PCCW has finalized an agreement to sell a 40% stake in its fibre business to China Merchants Group, a state-owned investor, for $870 million. The Hong Kong telecommunications company had been in talks with various potential buyers for months, but officially signed with the Chinese firm.
Verizon has introduced a new prototype, the “network in a box” (NIB), aiming to bridge the gap between public and private network deployments. This innovative solution targets customers who desire the advantages of a private mobile network—such as enhanced performance, reliability, privacy, and security—without the need for a permanent setup due to financial or practical constraints.
The United States government has launched an investigation into Chinese telecommunications companies China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom amid fears that these firms might transfer US data to the Chinese government through their US cloud and wholesale routing services. According to Reuters, which cited three anonymous sources, the US Commerce Department has issued subpoenas to the three companies.
Point Topic’s recent analysis reveals that global fixed broadband connections will rise to 1.39 billion by the end of this decade. While some regions will reach near-saturation, others will see significant growth opportunities.
In a groundbreaking move, Hong Kong has allocated mmWave frequencies to its four mobile network operators without charging for the spectrum. The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) announced on Tuesday that it will distribute 1.2 GHz of spectrum in the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands in the third quarter of this year, following applications from the telcos earlier this year.
The 2Africa subsea cable, touted as the world’s largest, now includes a direct connection to the UK thanks to Vodafone’s involvement. This ambitious project highlights significant global collaboration, with key partners including Bayobab, Center3, China Mobile International, Meta, Orange, Telecom Egypt, and WIOCC. The inclusion of both US and Chinese interests is particularly remarkable, showcasing cooperation despite ongoing geopolitical tensions.
SES has announced agreements with several regional satellite network operators to create the SES Open Orbits™ Inflight Connectivity (IFC) Network, promising seamless connectivity services to airlines globally. This innovative Ka-band platform will integrate SES’s geostationary earth orbit (GEO) and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite networks with those of NEO Space Group (NSG) from Saudi Arabia, AeroSat Link (ASL) from China, and Hughes Communications India (HCI).
Reports have surfaced indicating that Nokia is on the brink of finalizing a significant deal with Portuguese mobile network operator MEO to deploy 5G radio access network (RAN) infrastructure. The move comes as MEO currently relies on Huawei equipment for its RAN operations.
The US government has taken a significant step by revoking specific licenses that allow American chip manufacturers to export goods to Huawei, the Chinese tech giant. This action will notably reduce the sales of major chip producers like Intel and Qualcomm to China.
VTech has entrusted its European subsidiary, Snom Technology, to expand business product sales in Asia-Pacific (APAC). From April 2024 onwards, the German manufacturer will be responsible for all sales of VoIP telephones in the region, with Fabio Albanini, currently Head of International Sales for EMEA, now also in charge of this new area.
