WhatsApp, the popular text and voice service, has expanded its payment offering in India by launching an in-chat payments service for businesses. With millions of users in India, WhatsApp now allows shoppers to pay for products and services through the app using credit and debit cards, WhatsApp Pay and India's digital payments network, UPI.
India's largest operator, Reliance Jio Infocomm, is reportedly raising up to US$2 billion in offshore loans with BNP Paribas as the lead arranger. The funds will be used to purchase 5G network equipment from Ericsson. BNP Paribas will provide US$1.9-2 billion over a nine-month period, with support from Swedish export credit agency EKN.
DITO Telecommunity, based in the Philippines, has obtained a 15-year $3.9 billion loan from a group of international banks to finance the expansion of its network.
Vanuatu operator Wave has teamed up with local ISP 3 Link to introduce an affordable 5G broadband service in 2024. The service will be available throughout the archipelago. 3 Link has been using Kacific's satellite broadband technology to provide coverage in Vanuatu since 2020.
Reliance Jio has launched its 5G-based fixed wireless access (FWA) service, called JioAirFiber, in eight cities in India: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.
Malaysian rural broadband service provider MEASAT and app-based parcel locker network system Parcel365 have officially activated the Program Transformasi Usahawan (PTU) segment of the KampungDigital365.com initiative.
PLDT has grown its information and communications technology (ICT) business, consisting of data centers, multi-cloud access and a suite of fixed and wireless solutions, reaching ₱23.2 billion (over $40 million) in service revenues in the first half of the year.
Petronas Digital, the digital division of Petronas, a global energy group based in Malaysia and operating in over 100 countries, has partnered with Microsoft and Cegal, a global tech company specializing in energy and security. The collaboration aims to accelerate digital innovation for the upstream value chain, which involves the search and recovery of oil and gas.
True Digital Group, a digital transformation enabler in Thailand launched by True Corporation, has selected Vectra AI, an expert in AI-driven cyber threat detection and response, to enhance its defense against the increasing number of cyber threats.
Veon and its Bangladesh-based subsidiary Banglalink have applied for a digital banking license in a move to expand into fintech services.
