Week 40 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

CORPORATE

• Orange: Orange in Europe Day (strategy briefing): focus on convergence, to add fixed-line assets (in existing markets: ES, BE, LU, PL, RO, Slovakia, Moldova)
• Proximus: Launches Banx (banking app, JV with Belfius) [see 210622], focus on sustainability, tech from Doconomy (CO2 dahsboard), 2 tiers: Essential (free: 1 account, 1 debit card, add MasterCard for 1 EUR/mo) or Premium (6.50 EUR/mo; 2 personal accounts, 1 couples accoun, 4 debit cards, 4 MasterCards); with loyalty program (save point to exchange for discounts at partners)
• Orange BE: Launches Orange Money app (for money transfer), also for non-subs
• Destiny: Acquires Stuart (BE; managed hosting)
• Iliad: Xavier Niel (HoldCo II) reaches 96.40% (57,568,859  shares), 96.17% of votes, plans squeeze-out
• Twitter: Sells MoPub (mobile ads) to AppLovin, $1.05b cash, to provide transitional services to AppLovin [see 130909]

PAY-TV

• Ziggo to lose NBA rights to ESPN NL from 2021-22 season (starts 211019) [see 210614]
• SKO report Sep 2021:
• Living room TV usage -12% yoy (live linear -18%, delayed linear -0.4%, on demand +1.0%)
• Delayed + on demand 37.8% of usage (record high)
• Sky: Launches Sky Glass:
• streaming connected smart TV (no dish, no box), tech & OS developed with Comcast
• first in UK (211018), then other Sky markets; syndicates to Australia with Foxtel, plans further global expansionTV in 3 sizes (Small 43”, Medium 55”, Large 65”), designed by Map Project Office
• with

• Dolby Atmos, voice control, Glance Motion Technology (walk past to activate), personalised playlist
• apps pre-installed: Sky, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Disney+, ITV Hub, All4, Spotify, Peloton, PlayWorks etc
• whole home service using Sky Stream Puck, 10 GBP/mo;
• plans to launch 4K smart camera 2022 (chat, play games, workout, share entertainment at home)
• pricing
• for Small TV from 13 GBP/mo (with Sky TV; interest free, 48 mo) or 26 GBP/mo (with Sky Ultimate TV), 39 GBP/mo (with Sky Originals and Sky Exclusives, Netflix)
• pricing for Medium TV adds 4 GBP/mo, Large TV adds 8 GBP/mo)
• [suggests Small TV costs GBP 624, Medium TV GBP 816, Large TV GBP 1008]
• "By taking this step, Sky will operate across the whole value chain, from content production, through to connectivity and aggregation, all coming together on the Sky Glass screen."
• "Choose to buy your TV like you buy your mobile phone by paying in one go or spread the cost with interest-free monthly payments."
• TIM launches TIMvision Gold pay-TV package, 45 EUR/mo (promo: 30 EUR/mo for 12 mo) + EUR 10 activation fee: TIMvision, DAZN (sports, incl Serie A), Mediaset Infinity (UEFA Champions League), Netflix, Disney+; discount available on TIMvision Calcio e Sport (20 instead of 30 EUR/mo)
• T-Mobile NL relaunches T-Mobile TV App for smart TV or media player (from Android TV 8) or Apple TV (no IPTV STB required), for BB+TV subs, max 4 devices simultaneously (TV from 12.50 EUR/mo)
• Orange Slovakia launches Android TV based STB from nangu.TV (incl Assistant, Chromecast)

STREAMING VIDEO

• WarnerMedia: HBO Max to expand to 7 countries in Europe 2022: NL, GR, Turkey, Iceland, Baltics (total 27 countries in Europe, 67 globally; target 190 by 2026); annual subscription to cost equal to 8 mo (ES, FI: 9 EUR/mo or 70 EUR/yr, SE/NO 90 kr/mo or 700 kr/yr; DK 80 kr/mo or 600 kr/yr); theatrical window 45 days for Europe
• Molotov: Launches Grand Cinéma: SVOD, 20 EUR/mo, films & series from 14 channels & SVOd services (Starzplay; FilmoTV; The 6 Ciné+ channels from Canal Plus: Premier, Frisson, Emotion, Famiz, Club and Classic; Paramount Channel & Paramount Channel Décalé; Drive-in Movie Channel; RTL9; Action, PlayboyTV)
• YouTube: Oxford Economics for YouTube: YouTube (creators) contributed $20.5b to US GDP in 2020
• Kantar report on churn US 21Q2 (vs 21Q1): Peacock 13%, Peacock free 9%, Pluto TV 6%, Crackel 8%, Tubi 10%, Prime Video 4%, Netflix 4%, Apple TV+ 9%
• Walt Disney: Disney+ to launch in HK 211116, 73 HKD/mo ($9) or 738 HKD/yr ($96); to offer 1200 films & 16k episodes at launch - And in Taiwan 211114, 270 TWD/mo ($10) or 2800 TWD/yr ($100) 
• Netflix: Raises prices in NL from 8, 11, 14 to 8, 14, 16 EUR/mo for Basic, Standard, Premium - In BE from 8, 12, 16 to 9, 13.5, 18 EUR/mo 

WFH

• Cisco publishes (first quarterly) Hybrid Work Index survey report (preferences, habits, technology usage)
• GSMA Intelligence report (How networks stayed the course as everyone stayed at home): average global mobile data traffic 6 GB/mo, speeds dropped and recovered faster in 5G countries

FTTP

• Telefonica: Bloomberg: considers selling stake in fiber access unit, valuation EUR 15b - Reuters: to sell 15-35%, 5-10 candidates [to raise max EUR 5b]
• Swiss court confirms ComCo measures against Swiccom over market abuse with FTTP: no network expansion unles with Layer 1 access based on P2P topology with 4 fibers; Swisscom claims will delay expansion by several years, planned switch to P2MP topology, target 60% coverage YE 2025 ("Competitors also benefit from this as it reduces their own investments and costs"), may appeal at Federal Supreme Court; "Providers without their own network always have access to the maximum available bandwidth and, thanks to [1] the fibre-optic partnership and [2] wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) network access model, have additional access options to the lowest network level Layer 1. These two access options were originally put forward by COMCO itself." [Salt gets Layer 1 access on P2MP because it co-invests]

FWA

• T-Mobile US reduces Home Internet price from 60 to 50 $/mo
• BT pilots Tarana Wireless FWA tech G1 (hundreds of Mb/s per sub at 3-5 km with no LoS, 30 km with LoS, unlicensed spectrum (5 GHz)); Tarana: “Tarana here is after end-game broadband. We’re not here trying to build a stopgap to fiber. We’re believers that wireless is a true alternative to fiber and is a long-term durable alternative to fiber because the technology trends are in our favor at this point.”; Supersonic (= MTN) pilots Tarana in ZA at 150 towers (to expand to 400); Wisper (US) demoed Tarana: 300 Mb/s at 8 km, non-LoS
• Starry plans IPO via merger with FirstMark Horizon Acquisition Corp (SPAC) at $1.66b valuation, to raise $452m

NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY

• Analysys Mason for Nokia: IP network automation (service fulfilment, network lifecycle management, network & service assurance processes) reduces opex 65%
• BT (with Toshiba) plans world’s first commercially available quantum-secured metro network in London
• Rigetti Computing (makers of quantum computers & processors) plans IPO via SPAC merger with Supernova Partners Acquisition Co, valuation $1.5b
• Mobile X Global plans launch on Verizon (provides Network as a Service) 2022: personalised plans, global connectivity without data roaming charges, based on proprietary cloud platform X0.1

SECURITY, OUTAGES, LEAKS

• Min EZK (NL) publishes updated Regeling veiligheid en integriteit telecommunicatie (Rvit) (already notified at EC) on mobile network security, AT as regulator
• Twitch reports data leak
• Facebook: Network outage hits Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messsenger for ~6h 25m, caused by faulty configuration changes on backbone routers; Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) update to datacenter routers - Fortune: rev loss $100m - SMS traffic up in France - AT&T: mobile traffic down ~10%
• Facebook: Network outage hits Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Workplace due to configuration change for 2 hr
• Microsoft Digital Defense Report: state-sponsored hacking from Russia (58%), Ukraine, UK

PLATFORMS

• Google and YouTube ban ads & monetisation on climate denial content
• Google: Search rivals (DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Qwant, Lilo) ask EC to act on antitrust ruling, based on DMA [see 180718, 210927]; preference menu that let users choose their search default when setting up an Android device is not available on Chrome desktop or on other OS and is only shown once to users
• Apple:
• Reuters: EC plans antitrust investigation over iPhone NFC chip (allows only Apple Pay to access)
• Reuters: ACM (NL) finds that Apple's requirement for developers to use in-app payment system is anti-competitive, demands changes
• EC proposes AI regulation
• EP proposes ban on police use of facial recognition technology in public places and on predictive policing (using AI tools in hopes of profiling potential criminals before a crime is even committed) and on private facial recognition databases (like the ones used by Clearview AI)
• BEREC publishes final Report on the ex-ante regulation of digital gatekeepers (DMA)
• OECD adopts OECD Recommendation on Enhancing Access to and Sharing of Data (EASD)
• Ireland joins plan to adopt minimum of 15% corporate tax rate [see 210605], total 136 countries (representing >90% of global GDP), to yield additional $150b yearly tax rev, to split a separate $125b in corporate tax receipts between participating governments worldwide
• FTC (Japan) starts investigation of mobile OS dominance of Apple (iOS, market share 70%) and Google (Android, market share 30%)
• EBU, EDRA, AER call on EC to include digital voice assistants in DMA