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Netflix on UK content; Google's European investment; Facebook, Twitter in Spain

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Netflix on UK content; Google's European investment; Facebook, Twitter in Spain

The Daily Dose LIVE returns to the City of London on Tuesday, Oct.1. Join us for a timely panel discussion on the vulnerabilities facing corporate Europe in a period of deep political, policy and economic uncertainty. Register today to secure your place at this popular breakfast event.

TOP NEWS

* Netflix Inc. CEO Reed Hastings said the company will make a "big increase" in its investment in U.K.-made content next year, citing the country's "phenomenal" storytelling capabilities, Reuters reports. Hastings also revealed that Netflix is spending £400 million on U.K. content in 2019, the second-biggest production budget after the U.S., London's The Guardian reports.

* Google LLC plans to invest €3 billion to expand its data centers in Europe over the next two years, CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post. The intended outlay will include a €600 million investment in the expansion of the Alphabet Inc. unit's data center presence in Hamina, Finland.

* Facebook Inc. removed 65 Facebook accounts and 35 Instagram accounts linked to individuals associated with Spain's Partido Popular, which were used primarily for "amplifying others' content." Microblogging platform Twitter Inc. also took down 259 accounts linked to the political party for "falsely boosting public sentiment online in Spain."

PAN-EUROPEAN

* The European Union Court of Justice is expected to make a decision on the legal battle between Google and a French regulator, which ordered removal of links that lead to sites containing information that is either false or could harm a person's reputation, Bloomberg News reports.

* KT Corp. launched 5G roaming services in three European countries by teaming up with telecom operators Telecom Italia SpA-owned brand TIM in Italy, Sunrise Communications Group AG in Switzerland and Elisa Oyj in Finland, ZDNet Korea reports. The new roaming service will be initially available first to users of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s Galaxy S10 5G handsets.

* Vivendi SA is planning to broaden its legal front by filing suits against Mediaset in Spain and the Netherlands too, Reuters reports. The French media company's move indicates it has not liquidated its stake in the Italian broadcaster.

UK AND IRELAND

* Upcoming U.K. streaming platform BritBox will include content from Viacom Inc.-owned Channel 5 (UK) and Comedy Central (UK), ITV PLC announced. Box sets from Channel 5 will appear on BritBox after a 30-day catch-up window on the My5 service.

* The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. green lit Connect Bidco Ltd.'s acquisition of Inmarsat PLC for $3.4 billion, stating that the deal has no unresolved national security issues. In addition, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Defense do not object to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approving the deal.

* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. unveiled its new 5G Birmingham Training Centre, the company's first facility in Birmingham, U.K., designed to enhance collaboration between local businesses and the education community for 5G training. Once fully operational, the facility aims to train more than 1,000 network engineers yearly on the latest 5G technology.

* Aspiegel Ltd., Huawei's Irish subsidiary, recorded revenues of €30.4 million in 2018, but was offset by an increase in the cost of sales, which totaled to about €26.9 million, as well as about €3 million in distribution costs, The Irish Times reports, citing Aspiegel's newly filed accounts. The total revenue comprises about €8 million in sales from Ireland, about €9.3 million from continental Europe and about €13 million from the rest of the world.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

* German film production companies Tele München Fernseh GmbH & Co. KG, Universum Film GmbH, I&U TV and Wiedemann & Berg named their combined media company as Leonine, reports Werben und Verkaufen. The business is bundled into three main areas: Leonine Production, Leonine Distribution and Leonine Licensing.

* Constantin Films appointed David Kehrl as the new head of acquisitions and international co-production. Kehrl will be overseeing the firm's licensing business for the purchase of international movie productions.

* Majority shareholders in Swiss telecoms group Sunrise Communications Group AG were in favor of the acquisition of cable network provider UPC Schweiz. One shareholder told Reuters that the acquisition was not cheap at CHF6.3 billion, but it made strategic sense.

* YouTube is negotiating advertising money with creators as part of the FairTube initiative, writes Spiegel. The move was triggered by YouTuber Jörg Sprave who, despite 2.2 million subscribers, could no longer live off the advertising revenue.

FRANCE

* LG U+ will exclusively release six French drama series on its IPTV service U+tv in partnership with France-based TV network TV5MONDE SA, iNews 24 reports. The titles include crime drama "L'art du crime," and spy thriller "The Bureau."

* Altice France SA announced that SFR now has 8,781 eligible outlets, allowing more than 61% of households in the city of La Garde to connect to the fiber. The entire city is expected to have access to fiber by the end of 2020 and accommodate all operators. Altice Europe owns Altice France.

* Canal+ subscribers will have access to an Ultra HD second Premier League game broadcast each week on Canal+ Sport, Canal+ Sport UHD and Canal 4K Evènement, effective Sept. 30, according to a news release. Also, until Nov. 2, Canal 4K Evènement will broadcast the entire Rugby World Cup in Ultra HD.

* Iliad's Free is offering an unlimited video-on-demand service, called Frissons Extrêmes, with adult content, including extreme sports events, on the Freebox for €9.99 per month, according to Univers Freebox.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Eleven Sports Network Ltd. is teaming up with soccer media platform Onefootball to livestream up to 20 La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga games to users in Belgium and Luxembourg, Advanced Television reports. Subscribers will be able to watch a game via the Onefootball app in Dutch and French for €4.99 per game.

* Dutch investor association VEB wants KPN NV to postpone the shareholders meeting on the appointment of Dominique Leroy as CEO, Emerce reports. The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority and the Public Prosecution Service reportedly have been investigating a stock transaction with inside information for a few days now.

* A majority on the board of the Liège intercommunal company Enodia do not intend to agree to the sale of telecom operator VOO to American investor Providence Equity Partners Inc., Datanews reports. The Liège PS Federation reportedly called for the postponement of the agreement to the sale, which was decided at the end of May.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* InCoax Networks AB will upgrade broadband speeds for a Stockholm-based condominium association. The upgrade, using InCoax's new in:xtnd solution, will be conducted in cooperation with A3 Ab, the broadband service supplier to the association.

* The Altor Fund II sold its ownership in N Holding Ab to EnerSys. The deal includes N Holding's subsidiary NorthStar Inc. located in Missouri.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Telefónica SA and Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación SA are teaming up to form a new company that will create fiction content in Spanish. Each of the Spanish media companies will own 50% of the planned entity, which will provide content for Telefónica's Movistar+ and Atresmedia, as well as for third-party operators.

* Portuguese media group Cofina Media SGPS SA acquired a 94.69% stake in Media Capital from its parent entity Promotora de Informaciones SA, in a deal that values the whole of Media Capital at €255 million. The transaction is subject to antitrust and regulatory approvals in Portugal, among others.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Orange SA and Digi Communications NV are interested in acquiring several of Telekom Romania Mobile Communications SA's assets, Broadband TV News reports, citing Ziarul Financiar. Digi, for its part, is reportedly only interested in acquiring the Romanian operator's mobile network and radio licenses.

* Digital TV network operator Antenna Hungaria extended a deal with Hungarian telecom watchdog National Media and Infocommunications Authority to operate a national digital terrestrial TV network for another 12 years, Broadband TV News reports.

* Sports streaming service DAZN struck a deal with sports pay TV network Arena Sport for rights to cover the European Handball Federation in the Balkan countries, Rapid TV News reports. Telekom Srbija ad owns Arena Sport.

* Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska SA named Radoslaw Slawinski to the newly created role of director of thematic channels, Broadband TV News reports, citing Wirtualne Media.

FEATURED NEWS

Data Dispatch: Action hero, British gentry battle evil clown at box office: It will be an eclectic race to the top of the domestic box office for the weekend of Sept. 20.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Consumer Insights: Turns out we do watch mobile video at home: A decade ago pundits expected mobile video's sweet spot to center on being away from home, looking for "snackable" short videos. But consumers did not fall in line.

Anne Freier, Amanda Kelly, Marieke Pijnappels and Gerard O'Dwyer contributed to this report.

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