Hayo, a global digital service provider, says it has expanded its presence in East Africa by establishing operations in Tanzania with the aim of helping to design, build and run critical digital infrastructure.

Hayo says its new office in Dar es Salaam brings its on-the-ground expertise and operational capabilities closer to governments and operators across the region, supporting the development of resilient digital ecosystems.

The expansion into Tanzania is part of the company’s continued investment in local digital infrastructure across East Africa. Hayo says it works closely with governments to strengthen national capability, improve public services, safeguard consumers, and enhance national security.

It also supports operators in protecting critical networks, enabling trusted digital identity, and creating new commercial value from network capabilities.

Hayo provides a range of govtech and operator solutions spanning national mobile registries, SMS and voice firewalls, network intelligence, and APIs.

Vimal Odedra, Chief Product & Marketing Officer at Hayo, explains: “Tanzania is an important market for us, with huge opportunities to work more closely with public authorities, regulators and network operators. Expanding our local operations gives us the local insight and teams to better understand customer priorities, respond quickly, and remain accountable for the outcomes we deliver.”

Hayo says its end-to-end approach spans strategy and commercial design through to deployment, operation and continuous optimisation, combining local expertise with long-term operational ownership.

Tanzania is the latest addition to Hayo’s growing presence across Africa, including Rwanda and Senegal earlier this year, and Botswana, Liberia and Malawi in 2025.

Two bits of interconnection and partnership news, one from Europe and one from southeast Asia: … [visit site to read more]

Malaysian service provider U Mobile has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) relating to in-building coverage (IBC).

The aim is to explore the provision of 4G and 5G in-building coverage (IBC) at the Immigration, Customs and Quarantine Complex (ICQC) in Bukit Chagar, Johor Bahru near the border with Singapore. The complex forms a key part of the proposed Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.

The collaboration will help to ensure that this important cross-border transport gateway is ready to provide reliable mobile connectivity when the RTS Link commences operation, supporting a more connected and convenient travel experience between Malaysia and Singapore.

The RTS Link will carry an estimated 40,000 passengers daily upon opening. As a key component of the RTS Link, the ICQC will serve as an important transit point for cross-border commuters and visitors. Reliable mobile connectivity within the facility will be essential to support everyday travel needs, from accessing journey information and coordinating onward transport to staying connected with family, colleagues and businesses.

The initiative will also support the connectivity needs of approximately 600 government agency personnel currently based at the complex. 

Under the MoU, U Mobile and MRT Corp will explore the commercial, technical, and operational framework required to provide 4G and 5G in-building coverage within the ICQC. The collaboration will allow U Mobile to connect its network to MRT Corp’s IBC infrastructure and extend its 4G and 5G coverage throughout the facility, subject to a definitive agreement, technical requirements and relevant approvals.

Beyond enhancing mobile connectivity, 5G IBC can also provide the foundation for future 5G and AI-powered digital use cases within the complex, supporting smarter building operations, greater operational efficiency and an enhanced passenger experience.

U Mobile says the collaboration forms part of its ongoing expansion of quality connectivity across strategic public infrastructure and high traffic locations, with its 5G IBC footprint now spanning more than 250 sites nationwide.

Three bits of interesting infrastructure development from EMEA. … [visit site to read more]

AST SpaceMobile, which is building a space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by everyday smartphones, has secured S-band spectrum authorisation from Brazilian regulator Anatel, as well as regulatory approval for the secondary use of spectrum in the 700 MHz band.

In addition, the company says it signed agreements with four regional mobile network operators and unveiled plans to install ground infrastructure in the country to support connect-anywhere capabilities for the more than 200 million handset lines in Brazil.

Anatel’s authorisation covers 15+15 MHz of S-band spectrum, totalling 30 MHz, for AST SpaceMobile’s planned service in Brazil. In addition, following Anatel’s regulatory approval, agreements with four regional operators support AST SpaceMobile’s authorized secondary use of up to 10+10 MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band within the operators’ respective licensed areas.

AST SpaceMobile says these complementary spectrum resources – 30 MHz in the S-band and up to 20 MHz in the 700MHz band – strengthen its ability to deliver space-based cellular broadband across Brazil, beyond the reach of terrestrial network to enable voice calls, broadband data and video streaming directly on standard, unmodified smartphones.

Together with AST SpaceMobile’s existing mobile network operator partners in Brazil, these regional operators will support the expansion of space-based cellular broadband coverage nationwide, reaching millions of people who remain unconnected or underconnected.

These agreements expand AST SpaceMobile’s relationships in Brazil and reinforce a global network of more than 60 mobile network operator partners serving over three billion subscribers combined. This breadth of collaboration gives AST SpaceMobile multiple routes to market, combining operators’ local reach and established customer relationships with a satellite network designed to extend their services beyond the limits of terrestrial infrastructure.

AST SpaceMobile is also planning investment in four gateways in Brazil to support the country’s ground infrastructure. These facilities will link the company’s BlueBird satellite network, the largest satellites ever deployed in low Earth orbit, with mobile operators’ networks, routing voice, video and broadband data between space and terrestrial networks. Planning is underway to support deployment and integration with participating operators.

Service availability will expand as satellite capacity and ground infrastructure are deployed and network integration progresses, subject to applicable authorisations, device compatibility and commercial arrangements.

This Tales From the Field article was contributed by Daniel Cáceres, PMP

What a remote network outage revealed about infrastructure monitoring, residual risk, and the physical conditions supporting a telecom asset … [visit site to read more]

India’s Jio Platforms faces questions over its debt obligations, future tax payments and valuation ahead of a proposed INR302.13 billion (US$3.2 billion), according to GlobalData.

At close of India’s stock exchange today (October 23), Jio Platforms gained US$24.5 billion in investor bids, surpassing its initial public offering of US$3.2 billion 10 times over.

Jio has more than 524 million subscribers and controls nearly half of India’s wireless market. Its businesses span 5G, fixed wireless broadband, enterprise connectivity, cloud services and digital applications.

Revenue reportedly reached INR1.46 trillion (US$15.3 billion) in FY26, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at around INR762.55 billion.

However, GlobalData company profiles analyst Murthy Grandhi said the company’s headline financial figures did not fully reflect its long-term obligations and potential cash-flow pressures.

Jio has around INR1.04 trillion in deferred spectrum payment obligations, which are excluded from its reported net debt and will not be repaid using IPO proceeds. The company reported net debt of approximately INR95.39 billion at the end of June.

Almost all IPO proceeds are intended to repay bank borrowings at Reliance Jio Infocomm (telco and digital services), potentially reducing interest costs. However, the relatively small amount of reported net debt compared with the proposed offering raises questions over the role of the wider spectrum liabilities and other commitments in the company’s financial structure.

Tax payments are another potential pressure point. Jio reported pretax profit of INR403.53 billion in FY26 but paid just INR1.18 billion in cash taxes, while recording more than INR100 billion in deferred tax expense.

Heavy investment in network infrastructure has generated tax benefits through accelerated depreciation. GlobalData said this tax shield could be largely exhausted around FY29, potentially pushing annual cash tax payments towards INR110 billion or more.

The resulting increase in tax outflows could put pressure on free cash flow as Jio continues to meet its spectrum obligations and fund growth. GlobalData said the company would need further tariff increases, customer upgrades and expansion in home broadband and enterprise services to sustain cash generation.

A monthly ARPU increase of INR10 across Jio’s subscriber base could generate more than INR60 billion in additional annual revenue, according to Grandhi. However, India’s price-sensitive market means higher tariffs could also affect subscriber growth.

Jio’s customer churn rate of 1.67% is lower than Bharti Airtel’s 2.43%, suggesting its wider digital services ecosystem is helping retain users.

Valuation could also prove contentious. While Jio appears cheaper than Airtel on a price-to-earnings basis, GlobalData said this comparison is affected by Jio’s unusually low current cash-tax payments. On enterprise value to EBITDA, a measure commonly used to compare capital-intensive telecoms operators, Jio appears to command a premium to Airtel despite lower ARPU and returns on capital employed.

Grandhi said Jio’s scale, customer retention and digital services business offered investors a compelling growth opportunity, but the IPO’s longer-term performance would depend on its ability to convert that scale into stronger, more diversified cash flow while managing its financial obligations.

Crusoe, a company that builds AI-optimised data centres harnessing large-scale energy sources, has announced a strategic partnership with Paraguayan energy and infrastructure developer Araico to build high-performance AI compute infrastructure powered by the Itaipú Hydroelectric Dam.

The dam is sited on the Paraná River on the border between Brazil and Paraguay.

Crusoe plans to bring an initial deployment online in mid-2027, with a path to scale to 106 MW of IT capacity and long-term options to expand to approximately 280 MW total.

Located adjacent to the Itaipú substation, the facility will tap directly into one of the largest and most reliable 100% renewable hydroelectric power sources in the world and will serve both US cloud customers and growing in-region demand across Latin America through Crusoe’s full AI stack called Crusoe Cloud.

The initiative marks Crusoe’s first dedicated AI cloud deployment in Latin America. This project advances the company’s approach of locating AI compute directly at abundant energy sources worldwide.

Cully Cavness, Co-founder, President, and Chief Strategy Officer of Crusoe, explains: “Paraguay’s unique history and geography have enabled one of the most abundant renewable power sources in the world through the Itaipú Hydroelectric Dam. Crusoe’s energy-first strategy is designed precisely to unlock and add value to this kind of power resource through advanced digital infrastructure.”

Araico will lead local development and site infrastructure adjacent to the Itaipú substation, while Crusoe will manage, operate, and deliver the physical compute for Crusoe Cloud.

Crusoe says that this deployment in Paraguay strengthens its growing global footprint of energy-aligned AI infrastructure, extending its reach across North America, Europe, and now Latin America while deepening digital infrastructure ties throughout the Western Hemisphere.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Alison White, Head of Voice at Epsilon Telecommunications

Cloud and AI adoption is expanding the role of voice within business communications. These technologies are creating new opportunities for service providers to deliver more connected and intelligent customer experiences. Juniper Research forecasts that the global CPaaS market will grow by 60% between 2025 and 2029, reaching $48.1 billion. At the same time, AI automation is expanding the ways businesses can use voice, particularly for … [visit site to read more]

Data centre operator STT GDC announced on Wednesday that India-based AI cloud company Neysa will use its STT Noida 2 facility to host a new deployment of GPU infrastructure and its Velocis AI cloud platform.

STT GDC said the deployment is the first phase of a multi-year working relationship between the two companies. The first phase – which is expected to go live from the first quarter of next year – supports up to 9,000 GPUs, and is designed for high-density AI training and inference.

The deployment will give enterprises and startups access to the infrastructure needed to develop, train and deploy AI applications closer to their users and data, as well as run production AI workloads in India with predictable latency and data residency, said Bimal Khandelwal, CEO of STT GDC India.

“India’s AI ambitions will depend not only on access to compute, but on the digital infrastructure required to support increasingly complex and compute-intensive workloads at scale,” he said in a statement. “By bringing together Neysa’s specialised AI capabilities and STT GDC’s infrastructure expertise, this deployment will help enterprises move from experimentation to real-world applications. It also represents the kind of ecosystem collaboration needed to accelerate AI adoption and strengthen India’s position in the global digital economy.”

“Our customers need more than access to GPUs. They need capacity they can plan around, reliable operations and room to scale as their workloads evolve,” added Neysa CEO Sharad Sanghi. “That is why we plan the compute, platform and data centre infrastructure together. Our planned deployment at STT GDC’s Noida data centre is one part of that approach, bringing GPU infrastructure and Velocis, our AI cloud platform, together to support AI workloads in production.”