The population of Myanmar awoke Monday to a large-scale stoppage of Internet connections, along with television and radio broadcasts, after a rapid military overthrow of the civilian government. The move came as a result of tensions over a recent national election which the military-backed party lost by a broad margin. In a classic case of […]
Telecoms
When President Ronald Reagan created the Lifeline program 35 years ago to help low-income Americans with subsidized telephone services, few could have predicted just how lifesaving it would become. Under normal circumstances, access to the internet is essential to participating in today’s economy. During the global pandemic, however, this access has become a literal lifeline […]
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blasted the country’s judicial body this week over its prosecution of Iran’s telecoms minister following his alleged refusal of blocking Instagram and other social media sites. Rouhani – who’s considered a moderate within the Islamic Republic – questioned the judiciary’s move during a cabinet meeting held on Jan 27, arguing that […]
Regional Brazilian telecoms operator Sercomtel announced on Thursday that it will laying off 50 percent of its workforce in an attempt to ensure its continuity in the market, which is heavily burdened by debt. The mass layoff – which will see its current 456 staff members cut by half – is part of the telco’s […]
Taiwan’s largest telecoms operator, Chunghwa Telecom, announced on Tuesday plans to drastically increase capital expenditures by a record high 82.8 percent to $1.5 billion for 2021, the company said. The plan – expected to raise revenues by one percent – will include accelerated deployment of its 5G networks, submarine cables, and data centers across the […]
While the novel COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm early last year, UK telecoms operators were quick to respond to people who desperately needed to be connected online with initiatives amounting to £940m ($1.29 billion), a recent report stated. According to UK-based research firm Assembly Research, many telcos offered additional allowances of texts, calls […]
British telecoms regulator Ofcom have, yet again, delayed the auction of the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz spectrum bands until March 2021, citing the country’s current battle with COVID-19 as the prime reason. The auction, which was originally planned to take place this month, would increase the total spectrum for UK operators by almost a fifth – […]
Newly sworn-in President Joe Biden named late Thursday longtime Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworel to head the agency. Rosenworcel brings with her over two decades of communications policy work, including a term at the FCC that began in 2012 running to 2021, during which public policy had gone back and forth on such key issues […]
As the world came to a screeching halt due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the tech world adopted a full steam ahead approach This has rapidly pushed technological advancements to the forefront. Everything from augmented reality (AR), Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, and the like were propelled forward and began integration within […]
Angola has cleared the way for three state-owned telecoms companies to be listed on Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), according to a presidential decree published on Thursday. Local media have reported that two presidential decrees have authorized IPOs for the privatization of state assets in TV Cabo Angola and Multitel respectively. However, a third decree has […]