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Disney+ in Netherlands; Telenor/DNA deal update; tech giants on French tax

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Disney+ in Netherlands; Telenor/DNA deal update; tech giants on French tax

TOP NEWS

* The Walt Disney Co. will launch its direct-to-consumer service Disney+ in the Netherlands on Nov. 12, the same day it debuts in the U.S. and Canada. The service will cost €6.99 per month or €69.99 per year.

* The Finnish government, through the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, has approved Telenor ASA's DNA Oyj acquisition, according to a news release. Telenor expects to complete the transaction this month.

* Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google LLC testified against French digital services tax. The tech giants said the country's policy to tax revenue on certain services for French users unfairly targets large U.S. tech companies and undermines plans by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to develop a common approach to the tax challenges of digitalization. The tax on tech companies is part of the G7's agenda in an upcoming meeting in Biarritz, France from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26, Le Monde reports.

UK AND IRELAND

* British Telecom-owned EE Ltd. have filed a complaint against CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.'s Hutchison 3G UK Ltd., or Three U.K., over an advertisement that allegedly implies that its rivals' 5G services are "not real," London's The Guardian reports. The Advertising Standards Authority will launch a probe following the complaint.

* Accenture PLC acquired London-based advisory firm Parker Fitzgerald in a bid to boost its finance and risk operations. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

* Virgin Media has completed the rollout of its ultrafast broadband network in Sion Mills, County Tyrone, as part of its Project Lightning program to bring 516Mbps full fiber to the premises connectivity, according to a news release.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* ESports company StarLadder signed a licensing agreement with ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE-owned 7Sports. The licensing agreement encompasses the streaming of the final matches of the Global Offensive in Berlin.

* Gruner + Jahr AG & Co. KG has pulled the plug on View, its online photography community, due to competition from U.S. tech platforms Instagram and Pinterest Inc., reports Meedia.

* German special interest media group Motor Presse Stuttgart GmbH & Co. KG continued its digital expansion with the launch of a digital payment model, called ams+. Around 15% of online articles will be part of a freemium model, indicating that most content on Auto motor und sport, will continue to be accessible for free.

* Beijing ByteDance Telecommunications Co. Ltd.s video app TikTok has announced a collaboration with Berlin-based influencer marketing agency WeQ Influencers, reports Horizont. The partnership will allow advertisers to launch native influencer marketing campaigns on the video platform.

* Viacom International Media Networks Inc. hired mobile software provider Access to launch its TV brands across vehicle passengers in Germany via the Twine4Car service, reports Rapid TV News. As part of the deal, Access has acquired the feeds for MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

FRANCE

* Amazon will raise seller fees by 3% for small and medium-sized businesses in France, following the imposed 3% tax on digital services in July, CNBC reports, citing a merchant on the company's website.

* The legal representative for Altran's minority shareholders sent a letter to market regulator Autorité des marchés financiers objecting to "anomalies" in the procedure of Capgemini SEs takeover bid, Les Échos reports. The main concern is about the offer containing conditions "without any precise indication of their nature and the corresponding projects."

* Medidata shareholders voted in favor of the Dassault Systèmes SAS' acquisition, Boursier.com reports. The price of $92.25 per share reflects a company valuation of approximately $5.8 billion. The deal is expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2019.

* In the wake of the European Union regulation on the "free flow of non-personal data," the French government is preparing to lift the obligation on public administration entities to store all their documents and data on national territory, NextInpact reports.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Operator E-Fiber announced that it will start a request for interest in the municipality of Zeist as it wants to provide the entire municipality with a fiber optic network, including the suburban areas and the business parks, reports Telecompaper. At least 30% of all addresses have to be registered for E-Fiber to proceed with the rollout of a network.

* KPN NV is testing a new TV receiver for its 4K television service, a device which would not run Android TV but Linux, reports TotaalTV. The new receiver would be a black cabinet from U.S.-based producer Arris International Ltd.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Norwegian commercial public broadcaster TV 2 said it will broadcast four matches from every round in Spanish football league La Liga and Italian league Serie A, after entering a partnership with Strive Sport. The matches will be broadcast on TV 2's linear channels as well as on its streaming service TV 2 Sumo.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Mediaset España Comunicación SA's newly launched soccer streaming platform Mitele Plus drew flak after many subscribers experienced transmission cuts and lags, Advanced Television reports. Mitele Plus was also reportedly not accessible on LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.-made smart TVs, despite earlier announcements. Mediaset SpA owns Mediaset España.

* Rai lost a second appeal against a court decision allowing Sky Ltd. to drop its premium soccer rights deal with the Italian public broadcaster in favor of Mediaset, Digital TV Europe reports. The new ruling means Mediaset can continue airing the soccer matches.

* Vodafone Portugal teamed up with Portuguese public broadcaster TVI to transmit a holographic broadcast of the program "Jornal das 8" over the Vodafone Group PLC unit's 5G network, Digital TV Europe reports.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Swedish operator Telia Co. AB expressed concern about the consequences of a new Russian security law on customers' privacy. The law, which was adopted in May, requires all operators in Russia, including Telia Carrier, to have "security threats prevention equipment" from the Russian government installed on their networks by Nov. 1.

* Russian tech company Yandex NV is planning to expand its fleet of self-driving cars to as many as 1,000 over the next two years, as its speeds up tests of its autonomous driving software, Reuters reports.

* Slovak Telekom has made Apple Inc.'s mobile payment service Apple Pay available on the iOS version of its service management app, Telecompaper reports. Deutsche Telekom AG owns Slovak Telekom.

* Orange SA unit Orange Polska SA is offering new 4K-compatible set-top boxes to subscribers of its Orange Love package, Telecompaper reports. The new devices provide access to catchup TV and archive functions, among others.

FEATURED NEWS

M&A Replay: Freenet threatens to hamper Sunrise/UPC deal; BC Partners buying Presidio: Freenet said it will vote against Sunrise's planned capital increase to fund its acquisition of UPC Schweiz, while BC Partners-backed funds agreed to buy North American IT solutions company Presidio.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Global Multichannel: Global markets update — Portugal: Kagan has recently updated Global Multichannel and Broadband analyses for Western Europe country Portugal, as well as analyses for related operators MEO, NOS, Vodafone Portugal and Nowo Communications.

Anne Freier, Sylvia Edwards Davis, Charlotte van Hek and Esben Svendsen contributed to this report.

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