TOP NEWS
* The U.S. agreed to a US$1.4 billion settlement with China's ZTE Corp. that would lift the seven-year export ban imposed on the telecommunications equipment-maker, ending a dispute that had fed into broader trade tensions between the world's two largest economies. ZTE will be fined US$1 billion and will place an additional US$400 million in escrow in the event of future violations. These penalties are in addition to the $892 million in fines ZTE paid to the U.S under a March 2017 settlement.
* Alphabet Inc.-owned Google Inc.'s relationship with Chinese device manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., which sells phones that run on Google's Android operating system, is drawing scrutiny from some U.S. lawmakers, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
* Tencent Holdings Ltd.-backed livestreaming game platform Wuhan Douyu Network Technology Co. Ltd. is planning an IPO in Hong Kong to raise US$700 million, Do News reports. The company reportedly plans to go public in July.
JAPAN
* Fujifilm Holdings Corp. could abandon efforts to revive its proposed US$6.1 billion acquisition of Xerox Corp. if negotiations fail to make progress within six months, The Japan Times reports, citing Shigetaka Komori, Fujifilm chairman and CEO. The two companies struck a deal in January that would merge Xerox into their longstanding joint venture Fuji Xerox and give Fujifilm a 50.1% stake. Xerox, however, walked away from the deal in May after reaching a settlement with activist investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason, who opposed the takeover.
* SoftBank Group Corp. tapped former Deutsche Bank AG executive Faisal Rahman to lead the Middle East unit that manages its SoftBank Vision Fund, Bloomberg reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter. As head of SoftBank Investment Advisors, Rahman will oversee ties between the fund's two main backers, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi, UAE, wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co.
* KDDI Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. are forming a global internet of things partnership linking the former's IoT Worldwide Architecture platform with Hitachi's Lumada platform.
* Fujitsu Ltd. launched Fujitsu Intelligent Society Solution Blockchain Asset Service, a cloud service that provides retail mechanisms, such as digital points, stamps and coupons that can be used for a limited time in specified areas including tourist sites, markets and shopping centers, using blockchain technology.
SOUTH KOREA
* KT Corp.'s satellite affiliate KT Sat will expand its business to overseas markets to achieve hyper-connected mobility, JoongAng Ilbo reports.
* Naver Corp.'s Japanese subsidiary Line Corp. established new corporate bodies in the U.S. and Singapore, News 1 reports, citing a source, who said the messaging company will expand its business to initial coin offerings through the establishment of LVC USA in the U.S., and Line Tech Plus in Singapore.
CHINA
* M17 Entertainment Ltd., a Taipei-based livestreaming and dating app company, which was expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 7, postponed its trading debut, TechCrunch reports. The company earlier priced its initial public offering of 7,511,000 American depositary shares at US$8.00 per ADS.
* China's securities regulator adopted new rules that will allow foreign-listed Chinese companies to raise funds in the domestic market, providing local investors access to U.S.-listed firms such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc.
* China's State Administration of Radio and Television declared that internet TV platforms are not allowed to carry out any live or delayed broadcasting of the FIFA 2018 World Cup, China Internet Information Center reports.
* The Big Data Development Administration of Guizhou Province has set up a 3 billion yuan fund to boost the big data industry, The Securities Times reports.
* Huawei plans to invest US$81 million in Southeast Asia over the next three years for building OpenLabs, helping cloud developers, and cultivating information and communications technology talent, Xinhua News Agency reports.
* Alibaba Group-owned online platform UC Browser secured the short-video streaming rights to the FIFA World Cup, Caijing reports.
* Alibaba Group unit Alibaba Cloud Computing Co. rolled out an artificial intelligence program tailored to the agricultural sector in China. ET Agricultural Brain uses AI technology including visual recognition, voice recognition and real-time environment parameter monitoring.
* In other Alibaba Cloud news, the Alibaba Group unit partnered with Commvault Systems Inc. to offer hybrid, cloud data management services to help customers and partners across the globe accelerate digital transformations.
INDIA
* India's IT ministry asked Facebook Inc. to respond by June 20 to media reports of sharing users' data with smartphone manufacturers, The Hindu reports, citing a statement.
* Huawei restructured the top management of its India Consumer Business Group by appointing Peng Chao to replace Peter Zhai as the unit's new CEO, people familiar with the matter told The Economic Times (India).
* Reliance Big TV Ltd. partnered with 50,000 Indian post offices to allow consumers to do an initial booking of FREE HD HEVC set-top boxes by paying 500 Indian rupees through the post offices, Indian Television reports.
* Toonz Animation India Pvt. Ltd. teamed up with Australia-based Yellow Entertainment Pty. Ltd. to co-develop and co-produce multiple preschool animated series. The companies also signed a global distribution deal for the series, The Economic Times (India) reports.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
* Malaysian broadcasting company Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd.'s group CEO, Dato' Rohana Rozhan, resign from her position, effective Jan. 31, 2019. Henry Tan, the company's current chief content and consumer officer, will succeed Dato’ Rohana.
* Telekom Malaysia formed a subsidiary, Telekom Malaysia DMCC, in the United Arab Emirates, as part of its overseas expansion effort to cover the Middle East markets.
* Singtel launched mobile leasing plans to make premium mobile phones more affordable. Customers on SIM Only plans can opt to pay a monthly fee to use Apple Inc. and Samsung Group-owned Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. handsets instead of purchasing them upfront.
* A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Advanced Info Service, True Corp. and Total Access Communication PCL for allegedly failing to comply with the per-second billing law, Matichon reports.
* Philippine telco Smart Communications Inc. achieved 5G speeds that breached 6.5 Gbps in a trial conducted with Huawei at the PLDT Inc. unit's newly built 5G Technolab.
* Thai mobile operator True Move H Universal Communication Co. Ltd. will not participate in the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission's 1800 MHz spectrum band auction, Kaohoon reports. The auction will reportedly have to be canceled if Advanced Info Service PCL also decided to pull out of the auction.
* Meanwhile, the NBTC has approved a 3-year moratorium on license-fee payment for all 20 Thai digital TV operators that requested it, Voice TV reports. The telecom regulator will also subsidize 50% of their monthly multiplexer rental fees for the next two years.
AUSTRALIA
* Australia's NBN broadband access is expected to boost Victorian economy, and will help create up to 19,470 new businesses in Victoria by 2021, Telecompaper reports, citing a study commissioned by NBN Co. Ltd.
FEATURED NEWS
Conference Chatter: Hong Kong IoT Conference 2018: Artificial intelligence puts a human face on IoT: Speakers at the Hong Kong IoT Conference 2018 said that artificial intelligence technology is vital for the successful implementation of the internet of things.
Washington Watch: FCC leaders give contrasting visions of a post-net neutrality world: With net neutrality rules ending June 11, FCC Republicans believed the rule change will benefit competition, while Democrats warned of censorship. Meanwhile, former agency head Tom Wheeler said it was "painful" watching the rules get overturned.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Economics of Internet: Profile: iQiyi (China): iQiyi's subscription online video offering is part of a multifaceted IP ecosystem that includes free-ad supported and transactional content, a social media platform, live broadcasting, online gaming and online literature.
Global Multichannel: Asia OTT leaders strengthen ties with telco partners: A regional tracking of partnership agreements between OTT service providers and telecom/pay TV operators in the Asia Pacific region.
Joji Sakurai, Nicole Shiwon Kim, Emily Lai, Wil Hathaway and Ed Eduard 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. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
