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Mixed messages for SES

SES held its annual ‘investors day’ in London, June 28th, although some investors seemingly took a less than optimistic view of the satellite operator’s prospects. Some negative comments prompted a fall in SES’ share price of some 3 per cent, down from €21.88 to €21.50 on the day. But it might be that the market […]

June 29, 2017

MUSO raises £2.5m Series A funding

Content protection and data-analytics solutions specialist MUSO has raised £2.5 million (€2.8m) in Series A funding from Harwell Capital. The investment will be used to expand the company’s current capabilities around sales and marketing, as well as bolster its technology and operations infrastructure and support. While most anti-piracy technology providers focus on content protection and […]

June 28, 2017By Colin Mann

Ericsson turns back to telecoms

Ericsson will no longer search for business beyond the telecoms sector and will refocus on selling networks to mobile phone companies in a move to cut costs and halt a dramatic fall in its share price. Its shares have fallen 30 per cent in two years. In 2014 Ericsson announced it would diversify so that […]

June 27, 2017

India hits Fastway with €94m fine

India MSO Fastway Transmissions has been fined some 6.8 billion Rupees (€94.14m) by Punjab state for allegedly deliberately evading tax and non-reporting of subscriber numbers. The list of alleged transgressions includes not paying India’s entertainment tax, sales taxes and even failure to pay for using electricity poles to carry its cables. Fastway is a dominant […]

June 27, 2017

DSA supports EECC code

The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) welcomes the European Commission’s proposed European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) and has suggested recommendations to ensure the Code’s spectrum provisions extend connectivity for Europe’s citizens now and in the future. The EECC is part of the European Commission’s plans for improved connectivity in Europe through Wi-Fi, 5G, and high-speed Gigabit […]

June 27, 2017

Altice confirms Media Capital discussions

In response to a request by the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários) multinational cable, fibre, telecommunications, content and media company Altice has confirmed that it has entered into exploratory discussions with Promotora de Informaciones (Prisa) regarding a potential acquisition of Prisa’s stake in Portuguese media group Media Capital, which has […]

June 26, 2017By Colin Mann

Fox Sky bid decision this week

UK Culture Secretary Karen Bradley will on Thursday tell parliament her view on the plan by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox $14.8 billion bid to acquire Britain’s Sky pay-TV business and its European subsidiaries. Bradley received regulator Ofcom’s views on the deal last week and will report to parliament on June 29. She will say […]

June 26, 2017

NZ: SKY, Vodafone end merger agreement

New Zealand pay-TV operator Sky Network Television and telco Vodafone Europe B.V.1, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc, have now decided to terminate the sale and purchase agreement in relation to the proposed merger of SKY and Vodafone New Zealand. The parties have also decided to withdraw the appeal of the Commerce Commission […]

June 26, 2017By Colin Mann

Sky takes V-Nova stake

Pan-European broadcaster Sky is taking a minority equity stake in video compression solutions provider V-Nova. The value of the investment is £4.5 million (€5.2m). In a stock market announcement on June 23rd, Sky said: “In accordance with Listing Rule 10.4.1, the Company advises that in 2015, Sky’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Sky Italia S.r.l, provided £4.5m of […]

June 26, 2017

Giglio Group acquires stake in Class Horse TV

Italian thematic channel producer Giglio Group has acquired a 3 per cent stake in Pegaso TV, a company that owns Italian equestrian channel Class Horse TV. The deal is part of a partnership signed by the two companies that will see the gradual introduction of broadcasts in English and the channel’s global distribution on platforms […]

June 26, 2017From Branislav Pekic in Rome