Education and healthcare are the two sectors where artificial intelligence (AI) holds the greatest potential to deliver meaningful benefits for society, according to Frost & Sullivan’s Global ICT Practice Leader, Alexander Michael.

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata announced on Thursday it has expanded its 5G trial network across 15 districts nationwide as it gears up for the country’s long-awaited 5G spectrum auction slated for early December.

Huawei has launched a new framework designed to help governments in the Middle East and Central Asia advance their digital transformation agendas, while underlining the role of technology as a catalyst for economic growth.

A major financing deal, announced this week, aims to fund an upgrade that will see the Tcell mobile network in Tajikistan enhanced in both quality and accessibility.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is reportedly set to auction off 700-MHz spectrum at the start of next year, although how much spectrum will be available depends on a pending court case, which could impact operator interest in the auction.

Ericsson has pledged to manufacture all telecoms equipment sold in India domestically, in line with the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

A new agreement announced this week between Amazon's Project Kuiper low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband network and Kazakhtelecom, the largest telecommunication company in Kazakhstan, aims to bring high-speed satellite internet to communities throughout Kazakhstan.

ZTE announced on Tuesday that it has completed the first phase a network modernisation project for telecoms provider Mobiuz in the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan and the Khorezm region in Uzbekistan.

Vodafone Idea is pushing back against a fresh demand from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which is seeking INR94.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) in outstanding adjusted gross revenue (AGR) charges from both Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel.

Pakistani telco Ufone 4G says it has partnered with domestic digital healthcare platform Oladoc to bring affordable and accessible healthcare to millions of Ufone’s subscribers across Pakistan.

Open RAN (O-RAN) has long been touted as a disruptive technology in mobile infrastructure with the concept of splitting the RAN into three components, encouraging a more modular architecture that claims to improve operator bottom lines.

Axiata’s telecoms infrastructure company Edotco announced on Wednesday that its Sri Lankan subsidiary, Edotco Services Lanka, has received the country’s first licence to provide neutral-hosted infrastructure services in Sri Lanka.

Jio Platforms parent company Reliance Industries (RIL) has announced a joint venture with Meta to build agentic AI enterprise platforms and tools for businesses in India and select international markets.

5G finally arrived in Bangladesh on Monday after telcos Robi Axiata and Grameenphone reportedly launched 5G services within a few hours of each other, and 18 months after receiving licences to streamline 5G rollouts.

Vodafone Idea’s infrastructure subsidiary is reportedly seeking loans worth INR50 billion (US$570 million) to finance network expansion.

Apple is reportedly ramping up iPhone production at five factories in India as part of its ongoing strategy to reduce reliance on China-based manufacturing.

Vodafone Idea has continued its rapid 5G rollout in India, with Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram the latest cities to go live.

ZTE announced on Thursday that China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), which operates under the brand Zong 4G, is the first operator to commercially launch its high-power 8T8R ultra-broadband radio (UBR) and digital intelligent antenna (DIA) solution.

Alipay+, a global wallet gateway, and Kaspi.kz, the leading super app in Kazakhstan, say they have enabled international cross-border QR payment acceptance in Kazakhstan.

Global digital operator Veon said on Wednesday it has completed the sale of its 50.1% indirect stake in Kyrgyzstan mobile operator Sky Mobile (a.k.a. Beeline Kyrgyzstan) – but to the government via state-owned Eldik Bank, and not CG Cell Technologies as originally planned.

Uzbektelecom (a.k.a. Uztelecom ) announced on Saturday that it will focus on deploying high-speed GPON and FTTx solutions across Uzbekistan starting this month as part of its telecoms infrastructure modernisation programme.

Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom have entered the active phase of deploying the long-planned Trans-Caspian Submarine Cable System that will cross the Caspian Sea to connect Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Chinese LEO satellite operator Shanghai SpaceSail Technologies has reportedly tested its satellite broadband network in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan.

Nepalese telco Ncell says it has become the first mobile operator in the country to expand its Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) international roaming service to include outbound travellers.

Sri Lanka-based operator Dialog Axiata has expanded its 5G roaming footprint to 40 countries through partnerships with more than 150 operators worldwide.

Kyrgyzstan has decided to nationalise access to international internet traffic for a year. A presidential decree earlier this week said the government was "establishing a temporary 100% state monopoly on the supply and provision of international internet traffic on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic”.

Reliance Industries, the parent company of Jio Platforms, is reportedly considering listing a 5% stake in its mobile unit in India, which could raise an estimated US$6 billion.

Presight, a global AI and big data analytics company, with Abu Dhabi-based technology group G42 as its majority shareholder, has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan to establish strategic collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

India’s smartphone market rebounded in Q2 2025, with shipments rising 7% year-on-year to reach 39 million units, following a sluggish first quarter.