TOP NEWS
* A consortium led by NJJ Group's NJJ Telecom Europe, together with Iliad, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Irish telco eir for about €3.5 billion, according to a news release. NJJ, which is the private investment firm of French investor Xavier Niel, will own 32.9% of the Irish operator, while Iliad will own 31.6%. Niel also owns a 52% stake in Iliad.
* Orange SA Chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard and tycoon Bernard Tapie are facing trial over a €400 million payment that Tapie received in 2008 for settling a dispute with the French government, Reuters reports, citing a judicial source. The source reportedly said Richard and Tapie are both accused of embezzlement and misuse of public funds.
PAN-EUROPEAN
* The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Uber Technologies Inc. can be classified as a transport company, rather than a digital service, allowing regulators in EU member states to treat the platform as a taxi operator under national law. Europe's top court concluded that Uber's "main component" is a transport service, namely "a service in the field of transport," placing it outside the scope of other intermediary electronic commerce such as hotel- or flight-booking platforms.
UK AND IRELAND
* A U.K. High Court dismissed appeals by British Telecom and Three UK against Ofcom's proposal to set caps on spectrum that all British operators can buy once the airwaves gets auctioned, Reuters reports. The CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. unit, which seeks to lower the planned cap of 37% per operator, intends to file an appeal over the ruling.
* Broadband Internet users in the U.K. will have a legal right to Internet speeds of at least 10 Mbps under a regulatory Universal Service Obligation that is to be implemented in 2020, the government announced. In line with the upcoming regulation, the U.K. government has declined British Telecom's proposal to voluntarily deliver universal broadband in the country after deciding to prioritize the implementation of the USO.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* TV moderator Reinhold Beckmann acquired Studio Hamburg GmbH's shares in German TV production company beckground tv, which had been a joint venture between Beckmann and the Norddeutscher Rundfunk subsidiary for 10 years, Meedia reports. Beckmann will now be the sole proprietor of the company.
* German political party CDU/CSU has welcomed the decision by the cartel authority Bundeskartellamt to investigate Facebook Inc.'s user data collection practices in Germany. Users should be able to veto private data collection by social networks, according to them.
* The Kudelski Group unveiled plans to roll out new cloud-based solutions for digital TV in 2018. The company also said it is working to streamline its core digital TV business, fully integrate its Conax AS unit and step up investments in cybersecurity and internet of things solutions.
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* The executive board of Germany-based WDR mediagroup GmbH has appointed Ruth Lemmer chairman, replacing Karsten Rudolph.
FRANCE
* Facebook is holding a series of workshops and conferences at its Paris-based Station F on Jan. 23 and 24, 2018, which will be attended by digital experts, startup founders and researchers in artificial intelligence and various Facebook teams.
* From Jan. 2, 2018, the TCM Cinema channel will be offered to all subscribers of Iliad's Free on Freebox TV, according to Univers Freebox.
NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG
* Samer Halawi joined Luxembourg-headquartered Intelsat SA as chief commercial officer, effective Jan. 9, 2018. In this newly created role, Halawi will lead an organization spanning Intelsat's global commercial operations, including the broadband, mobility, media and government businesses, as well as the sales and marketing teams, the company said.
* The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets states that T-Mobile Netherlands' data free music service Datavrije Muziek adheres to European net neutrality regulations, Telecompaper reports. An ACM spokesman made the statement in response to developments in the case of T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom AG's streaming service StreamOn, which is under scrutiny by German regulator Bundesnetzagentur.
* Dutch Minister of Interior and Kingdom Relations Kajsa Ollongren must make a new decision on the disclosure of communication tapping statistics between 2002 and 2013, the Council of State ruled. The case was initiated by privacy organization Bits of Freedom, which argued that former Minister Ronald Plasterk did not have a valid motivation for the confidentiality of the tapping statistics.
* Liberty Global plc's Ziggo NV will transfer broadcasts of live Champions League matches to the open channel, starting with the 2018-2019 football season, after signing a three-year new contract with UEFA, AD reports. The rights are not fully exclusive and will be sold to one channel open to every household as well.
* Friesland-based broadcaster Omrop Fryslân will implement the iNOS editorial system developed by public broadcaster NOS. According to the report, the system enables editors to process and store various sorts of documents and was earlier also introduced at Omroep Zeeland.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Telia Co. AB said it has formed a sports content partnership with Solidtango AB covering the Nordic and Baltic markets. The deal will give Telia exclusive access to content in Solidsport, the streaming platform service owned by Solidtango.
* Ericsson AB announced that it has been contracted by TELUS Corp. to develop the Canadian telco's next-generation TV service. Ericsson will deliver its cloud-based MediaFirst TV Platform to support plans by Telus to roll out next-generation pay TV services.
* Finland's Justice Ministry has postponed plans to launch an electronic voting system as risks attached to e-voting are higher than potential gains, reports YLE. The Ministry cited denial of service attacks and voter manipulation as top risks.
* H&D Wireless AB has obtained approval to list its shares on Nasdaq Stockholm First North exchange on Dec. 22, the company said. The Sweden-based company develops wireless fidelity and multimedia data access solutions.
* The Danish Agency for Digitisation said it has put the MitID IT-digital infrastructure project out to tender. MitID will replace NemID as Denmark's national identification and authentication solution and is expected to launch in the second half of 2020.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
* Telecom Italia SpA CEO Amos Genish wants to appoint TIM Participações CEO Stefano de Angelis as the parent company's executive director, Telecompaper reports, citing Radiocor. The proposed appointment is reportedly part of a management rejig that saw the departure of long-time purchasing department executive Eduardo Perone.
* The Court of Justice of the European Union reversed the European Commission's order to recover the €300 million in Spanish government funding given to TV operators. In its ruling, the top EU court said it was not proved in the EC's decision that the funding assistance, meant for the rollout of digital terrestrial television in the country, indeed benefited specific DTT companies.
* Officials from France, Italy, Monaco and Vatican City struck a multilateral deal to free up 700 MHz spectrum for mobile broadband services, as part of a new frequency plan for digital terrestrial television, Telecompaper reports.
* Former Unitel T+ CEO Paula Carioca is joining Vodafone Portugal as head of its business-to-business activities, Telecompaper reports, citing Dinheiro Vivo. Carioca will also become part of the Vodafone Group Plc unit's executive committee.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Holding company Opus Global indirectly acquired stakes of 17% each in both content provider IKO Media Group and ad agency atmedia Kft., Broadband TV News reports, citing BBJ. Opus Global acquired the holdings via Status Capital Venture Capital Fund Management in which it owns a 25% stake.
* Russian IT services company IBS is considering a public flotation of its shares in 2018, Reuters reports, citing sources. The company has yet to determine the IPO's size as well as hire banks to take charge of the offering.
* Orange Polska SA said it may open up a portion of its fiber infrastructure to rival operator T-Mobile Polska SA under negotiations expected to end on June 30, 2018, Reuters reports. A deal would enable some of T-Mobile Polska's clients to get wholesale access to Orange Polska's fiber network.
* Rostelecom PJSC has been tapped to become the sole provider of video surveillance, live-voting internet transmission and video record storage services for Russia's presidential elections in March 2018, Reuters reports, citing a company statement.
FEATURED NEWS
Tech Time: LG invests trillions in advanced tech; Baidu to form AI-focused fund: South Korea's LG Group is eyeing an investment of 19 trillion won on advanced technologies in 2018, while Baidu unit Baidu Ventures struck a deal to form a 2 billion-yuan fund for artificial intelligence in China.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Broadcast Investor: Public trading multiples: TV stocks soar on news of Fox sale to Disney: In December, TV stock prices soared 10.4% on average as of Dec. 18 after news of Fox's $66.1 billion sale to Walt Disney on Dec. 14. Radio stock prices rose 2.3% on average through Dec. 18.
Anne Freier, Amanda Kelly, Koen Pijnappels and Gerard O'Dwyer contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription.
