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Executive shakeup continues at Sony; Apple to build 2nd data center in China

TOP NEWS

* Sony Pictures Entertainment has let go of three president-level executives as it seeks to revamp the company's top-heavy management structure, The Hollywood Reporter reports, citing a companywide memo. The executives leaving the company are Sony Pictures Television President for Worldwide Networks Andy Kaplan, President and Chief Marketing Officer for Sony Pictures Television Sheraton Kalouria, and President of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. Man Jit Singh. Sony Corp. also made several executive changes, which will take effect April 1.

* Apple Inc. will set up another data center in China, this time in the city of Ulanqab in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinhua News Agency reports, citing a local government announcement. The new data center, scheduled to start operating in 2020, will offer iCloud services to mainland China customers.

* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. will spend another £3 billion on procurement in the U.K. as it seeks alternatives to the U.S., where it failed to strike distribution deals with Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T, Reuters reports.

* Baidu Financial Services Group, a wholly owned finance subsidiary of Baidu Inc., plans to raise up to US$2 billion in a new funding round expected to close in April, China Money Network reports.

PAN-ASIAN NEWS

* 21st Century Fox Inc.'s Fox Sports Asia inked a one-year exclusive multimedia and broadcast rights agreement for the second season of mixed martial arts tournament Super Fight League, Indian Television reports. The deal with Fox will see the tournament being broadcast in Brunei, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

JAPAN

* Internet Initiative Japan Inc., or IIJ, will set up a joint venture with Chubu Electric Power Co. Inc. to provide internet of things services to households. The venture, with ¥100 million initial capital, will begin in April.

* In other IIJ news, the company announced plans to build a second data center in Chiba prefecture in April 2019. The move is to accommodate IT facilities that are expected to grow due to the increase in digital data from cloud computing service and the spread of internet of things technology.

* Dentsu Inc. named Yoshiyuki Kanefuji president of its content unit Dentsu Creative X, effective March 22.

SOUTH KOREA

* The Ministry of Science and ICT has announced a plan to share the country's information and communications technology with Southeast Asian countries and help Korean companies enter overseas markets. Through the project named "Asia Pacific Telecommunity 2018," the ministry will establish a free public Wi-Fi system in Laos, develop AR-based tourism content in Vietnam and establish a digital disaster communication system in Nepal.

* Samsung Group's IT service unit Samsung SDS Co. Ltd. will open a new data center in Chuncehon to strengthen its cloud business. The software defined data center will manage the company's IT resources including servers, storages and networks.

* KT Corp. successfully completed the demonstration of data roaming between its pilot 5G network and NTT DOCOMO's commercial 4G LTE network, the Korean Economic Daily reports.

* In other KT news, the South Korean telco launched an AI-powered smartphone dedicated to children, Financial News reports. Called Moomin Kids Phone, the new device is powered by the company's AI voice recognition technology GiGA Genie.

* KT also announced 23.38 trillion Korean won in operating revenue for 2017, a 2.8% increase compared to the previous year. The telco's 2017 operating income, however, decreased 4.5% year over year to 1.37 trillion won. The company's media and content business showed a double-digit growth thanks to increased platform profit.

CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN

* China's National Development and Reform Commission and Samsung Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding for further cooperation in chip making, artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing, China Daily reports.

* Innolux, a unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., or Foxconn, is looking to ax more than 10,000 jobs this year to make up to 75% of the company's production fully automated, Nikkei Asian Review reports, citing honorary Chairman Tuan Hsing-Chien.

* Chinese internet data center services provider 21Vianet Group Inc. named Shiqi Wang co-CEO and president. Wang is joining 21Vianet from TUS Digital Group where he is currently vice president.

* Baidu Baike, the online encyclopedia of Baidu, will help 400 Spanish museums go digital by allowing online access to the museums' collections, Xinhua reports.

* Hon Hai Precision Industry received permission from Taiwan National Communication Commission to test 5G devices in selected areas.

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

* The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is threatening Reliance Communications Ltd., which earlier announced the shutdown of its debt-laden mobile telephony services, with punitive action if it fails to comply with a directive to refund mobile customers' unspent prepaid balances and security deposits, Press Trust of India reports.

* Zee Media Corp. Ltd.'s English news channel World Is One News, or WION, launched on Etisalat UAE in the United Arab Emirates and Ooredoo in Qatar. According to Rapid TV News, WION will also be launching in other South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

* Tata Communications Ltd. announced the retirement of director Bharat Vasani from its board.

* Indian ride-hailing company Ola is shutting down its bus unit Ola Shuttle, people directly familiar with the matter told VCCircle.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

* Iflix will distribute online video content from Canada's QYOU Media Inc. to 25 markets. The distribution agreement between the two companies includes QYOU's provision of exclusive locally hosted formats on iflix's streaming service in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

* Singapore's MediaCorp Pte. Ltd. sold the digital rights for its three dramas to the Chinese streaming platform Youku. "Patisserie Fighting," "The Dream Makers 2" and "When Duty Calls" are slated to become available in China via Youku in the second quarter, APB News reports.

* Deezer S.A., a French online music streaming service, partnered with PT Hutchison 3 Indonesia to expand Deezer's presence in the Asia-Pacific. Customers of the Indonesian telco will be able to use their credit balance to purchase Deezer's package offer.

* Qualcomm Inc. plans to develop its Internet of Things business in Indonesia this year by partnering with local tech companies, Pikiran Rakyat reports.

* Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission or NBTC suspended the broadcasting license of channel Peace TV for 15 days for public incitement, effective Feb. 11, Voice TV reports. Despite the suspension, Peace TV will still be able to air its content via social media, including YouTube and Facebook.

* Thai telco Advanced Info Service raked in 30 billion baht in net profit for 2017, a drop of 1.9% from the previous year.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* Xero Ltd. announced that the company has delisted from the New Zealand Stock Exchange and that it has completed the consolidation of its listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.

* Yahoo7, a joint venture of Verizon subsidiary Oath Inc. and Seven West Media Ltd., announced changes to its operations that will involve "reduction in locally-produced bespoke platforms" and "associated teams."

FEATURED NEWS

Data Dispatch: Net neutrality implications of broadband report leave FCC divided on deployment: The Federal Communications Commission's annual broadband deployment report, which evaluates broadband availability, has implications for the net neutrality debate.

Vodafone re-enters talks with Liberty Global in push for European cable deal: Vodafone is in preliminary discussions with Liberty Global regarding a potential acquisition of overlapping European assets. For now, a deal is centered on Liberty's cable business in Germany, as well as assets across Eastern Europe.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Wireless Investor: China mulls first-ever spectrum auction for 5G: China Mobile dominates its home country both by total subscriptions at 885.56 million (62.7% share of the market) and by spectrum, owning a total of 250 MHz or 48.8% of existing spectrum for mobile.

Nozomi Ibayashi, Nicole Shiwon Kim, Frances Wang, Kevin Osmond and Wil Hathaway contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription.