South Africa-based MTN Group saw service revenue in the third quarter climb 11.4% year-on-year, to more than 43 billion South African rand ($2.64 billion), while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were up 13.9%. Reflecting the increased demand for remote working during the pandemic, data revenue grew by 31.9%. During the quarter, MTN added 12 million subscribers, taking its total to 273 million across 21 markets.

Headquartered in Luxembourg but serving emerging markets in Latin America and Africa, Millicom presents a mixed picture in its Q3 results, expressing some confidence going forward while acknowledging that its financial performance remains below pre-COVID levels, especially in postpaid mobile and B2B. Q3 revenue fell 6.5% year-on-year, to $1.026 billion, though sequentially it was up from $970 million. Operating profit slumped 45.2% year-on-year, to $97 million.

Spotify, the Swedish-owned audio streaming service, has recovered from its own COVID-19 hiccup to continue its relentless quest toward world domination in the third quarter, with its number of "monthly active users" up 29% year-on-year, to 320 million, 144 million of them prepared to part with money every month for the ad-free Premium tier. In revenue terms, this equated to €1.79 billion ($2.09 billion) from the Premium tier and €185 million ($216 million) from the ad-supported tier. The service had a particularly successful July launch in Russia, where it also entered into a partnership with mobile operator MTS. Spotify's most streamed song of summer 2020? "Rockstar (feat. Roddy Ricch)" by DaBaby and Roddy Ricch. No, me neither.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading