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Netflix job boost in UK; Facebook antitrust complaint; KPN CEO hire update

TOP NEWS

* Netflix Inc. is expected to hire more actors, production crew and extras to work on its original productions in the U.K., London's The Daily Telegraph reports. The move is reportedly in line with the streaming giant's plans to spend more on British-made content in 2020.

* Open-internet advertising platform Criteo SA filed a complaint against Facebook Inc. with the French Competition Authority. Criteo claims companies are being gradually excluded from the social network and calls for "clear and transparent guidelines" for Facebook not to favor its own services at the expense of third parties.

* KPN NV appointed Joost Farwerck CEO and management board chairman. Farwerck was the company's COO and interim chairman of the management board. KPN also named Chris Figee as its new CFO, effective Feb. 1, 2020. Figee, currently finance chief at ASR Nederland NV, will replace Jan Kees de Jager who is stepping down. Furthermore, the Dutch telecom operator is expanding its management board to include key business, technology and people responsibilities. In this context, the supervisory board intends to appoint the following leaders to the management board, effective Dec. 1: Jean-Pascal Van Overbeke, chief of the consumer market segment; Marieke Snoep, chief of the business market segment; Chief Technology and Digital Officer Babak Fouladi; and Chief People Officer Hilde Garssen.

PAN-EUROPEAN

* The European Court of Justice ruled that internet users have to actively agree to the use of cookies, and even a ticked opt-out box will not suffice. The suit was against Planet49, which provided pre-filled cookie agreements on its gambling website.

UK AND IRELAND

* Advertising company WPP PLC appointed John Rogers as CFO, effective early in 2020, replacing Group Finance Director Paul Richardson, who is due to retire. Rogers, who is CEO of J Sainsbury PLC's subsidiary Argos Ltd., will also join WPP's board next year.

* British Telecom's infrastructure unit Openreach Ltd. unveiled plans to expand its ultrafast broadband network to 29 more towns and cities across Britain, London's The Daily Telegraph reports. The list includes the cities of Bradford, Brighton and Derby.

* Apple Inc.'s back tax payment in Ireland of about €14.3 billion is on course to lose €70 million per year due to investment losses, Dublin's Irish Independent reports, citing the Irish financial regulator. The fund has been held in escrow amid a legal dispute over the European Commission's tax ruling against the tech giant.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. countersued rival chipmaker GlobalFoundries Inc. in Germany and two other countries for alleged patent infringement. The Taiwan-based Apple Inc. supplier accused GlobalFoundries of infringing 25 of its patents.

* The Beitragsservice by German public broadcasters ARD, ZDF (DE) and Deutschlandradio named IT head Joachim Altmann as its new provisional director. Altmann will succeed Claudia Seifert, who is set to retire.

* Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland GmbH promoted Marc Haberland to the role of director of its main business, Radioszene reports. Haberland was previously director of programming at RTL Radio Center Berlin.

* Carel Halff is stepping down as chairman of Cologne-based publisher Bastei Lübbe AG in end-2020, Handelsblatt reports. Halff will focus on managing his own consulting company founded five years ago.

FRANCE

* Reworld Media SA completed the acquisition of Sports.fr and Football.fr, two sites published by Lagardère SCA's Newsweb, Boursier reports. The group will reportedly become the second largest digital sports media player, behind L'Équipe.

* Audio-visual services company Videlio SA named Jean-Philippe Melet management board chairman, effective Oct. 1, Boursier reports. Melet will replace David Chouraqui, who left the company to develop professional projects.

* Vivendi SA appointed Félicité Herzog director of strategy and innovation. Herzog previously held the roles of international development director for Dailymotion SA and independent director on Telecom Italia SpA's board.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* The Flemish government said the country's 5G spectrum auction will no longer facilitate the entry of a possible fourth player on the telecom market by reserving airwaves for the new competitor, Datanews reports. The arrival of 5G reportedly has been delayed as the federal government and federal states reportedly disagree on the division of the auction's proceeds.

* Belgiam telco Proximus is expanding its Epic combo offer by providing an integrated TV experience on all screens via Proximus Pickx and a free subscription to the cloud gaming solution Shadow for the first 2,000 subscribers of the revised offer.

* Dutch joint on-demand platform NLZiet, a collaboration between the Dutch public service broadcaster, RTL Nederland and Talpa Holding NV, added live and on-demand feeds of 13 regional broadcasters, Emerce reports. As a result, NLZiet's offer will reportedly grow to 34 live streams and more than 100,000 on-demand programs.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Danish energy group SE said its TV and broadband unit Stofa A/S struck a cooperation agreement with energy company Nord Energi, giving Stofa access to Nord Energi's fiber network in north Jutland. This will enable Stofa to provide content and products to Nord Energi's customers.

* A group of Danish political parties demanded the introduction of a tax on foreign streaming services in Denmark, Politiken reports. The socialist parties, which support the government, want a tax corresponding to 5% of the price of streaming subscriptions. The tax's proceeds will be used to support the production of Danish TV shows and documentaries.

* Ericsson teamed up with Canadian health authorities on tests of LTE-enabled delivery of medical and supplies by drone. Deliveries were made to specific GPS locations across a 16-kilometer radius.

* Swedish telecom regulator PTS found deficiencies in Tele2 AB's security, which resulted in the publication of secret phone numbers on public sites. PTS found that Tele2 did not do any risk analysis prior to a system migration, and lacked information about the systems that treat subscribers' information. The watchdog said Tele2 has corrected the mistakes and began taking measures to strengthen security work.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Spanish mobile operator MásMóvil Ibercom SA struck a 5G deal with Orange Espagne SAU, which will cover the Orange SA unit's future 5G needs, Reuters reports, citing a statement.

* Telefónica SA Chairman and CEO José María Álvarez-Pallete urged members of the European Parliament to help prepare Europe for the new digital economy. Álvarez-Pallete also cited the importance of Europe's telecom sector in the transition.

EASTERN EUROPE

* The Russian government plans to reduce its stake in national operator Rostelecom PJSC, in line with data on forecasts for privatization of federal properties, Broadband TV News reports, citing Telecom Daily.

* A court sentenced the owner of pirate site patrzajto.pl to eight months in jail for distributing original content aired by Poland's Platforma Canal+, formerly nc+, Broadband TV News reports, citing Media2.pl.

* Indonesian streaming platform Vidio is partnering with Estonia-headquartered mobile technology company Fortumo OU to launch a direct carrier billing service. Under the new offering, customers of PT Indosat Tbk, XL Axiata and PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk can add Vidio Premier charges to their mobile operator invoice.

FEATURED NEWS

5G Focus: Huawei's licensing; demos in Malaysia; T-Mobile's Dutch trials: 5G Focus is a weekly global roundup of notable 5G trials, launches, use cases and major equipment supply contracts. It will also feature in-depth analysis of strategies, expansion plans, business models and other related initiatives.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Global Multichannel: Global markets update — Lithuania: Kagan has recently updated Global Multichannel and Broadband analyses for Lithuania, as well as analyses for related operators Telia Lietuva and Balticum.

Technology: Addressable TV advertising limited in traditional TV delivery systems: While addressable TV advertising in traditional TV delivery systems has been in the U.S. and Europe for years, it has not moved very far to date. That is starting to change.

Anne Freier, Sylvia Edwards Davis, Marieke Pijnappels and Esben Svendsen contributed to this report.

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