Telecoms

While the Nigerian Communications Commission stated that the repair of the undersea cable damage has begun, the country has lost more than $593.6 million due to Internet disruption caused by the undersea cable.

Several African countries are experiencing Internet disruptions due to undersea cable damage. The disruptions are also affecting banking activities in Nigeria, preventing customers from accessing bank apps and USSD.

Omnispace, a US satellite broadband service provider, says it’ll join its non-terrestrial network with MTN’s land-based mobile networks to enhance connectivity services to mobile consumers and enterprise Internet-of-things (IoT) customers across Africa.

Interswitch is set to offer telecommunication services after acquiring a Tier 5 MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) licence from the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC).

Following a February ruling by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ordering Vodacom to compensate Kenneth Makate in the range of $1.5 billion to $2.8 billion, the two parties are reportedly considering private talks on the matter.

Tower infrastructure company TowerCo of Africa Uganda has raised $40 million in 10-year financing from several European backers to drive mobile network coverage across rural areas in Uganda.

Following delays in dividend repatriation, FMR LLC, an American multinational financial services firm, is selling its Safaricom shares amid the telco’s devaluation.

Equitel, a mobile virtual network operator, has launched 5G services in Kenya, becoming the first MVNO to do so on the continent.

Seacom, a subsea cable provider, has been grappling with a service outage lasting more than 48 hours on its subsea cable system in the Red Sea region. This disruption affects Kenya and Egypt’s connectivity.

Two telcos, Airtel Gabon and Moov Africa Gabon Telecom, have partnered with the support of the country’s telecommunications regulatory authority to deliver mobile telephone and Internet services to 200 villages situated in Gabon’s underserved regions.

Teraco has disclosed that it has secured its first grid capacity allocation from Eskom, enabling it to construct and connect its proposed 120MW solar facility to the national electrical grid to power its data centres across South Africa.

Telecom infrastructure provider IHS Cameroon has introduced the ‘Tower Kiosk by IHS Cameroon’ to improve Internet access in Cameroon’s rural northwest and southwest communities.

Following the launch of Nxtra, a data centre, in 2023, Airtel Africa has introduced Telesonic, a new wholesale fibre unit, to meet the rising demand for wholesale data on the continent.

The United Nations has urged the end of Sudan’s telecommunications Internet shutdown, which has disconnected over 14 million users. Meanwhile, reports indicate that the Rapid Support Forces are using Starlink to bypass the shutdown.

The Nigerian telecom regulator has withdrawn approval for MTN to disconnect Globacom, resolving a 15-year interconnection dispute between the telcos.

Digital solution and fibre network provider Bayobab has landed 45,000 km of 2Africa subsea cables in Ghana and Nigeria to improve Internet connectivity.

Airtel Nigeria expands its existing partnership with IHS Nigeria and related entities to increase tower tenancies and sustainable initiatives in the country.

After 15 years of legal battle with Vodacom, Nkosana Makate, the creator of ‘Please Call Me’ service, is “thrilled” by the Supreme Court’s recent decision, describing it as a significant sacrifice.

Africa’s telecommunications regulators intend to implement a single emergency number for disasters before the World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly (WTDC) in October 2024.

TD Africa, a Nigerian IT and lifestyle product distributor, has signed an agreement with Starlink to become the “first authorised distributor” in Africa.