Two very different approaches to powering data centres are making headlines in Dubai and Kazakhstan: one, which has been under way for some time, is solar-focused, the other, very much on the drawing board, may use coal.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has commissioned Malaysian subsea cable developer SubConnex to study the feasibility of a new submarine cable system linking India with Singapore and major data centres across Southeast Asia.

India’s smartphone market contracted by 7% in the fourth quarter of 2025, shipping 34.5 million units, as rising prices and sluggish demand weighed on consumer purchases, according to analyst house Omdia.

Jio Platforms has reportedly shortlisted Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to steer its long-awaited initial public offering, as preparations gather pace for what is expected to be one of India’s biggest listings.

China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak, a.k.a. Zong 4G) says it has signed an MoU with ZTE and its authorised local distributor Siccotel to deliver affordable 5G smartphones to Pakistan ahead of an anticipated 5G spectrum auction next month.

Global smartphone shipments rose 2.3% year on year to 336.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2025, shrugging off ongoing chip supply constraints and buoyed by sustained demand for premium devices.

Reliance Jio Platforms is reportedly considering a public listing of around 2.5% of shares on the Indian stock exchange,  move that could raise roughly US$4 billion and potentially mark India’s largest-ever IPO.

Veon-owned Banglalink has regained ISO 27001:2022 certification for its information security management systems, reaffirming its compliance with international cybersecurity standards.

Veon Group plans to invest US$20 million in its financial services subsidiary Mobilink Microfinance Bank, as the company looks to scale digital banking services in Pakistan.

Veon-owned digital telco Beeline Kazakhstan and Japan’s Rakuten Symphony have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore ways to collaborate on next-generation connectivity, digital services, and cloud-native network infrastructure.

Edotco Services Lanka says it has commissioned 400 resilient power systems across Sri Lanka to strengthen telecoms network reliability and resilience during natural disasters and prolonged power outages.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Friday that its financial services subsidiary, Mobilink Microfinance Bank has launched Islamic banking operations in Pakistan, in response to growing customer demand for Shariah-compliant financial services.

Dialog Axiata announced on Friday it has signed a partnership deal with SpaceX to resell its Starlink LEO satellite internet service to enterprises and underserved communities in Sri Lanka.

Bharti Airtel has promoted chief executive Gopal Vittal to executive vice chairman as part of a wider reshuffle of its senior leadership.

Sri Lankan telcos Dialog Axiata and SLT-Mobitel commercially launched their respective 5G networks on Thursday, following years of trials, after the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) wrapped up its spectrum auction this week.

Veon-owned digital operator Beeline Kazakhstan said on Monday it has completed its field test of Starlink Direct to Cell (D2C) LEO satellite service ahead of a planned commercial service launch in the country next year.

The Bangladesh Private Cable System (BPCS) consortium has reportedly tapped Nokia to supply submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) for its planned subsea cable project linking Bangladesh and Singapore.

China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak, a.k.a. Zong 4G), announced on Friday it has signed a strategic partnership deal with local communication-as-a-service provider Eocean to launch a digital commerce-as-a-service (DCaaS) offering.

Veon-owned telco Banglalink announced on Thursday it has received regulatory clearance from Bangladesh Bank to operate as a digital payment service provider in Bangladesh as it seeks to expand into digital financial services.

Ericsson announced on Thursday it has signed a strategic microwave frame contract with Veon-owned digital operator Jazz to strengthen its network backbone in Pakistan.

Veon-owned telco Beeline Kazakhstan announced on Monday it has kicked off construction of a Tier III hyperscale data centre in Almaty that aims to serve as the anchor for Kazakhstan’s sovereign cloud, AI compute and enterprise digital services ecosystem.

Bharti Airtel is making its network capabilities available to third-party developers through a Nokia developer portal platform.

Vodafone Idea Telecom Infrastructure has scaled back the size of its planned bond issuance, with the company now expected to raise around INR32 billion (US$359 million) instead of the previously targeted INR50 billion, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Pakistan has expanded its international connectivity after landing the SEA-ME-WE 6 subsea cable system, adding a major new high-capacity route linking the country to markets between Singapore and France.

Edotco Bangladesh announced on Friday it has signed a new five-year space and power lease agreement with tower firm Summit Communications that it says sets the groundwork for a more integrated infrastructure model for accelerating tower rollouts,.

Meta has completed the core build of its 2Africa subsea cable system, marking a major milestone in one of the world’s largest connectivity projects, with further expansions already underway.

Dhiraagu, the Maldives' leading telecommunications provider, has partnered with Infovista to implement comprehensive AI-powered optimisation across its generational networks from 2G to 5G.

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata says it has partnered with the Ministry of Environment’s Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) to launch a 5G-enabled autonomous water-surface cleaning robot.

Ericsson has strengthened its R&D presence in India with the launch of a new Radio Access Network (RAN) Software Research & Development unit in Bengaluru, focused on advancing 5G and 5G Advanced technologies.

Dhiraagu said on Monday that it has inaugurated its third data centre in the Maldives – this one being a certified Tier III facility in N. Velidhoo, which also makes it the first to be located in the atolls.

Veon Group’s Beeline Kazakhstan has partnered with Starlink to deliver mobile connectivity across Kazakhstan, extending service to remote regions currently beyond the reach of terrestrial networks.