Open radio access network company Parallel Wireless announced a partnership with Hotspot Network that will provide internet for previously unconnected rural areas throughout Nigeria. “This collaboration aims to connect residents of rural regions to essential services such as health, education, and financial services, that will ultimately improve their quality of life,” a Wednesday release from Parallel said. In addition, the company said it reached a milestone of 1,500 wireless sites deployed in Africa. “Expanding mobile connectivity throughout Africa is a unique challenge due to unreliable or inaccessible sources of electricity and challenging landscapes that make physical access difficult,” the company said: As adoption expands, “Parallel Wireless is not only proving it out at scale but also preparing networks for future 5G upgrades across Africa.”

American Tower invested a cumulative $5.1 billion in its India business, which it plans to sell to Brookfield Asset Management for up to $2.5 billion (see 2401050058), MoffettNathanson’s Nick Del Deo told investors Tuesday. “American Tower’s experience in India has been, by far, the most notable black mark on what has otherwise been a very good multi-decade global capital allocation track record,” he said.

American Tower plans to sell its India operations to Brookfield Asset Management for up to $2.5 billion, said a late Thursday news release. The tower company said the announcement follows a completed strategic review of its Indian assets. A deal is expected to close in the second half of the year, American Tower said.

The new Belgian EU Presidency must focus on telecommunications and competition, mobile operators and competitive telcos said Tuesday. Belgium's presidency began Monday and goes through June 30. Its program includes making progress on the EU's green and digital transitions, supporting efforts toward achieving climate neutrality and digital leadership. The presidency will "prioritise a human-centred approach to the digital transformation, with particular attention to algorithmic transparency and virtual identity protection," especially in connection with AI. Other key focuses include: (1) Digital inclusivity, particularly negotiations on the Gigabit Infrastructure Act (GIA); (2) a "joint approach to 'active cyber protection,'" such as by boosting proactive measures for preventing, detecting, monitoring and abating network security breaches across the EU; and (3) stronger international cooperation via cyber diplomacy. The GSMA urged the presidency to "work with the telecoms industry to ensure an investment culture in digital infrastructure to carry through the region's technological and economic ambitions, addressing market fragmentation and removing the regulatory barriers that hamper progress." Delivering the GIA will go a long way toward removing hurdles to buildout of very high capacity networks, it said. The GSMA said it expects the European Commission will publish a white paper on a planned digital networks act, which will explore the potential for measures to create a "true single market" for telecom. The European Competitive Telecommunications Association also wants the GIA to "come to a good end taking into account our concerns," Director General Luc Hindryckx said in an email. As for the planned digital networks act, he said, the telecom sector is the "linchpin" of social and economic dynamics in the 21st Century, enabling universal participation in digital society by ensuring affordable connectivity for all. Anchored in a pro-competitive legal framework for e-communications, the European model has consistently shown its effectiveness and "should be maintained."

Huawei Technologies had some $98.7 billion in revenue in 2023, said Rotating Chair Ken Hu in a Tuesday message to investors marking the start of 2024. That reflects growth of about 9% over 2022. Huawei’s information and communication technologies “infrastructure business has remained solid, and results from our device business surpassed expectations,” Hu said: “Both our digital power and cloud businesses are growing steadily, and our intelligent automotive solutions have become significantly more competitive.” Hu acknowledged that Huawei has faced challenges in recent years resulting from “geopolitical and economic uncertainties,” technology restrictions and trade barriers. "After years of hard work, we've managed to weather the storm” and “now we're pretty much back on track," he said.