TOP NEWS IN TMT
* The European Commission unconditionally approved Amazon.com Inc.'s proposed $6.5 billion purchase of MGM Holdings Inc., according to Dow Jones Newswires.
* Intel Corp. unveiled a $36 billion investment plan for semiconductor production and research in Europe, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The plan includes a chip-manufacturing plant in Germany, with a €17 billion down payment on the facility. Intel will also create 1,600 new jobs and invest an additional €12 billion in its manufacturing facility in Kildare, Ireland, the Irish Independent (Dublin) reported. This brings the company's headcount in Ireland to 6,500 and its total investment in the country to €30 billion.
* Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Meta Platforms Inc. unit Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. €17 million for failing to implement "appropriate technical and organizational measures" to protect the data of users in the EU. This follows an inquiry into 12 data breach notifications the regulator received in 2018.
➤ Consumer Insights: Netflix dominates European SVOD viewing hours
Netflix Inc. subscribers in Europe spend nearly half of their average daily subscription video-on-demand viewing hours watching Netflix content, according to Kagan's recently completed European consumer survey.
➤ Economics of Internet: State of Nordic OTT video: Subscription
Given the strong content offering from both international and local streaming players coupled with the widespread availability of high-speed broadband, Kagan forecasts over-the-top subscriptions in the region will reach 20.5 million by 2026.
TECHNOLOGY
* Dutch semiconductor company ASML Holding NV will nominate Alexander Everke and An Steegen as new members of the supervisory board. Hans Stork will step down after having completed two terms.
* Germany's Federal Office for Information Security warned against the use of antivirus software from Russian manufacturer Kaspersky Lab ZAO citing hacking attacks.
* U.K. communications regulator Ofcom launched a consultation on a proposed space spectrum strategy years after it unveiled a strategy for spectrum work in the space sector in January 2017.
INTERNET & OTT
* Meta will hire up to 2,000 employees in Spain over the next five years and open its first Meta Lab in Madrid.
* Workplace chat software provider Slack Technologies Inc. will restrict access to its chat application in Russia to comply with sanctions imposed on the country for invading Ukraine, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
* Tigran Khudaverdyan resigned as executive director and deputy CEO of internet company Yandex NV. The EU imposed sanctions on Khudaverdyan for having close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Financial Times (London) reported.
* Russian internet company VK Co. Ltd. identified issues with the redemption of bonds after the trading of its global depositary receipts was suspended on the London Stock Exchange March 3. A "de-listing event" will occur if the suspension continues for 10 consecutive dealing days.
* Paramount Global unveiled new unscripted original series for its Paramount+ streamer in the U.K. ahead of its planned launch in the summer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
* Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers proposed indefinite sanctions including banning the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine and blocking assets, on Russian streaming services like ivi.ru Media Ltd. and Okko, Broadband TV News reported, citing Mediasat.
MEDIA
* French ad services provider Publicis Groupe SA will pull out of Russia and transfer ownership of its Russian operations to Sergey Koptev, the founding chairman of the company in Russia, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
* Vivendi SE-owned advertising agency Havas SA took a majority interest in performance marketing agency Frontier Australia.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
* European Parliament member Angelika Winzig called on EU telco operators to freeze wholesale roaming fees to bring free roaming services to Ukrainian refugees amid Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
* Ericsson and Vodafone Group PLC completed the U.K.'s first 5G stand-alone network slicing trial in a joint lab demonstration to create on-demand 5G connectivity for consumer and business customers.
* Vodafone Deutschland Gmbh announced it will launch 5G stand-alone in Germany on a large scale, with a network delay time of just 10 milliseconds.
* Ericsson said Hong Kong-based telco SmarTone Mobile Communications Ltd. will be the first telco to offer its Ericsson Dynamic End-user Boost solution, which allows users of both 4G and 5G to boost their cell connectivity.
* Bulgarian telco VIVACOM named Nikolay Gavrilov as chief technical officer, effective March 9, Telecompaper reported.
* Belgian telecom Proximus teamed up with real estate company Immobel SA to redevelop the former's Brussels headquarters. Proximus plans to dispose property, plant and equipment for about €143 million as well as a lease-back of a part of the renovated building.
FILM & TV
* Sky Ltd.'s Sky News signed a new multiyear agreement with Independent Radio News Ltd. to continue distributing news and digital content to commercial radio stations across the U.K. Comcast Corp. owns Sky.
Click here for a summary of indexes on the S&P Capital IQ Pro platform.
Subscribe here to our new weekly feature, APAC TechWatch, which highlights the latest on topics such as artificial intelligence, financial technology, the internet of things, cloud computing, cybersecurity, 5G and semiconductors in the Asia-Pacific region.
Naimatullah Khan, Anne Freier, Amanda Kelly, Koen Pijnappels and Gerard O'Dwyer contributed to this report.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
