Oman has announced plans to start an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor chip manufacturing project in Salalah Free Zone, Dhofar, in the south of the country, following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Monday.

Bahrain operator Batelco, part of the technology-focused Beyon Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the GSMA to join its Open Gateway Initiative for standardised open network APIs.

State-controlled telco Telecom Egypt said it has signed several service agreements with Orange Egypt worth around EGP15 billion (US$296.2 million) to provide transmission and infrastructure services.

Saudi Arabian digital enabler, stc Group, through its AI arm, stc.AI, says it has launched a large language model (LLM) sovereign cloud platform, which will, it claims, run the world’s largest open-source frontier model.

Space42, the UAE-based AI-powered spacetech company, has announced a strategic collaboration with FADA, an entity that is part of UAE’s EDGE, a technology company established to develop the UAE’s sovereign geospatial analytics capabilities, to significantly advance the UAE’s Earth observation (EO) downstream capabilities.

Etihad Salam Telecom Company, a provider of telecommunications services in Saudi Arabia, has announced a number of partnerships in recent days, including agreements with EdgeNext, a prominent leader in the global edge cloud services industry, and with call centre solutions provider Genesys.

UAE-based telco du said on Monday it has signed a partnership deal with PEACE Cable International Network Co Limited to extend the PEACE subsea cable system into the UAE and Gulf region.

Africa for Information Technology and Aviation (AITA), which specialises in aviation IT solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Arabia SKYFive, which provides broadband connectivity  for aircraft, to provide high-speed in-flight connectivity (IFC) services for airlines in Egypt.

Orange Jordan has upgraded its Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) with Nokia’s 7750 Service Router (SR) platforms.

Orange Tunisia, Ooredoo Tunisia and Tunisie Telecom all launched their respective 5G mobile services late last week, less than three months after receiving their 5G licenses.

Nokia announced on Thursday that it has signed a deal with Ooredoo Qatar to modernize its core network to support standalone 5G, which in turn will boost the telco's ability to deliver more advanced services.

Qatar-based telco Ooredoo Group announced on Thursday that US information management services company Iron Mountain has agreed to take a minority equity stake in Ooredoo’s carrier-neutral data centre company, MENA Digital Hub.

Tawal, a leading Saudi telecommunications and IT infrastructure company, has entered into a strategic agreement with Saudi Entertainment Ventures (SEVEN), part of Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), a wholly owned Public Investment Fund (PIF) entity that develops and operates entertainment destinations.

Aramco, the giant Saudi Arabian integrated energy and chemical company, has been in the telecoms news recently after the announcement of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with AMD and handset innovation with Qualcomm.

Mobile telecommunications provider Zain Kuwait and Parallel Wireless, a provider of open RAN hardware-agnostic solutions, have successfully completed what they describe as a groundbreaking 5G standalone (SA) proof of concept (POC).

Ericsson announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabian telco Etihad Etisalat (a.k.a. Mobily) to explore technologies to develop intent-driven autonomous networks using AI and automation.

Saudi Arabia’s STC Group announced it has signed a collaboration deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate deployment of cloud-based services and AI infrastructure in the country.

Iran’s state-owned Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC) says it has signed a memorandum of agreement with Omantel and Iranian infrastructure firm Pishgaman to create a data transit corridor between Iran and Oman.

National operator Tunisie Telecom has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Medusa, the submarine fibre optic system connecting the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and the Red Sea.

Connectivity solutions provider iBASIS announced on Wednesday that it has signed a deal with Saudi Arabian telco Etihad Etisalat (a.k.a. Mobily) to renew and extend their multi-service IPX agreement for roaming services.

UAE-based e& Carrier & Wholesale and global internet exchange operator DE-CIX have followed up last month’s IX interconnection deal with plans to establish an Internet corridor between the UAE and India.

Saudi Arabian telco Etihad Etisalat (a.k.a. Mobily) announced on Tuesday it has successfully landed the Africa-1 subsea cable in Duba, which it says will position the country as a key international data exchange hub.

As the air transport industry faces more competitive and financial pressures, ICT is stepping in with technology that can enhance efficiency and, it is hoped, cut costs, as recent deals in the Middle East involving Wipro and SITA indicate.

Qatar-based Ooredoo Group announced on Thursday it has signed an agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to build a new subsea cable connecting seven countries in the Gulf region.