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SAMENA Daily - Industry News Briefing

Industry News Briefing
January 5, 2026

Featured Member News

e& and Al Rayan Investments join forces to connect 42,000+ residents across Abu Dhabi’s workforce and humanitarian communities

e& UAE, the flagship telecommunications arm of global technology group e&, inked a landmark agreement with Al Rayan Investments to deliver high-speed managed Wi-Fi services connecting more than 42,000 residents across two of Abu Dhabi’s largest workforce and humanitarian communities, the Construction Workers Residential City (CWRC) Labor Camp and the Moon Flower Humanitarian City...

Member News

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Eutelsat and Airtel Gabon bring rail connectivity to Gabon

The deployment builds on successful testing and is being implemented as part of a national initiative led by the Gabonese Ministry of Digital Economy, Digitalization and Innovation and the Ministry of Transport, Merchant...

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The Sky’s No Limit: AT&T’s satellite successes and what’s next

2025 has been an extraordinary year for satellite at AT&T, filled with innovation, dedication, and groundbreaking achievements...

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‌ZTE wins dual awards at PMI Malaysia 2025

ZTE Corporation, a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, won two major awards for its CelcomDigi core network integration project: "Project of the Year Grand Champion" and...

Policy and Regulation

•	CST publishes a Public Consultation on the National Frequency Plan (NFP) The Communications, Space, and Technology Commission (CST) invites the public to submit their input on the national frequency plan document (NFP), which includes details of the allocation of the spectrum for radio services...

•	Kuwait unveils new MNP rules to boost telecom competition The Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) has unveiled a comprehensive regulatory framework for mobile number portability (MNP) in Kuwait, to enhance competition among telecom operators and...

South Asia

•	NEIR rollout kicks off process to block illegal mobile handsets The process of blocking unofficial mobile handsets officially began in Bangladesh with the launch of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) system...

North Africa

•	Morocco’s Woliz raises US$2.2 million to digitize neighborhood retail The funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand the team, and scale merchant onboarding across Moroccan cities...

Content & Immersive Technologies

•	Extension for HBO Max in multiyear Canal+ agreement Canal+ and Warner Bros. Discovery have signed a new multi-year, multi-territory agreement extending their long-running partnership internationally, spanning both HBO Max distribution and the renewal of several Warner Bros....

•	Tashan IPTV introduces IPTV free trial For viewers who want to cut traditional cable costs but hesitate to commit to a new streaming service without trying it first, Tashan IPTV now offers a free trial option...

Global Telecom Update

•	U Mobile deploys network-level anti-fraud solution from Cellusys Malaysian 5G operator U Mobile revealed that it has enabled scam protection across its entire network in partnership with signalling security, roaming and analytics solutions provider Cellusys...

•	ByteDance’s Dola AI assistant surpasses 10 million daily active users ByteDance announced that its overseas AI assistant app Dola has exceeded 10 million daily active users, marking significant international growth for the Chinese tech giant’s artificial intelligence products...

•	Coforge launches AI-powered platform for autonomous IT operations Coforge announced the launch of EvolveOps.AI, a next-generation Agentic AI–powered IT operations management platform designed to help enterprises transition to an AI-first operating model...

Middle East

•	Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN receives first shipment of latest NVIDIA AI chips HUMAIN, the Saudi Arabian government-backed artificial intelligence company, has received its first delivery of advanced NVIDIA GPU chips as it accelerates infrastructure development ahead of the new year...

•	Iraq plans to extend fiber-optic internet to 8 million homes The national fiber-optic project, supervised by the Ministry of Communications, aims to extend high-speed connectivity to all households and government institutions across Iraq as part of broader efforts to modernise the...

•	Qatar is betting big on robotics with a 15,000 sqm expo Spanning 15,000 square meters, the event is being positioned as the premier platform for discovering cutting-edge tech and catalyzing public-private partnerships in what organizers are calling a high-growth sector...

•	SDAIA starts work on world’s largest government data centre in Riyadh Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has announced that it has laid the foundation stone for the ‘Hexagon’ Data Centre on a 30 million sq ft area in Riyadh, thus marking the official start of...

3G, 4G and 5G Networks

•	Vodafone and Three expand 4G coverage to 250 rural locations across the UK This includes customers receiving their coverage from 100 mobile network sites which have been upgraded to deliver 4G coverage from all the mobile network operators, as part of the government-funded element of the...

•	Gogo completes testing for 5G network launch Gogo said it has completed flight testing and is prepared to launch its new 5G air-to-ground network in the contiguous U.S. and southern Canada in January...

Satellite & Internet

•	Satellite communication systems: the future of 5G/6G connectivity The integration of satellite communication systems with terrestrial networks is a significant trend in the evolution from 5G to 6G...

•	Singtel to pilot 50Gbps fiber broadband to prepare homes and businesses for AI Singapore’s telecommunications firm Singtel announced the launch of its 50Gbps XGS-PON fiber broadband technical trial, the first in Singapore...

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Disclaimer: Information contained herein has been obtained from sources, which we deem reliable. SAMENA Telecommunications Council is not liable for any misinformed decisions that the reader may reach by being solely reliant on information contained herein. Expert advice should be sought.

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