* As expected, Canal Plus SA agreed to add Netflix Inc. shows to its TV bundles. The Vivendi SA unit's new bundles will be available in France from Oct. 15 for €15 per month, in addition to the €20 per month subscription fee to Canal Plus, and later in other European markets, beginning in Poland. Canal Plus is also "in discussions" with Walt Disney Co. but did not provide details, Reuters reports.
* Comcast Corp. acquired Dutch app developer Metrological Group BV for an undisclosed sum, Broadband TV News reported. The parties confirmed the deal but have not released official statements, according to the report.
* Google LLC paid a fine of 700,000 Russian rubles for allowing its customers to access websites banned in Russia, including those promoting suicide, extremism and pornography, Telecompaper reports, citing Vedomosti. Russian telecom regulator Roskomnadzor imposed the fine on the Alphabet Inc. unit.
PAN-EUROPEAN
* The European Union is looking to introduce a digital services tax itself if no global agreement is reached on the matter by 2020, Reuters reports, quoting Commissioner-designate for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni. The incoming commissioner also plans to harmonize corporate taxes across EU member states.
* The European Commission is launching a new call for funding applications for the WiFi4EU program, which aims to set up free Wi-Fi networks in public spaces. The commission will accept applications until Sept. 20.
UK AND IRELAND
* The founders of around 100 British startups urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to relax rules covering enterprise management incentives for tech companies, in a bid to help insulate the sector from the ill effects of Brexit, London's The Daily Telegraph reports, citing a letter.
* Facebook Inc. probed U.S. company FullContact alongside Cambridge Analytica LLC for breaking the social media giant's data policies, The Daily Telegraph reports, citing documents. Voter management system NationBuilder, which was used by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Scottish National Party, tapped FullContact to scour the internet for voters' social media accounts.
* U.K. authorities will auction off cryptocurrencies worth £500,000 seized from a criminal, Dublin's The Irish Times reports. The cryptocurrency came 19-year-old Elliot Gunton, who was found guilty of illegally supplying online personal data and hacking services.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* Recent takeover approaches for Cancom SE prompted the Munich-based IT services company and its biggest stockholder to evaluate options, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Suitors reportedly held preliminary talks about a transaction, although their interest diminished as the company's share price continued to rise.
* Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland GmbH plans to reorganize its strategy department into several sub-departments. From Oct. 1, Julia Reuter will oversee the new sub-departments of corporate strategy, diversification and innovation.
* Germany's Federal Office for Information Security allowed government agencies to use Apple Inc.'s iPhone for confidential phone calls, using a mobile encryption app co-developed by Deutsche Telekom AG and the Gesellschaft für Sichere Mobile Kommunikation.
* London-based production company Youngest Media is launching a subsidiary in Munich to produce music content for German commercial TV channel RTL2, Quotenmeter reports. Among Youngest Media's first productions in Munich will be "Battle of Bands."
* Volkswagen AG will consolidate its fragmented software operations over the next three to five years under a $9 billion investment plan, Bloomberg News reports, citing Volkswagen brand's head of digital car and services Christian Senger. Speaking during a presentation at the Frankfurt auto show, Senger reportedly said that the merged operations will employ as many as 10,000 developers.
FRANCE
* Soccer leagues FIFA, the AFC, UEFA, the Bundesliga, LaLiga, Lega Serie A, LFP and the Premier League commissioned MarkMonitor to research and produce a detailed and independent technical analysis of beoutQ's alleged piracy operations. The report confirmed that beoutQ transmits pirate broadcasts using satellite infrastructure owned and operated by Arabsat, with the alliance calling on Arabsat and all other satellite providers to stop providing a platform for piracy.
* Microsoft Corp. unit Microsoft France confirmed the appointment of Xavier Perret as director of Azure. Perret will be responsible for deploying Azure offers in France.
* Facebook launched a €2 million acceleration program for French local and regional press to help identify and develop business models based on subscriptions. This investment is part of a $300 million plan to support new media publishing initiatives around the world over the next three years.
* Following excess demand, Altice Europe priced and allocated the equivalent of €2.55 billion of new senior secured notes at Altice France SA. The refinancing transaction is intended to strengthen Altice Europe's liquidity profile.
NETHERLANDS,
* T-Mobile Netherlands BV published its wholesale offer for access to its fiber optic network that is under construction in The Hague. The company will give competitors the opportunity to offer services on its network, the construction of which is expected to be completed by April 2020.
* Publisher BDU filed for bankruptcy for 15 local door-to-door newspapers in the province of North Holland, where it publishes weeklies such as the Alkmaars Weekblad, Nieuwsblad Castricum and Nieuwsblad De Zaankanter, Noordhollands Dagblad reports. BDU took over the titles in 2017 from the Telegraaf Media Groep NV.
* Wilma Haan joined the supervisory board of Stichting Nederlandse Lokale Publieke Omroepen from the domain of local broadcasters, alongside her role as a board member and vice chairman of the Dutch Association of Journalists, Emerce reports.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Axiata Group Bhd. and Telenor ASA are not ruling out future partnerships despite calling off their merger plan, The Edge Markets reports. Regulatory hurdles and antitrust issues were among the reasons for the termination of the deal, the report said.
* Bambuser AB completed the acquisition of online video chat solutions providers Viddget AB and Viddget Holding AB. Bambuser also inked a digital solutions contract with Viddget customer FirstBank.
* DigiPlex Norway AS will invest 600 million Norwegian kroner to build two data centers in Oslo. The investment is driven by rising foreign demand for data center capacity in Norway.
* Iioote AB formed a strategic partnership with internet of things firms Netmore AB and Qualit AB. The consortium will deliver smart LPWAN IoT solutions to finance and real estate customers.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
* Telecom Italia SpA named Andrea Fabiano head of multimedia and CEO if its audio-visual unit TIMVision, Digital TV Europe reports. Fabiano was an executive at Italian public broadcaster Rai.
* Vodafone España SAU more than tripled losses to €601 million from €180 million in the previous fiscal year, Advanced Television reports. The Vodafone Group PLC unit's results are reportedly due to its decision to not renew soccer rights because of a lack of profitability among others.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Digi Communications NV failed to make the shortlist of companies bidding to obtain 5G licenses in Hungary for not meeting eligibility requirements, Broadband TV News reports, citing Hungarian telecom regulator NMHH. Magyar Telekom, Telenor Magyarország Zrt. and Vodafone Hungary, meanwhile, were shortlisted for the licenses.
FEATURED NEWS
M&A Replay: Comcast acquires Dutch app developer; CenturyLink buys Streamroot: CenturyLink acquired video delivery technology provider Streamroot, while Comcast acquired Dutch app developer Metrological Group.
Data Dispatch: World-beating US economy could yet follow Europe into 'Japanification': Alan Greenspan is among those predicting the advent of negative interest rates in the U.S.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Economics of Internet: Online video projections could near $30B in next decade: We have updated our online video projections with Disney+ added to the model.
Economics of Internet: State of Japan OTT video: Subscription: The Japanese media market is characterized by high levels of free-to-air television penetration. Local and international over-the-top video services have priced themselves as an affordable supplement to free-to-air content.
Anne Freier, Amanda Kelly, Charlotte van Hek and Gerard O'Dwyer contributed to this report.
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