The man believed to be the third richest in the world, Carlos Slim Helu, is to buy three Latin American telecoms operations from US carrier Verizon Communications...

UNI Telecom Global Union, in conjunction with UNI-Africa and the AFL-CIO Solidarity centre, has launched a UNI Mobile Telephone Networks Union Alliance with membership from communications unions in 10 African countries where the South African cellular network operates...

Dr Bashir Gwandu has asked Nigeria 's telecoms operators to take the initiative in introducing the latest technology into their operations...

Bangladesh has experience remarkable growth in telephony in the last four years. Prime mover has been the mobile sector.

Developing Telecoms receives many emails of support and obtains much of its information from experts working in telecoms world-wide. Here an official from Ethiopia updates us on the very latest situation there...

Landlines in Ethiopia are set for expansion as the result of investment by The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation which has announced the commencement of year-long contracts in the country.

Jordan stands on the cusp of a milestone year for its already successful broadband sector...

Despite the liberalisation of the Internet market in Yemen , the Arab Advisors Group believes that this market has high entry barriers...

Vicente Fox, Mexico 's head of state, is under pressure from the country's competition chief to create a challenge to the private monopoly of Telmex. Eduardo Pérez Motta, head of the Federal Competition Commission (CFC) has identified a slowing-down on the path to full competition, which could have implications affecting the ultimate implementation of a level playing-field.

 Liberian policy analyst Francis Nyepon describes the recent fate of The Liberia Telecommunications Corporation in a blistering article first published in The Liberian Times - and deserving a far wider readership. In the article, which is published in full and with Francis Nyepon's permission, the author expresses his trenchant views which may resonate with industry experts elsewhere. Both he and Developing Telecoms welcome any comment or discussion - for publication or privately. Anonymity will be guaranteed if requested.

"SMS still top service for Asia-Pacific mobile phone users," declares International Data Corporation (IDC) after its recent survey of 4,056 urban Internet users. So far, so good...

Morocco 's national ICT strategy must aim at reducing the digital divide and propelling the Kingdom into the ranks of the leading members of the digital society.

Deutsche Telekom AG has registered a growth in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) which is pla yi ng an active role in underpinning the group total earnings.

Nigeria will become Africa 's largest telecommunications market, with penetration topping 41%, in four years time.

Propelled to new heights by competition, GSM lines in Saudi Arabia grew by 44.8% rate in the first eleven months of 2005 to reach 13.3 million. Fixed line, however, grew by a meagre 2.5% in the first nine months of 2005.

Users of mobile phones in Brazil will experience less interference if spectrum is allocated efficiently. The GSM Association has advised Brazilian regulator Anatel that it can build on its already successful spectrum policy if its allocation of the IMT-2000 core band in Brazil is consistent with global standards.

Pakistan has won this year's GSMA Government Leadership Award, which recognises exceptional work by governments globally in the field of mobile communications policy...

Reuters in India has reported a ministerial speech claiming that the country, the world's fastest growing mobile market, could be adding between 6-8 million new users each month once networks reach all potential rural customers. The comments were made by Telecommunications Minister Dayanidhi Maran at 3GSM Barcelona .

Almost 30% more people (25 million) in Sub-Saharan Africa would have mobile phones if it was not for the unpredictable and short-term approach to regulation in many countries in the region, according to a PriceWaterhouse Coopers study published by the GSM Association (GSMA).

Alec Barton, Publisher of Developing Telecoms, finds great cause for encouragement from 3GSM Barcelona...  

Kuwaiti owned Mobile Telecommunications Company Group (MTC), the largest GSM operator in the region, is to bid for the third GSM licence in Egypt . Mohamed Eid, MTC Country Manager Egypt, has stressed the advantage of winning the contract: employment opportunities for many Egyptians based on a high-quality local labour force.

In a deal valued at US$1.332 billion, MTC has acquired from Sudatel 61% of Sudanese mobile operator Mobitel. Mobitel currently has almost 2 million customers, up 70% in the last year. Funding for this new transaction was secured following the capital increase from an equity rights issue of US$2.3 billion.

Huawei Technologies' global contract sales for 2005 reached US$8.2 billion, a year-on-year growth rate of 40%. The increase is a result of continued market growth in the product areas of wireless mobile network, next generation network, optical networks, data communications, application and software and terminals...

Just three and a half years after it first arrived in Brazil , GSM is now used by more than 50% of Brazilian mobile phone users. According to the Brazilian regulator Anatel, of the 86 million people with mobile phones in Latin America 's largest country, more than 44 million are connected to GSM networks.

During the first week of January this year, the number of ADSL-based broadband Internet subscribers in the Czech   Republic reached 275,000, that is to say an increase of 175% over January 2005 - almost 3 fold growth.

North and South Korea' s first-ever telephone link, connecting the South with the North's Kaesong Industrial Complex, has led to South Korea lobbying for a massive expansion of the service...