A bit of subsea, some interconnection, two vendor deals, and some network sharing: … [visit site to read more]

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The data center sector has never been hotter, with AI and other new technologies driving new investments and technological developments.  But it’s not just in the biggest markets. Tier 2 and Tier 3 data centers are seeing opportunities, too. With us today is Brett Lindsey, CEO of Involta.  Involta targets enterprise customers in such markets and is backed by Carlyle. Brett took over the company this past winter, shifting over to data centers and the cloud from fiber and telecom. … [visit site to read more]

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China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile were ordered by the Federal Communications Commission to halt their fixed or mobile broadband internet operations in the United States, further escalating tensions between the two countries. 

Reuters reported, the order will also apply to another Chinese telecoms firm Pacific Networks and its subsidiary ComNet.

The Chinese companies must discontinue their services within 60 days from the net neutrality order approved on April 25.  

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said the commission had evidence that the telecom operators were provisioning broadband services in the US, and it had cited national security concerns to revoke or deny Chinese firms to provide telecom services. 

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks pointed out China Telecom advertised on its website that it operates 26 points of presence in the US and offers colocation, broadband, IP transit, and data centre services.

The commission had stated national security concerns surrounding Chinese access to POPs located in data centres.

« They are interconnecting with other networks and have access to important Points of Presence and data centres, » Starks said, urging « a closer look at the threats that adversarial providers pose to our data and data centres, » said the FCC.  

Previously the commission had denied requests by US companies to sell equipment to Huawei and ZTE stating it posed “an unacceptable risk” to national security. 

TikTok on the clock

On another front of the trade war between the US and China, ByteDance, owner of popular social media app TikTok, prefers to shut down its app if all legal options are taken to prevent its ban on app stores in the US. 

US officials touted the Chinese company selling its app and its algorithms to a US buyer, but ByteDance refuses to give up its core algorithm that recommends videos to users, as it is essential to its business, said a source speaking to Reuters. 

Around 170 million users are recorded in the US. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said he expects the company to win a legal challenge to block a legislations signed by president Joe Biden to ban the social media app. The legislation was launched on the grounds that it can access American citizen data or use the ap for surveillance. 

Malaysia’s wholesale 5G operator Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) announced on Thursday that it has appointed new members to its board, whose first mission will be to finalise stakeholder ownership details and review DNB’s due diligence findings.

The five new board members represent Telekom Malaysia, Maxis, U Mobile, YTL and CelcomDigi’s Infranation, all of whom signed share subscription agreements (SSAs) in December 2023 to collectively take a 70% stake in DNB, with each taking a 14% stake, while the Minister of Finance (MOF) will hold the remaining 30% as well as a “special share”.

Joining the DNB board are Datuk Kamal Khalid (chief transformation officer from CelcomDigi), Uthaya Kumar K Vivekananda (independent director of Maxis), Chang Yit Fei (director of U Mobile), Nik Azli Abu Zahar (group counsel for Telekom Malaysia) and Datuk Seri Yeoh Seok Hong (MD of YTL Power International).

They will serve on the DNB board alongside incumbent board members, treasury secretary general Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican and Digital Ministry deputy secretary Ma Sivanesan Marimuthu, DNB said in a statement. All appointments took effect on April 24.

According to The Edge Malaysia, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said in a statement on Thursday that the new DNB board is already planning to convene a meeting to discuss the remaining details to finalise the “condition precedents” that have to be settled before the SSAs can take effect. He also said the board will review “due diligence findings”.

Last week, a report from Channel News Asia, citing anonymous sources, claimed that negotiations over the details of the SSAs have stalled over disagreement on the condition precedents, as well as the appointment of board directors and the completion of three independent confidential audits on DNB.

The report also claimed that the due diligence reviews that would help telcos decide whether to stay in DNB or move to the government’s planned second 5G operator were still ongoing, despite originally being expected to be completed in January. The report also claimed that telcos were concerned over DNB’s alleged lack of internal transparency regarding supply tenders.

DNB firmly denied that the SSA negotiations have broken down. It also denied claims that it has not been transparent in its internal operations or tender processes.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
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Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.