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Huawei/China Mobile bid for Brazil's Oi; WeWork CEO pressure; Hitachi's strategy

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Huawei/China Mobile bid for Brazil's Oi; WeWork CEO pressure; Hitachi's strategy

TOP NEWS

* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. may partner with China Mobile Ltd. to launch a bid to buy struggling Brazilian mobile carrier Oi SA, Bloomberg News reported, citing Brazilian newspaper O Globo. The potential deal is reportedly part of Huawei's attempts to enter the Brazilian market and boost the reach of its 5G technology.

* WeWork Cos. Inc. chief executive Adam Neumann is facing pressure by board members to step down after the technology startup delayed its much-anticipated IPO, according to The Wall Street Journal. The board members, which include officials tied to SoftBank Group Corp. — WeWork's largest investor — want Neumann to step down as CEO of The We Co., WeWork's parent company.

* Hitachi Ltd. is looking to raise about ¥1 trillion, or US$9.26 billion, through bonds and loans by the fiscal year ending March 2022, Nikkei Asian Review reported. The move is part of its efforts to accelerate its growth strategy.

JAPAN

* SoftBank Group Corp. is considering bringing around 40 companies with high growth potential to Brazil and is planning to announce a large investment in the country in the next two weeks, Reuters reported, citing the company's head in Brazil, André Maciel.

* Toshiba Memory Holdings Corp. appointed Lorenzo Flores as vice chairman, effective November 2019. Flores previously served as CFO and executive vice president of U.S. technology chipmaker Xilinx Inc.

SOUTH KOREA

* 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 reported. The new roaming service will be initially available first to users of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s Galaxy S10 5G handsets.

* Kakao Corp.'s music streaming service Melon will operate Samsung Music starting Nov. 20, Digital Times reported. Under the tie-up, Melon will provide Samsung Music with music streaming and download services, with plans to expand services to Samsung's internet of things devices and home appliances in the future.

* 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 reported. The titles include crime drama "L'art du crime," and spy thriller "The Bureau."

GREATER CHINA (MAINLAND CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN MARKETS)

* China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is claiming that 32 apps or websites have collected and used its users' information without approval in the second quarter of 2019, KrASIA reported. Some of the apps accused of misusing user information are Chinese food delivery service Meituan Dianping and live streaming platform operators YY Inc. and DouYu International Holdings Ltd.

* China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television approved another list of new games for publishing. Tencent Holdings Ltd.., NetEase Inc. and Bilibili Inc. all have games approved on the list.

* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is leading a funding round for Perfect Corp., an augmented reality startup based in Taiwan, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News. The news comes shortly after the Taiwanese startup announced a strategic partnership with Alibaba under which Perfect Corp. integrated its YouCam Makeup AR virtual try-on technology into Alibaba-owned online shopping platforms Taobao and Tmall.

* Huawei 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.

* China Telecom Corp. Ltd. reached a strategic 5G partnership with Tencent Video that will leverage the telco's multi-access edge computing platform for better 5G video experience, Securities Times reported. The parties will also set up a joint 5G laboratory to develop apps with lower data usage.

* Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. Ltd. introduced two video ad-creation tools, Juliang Chuangyi and TikTok AdStudio. According to TechNode, Juliang Chuangyi targets the domestic market, while TikTok AdStudio caters to TikTok ads for users outside China.

* Ctrip.com International Ltd. integrated its overseas ride-hailing services into Baidu Inc.'s mapping service, a move that will allow users to hail rides directly using the Baidu Map, KrASIA reported, citing 36Kr.

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

* Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd.'s "Drive" will premiere as an exclusive Netflix Inc. film globally, The Hindustan Times reported. The action-thriller heist film is the streaming giant's first original film with Dharma Productions.

* Star India Pvt. Ltd. appointed Nitin Bawankule as head of ad sales, effective Oct. 1, Television Post reported. In his new role, Nitin will be responsible for leading ad sales across both linear broadcast and over-the-top for Star TV network and Hotstar, respectively. Prior to joining the company, Bawankule served as country director for the Indian operations of Google LLC's Google Cloud.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

* Thailand-based satellite operator Thaicom PCL will work with Russian Satellite Communications Co. to develop maritime satellite broadband connectivity, Krungthep Turakij reported. Meanwhile, Thai and Russian telecom regulators have signed a joint statement on bilateral cooperation, according to a separate Krungthep Turakij report. Both countries have agreed to focus on international mobile roaming, digital broadcasting television and 5G preparation.

* PT Hutchison 3 Indonesia is looking into acquisition and merger schemes with rival telecom operators, Kontan reported. The company said that it has reached out to three local operators to discuss consolidation opportunities.

* Indonesian mobile operator XL Axiata is in discussions with several video-on-demand providers such as Hooq Digital Pte. Ltd. and Vidio.com to add their content in XL's pay-TV platform, Kontan reported.

* Advance.Ai, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence and big data company, secured US$80 million in its series C funding round. According to DealStreetAsia, investors in the round include Temasek Holdings (Pte.) Ltd.-backed Pavilion Capital Pte. Ltd. and Banyan Capital Pte. Ltd.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* Australian publications Bendigo Advertiser and Bendigo Weekly are merging under a deal initiated by Australian Community Media co-owner Antony Catalano. The merger will see a combined Domain real estate guide and a new-look weekend edition of the Advertiser incorporating the Weekly launching in October.

* Saul Shtein, head of sport at Seven West Media Ltd., has left the network. According to Mumbrella, Shtein's departure, who has been with the network for 15 years, is James Warburton's first big move since taking the CEO reins in August.

FEATURED NEWS

Data Dispatch: AT&T's narrow path to potential DIRECTV sale: Under pressure to reevaluate its strategic priorities, AT&T would face several challenges should it attempt to sell its DIRECTV unit, analysts said. A spinoff could be more likely.

Why regulatory concerns could kill potential DIRECTV-DISH deal: The Trump Administration's approach to major mergers remains difficult to predict, telecom attorneys told S&P Global Market Intelligence. AT&T is reportedly considering a sale of DIRECTV, igniting new speculation about a DISH merger.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Economics of TV & Film: Streamer prices skyrocket for off-network content: Big streaming deals recently announced for "Seinfeld" and "The Big Bang Theory" indicate that the online war is far from won.

Nozomi Ibayashi, Myungran Ha, Emily Lai, Kevin Osmond and Wil Hathaway contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.