Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom unveils $1.5 billion plan to boost 5G deployment

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 […]

UK telecoms spent £940m in COVID-19 support during 2020

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 […]

Ofcom delays spectrum auction till March 2021

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 – […]

Honor distances itself from Huawei in new brand strategy

Budget Chinese phone maker, Honor, outlined late last week its new brand strategy as it kicks off the year as a fully independent company, aiming to broaden its scope onto various other technologies. During a livestreamed event, George Zhao, CEO of Honor Device Co., Ltd unveiled a slate of new products for 2021, including the […]

Regulators must look past politics when banning Huawei, report warns

The exclusion of Chinese tech companies from Western countries’ fifth generation rollout efforts due to alleged security concerns will negatively impact the progression of the technology for years to come, a recent report highlighted.  According to a new report by global tech advisory firm ABI Research, phasing out vendors could hamper worldwide deployment by several […]

The gaming industry’s widespread success in the era of Covid-19

Gaming has changed significantly over the years; and massively so during the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Not many industries can look back at 2020, wipe the blood, sweat, and tears off their faces and say “okay, the worst is behind us.” Even less so, are the industries that didn’t just survive during a bustling year full […]

Uganda lifts internet ban, as social media remains blocked

Uganda has lifted its blanket ban on internet access on Tuesday following a heated presidential election that saw the country’s long-time president Yoweri Museveni declared the winner. However, many have reported that certain social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are yet to be restored, with access to them only attained via Virtual Private […]

BT slapped with a lawsuit over overcharging elderly customers

British telecom giant BT is being slapped with a class action lawsuit over allegations that it has been overcharging elderly customers for eight years. The lawsuit came in the wake of a 2017 report from telecoms watchdog, Ofcom, which found that the operator had been overcharging 2.3 million of its landline customers since 2009. Since […]

Saudi’s CITC fines several operators for violating telecom laws

Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) fined late last week, a number of local telecoms providers for violating several telecommunications laws in the Kingdom. CITC imposed fines reaching more than SR40 million ($10.67 million) for making promotional offers in violation of CITC’s decisions, using frequencies without licenses, failing to comply with the CITC’s […]

Three Angolan operators cleared for IPO listing with more to come

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 […]