As years go, 2024 was a bit surreal on lots of fronts, but not here. In telecom and internet infrastructure it was pretty smooth. Growth has been largely organic, layoffs haven’t been a thing, investments have been sane and plentiful, and technology has continued to advance. This smoothness makes the job of a prognosticator more difficult, but there’s always next year!  So what does 2025 hold for us? Hmmm, let’s make some guesses, topic by topic: … [visit site to read more]

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) to make unified payments interface (UPI) transactions via third-party mobile applications, a concept that may sound arcane on first glance, but one that could speed up the money transfer process in India.

PPIs are financial tools that allow users to store funds for future transactions on cards or digital wallets. Until recently, UPI payments linked to PPIs could only be carried out using the mobile application of the PPI issuer.

This change wasn’t unexpected. In fact it was first outlined in RBI’s statement on Development and Regulatory Policies in April 2024, stating that users of full-KYC (know your customer)-compliant PPIs can use any third-party app’s interface to transfer and receive money in their wallets. With the new rules now in place, PPI issuers are permitted to facilitate the discovery of their full-KYC PPIs on third-party UPI mobile applications.

As news resource Electronic Payments International notes, these third-party applications will enable PPIs to be linked to their payment service provider (PSP) handles. Transactions made from PPIs using third-party UPI applications will require authentication with UPI credentials.

As for what this means in practice, Indian news resource Mint explains that the UPI is a sort of bank-to-bank money transfer, where the interface is a mobile application such as Google Pay.

Users can transfer money across platforms via a mobile number and QR code. PPIs are mobile wallets which have preloaded money. This money can be transferred to another person who is also using the mobile wallet by the same PPI provider.

But a PPI is not a UPI; the money does not move from one bank account to another. To move money from one mobile wallet to another requires interoperability, which the RBI has now allowed with its latest rollout.

In other words, by integrating PPIs with UPI, the RBI has made it easier for users to link their digital wallets to UPI-enabled apps. The latest change means that users of PPIs will now be allowed to use third party apps as well as the UPI functionality provided by the PPI provider.

While much of this was in the April statement, the latest move on 27 December was apparently a follow-up action where the RBI instructed all prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers to enable UPI payments from and to full-KYC PPIs through third-party UPI applications.

So is this a positive move for customer – and could it be a boost to the digital payment ecosystem in India? Almost certainly, because the new ruling makes PPI instruments easy to use for UPI transactions. In fact Mint says UPI is an essential payment mode for everyday usage of more than 500 million Indians. 

An internet law that gives the government power to regulate online content took effect in Vietnam last week. Decree 147, as the law is known, expands government control over access to information on the internet for reasons of ‘national security’ and ‘social order’.

The law expands radically on guidelines from 2021 that codify ethics for social media companies and the public, and rules, issued in a decree in August 2022, that require technology firms to store their users’ data locally and set up local offices.

It requires social media platforms providing services to users in Vietnam to store user data and provide it to the authorities on demand. Essentially this means social media giants like Facebook and TikTok must now verify user accounts using people’s phone numbers or personal identification numbers and, of course, store that data. 

The law also requires organisations to take down anything the authorities consider ‘illegal content’ within 24 hours.

Rights groups say the move is aimed at stifling dissent. The government issued the decree this November, though it appears it was actually effective from Christmas Day.

A large proportion of the Vietnamese population is on social media. Some sources estimate that there are about 65 million Facebook users, 60 million users on YouTube and 20 million users on TikTok, a significant proportion of a population estimated at close to 101 million.

The new laws also include curbs on gaming for under-18s, though these are supposedly designed to prevent addiction. Games publishers are expected to enforce a time limit of an hour a game session and not more than 180 minutes a day for all games. Just over half of Vietnam’s population – more than 50 million people – apparently regularly play games, so it’s not clear how these curbs can be enforced. 

Decree 147 also requires organisations to provide search and content-scanning tools to government authorities upon request. It limits certain functions, like live video streaming, to only verified accounts. As a number of news resources have pointed out, this not only an attacks freedom of expression; it also affects the large number of people earning a living through social media channels.

As a number of news outlets have noted, in October, independent Vietnamese blogger Duong Van Thai was sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of anti-state propaganda.

It’s not yet clear how Facebook’s parent company Meta, YouTube owner Google and TikTok will respond to the new laws.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Tom Loberto, Senior Vice President of Technology, Media and Telecom at HGS.

Telecommunications (telecom) companies are often challenged with high customer churn, due to factors such as a highly competitive market landscape and an overwhelming amount of call center inquiries, which can lead to poor customer service and departing customers. As a result, elevated customer churn rates can cause lost revenue and increased customer acquisition costs, as acquiring new customers typically costs more than … [visit site to read more]

Telecom Egypt, the country’s main telecom services operator, has signed a commercial agreement with China Mobile International (CMI), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Mobile, to expand digital services.

While specific plans have not yet been unveiled, it’s clear that there could be a lot of opportunities enabled by this alliance. Not too surprisingly, the partners suggest that this agreement promises to unlock additional value and represents a cost-effective strategy for developing a robust global network infrastructure.

Indeed, CMI’s parent company China Mobile operates the world’s largest network. As well as being a service provider in Egypt, Telecom Egypt is also one of the largest subsea cable operators in the region.

As the two companies point out, their partnership aims to leverage the investments of both companies in subsea cable infrastructure and share resources to address the rapidly growing data needs of businesses and consumers worldwide.

The companies also appear to be examining the potential for a set of innovative, enterprise-grade digital and business services tailored to meet the dynamic needs of enterprises in Egypt and across the region.

Thus it is hoped that this agreement will expand the global reach of both companies. Through combining CMI’s advanced digital solutions with Telecom Egypt’s robust nationwide infrastructure, extensive market expertise, and widespread regional reach, both organisations say they will explore customised DICT (digital, information, communication, and technology) solutions to advance smart services for enterprises.

There is also the opportunity to add new routes across their respective cable systems in order to diversify and enhance the resilience of their networks, ensuring more reliable connectivity.

CMI, founded in December 2010 and headquartered in Hong Kong, provides comprehensive international information services and solutions in 39 countries and regions. It serves enterprises, carriers and mobile users.

Telecom Egypt offers a wide range of services, including fixed and mobile voice, high-speed internet, smart solutions, data centres, and cloud computing.

Operator Movistar Colombia has announced the launch of its shared network with former rival operator Tigo. This comes after a fairly lengthy wait since we reported the companies’ signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to pursue a network sharing arrangement via a jointly owned infrastructure company in mid-2023.

The move was approved by the Colombian business regulator later on that year. In February the board of Colombian telco Une EPM authorised a binding agreement between its mobile subsidiary Tigo and Movistar, which is controlled by Spanish giant Telefónica and has the Colombian state as a key minority shareholder.

The agreement involves the two companies’ 2G, 3G and 4G networks. However, as readers will be aware, the two companies have also jointly bid for 5G spectrum aiming for a shared 5G rollout of this technology. Reports suggest that the two companies have jointly developed just under 100 5G sites.

The launch of the shared network will allow Movistar to significantly increase its 3G and 4G mobile coverage. Tigo has reportedly said that the shared network will boost its nationwide mobile coverage by around 22%.

As the BNamericas website points out, Movistar Colombia has been one of the operators with the lowest mobile coverage nationwide. In the last three years, it was also the operator with the lowest number of sites deployed. Claro is the operator with the largest number of sites deployed nationwide in all technologies with 10,157, followed by Tigo’s 7,575, Movistar with 7,023, and WOM’s 5,045.

As a united force, Movistar and Tigo serve nearly 35 million customers. The country’s population is estimated at just under 53 million.

Further complicating matters, we reported in July that Tigo owner Millicom International Cellular had entered into a non-binding MoU to acquire a 67.50% stake in Movistar from owner Telefonica Hispanoamerica, for approximately US$400 million.

Technology giant Ericsson and Bahrain-headquartered technology group Beyon have renewed their collaboration to expand their joint sustainability initiatives and circular economy practices for building energy-efficient networks in Bahrain.

The two companies have also announced the successful outcomes of their initial sustainability collaboration, signed in early 2024, for accelerating the journey to a net zero future for both companies and managing waste from electronic and electrical equipment (aka WEEE or e-waste).

The memorandum of understanding (MoU), which we reported at the time, and which was signed by Bahrain operator Batelco, part of the Beyon Group, aimed to reduce Beyon’s environmental footprint by addressing energy consumption and carbon emissions on live networks operated by Batelco, using Ericsson’s sustainable solutions.

Implementation of this MoU, say the partner companies, has so far resulted in a 30% energy reduction on Batelco’s network by the deployment of the Ericsson 5G radio access network product, Radio 6646, a triple-band, tri-sector radio that, Ericsson says, can do the job of nine radios.

Additionally, energy-saving software features such as cell sleep mode and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered MIMO sleep mode, were implemented on pilot sites, leading to a 22% average reduction in energy consumption where the features were activated.

A further 18% energy reduction was realised through the deployment of the single-antenna footprint interleaved antenna integrated radio (AIR) 3218 compared to AIR 3227 to provide 5G massive MIMO while addressing space constraints on rooftops and towers.

Circular economy practices have also been addressed; in particular an e-waste recycling initiative has been launched under the Ericsson Product Take-Back Programme. These efforts enable Beyon to recycle end-of-life electronic and electrical equipment in a responsible and sustainable way, supporting the group’s e-waste management efforts.

Furthermore, the collaboration also focused on knowledge sharing, with monthly sessions involving global experts discussing climate action, circularity, and the collective efforts required to achieve net zero goals.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a consortium of six international financial institutions have committed over US$900 million in financing to global data centre operator Yondr Group’s hyperscale data centre campus in Johor Bahru, a city on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.

IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets and a member of the World Bank Group. Yondr Group is a global developer, owner and operator of hyperscale data centres.

DBS, Deutsche Bank, Global Infrastructure Partners (a part of Blackrock), HSBC, ING and Natixis CIB joined IFC in the latest round of financing for the 98-megawatt project in Johor Bahru, which is the first phase of a 72.5-acre data centre campus that is set to deliver 300 megawatts of critical IT capacity when fully complete.

The project, says the IFC, is set to become one of the largest and most technologically advanced data centres in Asia Pacific, supporting rapidly growing demand for data processing capacity in the region.

IFC announced a financing package of up to US$150 million for Yondr’s Malaysia project in May 2024, comprising an initial US$50 million bridge loan that, it says, played a crucial role in advancing the project and attracting the six international financial institutions into this most recent financing round. IFC has now committed its second tranche of financing of US$100 million alongside financing from the other lenders.

The campus will be certified by the Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies green building programme, IFC’s green building certification system focused on making buildings more resource efficient.

In this regard, it may be no coincidence that, as we reported at the time, January saw the launch of what Yondr Group called “an ambitious sustainability plan”, which includes a target to achieve net zero by 2030 for scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions.

This project is IFC’s third investment in Malaysia since 2023, when it said it was establishing a presence in Malaysia to support the country’s efforts to foster greater sustainable, resilient, and inclusive economic growth.

Telin, a provider of premium international carrier voice, data services, and business solutions, and subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia, and Citra Connect, an Indonesian provider of connectivity services and digital solutions, have officially held a ceremony for a new cable landing station (CLS) at Nongsa Digital Park, Batam, the largest city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands.

This CLS, says Telin, serves as an integral part of the strategic infrastructure project connecting Indonesia with the rest of world, marking a significant milestone in strengthening Indonesia’s international connectivity, notably via the Indonesia Cable Express (ICE) submarine cable, which consists of seven cable systems.

The ICE system is an initiative that establishes vital links, including unlocking Batam and Indonesia not only to major cities in Indonesia and neighbouring countries like Singapore and Malaysia, but also to the Middle East, East Asia, Australia and the US.

Telin says the construction of the Batam CLS solidifies Batam’s role as Indonesia’s primary gateway for international connectivity, fostering digital and economic development in western Indonesia and supporting regional integration. It will also help to support data centre development in Indonesia and South East Asia.

Budi Satria Dharma Purba, CEO of Telin explained after the ceremony that the CLS will offer landing points for four cable systems – predominantly ICE Cable Systems – and added: “Looking into the future, we are equipping ourselves with the infrastructure and vision necessary to anticipate new technological advancements and connectivity needs across Indonesia and beyond. »

The ceremony marked the installation of the first foundation pillar of the CLS and was attended by a number of senior figures from the companies involved.