The European Commission (EC) has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions specialist Broadcom of enterprise software provider VMWare. The EC is particularly concerned that the transaction would allow Broadcom to restrict competition in the market for certain hardware components which interoperate […]
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the proposed acquisition may reduce competition in the markets for the distribution of console and PC video games and for PC operating systems. The deal is already […]
Over 100 organisations from the world of media, sports, music and culture are urging the European Commission to take decisive legislative action to tackle piracy of live content. As the Commission finalises its work programme for 2023, 108 organisations and companies representing media, sports and culture in Europe stress that piracy remains a major issue […]
The CEOs of 16 European telcos have issued statement calling for the largest traffic generators to make a fair contribution to the “sizeable” costs they currently impose on European networks. Noting the role of connectivity in addressing current EU challenges, they say they are writing with a sense of urgency, as the European Commission looks […]
The European Commission has adopted a European Media Freedom Act, describing it as a novel set of rules to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU. The proposed Regulation includes, among others, safeguards against political interference in editorial decisions and against surveillance. It puts a focus on the independence and stable funding of public […]
A paper circulated among its member states suggests that in the wake of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, the bloc is preparing to act against the “disproportionate” amount of British television and film content shown in Europe. The UK’s dominance of international broadcast sales has been described as a threat to Europe’s “cultural […]
The European Commission has concluded that the aid received by terrestrial operators for the digitisation and extension of the terrestrial television network in remote areas of Spain was against EU State aid rules. Following the annulment of a 2013 Commission decision, the additional investigation has confirmed that, between 2005 and 2008, the operators of terrestrial […]
The European Commission has opened a public consultation, as part of the review of the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive, to collect views, until March 2nd 2021, on incentivising the rollout of fast broadband networks, including fibre and 5G. The Directive, introduced in 2014, aims to enable fast electronic communications networks for people across the EU […]
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has made a request to the European Commission to refer the proposed merger of Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile with O2 to the CMA for investigation. Liberty Global plc (Liberty) owns Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile in the UK, and Telefónica S.A. (Telefónica) owns O2. Liberty and Telefónica […]