The ongoing digitisation and automation of the energy industry continues to be a hot topic, not least at last week’s ADIPEC energy exhibition and conference in Abu Dhabi, where AIQ and Siemens Energy announced a strategic collaboration agreement.

AIQ, an Abu Dhabi-based industrial AI company developing innovative solutions for the energy sector and beyond, and energy technology company Siemens Energy announced a plan to establish a scalable, commercially driven autonomous operations offering for the energy and process industries.

The two companies are set to combine AIQ’s operational AI applications, AI agents, and autonomous decision support with Siemens Energy’s capabilities in automation, digital twins, reliability, and asset performance management.

The collaboration, the companies say, forms the foundation for a structured commercial partnership, with an initial focus on autonomous and remote operations, drilling-related solutions, and reliability-driven digital offerings.

AIQ’s RoboWell autonomous well control tool will be among the first applications offered as part of a broader Siemens Energy-led autonomous operations proposition.

Dennis Jol, CEO of AIQ explains: “By combining our existing capabilities with Siemens Energy’s automation strength and international footprint, we place ourselves in a strong position to deliver proven autonomous solutions to operators across offshore, EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) and international markets with pace, expertise and scale.”

As the companies point out, regional and international energy operators are investing in digitisation, automation, and operational optimisation programmes to improve production efficiency, reduce emissions, and enhance safety.

By pairing field-proven AI applications with an established automation and integration platform, AIQ and Siemens Energy say they aim to reduce the time required for customers to move from pilot projects to production-scale autonomous operations.

A data center launch and two campus network projects: … [visit site to read more]

China’s foreign ministry has rejected allegations of Chinese intelligence involvement in a reported affair involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, describing the claims as an attempt to smear the country.

Xinhua reported, foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said today (November 9th) that the allegation was “purely unsubstantiated” when asked about media reports that Nvidia’s board had opened an investigation into Huang. Guo added that Beijing had already responded to the issue the previous week.

The reports, published by The New York Times and the Financial Times, linked Huang to a Chinese citizen and technology executive. US officials have alleged that the woman was working for Chinese intelligence. Huang has acknowledged having an affair, according to the reports, but the intelligence allegations have not been substantiated publicly.

The Nvidia chief executive has been a prominent advocate for maintaining access to the Chinese market, amid US restrictions on exports of advanced AI chips to China.

The allegations come as Washington and Beijing remain at odds over access to advanced semiconductor technology, a key area of competition in the global AI industry.

Two interesting vendor wins out in the upper Midwest to catch up with: … [visit site to read more]

Bharti Airtel reported a 16.7% year-on-year increase in consolidated revenue to INR608.78 billion (US$6.8 billion) for the second quarter of its 2026-27 financial year, driven by growth in India and Africa.

The Indian operator’s customer base expanded by 12 million during the quarter to 693 million across 15 countries. Consolidated EBITDA reached INR352.4 billion, giving the company an EBITDA margin of 57.9%.

India revenue increased 9.4% year on year to INR423.08 billion, with mobile revenue up 10.1%. Average revenue per user (ARPU) rose to INR271, compared with INR256 in the same quarter last year, reflecting higher customer spending and a shift towards more valuable plans.

Airtel added a record 1.2 million postpaid customers during the quarter, taking its total postpaid base to 31.2 million. Its smartphone data customer base grew by 18.8 million over the past year, including 2.9 million additions in the latest quarter.

The operator also continued to expand its network, deploying 497 towers and 11,684 mobile broadband base stations during the quarter. Over the past year, it added 5,649 towers and 44,718 kilometres of fibre.

Homes and enterprise growth

Airtel’s fixed broadband business continued to expand, with revenue rising 25.3% year on year. It added 676,000 customers during the quarter, taking its Homes base to 15.4 million.

Its digital TV business generated revenue of INR7.71 billion, with a customer base of 15.6 million, while enterprise arm Airtel Business recorded 11.4% revenue growth.

Airtel Business also entered a partnership with Indian state-owned telecoms equipment maker ITI Limited to support enterprise digital transformation, including the modernisation of legacy systems, operational efficiency and security.

Africa delivers strong growth

Airtel Africa’s revenue increased 20.6% year on year in constant currency terms, with reported revenue growth of 25.7%. Its customer base reached 193.9 million.

Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal said the African business had also benefited from the rollout of the group’s technology platform across its markets, alongside operational synergies.

The company is also expanding beyond its core connectivity business. Vittal said Airtel had invested in a strategic land parcel during the quarter as part of its ambition to build 1GW of data centre capacity. Its financial services business, which recently began commercial operations, is also showing early signs of traction.

Vittal said the group would continue to focus on cash generation and disciplined capital allocation while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

Brazil’s telecoms regulator Anatel said on Wednesday its board of directors has endorsed two internal proposals to allocate BRL1.7 billion (almost US$309 million) of leftover funds from its 5G auction in 2021 to two new projects: a sovereign AI data centre and TV 3.0 converter subsidies.

The proposals have already been approved by Anatel’s GAISPI working group, which oversees projects, interference mitigation, and fund allocations related to Brazil’s 5G auction.

Under one proposal, Anatel will allocate BRL375 million to the data centre project, which is intended to boost the federal government’s processing infrastructure.

The facility – which will contain an AI module with liquid cooling, high-capacity servers and redundant power supply – will be built on 5,000 square meters of government land. State-owned telco Telebras will operate the data centre, which will be integrated with the Federal Public Administration’s private network.

Anatel councilor and GAISPI chair Edson Holanda said the sovereign data centre project is strategic for Brazil.

“At a time when digital sovereignty has ceased to be a topic for specialists and has become a matter of national security, this project puts the infrastructure where it needs to be,” he said in a statement.

The second proposal calls for another BRL1.28 billion to be allocated to Anatel’s project to distribute TV 3.0 converters to low-income families.

Brazil officially adopted TV 3.0 (a.k.a. DTV+) as its next-gen digital terrestrial TV broadcasting standard in August 2025, but viewers have to either buy a TV 3.0-compatible television set or a converter box to receive DTV+ channels.

Anatel’s TV 3.0 project plans to serve approximately 910,000 families enrolled in the federal income transfer program in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and the Federal District for 24 months, covering equipment with Android or the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and all delivery logistics.

« TV 3.0 is the biggest transformation in broadcast television since digitization. Without this project, the technological transition would create a new exclusion: those who can afford the new device enter the new era, and those who cannot are left behind,” Holanda said. “This council decided that no one will be left behind for lack of a converter.”

Anatel’s multi-band 5G spectrum auction, which was completed in November 2021, raked in total commitments of BRL 47.2 billion.

Holanda said the decision to release the BRL1.7 billion in leftover 5G funds to the two projects preserves the obligations of the original tender.

“We did this with a guarantee that I consider non-negotiable: the full reservation of what is needed to complete the original projects, plus a safety margin,” Holanda said. “No obligation of the tender is affected.”

Pan-African telco Paratus Group officially launched its Lesotho unit on Thursday, offering Starlink enterprise connectivity services alongside Paratus network solutions to businesses and organisations in the country.

Paratus Lesotho, a joint venture between Paratus Group and Real Image Lesotho, will offer enterprise connectivity using Starlink’s LEO satellite technology, delivering high-speed, low-latency internet access to locations where fibre and other terrestrial infrastructure may be limited or unavailable.

Paratus said LEO satellite connectivity will be critical to cope with Lesotho’s mountainous terrain, particularly outside major urban centres, which makes terrestrial telecoms infrastructure difficult and expensive to deploy.

Lesotho customers will also benefit from the technical expertise and established network capabilities of the wider Paratus Group, said Paratus Lesotho MD Makali Lepholisa.

“Backed by the Paratus Group’s expertise and track record in other countries, I am very excited about the opportunities for Paratus Lesotho to support the country’s social and economic development through reliable and innovative technology solutions,” she said in a statement.

Paratus Lesotho is an authorised Starlink reseller by virtue of Paratus Group’s deal with Starlink in 2023 to become a distributor for the satellite operator across the African continent. Paratus has also launched Starlink services in Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda.

Starlink is also part of the Paratus Essential Access solution designed by both companies to deliver priority satellite connectivity to communities and emergency services organisations in remote African communities.

That service, launched in April this year, is already available in Lesotho, as well as Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and Zambia.

Paratus also partners with Eutelsat OneWeb to provide LEO satellite connectivity services across Southern Africa.

ZTE Corporation, a provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, has partnered with operator Ethio Telecom to deploy what is said to be Ethiopia’s first pre-commercial AIR RAN solution.

This alliance, say the partners, marks an important milestone in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to mobile network optimisation.

As 4G data traffic continues to grow rapidly in Ethiopia, Ethio Telecom and ZTE have been exploring ways to harness AI to improve the efficiency and performance of the radio access network (RAN). Over the past two years, the two companies have focused on advancing this approach through AI-enabled network innovation.

Building on frequency division duplex (FDD) massive multiple-input multiple-output (massive MiMo) technology, the AIR RAN solution uses ZTE’s AIREngine intelligent computing engine to introduce AI-driven intelligent beam scheduling. This enables more intelligent allocation of radio resources in response to changing network traffic demands.

By optimising the use of existing network resources, say the two companies, the technology helps unlock additional 4G capacity and improve data throughput without relying solely on additional network infrastructure.

The reported 11% increase in 4G capacity and 40% improvement in peak-hour user throughput highlight the solution’s potential to support growing connectivity needs while enhancing network efficiency and service performance, particularly during periods of high demand.

Ethio Telecom says this milestone aligns with its Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028 strategy and supports the company’s ambition to evolve beyond a connectivity-focused telecommunications operator into a leading digital enterprise powered by AI-native networks and digital innovation.

In addition, the company says, this deployment also contributes to Ethiopia’s broader digital transformation ambitions under the Digital Ethiopia 2030 agenda by supporting the development of more efficient, capable and responsive telecommunications infrastructure.

Three domestic and one from overseas: … [visit site to read more]

Veon, a global digital operator, has announced the commercial launch of Mukto Pay, a digital payments platform powered by its Bangladesh operating company, Banglalink.

The launch follows the Payment Service Provider (PSP) licence awarded to Banglalink by Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh, which we reported in August.

Veon says Mukto Pay is designed to make digital payments accessible across Bangladesh. In fact in this first phase anyone can use the Mukto Pay app, regardless of mobile operator – and Banglalink customers can also use a basic phone – to send and receive money, pay utility bills and recharge mobile accounts digitally. Customers can also pay online at more than 9,500 merchants, and a dedicated merchant application lets businesses register, receive payments and track transactions.

The platform is also preparing to introduce and promote Bangla QR, Bangladesh’s national interoperable QR payment standard.

Veon says this launch reflects continued progress under its Invest in Bangladesh NOW initiative, a proposed public-private partnership with the Government of Bangladesh launched in September 2026 but announced in the summer.

Veon’s initial US$250 million anchor investment, committed over the coming years, forms part of that initiative, which aims to attract a total of US$1 billion in foreign direct investment to advance connectivity, digital infrastructure, digital financial services and AI in Bangladesh.

In September, Veon and Square Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Bangladesh, also received Bangladesh Bank’s approval to set up a digital bank. The planned digital bank, backed by Veon Digital Financial Group, the financial services division of Veon, and Square Group, is expected to build on Banglalink’s connectivity, distribution and digital ecosystem to extend access to formal financial services.

Bangladesh now becomes the fourth market in Veon’s digital financial services footprint. its financial services platforms served approximately 59 million active customers across Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Q2 2026.