Week 5 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

Corporate

• Telefonica: Moody's rates Telefonica Europe's hybrid debt (deeply subordinated, guaranteed fixed rate reset securities, fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Telefonica on a subordinated basis) Ba2, outlook stable - Issues first green hybrid bond, raises EUR 1b
• Rumor: Vodafone ES plans InfraCo with Orange ES to pool towers (as alternative to MasMovil merger) - Rumor: MasMovil plans merger - To include ES & PT
• Altice Europe: To sell 50.01% Hivory (10500 towers) stake to Cellnex at EV 100% EUR 5.2b; to add 2500 sites over 8 yr for EUR 900m [build-to-suit]; to close 21H2; SFR to remain anchor tenant under 18 yr lease (renewable in 5 yr periods); Starlight Holdco (49.01%) also sells stake to Cellnex; Cellnex total portfolio up to 120k sites in Europe
• Delta Fiber (= EQT; currently 800k premises, target 1m end 2021) acquires Rekam (>50k lines), excludes RekamGlasDraad JV (Rekam & GlasDraad (= TINC, Mabin))
• Shell Energy: Acquires 450k BB subs from Post Office
• Box: Acquires SignRequest (NL), $55m: cloud-based electronic signature tool, can be integrated with many enterprise tools, to be relaunched as Box Sign summer 2021
• Vivino: Raises $155m
• RTL: Sells SpotX to Magnite, $1.17b (EUR 977m EV) in cash ($560m = EUR 468m) & stock (14.0m shares); to close 21Q2l acquired SpotX in 2014 (65% for EUR 107m) & 2017 (35% for EUR 123m); to focus on European ad tech via Smartclip and Yospace
• BBC: Publishes report BBC Value for Audiences: funding freeze since 2010 reduced effective real-terms income by 30%, average 5m users at any given moment, 45m DAU

Earnings

• BT: 20/21Q3; maintains outlook 20/21: EBITDA GBP 7.3-7.5b, FCF GBP 1.3-1.5b (narrowed); 5G reaches 125 towns, 790k FTTP subs; Strategic Pillars: 1. build the strongest foundations , 2. create standout customer experiences, 3. lead the way to a bright, sustainable future; Ultrafast BB (>100 Mb/s) reaches 6.88m premises o/w 4.05m FTTP, current FTTP rate 42k premises/week
• Swisscom: 20Q4; plans cost savings 2021 CHF 100m (on operational business), 2022 CHF 100m (on digital transformation); outlook 2021: rev flat CHF 11.1b (8.5 in CH, 2.4 in IT), EBITDA slightly down CHF 4.3b (3.4 in CH, 0.8 in IT), capex slightly up CHF 2.3b (1.6 in CH, 0.6 in IT), div CHF 22; broadband coverage targets: 80 Mb/s for 90%, 10 Gb/s for 39% YE 2021; 300-500 Mb/s for 90%, 10 Gb/s for 60% YE 2025; 5G coverage targets: 99% YE 2021 (with 5G+ forced expansion), 99% YE 2025 (with nationwide 5G+)
• Orange BE: 20Q4, div 50c; outlook 2021: rev growth LSD, EBITDA AL EUR 320-340m, capex 200-220m
• Vodafone: 20/21Q3; maintains 20/21 guidance
• Telenor: 20Q4
• DNA: 20Q4
• Tele2: 20Q4
• Alphabet: 20Q4; to extend useful life of equipment (servers from 3 to 4 yr, network equipment from 3 to 5 yr) from 2021, positive impact oper result 2021 $2.1b
• Amazon: 20Q4; guidance 21Q1: net rev $100.0-106.0b (growth 33-40%), oper income $3.0-6.5b (incl $2.0b corona virus related costs); CEO Jeff Bezos to step down to and become Executive Chair 21Q3, Andy Jassy (AWS) to become CEO, Bezos to focus on Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post; to invest $2.5b in HQ2 in Arlington (Virgoinia) over 10 yr for 25k employees
• Snap: 20Q4, Spotlight reached >100m MAU; guidance 21Q1: rev $720-740m, adj EBITDA loss 50-70m
• Pinterest: 20Q4; guidance 21Q1: rev growth low 70s'priorities for 2021: the Pinner experience, advertiser success, shopping; plans int expansion
• Spotify: 20Q4 - ESOP (31.9m shares at $322.11 = $10.3m) - CEO Daniel Ek 32,773,691 votes = 17.2% (same for DGE Holding, DGE Investments) -  Martin Lorentzon 21,176,660 votes = 11.1% - Holds 282,830,698 shares = 21.1% of Tencent Music Entertainment

Networks

• FTTH
• CityFibre: Starts in Sheffield, 5 yr, GBP 110m    
• Freedom Fibre plans FTTP in Culcheth (max 500 Mb/s), with TalkTalk as ISP
• 5G
• Lufthansa deploys 2 Private SA 5G networks at Hamburg site (3.7-3.8 GHz): 1 from Vodafone DE, 1 from Nokia; latency 7ms and 16 ms; Lufthansa manages both
• NTT, AIS, Fujitsu, NEC, Activio, AGC, Exeo Asia, Loxley, Mobile Innovation establish 5G Global Enterprise Solution Consortium (5GEC) for APAC (first for Thailand): Private 5G (mgt services)
• Chuan Chih develops terminal simulation systems & 5G vertical applications to help companies accelerate efforts to develop, build, operate & maintain 5G private networks
• Cyta (Cytamobile-Vodafone) launches 5G with 70% pops coverage (target 98% in 12 mo), no extra cost
• DISH orders access to towers, rooftops, utility transmission structures, billboards, convenience stores & other sites used for wireless infrastructure deployment from Vertical Bridge REIT
• PwC report (Powering Your Tomorrow): 5G adoption to boost global economy by USD 1.3t by 2030
• BCG for CTIA report: 5G to add $1.5t to GDP and 4.5m jobs in US over 10 yr
• FWA
• Voneus (Macquarie) launches FWA in Ouston and Perkinsville (County Durham), 30-50 Mb/s
• LEO
• Starlink (SpaceX) plans phone service; reaches 10k users of beta BB service

Services

• B2B
• Google Meet adds green room feature to test settings before meeting
• Zoom adds features for hybrid workforce
• Webex (Cisco) launches Webex Desk Camera, adds feature to share max 4 screens
• Smart City
• Uberlândia (Brazil) connects 22k streetlights, with Telensa, Novakoasin
• Video
• Netflix: Raises prices in Japan, Basic/Standard/Premium from 880/1320/1980 to 990/1490/1980 JPY/mo Rumor: BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 plan AVOD service for live & catch-up TV
• NAACP Image Awards nominations (winners 210327)L Netflix 14, Amazon 3
• Golden Globes 2021 nominations (winners 210228): Netflix 20, Amazon 3 in TV; Netflix 22, Amazon 7 in movies
• Writers Guild 2021 nominations: Netflix 10, Amazon 3
• Screen Actors Guild Awards 2021 nominations (winners 210404)

• Music
• Sony: SME acquires AWAL(recorded music) & Kobalt Neighbouring Rights from Kobalt, $430m [Kobalt Music Group continues Kobalt Music Publishing, publishing collection society AMRA and Kobalt Capital]
• Round Hill: Acquires 18k songs from Round Hill Fund One, $282m (incl The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, John Lee Hooker, Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson etc); to acquire 29% stake in set of 100k songs formerly of Carlin
• Hipgnosis: Raises GBP 75m equity from Morgan Stanley & existing shareholders
• The Music Acquisition Corp: IPO on NYSE, ticker TMAC.U, IPO rpice $10, via SPAC
• SoundCloud: Rumor: plans service allowing users to pay creators directly; currently 175m MAU

• Hardware
• Apple: Rumor: to partner with Hyundai and PSA on electric cars - Rumor: to order Kia (= Hyuandai) to produce electric cars, $3.6b, to produce 100k EV cars/yr in Georgia by 2024 - Hyundai denies
• Google: Partners with Ford, 6 yr from 2023: GCP, Android (incl apps: Assistant, Maps, etc) to be built into cars, establish Team Upshift to transform Ford
• Xiaomi launches smartphone with 'quad-curved waterfall display'

Regulatory

• CRC (Bulgaria) plans 3.6 GHz auction 210303, 3 blocks of 100 MHz; valid 20 yr, starting price $2.5m, submission by 210225
• Ofcom (UK) proposes one-touch process for switching ISP
• EC: nat roaming prices from Telefonica DE for 1&1 Drillisch not compliant with E-Plus acquisition conditions; Telefonica DE submits new rates, to be accepted by 1&1 Drillisch by 210219 (to increase earnings by EUR 30m in 2020)