Apple faces €5M fine; Sky brings streaming service Peacock to Germany, Austria

TOP NEWS IN TMT

* Dutch regulator the Authority for Consumers and Markets ordered Apple Inc. to pay €5 million after it found the technology company failed to meet requirements on payment systems for dating-app providers. Apple may be asked to pay up to a maximum of €50 million if it continues to fail to meet the country's requirements.

* NBCUniversal Media LLC's streaming service Peacock is launching in Germany and Austria on Sky Ltd. platforms Sky Q, Sky X and Sky Ticket on Jan. 25, Broadband TV News reported. Comcast Corp. owns NBCUniversal and Sky.

➤ Data Dispatch: With Microsoft-Activision deal, adviser Allen & Co. continues TMT M&A hot streak

Boutique adviser Allen & Co. LLC will return to the deal table across from Microsoft Corp. in the tech giant's largest acquisition ever, after a booming 2021.

➤ Multichannel Trends: Cable broadband subs continue growth in telco ZIPs

The top seven U.S. cable operators added 2.7 million residential broadband subscribers in the footprints of major telcos AT&T, Verizon, Lumen, Frontier and Windstream in the 12 months to Sept. 30, 2021.

INTERNET & OTT

* The U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's committee found the draft of the country's Online Safety Bill lacks clarity and is not robust enough to tackle certain types of illegal and harmful content online.

* Sports streamer DAZN Group Ltd. will hike its monthly subscription rates in Spain from September to fund its investment in new airing rights, according to Telecompaper, which cited El Independiente.

MEDIA

* A group of German publishers and industry groups, such as Axel Springer SE, are calling on the EU to intervene in Google LLC's plan to stop the use of third-party cookies, the Financial Times (London) reported, citing the filed complaint. The group of publishers alleged the Alphabet Inc. unit's plan could damage their businesses while allowing the search company to collect their data.

* Modern Times Group Mtg AB announced the sale of ESL Gaming GmbH to Savvy Gaming Group in an all-cash transaction valuing the esports company at an enterprise value of $1.05 billion. MTG owns 91.46% of ESL Gaming. Savvy Gaming is simultaneously acquiring FACEIT and will merge the two companies to create ESL FACEIT Group.

* U.K.-based operator Sky will implement a hybrid work setup for its employees in Europe and will also open a new building, which will be a fully net-zero carbon facility that can accommodate 600 staff, Variety reported.

* Discovery Inc.'s Polish broadcaster TVN said one of its main channels could go off air next month, Broadband TV News reported. The news comes amid an impending license expiration on Feb. 25. Discovery said it applied for a 10-year extension over a year ago.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

* U.K.-headquartered tower company IHS Holding Ltd. agreed to acquire São Paulo Cinco Locação De Torres Ltda. for $315 million on a cash and debt-free basis. The deal includes 2,115 telecom towers across Brazil.

* United Group BV-owned Croatian operator Telemach Hrvatska d.o.o. has closed its purchase of a majority stake in broadband provider OT-Optima Telekom dd, Developing Telecoms reported.

* Spanish operator MásMóvil Ibercom SA notified the Competition Authority it is acquiring sole control of Cabonitel, which it previously jointly owned with GAEA Inversion SCR SA, Telecompaper reported, citing Lusa. Cabonitel fully owns Portuguese operator Nowo Communications SA.

* Tele2 Latvia secured a license to use the 1.5 GHz spectrum bank for its 5G services for €220,000, Telecompaper reported.

* Czech telco Nordic Telecom Holding AS named Libor Dockalek CEO, effective Feb. 1, Telecompaper reported. Dockalek will replace Jan Cornej.

* Telstra Ltd. and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) deployed Ericsson Private 5G for enterprise businesses. The dedicated on-premise 5G network utilizes a single-server 5G dual mode core, allowing it to facilitate LTE and 5G simultaneously.

FILM & TV

* Sunrise UPC's mobile and network services provider Yallo launched its TV offering, called yallo TV, four months after it began operations.

* Channel Four Television Corp. unveiled a documentary called "Boris Johnson: Has He Run Out of Road?" from Rogan Productions, which will air on Channel 4 and ALL 4 on Jan. 30.

* Sky Sports will continue to air the DP World Tour until 2024 and the Ryder Cup until 2025 in the U.K. and Ireland. These will air on both its linear and on-demand services.

* Sky Arts commissioned an opera about corruption in football, which will air on Sky Arts, NOW and Freeview shortly after the show's in-person performance in October.

* Internet company Yandex NV struck an exclusive deal to air National Hockey League games in Russia until 2024, Telecompaper reported.

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Frances Espeso, Anne Freier, Charlotte van Hek and Gerard O'Dwyer contributed to this report.

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