The merger creates a regional leader in online classifieds. Telenor Group receives a 32 percent stake in the company, making it the largest minority shareholder. 701Search will cease to be a subsidiary company of Telenor Group and will merge its operations with Carousell with immediate effect.

Read more: Telenor, Carousell merger will elevate the marketplace to the next level

According to the latest IDC Worldwide Semiannual Security Spending Guide, spending on security hardware, services, and software in Asia/Pacific is expected to reach USD 16.4 billion in 2019, an increase of 20.01% over previous year. IDC expects investment on security related products and services to grow at a five-year CAGR of 20.1% over the forecast period (2018-23) and reach USD 34 billion by 2023.

Read more: Security services and software expenditure increases in Asia Pacific for 2019

Increase in the demand for mobile Internet connectivity and growing unique subscriber base is set to drive the total mobile service revenue in China from US$153bn in 2019 to US$165bn by the end of 2024, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. 

Read more: China to achieve US$165 billion by 2024 thanks to accelerated mobile subscriptions

Softbank has recently announced plans to merge its subsidiary Z Holdings, known formerly as Yahoo Japan, with mobile messaging giant and Whatsapp rival Line to form a Japanese internet juggernaut that would not only be a leader in data and AI, but also be able to compete with some of the world’s largest and richest technology companies, mainly in the United States and China.

Read more: Softbank, Line merger foretells the birth of a new tech powerhouse

Nokia announced that it is collaborating with Hitachi Kokusai Electric on local 5G and private wireless LTE solutions for industrial and government customers. Spectrum for local 5G will be released in Japan at the end of 2019 for enterprise use.

Read more: Nokia, Hitachi union will support local enterprises through 5G and private LTE solutions

2019 marks the first year of global 5G commercial adoption. On June 6, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officially issued 5G licenses to China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Broadcasting Network for commercial use, marking China’s official entry into the 5G era. On November 1, China's three mobile carriers began offering 5G mobile services to the public, accelerating the full commercial deployment of 5G.

Read more: China’s 3 mobile carriers kickstart commercial 5G rollout to the public

Nokia has been selected by New Zealand operator Spark for its roster of 5G suppliers. The deal, announced yesterday, will see Nokia’s 5G technology deployed across New Zealand as part of Spark’s 5G network, delivering faster speeds, enhanced response times and more bandwidth to Spark’s customers.

Read more: Nokia partners with Spark to bring 5G technology to New Zealand

ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, in partnership with China Telecom and China Unicom, has today  completed the network verification based on the co-build co-share mode in the commercial 5G environment, launching the world's first NSA co-build co-share sites of 1.8 G/2.1 G/3.5 G in Hangzhou, China that fully verifies the large-scale commercial capabilities of the 5G co-build co-share mode, and lays a solid foundation for greatly reducing initial investment in 5G and efficiently promoting 5G constructions.

Read more: ZTE, China Telecom and China Unicom join forces to consolidate 5G network verification

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