Tuesday, October 06, 2020

Week 40 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

Networks

5G

  • Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp (PT&T) plans FWA trial
  • Orange trials smart factory with Schneider Electric in Le Vaudreuil: AR for maintenance, telepresence robot
  • 3 Ireland launches 5G at 315 sites, pops coverage 35% (to add 500 early 2021), with smartphones; uses 3.7 GHz band and repurposed 4G spectrum; with Ericsson
  • Xiaomi launches 8K TV (Mi TV Lux Pro 82-inch TV) with 5G - And Mi 10T smartphone series
  • Samsung Electronics (RAN, Core, MEC) & Microsoft (Azure) plan e2e cloud-based Private 5G solution for retail stores, smart factories, entertainment venues
  • Telstra launches FWA over 5G (first invitation-only): 5G Home Internet, 85 AUD/mo for 500 GB/mo, incl modem, typical download speeds 50-300 Mb/s
  • BT orders 5G RAN from Nokia to replace Huawei
  • Elisa orders 5G RAN (and Core) from Ericsson, and RAN from Nokia
  • Telenor SE launches Private 5G (3.7 GHz) at Atlas Copco (Sickla plant in Stockholm), with Ericsson
  • T-Mobile US expands 5G-2500 to 121 new cities, total 210
  • Eir expands 5G to 340 sites
  • MoC Israel hands 5G licenses to Partner, HOT (Altice Europe), Pelephone (Bezeq); Pelephone launches service at 150 sites (200 GB/mo for 50 ILS/mo, 500 GB/mo for 60 ILS/mo), Partner and HOT at 250 sites (500 GB/mo for 60 ILS/mo, 1 TB/mo for 70 ILS/mo)
  • Rakuten Mobile launches NSA 5G (midband & mmWave) in 6 areas, max 870/110 Mb/s (from Nov 2020: max 2.2 Gb/s down, 275 Mb/s up), with Rakuten-branded smartphone (BIG, 6.9 inch) & Aquos R5G; launches unlimited plan Rakuten UN-LIMIT V (4G & 5G), 3000 JPY/mo ('with transformational innovation, we are passing on significant savings to our customers'), with loyalty program; to launch SA 5G 21Q2
  • ZTE demos broadcast over 5G NR (30 MHz in 700 band)
  • Telekom DE, DFMG Deutsche Funkturm, Kathrein Broadcast, Porsche, Rohde & Schwarz, SWR (project lead), Technische Universität Braunschweig – Institut für Nachrichtentechnik launch 5G broadcast trial in Stuttgart & Heilbronn for in-car use
  • DoCoMo demos multi-vendor CA (3.7 & 4.5 GHz bands), with Fujitsu, NEC
  • Nokia demos network slicing; plans first deliveries end 2020
  • Nokia reaches 100 5G operator deals & 160 commercial 5G engagements (incl trials)
  • Telefonica DE launches 5G in 5 cities (Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt) at 150 sites (450 antennae), to add 10 new cities Oct 2020; targets k sites (antennea incl 3.6 GHz band) YE 2021
  • Batelco (Bahrain) reaches near-nationwide coverage (95%)
  • Vodafone CZ launches NSA 5G in 5 cities (Prague, Brno, Usti nad Labem, Jesenik, Karlovy Vary), with DSS
  • O2 UK (Telefonica) plans expansion to 100 cities YE 2021 after merger with Virgin Media (Liberty Global)

WiFi: WiFi 7 (802.11be) to launch 2024, max 46 Gb/s, max 320 MHz

Services

Telecoms

OTT

  • Video
    • Walt Disney
      • Disney+ plans Drive-In Festival in Santa Monica (Cal) 201005-12: screenings incl premieres (The Right Stuff, Clouds)
      • Closes Disney Channel in UK, content moves to Disney+
      • Lowers Premier Access price for Mulan to $7 on Disney+; available for non-subs from 201006 on Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, VUDU, FandangoNOW
    • WarnerMedia: Movie The Witches (Robert Zemeckis, Anne Hathaway) premieres in HBO Max 201022, skips US theater release due to corona virus, int theater release 201028
    • PMO (= PTV Telecom, Opencable, Asociación de Operadores de Telecomunicaciones Locales de Andalucía (ACUTEL)) launches Zapi; tech from Mirada (IRIS solution), based on Android
  • Music: Amazon: To add remastered tracks to UHD or 3D Audio (Dolby Atmos, Sony 360RA) from UMG & WMG for Amazon Music HD (currently 5m tracks in HD, 60m in HD)
  • Print: Google: Launches News Showcase program (as part of Google News Initiative), $1b: 3rd-party paywalled news production for Google News from 200 publishers in UK, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, DE
  • Commerce: Amazon Launches Amazon Explore (platform & marketplace), public beta: live virtual experiences with tour guides, store owners, other local experts in countries around the world; hosts set price (mostly $10-200); launches with 86 experiences in 16 countries

Hardware, technology

  • Google: Launch Night In event: launches
    • Google TV (OS, UX, formerly Android TV: guide for love TV & apps, recommendations, search; for Chromecast, Android TV, later other devices)
    • Chromecast With Google TV ($50; remote control, 4K, HDR 60 fps, Dolby Vision, voice control; to add Google Stadia support 21H1), promo: $90 incl 6 mo Netflix
    • Nest Audio (smart speaker, $100, successor to Google Home; 2 will create stereo sound)
    • Pixel 4a 5G ($500, EUR 500, GBP 500) & Pixel 5 (5G; $700, GBP 600; with 3 mo free Stadia & YouTube Premium & Google One (100 GB)), both with Extreme Battery Saver mode
    • Hold For Me (feature of Google Assistant for while waiting on hold, powered by Duplex tech)
    • new editor for Google Photos on Android
  • Amazon: Launches Amazon One tech (verification by hand palm scanning) in Amazon Go store Seattle

Corporate

M&A

IPO

  • fuboTV: Sets IPO price at $9-11, to sell 15m shares, ticker FUBO
  • Playboy: Plans IPO through SPAC merger with Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp (MCAC), ticker to change to PLBY, to close 21Q1
  • Roblox: Rumor: plans IPO early 2021, valuation ~$8b
  • Airbnb: Rumor: to raise $3b from IPO, to file Nov, IPO Dec 2020

Other

  • Walt Disney: Cuts 28k jobs at US theme parks (Disneyland, Walt Disney World) over corona virus
  • Grupo Prisa: To refinance EUR 1.2b debt

Regulatory

Spectrum

  • ARCEP (FR) starts Phase 2 of 5G auction (3.4-3.8 GHz) - Ends 201001 raising EUR 2.786b from 310 MHz after 17 rounds, 10 MHz blocks priced at EUR 126m (to be paid over 4 yr), 50 MHz for EUR 350m (to be paid over 15 yr [see 200102]); Iliad wins 70 MHz for EUR 602m; Orange wins 90 MHz, EUR 854m (total holdings: 257 MHz); Bouygues Telecom wins 70 MHz, EUR 602m; Altice FR wins 80 MHz, EUR 728m (total holdings 245 MHz); positioning auction follows Oct 2020
  • BIPT (BE) awards final 4G spectrum (2.6 GHz band) to Citymesh, valid 15 yr, EUR 15m

Google

  • To block election ads in US after polls for US Presidential Election (201103) close
  • WSJ: small search engines (such as DuckDuckGo, Ecosia) lose auction for position as search engine on Android; DuckDuckGo only appears in Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein
  • WSJ: makes concessions to EU to get Fitbit acquisition approved: no discrimination against wearables manufacturers that also use Android; Fitbit to continue health-data deals with 3rd-parties (such as Strada); Fitbit data not to be used for targeted ads

Facebook

  • Sues BrandTotal (Israel) and Unimania (US) over data scraping (name, user ID, gender, date of birth, relationship status, location information, other) using browser extensions (UpVoice and Ads Feed)
  • WSJ: Facebook files doc (14 pages) to counter company break-up ('A ‘breakup’ of Facebook is thus a complete nonstarter' because of costs)
Twitter: Plans Birdwatch: moderation tool to fight misinformation (to provide notes as context, report tweets)

Platforms

  • FT: EU Digital Services Act forbids platforms qualifying as gatekeepers to pre-install exclusively their own apps, nor require from 3rd-party OS or CPE manufacturers; uninstalling pre-installed apps must be possible; data collected may not be used to target users unless shared with rivals; blocking rivals from offering services outside platform not allowed h
  • Singapore plans Cybersecurity Labelling Scheme (cyber security as the equivalent of providing fresh water & sewerage services)

at 12:52 am
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