Sunday, July 26, 2020

Week 30 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

CORPORATE
Main: tower IPOs planned (Telxius, Vantage), eBay sells classifieds.

Proximus
Sewan launches MVNO on Proximus, to launch end 2020 as light MVNO for B2B (unified comms)    
Telefonica
Rumor: considers Telxius IPO for 2021; KKR holds 40%, Amancio Ortega 10%
Colombia to sell its 32.5% stake in Coltel (Telefonica Colombia)

Telekom Austria
Sells stake in FL1 (Telecom Liechtenstein)     

Vodafone
Plans IPO of Vantage Towers (88k sites in 9 countries Europe: DE, ES, GR, PT, CZRO, HU, IE; merger with Wind Hellas, Inwit stake (33.2%, IT) & Cornerstone (JV with Telefonica in ES) to be included) in Frankfurt early 2021; 2020 pro forma     

Eir
May lose >EUR 125m in cumulative rev if Comreg lowers wholesale rates for leasing to NBN

QSC
Acquires Incloud (IT, cloud & web solutions) 200731     

Cellnex
Edizione to reduce stake by 3.4 pp     

RTL
SpotX invests in SpringServe (ad serving platform for OTT & CTV)     

Alphabet/Google
Google Search delays mobile-first indexing to March 2021

Amazon
SMB Impact Report 2020: >2m independent sellers, authors, content creators, delivery providers, developers, IT solution providers in US; average income $160k (2019: $100k)
Amazon IT to add 1600 jobs in 2020 (to 8500 in 25 offices)
Plans 10 new fulfillment centers in India; to offer auto insurance in India
Plans fulfillment center in Mt Juliet (Tenn), to open late 2021: 855 ft^2, 1k FTE
Rivian plans e-van deliveries from early 2021 (10k by 2022, all 100k by 2030) (R1T pick-up truck, R1S SUV from June 2021); Rivian sued by Tesla over stealing trade secrets via former employees (total 178 o/w 70 directly)

Microsoft
LinkedIn Cuts 960 jobs (6%) due to corona virus slowdown in hiring

EBay
Sells eBay Classifieds Group (Mobile.de, Gumtree, Marktplaats, dba, Bilbasen, Kijiji, 2dehands, 2ememain, Vivanuncios, Automobile.it, Motors.co.uk, Autotrader (Australia), Carsguide (Australia), eBay Kleinanzeigen) to Adevinta, $9.2b (based on closing prices 200717) in cash ($2.5b) & stock (540m shares = 44%, 33.3% of votes); annual synergies: $150-185m after 3 yr; to close 21Q1; Schibsted (majority) to vote in favor, Blommenholm Industrier (6.3%) to vote in favor; Schibsted to acquire eBay Classifieds' Danish entity (DBA.dk, Bilbasen.dk) after closing


EARNINGS
Main: Vodafone.
  • Vodafone 20/21Q1 trading update
  • Gamma Communications 20Q2 trading statement
  • TalkTalk 20/21Q1
  • Euskaltel 20Q2     
  • Crnogorksi Telekom 20Q2     
  • Hrvatski Telekom 20Q2
  • NENT Group 20Q2; Viaplay to expand to >15 new countries in ~5 yr     
  • Twitter 20Q2; plans complementary (to ads business) subscription service 20H2
  • Snap 20Q2
  • Microsoft 19/20Q4


5G
Main: Globe Telecom and Telekom Slovenije launch 5G.


VIDEO
Main: Google Fiber terminates TV Nashville, Sky closes OTT-TV Spain, Locast expands.


OTHER SERVICES
Main: IoT launches by Telekom and Inmarsat, Cyfrowy Polsat resells solar.


REGULATORY
Main: auction NL ends.

Termination
Broadband
Spectrum
  • Multiband auction NL (700 available directly 703-733 paired with 758-788, 1400 available directly, 1452-1492; 2100 available from early 2021 as ectension from existing licenses, 1920-1980 paired with 2110-2170; all valid 20 yr until 401231); total 26 blocks) NL ends (started 200629, reserve price total EUR 914.668m), raises EUR 1.231717947b, licenses to be delivered within 10 days; coverage obligations: 98% of each muni, average 100 Mb/s; KPN EUR 415.8m ("satisfied", "reasonable price relative to reserve price"; total 75 MHz; 2x10 in 700 band for 158m for 5G; 3x5 in 1400 band for 95m for 4G & 5G; 4x10 in 2100 band for 163m for 4G & 5G), VZ EUR 415.763924m ("zeer tevreden"; reaches 80% pops coverage with 5G in 1800 band, peak speed 650 Mb/s; 2x10 in 700 band158m; 3x5 in 1400 band 95m; 2x20 in 2100 band 163m), T-Mobile NL EUR 400m ("zeer tevreden"; plans swift 5G launch, as soon as licenses received; "starting prices were too high"; 2x10 in 700 band for 5G 158m; 2x5 in 1400 band 77m; 2x10 in 2100 band 163); 3.5 GHz band auction early 2022; AT requires EMV limit of 28 V/m; all bids to be published by 200728 - 26 GHz auction uncertain (3250 MHz, currently for microwave backhaul)
  • Multiband auction LU ended 200718 (38 rounds), raises EUR 41.3m, duration 15 yr, coverage requirement nationwide by 2025: Post LU 110 MHz (2x10 in 700), Orange LU 110 MHz (2x10 in 700), Proximus (Tango, Telindus) 100 MHz (2x10 in 700), Luxembourg Online 10 MHz (in 3.6 band), Eltrona no licenses
  • FCC (US) starts PAL (3550-3650 MHz) auction (CBRS, auction 105)
Platforms

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Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Multiband auction Netherlands 200629-200721 raises EUR 1,232 million

Total
  • 700 band available directly 703-733 paired with 758-788
  • 1400 band available directly, 1452-1492
  • 2100 band available from early 2021, 1920-1980 paired with 2110-2170
  • all valid 20 yr until 401231
  • total 26 blocks
  • reserve price total EUR 914.668m, raises EUR 1.231717947b
  • licenses to be delivered within 10 days
  • coverage obligations: 98% of each muni, average 100 Mb/s, AT requires EMV limit of 28 V/m
  • all bids to be published by 200728 at AT
  • 3.5 GHz band auction early 2022
By MNO
  • KPN EUR 415.8m
    • "satisfied", "reasonable price relative to reserve price"
    • total 75 MHz; 2x10 in 700 band for 158m for 5G; 3x5 in 1400 band for 95m for 4G & 5G; 2x20 in 2100 band for 163m for 4G & 5G
  • VodafoneZiggo EUR 415.763924m
    • "zeer tevreden"
    • 2x10 in 700 band; 3x5 in 1400 band; 2x20 in 2100 band
    • reaches 80% pops coverage with 5G in 1800 band, peak speed 650 Mb/s
  • T-Mobile NL EUR 400m
    • "zeer tevreden", "starting prices were too high"
    • plans swift 5G launch, as soon as licenses received
    • 2x10 in 700 band for 5G; 2x5 in 1400 band; 2x20 in 2100 band

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Saturday, July 18, 2020

Week 29 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

TECHNOLOGY

Samsung 6G white paper The Next Hyper-Connected Experience for All
  • targets earliest commercialization 2028, mass commercialization around 2030
  • advanced services: immersive extended reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, digital replica
  • 3 requirements:
    • 1. Performance (spectral efficiency 2x 5G, energy efficiency 2x 5G, connection density 10x 5G, peak data rate 1000 Gbps = 50x 5G, air latency <100 microseconds (μs) = 0.1x 5G)
    • 2. Architecture (resolve issues arising from limited computation capability of mobile devices, implement AI from initial phase of technology development, enable flexible integration of new network entities)
    • 3. Trustworthiness (address security & privacy issues arising from widespread use of user data & AI tech)
  • candidate technologies: Terahertz spectrum, novel antenna technologies to enhance coverage of high frequency band signals, advanced duplex technologies, evolution of network topology, spectrum sharing to increase efficiency of frequency utilization, use of AI in wireless comms

HARDWARE
  • Vodafone: Vodafone UK launches GPS tracker Curve, with WiFi, mobile, GBP 20 + 2 (24 mo contract) or 3 (12 mo contract) GBP/mo
  • Amazon: Launches Dash Cart: smart shopping cart for Amazon stores (not Amazon Go) for cashierless check-out
  • Facebook: Launches Hero robot: wraps fibre round power lines for fast deployment; first customer NetEquity Networks (non-exclusive, royalty-free licence)

SERVICES

Telecoms
Google
Amazon
  • AWS launches Amazon Interactive Video Service (Amazon IVS): managed service to set up live interactive video streams for web or mobile app; tech from Twitch; latency <3 sec; first customers: Blackboard, 17Live, DeNA's Pococha, ScreenCloud
  • Launches Amazon Influencer Program streaming on Amazon Live [see 170331, 190207]
  • Launches Breakthrough: developing artist program (video & audio content, global marketing support, custom merch stores on Amazon.com, increased visibility across Amazon Music’s playlists & programming, high-profile Amazon Original tracks available only on Amazon Music, support for the artists’ Twitch channels etc); first candidates: Gabby Barrett (country), Kiana Ledé (R&B), JAY1 (rap), Arlo Parks (rap), Provinz (folk pop), Malik Harris.(pop)
Facebook
Snap
Video
  • Netflix: Launches shuffle feature
  • Amazon: Amazon Prime Video adds live TV in DE (no extra cost): 38 channels from ARD/ZDF o/w 28 in HD
  • Comcast: Launches Peacock in US for non-subs, 3 tiers: Peacock Free, Peacock Premium (5 $/mo or 50 $/yr), Peacock Premium No Ads (10 $/mo or 100 $/yr), Comcast & Cox subs get 5 $/mo discount, max 3 simultaneous screen; free tier launches with 13k hr, Premium with 20k hr, live Premier League, US Open, Women's Open; 20 live channels at launch (target 75 after 1 yr); range of apps (excl Amazon, Roku)
  • RTL: Videoland (RTL NL) launches 3 tiers (same content): Basic (5 EUR/mo with ads, 1 screen, no download for offline viewing), Plus (8 EUR/mo no ads, 2 screens, downlaods), Premium (10 EUR/mo no ads, 4 screens, downloads); Premium equals current SVOD service
  • MultiChoice/Showmax: Expands to 40 countries in Africa
Music

NETWORKS

5G
FTTP
Satellite


CORPORATE

Proximus CTO interview
  • changed strategy to NetCo/ServCo-model, with wholesale
  • to add 400k FTTP homes/yr
  • 5G roll-out in Wallon on hold, current radiation limits precludes 5G launch in Brussels (Vlaanderen 20,58 V/m up to 900 MHz, 30,7V/m up to 10 GHz; Wallonia 3V/m per tech; Brussels 6V/m in total); 5G first for Private networks (Port of Antwerp) or slices; mmWave (26 GHz) to be of interest in ~5 yr
Infrastructure sales
  • Orange: Rumor: Orange PL considers selling max <50% of FTTH network
  • Telefonica: Rumor: to sell 12 more datacenters to Nablax (= Asterion), EUR 150m; considers buying stake in Nablax
  • Vodafone: Reuters: plans European towers IPO in Frankfurt, with UBS & Morgan Stanley; valuation EUR 12-16b to raise EUR 3-4b; includes Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd (JV with Telefonica, towers in UK, ES, DE, Brazil) & Inwit stake (JV with TIM,towers in IT)
Divestments
  • Proximus: Rumor: to sell stake in BICS (Proximus 57.6%, Swisscom 22.4%, MTN 20%), acquirer to buy majority stake [see 1911249] - Confirms, Proximus to hold 49%
  • BT: Sells BT France to Computacenter
  • Open Fiber: Reuters: Wren House (= Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund KIA) interested in Enel's 50% stake in Open Fiber
  • Sony: SME sells Syco stake to Simon Cowell
Acquisitions
Results
  • Netflix 20Q2;
    • outlook
      • 20H2: less subs growth; oper margin targets: 16% for 2020, 19% for 2021
      • launch plans 2020 largely intact, 2021 higher (weighted more to H2)
      • FCF 2020 break-even or positive (due to pause in production), 2021 negative (but better than 2019 peak of -$3.3b)
      • path to positibe FCF over next few years unchanged
      • cash content-to-content amortization ratio of 1x still many years away
      • need to raise debt diminishes (none expected for 20H2)
    • appoints Ted Sarandos (CCO) Co-CEO & Greg Peters (CPO) COO
    • viewing stats first 4 weeks
      • Never have I ever 40m
      • Space force 40m
      • Too hot to handle 51m
      • Floor is lava 37m
      • Da 5 bloods 27m
      • Extraction 99m
      • The wrong missy 59m
      • The Willoughbys 38m
      • La casa del papel (part 4) 65m
  • Telia: 20Q2
  • Telenor: 20Q2; cuts outlook
  • Tele2: 20Q2; reinstates FY guidance & extraordinary dividend proposal
Google/Alphabet
Amazon
  • Partners with Crossover Health (primary care services) to establish local health centers (20) near Amazon fulfillment centers & operations facilities US (5 cities), first in Dallas-Fort Worth area (pilot), next in Phoenix, Louisville, Detroit, San Bernardino-Moreno Valley area
  • Plans fulfillment center in Pflugerville (Texas), to open 2021; 1k FTE, 820k ft^2
  • Partners (through The Climate Pledge) with We Mean Business (global nonprofit coalition working with businesses to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon economy) to accelerate goals; Verizon, Reckitt Benckiser, Infosys, Oak View Group join The Climate Pledge     
Other:


REGULATORY

Spectrum
  • Anacom (PT) plans multiband auction Oct 2020
  • Multiband auction LU started 200713: 2x30 MHz in 700 band (reserve price 5.6m EUR/block of 2x10 MHz), 330 MHz in 3.6 GHz band (reserve price 0.3m EUR/block of 1x10 MHz), duration 15 yr; 5 bidders: Eltrona, Luxembourg Online, Orange Luxembourg, Post Luxembourg, Proximus Luxembourg
  • BIPT (BE) awards 5 temporary licenses from 200801 (until auction) for 3.6-3.8 GHz band for 5G (to be lanched by 210301) to Cegeka, Entropia, Orange, Proximus, Telenet; 40 MHz each, 400k EUR/yr each
Equipment/China
  • UK Gvt (DCMS Secretary) ban Huawei due to US sanctions: no new euipment after 201231, remove all 5G equipment by 2027, recommends removing Huawei from fiber networks; total cost GBP 2b, 5G delay 2-3 yr - Observer: ban partly for geopolitical reasons, could be revisited if POTUS Trump not reelected
  • Frontier Economics: Australian 5G deployment costs to rise by >AUD 2.1b; Oxford Economics: 5G rollout costs in Australia go up 30% as result of Huawe ban
Other telecoms
  • Free choice of modem: VodafoneZiggo rejects ACM's free CPE choice proposal
  • Regulation broadband and B2B: Orange Denounces ARCEP's (Chair Sébastien Soriano) criticism (Les Echos, 200707) of its strategy regarding FTTP (too slow), B2B market (share of small business market 63%, SME 62%)
Platforms general
  • Facebook and Twitter ban posts promoting conversion therapy
  • EU Platform to Business regulation (2019/1150, P2B Regulation) comes into effect: promots fairness & transparency for business users
  • US imposes 25% import tariff on selected French goods from 210106 in retaliation for digital sales tax FR
  • PrivacyAffairs: total 340 GDPR fines since launch 2018, total EUR 158m
  • ECJ sides with Max Schrems against Facebook: overturns Privacy Shield but not Standard Contractual Clauses (transfers based on individual agreements remain legal), blocks personal data transfers to US; Irish data regulator may suspend data transfers outside EU if recipient country does not provide sufficient privacy protection (a la GDPR)
  • Saugmandsgaard Øe (ECJ): platforms not liable for copyright infringment before EU's DSM is adopted in national law (210607 at teh latest)
  • Ofcom (UK) opens consultation until 200924 on regulation of video-sharing platforms (VSPs), asks for good practice, technical capabilities of VSP services, any issues & challenges to further its understanding of the sector & the risks of harm; plans guidance by summer 2021
  • EC starts inquiry into consumer IoT (incl voice assistants, smart home devices, wearables), providers could use control over user data to distort competition or otherwise close off these markets for competitors (restrictions of data access & interoperability, certain forms of self-preferencing, practices linked to the use of proprietary standards); to send out RfIs to market participants; plans prelim report spring 2021, final report summer 2022
  • Data transfer: ECJ sides with Apple & Ireland: no tax payment to Ireland required
Self-regulation
  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Twitter: hacking
    • Hackers access verified accounts by targeting employees with access to internal systems and tools; Twitter temporarily disabled verified accounts to tweet - Rumor: inside job, 'Chaewon' offered to change email address tied to any Twitter account - FBI starts investigation - ~130 accounts impacted    
    • Twitter update
      • social engineering: attackers successfully manipulated a small number of employees and used their credentials to access Twitter’s internal systems
      • 130 accounts targeted o/w 45 taken over (password reset, login to the account, send Tweets) o/w 8 account info downloaded incl privatye messages (non verified accounts; most accounts have been restored
      • attackers had no aaccess to previous passwords, e-mail addresses, phone numbers
      • "We’re acutely aware of our responsibilities to the people who use our service and to society more generally. We’re embarrassed, we’re disappointed, and more than anything, we’re sorry."


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Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Samsung's 6G vision: peak data rate 50x 5G's, latency 0.1x 5G's

See white paper The Next Hyper-Connected Experience for All.
  • Targets earliest commercialization 2028, mass commercialization around 2030.
  • Advanced services:
    • Immersive extended reality (XR)
    • High-fidelity mobile hologram
    • Digital replica
  • 3 Requirements:
    1. Performance: spectral efficiency 2x 5G, energy efficiency 2x 5G, connection density 10x 5G, peak data rate 1000 Gbps = 50x 5G, air latency <100 microseconds (μs) = 0.1x 5G
    2. Architecture: resolve issues arising from limited computation capability of mobile devices, implement AI from initial phase of technology development, enable flexible integration of new network entities
    3. Trustworthiness: address security & privacy issues arising from widespread use of user data & AI tech
  • Candidate technologies:
    • Terahertz spectrum
    • Novel antenna technologies to enhance coverage of high frequency band signals
    • Advanced duplex technologies
    • Evolution of network topology
    • Spectrum sharing to increase efficiency of frequency utilization
    • Use of AI in wireless comms

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Monday, July 13, 2020

Week 28 in Telecoms, Media, Internet

CORPORATE

Orange
Appoints Julien Ducarroz CEO Orange PL (from Orange Moldova) and Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière Head of Orange Europe (Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, Luxembourg)

Telefonica
Telefónica Innovation Ventures invests in Nozomi (cybersecurity)

Proximus
To merge Unbrace (app development) into Codit (IT)

Orange BE
Appoints Xavier Pichon CEO (from BCG; formerly Orange)

Tele2
Appoints Kjell Morten Johnsen (formerly VEON, Telenor) Pres & CEO to replace Anders Nilsson

Zain/Etisalat
Zain & Mobily (Etisalat) plan tower JV in Saudi Arabia

Alphabet/Google
GCP ordered by Deutsche Bank, 10 yr - Rumor: cancelled cloud project for China etc (project Isolated Region) - GCP ordered  by Renault

Amazon
Reuters: to invest $100m in stock awards for Zoox employees (900), may cancel acquisition if large number of employees refuse job offer; to pay $1.3b, to close Sep 2020

Facebook
Sustainability Report: GHG emissions reduced 59% from 2017, 86% of ops powered by renewable energy, total energy usage 2019 +50%
Axios: Facebook boycott organizers share details on their Zuckerberg meeting, generally disappointed (not yet ready to address the vitriolic hate on their platform)
Delays Oversight Board to 20Q4 [see 200506]
Internal Civil Rights Audit report: doesn't do enough against hate speech & disinformation

Microsoft
Rumor: considers offer for Warner Bros games division

Spotify
Ad deal from Omnicom (agencies Hearts & Science, OMD, PHD), $20m: ads around podcasts

Sony
Acquires 1.4% stake in Epic Games (makes Fortnite, Unreal Engine), $250m; valuation $17.86b; total raised $1.83b
Sells Sony Pictures Television France (unscripted activity & Starling) to Satisfaction (renames to Satisfy)

Quibi
[History] - Sensor Tower: <10% of April 2020 sign-ups converted to paying subs (72k of 910k) - Denies

fuboTV
Sells stake to Credit Suisse Capital, $20m (2.1m shares at $9.25); 20Q1: reaches 287k paying subs (+37% yoy)

Nielsen
Plans 3500 job cuts

WPP
3 Units to merge into Finsbury Glover Hering (FGH), WPP to own 50.01%, FGH 49.99% through buy-back

Thomson Reuters
Rumor: Reuters plans paywall from Feb 2021

NPO
Minister finalises plans [see 190606]: to end advertising online & around children's programming 210101, extra state funding rises to 40m EUR/yr; to reduce ad load/income 20% per yr 2022-2027 (total reduction 50%); to add local programming to NPO 2 TV, NPO 3 TV remains youth focused

Vivendi
Canal+ fined EUR 3-5m for opt-out sale 2017

(NETWORK) EXPANSION

Deutsche Telekom
Magenta Telekom extends reach to >50 communities in Tyrol providing services over cablecos & munifiber    
T-Mobile PL expands RSP coverage to full Fiberhost (= Inea) coverage: 1m HH

Iliad IT
Iliad IT to provide services on Open Fiber's FTTH network by 2024

Euskaltel
Euskaltel to provide services over Orange ES 1.8m FTTH lines

Google
Loon launches service (4G) in Kenya (31k miles^2, incl Nairobi) with Telkom Kenya (35k beta users); 35 balloon at 12 miles; down record 19 Mb/s, up record 4.7 Mb/s, latency 19 ms
Google Fiber plans FTTP in West Des Moines (Iowa), city to invest $35-42m in open access conduit network; Google Fiber to rent access for 2.25 $/mo (minimum $4.5m over 20 yr) - Confirms    

5G
Elisa expands 5G in Helsinki
TDC plans Private 5G at Grundfos (pump manufacturer DK), with Ericsson
AT&T plans Private 5G for Phillips 66 (refinery), with Accenture
Fortum Power & Heat plans Private 5G in 2.3 GHz band (20 MHz) based on owned spectrum
Zain KSA expands coverage to 30 cities (in all districts)
Groupe ADP, Hub One, Air France plan Private 4G/5G at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Paris-Le Bourget airports.(1k employers, 120k employees), with Ericsson

India
India plans nationwide fiber (BharatNet) at panchayat (village council) level

Zambia
Fibrecom (= Zesco = gvt) to invest $50m in fibre in 2 yr

Ghana
Vodafone Ghana to migrate subs from copper to FTTH

Spotify
Rumor: to expand to Russia 200715

DAZN

SERVICES

Amazon
AWS launches AWS IoT SiteWise: managed service that collects data from the plant floor, structures and labels the data, and generates real-time KPIs and metrics to help industrial customers make better, data-driven decisions; first customers: Volkswagen, Bayer Crop Science, Pentair, Genie (= Terex), TensorIoT, Softing Industrial

Twitter
Rumor: plans subscription platform (codename Gryphon)

Disney
Fox Sports NL ends support for Smart TV apps (Samsung, LG) & Apple TV

Comcast
Peacock to focus on AVOD tiers; reaches 1000 employees; to invest $2b in 2020-21; target $2.5b rev in 2024 on 30-35m subs
Peacock content deal with NBU for free matches of NBC Sports’ Premier League from 200715, total 175 mathes in 2020/21 season
Sky Q adds features: new UI, voice discovery, bring together TV & apps more seamlessly, adds sports centers

AT&T
HBO Max to expand to Latam 2021
Crunchyroll orders new original series

Amazon
Prime Video adds user profiles (max 6 per account), with parental controls
Adds tuner to Fire TV Cube for OTA channels in US, Canada, UK, DE, FR

Naspers
Showmax adds live sports

TDC
YouSee (MSO, = TDC) plans stand-alone OTT service YouTv: live TV channels + 3rd-party OTT services

5G
Cable & Wireless Seychelles plans 5G launch July 2020 for smartphones, first in capital Victoria, Roche Caiman district & the airport; with Huawei
Taiwan Star plans 5G commercial launch Aug 2020, with Nokia

Traffic
ACM (NL) Telecommonitor 20Q1: mobile data usage (3G & 4G) 214b MB (+35% yoy), 20.257m mobile lines (+4% yoy), fixwed voice (PSTN & ISDN) 340m minutes (-21% yoy), #SMS -10% yoy, M2M connections 7m (+35% yoy), 7.45m BB lines, 2.76m FMC bundles (+8% yoy), fixed-only bundles 4.17m; market shares mobile data: T-Mobile #1 (>50%), KPN #2 (20-25%), Vodafone #3 (15-20%)

TECHNOLOGY

KPN
KPN demos 8.5/8.5 Gb/s (1 ms latency) over XGS-PON in real-world setting in Amersfoort

Compression
Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (with Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei) developed H.266 = Versatile Video Coding (VVC); to halve bitrate requirement of H.265

2G/3G
GSMA: emerging markets will rely on 2G & 3G for another 5 yr

5G
3GPP finalises Release 16, adds or enhances NR–Unlicensed (NR-U), Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB), Sidelink (C-V2X, device-to-device), Time Sensitive Networking (TSN, replaces ethernet & cabling, suited for Industry 4.0), Precise Positioning (without GPS; based on round-trip delay, angle of arrival & other; precision <1 meter); enhances Release 15 (MIMO/beamforming, power efficiency, latency); [equipment based on enhanced Release 15 & Release 16 to be launched early 2021]; Release 17 (Dec 2021) may be delayed
Samsung launches vRAN for 5G (fully-virtualized); replaces dedicated baseband hardware with software elements on a general-purpose computing platform (scale capacity & performance more easily, add new features quickly, have flexibility to support multiple architectures), reduces maintenance costs (moves to a COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) x86-based platform)
Motorola launches Moto G 5G Plus, EUR 350 (4GB RAM, 64GB storage) or EUR 400 (6GB RAM, 128GB storage) - VinSmart (= Vingroup, Vietnam) launches 5G smartphone Vsmart Aris 5G, based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G - OnePlus plans One Plus Nord 5G 200721, rumored price EUR 290
Verizon plans migration to SA core 5G 2020

PLATFORM (SELF) REGULATION, LITIGATION, LICENSING

Platforms
WSJ: EU plans platform regulations aimed at moniopolistic behavior, tax evasion & content liability (hate speech)
Google, Facebook, Twitter halt processing Hong Kong government requests for user data; TikTok blocks usage in Hong Kong (operates as Douyin in China) - US considers TikTok ban - Microsoft Telegram, Zoom also pause data requests; Apple considers - Amazon orders employees to delete TikTok app over security risks - Amazon says order sent by mistake, will not ban TikTok
Indonesia launches 10% VAT on Amazon, Google, Netflix, Spotify
Facebook and Twitter ban posts promoting conversion therapy

Alphabet/Google
Rumor: California plans antitrust investigation

Facebook
Rumor: considers blackout on political ads in the days running up to the US presidential election

Twitter
Bans >50 accounts linked to Identitarian movement (white nationalist)

Apple
Plans to require apps to seek additional permission from users before tracking them across other apps & websites

Amazon
Amazon, authors (John Grisham, Scott Turow, R.L. Stine, Sylvia Day etc) & publisher (Penguin Random House) sue Kiss Library (pirated e-books)

Spectrum auctions
Mexico to delay 5G auction to 2021
FCC: 271 bidders for Auction 105 (3.5 GHz band: 3550-3650, 7 Priority Access Licences (PALs) per county, 10 yr licenses), to start 200727
PTS (SE) proposes combined 2.1 (expires end 2025) & 2.6 (expires end 2023) GHz auctiom, consultation until 200901

China
FT: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to demand phasing out Huawei from UK 5G networks
Backdoor accounts discovered in 29 FTTH devices from Chinese vendor C-Data    


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