Through acquisitions and shareholdings, the Hungarian government – led by Prime Minister Victor Orbán’s Fidesz party – is increasingly displaying its determination to boost the state’s role in the telecoms sector, arguing that it will deliver an economic boost to Hungary, strengthen its position on the global stage, and prove beneficial for consumers.
There’s been good news recently for South Africa’s telecommunications sector, with Cassava Technologies and AWS announcing major investments and Vodacom saying it plans to enhance its network spending.
The over-arching purpose of smart cities is to improve the living standards of their people through multiple pathways, be it waste management, transportation or energy efficiency, to name a few. All of this can lead to making citizens more productive and delivering what all countries desire - economic growth.
Following announcements yesterday regarding funding in Kenya and Senegal, the World Bank has approved a US$400 million credit facility for DECIM (Digital and Energy Connectivity for Inclusion in Madagascar Project).
The World Bank has approved funding for digital initiatives in two African nations.
MTN Ghana has broken ground prior to the construction of the Ghana ICT Hub, itself part of the broader Ghana Innovation Hub project to which MTN has committed US$25 million.
WorldLink Communications, Nepal's largest private sector internet service provider (ISP), has received a series B investment of NRs 1.08 billion (about US$8.4 million) from British International Investment (BII), the UK government’s development finance institution and impact investor, and NRs 900 million (US$6.9 million) from Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II).
Hungary’s state-owned investment vehicle Corvinus International Investment has obtained indirect minority stakes in both the mobile operator Yettel Hungary and its infrastructure unit CETIN Hungary.
FunP Innovation Group, a Taiwan-based digital advertising sales and advertising technology conglomerate, has reportedly secured US$3.12 million in additional investments to fuel a smart retail and cloud drive into the Indonesian market.
China's Sunwalk Group intends to invest US$2 billion in Pakistan's telecoms sector for the deployment of an optical fibre network that will eventually cover an area of 100,000 kilometres, according to a number of reports.
Serbia’s state-owned Telekom Srbija, which operates as MTS, has partnered with the country’s Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure (MGSI) to develop and implement digital solutions in the fields of infrastructure, transport and utilities.
Hard on the heels of news of its increased stake in African giant Vodacom, the Vodafone Group has responded dismissively to rumours that it is considering a partial or total sale of the company.
Following the apparent resolution of its tax dispute with the Ghanaian government, MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network operator, has now said it plans to invest US$1 billion in Ghana over the next five years.
The Indian government is reported to have allocated 529.3billion rupees (about US$6.4 billion) in its recent budget for infrastructure installation and upgrades for both state-owned operators – BSNL and MTNL – this year.
PT Profesional Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Protelindo), the largest telecommunication infrastructure company in Indonesia, has invested in UK-headquartered Stratospheric Platforms Limited (SPL), which seeks to provide high-bandwidth telecoms network coverage from the stratosphere using hydrogen-powered high altitude platforms (HAPS) delivered by unmanned aircraft.
It’s being widely reported that Millicom International Cellular, the Latin American telecommunications company, is a takeover target.
Filipino operator NOW Telecom has received a funding grant from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to deploy its 5G network.
Technology services company NTT India has, according to a number of reports in Indian media outlets, earmarked around US$2 billion to boost information and communications technology infrastructure in the country over the next four years. That’s an annual investment of USD 500 million in India.
Indian operator Bharti Airtel and social technology giant Meta Platforms say they plan to jointly invest in global connectivity infrastructure and CPaaS-based new-age digital solutions to support the emerging requirements of customers and enterprises in India.
Cote d’Ivoire’s government is divesting a 9.95% stake in Orange’s local unit via a public offering, set to run between 5th and 19th December 2022.
Zambia is aiming for 100% national network coverage by the end of 2024 with the help of the country’s Universal Access and Services Fund and money raised from the sale of spectrum.
Global digital infrastructure firm DigitalBridge Group has announced the acquisition of an ownership stake in AIMS Group from Malaysian telecoms firm TIME dotcom and the formation of an edge data centre platform focused on the high-growth markets of the Southeast Asia region.
In October 2022, Zambia announced that it would zero-rate imports of telecoms equipment in a bid to encourage investment into the country’s ICT sector, which the government views as essential to job creation and economic development in the market.
There’s been a lot of backtracking after Monday’s news that the low Vodafone Idea/Vi share price could delay plans for the Indian government to take equity in the operator.
