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Telefónica mulls German unit sale; Mediapro to produce Netflix, DIRECTV content

TOP NEWS

* Spanish telecom group Telefónica SA may consider a sale of its Telefónica Deutschland GmbH business, Handelsblatt reports, citing Wirtschaftswoche. Telefónica did not comment on the rumors.

* Mediapro has agreed to produce original content for video-on-demand platforms such as Netflix Inc. and AT&T Inc.'s DIRECTV Inc., Advanced Television reports. The Spanish broadcaster will produce 13-episode drama "Edha" and "Fe de Etarras y Una y no más" for Netflix and "El fútbol no es así" for DIRECTV.

PAN-EUROPEAN

* About 50 European service providers and media companies are requesting the European Union to reconsider the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation, which is set to take effect May 25, Digital TV Europe reports. The group said the rule will mostly benefit giant internet companies and will cause a "major disadvantage for emerging companies," as well as the providers of advertising-dependent services in the region. Orange SA, Altice NV, Bouygues Telecom SA and TF1 Group are part of the group.

UK AND IRELAND

* The board of directors of Eir Group plc's parent company Eircom Holdco SA has stepped down prior to the expected completion of the Irish operator's purchase by Toohil Telecom Holdings Ltd. in the first half of 2018. Eir CFO Huib Costermans also revealed plans to leave the company in June post deal completion. The European Commission earlier approved Eir's acquisition by Toohil Telecom, which is owned by Iliad SA founder Xavier Niel.

* Public broadcaster Channel 4 (UK) revealed plans to create a new national headquarters outside London as well as two new smaller creative hubs in other areas across Britain in 2019. As part of its "4 All the UK" plan, Channel 4 has also committed to hike its investment in regional-themed content to 50% by 2023, or an additional spending of more than £250 million.

* State-backed telecom operator Enet is expected to secure the contract to implement the Irish government's National Broadband Plan, Dublin's The Irish Times reports. Enet, the only remaining bidder for the project, will begin connecting premises to the broadband network in early 2019.

* British Broadcasting Corp. Deputy Director General Anne Bulford said the public broadcaster should work with its commercial competitors to keep British programming alive, London's The Daily Telegraph reports. Bulford admitted that the BBC is not anymore a dominant force in television, given the "creative and financial firepower" of U.S. tech giants.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* German multinational company SAP SE has published the final results of its investigation into software contracts with South African companies Transnet and Eskom. The final results corroborate payment allegations and indications of misconduct related to the Gupta family, as well as compliance irregularities, yet no ties with Transnet, Eskom, or South African government officials have been established.

* German worker's union Verdi has called for warning strikes in the wage dispute with Deutsche Telekom AG. The German telecom company failed to make an offer during the second round of negotiations.

* As part of its efforts to bundle its sports and advertising business, German pay-TV service provider Sky Deutschland GmbH has appointed Jacques Raynaud as its new executive vice president of sports and advertising.

* Axel Springer SE announced a 6.3% revenue growth for 2017, driven by its digital business. The adjusted EBITDA grew 8.5% to €645.8 million. The company generated €3.6 billion in sales, an 8.3% jump from year-ago figures.

FRANCE

* Orange and TF1 Group have signed a new global distribution agreement. It renews Orange's distribution of all TF1 Group channels. The MYTF1 service, suspended Feb. 1 by TF1, will be available to Orange subscribers from March 12.

* Lagardère SCA posted an increase in operating income in 2017, boosted by growth in travel retail and the strong performance of Lagardère Publishing. The group's revenues totaled €7.07 billion, up 4.0% on a comparable basis.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Dutch operator VodafoneZiggo will soon start the phaseout of its analog television service, which the 10% of their customer base still uses. The phaseout will start in the town of Capelle aan den Ijssel and should be completed in two years.

* Dell EMC has appointed Arnaud Bacros as the new managing director of enterprise for Dell EMC Benelux, Computable reports. Bacros was previously managing director of Dell EMC Belgium.

* Rob Stevens, director of regional broadcaster L1, will step down from his role in September following the failed merger between L1 and broadcaster Omroep Brabant, the latter reports. Previously, L1's board of commissioners has already stepped down as a result of the failed merger.

* Karin de Groot, director of television at Dutch media company Talpa Holding NV, will leave her position after the summer, Adformatie reports. A replacement for De Groot has yet to be found.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* The recent disruption to TDC A/S' mobile and landline networks was caused by high call volumes, Børsen reports. The event caused overloading in TDC's key networks in Denmark. Over 1.85 million TDC customers were affected by the disruption.

* Polaris Media ASA has bought a 34% shareholding in online e-commerce solutions firm Helthjem Netthandel AS, the latter said. Shares were acquired through a private placement arranged by Helthjem's majority shareholder Schibsted ASA.

* Ukkoverkot Oy said it will provide private LTE connectivity to housing and office development sites operated by Fira Group. The LTE service will run on the 2.6 GHz network. The contract includes a pilot project at a Fira housing development in Helsinki, Finland.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Vivendi SA CEO and Telecom Italia SpA chairman, is not alarmed with Elliott Advisors' stake acquisition in the Italian operator, Reuters reports, citing De Puyfontaine's interview with Italian daily Il Messaggero.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Agora SA plans to sell its 41.14% stake in Stopklatka SA and exit the digital terrestrial television business in Poland, Broadband TV News reports. The Polish media company will enter talks with Kino Polska TV SA, which owns 41.5% of Stopklatka, for the planned sale.

* Operator T-2 will launch 4K set-top boxes in Slovenia, Broadband TV News reports. T-2 has chosen one of the recent set-top box models from Amino Communications AB's Kamai 7 series, which is expected to support high dynamic range content in the future.

* Sergey Petrov, former manager at broadcaster CTC Media Inc., now partly owns a number of Russian thematic channels, including National Geographic and Fox, after acquiring a 49.5% stake in Bianka Media, which manages minority stakes in the said channels, Broadband TV News reports, citing Kommersant. Bianka Media owns 24% of Telco Media, which operates Russian versions of Fox international channels through various subsidiaries.

* Uber Technologies Inc. drivers in the Czech Republic are required to have business certificates and licenses to operate, Reuters reports, citing Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. The government and Uber agreed to sign a memorandum by the end of March.

FEATURED NEWS

Hires and Fires: ESPN gets new president; Snap to lay off 100 engineers: Disney named James Pitaro president of ESPN and co-chair of Disney Media Networks. Snapchat's parent Snap unveiled plans to lay off about 100 of its engineers.

Hires and Fires Europe: Spotify co-founder exits Telia board; Hrvatski Telekom rejigs board: S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a biweekly rundown of executive and board changes in the European media and communications industries.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Economics of Internet: State of Nordic online video: subscription: The Nordic market for subscription-based online video services has grown over the last few years in both subscriptions and revenues, increasing its share of total consumer spend for subscription-based video entertainment.

Anne Freier, Amanda Kelly, Charlotte van Hek 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.