BROWSING: africa

Orange Group first expressed interest in purchasing a 45% stake in Ethio Telecom two years ago Orange Group has decided to withdraw from a process to acquire a 45% stake in Ethiopia’s state-owned operator Ethio Telecom. The French operator confirmed that, due to existing market...

According to SoftBank, the HAPS payload delivered 5G connectivity continuously for approximately 73 minutes at a maximum altitude of 10.5 miles SoftBank — via its subsidiary HAPSMobile Inc. — and the government of Rwanda revealed this week that they recently conducted a 5G communications trial...

MTN received 700 MHz, 2.3 GHz, 2.6 GHz and E-band spectrum for the 5G network On Friday, MTN Uganda became the first operator to launch a 5G network in East Africa, with coverage in Uganda's Kampala districts of Lugogo and Bugoloobi. MTN received 700 MHz, 2.3...

TIP OpenWiFi is an open source-based Wi-Fi architecture that enables multi-vendor, interoperable Wi-Fi networks Kenya now has its first Telecom Infra Project (TIP) OpenWiFi outdoor network thanks to a collaboration between free WiFi internet service provider ThinkWiFi and Mawingu, an internet service provider backed by...

Sandra Yao, SVP at Thunes, discusses how the company is improving the global payment infrastructure for a better, more inclusive payment experience, and the role that mobile service providers can play in this market.

Orange and AMN will deploy roughly 500 base stations in rural Madagascar over the next ten years Orange Madagascar has signed an agreement with tower company Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) to build additional 2G and 3G infrastructure in the country’s rural areas. The pair said...

Dubai-based IoT network and solutions provider iWire Global, at one time in the running to buy Sigfox, has signed a regional collaboration and development deal with Singapore-based IoT outfit Unabiz, which eventually won the race to buy Sigfox’s technology assets in France. The partnership...

Mafab won 5G 3.5GHz spectrum licenses in a November 2021 auction Nigeria’s newest mobile operator Mafab Communications announced this week that it has begun its roll out of 5G services in the country’s capital city of Abuja. According to the company’s founder, Musbahu Bashir, five other...

The BotswanaSat-1 (Bot-SAT-1) is a cube satellite and will be used for earth observation Scientists in Botswana have said that the country’s International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) will likely launch its first satellite into space in 2023. Three years ago, the president of...

Like other regional operators, Orange sees Fixed Wireless Access as a big growth opportunity in Africa Orange has announced that its Botswana affiliate is the first on the African continent to offer 5G services. Orange Botswana launched 5G on November 11, 2022 with coverage in grater Gaborone...

With rivals already deploying 5G networks, Telkom's CEO sees FWA as its key differentiator South African wireless and wireline service provider Telkom has announced the launch of its 5G service for South Africa. What’s more, the company said it’s leaning on Huawei, the Chinese telecom equipment maker...

American Tower (ATC) has invested approximately $300 million in energy efficiency improvements and solutions Airtel Africa and American Tower (ATC) have announced a multi-year strategic partnership that involves communication sites across Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and Uganda and prioritizes extending digital inclusion to underserved communities and...

With a ten-city pilot underway, Safaricom breaks Ethio Telecom’s monopoly on Africa’s second most-populous country Kenya-based telco Safaricom has announced that it’s launched services in Ethiopia, marking the first time a privately owned Communication Service Provider (CSP) has operated in the African nation. Up to now,...

The city of Dar es Salaam will receive the first 5G sites, with coverage expanding to 230 locations across the country later this year Vodacom Tanzania, part of Vodafone Group, has launched the first 5G mobile network in Tanzania. The city of Dar es Salaam...

The live network test enables new enterprise network services for Kenya, said Nokia Nokia says that it has successfully piloted 4G and 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network slicing in Kenya with the help of the country’s biggest telco, Safaricom. The live network trial took place in...

Vodafone purchased a 70% stake in the Ghana business in 2008 for $900 million Vodafone Group is selling its majority shareholding in its Ghana business to Africa-focused telecoms service and technology provider Telecel Group. Vodafone first teased the deal in 2021, according to Bloomberg, which...

Ethio Telecom CEO says to expect 150 cell sites over the next year Ethiopia’s Ethio Telecom launched a pre-commercial 5G network across six mobile stations in the capital city of Addis Ababa this week. The launch, said the company, is an important milestone in its...

Safaricom began its 5G trials in March 2021 in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kisii and Kakamega The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has reportedly allocated 60 megahertz of spectrum in the 2600 MHz band to Safaricom for its 5G network in Kenya. The decision is notable as...

The first Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in Africa has opened in Rwanda, with a focus on data governance, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. It joins a network of 15 C4IR venues on four continents, and sets its agenda to “put ...

The deal in Egypt marks Vodacom's first extension into North Africa South Africa’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, Vodacom Group, revealed plans buy a $2.74 billion stake in Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications. The deal, which marks Vodacom’s first expansion into North Africa, will result in the...

Vodacom is working with ST Engineering iDirect and Gilat Telecom to upgrade its VSAT network Vodacom Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is migrating its very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT)-based 2G network to 3G with the help of ST Engineering iDirect and Gilat Telecom. Together, the companies...

With partners in tow, MTN aims to roll out the Open RAN by the end of 2021 In January of 2020, the GSMA claimed that while South Africa is still several years away from widespread 5G adoption, the country is leading the rest of sub-Saharan...

Vodafone has said it is to supply infrastructure and solutions, using cellular and IoT tracking and monitoring technologies, to support Covid-19 vaccine roll-out in Africa. Vodacom, the company’s operating company in Africa, is working with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) on a ‘home-grown’...

Djoliba is based on a terrestrial fiber optic network coupled with undersea cables In an effort to address growing connectivity needs in West Africa, Orange and its subsidiaries have announced the commercial launch of Djoliba, a fiber backbone consisting of more than 10,000 km of...