Structural seperation advancing in telecoms, esp. in Italy

After a bad example in Australia (the NBN debacle), good ones in New-Zealand (Chorus and Spark) and Czech Republic (CETIN, PPF), a formal one in Denmark (TDC NET and Nuuday still in the TDC Holding structure - waiting for Nuuday to be offloaded) and nearly one in the UK (Openreach still in full BT ownership), structural separation may now happen in Italy. Ireland (eir, NBP, SIRO) also looks like a candidate (esp. now that Virgin Media Ireland is becoming a SIRO customer).

Here is what is going on at TIM:

• 21 Nov. 2021: KKR considers a friendly offer of 0.505 EUR/share (equity valuation EUR 10.8b). Net debt was EUR 22.5b.
• 7 and 17 Dec. 2021: Management changes.
• 15 Dec. 2021: Profit warning.
• 26 Jan. 2022: Industrial Plan draft.
• 14 Feb. 2022: Industrial Plan update.
• 2 Mar. 2022: Q4 results and Industrial Plan 2022-2024 (NetCo and ServCo). CVC and Iliad have shown interest in buying a stake in ServCo.
• 4 May 2022: Q1 results, plans Capital Markets Day 7 July.
• 29 May 2022: NetCo (incl. FiberCop) spin-off and Open Fiber merger proposal; NetCo valuation EUR 20b (rumor); CDP Equity to own 70-77%, KKR 12-15%, Macquarie 10-13% (rumor).
• 1 June 2022: Vivendi (24%) objects to valuation (current market cap EUR 5.9b, net debt EUR 17.7b).
• 7 June 2022: 1,200 job cuts by Nov. 2022.
• 20 June 2022: Vivendi demands NetCo valuation of EUR 31b, to take on EUR 10b debt

TO BE UPDATED

Week 18 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

CORPORATE

• KPN: Bloomberg: EQT/Stonepeak offered to add EUR 4b to capex, to merge with Delta Fiber, to offer >3 EUR/share; now willing to offer more    
• TIM: Reuters: government Italy abandons network merger plan with Open Fiber; TIM denies
• MasMovil (KKR, Cinven, Providence): Sells 51% stake in rural FTTH network (1.1m HP in >1000 towns) to Onivia (= Macquarie), rumored price EUR 390m incl option for 100k HP more; to acquire Lycamobile España
• Cordiant Digital Infrastructure: Acquires towerco (660 for mobile & RTV) from České Radiokomunikace from Macquarie Asset Mgt; acquires fiberco Norway
• Orange Belgium: Orange expands stake to 76.97% (46,191,064 shares) as 14,368,307 shares (23.94%) tendered
• Verizon: Sells 90% of Verizon Media (Yahoo, AOL) to Apollo Global Mgt, $5b ($4.25b cash, $750m in prefs), to close 21H2; to be renamed Yahoo, Guru Gowrappan remains CEO - Moody's: no impact on ratings or outlook
• Vivendi and Mediaset waive all litigation & claims, Dailymotion settles with Mediaset (RTI, Medusa), pays EUR 26.3m, Vivendi to reduce mediaset stake by 19.2 pp in 5 yr (for 2.75-3.10 EUR/share), to hold 4.61%; Fininvest (Berlusconi, 44%) to raise stake by 5 pp at 2.70 EUR/share
• Canal+ Polski (Vivendi, Liberty Global, TVN): Suspends IPO plan (IPO price max PLN 60)
• Amazon
• CEO Jeff Bezos sold shares 210503-04; started with 53,209,269, ended with 52,470,237 shares [sold 739,032 shares at average ~3350 $/share = $2.48b]
• CEO Jeff Bezos sold shares 210505-06; started with 52,468,037, ended with 51,731,205 shares [sold 736,832 shares at average ~3300 $/share = $2.43b]

EARNINGS

• Liberty Global: 21Q1; guidance 2021: return to rev growth (overcoming regulatory headwinds), to capture GBP 15m costs in 21H1, adj EBITDA stable, OpFCF decline LSD
• VodafoneZiggo (Vodafone, Liberty Global): 21Q1 prelim, COVID-19 impact: rev -13m (roaming/OoB, VR, handset sales), adj EBITDA -3m (roaming, handset, personnel, marketing); maintains guidance 2021: adj EBITDA growth 1-3%, capex/sales 19-21%, cash distribution EUR 550-650m
• Sunrise UPC (Liberty Global): 21Q1
• RTL: 21Q1; maintains outlook 2021: rev EUR 6.2b, adj EBITDA EUR 975m (incl streaming startup losses EUR 150m)
• ViacomCBS: 21Q1; Paramount+ net adds 6m; total streaming subs 35.9m; Pluto TV reaches <50m MAU; Paramount+ to premiere 1 film/week from 2022, to double originals spending in 2021; Paramount+ to lower price of AVOD tier form 6 to 5 $/mo from June 2021; Paramount+ plans expansion to Australia/NZ 210811 (to rebrand 10 All Access), 9 aud/MO, 20k
• Cegeka: 2020: rev EUR 640m

NETWORKS

Copper switch-off

• KPN: KPN NetwerkNL switched off copper access lines (40k) in Amsterdam IJburg, Bennekom, Bergeijk, Eersel, Eibergen, Zwolle Stadshagen 210401 (Project KoperUit), KPN Wholesale ended MDF-access, WBA/VULA over koper, WLR/CPS, WEAS over koper, ILL 2 Mbit/s services (small number of copper lines remain, with VULA, WBA, WEAS), adjust migration process for speedier transition to fiber; large scale copper switch-off from 2023
• TIM launches copper switch-off, first in Trento

FTTH Netherlands

• Delta Fiber plans transition to XGS-PON (10 and up to 25 Gb/s), first in Kapelle
• KPN starts roll-out in Kralingen-Crooswijk (9600 HP) and center (6800 HP) (#3 & #4 areas in Rotterdam), with Van Gelder

5G

• UScelluar (with Ericsson, Qualcomm, Inseego) demos 1 Gb/s down (55 Mb/s up) at 7 km (peak 2 Gb/s) over extended range mmWave (400 MHz) for FWA; 730/38 Mb/s at 1.75 km with NLoS
• Nokia launches Nokia Smart Node (femtocell) for 5G & 4G indoor coverage
• Verizon demos CA of C-band & mmWave, 4.3 Gb/s

SERVICES

• Vodafone: Expands Google GCP partnership: to build data platform Nucleus (incl Dynamo system to drive data); combined 1000 employees in US, UK, ES; developed >700 use cases to deliver new products & services quickly across markets, support fact-based decision-making, reduce costs, remove duplication of data sources, simplify & centralise operations
• Ericsson launches Ericsson Wireless Office subscription service (pay-as-you-go) in US, from 100 $/employee/mo: virtual workspace (office-in-a-box, Workspace as a Service), cloud-based (removes the dependency of in-house IT expertise, physical installments, devices), 5G-ready, automates desktop provisioning and software license management, embedded security framework, cloud storage; distr deal with Telarus for marketing; technology based on StratusWorX acquisition
• SPI International: Launches linear channel FilmBox in NL, first distr partner Canal Digitaal (Canal+) (first in DTH at channel 14, IPTV to follow)
• Cinemark partners with 5 majors (Warner Bros Picture Group, Walt Disney Co, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Ent (previouslu Universal Pictures [see 200116])) on shorter theatrical window
• Facebook Workplace (software for internal business social network to communicate with employees) reaches 7m paid subs, adds features (live Q&A, Microsoft 365 integration, Google G Suite integration)
• Twitter
• Acquires Scroll (software platform to read content only from multiple participating subscriptions, without ads, 5 $/mo; also Nuzzel, email newsletter of top stories shared in Twitter feed), to develop subscription service, to close down Nuzzel
• Content deals with NBCU, MLB, Genius, Billboard, Tastemade, NHL, Vice Media Group’s Refinery29, Riot Gams
• Launches Tip Jar to make donations to creators using Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, PayPal, Venmo (on Android: also Spaces), Twitter takes no cut
• Snap: Plans to launch Creator Marketplace, allowing creators to partner with marketers

Streaming video

• Netflix
• Launched project N-Plus: future online space where you can learn more about the Netflix shows and things related to them (eg build & share playlists)
• Launches email newsletter Netflix Pause in Australia (3 weekly editions)
• Amazon: IMDb TV orders crime drama series On Call (Luke Bryan, Jeff Lewis); total AVOD OTT viewers 120m MAU (IMDb TV, Twitch, NFL on Prime Video, Amazon News app, 3rd-party apps) - And series High School
• Google
• YouTube orders unscripted series (6 episodes, premiere 2022) and scripted series from Will Smith, Alicia Keys
• YouTube cancels comedy series Liza on Demand after season 3, will no longer produce scripted series to focus on unscripted
• Discovery+ orders first scripted original series Girls with Bright Futures
• Tubi (Fox Corp): Content deal with Drafthouse Films and Giant Pictures (<40 titles)
• DAZN: Original docu series El Presidente (about football player Ronaldo) premieres 210520, plans 2 more series about Ronaldo

REGULATORY

FTTH coordination: ACM report (Update markstudie uitrol van glasvezel in Nederland)

• positive on accelerated fiber roll-out (at current tempo nationwide by 2030), worried about some duplication (disruption from digging, deters some investors), considers geographic coordination with munis & operators & MinEZK (suggests co-investment)
• ACM has no power to prohibited roll-out (but will act on anti-competitive behavior)
• duplication improves competition
• ACM considers new access regulation (replacing WFA, complementing KPN's voluntary wholesale offering)
• estimated 20k rural addresses will not have fiber (operators are not applying for state support for white spots)
• ACM suggests SOK (samenwerkingsovereenkomst = convenant) on trench depth, locations of cabinets & PoPs, muni may want to prevent cherry-picking, reciprocal access conditions can't be forced by ACM), operators have limited interest in trench sharing
• KPN and T-Mobile NL positive on cooperation

Net neutrality: New York AG report: US ISPs flooded FCC with fake comments ahead of abolishing NN regulation (2017)

WFH: Google: Googlegeist (annual employee survey; total 110k in 170 cities in 60 countries): 70% positive about WFH, 15% negative - Expects 20% of employees to work from home permanently, 40% to work from normal office several days a week, 20% to work from other offices

Week 8 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

Corporate

• TIM: 20Q4 & 2021-23 Plan Update Beyond Connectivity: 1. Unique commercial proposition, 2. Best technological infrastructure, 3. Further improve operational excellence, 4. Leaner organizational model; works with 5 factories: Noovle (cloud), Telsy (cyber security), Olivetti (integrated IoT), Sparkle (int wholesale), TIM Vision (content)
• Proximus: 20Q4; guidance 2021: additional expenses (opex EUR 50m) for fiber migrations, IT transformation, cloudification, Mwingz (shared mobile network with Orange BE) roll-out (reducing capex), targets EBITDA EUR 1.750-1.775m, capex close to EUR 1.2b, to double fiber roll-out from 2020, net debt/EBITDA <1.6x, domestic rev close to 2020 level (EUR 4.285m), div 2021 and 2022 EUR 1.20 (floor); confirms #inspire2022 ambitions; opex redux CAGR 2020-22 1-2%, expands cost savings to EUR 400m over 2020-2025 (o/w half in 2020-22), targets domestic EBITDA to grow from 2022
• Vodafone
• Vodafone CZ plans strategic coop wit utility CEZ (70% state-owned)
• Vantage Towers Intention to Float (ITF) in Frankfurt March 2021 of meaningful minority stake; rumored valuation: EUR 15b, to raise EUR 4b
• Virgin Media UK (Liberty Global): CMA publishes responses from Sky & Vodafone regarding O2 merger; concerns on wholesale market for MVNOs and backhaul - O2 UK claims concerns addressed
• Akamai: Investor Summit
• 3-5 year Security targets: Application Security CAGR 20-25%, Network Security CAGR 20-25%, Security Services CAGR 10-15%, overall CAGR goal >20% (rev to more than double in 5 yr to $2.5b, addressable market $29b)
• 3-5 year CDN targets: Edge Delivery CAGR 0-3%, Edge Applications >30%, Services CAGR 1-3%, overall CAGR goal 2-5% (addressable market $18b)
• Financial targets Security: cash gross margin high 80s (2021: 86-87%), EBITDA margin high 40s (2021: 45-46%), oper margin mid 30s (2021: 34-35%), network capex low single digit (2021: 1-3%), R&D capex high single digit (2021: 8-10%)
• Financial targets CDN: gross margin high 60s (2021: 68-69%), EBITDA margin mid 40s (2021: 42-43%), oper margin high 20s (2021: 26-27%), network capex low double digit (2021: 11-13%), R&D capex mid single digit (2021: 4-5%)
• Total targets 3-5 yr: rev CAGR 6-10%, gross margin high 70s (2021: 76-77%), EBITDA margin mid 40s (2021: 44%), oper margin 30-32% (2021: 30%), capex mid teens of rev (2021: 16%)
• Roblox: Plans IPO via direct listing 210310
• Thomson Reuters: To invest $500-600m in AI, ML in 2 yr; to cut opex by $600m from eliminating duplicate functions, modernizing & consolidating technology, attrition, shrinking real estate footprint
• Twitter: Analyst Day: Goals:
• 1. Double development velocity by end 2023 (ie doubling the number of features shipped per employee)
• 2. 315m mDAU (monetisable DAU; currently 85% from brand ads, 15% from performance ads; global digital brand + performance ads market $150b, Twitter market share 3%) 23Q4 (20Q4: 192m, implies CAGR 20%)
• 3. more than double annual rev to $7.5b (2020: $3.7b) 
• Snap: Investor Day: guidance: revenue CAGR 50%; Usage stats: 5b Snaps/day, Snap Map 250m MAU, advertising 90% self-serve, digital ad market US share 2% (reach <50% of smartphone uesrs), reach 13-24 year olds >90% (US, UK, Australia, FR, NL), reach 13-34 year olds >75% (US, UK, Australia, FR, NL)

Networks

• Broadband Choices: report Internet Accessibility Index 2021 (based on speed & cost), ranking 169 countries: Denmark #1, Liechtenstein #2, US #3, NL #15
• FTTH
• Telefonica
• Telefonica Chile sells 60% stake in fiber network to KKR (Global Infrastructure Investors III Fund), $1b, to close 21Q2; to establish OA wholesale company; to expand pops coverage from 2m to 3.5m by 2023 (FTTH, 40k FTTO lines, FTTS); reduces debt by EUR 400m
• Telefonica Brazil plans fiber network spin-off to establish OA wholesale company FiBrasil, with investor (TBA 21Q1); Bloomberg: talks with Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ)
• T-Mobile NL to add 1m HP by 2025 with #2 investment partner (not Primevest), TBA 21H1, to start in 10-15 areas
• Mobile, 5G
• Ericsson Mobility Report 20Q4 update: global mobile subscriptions (8b, penetration 102%, unique active subs 6b; net adds 19m), mobile BB subs 6.5b (net adds 100m), 5G subs 220m at 130 providers (net adds 70m), 4G subs 4.5b (net adds 90m); total global mobile data traffic 60 EB/mo (+51% yoy, +9% qoq)
• EIB report Accelerating the 5G transition in Europe
• Umlaut: T-Mobile NL best network worldwide (962 points), KPN (954) and VodafoneZiggo (945) also in Top 10    
• Polsat Group sells 99.99% stake (2,069,656 shares) in Polkomtel Infrastruktura to Cellnex
• Malaysia plans government-owned wholesale 5G network via special purpose vehicle ($4b in 10 yr; also: FTTH), to adminster spectrum for all MNOs (part of digital  transformation by 2030); Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Telekom Malaysia to build & manage hyper-scale data centres & cloud services
• Google partners with Intel on cloud-native 5G; 3 main areas: 1. accelerating the ability of CSPs to deploy vRAN & ORAN solutions by providing next-gen infrastructure & hardware, 2. launching new lab environments to help CSPs innovate on cloud-native 5G, 3. making it easier for them to deliver business applications to the network edge; to develop reference architectures & integrated solutions for CSPs' for core network functions & edge network solutions
• 6G
• NGMN Alliance to focus on disaggregation, sustainability, 6G; plans to publish 6G Vision & Drivers White Paper report (version 1) March/April 2021
• EC proposes Smart Networks and Services project (incl 6G) as successor to 5G-PPP, EUR 900m
• LEO
• Starlink plans customer support center in Europe - To double speeds to 300 Mb/s & reduce latency to 20 ms later in 2021, targets global coverage by 2022; focus on low to medium population density areas

Services

• Video
• ViacomCBS: Streaming Event: Paramount+ to launch 210304
• Walt Disney
• Launches Star tab (75 series, 280 movies at launch) in Disney+ in Europe, ANZ, Canada, Singapore; content from content from ABC, Hulu, FX, Freeform, Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios, 20th Television, more
• Disney+ price increases from 7 to 9 EUR/mo, 6 to 8 GBP/mo
• Release dates
• Rumor: Disney+ subs 40% in N America (40m), 30% in India, 30% in Europe & Latam
• Netflix: 10 Golden Globes (on 42 nominations)
• Music
• Spotify: Investor Discussion Spotify Stream On
• Facebook launches BARS app (first for iPhone, developed by NPE Team) for creating & sharing raps [a la TikTok]
• Smart city
• Las Vegas ordered smart city solutions from Siemens Advanta & Bluetech Park Properties, $7.5b in 6 yr (net-zero carbon footprint buildings within its own insular mini-city, automated multi-functional designs, renewable energy sources, photovoltaic super trees, various other interconnected innovations)
• Egypt (Administrative Capital for Urban Development) orders smart city ICT (datacenter, cloud services, to be operated by Orange Egypt) from Orange Business Services for new administrative capital (45km east of Cairo on a greenfield site, 700 km^2); 5 pillars: safety, connectivity, integration, digitalisation, replicability; to launch 21Q2
• Toyota starts smart city Woven City construction near Mount Fuji, 175 hectares, hydrogen-based, solar, robotics, AI, smart homes; appointed Bjarke Ingels Group as architects
• Stockholm ordered Univrses app to scan & map city streets from any car, transmitting & processing data in real-time to help create a more detailed picture of the state of the city’s streets, measuring everything from road damage to congestion, the location of streetlights to the state of road signage

Week 49 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

Corporate 

• Telefonica: Establishes 50/50 JV Movistar Money in Colombia (19m subs; may expand in Latam) with BBVA to offer consumer loans, to launch 21Q2
• TIM: Reuters: KKR to sell part of FiberCop stake (max 30%) to Infinity Investments (sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi)
• Orange Belgium: Orange plans offer, 22 EUR/share cash (36% premium); plans squeeze-out & delisting on reaching 90% capital, 95% votes; current ownership: Orange 52.91% (via Atlas Services Belgium), Polygon Global Partners 5.05%, Boussard & Gavaudan 3.02%, free float 39.02%
• Tele2: Sells Tele2 DE in MBO, EV EUR 22.8m
• Altice Europe: Sued by Lucerne Capital Management (owns EUR 94m in shares): opposes structure of Next offer, price too low - Sessa Capital agrees
• Optus: Plans to sell 70% of towers, $2b
• Eurofiber: Acquires FullSave (B2B operator in Toulouse & Bordeaux regions; FTTO (600 km), 1 datacenter for colocation, IaaS)
• RTL: Buys out minority shareholders in RTL BE (tv: RTL-TVI, Club RTL, Plug RTL; radio: Bel RTL, Radio Contact, Mint; streaming: RT: Play; news site: RTLInfo.be) in cash & stock
• S&P Global: WSJ: offers $44b for IHS Markit - In stock
• Google: Acquires Actifio (data mgt for businesses) 
• Amazon:
• Record Holiday season to date (Black Friday, Cyber Monday); 3rd-party sales $4.8b (+60% yoy), 71k surpasssed $100k in sales; 3rd-[arty sellers created total 2.2m jobs
• WSJ: to acquire Wondery (podcast maker), >$300m
• Facebook: Acquires Kustomer (CRM solution for small businesses), rumored price >$1b
• Airbnb: Revised IPO filing: IPO price $44-50 (valuation at max $35b), to raise $2.5b, symbol ABNB
• DoorDash: Raises IPO range to $90-95, 33m shares, to raise $3.1b

Networks

• VodafoneZiggo: Integrates internet traffic with Liberty Global (replacing direct peering at AMS-IX) from 201130; expects no quality degradation (latency, packet loss); current peak capacity 6.5 Tb/s
• Fixed:
• WIK report on copper switch-off 
• IDATE for FTTH Council Europe report (State of Fibre: new Market Forecasts 2020-2026 revealed) forecasting 2020-2026:
• FTTH/B connections in EU27+1 to 202m with 148m subs (73.3%)
• NL: from 3.8m HP with 2.0m subs (25.3% HH penetration) in 2020 to 7.7m HP with 4.6m subs in 2026 (56.4% HH penetration)
• also for EU39: from 195m HP with 86m subs (43.9%) in 2020 to 317m HP with 208m subs (65.4%) in 2026
• RUNE connects first customer to XGS-PON (first in Europe), with Iskratel
• Google Fiber launches 2 Gb/s in Huntsville, Nashville 
• Netherlands:
• CEBF (Connecting Europe Broadband Fund, managed by Cube Infrastructure Managers (Cube IM)) invests EUR 43m (30m equity, 13m debt) in Rodin Group for majority stake; plans 109k premises in Groningen province
• KPN starts roll-out in Zeist region, 30k premises
• KPN plans FTTH in Pijnacker-Nootdorp, 11k premises
• E-Fiber starts roll-out in Zundert
• Wireless:
• Industry reports:
• Ericsson Mobility Report:
• 5G pops coverage YE 2020E 1b, 5G subs YE 2020 220m, 2026E 3.5b
• 5G launched by 106 operators (o/w 22 announced cloud gaming); FWA launched by 200 service providers, YE 2026E subscriptions 180m (o/w 70m = 40% over 5G), from 60m YE 2020E, data traffic 2026E 25% of all mobile data traffic, from 15% at end 2020)
• Mobile data traffic growth 20Q3 10% qoq, 50% yoy, by 2026 5G will carry 54% of all mobile data, data traffic per smartphone CAGR 2020-2026 24%, 30% in MENA, 30% in Latam, 28% in SE-Asia/Oceania, 27% in N-America, 26% in W-Europe, 26% in C&E Europe, 26% in sub-Sahara Africa, 24% in NE-Asia, 15% in India
• IoT connections to grow from 12.6b in 2020 to 26.9b in 2026 (CAGR 13%), CAGR by type: short-range 12%, wide area 22% (o/w cellular 23%)
• 4 time-critical use cases with 5G (low latency; 10s of ms = 99% reliability, 1 ms = 99.999% reliability):
• Real-time media: processing and rendering to the cloud; for AR/VR
• Remote control: moving humans out of hazardous locations
• Industrial control: real-time process monitoring and control, controller-to-controller communication, smart grid control, machine vision for robotics and motion control,
• Mobility automation: automation of control loops for vehicles and mobile robots for automated guided vehicles (AGVs), cooperative maneuvering of vehicles, advanced intersection safety
• 5G network coverage 60% of global pops by 2026, from >1b = 15% in 2020
• [other topics: AT&T FirstNet, Industry 4.0, mobile cloud gaming]
• Operators have 3 main paths to success:
• Quality (to lead the market, taken by 19%)
• Offering (to challenge the market with new offerings, taken by 28%)
• Industry (follow trends; to follow the market, focus on value-for-money propositions; taken by 38%)
• Comsof for FTTH Council Europe report 'Fibre for 5G: the story of convergence' [see 190313]: phased roll-out of FTTH (requires 2 fibers) with spare capacity significantly reduces future cost of 5G (backhaul requires 24 fibers); based on shared trenches & ducts; extra investment to make FTTH ready for 5G is 1-7%
• Viavi Solutions report 'Fiber in 5G Networks': FTTx disaggregated architecture using splitters for FTTH and WDM for small cells
• Enterprise IoT Insights report 'Challenges with Digital Change in Healthcare – from low-level IoT sensing to big-bang 5G and AI, and how Covid-19 has turned the market both on and off': remote monitoring in healthcare
• 5G launches
• Bouygues launches 5G (3.5 & 2.1 GHz) in 20 cities, targets nationwide coverage end 2021; plans 5G Core 2023; launches promo: B&You 25 EUR/mo (unlimited voice & text, 130 GB)
• Viettel launches 5G in Hanoi (free trial), to expand to Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City
• 5G technology
• Qualcomm launches Snapdragon 888 processor for Android, from 2021: 5G, includes X60 modem (Gern 3), AI Engine (Gen 6), Elite Gaming (Gen 3), Spectra ISP (max 2.7 Gigapixel/sec, allows 120 photos/second at 12 Mb/s), support for CA
• Nokia with Telefonica: 5G (RAN) up to 90% more energy efficient (per traffic unit) than legacy
• MEC: Vodafone partners with AWS for low-latency edge computing in; trials 2021 in UK, DE with Dedrone, Digital Barriers, Groopview, Unleash live, HERE Technologies - Verizon, SKT, KDDI also partner with AWS
• FWA: TIM demos 1 Gb/s FWA over mmWave (26 GHz) at 6.5 km in Rome, with Ericsson, Qualcomm, Casa Systems

Services

• Telecoms
• Vodafone DE resells Apple TV (4K box), 20 EUR/mo (promo: first 6 mo 10 EUR/mo) for GigaTV access
• Video
• EU pan-EU access to same content on streaming services, in accordance with geo-blocking regulation    
• SpotX report 2021 Global Trends Report for Video Advertising
• Netflix: Rumor: to cut library in South Africa (currently 40 titles) to meet new local content quotas
• Amazon: Amazon Fire TV adds local news in 12 US cities (NY, LA, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Boston, SF, Seattle), to add 90 in 2021
• Lionsgate: Launches Lionsgate Play in India, 100 INR/mo or 700 INR/yr
• DAZN: Launches in 200 countries, equivalent of 2 GBP/mo (or less)
• Discovery: Plans to launch Discovery+

• in US 210104; Already launched in UK/Ireland (distr. deal with Sky). In US 210104 (distr. deal with Verizon: 12 mo free for Play More or Get More Unlimited subs, 6 mo free for Start or Do More Unlimited subs). To add >25 countries in 2021: Nordics, IT (distr. deal with TIM), NL, ES, Latam, parts of Asia (incl. India).
• 5 $/mo with, 7 $/mo without ads
• Max 5 profiles, max 4 concurrent streams
• 55k episodes from 2500 shows at launch (incl 50 originals, 150 hr of exclusive content), to add 1000 hr of originals in first yr
• No linear channels (content first in linear channels, then on Discovery+) but sports in Europe (incl Tokyo Olympics) be covered (via Eurosport)
• WarnerMedia:
• Entire 2021 film slate (17 films: The Matrix 4, Dune, In the Heights, The Many Saints of Newark, The Suicide Squad, The Little Things, Judas and the Black Messiah, Tom and Jerry, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Reminiscence, Malignant, King Richard) to premiere in theaters & on HBO Max on same day because of corona virus - Ends offering free trial - AMC (659 theaters) opposes, will "aggressively pursue economic terms that preserve our business"
• Plans expansion to Europe (replacing HBO-branded services in C&Ê Europe and Nordics), Latam 21H2; long term target 190 countries h
• Rumor: plans 2 streaming video services 2021: CNN (SVOD), entertainment (content from TBS, TNT, Warner Bros films; free AVOD)

Hardware

• Vodafone UK launches smartwatch Neo for kids, developed with Disney, Fuseproject
• Vodafone partners with Nreal (glasses for AR, MR) to develop wearables & services for consumers (sports, gaming, virtual tours, mmersive education) & businesses (conference call capabilities, remote collaboration & technical services, retail-focused offerings incl virtual showrooms) over 5G
• Amazon: Fire TV Cube adds webcam support for calling any Alexa-enabled device 

Regulatory

• Telecoms
• Ofcom (UK) launches Spectrum Management Strategy, consultation until 210226
• Platforms
• Rumor: US federal & state authorities plan 4 lawsuits against Google & Facebook by Jan 2021
• ACM (NL) starts investigation of payment apps and NFC (some smartphone only allow payment app from NFC provider) 
• Google: Federal judge handling DoJ lawsuit [see 201020] calls on both sides to set rules about who will have access to sensitive information
• Facebook:
• Oversight Board interim report: 20k submitted posts since start (201022), selects 6 for comments (by 201208)
• Reuters: >40 US states (led by NY) plan antitrust lawsuit Dec 2020
• US DoJ sues over discriminating against US workers by reserving positions for temporary visa holders