Week 28 in Telecoms, Media, Internet

CORPORATE

Orange

Appoints Julien Ducarroz CEO Orange PL (from Orange Moldova) and Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière Head of Orange Europe (Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, Luxembourg)

Telefonica

Telefónica Innovation Ventures invests in Nozomi (cybersecurity)

Proximus

To merge Unbrace (app development) into Codit (IT)

Orange BE

Appoints Xavier Pichon CEO (from BCG; formerly Orange)

Tele2

Appoints Kjell Morten Johnsen (formerly VEON, Telenor) Pres & CEO to replace Anders Nilsson

Zain/Etisalat

Zain & Mobily (Etisalat) plan tower JV in Saudi Arabia

Alphabet/Google

GCP ordered by Deutsche Bank, 10 yr - Rumor: cancelled cloud project for China etc (project Isolated Region) - GCP ordered  by Renault

Amazon

Reuters: to invest $100m in stock awards for Zoox employees (900), may cancel acquisition if large number of employees refuse job offer; to pay $1.3b, to close Sep 2020

Facebook

Sustainability Report: GHG emissions reduced 59% from 2017, 86% of ops powered by renewable energy, total energy usage 2019 +50%

Axios: Facebook boycott organizers share details on their Zuckerberg meeting, generally disappointed (not yet ready to address the vitriolic hate on their platform)

Delays Oversight Board to 20Q4 [see 200506]

Internal Civil Rights Audit report: doesn't do enough against hate speech & disinformation

Microsoft

Rumor: considers offer for Warner Bros games division

Spotify

Ad deal from Omnicom (agencies Hearts & Science, OMD, PHD), $20m: ads around podcasts

Sony

Acquires 1.4% stake in Epic Games (makes Fortnite, Unreal Engine), $250m; valuation $17.86b; total raised $1.83b

Sells Sony Pictures Television France (unscripted activity & Starling) to Satisfaction (renames to Satisfy)

Quibi

[History] - Sensor Tower: <10% of April 2020 sign-ups converted to paying subs (72k of 910k) - Denies

fuboTV

Sells stake to Credit Suisse Capital, $20m (2.1m shares at $9.25); 20Q1: reaches 287k paying subs (+37% yoy)

Nielsen

Plans 3500 job cuts

WPP

3 Units to merge into Finsbury Glover Hering (FGH), WPP to own 50.01%, FGH 49.99% through buy-back

Thomson Reuters

Rumor: Reuters plans paywall from Feb 2021

NPO

Minister finalises plans [see 190606]: to end advertising online & around children's programming 210101, extra state funding rises to 40m EUR/yr; to reduce ad load/income 20% per yr 2022-2027 (total reduction 50%); to add local programming to NPO 2 TV, NPO 3 TV remains youth focused

Vivendi

Canal+ fined EUR 3-5m for opt-out sale 2017

(NETWORK) EXPANSION

Deutsche Telekom

Magenta Telekom extends reach to >50 communities in Tyrol providing services over cablecos & munifiber    

T-Mobile PL expands RSP coverage to full Fiberhost (= Inea) coverage: 1m HH

Iliad IT

Iliad IT to provide services on Open Fiber's FTTH network by 2024

Euskaltel

Euskaltel to provide services over Orange ES 1.8m FTTH lines

Google

Loon launches service (4G) in Kenya (31k miles^2, incl Nairobi) with Telkom Kenya (35k beta users); 35 balloon at 12 miles; down record 19 Mb/s, up record 4.7 Mb/s, latency 19 ms

Google Fiber plans FTTP in West Des Moines (Iowa), city to invest $35-42m in open access conduit network; Google Fiber to rent access for 2.25 $/mo (minimum $4.5m over 20 yr) - Confirms    

5G

Elisa expands 5G in Helsinki

TDC plans Private 5G at Grundfos (pump manufacturer DK), with Ericsson

AT&T plans Private 5G for Phillips 66 (refinery), with Accenture

Fortum Power & Heat plans Private 5G in 2.3 GHz band (20 MHz) based on owned spectrum

Zain KSA expands coverage to 30 cities (in all districts)

Groupe ADP, Hub One, Air France plan Private 4G/5G at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Paris-Le Bourget airports.(1k employers, 120k employees), with Ericsson

India

India plans nationwide fiber (BharatNet) at panchayat (village council) level

Zambia

Fibrecom (= Zesco = gvt) to invest $50m in fibre in 2 yr

Ghana

Vodafone Ghana to migrate subs from copper to FTTH

Spotify

Rumor: to expand to Russia 200715

DAZN

To resume int expansion 200724 (beta)

SERVICES

Amazon

AWS launches AWS IoT SiteWise: managed service that collects data from the plant floor, structures and labels the data, and generates real-time KPIs and metrics to help industrial customers make better, data-driven decisions; first customers: Volkswagen, Bayer Crop Science, Pentair, Genie (= Terex), TensorIoT, Softing Industrial

Twitter

Rumor: plans subscription platform (codename Gryphon)

Disney

Fox Sports NL ends support for Smart TV apps (Samsung, LG) & Apple TV

Comcast

Peacock to focus on AVOD tiers; reaches 1000 employees; to invest $2b in 2020-21; target $2.5b rev in 2024 on 30-35m subs

Peacock content deal with NBU for free matches of NBC Sports’ Premier League from 200715, total 175 mathes in 2020/21 season

Sky Q adds features: new UI, voice discovery, bring together TV & apps more seamlessly, adds sports centers

AT&T

HBO Max to expand to Latam 2021

Crunchyroll orders new original series

Amazon

Prime Video adds user profiles (max 6 per account), with parental controls

Adds tuner to Fire TV Cube for OTA channels in US, Canada, UK, DE, FR

Naspers

Showmax adds live sports

TDC

YouSee (MSO, = TDC) plans stand-alone OTT service YouTv: live TV channels + 3rd-party OTT services

5G

Cable & Wireless Seychelles plans 5G launch July 2020 for smartphones, first in capital Victoria, Roche Caiman district & the airport; with Huawei

Taiwan Star plans 5G commercial launch Aug 2020, with Nokia

Traffic

ACM (NL) Telecommonitor 20Q1: mobile data usage (3G & 4G) 214b MB (+35% yoy), 20.257m mobile lines (+4% yoy), fixwed voice (PSTN & ISDN) 340m minutes (-21% yoy), #SMS -10% yoy, M2M connections 7m (+35% yoy), 7.45m BB lines, 2.76m FMC bundles (+8% yoy), fixed-only bundles 4.17m; market shares mobile data: T-Mobile #1 (>50%), KPN #2 (20-25%), Vodafone #3 (15-20%)

TECHNOLOGY

KPN

KPN demos 8.5/8.5 Gb/s (1 ms latency) over XGS-PON in real-world setting in Amersfoort

Compression

Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (with Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei) developed H.266 = Versatile Video Coding (VVC); to halve bitrate requirement of H.265

2G/3G

GSMA: emerging markets will rely on 2G & 3G for another 5 yr

5G

3GPP finalises Release 16, adds or enhances NR–Unlicensed (NR-U), Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB), Sidelink (C-V2X, device-to-device), Time Sensitive Networking (TSN, replaces ethernet & cabling, suited for Industry 4.0), Precise Positioning (without GPS; based on round-trip delay, angle of arrival & other; precision <1 meter); enhances Release 15 (MIMO/beamforming, power efficiency, latency); [equipment based on enhanced Release 15 & Release 16 to be launched early 2021]; Release 17 (Dec 2021) may be delayed

Samsung launches vRAN for 5G (fully-virtualized); replaces dedicated baseband hardware with software elements on a general-purpose computing platform (scale capacity & performance more easily, add new features quickly, have flexibility to support multiple architectures), reduces maintenance costs (moves to a COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) x86-based platform)

Motorola launches Moto G 5G Plus, EUR 350 (4GB RAM, 64GB storage) or EUR 400 (6GB RAM, 128GB storage) - VinSmart (= Vingroup, Vietnam) launches 5G smartphone Vsmart Aris 5G, based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G - OnePlus plans One Plus Nord 5G 200721, rumored price EUR 290

Verizon plans migration to SA core 5G 2020

PLATFORM (SELF) REGULATION, LITIGATION, LICENSING

Platforms

WSJ: EU plans platform regulations aimed at moniopolistic behavior, tax evasion & content liability (hate speech)

Google, Facebook, Twitter halt processing Hong Kong government requests for user data; TikTok blocks usage in Hong Kong (operates as Douyin in China) - US considers TikTok ban - Microsoft Telegram, Zoom also pause data requests; Apple considers - Amazon orders employees to delete TikTok app over security risks - Amazon says order sent by mistake, will not ban TikTok

Indonesia launches 10% VAT on Amazon, Google, Netflix, Spotify

Facebook and Twitter ban posts promoting conversion therapy

Alphabet/Google

Rumor: California plans antitrust investigation

Facebook

Rumor: considers blackout on political ads in the days running up to the US presidential election

Twitter

Bans >50 accounts linked to Identitarian movement (white nationalist)

Apple

Plans to require apps to seek additional permission from users before tracking them across other apps & websites

Amazon

Amazon, authors (John Grisham, Scott Turow, R.L. Stine, Sylvia Day etc) & publisher (Penguin Random House) sue Kiss Library (pirated e-books)

Spectrum auctions

Mexico to delay 5G auction to 2021

FCC: 271 bidders for Auction 105 (3.5 GHz band: 3550-3650, 7 Priority Access Licences (PALs) per county, 10 yr licenses), to start 200727

PTS (SE) proposes combined 2.1 (expires end 2025) & 2.6 (expires end 2023) GHz auctiom, consultation until 200901

China

FT: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to demand phasing out Huawei from UK 5G networks

Backdoor accounts discovered in 29 FTTH devices from Chinese vendor C-Data    

Week 27 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

CORPORATE

KPN

• AFM: Capital Income Builder 3.08%     
• KPN Ventures invests in Smart Photonics     

DT

• Telekom Innovation Pool invests EUR 2m in RemoteMyApp (cloud gaming service ​Vortex.gg, PL); plan cloud gaming service (beta) - And $18m in Cynet (autonomous breach protection)
• Transfers T-Systems' telecoms ops to local operators (Telekom DE etc) to focus on IT & digitisation services for large clients worldwide

Telefonica

• Rumor: plans sale of mobile ops Costa Rica [see 200504]

BT

• Fitch affirms BBB/stable

Proximus

• Appoints Anne-Sophie Lotgering (from Orange BE) CEMO (enterprise market) to replace Bart Van Den Meersche

Telenor

• ESA fines Telenor NO EUR 112m over abuse of market dominance 2008-2012 (wholesale prices higher than retail prevented market entries), ESA suggests civil actions for damages by competitors; Telenor to appeal     

Vodafone

• Rumor: plans IPO of tower business in Frankfurt early 2021
• Vodafone NZ sells datacenter to Plan B

PPF Group

• Spins off mobile networks in Hungary, Bulgary, Serbia as Cetin (as in CZ), all under Cetin Group (= PPF)

Play

• Rumor: considers selling towers (8k), value EUR 800m

Gamma

• Acquires HFO Holding (DE, VoIP, Cloud PBX & mobile (brand Epsilon, 100k lines); 2019 rev EUR 45.9m, EBITDA EUR 3.2m): 80% + option for 20% in 3 yr, EUR 20.4m cash + results-based amount (between EUR 7.5-17.5m cash) for 8% (2021), 8% (2022), 4% (2023), maximum prince EUR 37.9m [= 12x EBITDA 2019, 0.8x rev 2019]

Canal+ Polski

• Plans IPO

RTL

• AGM, annual report 2019, replaces PwC by KPMG as auditor for 1 yr

Discovery

• Acquires Tele 5 (FTA channel DE; movies & series) from Leonine + content deal with Leonine

Deezer

• Sells minority stake to Grupo Salinas, $40m in media exposure on TV Azteca, valuation $1.4b     

Amazon

• To pay $500m bonuses for front-line workers & delivery partners over strong demand from consumers stuck at home during coronavirus lockdowns ($500 for full-time Amazon/Whole Foods employees, $250 for part-timers, $1000 for leaders; delivery oweners $3000, drivers $150) - Strike in DE over corona infections
• WSJ: AWS to establish Aerospace & Satellite Solutions unit to serve military and commercial space organizations; to be headed by Clint Crosier

Facebook

• Plans datacenter in DeKalb (near Chicago), $800m; #12 in US (excl leased datacenters from DLR, Cloud HQ) (3 in Europe, 1 in Singapore), 907k ft^2

PE

• TINC Acquires majority of Datacenter United (datacenters BE)
• Infracapital Acquires Breitbandversorgung Deutschland (BBV; FTTB, 33k premises) from RiverRock
• NJJ NJJ Presse acquires Paris-Turf (Paris Turf, Bilto, Cheval Magazine etc), EUR 1; takes on 151 employees (of 248), to invest EUR 12m in 3 yr; to discontinue paper editions of daily newspapers Bilto and Tiercé Magazine and of monthly Stato, Cheval Magazine and Cheval Pratique; to close Aix-en-Provence site and printing at Vitrolles

INFRASTRUCTURE - Fixed

Netherlands

• KPN plans FTTP in Rotterdam, 285k HP in 5 yr, first in Centrum-Oost, Delfshaven; Telecompaper: currently 25k lines on 325k HH = 8%
• Primevest & T-Mobile NL plan FTTP in 3 remaining areas (Centrum, Strijp, Gestel) in Eindhoven (>29k HH + 1100 small businesses), >EUR 20m, from Sep 2020, target near-citywide coverage (9.7%)

Spain

• Gvt ES approves PEBA-NGA program, EUR 150m for underserved (grey) areas; target 91% pops coverage (75% in rural areas) of superfast BB (minimum 300 Mb/s) YE 2021
• Euskaltel to get (voluntary) access to Movistar's FTTH, 5 yr

UK

• B4RN targets 40k premises passed by 220331 (o/w 20k connected), possibly 70k by 2025/26; currently 7235 paying subs
• Virgin Media UK plans Docsis 3.1 expansion to Edinburgh, Liverpool (600k premises)

US

• Google Fiber plans FTTP in West Des Moines (Iowa), city to invest $35-42m in conduit network; Google Fiber to rent access for 2.25 $/mo (minimum $4.5m over 20 yr)

INFRASTRUCTURE - Wireless

5G

• WPI Econimcs for Vodafone UK report: how 5G can boost productivity in UK, cumulative benefits 2020-2030 GBP 150b from connectivity, faster and more reliable mobile networks; Huawei remains valued party but will comply with UK gvt decision
• Vodafone HU expands 5G-3500 to <300 base stations
• AT&T expands 5G to 28 new markets (total 355; total 335 cities); total coverage 160m pops (179m); launches DSS
• MTN ZA launches 5G at 100 sites (3.5 GHz at 58 sites; 2.1 & 1.8 GHz at 35 sites; 700 MHz at 5 sites; 28 GHz at 3 sites) in Gauteng (Bryanston and Honeydew), Western Cape (Blouberg in Cape Town), Free State (Universitas in Bloemfontein): mobility (5G mobile; average 50 Mb/s, max 500 Mb/s; with smartphones: Huawei P40 Pro, Huawei P40, LG Velvet 5G.) & FWA (5G home WiFi; average 100 Mb/s, max 500 Mb/s; with routers: Huawei CPE Pro 2 5G, Huawei MC801A 5G, ZTE 6878); unlimited data (with FUP) 1000 ZAR/mo (with 36 mo contract), 1250 ZAR/mo (with 24 mo contract); partners with Emerge Gaming for cloud gaming
• Optus trials mmWave in 26 GHz band in Sydney, with Ericsson
• MCI (Hamrah-e Avval; Iran) to launch 5G in Tehran Sep 2020
• Zain Bahrain launches 5G, with Ericsson
• Chunghwa Telecom launches 5G in Taiwan at 2k base stations (target 4k YE 2020, 10k by 2022), 500 Mb/s - 1.5 Gb/s; speed-based pricing, unlimited data from 1400 to 2700 TAD/mo, hotspot cap 50 GB/mo - Taiwan Mobile Co to launch 200701, target 10k base stations (pops coverage 90%) in 3 yr; volume-based pricing, unlimited data 1400 TAD/mo - Far EasTone to launch 200703 (has 80 MHz in 3.5 GHz band), target pops coverage 50% YE 2020
• Taiwan Mobile Co launches 5G
• Dish orders equipment from Fujitsu, Altiostar; plans Open RAN
• Telecom Malagasy (Telma, Madagascar; = AXIAN Group) launched 5G (3.6-3.7 GHz) 200626 in Antananarivo & Toamasina for mobile & FWA, with Ericsson
• EU: 5G small cells to be exempted from planning permission requirements
• GSMA: 5G Brings Five Opportunities with New Value (connectivity, AI, cloud, computing, industrial applications)
• Vodafone DE launches Vodafone Business Campus Private: containerised modular 5G campus network solution, based on Vodafone RedBox, with Ericsson - Vodafone DE & Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf (UKD) plans Private 5G campus network - Vodafone UK launches SA 5G at Coventry Univ campus
• DNA (Telenor) expands 5G to Heinola
• Vodafone IE plans DSS with Ericsson, targets 30% coverage by March 2021
• Far EasTone launches 5G, with Ericsson (RAN & Core)
• Magenta Telekom (DT) expands 5G to 600 sites, coaverage 25% of homes & businesses; target 1200 (40%) YE 2020
• Claro Brasil launches 5G using DSS for 700, 1800, 2500 bands; with Ericsson, Qualcomm

Other

• BE could plan 5G auction and set proceeds distribution afterwards
• MNOs UAE (Etisalat, Du) to close 2G end 2022
• T-Mobile NL orders Telindus to automate mobile infra     
• East Tender expects 6G standard by 2023, equipment specs by 2027

SERVICES - Wholesale, developers

Deutsche Telekom

• T-Systems launches Multi Cloud Connectivity Platform to book lines (direct & VPNs) from cloud network providers (incl DT) to AWS, Azure, GCP

Alphabet/Google

• To add free product lsitings to Search results [see 200421]
• Reuters: to bar publishers from advertising if they block Google from reader data collection (as demanded by GDPR) from 200815

Facebook

• Expands fan subscriptions (for creators with >100k followers to monetise content) to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, UK, US

SERVICES - End users

TV

• Ziggo adds Ziggo Go apps for Amazon Fire TV stick, Android TV (for connected TVs), Apple TV
• T-Mobile NL expands IPTV service with nDVR & replay (max 7 days), extra 5 EUR/mo; to exchange STBs; to renew TVE apps (TV Anywhere)

3P

• Solcon (KPN) alters 3P prices

WhatsApp

• WhatsApp (>2b users) adds features: animated stickers, dark mode for web app, QR-code for contact details sharing, status (self-destruct after 24 hr) for KaiOS, video maximisation, 1-click group calls

Spotify

• Launches real-time lyrics (out of beta) in 26 countries
• Expands Premium Duo tier to 55 markets (US, UK, DE, IT, ES, India etc), 13 $/mo, 13 GBP/mo; access to Duo Mix playlist
• Plans podcast series with Formula 1 (Paddock Pass)

Alphabet

• Ends sales of Pixel 3a & Pixel 3a XL; rumor: to be replaced by Pixel 4a

Amazon

• Expands Amazon Pantry (groceries & essential items) to >300 cities in India
• Rumor: to delay Prime Day to Oct 2020 [see 200403]

Facebook

• Demos 3 prototype holographic VR headsets
• To end Hobbi app 200710 [see 200213] - To end Lasso app 200710 [see 181025]
• Changes algorithm to prioritize original reporting in News Feed

Apple

• Apple Arcade focuses on games that keep users beyond free trial period

Comcast

• Content deal for Peacock with ViacomCBS, non-exclusive (library movies & series)

RTL

• Videoland (RTL NL) to add live channels

PLATFORMS

General

• Conseil d’Etat (Appeals Court FR) annuls in part cookie guidelines issued by CNIL (has no power to prohibit cookie walls)
• India bans 59 Chinese apps over border tensions; incl Bytedance’s TikTok, Tencent Music Entertainment’s QQ Music - Apple (App Store) and Google (Play Store) comply
• Axios: tech finally begins crackdown on Trump
• CMA (UK) calls for regulatory regime to curb Google's and Facebook's (& other ad-funded platforms) market power in digital advertising (large users bases, unmatchable access to user data, default settings, presence across many different markets) creating entry barriers; proposes establishment of Digital Markets Unit; CMA, Ofcom, ICO establish Digital Markets Taskforce for advice by end 2020
• AP (NL) rejects law change to track corona virus on privacy grounds

Alphabet/Google

• EU widens Fitbit acquisition investigation (could help entrench search and advertising)

Facebook

• Advertisers have 10 demands; >500 brands joined boycott - Rumor: CEO Zuckerberg will not change policy on hate speech, expects advertisers to return [see 200620]
• CJR: Facebook lies on the record, has ghost-written op-eds, demanded quote approval for interviews
• Flaw exposed personal information to 5000 developers after cut-off data (in 2018)

Week 26 in Telecoms, Internet, Media

CORPORATE

Deutsche Telekom

SoftBank to sell 198.3m T-Mobile US shares o/w 133.5m to be offered to public (to be listed 200624) and max 10.0m to be bought by DT; Marcelo Claure (SoftBank COO) to buy 5m shares; T-Mobile US to distribute rights to shareholders as of 200625 (to buy 0.05 share); SoftBank's stake to be reduced to 8.6%, DT's rises to 43.5%; SoftBank to raise $21b - Sells 143m shares at $103 each + greenshoe 10.75m shares

Orange

Reviews banking partners

Telefonica

Expects cross-border consolidation in Europe

TIM

Gvt IT considers CDP raising stake to ~25% (by buying out Vivendi) to force networks merger with Open Fiber

BT

Rumor: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) builds stake

Telenor

Sells Digital Money Myanmar stake (34.2%) to Yoma Strategic Holdings, EUR 67.7m

Vodafone

TPG shareholders approve VHA merger, to close 200713, name change to TPG Telecom 200629    

Bouygues

Acquires MVNO Euro-Information Telecom (EIT; brands: Auchan Telecom, Cdiscount Mobile, CIC Mobile, Credit Mutuel Mobile, NRJ Mobile; >2m subs) from Credit Mutuel, EUR 530m + earn-out EUR 140-325m, to close end 2020; distr deal with Credit Mutuel/CIC (4200 branches)

Iliad

Acquires 30% stake in Instadrone (drone pilot service); part of Solid-19 initiative

Altice Europe

Sells remaining Altice USA stake (17.9m shares)

Alphabet/Google

Sidewalk Labs plans to spin out more smart city companies

Rumor: to acquire North (Canada), $180m: smart glasses; raised $160m

Amazon

AWS order from Formula 1 for racing performance stats

Leases warehouse (1.5m ft^2) in NYC (Maspeth, Queens) & office/warehouse property under construction in Red Hook (Brooklyn)

CMA (UK) approves acquisition of 16% stake in Deliveroo

Buys naming rights for Seattle's new NHL home: to be named Climate Pledge Arena

Rumor: to acquire Zoox, >$1b: self-driving tech [see 200526] - Confirms, to remain stand-alone business, rumored price >$1.2b

Launches Smart Stores program in India at >10k stores: QR code to see items in stock, discounts, reviews

Facebook

Facebook Gaming app rejected by Apple App Store for iOS

Acquires Ready at Dawn Studios (VR studio, created Lone Echo)

Instagram expands Shopping to more businesses (incl creators) - Expands Reels to FR, DE [a la TikTok, see 191112]

Trials Forecast app (developed by NPE Team) in US, Canada: crowd-sourced predictions (eg on corona virus)

Snap

Launches first shoppable show (Snap Original): The Drop - Has 229m DAU o/w 100m in US, reaches 90% of 13-24 year-olds in US

Apple

WWDC: launches macOS 11 Big Sur (based on new Arm processor Apple Silicon, based on Arm tech, for MacBooks, iMacs, Mac Pros; already in iPhones, iPads, Watches; to run iPhone & iPad apps on Mac, replacing Intel), iOS 14 (for iPhone, iPod Touch; adds Widgets, App Library; launches digital car key feature), iPadOS 14 (improves Apple Pencil), watchOS 7 (adds sleep tracking feature), tvOS 14 (adds Home app, supports multiple users for Apple Arcade games), launches Translate app for live conversation translation; updates Safari, Maps, Siri; Weather app, HomeKit; launches Mac mini for developers; to launch AirPods 3 21H1; HomePod to support 3rd-party music streaming services

Microsoft

Acquires CyberX (security), rumored price $165m

Checkout.com

Raises $150m at $5.5b valuation, considers IPO

ProSieben

KKR raises stake to 6.61% (from 5.21%), EUR 31m

Lagardere

Sells Lagardere Studios to Mediawan Alliance (= Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse, MACSF, KKR), EUR 100m; Mediawan plans series of deals

FTTH

Onivia

Launches wholesale-only FTTH-service in ES; 966k FTTH lines in Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Seville, Valencia

Telenet

Talks with Fluvius to cooperate on future data network in Flanders, decision by early 2021; ambitious FTTH project could be next step; Fluvius builds open access FTTH for both consumers & businesses in urban & rural areas, 1 Gb/s and in future more

UK

CEBR for Openreach: nationwide FTTP in UK to increase productivity by GBP 59b by 2025 (500k jobs extra, 400k remote workers)

Ireland

Eir's IFN (Ireland's Fibre Network) reaches 47 towns (total 848 locations); tarfget coverage 84% o/w 90% FTTP

Netherlands

KPN plans FTTH in Etten-Leur town (proposes Hybrid DSL/LTE for rural locations)

KPN reaches 2.4m HP, to add 1m; to end single-line repairs on copper networks

Germany

Verivox FTTH ranking: 1 Cologne (80%), 2 Munchen (75%), 3. Hamburg (72%), 4. Hannover (19%)    

SPECTRUM

Slovakia postpones 5G auction (700, 900, 1800 bands)

IMDA (Singapore) hands 5G licenses to SingTel and JVCo (= StarHub, M1): 100 MHz in 3.5 GHz band + 800 MHz mmWave each; M1/StarHub order RAN from Nokia for SA 5G-3500; M1 orders 5G core from Nokia; M1 orders mmWave RAN from Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei; SingTel orders equipment (RAN, core; 3.5 GHz & mmWave) from Ericsson - TPG Telecom awarded local 26/28 GHz licenses

BIPT extends Citymesh's 3.5 GHz license (2x20 MHz)

Croatia delays 5G auction to 21H1

Swisscom plans 2G switch-off end 2020

5G

Wind Tre (CK Hutchison) plans 5G launch end 2020 in 10 cities, target 70 cities YE 2021

Taiwan Mobile awarded 5G license, to launch 20Q3

Verizon plans DSS for nationwide 5G 2020: users keep using 5G tech outside 5G UWB coverage but in lower bands - Trials repeaters from Pivotal

1&1 Drillisch (newcomer DE) plans Open RAN & fully virtualized 5G network; proposes national roaming obligation for existing MNOs

EU awards funding to 11 research projects under Horizon 2020 framework (5G-PPP), focus on transport & industry

Toyota orders Private 5G from Nokia

Verizon partners with incubator Digital Catapult to launch a 5G accelerator program in UK, focus on edge computing

NTT acquires 5% stake in NEC for 5G tech, JPY 60b = $560m

Vodafone Business plans Private 5G at Ford Motor campus in Dunton (UK)

Equinix launches 5G and Edge Proof of Concept Center (POCC) in Dallas

Vodafone IT partners with Filarmonica della Scala: concerts broadcast over 5G (26-28 June 2020 at filarmonica.it, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram)

SERVICES

Telecoms

Proximus adds Apple TV as alternative STB (V7, based on Android P); Apple TV 4K 32 GB for EUR 70 with 4P subscription or EUR 200 stand-alone; adds Pickx app for Apple TV

Google launches group video calling for devices with Googla Assistant (incl Nest Hub Max)

DT plans open IoT Hub (platform, marketplace) for developers, operators, partners, suppliers 20H2; to establish Deutsche Telekom IoT GmbH 200701

AT&T ends Watch TV (skinny OTT bundle, 15 $/mo)

TV Vlaanderen/Telesat (= M7 = Canal+ = Vivendi) launches OTT services TV Light 10 EUR/mo, TV Basic 15 EUR/mo, TV Plus 20 EUR/mo

Graveyard

Google: To close Photo printing service 200630

Amazon: To end support for Dash Wand (shopping device) 200721

Facebook: To end sale of Oculus Go VR headset

Microsoft: Closes all 83 retail stores permanently; charge $450m; to focus on online support at microsoft.com

Music

Spotify

Distr deal with Comcast: access on Xfinity X1 & Flex platforms

Comcast/NBCUniversal

Video

Peacock distr deal with Google for Android, Android TV, Chromecast devices; promo: free access for users to Peacock’s Premium tier until 201015 - And with Vizio (SmartCast) & LG (Smart TVs)

Adds 9 original series for Peacock launch 200715

Walt Disney

Disney+ to expand to PT, BE LU, NO, DK, SE, FI, Iceland.200915

To withdraw Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior in UK, content moves to Disney+

CivicScience: limited interest in bundle of Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu

AT&T/WarnerMedia

Orders companion podcasts for HBO Max series from iHeartMedia (with WarnerMedia)

Warner Bros distr deal with Epic Games for in-game (Fortnite) screenings

NENT/Viaplay

To merge Films & Series package with Elisa's Viihde Aitio’s content into a standalone streaming service in Finland 20Q4, to be called Elisa Viihde Viaplay

Iflix

Acquired by Tencent, to miantian brand for 6-12 mo; 25m active users in 13 countries

Netflix

Distr deal with Play (PL): 6 mo free

Content additions July 2020 - To add 59 originals in July 2020

Sued by Conan Doyle estate over movie Enola Holmes (about Sherlock Holmes's sister)

Orders series Dirty Lines (NL) - To premiere animated series The Cuphead Show

Amazon Prime Video

Rumor: to add live programming 24/7 to Prime Video - Denies

YouTube

Reaches 100m MAU watching on TV

Trials 15 sec multi-segment videos for creators, on mobile [a la TikTok]

(SELF) REGULATION, CSR

Network sharing

ACM proposes guidance on network sharing, consultation until 200814

Google

Google Image Search to label (Fact Check) misleading photos & videos

Launches auto-deleting data (location & search history) from YouTube, Search

Plans paying News media in DE, Australia, Brazil for content on Google News & Discover; to create new News section, to include some paywalled content paid by Google

Amazon

To fund computer science education & teacher professional development for every elementary school (154) in Dallas (78k students) - And in Prince George’s County (132 schools, 49k students)

Establishes Counterfeit Crimes Unit (global)

Facebook

Federal Court DE (overrules lower court, backs Bundeskartellamt): abuses market dominance to gather information about users without their consent; users to opt-in for combining WhatsApp or Instagram data with Facebook data

To warn users before sharing older content (>90 days) - To label posts from public figures when problematic; to remove posts that incite violence or attempt to suppress voting

Pathmatics: highest-spending 100 brands (Home Depot, Walmart, Microsoft, AT&T, Disney) accounted for $4.2b = 6% of ad rev in 2019 [see 200620]

Apple

Rumor: DoJ & state AGs plan investigation into Apple App Store

Platforms

ACM (NL) to act against fake likes, fake reviews, fake followers (force exit business practices; fines)

FR, UK, ES, IT offer US to initially only include automated digital service companies for digital tax system; OECD targets agreement by Oct 2020

Week 25 in Telecoms, Internet & Media

CORPORATE

Liberty Global

Sees some logic in Benelux combination (VodafoneZiggo + Telenet)

Orange

Considers expansion in Africa to Nigeria, S Africa

Appeals Court upholds EUR 249m fine in case from Digicel (Caribbean)

Telefonica

EU approves studio 50/50 JV (Buendía Estudios) with Atresmedia

Telia

Plans to sell indirect Turkcell stake (47.1% of 51%), $530m - Sells stake to Turkey Wealth Fund, $530m

Sunrise

Acquires Wilmaa (OTT-TV tech, 10 employees)

Molotov

Establishes Molotov Solutions: buisness services division

Epic Games

Bloomberg: Epic Games (makes Fortnite) raises $750m at $17b valuation from T Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford, KKR

Palantir

Raises $500m from Sompo (insurer Japan)

Alphabet

ACCC (Australia) issues objections against Fitbit acquisition [see 191101]: build an even more comprehensive set of user data, further cementing its position and raising barriers to entry to potential rivals; feedback by 200710, decision by 200813

Launches Keen (developend by Area 120 & People and AI Research (PAIR) team): app (for Web & Android) to curate content around topics [a la Pinterest]

Amazon

Needham on media assets (Prime Video, Twitch, music, media ads): rev 2020E $66.7b, value $333b (or $500b = 38% of EV incl 1.5x hidden value multiple)

Facebook

Acquires Mapillary (Sweden): crowdsourced database of street-level imagery

NETWORKS

Fibre

KPN plans FTTP in Maastricht, 60k premises

Fibrus targets 145k FTTP premises by YE 2025, GBP 85m

TrueSpeed starts FTTP roll-out in Wells

KCOM raises GBP 30m debt from Lloyds Bank

Macquarie bids for 50% Open Fiber stake from Enel

HFC

Virgin Media UK raises max speed to 600 Mb/s (with TV); launches 516/36 service (over Docsis 3.0) as stand-alone (without TV)

Mobile

Rumor: gvt DE to invest EUR 1.1b in dead spot coverage

5G

M1 (Singapore) trials 5G for unmanned aircraft, with Airbus, Infocomm (IMDA), Port Authority, TeamOne Technologies (modem)

MTN (SA) plans 5G based on DSS and 3.5 GHz band after temporary spectrum is retracted; core network is Release 15 compliant; current temporrary service accessible for 4G subs at no extra cost

AT&T expands 5G (850 MHz band) to 137 new markets (total 327, 160m covered pops), target nationwide summer 2020; 5G+ network (39 GHz band) in 35 cities

Verizon plans laptop (Lenovo Flex 5G) for 5G UWB; also China Mobile, Sunrise, EE (BT)

Qualcomm launches Snapdragon 690: midrange 5G processor

Telekom DE reaches 12k 5G antennas in >1000 towns, 16m covered pops (target 40m = 50% mid july 2020, 40k antennas YE 2020); acquires 10 MHz additional 3G spectrum; reaches 1 Gb/s in 3.5 GHz band; 4G to 5G RAN upgrade with Ericsson & Huawei - Launches campaign (With 5G, nothing separates us anymore)

Asut (CH) calls for accelerated migration to 5G

5G Blueprint (5G research project) launched by 28 partners from NL, BE, CH, CZ (KPN, Telenet, Eurofiber etc); EUR 10m grant from EU's Horizon 2020 program

EC adds 11 new projects under 5G-PPP venture, to launch Sep 2020 (total investment: EUR 400m + EUR 1b from private companies)

O2 CZ plans 5G launch July 2020 in Kolin, Prague, Vinohrady, Nusle, Dejvice, Bubenec with 50 base stations, in 3.7 GHz band, max 600/100 Mb/s

T-Mobile US focuses on 600 MHz and 2.5 GHz bands

Telus launches 5G (NSA, max 1.7 Gp/s) in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto; to add 26 markets by YE 2020; no additional cost for unlimited subs; with smartphones (Samsung Galaxy 5G S20, LG V60 ThinQ 5G, Motorola Edge+); with Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung

Network sharing

Vodafone UK connects Devauden (Wales) under Shared Rural Network initiative [see 200120]

Orange ES & MasMovil extend FTTH sharing to 2.2-2.7m lines

Rumor: Slovak Telekom & Orange Slovensko consider shared FTTH network (currently 680k and 526k FTTH HP)

Performance

Ookla Speedtest Global Index (May 20): global average FBB 77/41 Mb/s, MBB 34/11 Mb/s; FBB: Sing #1 (205 Mb/s), HK #2 (183), Thailand #3 (170), RO #4 (159), CH #5 (156), NL #24 (113); MBB: SK #1 (100), UAE #2 (100), China #3 (97), Qatar #1 (89), NL #5 (74)

Ericsson Mobility Report

SERVICES

Fox no deal with Ziggo yet; Ziggo: cost would triple to >EUR 100m [= 2.6 EUR/sub/mo incl BTW based on 3.86m subs], currently 10% pay for Eredivisie Live [10.1 EUR/mo/paying sub incl BTW based on 350k paying subs paying EUR 35m], proposes same fee for Fox as currently

ViacomCBS plans CBS All Access relaunch 2021 as 'super service', with 15k hr of Viacom & CBS content added, total 15k hr (currently 15k hr)

Discovery considers D2C strategy    

MultiChoice (sat Africa) plans standalone OTT service DStv dishless

Spotify content deal with Kim Kardashian for podcasts in Innocence Project - Partners with DC Comics & Warner Bros for exclusive podcasts

Sky IT launches Sky WiFi over Open Fiber FTTH (1 Gb/s down, 300 Mb/s up) in 26 cities, with hub from Comcast; 3P (voice, BB, Sky Q TV) in 3 tiers: Sky Wifi Smart 30 EUR/mo (FTTH, TV, calls on a per minute basis; activation fee EUR 49), Sky Wifi Ultra 33 EUR/mo (same conditions plus Sky Wifi Pods mesh network, EUR 99 activation fee), or Sky Wifi Ultra Plus 38 EUR/mo (with unlimited national calls to fixed & mobile, EUR 99 activation fee)    

VodafoneZiggo launches virtual concert hall Larger Than Live (at largerthan.live), with Mojo; first concert 200709 from Ziggo Dome, 11 EUR/ticket    

WhatsApp launches mobile payments (based on Facebook Pay, secured by 6-digit PIN or fingerprint) in Brazil (after trial in India): free payments & transfers, charges 3.99% for selling businesses - WhatsApp Web to add voice calls

Trials feature (voice tweets) to add audio (max 140 sec) to tweet

Tencent plans smart city in Shenzhen: Net City, 2m m², with NBBJ (architect Seattle)

REGULATORY

EU launches antitrust investigations into Apple Pay (terms, conditions and other measures for integrating Apple Pay in merchant apps and websites on iPhones and iPads, Apple's limitation of access to the NFC functionality (“tap and go”) on iPhones for payments in stores, and alleged refusals of access to Apple Pay) over distortion of competition & reduction of choice & innovation - And into Apple App Store (mandatory use of Apple's own proprietary in-app purchase system and restrictions on the ability of developers to inform iPhone and iPad users of alternative cheaper purchasing possibilities outside of apps; concerns the application of these rules to all apps, which compete with Apple's own apps and services) over distortion of competition for music streaming services on Apple's devices; follows complaints from Spotify and anon e-book/audiobook distributor [Rakuten]; Apple charges companies 30% from in-app purchases and 30% on subscriptions for the first year, then 15% thereafter - No legal deadline

WTO rules that Saudi Arabian gvt actively promoted and supported the beoutQ pirate operation since the beginning

US withdraws from OECD-led negotiations on taxing platforms

Week 24: main events in Telecoms, Internet, Media

SERVICES

Proximus

Partners with Belfius for cross-selling  (exclusive digital banking for Proximus subs, Proximus services tailored for Belfius subs), to launch early 2021

KPN

KPN adds TV to KPN EEN MKB, from 13.50 EUR/mo/screen

YouTube

Expands YouTube Music & Premium to 14 new regions (total 95)

Blendl

Blendl to expand in podcasts

OTT video

Reelgood report US market: Netflix #1 in subs, Amazon #1 in content (films, series, high-quality films), Netflix #1 in content (high-quality series), HBO Max most expensive, Apple cheapest

Amazon

Bans US Police for 1 yr of using facial recognition tech Rekognition, awaiting stronger regulations to govern ethical use of facial recognition tech; IBM and Microsoft also stop selling facila recognition tech to US police

Facebook

Launches Facebook News (section) in US on mobile [see 191018]

Launches Messenger Kids app (video chat and messaging) in Sub-Saharan Africa

Snap

Snap Partner Summit: for developers: launches new developer products & partnerships across Snap Kit, Snap Games, Bitmoji ecosystems; launches Snap Minis (for developers to deliver experiences through Snapchat); launches new camera & AR experience for developers, Creators & Snapchatters; adds SnapML to Lens Studio desktop app (allows developers to bring their own ML models); for Snapchatters: launches Local Lenses (decorate surrounding buildings in VR space based on AR); adds partners for Scan (PlantSnap, Yuka, others); partners with Headspace (access to meditations); plans new Snap Originals: Coach Kev (Kevin Hart); content deals for Discover section with Disney, ESPN, NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, NBA, NFL; launches Happening Now (breaking news section, content from WaPo, Bloomberg, Reuters, NBC News, ESPN, NowThis, E! News, BuzzFeed News etc); launches Here For You To Help (access all information related to emotional & physical well-being.) - Expands e-commerce to FR

NGN

FTTH

Telekom Slovenije trials 10 Gb/s over FTTH (345k HP)

Gigaclear increases plan for Herefordshire and Gloucestershire  (with Fastershire) from 70 to 110k premises

Swish Fibre adds 22 towns (total 33) to target list

CityFibre to add 10k jobs in 3 yr ; recent roll-out starts in Leicester, Derby, Portsmouth, Inverness

KPN plans FTTH in Terneuzen;  target 50k premises (= 30% of total) in Zeeland YE 2021

HFC

CableLabs releases Docsis 4.0 specs:  10/6 Gb/s, 1.8 GHz of spectrum, enhanced security, low latency, Full Duplex DOCSIS (FDX), Extended Spectrum DOCSIS (ESD, max 1.8 GHz) - VodafoneZiggo plans no upgrade to Docsis 4.0 within 5 yr

Wireless

Traficom (FI) awards 26 GHz (5G) licenses  until 331231for mainland (excl Aland) to Telia, Elisa, DNA: EUR 7m each for 800 MHz each; 24.25–25.10 GHz band reserved for local operators - Elisa's 5G reaches >1m covered pops in 25 cities

Canada postpones 3.5 GHz auction to 210615

Arcep (FR) plans 5G auction 200920-200930 for launches end 2020;   110 MHz available in 11 blocks in 3.5 GHz band; coverage requirements for 2023 & 2028; 4G requirement: 240 Mb/s at 75% of footprint YE 2022

4 MNOs Vietnam (Viettel, VNPT-Vinaphone, MobiFone, GTel Mobile) to share 1200 5G base stations

5G

T-Mobile PL launches 5G service 200609  in Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, Lock, Opole, Czestochowa, Rzeszow, Bielsko-Biala, Kielce, Upper Silesian Industrial District, 1600 base stations, 6m covered pops

Far EasTone plans smart plant for Delta Electronics in Taoyuan (Taiwan), with Microsoft -  Receives 5G license, to launch service 200701

Nevion survey of global broadcasters:  65% consider 5G for remote production, 61% for distribution (to replace DTT, satellite, cable), 33% for OTT, 29% for contribution

Vodafone DE expands 5G  to 500 antennae (700 MHz & 3.5 GHz), total 160 locations Elisa expands 5G to Salo (city #26)

Cellnex plans edge computing solutions  (based on Intel tech) for MNOs, with Lenovo & Nearby Computing

Bell Canada launches 5G  in Montreal, the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, with Ericsson & Nokia; with smartphones; 5G access add-on 10 CAD/mo (promo: free until 210331 - Plans campus network with Western University in London (Ontario)

DTT

Canal+ FR reconsiders DTT (TNT) platform (400k subs)

M&A

Telefonica DE

Closes sale of 10100 towers  (excl RAN; sale & lease-back) to Telxius (Telefonica 50.01%), EUR 1.5b

AT&T

Rumor: plans selling Warner Bros gaming division, $4b; Take-Two, EA, Activision interested

Liberty Global

Sells IT-unit Austria (70 employees)  to Kapsch

CORPORATE

Orange

Changes Executive Committee, incl Michaël Trabbia (CEO Orange BE) to become group Chief Technology & Innovation Officer

Sunrise

Fitch: BBB-, outlook stable

Iliad

Closes bond issue: EUR 650m,  6 yr (mature 260617), 2.375%, demand for EUR 2b, supports Odysée 2024 Plan

BT

Auditor KPMG issues adverse opinion on internal financial reporting controls

Liberty Global

Proxy adviser Glass Lewis opposes CEO Mike Fries pay package  (up to $123m over next 5 yr); to vote against 2 directors: JC Sparkman (due to compensation policy concerns) & J David Wargo (for being on too many audit committees)

YouTube

Establishes $100m fund to amplify the voices of black creators

Airbnb

Reconsiders IPO

Palantir

Reuters: plans IPO; current valuation $10-12b; rev 2020E $1b (+38%), 2021E $1.5b; backlog YE 2019: $2.2b

REGULATION

Amazon

WSJ: EU plans antitrust investigation over treatment of 3rd-party sellers (scooping up data from 3rd-party sellers and using that information to compete against them); fine max 10% of global rev ; California and Washington state also

Twitter

Plans new verifiction system

To add warnings to posts linking 5G to corona virus

Removed 30k Chinese, Russian, Turkish accounts linked to government propaganda - Deleted 170k Chinese state-backed accounts pushing propaganda

OTHER

Deutsche Telekom

Launches Smart Speaker Mini, 2 EUR/mo

EU

DESI