoo Kuwait has partnered with Ericsson to implement Ericsson Billing across its network. The billing system upgrade has, Ericsson says, enabled 5G evolution across Ooredoo Kuwait’s network and supported it in developing competitive marketing strategies for a variety of 5G products.
Iraq’s Asiacell has appointed data analytics and AI specialists LigaData to implement a new Data Governance Framework and Data Governance Centre of Expertise.
Turkish operator Turkcell has upgraded to the Ericsson Mediation platform, supporting its ongoing business support systems (BSS) evolution.
Nokia has announced that Mada Communications, a Kuwait-based telecommunications service provider offering enterprise solutions and services, will deploy its Wavence microwave solutions.
TOD, described as the fastest growing streaming platform for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has struck a strategic partnership with TPAY, a leading payments company in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META).
Satellite operator SES and du from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), a leading telecom operator in the United Arab Emirates, say they have successfully demonstrated the first satellite-enabled 5G backhaul in the Middle East utilising SES’s medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites.
Ericsson announced that it would put aside SEK2.3 billion (US$220m) as part of a potential resolution with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), regarding its alleged breaches under a deferred prosecution agreement.
Zain Group, a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa, has announced that its operation in Iraq has entered into a 15-year agreement to sell and lease back the passive physical infrastructure of its 4,968 tower portfolio in Iraq to TASC Towers Iraq for US$180 million.
Qatar’s Es’hailSat and AXESS Networks have announced a strategic partnership agreement to provide teleport and VSAT services for multiple sectors in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Saudi operator Zain KSA sealed the sale of tower assets to the Saudi Public Investment Find (PIF) for SAR3.02 billion (US$803.5 million), a move to cut debt for the company.
Google Cloud has announced a strategic alliance with the government of Kuwait to roll out a comprehensive digital transformation roadmap across government entities and key state-owned enterprises.
Nokia has announced that, in collaboration with operator Etisalat UAE, (aka etisalat by e&), it has demonstrated the fastest passive optical network (PON) speed in the Middle East and Africa region.
A so far unconfirmed report from Bloomberg suggests that MTN Group may be looking at divesting some of its smaller operations in West Africa.
Following up on its announcement in February of a memorandum of understanding, Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cable operators in the region, and Grid Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the independent power transmission operator (IPTO) in Greece, have signed a collaboration agreement to build a subsea system connecting Egypt and Greece.
Syria’s newest operator Wafa Telecom has been linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by an investigation conducted by the NGOs OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption and Reporting Project) and OPENSyr (Observatory of Political and Economic Networks).
Vodacom acquired a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt from the wider company after clearing regulatory and procedural hurdles, putting an end to the much-delayed sale which saw STC ending its interest two years prior.
Helios Towers closed the acquisition of 2,519 passive infrastructure sites from Omantel for US$495 million, its first in the Middle East as part of wider plans to expand in the region.
The Israeli government appears to be keen to encourage operators to make plans for the next 5G spectrum auction with a call for smart city-focused rollout.
The near-decade long legal dispute between Turkcell and South Africa’s MTN about shares in an Iranian operator may not be over yet.
Smart cities are back in the news in Dubai, where du, part of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, has joined forces with Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) and Derq, a leading provider of AI analytics solutions for road safety and connected vehicles.
Algeria’s state-backed operators Algerie Telecom (AT) and Djezzy have signed a new partnership agreement focused on boosting quality of service (QoS).
