Ericsson will merge its North East Asia and South East Asia, Oceania and India operations into a single Asia-Pacific unit from 2027, as part of a broader effort to streamline its structure and improve efficiency.

Patrick Johansson, currently head of Market Area Europe, Middle East and Africa, will lead the new Market Area Asia-Pacific, and remain on Ericsson’s Executive Team. The company said it will begin recruiting a successor to Johansson in EMEA.

Chafic Nassif, who leads North East Asia, and Andres Vicente, head of South East Asia, Oceania and India, will support the transition before handing over their responsibilities on 31 December 2026.

New Ericsson CEO Per Narvinger said the consolidation is intended to help it operate more effectively across Asia-Pacific while maintaining a focus on customers and individual countries. It forms part of a broader simplification of the company’s operating structure, which Ericsson says is designed to strengthen customer focus, make greater use of its research and development capabilities, improve accountability and drive efficiencies.

The announcement came alongside Ericsson’s third-quarter results. The figures offer context for the company’s focus on efficiency, although Ericsson did not say that the APAC changes were a direct response to financial performance or to results in the region.

For the quarter, reported sales rose 6% year over year to SEK 59.5 billion (US$6 billion), while organic sales increased 7%, primarily on higher Networks sales. Organic sales grew in three of Ericsson’s four market areas. Adjusted EBITA was SEK 10.1 billion, down from SEK 15.8 billion a year earlier, but the comparison included a SEK 7.6 billion capital gain in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITA margin was 17.0%, compared with 28.1% a year ago.

Narvinger described the quarter as strong, while pointing to a flat radio access network market, elevated geopolitical uncertainty and higher component costs as challenges ahead. The company said it is pursuing portfolio optimisation, pricing and efficiency measures to offset cost pressures and strengthen competitiveness.

The APAC consolidation is one element of a wider organisational reshuffle. Ericsson is also moving the portfolio of its Business Area Enterprise Wireless Solutions into other parts of the company, saying this will help create research and development synergies and provide scale for product innovation. Neutral Host and Ericsson Private 5G will move into Business Area Networks, while Wireless WAN will remain a standalone business reporting to the head of Market Area Americas.

Taken together, the announcements indicate a push to streamline management and bring related activities closer together as Ericsson seeks to improve execution and respond to market pressures. The company’s stated rationale for the new APAC unit, however, centres on operating more effectively across the region and serving customers – not on a specific regional financial shortfall.

Millicom, the digital telecommunications and media company operating primarily under the Tigo brand in Latin America, has announced an investment of approximately US$2.665 billion in Colombia over the next four years.

This follows its acquisition of Movistar Colombia, which we reported in February. The investment in Colombia, which will be added to the US$1.411 billion invested in acquisitions in the country, will be used to strengthen the capacity of the mobile network, expand coverage and increase the capacity of the fibre optic network.

According to the BNamericas website, the company has plans to cover 80% of the main cities with 5G and invest in more than 1,200 sites to cover approximately two million Colombians who do not have mobile service or may not have access to a second provider.

In Ecuador, where it has bought Telefonica Ecuador, Tigo plans to invest around US$460 million over the next three to four years, again on upgrades, including modernisation and expansion of the network, digital infrastructure, and improving the customer experience.

Investments of some US$440 million are also planned in the operations of the former Telefónica Uruguay and in the company’s existing operations in Honduras, where US$1 billion will be spent over the next five years.

According to BNamericas, the projected investments in Colombia added to those announced in Ecuador and Uruguay, bring planned investment to a total of US$3.725 billion over the next three to four years. The company has not yet announced investment figures for its operation in Chile.

Almost 30 suspected scammers have been arrested and 3.7 million online profiles and accounts removed as part of a multi-agency crackdown – also involving private sector companies – against fraud perpetrated from across Africa.

The arrests, which took place in recent weeks, primarily in Ghana and Nigeria, happened as more than 100 people from overseas law enforcement agencies and tech companies gathered in London to participate in an operational intensification targeting crime groups operating across Africa and the infrastructure that they use to target victims in the UK and beyond.

Officers from such organisations as the FBI, Nigeria Police Force and Ghanaian Cyber Security Authority were joined by industry representatives from 15 companies including Meta, Microsoft and Google.

According to the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which hosted the event between 6 and 9 October, operational activity took place both during that week and in the run-up to the event. The operations included focus on fraudsters based in West African countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, where social media profiles are used to target victims of a number of fraud types, including investment and impersonation fraud.

Report Fraud, a UK service that enables people to tell the police about cybercrime and fraud, worked with tech giant Meta to provide data to identify fraud enablers. The NCA and other law enforcement agencies worked closely with industry to help locate the suspects behind the scams leading to their arrests. Meta also played a key role in coordinating the event and encouraging broad private sector participation to maximise scam compound disruption.

Over 1,110 West African Facebook and Instagram accounts that were associated with the data provided by Report Fraud were disabled, as were over 490 Facebook accounts and over 490 ad accounts identified by the UK’s OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) Data Enforcement. OCC Data Domain Enforcement identified and disabled over 380 scam domains that were assessed to potentially be associated with the scam domains provided by the OCC.

Arrests and seizure of associated electronic devices took place in the Sasaabi, Accra region of Ghana and the Delta State in Nigeria. This was a multi-agency operation led by the Ghana Cyber Security Authority, supported by the NCA, Ghana Police Service, FBI, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria.

The crackdown also saw 3.7 million online profiles and accounts removed by Meta and a total of $11 million dollars in potential freezable funds were identified by the private sector partners.

Will it be enough? As Ecofin notes, in its cyberthreat assessment published in June 2025, Interpol reported that more than 30% of crimes reported in West and East Africa were linked to cybercrime, based on data provided by the countries surveyed. However, in its African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026, Interpol recommends strengthening digital investigation capabilities, cross-border cooperation and partnerships between law enforcement agencies and private companies, so this initiative seems to be a timely one.

The economics of fixed wireless access have always been a story of two costs: the cost of reaching a subscriber, and the cost of serving one once reached. Fiber dominates the first conversation — trenching, permitting, and a per-home-passed bill that runs into the hundreds or thousands of dollars per location. FWA’s enduring pitch has been that it collapses the “reach” cost by spending spectrum instead of construction. What has quietly held FWA back in the places where it matters most is … [visit site to read more]

Operator Ooredoo Qatar has announced the launch of Qatar’s first 5G+ mobile network, building on the capabilities of 5G standalone, the network Ooredoo Qatar was the first to deploy.

The operator says that the 5G+ (a term sometimes used for 5G Advanced) network supports increasingly demanding digital applications, with faster speeds, greater network capacity, and lower latency.

These improvements, it adds, enable more devices to connect and exchange information efficiently, while shorter response times support applications such as real-time equipment monitoring and automated processes.

For consumers, Ooredoo continues, the 5G+ network supports enhanced streaming, more responsive gaming and seamless connectivity on the move.

Ooredoo has deployed this new technology across different locations in Qatar, though these are not specified in the announcement. It is commercially available through mobile broadband in areas covered by the 5G+ network.

For businesses, these capabilities provide a foundation for more efficient operations and better-informed decisions. Enhanced network reliability and performance support real-time monitoring, AI-enabled services, and complex digital workloads.

Network slicing, which allows connectivity to be tailored to specific applications, is another opportunity enhanced by the 5G+ network, while 5G advanced networks and edge computing can support mission-critical applications that require rapid responses.

Expanded IoT capabilities also support industrial sensors, asset trackers, and utility meters, enabling automation, intelligent operations, and future smart city services.

This is another first for the company. Sheikh Ali bin Jabor bin Mohammad Al Thani, Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo Qatar, explains: “From launching the world’s first 5G network in 2018 to deploying Qatar’s first 5G Standalone core network, we have consistently advanced connectivity. This launch marks the next step in that journey, supporting the next generation of digital services across Qatar.”

A partnership, a buildout completion, and some AI agent news: … [visit site to read more]

Large-scale data centre growth in India appears to be accelerating, with recently announced deals or plans including big names such as CtrlS Datacenters, Submer, BSNL and Google, but some public discomfort has been expressed about the rollout in Andhra Pradesh.

CtrlS Datacenters has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the government of Bihar, a state in eastern India, to invest INR100 billion (an estimated US$1.05 billion) to set-up a 150 MW hyperscale AI factory in Bodh Gaya, one of Buddhism’s most important pilgrimage sites. CtrlS has also formally inaugurated its INR4 billion (about us$42 million) AI and cloud-ready data centre in the capital Patna.

Meanwhile, global IT services and digital infrastructure provider Submer and BSNL Tower Corporation Limited (BTCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of operator BSNL, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the development of sovereign, AI-ready data centre infrastructure across India.

Submer and BTCL will jointly assess opportunities spanning GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS), sovereign AI cloud infrastructure, edge and micro-edge data centres and large-scale data centre projects of up to 20 MW.

Under the MoU, Submer will apply its expertise in integrated data centre architecture, liquid cooling, thermal management and high-density computing. BTCL will coordinate access to relevant BSNL premises and data centre facilities for technical and commercial feasibility studies. It will also support connectivity, regulatory alignment, and engagement with government and enterprise stakeholders.

However, in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on India’s southeast coast, where the US$15 billion construction of Google’s largest data centre outside the United States is under way, such developments are being questioned.

Visakhapatnam is a landing point for submarine internet cables linking the country to Singapore, so, for India, the location of the 600-acre site is ideal. And other tech sites are planned in the area. Indeed, a joint venture between multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries, investment management company Brookfield and data centre platform provider Digital Realty, is investing US$11 billion in another AI data centre in Visakhapatnam.

Many residents fear the Google data centre will strain water and power resources, damage the environment and bring too few jobs in return, fears that Google and local government suggest are unjustified; they argue that many direct and indirect jobs, as well as significant economic activity, will result.

In response to comments about water supply, Google has said it will deploy ‘advanced’ air cooling technology to ease water use at the data centre, while the state plans six 1.2-gigawatt nuclear power plants to manage energy demand.

Nevertheless, news reports suggest that activists in Andhra Pradesh are demanding a moratorium on new data centres across the state until independent environmental and social impact evaluations are published.

However, more such developments are highly likely. India has only about 3% of global data centre capacity, according to government figures, and wants more. It has rolled out a variety of incentives to attract big tech companies, including tax cuts.

One partnership down under, two interesting deals from wholesale voice, and an interesting bit of M&A: … [visit site to read more]

Contributed Article

By Jabbor Kayumov, Chief Executive Officer, Beeline Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan’s geography has always shaped its economics. It is the ninth-largest country in the world, with communities spread across vast steppe, desert and mountain terrain. For generations, distance has influenced the cost of connecting a clinic, a school, a farmer or a small business to markets and essential services.

Digital infrastructure is beginning to change the economics of that distance. But a signal bar alone is not digital inclusion. Connectivity creates lasting value only when three conditions come together: people can reach it, the technology can understand them, and the services available through it allow them to do something meaningful.

I lead Beeline Kazakhstan, and across my career with digital operators in Central Asia, South Asia and the Caribbean, I have seen very different markets confront the same challenge. Demand for digital participation almost always arrives before the infrastructure that enables it. A rural clinic, a family farm or a first-time online seller does not need to be persuaded that connectivity matters. They need access that is reliable, affordable and relevant to their lives.

The first requirement is reach

Terrestrial mobile networks will remain the backbone of connectivity. In Kazakhstan, Beeline has extended its network to villages with populations of around 100 people and has used solar power for base stations beyond the electricity grid. Yet in a country of this scale, the economics of a conventional tower will not close every remaining coverage gap.

That is why we are working with Starlink Direct to Cell to introduce satellite-to-phone connectivity in areas beyond the reach of terrestrial networks, beginning with messaging and expanding to data in a later phase, subject to the required approvals. The technology is designed to connect ordinary compatible mobile phones without a separate satellite terminal. It is not a replacement for terrestrial infrastructure. It is an extension of it, particularly where distance makes traditional deployment slow or uneconomic.

The real breakthrough will not be a successful demonstration. It will be a service that works reliably and can be sustained at scale. Technology must change not only the map of coverage, but also the economics of providing it.

The second requirement is relevance

Even universal coverage would be incomplete if the digital tools available through it could not properly understand the user’s language and context. Many of today’s leading AI systems perform best in languages with the largest digital footprints. Kazakh, like many national languages, remains underrepresented in the data on which global models are trained.

KazLLM is therefore more than a technical milestone. Developed through a national collaboration coordinated by the government and led by the Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence at Nazarbayev University, with contributions from QazCode, Beeline Kazakhstan and Astana Hub, it gives developers an open-source foundation on which to build services in Kazakh. The larger point is simple: people should not have to leave their language behind to participate fully in the AI economy.

Compute capacity matters as well. Beeline Kazakhstan is building Hyper Cloud, a Tier III data center in Almaty targeted to come online by the end of 2026. It will provide domestic capacity for enterprise, cloud and AI workloads and help organizations keep sensitive data within Kazakhstan. The purpose of sovereign infrastructure is not isolation. It is the ability to participate in global technology with greater resilience, capability and agency.

The third requirement is utility

A connected person is not necessarily an included person. A signal reaching a remote community has limited impact if the person receiving it cannot open an account, receive a payment, access a public service, learn a new skill or sell a product beyond the local market. For a farmer, the value of connectivity may be payment for a harvest. For a small retailer, it may be accepting a digital payment without investing in expensive equipment. For a student, it may be accessing a course or paying a fee without traveling to a branch.

This is why connectivity, trusted digital identity, payment infrastructure and locally relevant services should not be planned as separate agendas. Each increases the value of the others. Kazakhstan’s work on the digital tenge is one example of financial infrastructure evolving alongside communications networks. The opportunity is to connect these layers so that access can translate into participation in the economy.

That also changes how we should think about investment. VEON has announced its intention to invest an additional $1 billion in Kazakhstan over the next three years. Capital on that scale must do more than add equipment. It should expand the number of people and businesses able to participate in the digital economy, strengthen domestic technological capability and create services that customers choose to use every day.

For that model to endure, inclusion must also be commercially sustainable. Remote communities cannot depend indefinitely on pilots or one-off interventions. Satellite connectivity can improve the economics of reach. Local-language AI can make technology useful to a wider population. Digital financial services can turn access into everyday economic activity. Built together, these capabilities reinforce one another.

Kazakhstan’s experience points to a broader lesson for other large and sparsely populated markets: digital inclusion must be built as a complete system. Reach without relevance leaves people behind. Relevance without useful services produces novelty rather than impact. And services without resilient infrastructure cannot scale.

Distance will remain a fact of Kazakhstan’s geography. It does not have to remain a limit on opportunity. If we build reach, relevance and utility together, a customer in a remote community is no longer at the edge of the digital economy, but fully part of it. That is the future we intend to help build.

Jabbor Kayumov was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Beeline Kazakhstan in April 2026.

Before his appointment, he served as Chief Executive Officer for the Telco Business at Beeline Kazakhstan. Prior to that, he held leadership roles across multiple international companies, including serving as CEO of Ncell in Nepal and leading Digicel’s operations in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, where he oversaw their transformation into digital operators. He also served as CEO of Beeline Tajikistan. His leadership experience spans strategic transformation, commercial growth, organizational development, and digital innovation.

IFS has launched IFS Intelligence, an AI product that lets industrial businesses query operational data, investigate issues and prepare actions through a conversational interface.

The product draws on live data from IFS and connected third-party systems, including information on assets, work orders, schedules and operational history. It can recommend actions and prepare them for approval, with controls based on each business’s rules and permissions.

IFS Intelligence includes three components: Cowork, for querying data and preparing actions; Loops, which runs defined workflows in the background and escalates tasks when human judgement or approval is needed; and Runway, which uses plain-language requirements to support IFS software migration, configuration and extension.

Customers can also save successful queries as reusable Skills or create Lenses, which provide live views of operational data. Cowork can connect to systems such as Microsoft 365 through the Model Context Protocol.

IFS cited crane rental and heavy lifting company Sims Crane & Equipment as an early user. The company said staff can query fleet data to identify suitable cranes for customer requirements and improve fleet utilisation.