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Samsung to export India-made phones; SK Telecom, Macquarie team up in ADT bid

TOP NEWS

* Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. plans to start exporting India-made smartphones to Europe, Middle East and Africa "very soon." A company source told Times of India that the South Korean company will invest around 50 billion rupees to double the production capacity in India.

* South Korea's SK Telecom Co. Ltd. teamed up with Macquarie Infrastructure and Assets in a bid to buy local security platform provider ADT Caps Co. Ltd. in a sale that could fetch at least US$2.8 billion, The Korea Times reports. Sources familiar with the deal said SK submitted its acquisition proposal to Morgan Stanley, a sales adviser of U.S.-based private equity firm Carlyle Group LP, which is selling ADT to retrieve its investment.

PAN-ASIAN NEWS

* TV4 Entertainment Inc. and Multi Channels Asia Pte. Ltd. launched Omni Channels Asia, a joint venture to localize and exclusively distribute TV4's channels and original productions throughout Asia, Advanced Television reports. The venture will also acquire homegrown Asian content for its channels and secure local production partners for original content development. The content will be packaged and distributed to mobile, OTT and pay TV carriers.

JAPAN

* Premium Platform Japan Inc. will launch Paravi, a new video subscription-based streaming service that will feature drama, anime and radio audio content.

* NEC Corp. will partner with SoftBank Group Corp.'s U.K.-based semiconductor unit ARM Holdings plc to co-develop social infrastructure using internet of things, The Nikkei reports.

* Rakuten Inc. announced a business partnership with South Korean accommodations booking platform Yanolja wherein businesses associated with the latter will be able to reach out to Japanese travelers through Rakuten's platform. Rakuten also will provide Yanolja with exclusive access to its accommodation sharing service that will be launched in June.

SOUTH KOREA

* Samsung is set to release its Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones in China on March 16.

* KT Corp. tapped Amsterdam-based digital security company Gemalto to provide its on-demand connectivity solution and embedded SIM to deliver connectivity to its industrial internet of things customers. This will enable the South Korean telco to support all cars equipped with pre-embedded eSIM complete flexibility over subscription management.

* Kakao Corp. joined forces with local bitcoin exchange Upbit to provide real time market prices of cryptocurrencies, News 1 reports. Through the partnership, users of KakaoTalk messenger can check market prices through the app, without having to access cryptocurrency exchanges.

CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN

* NetEase Cloud Music entered into a licensing partnership with Taiwan-based HIM International Music Inc. The companies will also extend cooperation on the promotion of Chinese music, cultivation of musicians of original music and other areas.

* Nasdaq Inc. said SINA Corp. is now an official vendor of its real-time data platforms Nasdaq Last Sale and Global Index Data Service in China.

* SoftBank Robotics Group Corp. is partnering with Chinese appliance brand Qingdao Haier Co. Ltd. to co-develop and utilize service robots in China.

* Shi Xuesong resigned as CEO of Banma, the Shanghai-based joint venture of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. for connected car technologies, 36kr reports. He will be succeeded by Hao Fei, Banma's senior vice president.

* Didi Chuxing Technology Co. Ltd. will launch food delivery trials in nine Chinese cities, according to Jiemian.

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

* India's Union Cabinet approved a relief package for the country's debt-ridden telecom sector by easing spectrum holding caps and extending the payment period for airwaves acquired in auctions to 16 years from 12 years, The Economic Times reports.

* Reliance Communications Ltd. filed an appeal with the Bombay High Court in response to an arbitration court's order restraining the company from selling or transferring its assets without its permission.

* Sri Lanka's Telecommunications Regulatory Commission will block access to social media networks such as Facebook Inc., Rakuten Viber and WhatsApp Inc. across the country for 72 hours, Reuters reports. According to Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne, the government asked service providers to block social messaging networks after posts appeared on Facebook calling for attacks.

* The board of Bharti Airtel Ltd. will meet on March 12 to consider raising funds via debt instruments, including debentures and bonds, either denominated in local or foreign currency.

* Cisco Systems Inc. is preparing its second India technology fund, just weeks after the company made undisclosed investments into its first India tech fund. According to The Economic Times, Cisco India is also looking at more collaborations and investments in and acquisitions of tech startups.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

* PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk subsidiary Telekomunikasi Indonesia Internasional SA will build a submarine cable network in Timor Leste, Tempo reports.

* Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Informatics plans to require internet service providers to provide a space in their landing pages for public service announcements.

* LINE TV, an online video streaming platform of LINE Thailand Co., partnered with GMM Grammy PCL to co-produce music content and music-oriented programs, Bangkok Post reports.

* Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission will postpone the auction for the second phase of the Universal Service Obligation Net project, which aims to bring broadband internet access to rural villages, Prachachat reports.

* Thailand's Channel 9 MCOT will cease all analog TV broadcasting by July, Prachachat reports.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approved Telstra Corp. Ltd.'s proposed variation to the NBN Migration Plan to enable fiber to the curb as a new access means for NBN connections. The Migration Plan outlines steps Telstra will take to progressively migrate voice and broadband services from its existing copper and hybrid-fibre coaxial networks to the NBN.

* Vodafone Australia Pty. Ltd. said it added 128 new mobile sites to its network across the country to deliver upgraded mobile services and indoor mobile coverage to an additional 140,000 customers. The new sites were activated between December 2017 and January 2018. In addition, Vodafone also introduced 4G services to 91 mobile sites across its network.

FEATURED NEWS

Conference Chatter: Upfront and Personal: Nickelodeon to boost content output by 20% YOY: Viacom's kids network will offer 800 new episodes of new and returning shows, while serving up new digital and experiential offerings.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Economics of Networks: Can home shopping networks compete with Amazon?: The combined company housing QVC and HSN released fourth-quarter earnings showing mixed results.

Economics of Internet: Millennials and mobile power YouTube gains in 2017: YouTube saw competition in the over-the-top video space intensify in 2017, but the platform is showing few ill-effects, with U.S. viewing rising sharply.

Nozomi Ibayashi, Nicole Shiwon Kim, Frances Wang, Ed Eduard 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.