Orange is launching its first African commercial 5G network, in Botswana. The network will be available in greater Gaborone and Francistown, initially covering 30% of the population. Orange hopes that the introduction of the technology will spur the creation of new healthcare, education and security services in the country. Orange Botswana has already partnered with MRI Botswana to create a "connected ambulance" project that will allow doctors to guide paramedics through life-saving procedures on their way to hospitals. See this story on our sister site, Connecting Africa, for more details.

Orange's cybersecurity unit, Orange Cyberdefense, has acquired two Swiss cybersecurity outfits, SCRT and Telsys. The two companies are connected and have their common headquarters in Morges, near Lausanne, employing around 100 people. Orange Cyberdefense is on a mission to rule the European cybersecurity roost, having already acquired SecureLink and SecureData in 2019. It now has a presence in nine European countries.

In Spain, where Orange Cyberdefense doesn't yet have a presence, Telefónica's IT services arm, Telefónica Tech, has signed a cybersecurity agreement with Qualys which will see Qualys' cloud platform and applications being integrated into Telefónica Tech's range of managed security services for Spain and Portugal.

A1 Austria claims it's the first operator in Europe to digitalize its entire in-store payment process and dispense with printed invoice receipts altogether. It's joined forces with Warrify, a software startup based at A1's campus, to set up the fully digital system.

Poland's Comarch has signed a deal with Itochu Techno-Solutions of Japan. The pair hope to offer "tailored solutions" to the telecom market, specifically in areas such as order fulfillment, assurance and service monitoring software.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading