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We started the week with the question of consolidation targets in the US, and now it’s time for the other side of the coin. What network operators are most likely to be consolidators in 2025? We’ll take it as a given that ‘infrastructure funds’ would top the more general list of likely buyers, of course, but let’s focus on the existing network operators looking to expand inorganically in the US. Last year the perennial favorite Zayo topped the list with Lightpath and T-Mobile tied for second. … [visit site to read more]
Two very different announcements regarding SIM registration have made headlines in two African countries in recent days: Togo is pursuing the policy, while Mauritius seems to be rejecting it.
The Togo First news resource says that the country is implementing new rules for SIM card registration through a recent government decree that mandates that all users of electronic communication services must be identified before accessing these services.
Not only is the sale of pre-activated or pre-identified SIM cards now banned but users can hold no more than three SIM cards per operator. In addition operators must also maintain a complete database of their subscribers and submit quarterly reports to authorities. Some of these rules were announced as long ago as 2021.
These measures, according to the authorities, aim to enhance subscriber traceability and combat fraud and cybercrime. Though recent figures do not seem to be available, Togo First says that of March 2024, Togo had about 7.3 million mobile subscribers. The present-day population is about 9.6 million.
The Republic of Mauritius is a much smaller market; it has a population of around 1,270,000 in 2025 and (in 2023) there were about 2.1 million SIM cards, arguably easier to register. However, it is now reversing its 2021 decision to put in place a framework for the registration of SIM cards, which began in 2023.
Subscribers, in other words, are no longer required to identify themselves with operators. Not only that but mobile phone operators are now required to delete the database of photographs of all those who have already registered their SIM cards.
According to the Agence Ecofin news service, the registration process was initiated on the recommendation of a Commission of Inquiry on Drugs in 2018 based on indications that some SIM cards used by tourists and foreign workers wound up in the hands of drug traffickers and their accomplices.
While it’s not clear why the authorities in Mauritius have changed tack, registration of SIM cards is still policy in a number of African countries, with security usually cited among the reasons.
Pan-African operator MTN Group has announced the conclusion of the sale of its MTN Guinea-Conakry operation to the State of Guinea. This took place on 30 December 2024.
This transaction, says MTN, aligns with its focus on portfolio optimisation and simplification, as part of Ambition 2025, a strategy anchored in building the largest and most valuable platform business with a clear focus on Africa.
MTN Group President and CEO, Ralph Mupita, has been widely quoted as saying: “This milestone marks a new phase for MTN Guinea-Conakry under local ownership, and MTN thanks the staff, customers, regulators and broader stakeholders in Guinea for their support during the time MTN has been operational in the country.”
He added: “Concluding this transaction is in line with the strategy to simplify the portfolio and allocating capital to markets where we can make a difference as MTN and deliver long-term growth and returns.”
The closing of the sale isn’t a big surprise. As long ago as November 2023 we reported ongoing discussions in progress regarding the potential ‘orderly exit’ of MTN from its operations in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry and Liberia. At that time MTN had completed the sale of MTN Afghanistan, which marked group’s exit from the Middle East.
In fact in April 2024, according to ITWeb Africa, Mupita informed shareholders and markets in April that MTN’s objective was to « streamline and restructure » its portfolio.
MTN Group completed the sale of its Guinea-Bissau business unit to Telecel in August last year. It still has a presence in Liberia.
Turkcell, globally a leading comprehensive telecom and digital services provider, has announced the successful completion of the world’s first 2.4Tbps field trial on a live transmission network in collaboration with Huawei.
This significant achievement marks a crucial milestone in optical transmission technology, addressing the ever-growing demand for data and connectivity in the future.
Turkcell, the largest telecom carrier in Türkiye, provides high-quality fixed and mobile communication services to over 43 million subscribers. With the emergence of 5G, 4K/8K video, AI, and digital services, network traffic will continue to increase significantly year on year. As a key infrastructure component, the transmission network carries the full range of companies’ services, and therefore requires reconstruction with innovative technology to meet tomorrow’s traffic and service challenges.
Turkcell successfully transmitted 2.4Tbps over a 160km distance on a live transmission network established between two data centers located in Tekirdağ and Edirne to carry high volumes of transit service traffic. The 2.4Tbps dual carrier coherent board, verified in this live trial, is empowered by a built-in high-baud rate bandwidth modulator, state-of-art non-linear compensation algorithm, and intelligent neuron function module to sense the complex link environment in an actual network in real time, and quickly optimize the network transmission performance.
Prof. Dr. Vehbi Çağrı Güngör, Turkcell Chief Network Technologies Officer said, “Turkcell consistently remains at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies and industry trends. The introduction of the latest ultra-speed DWDM technology in collaboration with Huawei confirms our dedication to delivering next-generation innovations and providing a superior customer experience.”
Victor Zhou, President of Huawei’s Transport Network Domain, said, « We are pleased to cooperate with Turkcell to verify the reaching of this significant milestone in the ultra-high-speed optical industry. Huawei will continue to provide global operators with superior solutions that feature high quality, reliability, and sustainable evolution. »
Happy New Year to all! While network operators were mostly focused on the organic path last year, there were a few significant deals. Verizon is buying Frontier, Lightpath bought UFD, and of course Uniti and Windstream are merging. And that last one was not a big surprise, as Windstream topped last years poll with Uniti in 4th. What is on tap for 2025 among US network operators? Who you think are the likeliest candidates to be sold (in part or in whole)? (Not including already pending transactions). … [visit site to read more]
Operator MTN Uganda says it has secured UGX370 billion (about US$100 million) in committed debt financing from five local banks.
This debt financing is described as one of the largest local currency debt transactions in Uganda. The syndicated debt facility from five local banks was 1.6x oversubscribed.
MTN Uganda says this deal reflects robust confidence from lenders in the operator’s long-term potential and focus on expanding its digital and financial services offerings. The financing will be used by MTN Uganda for general corporate purposes including the expansion and improvement of the network.
The arrangement was led by Stanbic Bank Uganda, partnering with Absa Bank Uganda, Citibank Uganda, Standard Chartered Bank Uganda and Centenary Rural Development Bank.
MTN Uganda’s Chief Financial Officer, Andrew Bugembe, says: “MTN Uganda’s achievement in securing this substantial funding underscores our competitive strength and reflects the growing appetite for premium corporate debt instruments within Uganda’s financial sector.” MTN Uganda continues to operate with a strong balance sheet, he points out.
MTN Uganda serves approximately 21.6 million mobile subscribers as of September 2024. Its main competitor in the market is Airtel Uganda with 15.6 million customers by 30 June 2024. The company is 76% owned by the MTN Group, Africa’s leading telecommunications company with more than 280 million customers in 17 markets.
Reuters notes that in June MTN Uganda sold shares left over from its 2021 Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Ugandan stock exchange, leaving its parent owner controlling 76% of its shareholding.
As years go, 2024 was a bit surreal on lots of fronts, but not here. In telecom and internet infrastructure it was pretty smooth. Growth has been largely organic, layoffs haven’t been a thing, investments have been sane and plentiful, and technology has continued to advance. This smoothness makes the job of a prognosticator more difficult, but there’s always next year! So what does 2025 hold for us? Hmmm, let’s make some guesses, topic by topic: … [visit site to read more]
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) to make unified payments interface (UPI) transactions via third-party mobile applications, a concept that may sound arcane on first glance, but one that could speed up the money transfer process in India.
PPIs are financial tools that allow users to store funds for future transactions on cards or digital wallets. Until recently, UPI payments linked to PPIs could only be carried out using the mobile application of the PPI issuer.
This change wasn’t unexpected. In fact it was first outlined in RBI’s statement on Development and Regulatory Policies in April 2024, stating that users of full-KYC (know your customer)-compliant PPIs can use any third-party app’s interface to transfer and receive money in their wallets. With the new rules now in place, PPI issuers are permitted to facilitate the discovery of their full-KYC PPIs on third-party UPI mobile applications.
As news resource Electronic Payments International notes, these third-party applications will enable PPIs to be linked to their payment service provider (PSP) handles. Transactions made from PPIs using third-party UPI applications will require authentication with UPI credentials.
As for what this means in practice, Indian news resource Mint explains that the UPI is a sort of bank-to-bank money transfer, where the interface is a mobile application such as Google Pay.
Users can transfer money across platforms via a mobile number and QR code. PPIs are mobile wallets which have preloaded money. This money can be transferred to another person who is also using the mobile wallet by the same PPI provider.
But a PPI is not a UPI; the money does not move from one bank account to another. To move money from one mobile wallet to another requires interoperability, which the RBI has now allowed with its latest rollout.
In other words, by integrating PPIs with UPI, the RBI has made it easier for users to link their digital wallets to UPI-enabled apps. The latest change means that users of PPIs will now be allowed to use third party apps as well as the UPI functionality provided by the PPI provider.
While much of this was in the April statement, the latest move on 27 December was apparently a follow-up action where the RBI instructed all prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers to enable UPI payments from and to full-KYC PPIs through third-party UPI applications.
So is this a positive move for customer – and could it be a boost to the digital payment ecosystem in India? Almost certainly, because the new ruling makes PPI instruments easy to use for UPI transactions. In fact Mint says UPI is an essential payment mode for everyday usage of more than 500 million Indians.
