Operators

Digital transformation is a key phrase in many modern telecoms initiatives – and is clearly a driver for two recent strategic partnerships involving major North African operators.

The government of Sierra Leone has approved the appointment of private sector operator Africell Sierra Leone as its investment partner for the relaunch of troubled state-owned telecommunications company Sierratel.

Telecom Namibia said on Friday that it’s making progress in dealing with network service disruptions that plagued users during the latter half of last week due to international connectivity problems.

Kazakh telco Transtelecom JSC says it has signed a partnership agreement with national postal operator QazPost to expand telecoms services to rural areas in Kazakhstan’s Kyzylorda region.

Cambodian telco Smart Axiata says it has secured a US$50 million financing facility from Maybank Cambodia to accelerate development of its digital and telecoms infrastructure, particularly its ongoing rollout of 5G.

International operator Telefonica has announced that it will sell its Mexican business to a consortium in a deal that values the operations at US$450 million.

Smart Communications, Ericsson and Meta announced on Tuesday they have jointly optimised Smart’s network to support better-quality OTT voice and video calls for Meta’s Messenger app in the Philippines.

India-headquartered Bharti Airtel is now the world’s second-largest operator, according to data from GSMA Intelligence, a source of data and analysis covering the full mobile industry and owned by industry association the GSMA.

State-owned Ethio Telecom announced on Wednesday it has launched a national digital signature platform for document authentication and attorney licensing in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the Federal Documents Authentication and Registration Service.

Operators in the Philippines said they will maintain services as close to normal as possible after the country became one of the first to declare a state of emergency over an energy shortage linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) is set to significantly accelerate its 5G rollout, targeting coverage across 133 cities by May 2026 as it looks to meet rising demand for high-speed data services.

Telekom Malaysia (TM) announced on Friday that it has become the first telco in the country to obtain certification for the ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Artificial Intelligence Management System (AIMS) standard.

Airtel Africa chair Sunil Bharti Mittal will retire from his position later this year, with Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal set to succeed him.

MTN has announced plans to wind down its super app Ayoba, after the platform struggled to gain meaningful traction across its African markets.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has received regulatory approval to merge its subsidiary, Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML), with Telenor Pakistan, following its recent acquisition of the operator.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) have reportedly kicked off discussions on ways to share infrastructure and spectrum as a way to save costs and potentially speed up 5G rollouts for both operators.

Vodacom Lesotho is investing more than US$40 million (LSL 700 million) to upgrade its network infrastructure and expand connectivity, as it looks to improve service quality and extend coverage to underserved areas.

Globe Telecom has expanded its LTE and 5G footprint in the Philippine province of Tarlac, as it moves to meet rising demand for faster and more reliable connectivity.

Smart Communications is encouraging its postpaid subscribers to adopt auto debit arrangements (ADA), as it looks to simplify bill payments and accelerate the shift towards digital channels.

América Móvil plans to invest US$597 million in Ecuador over the next three years through its Claro unit, as it looks to strengthen coverage and services amid growing competition from Millicom’s recent entry into the market.

Millicom has pledged to invest US$1 billion in Honduras over the next five years through its Tigo Honduras unit, as it looks to deepen its push into digital services and extend connectivity to more remote areas.

Veon has unveiled a series of senior leadership changes as it looks to sharpen execution across its markets and step up its digital and financial services ambitions.

MTN Group hailed its full-year 2025 performance as “exceptional”, reporting a return to profit and surpassing the milestone of 300 million customers, driven largely by strong growth in its Nigerian and Ghanaian businesses.

ZTE revealed on Thursday it has signed an MoU with Bangladesh telco Grameenphone to collaborate on deploying large language model (LLM) and agentic AI technologies to build autonomous networks.

Thai operator True Corp revealed a three-year strategic roadmap on Monday to transform itself from telco to 'techco', with a focus on strengthening the customer experience and driving 'AI-first' growth.

UPDATE: Ethio Telecom says it lined up several vendor deals to modernise its telecoms network at last week’s Mobile World Congress, with agreements with Ericsson and ZTE already signed and others with Huawei and Nokia in the pipeline.

Saudi Arabian telco stc Group announced on Friday it has rolled out the second phase of its ‘New Calling’ initiative with a pilot that enables real-time Arabic–English translation during voice calls using AI.

Malaysian 5G wholesale operator Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) is set to become a fully private entity after shareholders CelcomDigi and Maxis confirmed on Friday they have purchased shares owned by Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).