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EU on Broadcom's practices; queries on Facebook's Libra; Spotify/Apple row

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EU on Broadcom's practices; queries on Facebook's Libra; Spotify/Apple row

TOP NEWS

* EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager plans to order Broadcom Inc. to halt anti-competitive practices, even before the conclusion of the European Commission's investigation against the company, Financial Times reports. The U.S. chipmaker is anticipated to file an appeal against the ruling up to the European Court of Justice, the report said, citing sources.

* The European Commission sent queries to Facebook Inc. and the Libra Association on concerns about the project's financial stability, and risks of money laundering and data privacy, London's Financial Times reports. The move is a part of EC Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis' plan to determine if Libra can be allowed to operate in the bloc, and to look at regulations and legislation necessary if it was allowed in the region. EU finance ministers are set to call for a global regulatory response to "stablecoins," such as Libra's, during a G-20 meeting in mid-October, Reuters reports, citing an EU document.

* The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee asked Spotify AB to provide information regarding its anticompetitive claims against Apple Inc., Reuters reports. The lawmakers approached Spotify as part of an investigation into claims that the iPhone maker engaged in anticompetitive behavior to support its own apps, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

PAN-EUROPEAN

* Vodafone Group PLC is ready to fast track the implementation of OpenRAN in Europe and would launch in 120 rural areas in the U.K. on Oct. 7, Reuters reports, citing a statement from CEO Nick Read. OpenRAN trials in Mozambique and Democratic Republic of Congo are also slated to begin. The U.K.-headquartered operator trialed the technologies in South Africa and deployed in Turkey.

* All3Media Ltd. tapped Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación SA for the Spanish remake of "Liar," TBI Vision reports. A second season of the scripted thriller will be aired in the U.K. next year.

* The European Broadcasting Union is pushing for the development and use of technology that would allow mobile phone users to watch free-to-air broadcasters through 5G, Digital TV Europe reports.

UK AND IRELAND

* Apple confirmed the acquisition of U.K.-based software company IKinema Ltd., a developer of motion capture technologies, London's Financial Times reports, citing a statement from the U.S. company. The financial terms of the transaction were undisclosed.

* ITV PLC announced that Amy Jones, former executive at Amazon.com Inc.'s Amazon Prime and Amy Townsend, previously serving as marketing director at Now TV, are becoming a part of the executive team at upcoming U.K. streaming service BritBox. Jones will oversee commissions, acquisition and scheduling, while Townsend will be BritBox's director of consumer marketing. Lee Marshall, a former ITV Hub executive, will also join the team and will be responsible for product build.

* The British Film Institute's subscription video-on-demand platform BFI Player is now available in the U.K. through Apple TV, Digital TV Europe reports. Apple users can get direct access to the service for a monthly subscription fee of £4.99.

* The British Broadcasting Corp. appointed June Sarpong as the company's director of creative diversity, effective Nov. 1. Under the role, Sarpong will be in charge of developing strategies and improving the BBC's on-air talent portrayal and commissioning.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* The German cartel authority, or Bundeskartellamt, agreed to the sale of Berlin-based publisher BV Deutsche Zeitungsholding GmbH through CCG-Commercial Coordination Germany GmbH, reports Handelsblatt. BV Deutsche Zeitungsholding publishes newspapers Berliner Zeitung and Berliner Kurier.

* Sky Ltd. unit Sky Deutschland GmbH appointed Christian Hindennach as chief commercial officer, effective Jan. 1, 2020. Hindennach will be overseeing business areas, including customer growth, customer and product management, customer experience, price and products, marketing and communications, as well as market research efforts.

* Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland GmbH will launch in Austria on Oct. 9, reports Digitalfernsehen. The channel will be available via satellite and TV platform simpliTV via Astra.

* German magazine Zeit Magazin, a supplement of Die Zeit will be publishing two new regional editions, Zeit Magazin Zürich and Zeit Magazin Stuttgart, in June 2020, reports New Business. Initial print editions will be restricted between 40,000 and 72,000 copies.

FRANCE

* TF1 Group SA and Vivendi SA unit CANAL+ Group acquired broadcasting rights to the 2021 UEFA Women's Championship. CANAL+ will exclusively broadcast the entire soccer tournament for a fee to viewers.

* French audiovisual content platform Mediawan SA announced a share capital increase to €319,227.23 consisting of 31,922,723 ordinary shares with a par value of 1 euro cent each. It has also created a new seven-member supervisory board, chaired by journalist and TV executive Pierre Lescure, and changed the premises of its registered offices.

* Altice France SA's SFR launched the first experimental test of 5G in Ville Rose, expanding the possibility of 5G access to Toulouse. The telecom operator is preparing to equip its first cities before the projected commercial launch in 2020. Altice Europe owns Altice France.

* France's telecom regulator Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes launched a public consultation investigating concerns about the authorization given to Orange SA for frequencies in Mayotte and Réunion.

* Blackstone Group Inc., through Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Advisors LLC, agreed to buy a stake in SIPARTECH SAS, which provides telecommunications infrastructure solutions in France with a focus on dark fiber. The private equity giant said the stake is being sold by growth equity investor Summit Partners LP.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Orange Belgium SA extended its sponsorship agreement with esports team Sector One, which specializes in the games "League of Legends," "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" and "Hearthstone." Orange Belgium recently launched its own gaming platform, Arena, where players can fight their way to the top through multiple tournaments.

* Dutch online cartridge seller 123inkt expanded its services to French-speaking Belgium, reports Computable. 123inkt is one of the first webshops with a product of this kind to enter the Francophone market in Belgium.

* Talpa Media BV-owned on-demand streaming service KIJK launched a new version of the app on Apple's iOS and Google LLC's Play store, reports Mediamagzine. Via KIJK, users can watch programs from TV channels SBS6, Net5, Veronica, SBS9 and watch sports events, such as the UEFA Champions League and UFC live. Alphabet Inc. owns Google.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Endemol Shine Group Ltd. appointed Max Malka to the newly created role of head of scripted at Endemol Shine Finland Oy, effective Nov. 1. Malka will be in charge of development and production of scripted programming for the Finnish and international market.

* Telma Madagascar chose Ericsson to upgrade its core and radio network as part of the operator's move toward 5G. The deal also includes about 2,000 new mobile sites on Telma's network, Ericsson said.

* Swedish game company King.Com Ltd. acquired the game production studio Hatrabbit Ab, Breakit reported. Hatrabbit will be fully integrated into King, and will not operate under its own brand.

* The Danish Agency for Digitization said that municipalities and regions are testing artificial intelligence to enhance the quality of public service. The agency said that the use of AI in health, social and employment areas are to be tested through 15 signature projects.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Spanish national grid Red Eléctrica Corporación SA completed the acquisition of an 89.7% stake in satellite operator Hispasat SA from Spanish toll road operator Abertis Infraestructuras SA, after the €933 million deal secured legal authorization, Telecompaper reports.

* A number of Mediaset SpA shareholders, representing 492,691 shares, exercised their withdrawal rights in relation to its planned cross-border merger with Mediaset España Comunicación SA into a pan-European entity. The rights were exercised at the per-share withdrawal price of €2.77.

* Italian professional audio equipment maker RCF Group SpA secured regulatory approval to list its ordinary shares on the Mercato Telematico Azionario. The IPO's per-share price range is at €1.15 to €1.45, valuing the company at up to €565 million.

* Italy's Wind Tre SpA is expanding a deal to access Enel Open Fiber SPA's fiber-to-the-networks to more than 7,000 additional digitally divided localities across the country, Telecompaper reports. The initial deal involves 271 major Italian cities.

* Soccer club FC Barcelona teamed up with Rakuten Inc.'s Rakuten TV for a documentary series titled "Matchday – Inside FC Barcelona," Advanced Television reports. The series will exclusively air initially on Rakuten TV across Europe in November.

EASTERN EUROPE

* VEON's Russian unit Beeline is rolling out Beeline Gaming, a cloud-gaming service, Digital TV Europe reports. The service will allow users to access a library of more than 2,500 cloud-streamed games through a dedicated console that can be attached to a TV or monitor.

* Netflix Inc. made its service available in the Hungarian language, Telecompaper reports, citing Hwsw.hu.

* Vodafone Hungary is preparing to roll out its commercial 5G service on Oct. 17 through the deployment of its first 5G stations, Telecompaper reports, citing Hwsw.hu.

* Vodafone Magyarország will stop offering the UPC brand from April 2020, Broadband TV News reports, citing HWSW. The move is in line with Vodafone's acquisition of Liberty Global PLC's units in Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania.

* Polish cable operator Elsat launched a mobile TV service named ElsatGo, Broadband TV News reports. The new service, which offers up to 50 TV channels, is available for free to selected digital TV subscribers of the Polish cable operator.

* A Kiev court dismissed a lawsuit filed by TV stations New Format TV, Ariandna TV, Partner TV, TV Choice and Lider TV against Ukraine's National Council for canceling their licenses, Broadband TV News reports, citing Interfax Ukraine.

FEATURED NEWS

The Best Of: Editor's picks: FTC, DOJ turf wars; net neutrality ruling: Stories on how FTC/DOJ turf wars will not affect tech probes and the net neutrality ruling are featured in the editor's technology, media and telecommunications top picks for the week ended Oct. 4.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Economics of Advertising: Western Europe Addressable TV: Technology catching on, but formats lag behind: Addressable TV advertising was the hype of conversation at the International Broadcasting Convention, but it still faces challenges.

Anne Freier, Amanda Kelly, Charlotte van Hek and Esben Svendsen contributed to this report.

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