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Viacom, Telenor ink content deal; Facebook, Google face French antitrust probe

TOP NEWS

* Continuing its push into the mobile content arena, Viacom Inc. struck a deal with Telenor ASA in the Nordic countries. Viacom President and CEO Bob Bakish said Viacom reached an agreement with the mobile operator to offer Paramount Plus, a combination of Paramount movie and Viacom television content.

* The French Competition Authority may launch an inquiry into Facebook Inc. and Google Inc.'s "overwhelmingly dominant position" in the French online advertising market, Reuters reports, citing a statement from President Isabelle de Silva. The regulator can hit companies with fines of up to 10% of the total annual revenue of a company. Google is a unit of Alphabet Inc.

PAN-EUROPEAN

* Pierre Moscovici, EU commissioner for economic affairs, taxation and customs union, is set to hold a meeting with digital business leaders in Brussels on March 7 to discuss challenges to the imposition of taxes on the European Union's digital economy, the European Commission said.

UK AND IRELAND

* British Broadcasting Corp. unit BBC Cymru Wales is planning to offer 300 training positions, in a bid to hire and develop new content makers prior to its transfer to new headquarters at the Central Square in Cardiff. The program also entails the creation of 20 new full-time journalism apprenticeship and trainee placements.

* Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is launching the Samsung Galaxy S9 on March 16, with preorders to be accepted beginning March 1, London's The Daily Telegraph reports. The smartphone will be available in three colors upon launch in the U.K.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA U.K.

* German software company SAP SE announced plans to avoid compensation-related troubles in the future and will be voting on a new system on May 17. The company further plans to appoint two new members to its supervisory board.

* SAP also wants to increase its operating margin over 30% within two years, Handelsblatt reports. By 2020, the company plans to reach 30.7%, according to CFO Luka Mucic.

* Pay-TV service provider Sky Deutschland GmbH has unveiled further details on the relaunch of its Sky Go app. Accordingly, contents will be accessible across the EU from April. The company has also updated the Sky Kids app.

FRANCE

* Iliad SA's Free has begun to inform its customers of its plans to discontinue the distribution of TF1 Group channels, Telecompaper reports, citing Univers Freebox. The French operator reportedly shows the warning message on the TF1 channels.

* Orange SA has teamed up with IBM Corp. to launch Djingo, a virtual advisor that is part of customer services offered by mobile bank Orange Bank SA. The new service is powered by artificial intelligence platform IBM Watson.

* France Télévisions Publicité SA is positioning itself as a business partner to co-construct new communication devices with advertisers by introducing Smart Break, a new event for advertising market players where experts decipher trends that will generate business. To this end, FranceTV Publicité is launching three new advertising targets adapted to current trends and analyzing brand communication.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Dutch company dataplace BV has acquired Datacenter Brabant, Telecompaper reports. The transaction gives the Eurofiber NV unit access to a fourth data center site and expects to boost its position in the data center market. The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed.

* Avaya Inc.'s Dutch unit has expanded its cloud services partnership with Dia Telecom, to include the offering of the Avaya IPO Contact Center and Avaya Contact Center Select services, Telecompaper reports.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Saudi Telecom Co. teamed up with Ericsson AB on the development of the next-generation 5G technology network in Saudi Arabia. A memorandum of understanding signed by the parties include 5G commercial trials in Saudi Arabia, which will include Radio Access Network, core and transport, as well as various 5G use cases, the company said.

* Spotify AB co-founder Martin Lorentzon is leaving Telia Co. AB's board, Göteborgs Posten reports. Lorentzon will be replaced by Martin Tivéus, COO of the Nordics division at digital payments company Klarna AB.

* Nokia Corp. named Sanjay Goel president of global services, effective April 1. Goel, who will also join the Nokia group's leadership team, was previously head of Nokia's Global Services sales unit.

* Link Mobility Group ASA is launching a new digital-based venture with BankBridge in the 2018-19 period. The partnership will launch what is touted as Europe's first mobile account-to-account service for public and private firms issuing mobile invoices to customers.

* Evry A/S has secured a new five-year digital-focused ICT services deal with Storebrand ASA, worth 400 million Norwegian kroner. Evry agreed to deliver a range of cloud-based services and provide technical support to data centers and IT networks.

* Telenor launched a new identity protection service for its mobile customers in Norway. Called Sikker ID, the service is launched in partnership with HELP and Eyeonid Group AB.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Orange España is adding about 100 movies to its video club under a content deal with 21st Century Fox Inc. unit Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Inc., Telecompaper reports. The movies include recent films, such as "Murder on the Orient Express," "The Greatest Showman" and "Ferdinand," as well as classic franchises from Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

* A spokesperson at Elliott Management Corp. unit Elliott Advisors confirmed that it built a stake in Telecom Italia SpA and is considering to further raise its stake in the operator, Reuters reports. The hedge fund reportedly acquired a 6% holding in the Italian company, as it seeks to challenge the latter's largest shareholder Vivendi SA, according to La Repubblica.

* Iliad will launch in Italy by summer, Reuters reports, citing CEO Xavier Niel's interview with La Repubblica. The French operator now has about 100 employees for the upcoming launch in the country.

* Spanish broadcaster Mediapro has opened the bidding process for broadcasting rights of European soccer for Spanish operators until April 6, Advanced Television reports. The distribution rights for the next three seasons of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League is anticipated to reach about €1.2 billion, equivalent to €400 million a year. Telefónica SA and Vodafone Group Plc unit Vodafone España SAU have earlier expressed that they are disinclined to join the bid unless Mediapro brings down the cost.

* La Liga may consider other strategies, including launching its own streaming service, if operators would decide not to bid for its broadcasting rights, Broadband TV News reports, citing Marca and El Economista's interview with Spanish soccer league President Javier Tebas. The statement was in response to telcos' claims that the cost of soccer TV rights are too expensive.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Polish operator Cyfrowy Polsat SA intends to file an appeal against the Malopolska Customs and Tax Office's decision to impose a tax liability of 24.2 million Polish zlotys against the company, Broadband TV News reports.

* Russian operator Akado Telecom has resumed the broadcast of a number of foreign TV channels, including National Geographic, National Geographic HD, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Wild HD, Fox, Fox Life, Fox Life HD and Baby TV, Telecompaper reports.

FEATURED NEWS

Analysis: Comcast's historical M&A record hints at potential Sky strategy: Although some believe Comcast and 21st Century Fox are on the brink of a bidding war for British pay TV giant Sky, there could still be a chance for the two sides to find a peaceful resolution.

Tech Time: New 5G industry body formed; Telefónica, China Unicom ink IoT deal: Telecom operators, tech firms and other companies have teamed up to create a new industry body for 5G network slicing, while Spain's Telefónica and China Unicom agreed on a global partnership for the internet of things.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Economics of Internet: Millennials and mobile power YouTube gains in 2017: YouTube saw competition in the over-the-top video space intensify in 2017, but the platform is showing few ill-effects, with U.S. viewing rising sharply.

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.