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Iliad launches in Italy; Rocket Internet to invest €2.6B in AI, fintech

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Iliad launches in Italy; Rocket Internet to invest €2.6B in AI, fintech

TOP NEWS

* As expected, Iliad launched its mobile business in Italy under the brand name "Iliad," making it the country's fourth mobile operator. The expansion gives the French telco access to a market worth about €16 billion, according to a statement.

* Rocket Internet SE is looking to invest in fintech and artificial intelligence startups using its gross cash pile of €2.6 billion. Rocket Internet founder and CEO Oliver Samwer said during an earnings call that the company is watching these sectors very closely, as well as marketplaces in a number of verticals and direct-to-consumer brands.

* The Swedish state will become a major media owner in the country if Telia Co. AB acquires Bonnier Broadcasting, Svenska Dagbladet reports. Telia recently confirmed it is interested in acquiring the Bonnier AB unit, which owns TV4, CMore and Finnish channel MTV.

UK AND IRELAND

* Hutchison 3G UK Ltd., or Three, said its current CFO Richard Woodward will become the company's chief commercial officer, taking over duties from Grant Stevenson who is stepping down as commercial chief. Meanwhile, Deputy CFO Darren Purkis will become CFO at the CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. unit, replacing Woodward. The senior management changes will take effect June 1.

* The Sunday Business Post remains up for sale, with the Irish publication's owner Key Capital "in active discussions" with a number of potential bidders, Dublin's The Irish Times reports, citing a spokesperson for the newspaper. Key Capital has put the Post and Cork-based printing business Webprint Concepts Ltd. for sale in September 2017.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* Former Siemens AG unit Gigaset AG will begin producing smartphones again in Germany, Handelsblatt reports. Thanks to the use of robots, production costs in the Bocholt factory will be similar to those accrued in Asia, which produces the phones manually, and with fewer mistakes.

* T-Mobile Austria GmbH said it is extending its Voice over Internet Protocol-based product for business customers, All In Communication, with a fixed internet service. Depending on the number of voice channels used, customers can use the internet at speeds up to 120 Mbps download and up to 20 Mbps upload.

FRANCE

* Iliad won the Football League One Lot 6 broadcasting rights for the 2020/2021 season on its mobile and fixed platforms. The telco confirmed that the rights cost less than €50 million per season. Iliad also claimed it will be the only telecom operator to date to have quasi-direct rights to broadcast almost-live highlights from all League One matches.

* Altice NV has published the convocation, agenda, explanatory notes and accompanying documents for its second extraordinary general meeting on July 10. At the meeting, Altice shareholders will approve the appointment of Alain Weill and Natacha Marty as executive directors, and Thierry Sauvaire as a nonexecutive director, as well as the remuneration of board members.

* Xavier Domino has been appointed secretary general of Radio France, succeeding Maïa Wirgin. Responsible for institutional and international relations, legal affairs, purchasing, internal audit and control, defense, personal data, archives and the Radio France Museum, Domino takes up his duties June 4.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Streaming platform NLZIET has launched its earlier announced app on Apple Inc.'s Apple TV. To access the app, users need to have a NLZIET subscription.

* French broadcaster TV5MONDE has urged customers of Dutch provider KPN NV and its subsidiaries XS4ALL Internet BV and Telfort BV to complain to the operators about the termination of the French channel from their offerings, which will happen July 1, TotaalTV reports. TV5MONDE has said customers should first complain, yet if that does not help, they should consider terminating their subscriptions.

* William Valkenburg has started at his position as channel manager at VPRO, specifically at the public broadcaster's website vpro.nl, Villamedia reports. Valkenburg earlier held positions at RNW Media and NPO.

* The former frequency package of commercial radio station Fresh FM is officially being auctioned by the Radiocommunications Agency Netherlands, MediaMagazine reports. In 2017, the channel had to terminate its broadcasts because its license was not being extended.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Ericsson plans to accelerate its 5G expansion, Dagens Industri reports. Group CEO Börje Ekholm forecasts that Ericsson will already generate commercial revenues from 5G in 2018. Ekholm said Ericsson has no plans to sell its digital services business.

* Modern Times Group AB said it named its chief strategy officer, Gabriel Catrina, as Nordic Entertainment Group's new executive vice president and group CFO. Catrina will also Head NENT's M&A unit. The appointment takes effect July 1.

* Telecom products company Doro AB said it has agreed a new financing structure with SEB Bank. The latter will provide a new bank facility worth 450 million Swedish kronor, which Doro will use to close existing financing agreements and bolster its capacity to roll out new telephony services.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Mediaset SpA unit Mediaset España Comunicación SA, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. International Television Production Spain and Netflix Inc. have collaborated for the production of Spanish drama "Costa del Sol Brigade," TBI Vision reports. Production work will begin June 7 and will be available on Netflix after the series' broadcast on Spanish channel Telecinco.

* Eleven Sports Network Ltd. announced it has clinched a three-year deal to exclusively air live broadcasts of all matches of the UEFA Champions League and LaLiga Santander in Portugal. The agreement will cover seasons from 2018/19 to 2020/21.

* Portugal's competition authority has denied Altice's proposed remedies to acquire Media Capital, Reuters reports. However, while the decision is "not final" and allows Altice to submit other remedies, the Netherlands-based company refused to make new market remedy proposals. Nonetheless, Altice said it will continue to pursue the deal, according to a separate Reuters report.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Yandex NV has introduced Yandex.Station, its smart speaker equipped with the company's Russian-speaking intelligent assistant Alice. Yandex.Station will be available in Russia for 9,990 Russian rubles.

* Ericsson Hungary has opened a new country headquarters in Budapest, which will incorporate advanced research and development and innovation facilities according to a news release. The new headquarters will house about 1,700 personnel, wherein about 1,400 of this workforce will work at R&D tasks.

FEATURED NEWS

The week in OTT: Amazon picks up 'The Expanse'; Verizon nixes OTT service plans: Amazon picked up sci-fi series "The Expanse" for a fourth season after it got canceled by Syfy, while Verizon nixed plans to launch its own over-the-top service.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Global Multichannel: Global markets update — Italy, Jamaica, Iraq, Oman, Qatar: Kagan has published updated Global Multichannel & Broadband analysis for five markets.

Consumer Insights: Survey shows that Europeans love Netflix: Survey results reveal that approximately half of Netflix subscribers in select European countries access the service multiple times each week, and at least two-thirds access the service at least once a week.

Daniela Latini, Amanda Kelly, Charlotte van Hek and Gerard O'Dwyer contributed to this report.

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