Showing posts with label TikTok. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TikTok. Show all posts

Saturday, January 30, 2021

Incitement becoming a major force in Platform manipulation

 Of all the forms of propaganda going around on Internet Platforms (disinformation, fake news, hate speech, manipulation), recent examples are cases of incitement:

  • Twitter: The Capitol Hill attack by Trump supporters
  • Telegram: looting in the Netherlands, under the pretence of dissatifaction with a pandemic induced curfew
  • TikTok: a deadly challenge, fatal for a 10 year old kid in Italy
  • Reddit: massive attack on short sellers of GameStop stock and more

The Five Ps, a taxonomy of the Problems with Internet Platforms. One originates at the users of the Platforms (their Players), four are tied to the Platforms themselves

  • Players
    • Propaganda, disinformation, fake news (reviews, ads, artists), hate speech, overstepping the boundaries of freedom of speech, incitement (hatred, violence), defamation, propaganda, algorithms, AI, manipulation, addiction
  • Platforms
    • Privacy, collection, use and trading of personal data (as currency for targeted advertising)
    • Power abuse (mostly in the wholesale markets), antitrust, monopolies (duopolies, oligopolies), collusion, vertical and horizontal integration/consolidation, service bundling, the double hat problem of vertically integrated platforms
    • Payment evasion of taxes and copyright dues
    • Politics, cybersecurity (espionage), geo politics, trade wars, border wars

at 1:49 pm 0 comments
Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Copying TikTok: Instagram (Reels), Snapchat, Spotify (Video Moments), YouTube (Shorts)

To follow (?):
  • Twitter could expand voice tweets.
  • Pinterest is seeing high growth in video posts.
  • LinkedIn may lend itself for a video elevator pitch.


at 12:39 pm 0 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, September 07, 2020

Week 36 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

NETWORKS 

Fixed/FTTP

  • Cable.co.uk & M-Lab: Worldwide Broadband Speed League (551m speed tests in 221 countries): #1 Liechtenstein (media downlaod speed 230 Mb/s), #2 Jersey (218), #3 Andorra (213), #4 Gibraltar (183), #5 Luxemburg (118), #11 NL (96)
  • TIM approves establishment of FiberCop, KKR taking stake (37.5% for EUR 1.8b based on equity value EUR 4.7b, EV EUR 7.7b), Fastweb (Swisscom) to own 4.5% for including Flash Fiber stake, TIM to own 58%, to close 21Q1; TIM to be exclusive provider of construction & maintenance; FiberCop to employ 100 FTE
  • Telefonica: Telefonica ES plans copper switch-off by 2025
  • FR adds $240m to rural fiber program (2013) 

Mobile/5G

Launches

  • Singtel launches 5G trial (first 20k subs free, additional pay 10 SID/mo extra): 2.1 & 3.5 GHz bands, NSA, max >1 Gb/s, with smartphones
  • Telefonica ES launches 5G, target coverage 75% YE 2020: NSA, DSS, in 3.5, 1.8/2.1 GHz bands
  • DirecTV Colombia (= AT&T;owns 2×15 MHz of FDD-LTE & 40 MHz TD-LTE spectrum in 2600MHz band) launches FWA over 5G in Bogota, max 100 Mb/s
  • SmarTone (HK) adds FWA over 5G service, 150 HKD/mo ($19)
  • Lao Telecommunications Company (LTC) launches 5G in Vientiane
  • Telia DK and Telenor DK to launch 5G end Sep 2020

Expansion

Technology

CPE

Network equipment

Regulatory



SERVICES

Telco bundles
  • EE (BT) launches The Full Works Plan for iPhone: unlimited mobile data, iPhone upgrade anytime, access to Apple Music, Apple TV+ & Apple Arcade; add-ons: BT Sport Ultimate app 
  • Sunrise resells Samsung Sero (Lifestyle TV, 43 inch, rotates between horizontal & vertical orientation), 71 CHF/mo for 24 mo for BB subs; as part of accessory plans (also: Samsung TVs, Sonos Beam Soundbar, Apple iPad & Apple TV) 
  • 3 UK bundles FWA over 5G with free Apple TV 
Video

Walt Disney

  • Distr deal with TIM: bundles TIMvision, Netflix, Disney+ in Mondo Intrattenimento service as part of TIM Super Wi-Fi TV over FTTH (max 1 Gb/s) or FTTC (max 200 Mb/s), 50 EUR/mo or stand-alone 14 EUR/mo
  • Rumor: Disney+ to add Group Watch feature 200904, max 7 people
Netflix

  • Launches promo for non-subs: free access without sign-up to 10 season 1 episodes 1 of orginal series (Murder Mystery, Élite, Boss Baby: Back in Business, Bird Box, When They See Us, Love Is Blind, The Two Popes, Our Planet, Grace and Frankie), only on Android, PC, Mac
  • Dynamically adjust bit rate to match the content, reduces average bit rate by 50% with no loss in image quality, number of rebuffers -65%
Other

Music

Amazon Music (55m users) partners with Twitch to add live streaming music to Amazon Music app

Web services

Google

  • Launches Kids Space mode for Android tablets, first for Lenovo Tab M10 HD Gen 2: access to library of apps, games, videos, books
  • Updates Keen (social net collections of links, texts, etc): adds photo uploads
  • Google Maps adds in-app parking payment over Google Pay, first in Austin (Texas)


CORPORATE

AT&T

Vodafone

Vivendi
  • Demands (with Amber Fund) EGM at Lagardere; combined 44% of capital, <30% of votes; demand new Supervisory Board members
  • ECJ: Italian law requiring Vivendi to freeze its stake in Mediaset on antitrust grounds infringed the union’s regulations
Bytedance
Other
  • Sunrise: Salt sues in US over planned UPC Schweiz merger; subpoenas Liebrty Global, Liberty Media, Liberty Global Chair John Malone & CEO Mike Fries
  • Telefonica DE: Transfers 5975 rooftop sites & 58 tower sites to Telxius (= Telefonica), EUR 1.5b
  • Iliad: 20Q2
  • Patreon: Raises $90m from New Enterprise Associates, Wellington Management etc at $1.2b valuation; total raised $256m
  • Palantir: Amended S1 IPO filing

REGULATORY

Facebook
Other
Platforms general
  • Apple (developers), Google (ad buyers), Amazon (3rd-party sellers) to pass on Digital Services Tax in UK (2%), AT (5%), Turkey (5%) from Nov 2020
  • US gvt/POTUS Trump plans action against more Chinese apps, after TikTok
  • India bans 118 more Chinese apps (prejudicial to sovereignty & integrity of India, defence of India, security of state, public order); total 224
  • DoJ Austria plans platform (>100k users, rev >EUR 500k) obligation to remove criminal content within 24 hr & otherwiser illegal content withion 7 days, non-compliance fine max EUR 10m 
  • Multilateral Mutual Assistance and Cooperation Framework for Competition Authorities (MMAC) established by US DoJ, US FTC, UK CMA, New Zealand Commerce Commission, Competition Bureau Canada, Australian ACCC: to improve coordinated & pro-active informal cooperation & assistance
  • Axios: Facebook, Google, Twitter, Reddit are holding regular meetings with federal law enforcement & intelligence agencies to discuss potential threats to US Presidential election integrity.
  • AT&T proposal: Section 230 should not apply if platform actively curates, proposes disclosures about how they collect & use data, how they rank search results, how they interconnect & interoperate with others,how their algorithms preference some content, products & services over others
  • 15 Streaming services in India (Zee5, Viacom18, Disney Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, MX Player, Jio Cinema, Eros Now, Alt Balaji, Arre, HoiChoi, Hungama, Shemaroo, Discovery Plus, Flickstree) adopt self-regulation (Universal Self-Regulation Code for OCCPs) to pre-empt government censorship::age classification, content descriptions, control tools, create consumer complaints department and/or an internal committee and an advisory panel to deal with complaints and appeals


at 9:58 am 0 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Week 35 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

FTTH

  • Vodafone: Vodafone UK expands Gigafast Broadband coverage by 360k premises in 3 cities (Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool) on BT Openreach
  • Liberty Global: UPC PL partners with Operacyjnego Polska Cyfrowa (Digital Poland, led by Fiberhost (= INEA)), extends reach to Wielkopolska, Lublin, Lower Silesia; max 1 Gb/s (80 PLZ/mo)
  • Comcast: Sky Italia expands BB reach to 149 cities, on Open Fiber
  • Sunrise: Salt may sue over UPC Schweiz merger: infringes contractual rights established as part of Swiss Open Fibre joint venture [see 200519] - Sale of majority stake in Swiss Open Fiber on hold due to planned Sunrise/UPC CH merger


5G


M&A

  • Liberty Global: Publishes offer prospectus for Sunrise offer; tender to launch 200911 until 201008 followed by 10 trading days acceptance period (201015-201028)
  • Eurofiber: Reuters (resurfaced): Antin to sell minority stake (or majority if demand high enough), valuation EUR 2b (~20x 2019 EBITDA of EUR 109m), Allianz, Ardian, Macquarie, First State Investments, APG, PGGM interested    
  • MasMovil: Polygon Global Partners (1.02%) to vote against, claims offer (22.50 EUR/share) undervalues by 7-8 EUR/share    
  • Telefonica: ElevenPaths (= Telefonica Tech) acquires Govertis (cybersecurity)
  • TIM: Tiscali to participate in FiberCop
  • Intelsat: Rumor: to acquire the commercial aviation portion of in-flight connectivity specialist Gogo, $500m
  • RealNetworks sells Rhapsody (Napster) to MelodyVR, $26m + $44m in content obligations
  • Bytedance

    • TikTok sues US gvt over Exec Order from 200806 (banning business with Bytedance) suspending the company’s right to due process (under Fifth Amendment), no evidence to support accusations national-security risk - General Atlantic and Sequioa Capital support bid from Oracle - Voting rights groups (Rock the Vote, Voto Latino, Common Cause, Free Press, Maplight) also sue
    • TikTok has 100m MAU, 50m DAU in US
    • WSJ: approached Netflix to buy TikTok US, Netflix declined
    • TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer exits, Vanessa Pappas interim CEO
    • Walmart joins Microsoft in bid for TikTok US/Canada/Australia/NZ, rumored value $20-30b; rumor: originally Walmart partnered with Alphabet & SoftBank
    • Rumor: Oracle to offer $20b (50/50 in cash & stock), profit sharing with TikTok/Bytedance (50/50)
    • Bloomberg: Triller and Centricus to bid $20b for TikTok US/Australia/NZ/India in ccash, stock & shared profits; Triller confirms offer, Bytedance denies, Centricus no comment


EARNINGS


VIDEO/TV

  • Comcast
    • Rumor: to sell X1 platform wholesale to smart TV manufacturers, based on Metrological tech
    • Sky DE distr deal for Sky Ticket (free OTT service; sports, films, series, docus, kids) with Sony for Bravia Android TVs
  • Liberty Global launches 4K Mini TV Box (environmental friendly: 35% recycled plastic, 77% reduced energy consumption), powered by Horizon 4 tech, first All-IP device, first for UPC PL; designed by Liberty, manufactured by Commscope
  • Vectra (MSO, PL) launches IP-based STB (Android TV based, Google certified)
  • Apple: Bloomberg: to add AR content to Apple TV+ 2021, plans 2 AR devices (headset 2022, glasses 2023)
  • Philo: Distr deal with Google Fiber: >60 channels for 20 $/mo (joins YouTube TV and fuboTV)
  • Walt Disney: Distr deal for Disney+ Hotstar with Telkomsel from 200905; 39k IDR/mo or 200k IDR/yr
  • WarnerMedia (AT&T): Crunchyroll Adds tiers (Free, Fan, Mega Fan, Ultimate Fan) and features (downloads for offline)
  • Google: Google Discover tests Short Videos [a la TikTok]


OTHER

  • MUSIC
    • Spotify
    • Tidal: Acquires tokens (SENSO Tokens: in-world currency of Sensorium Galaxy: VR social metaspace in which users can attend alternate-world concerts, nightclubs, festivals; public launch planned early 2021) from Sensorium Corp, $7m
  • TEXT/PRINT: Amazon: Audible launches Audible Plus, 8 $/mo for unlimited access (68k hr from 11k items (originals, audiobooks, podcasts))
  • GAMING: DT: Launches MagentaGaming, 7 EUR/mo: cloud gaming platform, 100 games at launch, no downloads
  • INSURANCE:
  • E-HEALTH: Amazon: Launches
    • Amazon Halo: service to improve health & wellness (AI-powered health features, Amazon Halo app; focus on Activity, Sleep, Body (3D model based om smartphone camera picture, calculates body fat), Tone (voice analysis te determine mood), Labs; Halo profile separate from Amazon account), 4 $/mo
    • Amazon Halo Band (accelerometer, temperature sensor, heart rate monitor, 2 microphones, LED indicator, button to turn the microphones on or off; no display; communicates with smartphone over Bluetooth) in US, $100 (separate band $16 or $20); promo: $65 incl 6 mo service, auto-renews at 4 $/mo + tax on early access basis; partnerships with WW, John Hancock Vitality, Cerner, Mayo Clinic, Exhale, Aaptiv, Lifesum, Headspace etc


    REGULATORY

    • Spectrum
    • Platforms
      • Google
        • YouTube Increased removals in 20Q2
        • Bloomberg: US DoJ antitrust ivestigation focuses on bundling services (Google Network, Google Search, Google Ads) in such a way to block out competition (tying); making the sale of one product conditional on purchasing another isn't illegal per se - but it can be when combined with market power
      • Amazon: CALS by All India Online Vendors Assocition (>2000 sellers in India) over unfair business practices (Amazon discounts drive indie vendors out of business; Amazon buys wholesale, sells at a loss to 3rd-party sellers)
      • Apple
        • Facebook prepares advertisers for Apple iOS 14 (brings changes to Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) user tracking feature: becomes opt-in): will disproportionately affect Facebook's Audience Network of publishers (could reduce rev 50%); expects less impact on its own advertising revenue than on the ad-supported businesses that rely on its audience network to promote their apps; may shift demand toward Facebook’s own targeting system    
        • Microsoft supports Epic Games; Epic files response to Apple threatening to cut developers off
      • Facebook: Sues MobiBurn (UK, ad tools for developers) over malicious code that illegally collected personal data of Facebook users


    at 10:09 pm 0 comments
    Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Saturday, August 22, 2020

    Week 34 in Telecoms, Internet & Media

    CORPORATE


    VIDEO

    • Netflix
    • Apple: Launches promo for Apple TV+ subs (5 $/mo) in US: CBS All Access (stand-alone 11 $/mo) + Showtime (stand-alone 10 $/mo) for 10 $/mo; compatible with Family Sharing (max 6)
    • Google: Rumor: to add Kaleidoscope (streaming video hub) to Chrome browser
    • MultiChoice
      • Showmax Pro (450 ZAR/mo; 2 streams, HD) & Showmax Pro Mobile (225 ZAR/mo; 1 stream, SD) launch in ZA: additional content (music channels, news, live sports)
      • Plans to offer DStv streaming service stand-alone, bundled with BB from ISP partners



    OTHER SERVICES


    NETWORKS

    Fixed
    5G


    REGULATORY

    Spectrum
    • Subtel (Chile) plans 5G auction: 700 MHz (2x10 MHz), AWS = 1800 & 2100 MHz (2x15 MHz), 3.5 GHz (150 MHz), 26 GHz (400 MHz), valid 30 yr, consultation until 200928, application until 201019, auction to start 201020
    • BNA (DE) publishes Frequency Compass for spectrum available from 260101 (extension of 800, 1800, 2600 licenses) & 340101 (additional 700, 800, 1800, 1500 spectrum)
    • Telia Lithuania plans 3G-2100 switch-off from Aug 2020, to also close 4G-900 by YE 2022
    Platforms
    Platforms general


    at 8:43 pm 0 comments
    Labels: , , , , , ,
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)