Vodafone UK and 3 UK continued preparations for a proposed merger, announcing a leadership team for the combined entity following what was described as a robust selection process.

The tie-up is edging ever closer after receiving clearance from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) at the end of 2024, subject to conditions, and is earmarked to complete in H1.

Current Vodafone CEO Max Taylor had already lined up to lead the merged entity and it has now appointed a wider team to help run the business.

In total it announced 11 appointments, with current Vodafone executives taking eight spots.

These include Andrea Dona, who will continue to head up Networks; Kelly Barlow leading Strategy and Portfolio; and director of Vodafone Business Nick Gliddon running its new Business arm.

3 CFO Darren Purkis will take on the same role at the merged entity.

Other appointments included bosses for HR, regulation, IT, operations, consumer, and compliance and risk.

Taylor said the leadership team “are all looking forward, following completion of our merger, to integrating our two companies”.

Source: Mobile World Live

Apple launched a health study to collect data from iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods, as it delves deeper into healthcare research for its users.

The Apple Health Study will appear on users’ Research app if they opt-in, helping them better understand their physical and mental health, and overall wellbeing by providing feedback on Apple and third-party devices.

“Health innovation has long been a focus for us and we’re committed to continuing to advance this work because we know how much it matters to our users,” Apple CEO Tim Cook explained on the company’s fiscal Q1 2025 earnings call.

Participants can choose which data to share with researchers and opt out at any time.

The study will explore relationships across various areas of wellbeing, such as mental health’s impact on heart rate, or how sleep can influence exercise.

It will cover topics including activity, ageing, cardiovascular, circulation, cognition, hearing, menstrual, metabolic, mobility, neurological, respiratory and sleep. It is being conducted in conjunction with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a leading research hospital and affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

The study is open to US residents which meet a minimum age requirement and who complete an informed consent process.

Apple Health Study is available on version six of the Research app and on iPhone models compatible with iOS 16 or later.

Source: Mobile World Live

Burundi is exploring partnership opportunities with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the implementation of projects. A delegation from the World Bank branch focused on private sector financing in developing countries discussed the issue with the Burundian Executive Secretariat for Information and Communication Technologies (SETIC) on Monday, February 10.

This rapprochement can be part of Burundi’s vision of becoming an emerging country by 2040 and a developed country by 2060, with digital technology as a key lever for development. The government wants the country to benefit from “a real technological leap likely to improve its economic growth by allowing the development of activities in a secure legal framework, using ICT.”

Last January, the Senate unanimously adopted the bill ratifying the East African Community (EAC) protocol on ICT networks, paving the way for enhanced cooperation with countries in the sub-region to accelerate the development of the digital sector. The country signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam in November 2024 to deepen their collaboration in this area. A Digital Economy Foundations Support Project (PAFEN), funded to the tune of $92 million by the World Bank, had already been launched in September 2024.

Burundi is ranked 46th out of 47 African countries according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT Development Index 2024 with a score of 24.4 out of 100. The institution estimates the internet penetration rate in the country at 19%, compared to 8.3% for mobile broadband and 25.6% for mobile telephony. In addition, only 50.6% of the population is at least covered by 3G, compared to 32.2% for 4G. Regarding digital transformation, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) ranks Burundi among the countries with a low e-Government Development Index (EGDI) with a score of 0.2480 out of 1, while the world average is 0.6382.

It is important to note, however, that the details of the projects discussed between SETIC and IFC remain unknown. At this stage, no official agreement has been signed or even announced, leaving the scope and concrete implications of this potential collaboration pending.

Source: extensia.tech

The MTN Ghana Foundation is organizing its annual ‘Save a Life’ blood donation exercise on Friday, February 14, 2025.

The goal of this initiative is to collect 6,110 units of blood to help replenish the National Blood Service and the blood banks of major regional hospitals throughout the country.

The event will take place on Valentine’s Day from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM across all 16 regions of Ghana.

Nana Kofi Asare, the Acting Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN Ghana, commented on the 2025 “Save a Life” Blood Donation exercise.

He said, “The Foundation initiated this blood donation exercise because we are committed to supporting the healthcare delivery system in the country. We are happy to continue this initiative to help save lives.”.

“We encourage everyone who shares this vision to use this year’s Valentine’s Day celebration as an opportunity to demonstrate their love by donating a unit of blood.”

Donors are encouraged to visit MTN Ghana’s website and social media channels for details of the locations where we will be carrying out this exercise throughout Ghana.

The MTN “Save a Life Campaign” is an annual blood donation initiative held on Valentine’s Day, organized by the MTN Ghana Foundation.

It provides MTN staff and the general public with the opportunity to donate blood to help replenish the National Blood Bank and regional hospitals.

This initiative began in 2011 in response to appeals from the National Blood Service for voluntary contributions to address critically low blood supplies.

Over the years, the exercise has successfully raised over 29,000 units of blood.

Source: Myjoyonline

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications says it is ready to engage the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology, and Innovation on how the intended re-registration of SIM cards in the country will be carried out after the first two attempts failed to meet the required expectations.

Generally, mandatory SIM registration is a policy adopted by several governments around the world as part of efforts to mitigate security concerns, address crime, and enable the application of digital services. 

SIM registration also allows the service providers to know the identity of the owner of a SIM card and that of a person making a call or sending a message.

As a condition for the purchase or activation of a SIM card, the user will be required to provide personal data, such as a residential address, as well as a valid identification document (ID), a point of contention that has some members of the public rightfully questioning the safety and security of their privacy.

In view of the broader benefits, the chamber says it is also ready to make proposals during the engagements to ensure that the exercise cuts across the entire ecosystem to include banks and other financial and non-financial institutions to ensure greater efficiency at the end of the exercise.

“We want all those players in the ecosystem who use the Ghana Card to also be able to detect fraud when it arises so that in the end, that objective of detecting fraud does not only rest on the telcos but all players.

That, we believe, is a sure way to create more value for the SIM registration and bring improved meaning to it.” The Chief Executive Officer of the chamber, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, told the Graphic Business in an interview.

He was reacting to a comment passed by Minister of Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovation, Sam Nartey George, during his vetting in Parliament a couple of weeks ago.

His premise was to implement a new SIM card registration process to address what he described as issues encountered during the previous exercise.

Previous attempts

Should the exercise be carried out, it will be the third time such an exercise is being conducted in the country.

Under the Atta-Mills administration with Haruna Iddrisu as the Minister of Communications, the first of such exercises was undertaken.

About three years ago, in 2022, the previous government conducted a SIM card re-registration, which required cardholders to visit various Mobile Network Operators (MNOs’) offices to link their SIM cards with their Ghana Cards. Failure to comply led to SIM card blockages or the withdrawal of essential services.

Justifying his intentions, Mr. George criticized the previous government’s approach, particularly the long queues and inefficiencies faced by Ghanaians during the registration process.

He assured the committee that, under his leadership, the new SIM registration exercise would be more efficient and streamlined, leveraging technology to cross-reference data with the National Identification Authority (NIA) database. 

This approach would eliminate the need for long queues and simplify the process for Ghanaians.

Unlike the previous exercise where SIM card holders were taken through a harrowing experience of having to queue to register, the sector minister is of the strong conviction that, with the new SIM re-registration exercise, nobody is going to queue. 

Mr. George was confident that the MNOs hold a certain set of dates, adding that there will be heavy reliance on technology to cross-reference that against the National Identification Authority (NIA’s) database and all biometric databases, and only instances where there is a disparity would require one to visit an MNO shop.

Mixed reaction

The proposed exercise has been received with mixed reactions from a section of the public.

While some perceive the exercise as needless and a waste of time, others believe the re-registration will smoothen the rough edges to make it more useful.

One industry expert who wants to remain anonymous said the new approach, albeit without details, is a welcome development which must be carried out because it will be 
stress-free.

He maintained that in the first previous exercise, it was improper to subject Ghanaians to long hours in a queue, taking away productive man hours and affecting an ailing economy.

He expressed the hope that this time around the exercise will be conducted without any queues because technology will be fully leveraged to make it effective. 

Way forward

Some experts advise that there is the need for the government to involve all players in the entire ecosystem (telcos, financial, and non-financial institutions) to ensure that, in the end, the country will have the best of results.

According to them, there are case studies all over the world that Ghana can study and use as leverage to ensure that there will be no need to go back to redo what already exists to subject subscribers to another round of discomfort.

Source: graphic.com.gh

Ethiopia’s telecommunications market is poised for further expansion with the anticipated arrival of a third telecom operator by late 2025 or early 2026, according to the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA). While the ECA is temporarily pausing the issuance of new licenses in mid-2023, this decision aims to create a more favorable investment environment before welcoming additional global players.

Balcha Reba, Director General of the ECA, explained that this temporary suspension will allow for a reassessment of the current market situation and the implementation of necessary reforms to attract and ensure long-term investment. “Since there are new conditions that require investment, work is being done to see if it is appropriate and to make further improvements if necessary,” Balcha stated. The ECA is carefully evaluating market volatility, the existing regulatory framework, and broader policy factors to attract reputable and qualified operators.

The addition of a third telecom operator is expected to bring several benefits to Ethiopia, including increased competition, improved quality and availability of telecom services, spurred innovation, enhanced network coverage, and reduced costs for consumers.

Ethiopia’s telecom sector has undergone significant changes since 2018, when the government recognized its vital role in the country’s development and embarked on a path towards free markets and privatization. For decades, state-owned Ethio Telecom held a monopoly, limiting competition and innovation. A key milestone in this transformation was the licensing of Kenyan telecommunications giant Safaricom in 2021, marking the arrival of the first private telecom operator in Ethiopia.

Safaricom has experienced substantial growth, reaching an estimated 42 percent population coverage, demonstrating the potential for rapid expansion in the newly liberalized market. This success has informed the government’s decision to introduce a third operator and its current focus on creating favorable investment conditions.

However, previous attempts to issue a second license have been met with challenges, including a lack of satisfactory bids and concerns about political instability. In November 2023, the government reportedly confirmed it had cancelled the process of issuing a third telecoms license due to a lack of interest.

Despite past setbacks, the ECA’s current strategic approach aims to maximize the benefits for Ethiopian citizens by ensuring a strong and competitive telecom ecosystem before welcoming a third operator[6]. In October 2024, Brook Taye, CEO of Ethiopia Investment Holdings, stated that Ethiopia still plans to welcome a third mobile operator due to increased demand for B2B and B2C broadband services. He also revealed plans for Ethio Telecom to list on Ethiopia’s new stock market.

Source: extensia.tech

As Nokia gears up to put a 4G network on the Moon potentially in late February, the feat will mark a milestone for both telecoms and space exploration while representing a high-tech leap towards shaping future lunar connectivity.

Earlier this month, the Finnish vendor and its partners aerospace company Intuitive Machines and Lunar Outpost revealed the successful integration of Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS) into the IM-2 mission lander, dubbed Athena, paving the way for deployment.

The project has been years in the making; the vendor partnered with Vodafone Group back in 2018 to deploy a lunar cellular network, but the initiative did not proceed and the operator has since backed out of the venture.

Then, in late 2020, Nokia pivoted to working with NASA, striking a $14.1 million agreement with the space agency under its Tipping Point initiative to develop commercial space technologies.

Now, with the LSCS and Athena poised for a strenuous journey to the lunar south pole from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, Thierry Klein, president of Nokia Bell Labs Solutions Research, spoke to Mobile World Live (MWL) about how the project plugs a significant need for advanced communication capabilities in space exploration.

Pizza box
As space missions grow more complex, so do communication needs, and Klein highlighted technology’s ability to “connect payloads, rovers, scientific equipment and astronauts”.

In order to support long-term human activities on the lunar surface, Klein continued: “We need high-definition video, real-time sharing of information, telemetry data from the rovers and robotic assets, low latency communication to control these robotic assets, and biometric information from astronauts. So, we believe that there is no mission that can go to space without advanced communication capabilities.”

Nokia’s main ambition, says Klein, is to “push the boundaries of technology” by utilising the capability of everyday technologies to support space missions.

Also speaking to MWL about the vendor’s plans, Ian Fogg, director of network innovation at CCS Insight, explained LTE/4G is a mature, well-tested technology with proven reliability and more robust network management compared to 5G, making it a sound choice for a Moon deployment.

Maturity is indeed particularly useful in demanding extraterrestrial conditions. Klein explained Nokia’s lunar mobile network was optimised to withstand extreme environments, from shock and vibrations at launch and landing to extreme lunar temperatures.

Furthermore, the LSCS is designed to be compact and durable, with size, weight, and power optimisation being critical factors. “It’s a massively integrated, compact network – about the size of a small pizza box – and has all cellular network functionalities integrated,” Klein stated.

The system was also engineered to operate autonomously aboard the uncrewed IM-2 mission. “We built the software reliability framework to make sure the network is self-functioning. Even if you think of future crewed missions with astronauts, you don’t want them to be network technicians,” he remarked.

Closer to home
As Nokia shoots for the Moon in vying to establish a first lunar LTE network, the stakes are high for the vendor to prove its technology’s reliability in a challenging environment given the high costs and risks associated with space operations.

While Fogg judged Nokia’s role in this project to be relatively low risk considering failures are often tied to rockets or other systems unrelated to connectivity, the deployment could still carry significant strategic value in the form of “marketing benefits”. By demonstrating its technological capabilities, Nokia can use the project as a “halo case study for their terrestrial private network business” to prove it can withstand challenging deployments on Earth, he explained.

Indeed, Klein also highlighted that on Earth, high-risk industries like mining, defence, oil rigs, and remote infrastructure could benefit from the company’s LSCS network. The technology’s autonomous capabilities and compact, energy-efficient design could potentially streamline enterprise operations and boost public safety in high-risk earthbound applications. “If we can solve these challenges for space, the solutions will be beneficial for terrestrial networks as well,” Klein added.

Mission Mars?
NASA intends to use these lunar advancements in its Artemis programme, which seeks to establish sustainable lunar operations by the end of the decade as a precursor to Mars exploration. The same network used on the Moon “could be applicable to Mars”, Klein explained.

While latency issues between Earth and Mars would require adaptations to the network architecture, “a lot of lessons learned on lunar deployments will be applicable to Martian deployment”, Klein affirmed. He envisions a future where astronauts and payloads connect to permanent lunar networks, much like roaming services on Earth. “Ultimately, you could imagine that there might be a lunar service provider,” he added.

As more private companies and nations plan lunar missions, including Amazon’s Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX, Nokia could position itself as a preferred provider of communication infrastructure in space. Considering this ambition, Fogg underscored that if multiple networks are deployed on the Moon, “there will need to be coordination of wireless spectrum usage just as there is on earth”. Nokia’s early involvement in lunar connectivity could shape its future influence in this new regulatory landscape.

One thing is for certain. As the IM-2 lander prepares for launch, Nokia’s lunar mission offers a glimpse into the converging future of telecoms and space exploration and a potential catalyst for terrestrial innovations.

Source: Mobile World Live