Week 27 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

CORPORATE

KPN

• AFM: Capital Income Builder 3.08%     
• KPN Ventures invests in Smart Photonics     

DT

• Telekom Innovation Pool invests EUR 2m in RemoteMyApp (cloud gaming service ​Vortex.gg, PL); plan cloud gaming service (beta) - And $18m in Cynet (autonomous breach protection)
• Transfers T-Systems' telecoms ops to local operators (Telekom DE etc) to focus on IT & digitisation services for large clients worldwide

Telefonica

• Rumor: plans sale of mobile ops Costa Rica [see 200504]

BT

• Fitch affirms BBB/stable

Proximus

• Appoints Anne-Sophie Lotgering (from Orange BE) CEMO (enterprise market) to replace Bart Van Den Meersche

Telenor

• ESA fines Telenor NO EUR 112m over abuse of market dominance 2008-2012 (wholesale prices higher than retail prevented market entries), ESA suggests civil actions for damages by competitors; Telenor to appeal     

Vodafone

• Rumor: plans IPO of tower business in Frankfurt early 2021
• Vodafone NZ sells datacenter to Plan B

PPF Group

• Spins off mobile networks in Hungary, Bulgary, Serbia as Cetin (as in CZ), all under Cetin Group (= PPF)

Play

• Rumor: considers selling towers (8k), value EUR 800m

Gamma

• Acquires HFO Holding (DE, VoIP, Cloud PBX & mobile (brand Epsilon, 100k lines); 2019 rev EUR 45.9m, EBITDA EUR 3.2m): 80% + option for 20% in 3 yr, EUR 20.4m cash + results-based amount (between EUR 7.5-17.5m cash) for 8% (2021), 8% (2022), 4% (2023), maximum prince EUR 37.9m [= 12x EBITDA 2019, 0.8x rev 2019]

Canal+ Polski

• Plans IPO

RTL

• AGM, annual report 2019, replaces PwC by KPMG as auditor for 1 yr

Discovery

• Acquires Tele 5 (FTA channel DE; movies & series) from Leonine + content deal with Leonine

Deezer

• Sells minority stake to Grupo Salinas, $40m in media exposure on TV Azteca, valuation $1.4b     

Amazon

• To pay $500m bonuses for front-line workers & delivery partners over strong demand from consumers stuck at home during coronavirus lockdowns ($500 for full-time Amazon/Whole Foods employees, $250 for part-timers, $1000 for leaders; delivery oweners $3000, drivers $150) - Strike in DE over corona infections
• WSJ: AWS to establish Aerospace & Satellite Solutions unit to serve military and commercial space organizations; to be headed by Clint Crosier

Facebook

• Plans datacenter in DeKalb (near Chicago), $800m; #12 in US (excl leased datacenters from DLR, Cloud HQ) (3 in Europe, 1 in Singapore), 907k ft^2

PE

• TINC Acquires majority of Datacenter United (datacenters BE)
• Infracapital Acquires Breitbandversorgung Deutschland (BBV; FTTB, 33k premises) from RiverRock
• NJJ NJJ Presse acquires Paris-Turf (Paris Turf, Bilto, Cheval Magazine etc), EUR 1; takes on 151 employees (of 248), to invest EUR 12m in 3 yr; to discontinue paper editions of daily newspapers Bilto and Tiercé Magazine and of monthly Stato, Cheval Magazine and Cheval Pratique; to close Aix-en-Provence site and printing at Vitrolles

INFRASTRUCTURE - Fixed

Netherlands

• KPN plans FTTP in Rotterdam, 285k HP in 5 yr, first in Centrum-Oost, Delfshaven; Telecompaper: currently 25k lines on 325k HH = 8%
• Primevest & T-Mobile NL plan FTTP in 3 remaining areas (Centrum, Strijp, Gestel) in Eindhoven (>29k HH + 1100 small businesses), >EUR 20m, from Sep 2020, target near-citywide coverage (9.7%)

Spain

• Gvt ES approves PEBA-NGA program, EUR 150m for underserved (grey) areas; target 91% pops coverage (75% in rural areas) of superfast BB (minimum 300 Mb/s) YE 2021
• Euskaltel to get (voluntary) access to Movistar's FTTH, 5 yr

UK

• B4RN targets 40k premises passed by 220331 (o/w 20k connected), possibly 70k by 2025/26; currently 7235 paying subs
• Virgin Media UK plans Docsis 3.1 expansion to Edinburgh, Liverpool (600k premises)

US

• Google Fiber plans FTTP in West Des Moines (Iowa), city to invest $35-42m in conduit network; Google Fiber to rent access for 2.25 $/mo (minimum $4.5m over 20 yr)

INFRASTRUCTURE - Wireless

5G

• WPI Econimcs for Vodafone UK report: how 5G can boost productivity in UK, cumulative benefits 2020-2030 GBP 150b from connectivity, faster and more reliable mobile networks; Huawei remains valued party but will comply with UK gvt decision
• Vodafone HU expands 5G-3500 to <300 base stations
• AT&T expands 5G to 28 new markets (total 355; total 335 cities); total coverage 160m pops (179m); launches DSS
• MTN ZA launches 5G at 100 sites (3.5 GHz at 58 sites; 2.1 & 1.8 GHz at 35 sites; 700 MHz at 5 sites; 28 GHz at 3 sites) in Gauteng (Bryanston and Honeydew), Western Cape (Blouberg in Cape Town), Free State (Universitas in Bloemfontein): mobility (5G mobile; average 50 Mb/s, max 500 Mb/s; with smartphones: Huawei P40 Pro, Huawei P40, LG Velvet 5G.) & FWA (5G home WiFi; average 100 Mb/s, max 500 Mb/s; with routers: Huawei CPE Pro 2 5G, Huawei MC801A 5G, ZTE 6878); unlimited data (with FUP) 1000 ZAR/mo (with 36 mo contract), 1250 ZAR/mo (with 24 mo contract); partners with Emerge Gaming for cloud gaming
• Optus trials mmWave in 26 GHz band in Sydney, with Ericsson
• MCI (Hamrah-e Avval; Iran) to launch 5G in Tehran Sep 2020
• Zain Bahrain launches 5G, with Ericsson
• Chunghwa Telecom launches 5G in Taiwan at 2k base stations (target 4k YE 2020, 10k by 2022), 500 Mb/s - 1.5 Gb/s; speed-based pricing, unlimited data from 1400 to 2700 TAD/mo, hotspot cap 50 GB/mo - Taiwan Mobile Co to launch 200701, target 10k base stations (pops coverage 90%) in 3 yr; volume-based pricing, unlimited data 1400 TAD/mo - Far EasTone to launch 200703 (has 80 MHz in 3.5 GHz band), target pops coverage 50% YE 2020
• Taiwan Mobile Co launches 5G
• Dish orders equipment from Fujitsu, Altiostar; plans Open RAN
• Telecom Malagasy (Telma, Madagascar; = AXIAN Group) launched 5G (3.6-3.7 GHz) 200626 in Antananarivo & Toamasina for mobile & FWA, with Ericsson
• EU: 5G small cells to be exempted from planning permission requirements
• GSMA: 5G Brings Five Opportunities with New Value (connectivity, AI, cloud, computing, industrial applications)
• Vodafone DE launches Vodafone Business Campus Private: containerised modular 5G campus network solution, based on Vodafone RedBox, with Ericsson - Vodafone DE & Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf (UKD) plans Private 5G campus network - Vodafone UK launches SA 5G at Coventry Univ campus
• DNA (Telenor) expands 5G to Heinola
• Vodafone IE plans DSS with Ericsson, targets 30% coverage by March 2021
• Far EasTone launches 5G, with Ericsson (RAN & Core)
• Magenta Telekom (DT) expands 5G to 600 sites, coaverage 25% of homes & businesses; target 1200 (40%) YE 2020
• Claro Brasil launches 5G using DSS for 700, 1800, 2500 bands; with Ericsson, Qualcomm

Other

• BE could plan 5G auction and set proceeds distribution afterwards
• MNOs UAE (Etisalat, Du) to close 2G end 2022
• T-Mobile NL orders Telindus to automate mobile infra     
• East Tender expects 6G standard by 2023, equipment specs by 2027

SERVICES - Wholesale, developers

Deutsche Telekom

• T-Systems launches Multi Cloud Connectivity Platform to book lines (direct & VPNs) from cloud network providers (incl DT) to AWS, Azure, GCP

Alphabet/Google

• To add free product lsitings to Search results [see 200421]
• Reuters: to bar publishers from advertising if they block Google from reader data collection (as demanded by GDPR) from 200815

Facebook

• Expands fan subscriptions (for creators with >100k followers to monetise content) to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, UK, US

SERVICES - End users

TV

• Ziggo adds Ziggo Go apps for Amazon Fire TV stick, Android TV (for connected TVs), Apple TV
• T-Mobile NL expands IPTV service with nDVR & replay (max 7 days), extra 5 EUR/mo; to exchange STBs; to renew TVE apps (TV Anywhere)

3P

• Solcon (KPN) alters 3P prices

WhatsApp

• WhatsApp (>2b users) adds features: animated stickers, dark mode for web app, QR-code for contact details sharing, status (self-destruct after 24 hr) for KaiOS, video maximisation, 1-click group calls

Spotify

• Launches real-time lyrics (out of beta) in 26 countries
• Expands Premium Duo tier to 55 markets (US, UK, DE, IT, ES, India etc), 13 $/mo, 13 GBP/mo; access to Duo Mix playlist
• Plans podcast series with Formula 1 (Paddock Pass)

Alphabet

• Ends sales of Pixel 3a & Pixel 3a XL; rumor: to be replaced by Pixel 4a

Amazon

• Expands Amazon Pantry (groceries & essential items) to >300 cities in India
• Rumor: to delay Prime Day to Oct 2020 [see 200403]

Facebook

• Demos 3 prototype holographic VR headsets
• To end Hobbi app 200710 [see 200213] - To end Lasso app 200710 [see 181025]
• Changes algorithm to prioritize original reporting in News Feed

Apple

• Apple Arcade focuses on games that keep users beyond free trial period

Comcast

• Content deal for Peacock with ViacomCBS, non-exclusive (library movies & series)

RTL

• Videoland (RTL NL) to add live channels

PLATFORMS

General

• Conseil d’Etat (Appeals Court FR) annuls in part cookie guidelines issued by CNIL (has no power to prohibit cookie walls)
• India bans 59 Chinese apps over border tensions; incl Bytedance’s TikTok, Tencent Music Entertainment’s QQ Music - Apple (App Store) and Google (Play Store) comply
• Axios: tech finally begins crackdown on Trump
• CMA (UK) calls for regulatory regime to curb Google's and Facebook's (& other ad-funded platforms) market power in digital advertising (large users bases, unmatchable access to user data, default settings, presence across many different markets) creating entry barriers; proposes establishment of Digital Markets Unit; CMA, Ofcom, ICO establish Digital Markets Taskforce for advice by end 2020
• AP (NL) rejects law change to track corona virus on privacy grounds

Alphabet/Google

• EU widens Fitbit acquisition investigation (could help entrench search and advertising)

Facebook

• Advertisers have 10 demands; >500 brands joined boycott - Rumor: CEO Zuckerberg will not change policy on hate speech, expects advertisers to return [see 200620]
• CJR: Facebook lies on the record, has ghost-written op-eds, demanded quote approval for interviews
• Flaw exposed personal information to 5000 developers after cut-off data (in 2018)