TOP NEWS

* agreed to London-based Odeon& UCI Cinemas Group from investment firm Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd.for about £921 million. AMC Entertainment's board and Odeon & UCIshareholders both approved the transaction, which is expected to be completed in thefourth quarter. Dalian WandaGroup Corp. Ltd. owns AMC Entertainment.

*Amazon.com Inc. ispreparing to launch its subscription video-on-demand platform simultaneously inFrance, Italy and Spain, possiblybefore the end of 2016, Le Figaro reports,citing sources. The Amazon Prime Instant Video trademark was registered inFrance on April 8 and a representative of the company has met with members ofthe French parliament, although not yet with the country's minister of culture,according to the report.

* TheEuropean Union and the U.S. finally adopted the Privacy Shield on transatlantic datatransfers, U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and the European Commissionsaid in separatestatements.However, European MP Jan-Philipp Albrecht and Austrian privacy activist MaxSchrems said in an opinion piecefor The Irish Times (Dublin) that theEC should "hold off on activating Privacy Shield until more work is doneon the U.S. side."

PAN-EUROPEAN

* EUantitrust regulators gave Alphabet Inc. unit Google Inc. an additional six weeks to respond toantitrust charges related to its Android mobile operating system, Reuters reports.The European Commission extended the deadline for replying to the charges toSept. 7 from July 27. If found guilty, Google can face fines of up to $7.4billion.

AND IRELAND

* TheBritish BroadcastingCorp. said it reached 96% of adults in the U.K. in the 2015-2016period, accordingto its recently released annual report and accounts. The public broadcasteralso reported savings of £621 million for the same financial year.

* TheBBC tapped the services of ArqivaLtd. to boost its coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Riode Janeiro, accordingto a news release. As part of the deal, Arqiva will provide eight additionalDTT services via its COM8 multiplex, allowing the BBC to extend the event'scoverage to more audiences.

, SWITZERLAND ANDAUSTRIA

* CEO MikeFries said NetflixInc. is trying to play internet providers off against each other bycreating a ranking of those who offer the best Netflix streaming quality, DWDL reports,citing a Handelsblatt interview.Problems playing Netflix films are often due to the streaming service notproperly passing data to Liberty Global, he reportedly said, adding thatNetflix wants to penalize internet providers who do not agree to data transferagreements.

*Deutsche Telekom AGcustomers would not automatically benefit from the company's plans to improveinternet speeds across Germany with vectoring technology, Golem.de reports.Customers who want to take advantage of the new downloads speeds of up to 100MB need to extend their contracts or sign a new contract with Deutsche Telekom,a company spokesman reportedly said.

* AGerman consumer protection organization criticized Amazon's Prime Day sales inGermany as overblown, RP Online reports.Amazon compares its discounts to the recommended retail price, however thesaving is often much smaller compared to the price at which goods are normallysold, according to the consumer advice center for the German state of NorthRhine-Westphalia.

* Australianpay TV provider Foxtel unveileda new partnership with VivendiSA unit UniversalMusic Group. From Aug. 1, Universal Music Group artists will befeatured on all of Foxtel's contemporary music channels — [V] HITS, MAX, FoxtelSmooth and CMC — featuring video clips and additional content.

*Altice NV'sSFR will its new sports channelSFR Sport 1 on Aug. 13, Telecompaper reports.SFR Sport 1 will exclusively broadcast the English Premier League in France forthe next three seasons.

* Anaudit published by French telecoms regulator ARCEP indicated that retained first placein France in mobile network quality, LesEchos reports.SFR and BouyguesTelecom were tied in second place, followed by .

, BELGIUM ANDLUXEMBOURG

*KPN NV is chargingcustomers whose mobile subscriptions include a device too much interest,Telecompaper reports,quoting ConsumentenClaim. According to the consumer group, KPN customers canfile a claim to get the paid interest back. KPN respondedto the complaint, stating it currently finds itself in a transition period andit will meet the required telecom rules at the end of this year.

*T-Mobile Netherlands' OTT service Knippr can now be streamed via 's fourth generationApple TV and Google Chromecast, Emerce reports.The Knippr app for Apple TV 4 can be downloaded from the Apple store; Knipprvia Chromecast is available for both Android and iOS users.

*Dutch consumer watchdog ACM said various providers in the Netherlands areviolating the new European net neutrality legislation with several products,Nu.nl reports.ACM did not point out specific products or providers, but said it will strictlybe enforcing the new rules.

*Equinix Inc.said it willbuild a newInternational Business Exchange at its existing campus at the Amsterdam SciencePark in the Netherlands. The building and first phase should be completed andoperational by the second quarter of 2017.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

*Norway-based Opera Software ASA said in a noticeposted on NewsWeb.no that its deal with a consortium of Chinese investors may not getthe required nod from authorities before the drop-dead date of July 15. Operasaw its shares drop to 10% in Oslo after revealing the information, BloombergNews reports.

* will exercise anauthorization received at its annual meeting in May to repurchase own shares, Affärsvärlden reports.The approval will result in the initiation of a share buyback program for atotal amount of 450 million Swedish kronor.

*TDC A/S will open anew YouSee A/Scustomer call center in Kolding during late summer, Jydske Vestkysten reports.The capital investment will create 150 jobs in Kolding, .   

*Nokia Corp. saidit renewed its operations support systems interoperability initiative-relatedmemorandum of understanding with Ericsson AB and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Open to other vendors, thenew MOU extends the duration and scope of the OSSii to cover IP multimediasubsystems and virtualized network functions. 

*Schibsted ASA'sdecision to abandon plans to acquire Swedish real estate classifieds siteHemnet AB paves the way for new potential suitors, Göteborgs Posten reports.Schibsted withdrew its offer to purchase Hemnet when Sweden's competitionauthority cited its strong opposition to the takeover.

*Elisa Oyj-owned subsidiary Elisa Viihde Fanseat will broadcast more than 200hours of live junior football games over six days in July as part of theHelsinki Cup competition, Elisa said.Targeting TV audiences in more than 40 countries, the Helsinki Cup is thebiggest international youth football competition staged in Finland.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Spanishcompetition watchdog CNMC is set to impose stricter limitations on 's soccer contentoffers, in order to promote competition with rivals such as the Spanish unitsof Orange and Vodafone GroupPlc, Telecompaper reports,citing El Confidencial. The movecomes after Telefónica added access to prime Spanish and European soccermatches to its Movistar Plus offers, according to the report.

*Vodafone Greece andWIND Hellas TelecommunicationsSA joined forces for the improvement and rollout of their fixedfiber infrastructure in Greece,Telecompaper reports.The partnership will enable customers to access broadband services, withfiber-optic infrastructure being piloted in the Athens region.

*Scripps Networks InteractiveInc. acquired new digital terrestrial television capacity in Italy,which it could use to launch a second TV channel in the country, AdvancedTelevision reports.The DTT capacity is on national LCN position 33, previously occupied by AgonChannel.

* Asexpected, U.S. mobilevirtual network operator FreedomPop debuted its service in Spain, offering freeroaming across 25 countries, Telecompaper reports,citing Agencia EFE. All calls made via the FreedomPop app use VoIP technology,yet the company is reportedly in discussions with Orange and other providersfor network access.

EASTERN EUROPE

* power utility EPCG is in talks to buy amajority stake in local operator m:tel Podgorica, or MTEL, Telecompaper reports,citing Radio Antena M. EPCG is reportedly eyeing the deal as it plans to launchsmart home services.

*Hungarian broadcaster TV2 launched Mozi+, a new thematicchannel which replaces male-focused Pro4, Broadband TV News reports.The new 24-hour channel will air mostly U.S. content, according to the report.

*Multimedia Polska SAis trialing Multimedia Go, a new TV Everywhere service that combines up to 117channels and video on demand content, Telecompaper reports.Planned for rollout to all subscribers by the end of 2016, the service alsofeatures catchup and recording functions.

FEATURED NEWS

: China's DalianWanda Group is acquiring European theater chain Odeon & UCI Cinemas throughits subsidiary AMC Entertainment for about US$1.2 billion, while Nintendo'sshare price continues to soar following the release of its mobile game PokemonGo.

: The U.S. ishaving a very public debate about online privacy, and the EU is watching.

: NBC said the combination of strongnational ad sales and local opportunities for NBC and Telemundoowned-and-operated stations will not only push the 2016 Games into the black,but help it "unequivocally" exceed the profit level for the 2014Winter Games.

:S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a roundup of recent programmingannouncements from various international networks and online video platforms.

: In this monthly feature, S&P GlobalMarket Intelligence provides a roundup of news related to over-the-top,video-on-demand and other online video initiatives in a range of SouthernEuropean markets, including Portugal, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Greece.

:AMC Entertainment Holdings agreed to acquire London-based Odeon & UCICinemas Group from investment firm Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd., WarnerBros. Home Entertainment reached a settlement with the FTC over claims that itfailed to provide adequate disclosure about using online influencers to promotea video game.

FEATURED RESEARCH

GlobalMultichannel: TEPAL 2016: Creating business synergies that benefit LatinAmerican consumers: The latest edition of the TEPAL pay TVtradeshow was held in Panama June 28-30, just days after the inauguration ofthe Panama Canal Expansion.

Wireless Investor: TheCapEx and 4G correlation: Reviewing how wireless CapEx grew duringthe 2010-2014 4G LTE ramp provides a point of reference as we consider howCapEx might move during the 2020 5G upgrade cycle.

Sylvia EdwardsDavis, Patrick Winters, Charlotte van Hek and Gerard O'Dwyer contributed tothis report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time.Some external links may require a subscription.