Vaughan O'Grady

Problems continue to pile up for troubled Brazilian operator Oi, with news late last week that rival operator Claro is to take over a connectivity contract it formerly managed.

Open RAN pioneer Rakuten Symphony and SLT-Mobitel, the national telecommunications services provider in Sri Lanka, are to collaborate on a pilot project to build an open radio access network (open RAN) comprising 4G and 5G NSA/SA (non-standalone and standalone) sites within Sri Lanka.

Tajikistan’s darya.ai Ltd, a company with a focus on sustainable AI infrastructure, and Yotta Data Services, an Indian AI, hyperscale data centre, cloud infrastructure and platform services provider, have announced the signing of a strategic collaboration agreement with the aim of developing a 'green' AI data centre in the district of Darvoz near the Afghan border.

Logistics solutions company DP World says it has launched the rollout of its Port Community System (PCS) platform in Kenya, marking what it calls a major milestone in the country’s journey towards more efficient and transparent trade.

As 5G applications continue to extend well beyond outdoor use, Ericsson and Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) are the latest companies to discuss 5G-powered rail operations after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on advancing rail operations through 5G technology.

The governments of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have held discussions on the extension of Tanzania’s National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), which will, it is hoped, extend through Lake Tanganyika to the DRC province of Kalemie, on the western shore of the lake, by 2027.

The direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity business has been back in the headlines with the, potentially, highly significant news that two satcoms businesses, Lynk Global, a patented and commercially licensed D2D system, and Omnispace, which says it is delivering a unique, 5G-based ‘one global network’, are to merge. But how will this affect the developing world?

Technology giant Nokia has announced that Gulf Bridge International (GBI) a Qatar-headquartered global cloud, connectivity and content enabler, has selected Nokia’s optical networking solution to build a new high-capacity terrestrial network, also designed for subsea backhauling, enhancing connectivity between Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

State-owned company Telkom Indonesia, a multinational telecommunications conglomerate, has agreed to partially spin off its wholesale fibre connectivity business to its infrastructure-focused subsidiary Telkom Infrastruktur Indonesia in a deal valued at 35.787 trillion rupiah ($2.16 billion).

The ups and downs of the payment service provision business, particularly in Africa, have been highlighted in two recent news stories: one involving expansion for SPAYZ.io and the other signalling the end of Pay U Kenya.