TOP NEWS
* SoftBank Group Corp.'s SoftBank Vision Fund will invest US$2.25 billion in General Motors Co.'s self-driving unit GM Cruise Holdings LLC. As a result of the investment, SoftBank Vision Fund will hold a 19.6% equity stake in GM Cruise. The SoftBank investment will be made in two tranches, with an initial payment of US$900 million to be delivered when the transaction closes. Another US$1.35 billion investment will be made once Cruise's autonomous vehicles are ready for commercial deployment.
* Google Inc. launched an app in stores hosted by Baidu Inc., Xiaomi Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. to tap the smartphone market in China, Reuters reported. The search giant reportedly released a China-specific version of its storage management tool, Files Go, which allows users to free storage space. The tool is Google's first app to be launched on third-party Chinese app stores. The launch signals another attempt to re-enter China after the search giant's services were banned from the country. The Alphabet Inc. unit's first app in China, Google Translate, launched in 2017.
* SenseTime Group Ltd. raised US$620 million during a second funding round in two months, increasing the Chinese artificial intelligence startup's valuation to more than US$4.5 billion. The round was led by investment firms including Fidelity International, Hopu Capital, Silver Lake and Tiger Global Group, as well as previous investor Qualcomm Inc. SenseTime is planning an IPO and wants to open a U.S. R&D center later this year.
JAPAN
* Sony Corp. plans to roll out its Japanese taxi-hailing service in the fiscal year ending March 2019, Bloomberg News reports.
* NTT Group's venture capital arm NTT Docomo Ventures Inc. announced an investment in U.S.-based Inbenta Technologies Inc., a developer of natural language processing and semantic search engine technologies. The company did not disclose the value of the investment, but said the deal will allow NTT Communications Corp. to bolster its artificial intelligence business.
SOUTH KOREA
* South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT plans to finalize laws on 5G technology standards for the 3.5GHz and 28MHz ranges soon, as the government aims to allow local telecom operators to start establishing 5G networks in September, ET News reports.
* SK Telecom Co. Ltd. said it will start renting out three latest smartphone series models – iPhone X, iPhone 8 and Galaxy S9 – with lower monthly rental fees compared to regular purchasing plan contracts. Under the T Rental service, contract is fixed at 24 months. Customers can later decide to own the rental phones, if they pay the rental fees in lump sum.
* In other SK Telecom news, the telecom operator has begun receiving bids for commercial 5G wireless repeaters suppliers. The company plans to select partners by the end of July.
CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN
* Xiaomi launched a virtual reality headset with Facebook Inc. subsidiary Oculus VR LLC developed exclusively for the Chinese market. The Mi VR Standalone headset will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Mobile VR platform and will share the same core hardware features and designs as the Oculus Go VR headset. Xiaomi made the announcement at an event where it also launched its Mi 8 smartphone series, a fitness tracker, an LED TV and its proprietary operating system, MIUI 10.
* Tencent Music Entertainment Group has hired Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch for a public float that is expected to value the Chinese music streaming company at more than US$30 billion, London's Financial Times reported, citing sources. The Tencent Holdings Ltd. unit now reportedly targets to list on the New York bourse, instead of Hong Kong, whose stock exchange allows the issuance of dual-class shares only to founders and not to institutions.
* Dalian Wanda Group Corporation Ltd. will team up with Tencent Holdings and Tencent-backed Gaopeng to set up an internet technology joint venture to integrate online and offline businesses. For the joint venture vehicle, Wanda Group's Wanda Commercial Management will take a 51% stake, while Tencent will own a 42.48% interest. Gaopeng, Groupon Inc.'s former China unit, will hold the remaining 6.52% stake. Wanda's existing internet business, Tencent's online traffic and Gaopeng's businesses will be incorporated into the joint venture.
* Japanese retail company AEON Co. Ltd. opened a contemporary research center in Shanghai geared toward equipping shopping centers with artificial intelligence and electronic payment systems, Nikkei Asian Review reported. Aeon plans to extend the technology to 80 other locations in China, with plans to sell it to other retailers. It will leverage Chinese mobile-payment services like Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay for online payments.
* Baidu's cloud computing unit introduced three new services — Baidu IntelliEdge for edge computing, DuHome for smart home suppliers and DuGo for connected cars, CE News reports.
INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA
* Idea Cellular Ltd. said it has completed the sale of its approximately 9,900 standalone towers to @american tower corp subsidiary ATC Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. The transaction closed with an enterprise value of 40 billion Indian rupees.
* India's Department of Telecommunications amended telecom licensing guidelines to allow higher spectrum holding. The amendments include allowing telecom operators to hold up to 35% of the total spectrum allocated in a service and allowing resulting entities of mergers to retain two blocks of 3G spectrum.
* Google launched the beta version of its Neighbourly app in Mumbai, India. The Android application allows users to ask and answer questions, and share local expertise to their neighbors. It works in English and eight Indian languages.
* Vodafone India announced the deployment of what it claims as India's largest long-haul fiber network. The company installed more than 43,000 kilometers of 200G long-haul network across 88 cities to improve latency performance.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
* Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission said companies interested in joining the 1800 MHz spectrum auction can submit their applications beginning June 15, RYT9 reports.
* Indonesian news aggregator startup Baca is in talks with Chinese handset maker OPPO Electronics Corp. for a potential investment, people familiar with the matter told KrASIA.
* Singapore's GrabTaxi Holdings Pte. Ltd. is in the process of applying for a license to launch its e-wallet and microlending services in Thailand, the Bangkok Post reports.
* Singtel said its data analytics subsidiary DataSpark will team up with telecommunications consulting firm Analysys Mason to develop a network planning application that will help mobile operators drive revenue and optimize capital expenditure.
* Thai Airways received the telecom regulator's approval to broadcast live TV on its flights, Matichon reports. Broadcasting will be carried out by its in-flight entertainment partner Panasonic Avionics Corp.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* Amazon.com Inc. will lock Australian shoppers out of its U.S. and other overseas sites due to a new goods and services tax, or GST, regime coming into effect in the country. Beginning July 1, consumers in Australia will be required to pay a 10% tax on all goods purchased and delivered from overseas, with imported items worth less than A$1,000 no longer exempt from the levy. The same day, Amazon will start redirecting Australian shoppers from its global e-commerce sites to amazon.com.au.
* New Zealand Privacy Commissioner John Edwards wants his agency to have greater regulatory powers over Facebook, Reuters reported. Edwards is expected to ask lawmakers for additional powers to be able to bring companies to court and seek fines, according to the report.
FEATURED NEWS
Washington Watch: California Senate braces for court showdown over net neutrality bill: California legislators appear poised for a legal battle that would pit efforts to restore and expand upon Obama-era broadband regulations in the state against federal regulators' efforts to stop such actions.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Broadcast Investor: Broadcast station ad projections update: political, digital lead growth: Kagan projects U.S. TV station ad revenues to grow 8.0% in 2018 boosted by political, while our radio forecast is up 1.1% mostly on digital and off-air revenue growth.
Joji Sakurai, Nicole Shiwon Kim, Frances Wang, Kevin Osmond and Wil Hathaway 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.
