* The European Commission has begun investigating Facebook Inc.'s Libra project over "potential anticompetitive behavior," Bloomberg News reports, citing a document. The European Union authority is looking into a possibility that Facebook could use its dominance to drown out its rivals. Swiss regulator the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner is expected to receive details on the cryptocurrency project by August-end, Reuters reports, citing an agency spokeswoman.
* Morten Bentzen is stepping down as CEO of Telia Co. AB. subsidiary Telia Denmark at August-end. Thomas Kjærsgaard, Telia Denmark's enterprise unit head, will take over Bentzen's duties on an interim basis.
* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is planning to open a second office in Moscow, Russia, Telecompaper reports, citing sources mentioned by Kommersant. The plans come at a time the Chinese company is looking to hire about 1,500 employees for its Russian research and development centers.
PAN-EUROPEAN
* Proxy adviser Glass Lewis recommended that Mediaset SpA and Mediaset España Comunicación SA shareholders support a plan to merge the two companies under a Dutch holding company, Reuters reports, citing a document. However, the ISS has recommended to vote against the plan, according to a separate Reuters report, citing another document.
UK AND IRELAND
* Sky Ltd. has introduced Sky Broadband Ultrafast, with average download speeds of 145 Mbps and 285 Mbps, for £39 a month for 18 months. The British operator claims the service is about 12 times faster than its standard broadband.
* A majority of Avanti Communications Group PLC's directors have agreed to cancel the admission of the company's ordinary shares for trading on the London Stock Exchange's AIM. Avanti considers the move to be "in the best interests of the company" and will unanimously recommend shareholders to vote in favor of the resolution.
* SoftBank Group Corp.-backed Japanese company Uhuru Corp. is planning to go public in London in October, Financial Times reports. The company intends to submit its intention to float on AIM in early September, the report said, citing a source.
* Bauer Media's U.K. subsidiary has launched seven new digital channels under its radio brands Kiss, Kerrang Radio and Heat Radio, Werben und Verkaufen reports. Kiss will also be launching a five-part podcast series.
* U.K.-based Gravity Media Group Ltd. agreed to acquire Chief Entertainment Pty. Ltd., an Australia-based provider of live studio and production services, from Telstra Corp. Ltd. The transaction is expected to close by the end of August, subject to certain conditions.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA
* The European Commission approved the release of public funds worth €60 million for the rollout and maintenance of ultrafast broadband infrastructure in Austria's Carinthia region. The project involves the deployment of internet speeds of at least 100 Mbps in Carinthia's remote rural areas.
* Bettina Steinke has been appointed as deputy editor-in-chief of German media group Funke Mediengruppe GmbH & Co. KGaA. Steinke will be overseeing editorial departments of newspapers Der Westen, Thüringen24 and News38.
FRANCE
* Altice France SA's SFR launched the SFR Box 8 for €5 a month. Altice Europe unit's offering is available as an option to all customers without any contract duration commitment.
* Iliad announced that Free's fiber internet service is now available in the public initiative network in the Vaucluse department of southeast France. Over 30,000 connections will be rolled out within the next two months, with about 6,000 additional ones coming online mid-October.
NETHERLANDS,
* Talks between Proximus and the unions about the Belgian provider's planned reorganization, which could lead to laying off of about 1,900 employees, have not resulted in any solution yet, reports De Tijd. Proximus' management wants to finalize plans for reorganization by October, something the unions consider not feasible.
* DPG Media Creative Director Erwin Deckers will be leaving the company by September, reports De Morgen. Deckers, who wants to focus less on management and more on coaching creative talent, will still support a number of creative teams at DPG Media.
* Consumers who have been misled by fake profiles on dating websites will receive financial compensation from the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets and The Right Link, the company behind these websites. The compensation, meant for approximately 37,000 individuals who in total will receive about €9 million, is being paid because users of the website did not know they were chatting with an automatic operator and not a real person.
* British Telecom is considering divesting about £100 million of telecoms infrastructure assets in the Netherlands, Total Telecom reports, citing CEO Philip Jansen's statement to The Times. The telecom operator is eyeing selling its cable and towers infrastructure in the Global Services business of BT's Dutch unit.
NORDIC COUNTRIES
* Swedish game production company Starbreeze AB, which is under reconstruction, reported second-quarter losses before tax of 60.1 million Swedish kronor, down from a pretax profit of 26.2 million kronor year over year. Acting CEO Mikael Nermark said the company is working on securing long-term financing in order to avoid a bankruptcy, and has secured liquidity to take the company to the second quarter of 2020.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
* MásMóvil Ibercom SA agreed to acquire a stake in Portuguese operators Nowo Communications SA and Oni from investment fund KKR & Co. for €15 million, Telecompaper reports, citing sources mentioned by El Economista. The deal reportedly marks MásMóvil's first expansion effort outside its home market of Spain.
* Italian soccer team AC Milan rolled out a new mobile app for iOS that offers live streaming of its matches and exclusive content, Advanced Television reports. An Android version of the app will be release in time for the start of the new Serie A season on Aug. 25.
* Swisscom AG unit Fastweb SpA, Telecom Italia SpA, Vodafone Italia SpA and Wind Tre SpA face new sanctions for not automatically issuing refunds for fixed-line bills on a 28-day period, Telecompaper reports, citing TG1.
EASTERN EUROPE
* Poland-based P4 Sp. zoo, operating under the Play brand, completed the acquisition of fiber-optic network and data center operator 3S for €96 million, Telecompaper reports, citing Telko.in. 3S was previously owned by Polish Enterprise Fund VII-controlled entity Ambrosia CEE and the company's three founders who are also minority shareholders.
* Mail.ru Group Ltd.-controlled social network VKontakte named Sergey Kubasov as its new COO, Telecompaper reports, citing Prime. Kubasov, who was chief technology officer, filled the role formerly held by now company CEO Andrey Rogozov.
* Czech broadcaster Prima expanded the roster of children's content and documentaries available on its hybrid broadcast broadband TV offer, Broadband TV News reports. The HbbTV service also launched a red button feature for program selection.
FEATURED NEWS
5G Focus: US spectrum battle; rollout in Ireland; product plans from China: 5G Focus is a weekly global roundup of notable 5G trials, launches, use cases and major equipment supply contracts. It also features in-depth analysis of strategies, expansion plans, business models and other related initiatives.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Technology: Global consumers continue to snap up smart speakers: Smart speakers, those voice-enabled products from vendors like Amazon.com Inc. and Google LLC, are carving out an increasingly large slice of the smart home device market.
Global Multichannel: Mexico's internet advertising spend projected to match TV's in 2021: Total advertising market spend is projected to reach $6.60 billion by 2021. Internet spend has been the main growth driver over the past 10 years, a trend that is expected to persist.
RECENT EARNINGS
Xiaomi CFO: New brand strategy weighed on Q2 revenue growth: The Chinese smartphone maker reported a 14.8% year-over-year growth in total second quarter revenue, slowed down compared to last quarter's 27.2%, due to brand restructuring and preparation for 5G.
Anne Freier, Sylvia Edwards Davis, Charlotte van Hek and Esben Svendsen contributed to this report.
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