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ITV, BBC mull JV to buy half of UKTV; Serie A drops €1.05B Mediapro rights deal

TOP NEWS

* British broadcaster ITV PLC is looking to strike a £1 billion joint venture with the British Broadcasting Corp. to acquire half of UKTV Media Ltd., London's The Daily Telegraph reports. The move to join forces is reportedly an attempt to create a potential British competitor to Netflix Inc. in the U.S. and may be finalized in a fortnight.

* Italian soccer league Serie A has invalidated its broadcasting agreement with Spanish broadcaster Mediapro from 2018 to 2021, Reuters reports, citing a source. Mediapro picked up Serie A soccer rights for €1.05 billion.

PAN-EUROPEAN

* Audiences in most European countries have been unable to access websites of newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News, after they were blocked amid allegations that Alphabet Inc. unit Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. violated the EU General Data Protection Regulation, The Daily Telegraph reports. The GDPR took effect May 25.

* Member states and lawmakers of the European Union have entered into an informal agreement on proposed lighter regulations to incumbent telecoms operators once they co-invest with rivals, Reuters reports, citing sources. The deal is yet to be finalized with the EU still making necessary adjustments to the draft text.

* France and Germany are pushing for an EU-wide initiative to fund innovation and research in tech startup projects across the bloc so that Europe can compete more effectively against the likes of China and the U.S., Reuters reports.

UK AND IRELAND

* Discovery Inc. is set to shutter its European broadcasting hub in west London, which could result in the axing of up to 100 jobs, London's The Guardian reports. The move comes as the U.S. broadcaster considers post-Brexit plans for a new European headquarters as well as a shift to a U.S.-based transmission system.

* Liberty Global PLC unit Virgin Media Ireland said it agreed to acquire regional cable operator Casey Cablevision for an undisclosed sum. Casey Cablevision offers pay TV, high-speed broadband and telephone services to customers in Ireland's Dungarvan town and nearby areas.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* Swiss municipal utilities provider EW Höfe AG announced it has sold the cable network in Höfe to its long-standing partner, UPC Schweiz. EW Höfe will now fully focus on expanding its own fiber optic network set for completion in 2019, as well as its own etzelnet offers.

* Swiss operator Salt Mobile SA reported its total revenue increased in the first quarter by 0.5% year-on-year to CHF 252 million, driven by equipment and other services revenue and positive subscriber momentum. EBITDA growth continued, up by 8.5% to CHF 112.8 million.

* German telecom regulator BNetzA will analyze the cable market following the Vodafone-Unitymedia merger, Telecompaper reports. The regulator also said the German government and companies need to take the initiative and build infrastructure for fiber optic internet in advance instead of waiting for demand to increase for these services.

* Meanwhile, BNetzA also said it has cracked down on illegal ping calls and issued a ban on customers being billed and charged for connections to multiple Moldovan numbers. Mobile network operators are no longer allowed to charge customers for costs that occur as a result of calls to these numbers.

FRANCE

* Altice NV unit SFR Group SA has confirmed that eight cities and 688 additional communes are 4G ready, and 552 are 4G+ ready. More than 83,000 homes and businesses were provided with new fiber outlets in 83 municipalities.

* Sensing Labs, a startup providing solutions for the internet of things, said it is expanding the footprint of its SenLab smart metering products to the Benelux countries, Norway and the U.K. As part of the move, the company signed distribution agreements with Britain's MWA Technology, CimPro for the Benelux and automation company Lillebakk Engineering in Norway.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* The conclusions from the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets on the regulation of the fixed telecom market will play a vital role in the European Commission's decision on whether T-Mobile Netherlands and Tele2 Netherlands can form a joint venture, Telecompaper reports. T-Mobile and Tele2 have notified the European Commission of their planned merger on May 2.

* Nordic business software supplier Visma AS has fully acquired Dutch software company Raet BV, for an undisclosed amount. The agreement is subject to the parties having completed the consultation procedures with the companies' respective Dutch works councils, as well as having informed the relevant Dutch trade unions of the intended transaction.

* RTL Nederland's former program director, Erland Galjaard, will continue his career at John de Mol's media company Talpa BV, Spreekbuis reports, quoting sources. Conflict of interests reportedly held Galjaard from starting at Talpa before.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has rejected two proposals made by India's Reliance Communications Ltd. to settle an eight-month-old dispute over dues outside the purview of Indian insolvency tribunal, the National Company Law Tribunal, The Economic Times reports, quoting people familiar with the matter.

* Telia Co. AB has carried out a number of changes to its group executive management. The most significant change is the appointment of Anders Olsson as executive vice president and CEO of Telia Sweden. He had been group COO and head of global services and operations.

* ZetaDisplay AB said it will acquire 100% ownership in Webpro A/S under a new agreement. Norway-based Webpro produces customer-adapted digital signage solutions, mainly for export.

* Swedish company A3 AB said it will deliver IT, telephony and communications services to Kammarkollegiet, a state administrative agency run by the Ministry of Finance, under a new agreement. The deal has a potential yearly value of up to 400 million Swedish kronor.

* Aller Media could lay off 100 employees in a new round of cost cuts, Resumé reports. Aller Media is looking to reduce its operating cost base by an additional 125 million Swedish kronor. It also wants to bolster revenues generated from digital advertising.

* Norwegian telecom regulator Nkom said 1.5 million mobile phone customers in the country do not use mobile data, e24.no reports. This represents 26% of all mobile phone users in Norway. Around 1.2 million Norwegians use 10 GB of data or more per month.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Spanish broadcaster Grupo Secuoya will take over the production services of Chilean network Canal 13 under a five-year deal between the two companies, Telecompaper reports. As part of the agreement, Grupo Secuoya will pay Canal 13 about €10.5 million a year.

* NOS Comunicações SA will broadcast the World Cup soccer competition on the RTP 4K TV channels, Telecompaper reports. The Portuguese operator will air a total of 28 games, which will include the opening match, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Mobile TeleSystems PJSC is collaborating with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in the consolidation of the Russian operator's multimedia platform, including mobile, cable, satellite TV and IPTV, by the end of 2019, Broadband TV News reports, citing Telecom Daily. A memorandum of agreement was reportedly signed by the companies during the week of May 25.

* Subscribers of Slovak operator ANTIK Telecom sro will have access to Eurosport 4K, which broadcasts Roland Garros in Ultra HD, Broadband TV News reports. The channel will be available on Antik Telecom beginning May 29.

* Cyfrowy Polsat SA unit Telewizja Polsat Sp zoo has agreed to acquire 3,340 shares in Eleven Sports Network Sp zoo, the Polish unit of Eleven Sports Network Ltd. The total price for the transaction is about €38 million.

FEATURED NEWS

M&A Replay: European deals: Comcast's Sky bid may face less scrutiny; Qualcomm/NXP deal nears China approval: Comcast's offer to buy Sky may not face the same regulatory scrutiny in the U.K. as Fox's own proposed takeover of the pay TV giant, while Qualcomm is close to securing Chinese regulatory approval for its acquisition of Dutch chipmaker NXP.

M&A Replay: Sony takes over EMI; Microsoft buys AI startup: S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a wrap-up of U.S. companies' media and communications deal announcements and completions from May 20 to May 25.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Wireless Investor: Neutral-host, shared infrastructure may push small cell deployment across Europe: According to speakers and attendees at SCWS World, held May 21-23 in London, the biggest headwind to large-scale small cell deployment is a deficiency of compelling incentives facing the primary stakeholders who would make the investment.

Daniela Latini, Amanda Kelly, Charlotte van Hek and Gerard O'Dwyer contributed to this report.

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