5G
- AT&T plans SA 5G by end 2020
- Cisco & Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau establish 5G open networking experiment platform, with Foxconn Technology, Compal Electronics, Inventec, Pegatron, Sercomm, Accton Technology, Alpha Networks; may partner with Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Alliance & Telecom Infra Project (TIP)
- Rakuten Mobile plans 8652 base stations = 70% pops coverage by 210331; nationwide coverage (96%) summer 2021 (originally Jan 2028); to launch SA 5G service end Sep 2020
- Liverpool granted GBP 7m from UK gvt for Private 5G (at 60 GHz) project 5G Create: Connecting Health and Social Care
- Elisa expands to city #33: Kaarina
- Zain KSA expands 5G to 5 new cities: Duwadimi, Hawtat Bani Tamim, Hayathim, Muzahimiyah, Quwayiyah (total 35)
- Xiaomi launches 2 5G smartphones: Redmi K30 Ultra (low-end) & Mi 10 Ultra (top-end)
- Telefonica plans live broadcast TV over 5G trial, with Intel & Aviwest
- NTT Data & Mavenir to develop radio & core access solutions, plus data & device mgt platforms & analytics tools for private 5G & 4G networks in DE, CH, AT
- HMD Global plans first 5G smartphone Aug 2020: Nokia 8.3
VIDEO
- AT&T
- Rumor: to sell Crunchyroll to Sony but price ($1.5b) too high
- Rumor: CNN plans global streaming service
- Apple: Bloomberg: plans bundling Apple TV+ with CBS All Access (stand-alone 10), Showtime (stand-alone 11) for 10 $/mo (on top of 5 for Apple TV+)
- Locast: Launches in Minneapolis-St Paul, total pops coverage US 42%
- ViacomCBS
- Bloomberg: plans SVOD bundle (CBS All Access, Showtime) with Apple TV+ for 15 $/mo
- Rumor: to rebrand CBS All Access in 2021, possibly to Paramount+
- Fox Corp: Fox News Media to launch Fox News International (SVOD, based on Fox News Channel & Fox Business) 200820, 7 $/mo first in Mexico, 200917 in ES, DE, UK, total 20 countries YE 2020; apps for iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, later Amazon Fire TV, Roku
- Telenet: EC approves streaming JV of Telenet & DPG Media: Streamz, to be established 200901, Peter Vindevogel (Telenet) CEO, Kris Vervaet (DPG) Chair; to focus on Flemish & int content
- Tricolor (DSB, Russia) adds TVOD to streaming service
MEDIA & SERVICES
Internet
- Amazon
- To add podcasts to Amazon Music (both free and paid tiers), Audible (combined 55m users)
- Apple
- To direct users to Apple News+ for reading articles (instead of publisher websites) from autumn 2020; also for links appearing in social media & search results
- Bloomberg: Plans Apple One subscription bundle Oct 2020, with Family Sharing (max 6): Music, TV+ (video), News+ (news), Arcade (gaming), iCloud (storage) (not Apple Care or monthly paid hardware); 3 tiers: 1. Music + TV+, 2. Music + TV+ + Gaming, 3. Music + TV+ + Gaming + iCloud; could be limited by music majors agreements not allowing Apple Music bundling with other services; plans app for virtual fitness classes (subscription-based, codename Seymour)
Media
- New York Times Plans subscription service for Wirecutter (product recommendations)
- Sunrise launches Back to School promos until 200831: 100 CHF/mo in 24 mo contract for BB, TV (neo max), Macbook Air (retail price CHF 1130), Apple TV (retail price CHF 200); free iPhone SE & Apple Airpods for new Freedom swiss unlimited subs (65 CHF/mo in 24 mo contract); fgree MacBook Air for new Freedom europe & US subs (100 CHF/mo in 24 mo contract)
- Ludwigsburg (DE) launches V2X tech from Cohda Wireless, with Swarco (traffic tech): all traffic lights & intersections fitted with Cohda MK5 road-side units, which correspond with MK5 on-board units in fire trucks & rescue vehicles to grant them green-light passage when on the way to emergencies
REGULATORY
Platforms
- Amazon
- Appeals Court: can be held liable for 3rd-party sellers’ defective products in California
- Competition Bureau Canada starts investigation into 3rd-party sellers (willingness to sell on other platforms or own websites; viability of 3rd-party store not using FBA & Amazon ads; influence on shopper habits using 3rd-party sellers' competing items)
- To ban implicit hate speech (blackface, anti-Semitic stereotypes etc)
- Removed 7m of misleading corona virus content items in 20Q2
- To show pop-up warning to users sharing corona virus info
- Instagram sued for collecting, storing & profiting from the biometric data of more than 100m users without consent; fine up to 5k $/user total $500m
- Instagram to force suspicious accounts (inauthentic behavior, such as bot accounts) to verify their identities
- Twitter Adds feature to control who can answer to a tweet to limit hate speech
Platforms general
- Indonesia extends 10% VAT on Amazon, Google, Netflix, Spotify [see 200710] to Facebook, Disney, Apple, TikTok; to be collected from 200901
- EU and US talk over replacing Privacy Shield
- Social networks (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn & Microsoft, Reddit, Verizon Media, Wikimedia) cooperate on scenario planning during run-up to US Presidential Election 201103
- Epic Games sues Apple & Google for banning Fortnite from app stores as Fortnite bypassed in-app payment systems from Apple & Google, claims monopolistic behavior (violates Sherman Act & California’s Cartwright Act), claims that Google blocked OnePlus & LG from pre-installing Fortnite launchers on new smartphones - Spotify and Match Group support Epic; [Apple has monopoly on iOS access for apps through App STore; Google allows sideloading app (not through Play Store) and 3rd party app stores such as Epic's, but erected contractual & technological barriers on distributing apps not through Play Store] - Apple refused Facebook's request to waive 30% App Store fee for small businesses hosting live events (Facebook Pay instead applies zero fee)
- The Privacy Collective sues Oracle & Salesforce (CALS) over personal data collection, bundling & trading
Spectrum
- RTR (AT) plans multiband (6 blocks of 2x10 in 700, 12 blocks of 2x5 in 2100, 9 blocks of 1x5 1500) auction Aug-Sep 2020; coverage obligation: 900 towns (of 2100) with little or no mobile to be connected to 5G, bonus (price discount) for connecting any of the 1200 other
- CTU (CZ) launches multiband auction tender, applcations due 200930: 700 band (2x10 MHz reserved for newcomer), 3400-3600 band - MNOs oppose newcomer
- FCC (US) to reallocate military spectrum (100 MHz in 3.5 GHz band: 3.45-3.55) for 5G by 2021
- ACMA (Australia) plans 26 GHz auction March 2021, cap 1 GHz
- MoC Israel ends 5G auction, 3 winners with identical spectrum (2x5 in 700 band valid 15 yr; 2x10 in 2600 band valid 10 yr; 100 in 3500 band valid 10 yr): Cellcom/Golan Telecom/Marathon Telecom (owns 018 Xfone; pay ILS 115m = $34m), Pelephone (= Bezeq; pays ILS 88m), Partner Comms/HOT Mobile (ILS 62m); to be paid Sep 2022
Telecoms
- Ofcom (UK) starts investigation of personalised pricing in telecoms
- Ocfom (UK) launches wholesale voice market consultation until 201008, to take effect April 2021: fixed wholesale deregulation, continuation of MTA & FTA caps etc
CORPORATE
- BT: Daily Telegraph: pension deficit (GBP 11.3b) could be reduced by shifting part of Openreach (estimated value GBP 20b) to the fund
- CK Hutchison: 3 DK plans infra (1275 towers) spin-off as HI3G Networks, open for others
- Equinix: Acquires 2 datacenters (carrier neutral) from GPX India, $161m
- PPF: Rumor: considers selling MNOs acquired from Telenor (Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary)
- Liberty Global: Offer for Sunrise (CH)
- Sunrise board & shareholder Freenet (24%) support
- 110 CHF/share cash (premium 28% to 200811, 32% over last 60 days average), valuation CHF 5.0b, EV CHF 6.8b
- valuation 7.5x adj EBITDA or 10.3x adj OpFCF after synergies, 10.0x adj EBITDA or 17,6x adj OpFCF before synergies
- to be financed from cash (CHF 3.5b) & new debt (CHF 3.2b o/w 1.6b for refinancing Sunrise debt)
- synergies NPV after costs CHF 3.1b (o/w CHF 2.6b from low-risk cost & capex), annual run rate from rev, costs, capex CHF 275m (46m from rev, 187m from opex, 42m from capex)
- tender to start end Aug 2020 for 40 business days, unconditional on reaching two-thirds, to squeeze out minorities & delist, expects approval end 2020
- break-up fee CHF 50m for Sunrise
- pro forma combination: >3500 employees, rev CHF 3.1b, 2.1m postpaid subs, 1.2m BB subs, 1.3m TV subs, market share in each ~30%
- target gigabit BB coverage 90% of HH by 2021 (UPC 75%, Sunrise 30%), to upgrade to 10 Gb/s over time
- "attractive opportunity to deploy existing cash to unlock substantial synergies and sustainable free cash flow growth. (...) “This transaction is another significant step on our path to create fixed-mobile champions in all of our core markets. (...) after this deal, and assuming completion of our recently announced UK transaction, we will continue to have approximately $7 billion of liquidity8 to drive value-creation for shareholders."
- UPC/Sunrise to become part of UPC credit pool, target leverage 5.0x
- May consider IPO fo the merged business in the future
- Vivendi Proposes talks with Mediaset to settle differences - Mediaset rejects, demands compensation
- ViacomCBS Speculation on future after Sumner Redstone died 200811
- Warner Music Group Acquires IMGN Media (creates shareable social media content including memes & short videos for Instagram & TikTok)
- FuboTV: Files for IPO; Walt Disney acquired 6.6m shares = 17%
- Alphabet
- Google invests in HMD Global (device manufacturer, brand Nokia), $230m with Nokia, Qualcomm
- Distr deal for Google Search with Mozilla for Firefox to be default search engine, 3 yr, rumored value 400-450m $/yr
- Facebook: Bloomberg: establishes F2 (Facebook Financial) arouind payments (Facebook Pay, Novi (formerly Calibra), WhatsApp Pay), led by David Marcus
EARNINGS
- Deutsche Telekom: 20Q2
- T-Mobile NL: Tele2 integration & synergies on track, corona virus reduced roaming income (VR, OoB outgoing), 5G-700 reached 85% coverage (nationwide end 2020)
- TDC: 20Q2
- Swisscom: 20Q2
- Turkcell: 20Q2
- Go Malta: 20Q2
- Freenet: 20Q2
- United Internet: Raises outlook 2020: rev growth 2020 4% (formerly: flat)
- 1&1 Drillisch: Raises outlook 2020: rev growth 4%
- QSC: 20Q2
- RTL: 20Q2
- TV ad rev -40%
- streaming subs (TV Now, Videoland) 1.77m (+45%), TV Now subs +50%, viewing time +36%, Videoland subs +41%, viewing time +31%
- outlook 20Q3: tv ad rev -10%
- outlook 2020: rev & adj EBITA significantly below 2019
- 3 priorities: 1. Strengthen core (TV ads), 2. Boost growth business (streaming & content (Fremantle)), 3. Foster alliances & partnerships (Smartclip, Atresmedia)
- LT streaming targets 2025 maintained: 5-7m subs, rev >EUR 500m, content spend 350m EUR/yr, EBITA break-even
- Meredith: 20Q2
- Dentsu: 20Q2
- FuboTV: 20Q2: 286k paying subs, rev $44m (+53%), net loss $100m
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