TOP NEWS
* The planned sale of Deutsche Telekom AG unit T-Systems International GmbH to International Business Machines Corp. has been delayed by a few weeks, Reuters reports. Germany's Federal Cartel Office, or Bundeskartellamt, extended the deadline for its decision on the transaction to July 9.
* Mediaset SpA has confirmed it is acquiring a 9.6% stake in Germany media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE for an undisclosed sum. The transaction will provide Mediaset with up to 9.9% voting rights in ProSiebenSat.1, excluding treasury stocks.
* Deutsche Telekom has expanded its cloud services in central and eastern Europe, in collaboration with Microsoft Corp. Standardized cloud acceleration services based on Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365 and Office 365 will be provided across nine countries.
* Upcoming streaming services from Apple Inc. and Walt Disney Co. could net 2 million subscribers each in the U.K. over the next four years, according to data released by the country's communications regulator Ofcom. Along with the British Broadcasting Corp. and ITV PLC's video-on-demand service BritBox, set to launch in the U.K. in the latter half of 2019, the three platforms could reach more than 5% of households by 2023.
UK AND IRELAND
* Airtel Africa Ltd. is planning to list on the London Stock Exchange in an effort to broaden its data and mobile money services across Africa, Reuters reports. The telco, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Ltd., is reportedly planning to raise US$1 billion in a June equity offering.
* India-based animation company Toonz Media Group expanded its presence in Europe by purchasing a majority stake in Irish kids content producer Telegael Media Group, Variety reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
* Streaming technology provider netgem.tv has struck a deal to promote its on-demand service on Wuntu, the rewards app of mobile operator Hutchison 3G UK Ltd., or Three, Digital TV Europe reports. Wuntu users will be able to sign up for the VOD service from £3.99 per month.
* The BBC's BBC One (UK) channel has commissioned a second season of comedy series "Ghosts." The series is produced by Monumental Television Ltd. together with Them There.
* The Irish government re-appointed Helen Dixon as the country's data protection commissioner for a second term, Dixon confirmed in a statement.
* Media solutions company Globecast named Jack Braybrook as account manager for distribution and James Whittaker as business development manager for OU Sports and Events. Braybrook and Whittaker will be both based in the U.K., with their appointments taking effect immediately.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* Sports streaming service DAZN secured streaming rights to the FIFA Women's World Cup in the summer from sports rights agency SportA, DWDL reports. German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF (DE) will broadcast most games but only as live streams.
* Sporttotal.tv GmbH, a subsidiary of German sports agency Sporttotal AG and a sports streaming platform, will soon be streaming futsal games. Futsal is a FIFA-acknowledged variation of indoor football.
* German publishing group Der Spiegel announced declining profits for 2018, but a stable net income, Horizont reports. Revenues fell 3% to €261 million, which Spiegel-Verlag confirmed.
* German program guide TV Spielfilm and TV platform Zattoo Europa AG have extended their partnership. TV Spielfilm will discontinue its LIVE streaming service, with users automatically redirected to Zattoo.
FRANCE
* Altice France SA's SFR has installed 1,002 new 4G antennas, deployed 4G in 164 municipalities and 4G+ in another 515 municipalities as of end-April. Meanwhile, 170,229 homes and business premises were connected to the company's ultrafast fiber broadband network in 179 municipalities.
* Canal Plus SA's StudioCanal, Mai Juin Productions and Galatée Films have begun production work for Gilles de Maistre's family adventure film "Le Loup et le Lion." Filming began in Canada six months ago and will continue until June 2020.
NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG
* Alphabet Inc. unit Google LLC rolled out its Google Assistant app in Belgium for devices running on the Android 5.0 or iOS 10 operating system, Datanews reports. The app, which is Google's version of Apple Inc.'s virtual assistant Siri, offers services such as the train schedule from the national train operator and the ability to create shopping list from local supermarkets.
* Intelsat SA named David Tolley executive vice president and CFO of the company, effective June 3. Tolley, who will also serve on the company's management committee, was previously CFO of OneWeb LLC, Intelsat said.
* Dutch magazine Elsevier Weekblad is changing its name to EW by Dec. 1, 2020. The name change is happening because Elsevier's owner, British publishing company RELX Group PLC, wants to use it exclusively for its internationally operating scientific publisher Elsevier.
* Fiber-optic network provider GlasDraad is rolling out a new fiber network in the rural areas of the Dutch province of Flevoland, in response to interest from local residents, Flevopost reports. Installation work will begin immediately, with all inhabitants expected to get access to the fiber network by 2020.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* About 170 employees at Tele2 AB will be fired due to overlaps in the organization resulting from the company's merger with Com Hem AB, Aftonbladet reports, citing information given to the employees. In addition, 60 consultants will have their contracts terminated. Tele2 said staff from the whole of Sweden will be affected, but most of the positions will be cut at the company's Stockholm headquarters.
* Ericsson has forged a strategic partnership with the government of Vietnam around Industry 4.0 activities. The agreement aims to accelerate the adoption of Industry 4.0 in manufacturing, agriculture, transport and energy.
* Telia Co. AB launched a 5G network at the Mid Sweden University in Norrland. This is the third 5G network in Sweden, and it will be used by staff and students at the university, as well as by companies and entrepreneurs. The goal is to accelerate research in remote and autonomous vehicles for industrial use and in forestry.
* Telia said customers who have bought a Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. or Honor handset can expect applications and services to run largely as they do today. However, it is not yet clear if future Android OS updates will be pushed to the handsets.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
* Spanish broadcaster Mediapro will produce and distribute the UEFA Champions League finals, which will be held in Madrid on June 1, Telecompaper reports. The match will be aired in 4K and HD quality in simulcast.
* Grupo MÁSMOVIL has closed a €1.7 billion debt, with a margin ratchet based on an environmental, social and governance rating from MSCI Inc., Reuters reports, citing sources. The debt package includes a €250 million revolving credit facility and capital expense line.
* Telefónica SA will be expanding its fiber-to-the-home networks to cater to about 16,500 more premises in three provinces in Spain's Aragon region, Telecompaper reports, citing El Economista.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Digi Communications NV's Hungarian unit DIGI Távközlési és Szolgáltató Kft. has introduced a fixed-mobile service in the country using its own network, Broadband TV News reports.
* Ericsson has installed a 5G mobile technology in Hungary that allows it to conduct 5G-based test track for self-driving vehicles. The Finnish company has deployed the technology on Magyar Telekom's existing radio tower.
* Ukrainian operator Kyivstar has begun offering a free trial of its music, dating and chat services, named Music Club, Dating Club and Chat Tete-a-tete, Telecompaper reports.
* The Supreme Court of Hungary has maintained a fine of 20 million Hungarian forints imposed against UPC Hungary over unjustified charges for subscribers, Broadband TV News reports. The fine was enforced by Hungarian regulator NMHH, which also ordered UPC to amend some of its terms and conditions, and to reimburse affected subscribers.
* Cybercom Poland has appointed Andrzej Gibas as its managing director, Telecompaper reports. Gibas will also become a member of the leadership team of Cybercom Group AB.
FEATURED NEWS
The Week in OTT: Comcast unveils movie service; Fox Nation to stream new shows: Comcast unveiled a commercial-free, on-demand movie service, while Fox Nation will premiere new shows in the week of June 10.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Economics of Internet: State of Portuguese OTT video: subscription: Unlike other European markets where subscription over-the-top is slowly becoming a viable alternative to multichannel, Portugal is still at an early stage of development in the segment, with subscribers reaching 320,000 at the end of 2018.
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