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SAMENA Daily - Industry News Briefing

Industry News Briefing
December 29, 2025

Featured Member News

World Space Sustainability Association (WSSA) Brings Together Diverse Space Community to Accelerate Coordinated Efforts in Addressing Orbital Safety & Space Sustainability Issues

The discussions at the space stakeholders’ meeting have set the stage for critical next steps that will drive meaningful progress in space sustainability, and have successfully given way to tackle new mission areas, to help unite the global space community. By bringing together a diverse community of stakeholders, the WSSA is fostering the collaboration needed to ensure that space remains a safe, accessible, and sustainable resource for future generations...

MeetKai and GSMA partner to build AI for the world’s 7,000 languages

A new partnership between MeetKai and the GSMA aims to change that by developing AI models for low-resource languages that can be deployed at scale through telecommunications infrastructure...

Member News

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stc Bahrain celebrates Bahrain National Day with employee-focused festivities

stc Bahrain, a digital enabler, hosted a series of events for its employees in celebration of Bahrain National Day and the anniversary of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's accession to the throne...

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AT&T hosts global leaders to shape the future of optical networks

AT&T hosted the recent FSAN (Full-Service Access Network) and ITU (International Telecommunication Union) Study Group at AT&T HQ...

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Claro Peru and Huawei deploy world's first commercial EcoMatrix site

Claro Peru, one of the country's leading telecommunications providers, and Huawei successfully deployed the world's first commercial EcoMatrix site...

Recent Developments

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e& accelerates its 5.5G evolution with 4-carrier aggregation on smartphones — a first in the region

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Sama X to Commence Operations in Jordan with Starlink Solutions

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Cisco introduces Cisco IQ, a unified AI interface to accelerate time to value

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Bahrain’s TRA launches satellite direct-to-device services

Policy and Regulation

•	Saudi CST wraps up investment awareness series to accelerate growth in the space sector The awareness series forms part of CST’s broader strategy to position the space sector as a driver of economic diversification, startup growth, and national talent development, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision...

•	ITIDA and 500 Global: Three years of partnership driving the growth of Egypt’s tech startup ecosystem A flagship outcome of the partnership is the Bootcamp for Accelerator Managers (BAM), which Elzaher described as a scalable model for ecosystem development...

Middle East

•	Group-IB, VAS partner to strengthen cybersecurity across Saudi Arabia The partnership supports Saudi Arabia’s efforts to build a resilient digital environment, addressing increasingly sophisticated cyber risks while empowering businesses with advanced tools and knowledge...

•	Dubai launches AI-powered traffic lab to predict and prevent congestion before it happens The initiative represents a fundamental shift in how cities approach traffic management — moving from reacting to congestion after it occurs to preventing it through predictive, data-driven planning...

•	Oman launches AI pilot projects across key sectors, signalling new opportunities for investors and business growth Oman has launched a series of artificial intelligence pilot projects across healthcare, justice, public procurement, education, and cybersecurity, marking a significant step in accelerating digital transformation through...

North Africa

•	Egypt’s digital economy gains momentum as exports reach US$7.4 billion These developments align with Egypt’s Vision 2030 and are supported by sustained investments in AI-enabled government services, telecom infrastructure upgrades since 2019, growth in local electronics manufacturing, and...

3G, 4G and 5G Networks

•	SRN boosts 4G coverage across 100 more rural masts in the UK The works on the 100 masts will deliver “outdoor 4G signal coverage to over 4,000km2 of the UK – an area equivalent to 2.5 times the size of Greater London, or 9,600 Hyde Park Winter Wonderlands.” according...

•	Orange and Ericsson deploy 5G network slice for Madrid’s emergency services Madrid Council, Orange (MasOrange Group) and Ericsson have set up the city’s public and emergency services with ‘advanced connectivity’ to aid police, fire brigades, and medical responders...

Content & Immersive Technologies

•	Stingray to bring Music and Karaoke apps to Mercedes-Benz Canadian media group Stingray has struck a deal with Mercedes-Benz to integrate its Stingray Music and Stingray Karaoke applications into the German carmaker’s latest-generation MBUX infotainment system...

South Asia

•	Data Vault, National Centre for Physics sign MoU to advance Pakistan’s sovereign AI and advanced computing future The agreement also enables structured collaboration on government tenders and national projects, allowing coordinated delivery of AI platforms, compute acceleration, and infrastructure provisioning...

•	Edotco deploys shared backup power systems for Sri Lankan telcos Edotco Services Lanka says it has commissioned 400 resilient power systems across Sri Lanka to strengthen telecoms network reliability and resilience during natural disasters and prolonged power outages...

Satellite & Internet

•	China launches Long March-8A internet satellites successfully China successfully launched the Long March-8A carrier rocket from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site, sending a group of internet satellites into low orbit...

•	World Space Sustainability Association (WSSA) Brings Together Diverse Space Community to Accelerate Coordinated Efforts in Addressing Orbital Safety & Space Sustainability Issues The discussions at the space stakeholders’ meeting have set the stage for critical next steps that will drive meaningful progress in space sustainability, and have successfully given way to tackle new mission areas, to...

•	Trans-Caspian fiber link: Official timeline revealed The Trans-Caspian fiber-optic communication line (FOCL) is scheduled to enter operation in the third quarter of 2026...

Global Telecom Update

•	FPT and Hitexis partner to accelerate AI adoption across Europe Vietnamese IT services giant FPT has inked a strategic partnership with European consultancy Hitexis to accelerate digital transformation and AI adoption across the continent, combining global engineering scale with regional...

•	Stonepeak acquires Bite’s tower unit TeleTower in Lithuania and Latvia Investment firm Stonepeak has agreed to acquire TeleTower, the tower company carved out of Eastern European operator Bite, in a move aimed at tapping growth in the region’s telecoms infrastructure market...

•	MeetKai and GSMA partner to build AI for the world’s 7,000 languages A new partnership between MeetKai and the GSMA aims to change that by developing AI models for low-resource languages that can be deployed at scale through telecommunications infrastructure...

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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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