The European Commission has pressed pause on its probe into the planned €18.6 billion merger of Orange España and rival MásMovíl to get more information from the parties involved. The EC ‘stopped the clock’ on its investigation in a procedure triggered when the parties fail to provide important information that has been requested. The clock […]
The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) has slammed the European Commission’s recently published recommendation on combating online piracy of sports and other live events as inadequate. The EC’s recommendation, published yesterday, encouraged hosting services to act promptly on notices related to live events, called for the use of blocking injunctions tailored to live events and, in […]
The European Commission has drawn a storm of criticism over its launch of a consultation on potentially making content companies and big tech players contribute to the upgrade of the continent’s telecom networks. Telecom companies have long lobbied for big tech companies such as Facebook and Netflix to pay a ‘fair share’ of upgrade costs […]
The EU has approved the use of 5G on planes, potentially opening up a lucrative new market opportunity for innovative new data and wide inflight services. Currently there are around 30,000 flights a day in Europe (around 80% of which are intra-Europe). Unveiling its decision, the EU’s European Commission said: “Airlines will be able to […]
The agreement between Liberty Global-backed Belgian service provider Telenet and fibre network outfit Fluvius to collaborate to build out a fibre network in Flanders and parts of Brussels is to be notified to the EU competition watchdog. The JV is to be referred to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition under the EU merger control […]
The European Parliament and the European Council, the body that represents member states, have agreed new rules to govern the behaviour of online platforms that includes opening up access to platforms’ algorithms, requirements to remove illegal products and services, and restrictions on recommendation and targeting. Under the new Digital Services Act, the European Commission and […]
US telco AT&T has secured a favourable ruling from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for its plan for a tax-free merger of its WarnerMedia unit with Discovery. The pair had previously announced that the merger would take advantage of a merger provision in US law that would ensure its tax-free status. AT&T will achieve […]
The European Commission has expressed reservations about France’s plans to implement in national law new European rules that place obligations on international video-on-demand platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. According to information seen by consultancy group NPA Conseil and financial daily Les Echos, the EC has taken issue with key elements of France’s […]
Italian authorities have accused Vivendi bosses Vincent Bolloré and Arnaud de Puyfontaine of market manipulation – allegations hotly denied by Vivendi – while the EU has cast doubt on the validity of an Italian media law that allowed its regulator to probe Vivendi’s assets in the country. The Milan public prosecutor’s office last week published […]
The European Commission has acceded to a request by the UK competition regulator, the CMA, to review the planned merger between Liberty Global-owned Virgin Media and Telefónica’s O2. The CMA lodged its request soon after the EU started its investigation into the merger in October. The decision means that the CMA will now begin a […]
