Monday, August 02, 2021

Week 28-30 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

CORPORATE

  • KPN: 21Q2; opex savings 9m, YTD 30m target 2021-23 250m; maintains outlook, capex FTTP 2021 450-500m, capex for FTTP drops after 2026; plans SBB EUR 200m in 2021; ambitions Consumer: preferred digital partner for households (1. best digital access with fiber, 5G, in-home WiFi, 2. best digital omni-channel experience with mobile-first & app-centric customer approach, 3. best digital 3-party services through entertainment partnerships); business clear segmented customer focus for SME, LCE, Tailored Solutions; Glaspoort closing (210609) deal: to receive cash (238m on closing + 234m contingent (financial asset, fair value 218m) in annual installments), net book gain 649m (gross 840m + 191m tax expense), carrying amount of 50% stake 495m (incl  share premium contribution paid 39m), net cash flow 217m (under CF from investing)
  • Orange
    • Interested in acquiring stake in Ethio Telecom (Ethiopia)
    • 21Q2, impairment EUR 3.7b on Orange ES
    • Investor Conference on Orange MEA (targets 2023: rev growth 6%, EBITDA AL growth DD), Orange Business Services (rev CAGR 2022-23 2%, EBITDA AL to return to growth in 2022), Orange Cyberdefense (rev growth DD, EBITDA AL margin to double in medium term)
  • Orange BE: 21Q2
  • Telefonica: Plans acquisitions in Brazil
  • BT
  • Proximus: 21Q2
  • VOO: Rumor: Nethys has shortlist of bidders out of 20 candidates
  • Vodafone:
  • Liberty Global
    • 21Q2; expands cost savings Sunrise UPC by CHF 50m (cost to captrue CHF 100m), total runrate CHF 325m (NPV CHF 3.7b); Virgin Media O2 plans fiull fiber upgrade by 2028 (to potentially pursue broadband wholesale market in UK), "costing marginally more than our previously planned Docsis 4 migration, and only a modest annual increase to our current capital expenditure budget"; confirms 2021 targets: adj FCF $1.35b (+26%); plans SBB in 3 yr of >= 10% of market cap; received offer for UPC PL from Iliad at 9.3x adj EBITDA 2021E = EV PLN 7.3b
    • VodafoneZiggo: 21Q2; maintains guidance: adj EBITDA growth 1-3%, capex/sales 19-21%, cash distribution EUR 550-650m; on track for nationwide 1 Gb/s by 2022
    • Telenet: 21Q2
    • Sunrise UPC: 21Q2
  • Iliad
    • Liberty Global: "We recently received a non-binding offer from Iliad SA to acquire 100% of our UPC Poland business at 9.3x its 2021E Adjusted EBITDA (PLN 782m), reflecting an enterprise value of PLN 7.3 billion ($1.9 billion). Discussions are in process and there can be no certainty that a transaction will ultimately be consummated."
    • 21Q2
    • Xavier Niel launches tender offer: 182 EUR/share for 12 trading days (through HoldCo II = HoldCo = Xavier Niel, currently owns 42,112,852 shares with 72,340,678 voting rights = 70.63% of capital and 78.67% of voting)
  • Cyfrowy Polsat: To rename to Polsat Box
  • PPF: Sells Telenor Montenegro to 4iG, to close 211130
  • Adamo (EQT): Rumor: EQT to collect offers
  • Tele2: 21Q2; 25% T-Mobile NL stake value increased to SEK 7106m = EUR 697m
  • Gamma: 21Q2 trading statement: growth in line with market expectations; outlook 2021  maintained
  • Vivendi
    • Sells 5% Mediaset stake to Fininvest, 2.70 EUR/share = EUR 160m, to sell entire 19.19% stake held by Simon Fiduciaria on the market
    • 21Q2
  • TF1 (Bouygues): 21Q2
  • NENT Group
    • 21Q2; raises Viaplay target from 250 to 500k subs YE 2021
    • Distr deal in PL with Vectra (1.7m subs)
    • Distr deal in PL with UPC Polska: to be part of TV packages, with promos, STB integration
  • NBCU
    • Rumor: FandangoNow (NBCU 70%, WarnerMedia 30%) to merge with Vudu (NBCU 70%, WarnerMedia 30%)
    • 21Q2: Peacock 20m subs, reaches total 54m sign-ups/MAU, plans roll-out in Europe (UK, IE, IT, DE, AT, CH) as free add-on for Sky subs: AVOD, 7k hr     
  • Lionsgate: Acquires 20% stake in Spyglass Media Group (library of 200 feature films)
  • Netflix: 21Q2; to add mobile games (no extra cost) as new content category; no plans to add live sports; no M&A plans
  • Spotify: 21Q2
  • Google: 21Q2 
  • Amazon: 21Q2
  • Facebook: 21Q2; outlook 21H2: modest growth deceleration, outllok 2021: expenses $70-73b (technical & product talent, infrastructure, consumer hardware-related costs), capex $19-21b (data centers, servers, network infrastructure, office facilities), tax rate high teens; plans smart glasses (made by Ray-Ban = EssilorLuxottica)
  • Twitter: 21Q2; to focus on bitcoin (to invest aggressively, opens up entirely new use cases for everyone on Twitter), AI (to increase relevance & discovery), decentralisation (to improve the quality of conversations) for growth
  • Snap: 21Q2
  • Pinterest: 21Q2
  • Microsoft: 21Q2; Teams reaches 250m MAU, 80m Phone MAU

FTTH

  • Telefonica: Telefonica Colombia to spin off FTTH network, sells 60% stake to KKR, $300m    
  • Telefonica DE: O2 to provide fixed-line services over Tele Columbus (2.4m HP) from 210721, total reach 26m HP
  • Proximus: Wallon OA FTTP JV with Eurofiber launches as Unifiber, to invest >EUR 800m over 10 yr; targets several 10s of thousands of premises by YE 2023 (first in Waterloo, Morlanwelz), 100k premises/yr from 2024, >= 500k by 2028
  • Telenor: Telenor DK access deal with Onefiber (OpenNet) for FTTP network (100k premises)
  • Adamo: To raise EUR 600-900m to expand in rural areas (3.2m premises)

VIDEO

  • VodafoneZiggo
    • Ziggo Sport licenses Ligue 1 (football FR) rights (coming seasons, from beIN (holds rights until 23/24 season)); extends rights for several years to IndyCar series, Formula E, Six Nations (rugby, men & women); adds BNXT League rights (BE/NL basketball) from Feb 2022
    • To expand Ziggo Movies & Series offering
  • Pathe Thuis: Launches Premium Films service for new films (15 EUR/film)
  • CuriosityStream: To launch linear channel, with Spiegel TV Wissen & Autentic, as relaunch of Spiegel TV Wissen in DE, CH, AT
  • Netflix
    • Extends Shonda Rhimes (ICM Partners) deal to include films, games, VR content, branding & merchandising, live events & experiences, extends by 5 yr, rumored upfront payment $150m, total value (incl bonuses) $300-400m - Rumor: could include Bridgerton video game, Bridgerton fan convention [see 210521]
    • Extends & expands licensing deal with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (Illumination), to include DreamWorks Animation, multi-yr: animated feature films in US, exclusive (window 4 mo after Peacock)     
    • Bloomberg: appoints Mike Verdu (formerly EA, Facebook/Oculus) VP Game Development, to launch streaming games within 1 yr, will not charge extra
    • Plans first store in Tokyo, 22H1
    • Paris Theater (movie theater NYC, leased for 10 yr Nov 2019) reopens 210806
  • Walt Disney
    • Scarlett Johansson sues over PVOD release of Black Widow for breach of contract; rumored: she lost $50m in bonuses [see 210711] - Disney opposes (no merit, she received $20m to date)
    • Day-and-date release of adventure movie Jungle Cruise (Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt) raises $34m in theaters N America (4310 screens) + $30m on Disney+ globally (PVOD, $30) + $28m from international theaters (47 countries) on opening weekend
  • WarnerMedia
    • HBO/HBO Max reaches 67.5m subs at 21Q2 (o/w 47.0m in US), raises target to 70-73m subs YE 2021 (from 67-70) - Plans >10 original movies for HBO Max in 2022; theater window to be reduced to 45 days - Delays HBO Max launch in several countries Europe to early 2022
    • To launch CNN+ 22Q1 first in US, to add 450 staff (currently 4k): SVOD and TVE app for pay-TV subs (linear TV feeds of CNN, CNN International, HLN, CNN en Español channels exclusively for pay-TV subs), news, non-fiction, long-form, live programming (8-12 hr/day), original series, catalog content, localized features

MUSIC

WEB SERVICES

  • Facebook: CEO Zuckerberg plans migration to become metaverse (embodied internet, decentralized) [see 200916, 201215] - Establishes product group, head Vishal Shah (Instagram)
  • Twitter
  • Snap: Acquires Vertebrae (AR shopping: lets brands create and manage 3D versions of their goods; 50 employees)
  • Pinterest: Adds features allowing creators to get fees from shoppable pins
  • Square: Acquires Crew: messaging app for frontline workers (helps companies communicate with large groups of employees through broadcast messages, or target only certain groups, such as workers at certain locations or managers only)
  • Microsoft to launch Windows 365 210802 to create cloud PCs for businesses: streams Windows 10 or 11 in browser or Microsoft’s Remote Desktop app; 2 tiers (editions): Business, Enterprise, powered by Azure Virtual Desktop

TELCO SERVICES

HARDWARE

  • GSA 5G devices update 210630: 873 devices (o/w 557 commercially available) in 22 form factors from 131 vendors; 431 phones (o/w 38 commercially available), 158 FWA devices (o/w 56 commercially available), 119 modules, 53 enterprise routers/modems, 39 hotspots, 15 laptops, 16 tablets, 10 in-vehicle routers/modems/hotspots, 32 other
  • HMD Gobal launches Nokia XR20 smartphone (from EUR 500: rugged, 5G, Zeiss Optics), C30 feature phone (EUR 100, 6.8 inch), Nokia 6310 feature phone (EUR 40); deal with Spotify to pre-install; 30 day free ExpressVPN trial
  • Motorola launches Edge 20 Pro (from EUR 700), Edge 20 (from EUR 500), Edge 20 Lite (from EUR 350)
  • Vodafone ES launches Vodafone TV 4K Pro: STB made by Sagemcom, 5 EUR/mo rental for FMC subs (V-Home software, audio functionality designed by Bang & Olufsen, integrated Dolby Atmos speakers, 4K HDR, voice control via Alexa, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, Bluetooth-enabled voice-control remote)
  • Swisscom adds blue TV app for Apple TV
  • Free allows Apple TV as STB, 2 EUR/mo for 48 mo

NETWORKS

  • Nokia and Vodafone jointly developed ML-product, running on Google Cloud, to quickly detect & remediate network anomalies
  • Comcast deploys tech for locating fiber cable breaks within 90 sec
  • Fixed
    • Virgin Media O2 plans full fiber (15.5m lines; not Docsis 4.0 at 60 GBP/home) by 2028
  • 5G
    • IBM Inst for Business Value report on 5G and edge computing
    • Vodafone UK to supply UK Power Networks with network slice (trial, with General Electric, ABB, Siemens, Univ of Strathclyde) to build Constellation (smart substation trial)
    • Vodafone UK report: 5G (incl Private 5G) to contribute GBP 6.3b to manufacturing industry by 2030
  • Satellite

REGULATORY

  • Spectrum
    • Spain raises EUR 1.1b from 700 auction; 2x10 MHz (until 2041, automatic renewal for 20 yr) each for Telefonica (EUR 310m), Vodafone (350m), Orange (350m) + annual fee (EUR 15m for each)
  • Platforms
  • Google
    • Autorité de la concurrence (FR) fines EUR 500m over failing to negotiate in good faith over neighboring rights of Google News Service (daily fine EUR 900k) 
    • Publishes Privacy Sandbox timeline, to phase out 3rd-party cookies 23H2 
    • EC & national Consumer Authorities (incl ACM) call on Google to comply with consumer rules - EU orders to improve hotel, flight search results within 2 mo (improve presentation, explain ranking)  
  • Amazon
  • Facebook: EDPB orders urgent probe into how WhatsApp uses data


at 12:47 am

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