Tech
Grameenphone wins Digital Nation Award by GSMA for minimizing the Digital divide in Bangladesh
Grameenphone has been honoured with The Digital Nation Award by the GSMA for democratizing connectivity and digitally empowering communities. The company’s efforts to minimize the digital divide through vast, high-speed, affordable, accessible internet penetration and to empower communities across Bangladesh by accelerating their digital adoption were key reasons contributing to Grameenphone’s top recognition in this award.
On behalf of Yasir Azman, CEO Grameenphone, Hossain Sadat, Senior Director Corporate Affairs, Grameenphone, received the prestigious Digital Nation Award at the JW Marriott South Beach, Singapore.
Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman said, “We are on a mission to digitally empower Bangladesh over the last 25 years. As a digital connectivity partner, our role has become imperative in transforming lives and contributing more to minimizing the digital divide. In order for us to become a smart nation, we must continue enabling communities with our rural & youth-first approach and unleash potential further. We feel humbled to receive this recognition by GSMA for our digitization efforts and we will continue to strive to enable the nation to get ready for a Smart Bangladesh.”
The “Time is now” campaign which secured the winning nomination was a visual demonstration of how Grameenphone’s mobile technology has advanced the digital transformation of communities across Bangladesh. The mango seller example shared showed how supporting one entrepreneur with their shift into a digital world, enabling them to best utilize e-commerce and transform their business through high-speed connectivity and digital solutions, can empower whole communities.
Mobile 360 Digital Nations Awards, hosted by GSMA, Mobile 360Asia Pacific, is an initiative to recognize the mobile industry’s vital role in providing access to critical information, delivering digital inclusion, connecting the unconnected and supporting economic growth. This year, 15 submissions were shortlisted, which were then adjudicated by a panel of judges with hands-on experience in this sector. Grameenphone also received Digital Bangladesh Award in 2021 by the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.
The other nominations include- Celebrating #5yearsofJio; Creating a sustain-able Digital ecosystem, XOX Malaysia; Digital Malaysia #ProgressForAll, Telekom Malaysia Berhad; Ericsson’s Malaysian Journey, Ericsson Malaysia; HAPSMobile’s Mission, HAPSMobile Inc. (SoftBank Corp.’s subsidiary); Hope On A Hill, Digi Telecommunications; Di Sebalik Bencana (In The Wake Of A Disaster), Digi Telecom; Jio Leads India’s Digital Transformation, (#JioTogether), Reliance Jio; Journey of Change, Viettel Group; Mrs. Irma needs to innovate and Indosat Ooredoo has a solution Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison; On The Frontlines, Digi Telecom;-Robi’s most comprehensive powerful 4.5G network: The online partner to make dreams come true, Robi Axiata Limited; Super for Change- Jazz Super 4G, JAZZ and Transforming healthcare with 5G telemedicine, MOPH Thailand & Huawei. For more, visit https://www.mobile360series.com/asia-pacific/digital-nation-awards/shortlisted-contenders/
Tech
Apple to spend $30 billion on Broadcom chips as it boosts US sourcing
Apple , opens new tab plans to spend more than $30 billion under a multi-year chip supply deal with Broadcom, bolstering its U.S. sourcing as President Donald Trump’s administration pushes to expand domestic chip manufacturing.
Broadcom shares rose more than 4%, while Apple shares were down marginally.
Apple said on Wednesday the deal, which was struck earlier this week and runs through 2031, covers FBAR filters – or radio-frequency chips used for wireless connectivity in its devices – that it had been developing with Broadcom since at least 2023.
Broadcom will invest $1.5 billion to expand its Fort Collins, Colorado, factory under the deal, which Apple said would result in the production of at least 15 billion chips and support its work with the Trump administration to source more components domestically.
“The cutting-edge components built in Fort Collins are essential to delivering the incredible performance and connectivity our customers expect, and we’re proud to deepen our investments in U.S.-based suppliers that share our commitment to excellence and innovation,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.
“We’re grateful to the president and his administration for supporting important projects like this.”
In August 2025, Apple raised its U.S. investment commitment to $600 billion over four years, adding $100 billion to a previously announced spending plan.
China
China plans to let top AI firms buy limited Nvidia H200 chips, the Information reports
China is planning to allow the country’s top AI companies to buy a limited number of Nvidia’s, opens new tab H200 chips, the Information reported on Wednesday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Chinese officials have told Alibaba, opens new tab, ByteDance and DeepSeek in recent weeks that they may soon receive permission to buy some H200 chips, the report said.
Shares of Nvidia rose 1% after the report.
The chip giant did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, nor did the U.S. commerce department, which oversees exports of advanced AI chips overseas.
China’s commerce ministry also did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Alibaba, ByteDance and DeepSeek did not respond outside of regular business hours.
The U.S. government has allowed Nvidia to sell its advanced H200 chips to China, and licensed about 10 Chinese firms to buy the chips. However, Chinese officials, keen to nurture domestic suppliers, have withheld approval so far.
Reuters reported in March that Nvidia had won Beijing’s approval to sell the chips to China, citing sources, and around the same time, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also told CNBC that the company had clearance from China.
Beijing is still determining the exact number of Nvidia chips to approve, and it could amount to fewer than 200,000 in total, the Information said, adding that was less than half of what the companies requested earlier this year.
Last month, Reuters exclusively reported that Nvidia told Chinese clients its new “Vera” central processors for AI data centres could be available as soon as August and that they can begin placing orders.
Nvidia’s market share in China has effectively fallen to zero, Huang said in October, hurt by U.S. export controls and Beijing’s push for self-reliance in key technologies.
The potential shift in China’s stance underscores the growing computing capacity crunch that the country’s tech companies are facing.
Tech
Australia’s under-16 social media ban fails first age check hurdle, study finds
A team of software testers found that Australian social media platforms did not request age proof for any of 50 accounts that declared themselves to be 16, a result that leaves the country’s world-first under-16 ban “ineffective” at the most basic screening stage, according to a study seen by Reuters.
Since December, platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube have been required to bar people under 16 and take “reasonable steps” to verify age, with regulators recommending multiple layered checks. But the new research, conducted by those who advised the nationwide curb, shows that the initial vetting step, which estimates a user’s age from general online activity, is failing to flag young people for tougher verification.
The testers, who last year trialled age-assurance software on more than 1,000 Australians, opened 50 new accounts after the law took effect and set the age as 16. None of the platforms asked for additional proof, the researchers told Reuters. The findings highlight a flaw that has been largely overlooked while public debate has focused on photo-based age-estimation tools.
The ban’s rollout has been widely criticised after surveys indicated that most under-16s still access the platforms. The government last month doubled the maximum fine and warned of possible court action against tech giants, accusing them of setting the system up to fail. Platforms have countered that they are simply following the regulator’s guidance, which prioritises low-friction checks and prevents reliance on government ID alone due to privacy concerns.
Some advisers to the original trial said they had repeatedly warned that the testing process ignored real-world circumvention, including minors entering false birthdates. “We did want to talk about circumvention, but we kept on being told that that wasn’t part of the actual trial,” Colm Gannon of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children told Reuters. A youth digital rights academic involved in a longer-term study of the ban said more impressive results might emerge once platforms move to age-inference methods later in the year. The regulator maintains that the recommended layered approach, if implemented correctly, ensures no single point of failure.
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