NTT Data announced on Monday that it has established active 400 Gbps peering at the Johannesburg Internet Exchange (JINX), adding that it’s the first network operator in Africa to do so.

NTT Data said its 400 Gbps peering capability signals that South Africa’s internet exchange environment is operating at a level comparable to leading global markets, supporting growing demand for high-capacity, low-latency connectivity.

For local businesses, the upgrade delivers tangible benefits, including improved performance during peak demand periods, greater capacity to support sustained traffic growth and enhanced reliability across digital services, said said JC Burger, director of infrastructure engineering and operations at NTT DATA in South Africa.

“Africa’s Internet traffic is growing rapidly and the demand for scalable, resilient and low-latency connectivity continues to increase,” Burger said in a statement. “Establishing 400Gbps peering at JINX is a strategic investment that strengthens our ability to deliver high-performance connectivity while supporting the long-term growth of Africa’s digital economy.”

JINX – which was established in 1996 as Africa’s first Internet exchange point – is operated by the Internet Exchange Point of South Africa (INX‑ZA), a division of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA).

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This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Jacques Le Mancq, President and CEO of Broadpeak

Telecommunications service providers face sustained pressure to diversify revenues and protect their share of consumer spend. Streaming bundles and aggregation strategies are gaining momentum, with video now one of the strongest drivers of broadband value. Parks Associates’ State of Streaming Report shows that more than a third of broadband households bundle a streaming subscription with home internet in Q3 2025, underlining video’s strategic importance within … [visit site to read more]

Telecom Namibia said on Friday that it’s making progress in dealing with network service disruptions that plagued users during the latter half of last week due to international connectivity problems.

The telco said the disruption “was the result of a failure on external connectivity routes, which placed increased pressure on alternative network paths”, which in turn caused mobile data users to experience data-speed slowdowns and access problems.

Telecom Namibia said its technical teams has been busy implementing corrective measures, to include redirecting network traffic to maintain service availability, upgrading and reconfiguring critical network equipment, and boosting capacity at major network nodes to improve overall resilience.

“While the disruption originated from external connectivity routes, our teams acted swiftly to stabilise services and implement safeguards to minimise impact,” said Telecom Namibia CEO Dr. Stanley Shanapinda in a statement.

Telecom Namibia didn’t offer details on which international routes were experiencing problems or what caused them. Namibia is served by two international subsea cables running along Africa’s west coast – the West Africa Cable System (WACS) and Google’s Equiano cable system. Namibia also has a terrestrial link from Swakopmund to Johannesburg, South Africa via Paratus Group’s East-West fibre backbone.

Telecom Namibia said that “services are steadily stabilising, and customers should continue to experience noticeable improvements as restoration and optimisation work progresses.”

Millicom, a major international operator with a strong focus on Latin America, has officially introduced its Tigo brand in Uruguay and at the same time announced an investment initiative of US$600 million aimed at expanding the country’s digital infrastructure.

This capital injection follows the company’s acquisition of Movistar and brings Millicom’s overall financial commitment to the Uruguayan market to US$1.04 billion. News website BNamericas says that the investment plan will be implemented in the next four years. 

It also quotes Marcelo Benítez, CEO of Millicom, who says that the decision was driven by Uruguay’s unique regional conditions, including an advanced digital ecosystem and political stability. 

The acquisition of Telefonica’s Movistar-branded business operation in Uruguay was completed last year for US$440 million. As we reported at the time, the deal marked the latest in a series of Telefonica’s divestments from Spanish-speaking Latin American markets. Since then, Millicom has focused on modernising about two-thirds of its infrastructure.

The new investment phase will prioritise the expansion of 4G and 5G capacities, with a particular focus on improving connectivity in rural and inland areas to increase commercial penetration.

Millicom currently holds 29% of the local mobile market, serving about 1.6 million customers and operating two data centres. The other mobile operatirs are state-owned Antel, the operator with the largest market share, and Claro (America Movil).

The expansion in Uruguay is part of a broader regional strategy that includes recent acquisitions and consolidations in Ecuador, Chile and Colombia. Uruguay is apparently the first business unit to introduce the Tigo brand after these recent regional acquisitions.

Russia has recently hardened its restrictions on the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), which are a popular way of getting round state censorship and accessing banned news sites, Western services, social media platforms and messengers.

VPNs allow users to mask the websites they visit, making it difficult for telecoms networks or security services to access data.

The Russian government had already instructed telecoms operators and major services to block VPN users by 15 April. Indeed, on Wednesday, according to the AFP news service, the TASS state news agency reported that banks, video streaming sites, online retailers and search engines were blocking access where they detected the user had an active VPN connection.

In addition, 20 Russian telecom companies owning international communication channels have signed a moratorium freezing their expansion into Europe. As VPN usage registers on telecom networks as foreign traffic, bandwidth may be unable to cope, forcing operators to filter VPN usage or to increase the cost of accessing foreign services.

According to the TechRadar website, authorities also hope this manufactured bottleneck will force foreign digital platforms to set up local servers within Russian borders to avoid severe download speed drops.

Among other moves targeting VPNs Russia’s four major operators have, since the start of this month, disabled the ability to pay for Apple IDs via mobile bills to disrupt VPN subscriptions. Additionally, over 20 of the country’s most popular websites are now required to restrict access if a user has a VPN enabled.

Despite these aggressive measures, officials maintain that no outright VPN bans are in place. 

Other moves aimed at indirectly restricting internet access include fees imposed on mobile users consuming more than 15 GB of international data per month, a measure expected to be implemented by the start of May. The authorities have also been throttling Telegram and WhatsApp in recent months in an attempt to push users to use Max, an unencrypted super-app.

Moscow introduced strict censorship soon after it launched a military offensive in Ukraine in 2022.

This Industry Viewpoint was authorec by Bo Larsson, CEO of MatSing

Large sporting events create one of the most demanding environments in wireless networking. Tens of thousands of users gather in a confined space, all expecting instant connectivity. They upload videos, stream replays, share photos, and interact with digital services throughout the venue. … [visit site to read more]

Malaysian telco YTL Communications said on Wednesday it is partnering with US-based identity and fraud prevention platform Shush to deploy network authentication APIs, starting with Number Verification and SIM Swap.

The CAMARA-standardised APIs enable businesses to verify user identities and prevent fraud through seamless, secure network checks, enabling enterprises to verify mobile numbers, detect SIM swap fraud, and authenticate users through secure, privacy-compliant network verification.

Shush says its Sherlock platfom enables telcos to expose secure APIs that deliver real-time signals for SIM swap detection, device validation, and other critical fraud indicators, while generating new revenue streams.

« Our partnership with Shush ensures that we can quickly and securely deploy the Network Authentication APIs, providing a trusted foundation for digital identity services that benefit the entire ecosystem, helping stamp out fraud and protect our customers,” said YTL CEO Wing K. Lee in a statement.

YTL said its collaboration with Shush aligns with an MoU signed by CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, Telekom Malaysia and YTL in September last year to launch a federated network service under the GSMA Open Gateway initiative with standardized APIs to protect online businesses and consumers from fraud and digital identity theft.

Shush co-founder and CEO Eddie DeCurtis added that CAMARA’s Silent Authentication API will be included in the next phase of the rollout.

“Starting with CAMARA Number Verification, we’re enabling secure, programmable network capabilities that enterprises can integrate quickly and confidently,” said DeCurtis. “As additional APIs come online, YTL will be well-positioned to expand monetization opportunities and support Malaysia’s broader digital transformation.”

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