Via Asia Times, an article on Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries’ vision, tools and government support to shape India’s 5G future: “Data is not the new oil, it’s the new soil.” – Mukesh Ambani In January 2018, while addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first expressed his ambition to make India […]
Read more »Via National Interest, a report on North Korea’s telecommunications infrastructure: It’s well-known that the telecommunications infrastructure in North Korea is less than robust. The country’s wireless networks run on 3G, which is two generations behind where the West is, and it’s not exactly simple to make landline calls, either. A recent report, interviewing people who have made many calls […]
Read more »Via How We Made It In Africa, commentary on Ethiopia: Ascent has made several investments in Ethiopia; what are some of the opportunities and challenges there? Taking a top-bottom approach, Ethiopia is home to 110 million people, the second largest country in Africa in terms of population, after Nigeria. The median age of the country is 19.5 years, […]
Read more »Via Jamestown Foundation, a look at one component of the Digital Silk Road: Following the 2013 announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at a speech given by People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping during visit to Kazakhstan, Central Asia has been a key regional priority and an indispensable element for the success […]
Read more »Via Asia Times, a report on how a new Silk Road fiber optic cable project eases Pakistan’s cybersecurity concerns with India but raises new ones with China: China is poised to lay the last stretch of a cross-border fiber optic cable in Pakistan, a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project designed in part to cut […]
Read more »Via Eurasianet, commentary on Uzbekistan’s growing relevance as Central Asia’s regional integrator and power broker: A new dynamic governing regional integration is shaping up in Central Asia. Uzbekistan is challenging Kazakhstan’s position as the region’s power broker, and China’s economic choices may well be a critical factor in determining the outcome of the leadership rivalry. […]
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