CORPORATE
- KPN: WSJ: EQT & Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners plan offer, >3 EUR/share (>EUR 12.6b); preparing due diligence, offer spring 2021
- Orange BE (Orange 53%)
- Orange launches offer until 210423
- Degroof Petercam expert opinion: DCF equity value per share EUR 18.5 = 4.7x EBITDA 2020 = 5.1x adj EBITDA 2020 = 12.0x FCF (EBITDA - capex) 2020 = 13.0x FCF (adj EBITDA - capex excl spectrum) 2020; CCA (comparable company analysis): equity value per share EUR 21.0 at midpoint based on EV/EBITDA, EUR 17.2 based on EV/FCF (overall midpoint EUR 19.2)
- Iliad: Acquires 12% of Unieuro (retailer Italy) - Rumor: to launch fixed-line services in IT within weeks
- PPF: Considers European acquisitions in telecoms & media
- Virgin Media UK (Liberty Global): Plans GBP 10b investments in 5 yr for 5G & FTTP expansion (1.14 Gb/s); to add 1m fixed (FTTP) HP by YE 2021 to total 16m if merger approved (CMA to rule May 2021), to add 7m long-term fixed-line addresses if merger approved; could add wholesale services
- HMD Global (Nokia branded smartphone manufacturer) plans MVNO HMD Mobile in UK on EE (BT); from 6.50 GBP/mo for unlimited calls/texts + 1 GB data
- Microsoft: Rumor: plans offer for Nuance (speech-recognition tech; 7100 employees), 56 $/share = $16b (23% premium)
- Twitter: Co-invests in ShareChat (social media, short video; India, 160m MAU), $502m with Snap, others at $2.1b valuation
- Box: Raises $500m equity from KKR via convertible & SBB (current equivalent 14%)
- Patreon: Raises $155m at $4b valuation
NETWORKS
FTTP
- T-Mobile NL (DT 75%, Tele2 25%)
- partners with ODF (Open Dutch Fiber; = KKR Global Infrastructure Investors Funds majority, DTCP Infra (DT Capital Partners) rest): to roll out OA FTTH (1-10 Gb/s, passive only) in urban & high dense areas; to avoid uneconomical overbuild; ODF to be led by founders Jordi Nieuwenhuis (Reggefiber co-founder) & Uwe Nickl (formerly Deutsche Glasfaser co-CEOs), Michael Griffioen CEO
- to launch 21Q2, fully funded, construction agreements in place, to invest >= EUR 700m (capex) for >= 1m lines in 5 yr
- T-Mobile NL anchor tenant with own active layer;
5G
- T-Mobile US launches Home Internet (FWA over 5G or 4G, un-carrier move): 65 $/mo (60 with autopay); coverage 30m HH (o/w/ 10m rural), 50-100 Mb/s, possible throttling during peak hours - To hire 2500 hometown experts for T-Mobile Hometown retail stores
- Ucell (Uzbekistan) launches 5G in Tashkent
SERVICES
General data usage: AMS-IX New traffic peak 210407: 10.012 Tb/s
Video
- Sony: Distr deal with Netflix, 5 yr from 2022 (reported value >$1b): exclusive 18-mo window (replaces Starz (= Lionsgate) deal), first-look rights for Netflix for direct-to-streaming titles (2-3 films/yr), licensing deal for selected older films
- Comcast: Rumor: to merge film unit into Peacock
- CNN (WarnerMedia = AT&T): Considers standalone streaming service
- WarnerMedia (AT&T): Considers splitting new films slate into different categories from 2022: traditional theater release, day & date in theater & HBO Max
- Apple: Apple TV+ to focus on originals
- ViacomCBS: Considers bundling services (Paramount+, PlutoTV, Showtime, BET+)
- DAZN: Considers IPO
Music
- Spotify: Launches in-app voice assistant ("Hey, Spotify" wake word)
Web services
- Facebook: Trials Hotline (developed by NPE Team, public beta, led by Eric Hazzard of former tbh [see 171016]): Q&A with creators, audio-only or video [a la Clubhouse & Instagram Live]
- Reddit: Trials moderator-run voice chats [a la Clubhouse]
Hardware
- Amazon: Launches Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, $250 (promo: 200): outdoor security camera with 3D Motion Detection, radar, Bird’s Eye View, 110db siren, color night vision
REGULATORY
- Noyb (Max Schrems) files complaint at CNIL (France) over user tracking in Android (using Android Advertising ID (AAID)) violating EU privacy law (ePrivacy Directive), urges investigation
- Filing in antitrust case led by Texas
- Google operated program (Project Bernanke) giving its own ad-buying system an advantage over competitors, amounts to insider trading [Google operates exchange, represents buyers & sellers and acts as ad buyer for Search, YouTube]
- commercial deal with Facebook (Jedi Blue, required Facebook to spend >= $500m in Google’s Ad Manager or AdMob auctions in year 4 of the agreement) enabled Facebook to identify 80% of mobile users & 60% of desktop users (excl users of Apple’s Safari web browser) in ad auctions
- Platforms
- CMA (UK) launches Digital Markets Unit to oversee internet platforms
- Privacy: scraping abuse of social networks
- Facebook: Personal data of 533m users leaked online after scraping vulnerability in 2019
- LinkedIn (Microsoft): Data leak of 500m users through scraping
- Clubhouse: Scraping personal data exposes 1.3m user records
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