South Africa’s government has allocated an additional Rand 300 million (about €17.5 million) in its annual budget for regulator ICASA for 2022-2023. The cash means an increase in ICASA’s budget of more than 50 per cent and comes ahead of its March planned spectrum auction. “[The] additional funding of R300-million in 2022/2023 is earmarked for […]

Hungarian IT and ICT company 4iG is to create what it says will be the second largest player in the Hungarian telecoms and media services market with a capital increase of HUF 402 billion (€1.13bn) into Hungarian national transmission company Antenna Hungária. This follows the agreement by Andrea Mager, Minister without Portfolio for National Assets […]

Netflix has signed its first financial agreement with the French movie industry – represented by producers and authors associations Blic, Bloc and Arp – which will see the streaming service contribute at least €30 million annually into French-speaking movies for the next three years. This contribution, which amounts to 4 per cent of the net […]

NENT Group has raised SEK 600 million (€56.4m) by issuing 4-year unsecured bonds to more than 20 Nordic investors. The issue has been made within the framework of NENT Group’s established SEK 4 billion medium term note (MTN) programme, and comprised SEK 600 million of notes with a floating interest rate of STIBOR 3 milion […]

WSC Sports, a global player in AI-driven sports highlights, has closed a $100 million (€87.8m) Series D round, led by ION Crossover Partners (ICP). Existing investors, including Intel Capital, O.G. Tech and Detroit Venture Partners (Dan Gilbert), also participated in the round. The company plans to use the new funding to support its growth plans […]

The Communications and Digital Committee of the House of Lords, the UK’s upper legislative chamber, has launched a new inquiry into the future funding of the BBC. The BBC gets roughly £3.6 billion of its current £5 billion annual income from the television licence fee. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said recently that it was time […]

The UK Government has reaffirmed its intention to ensure that by 2030, the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population. The commitments are contained in a White Paper, Levelling Up the United Kingdom, which sets out the next stages in a programme to level […]

Google says it is to invest up to $1 billion in India’s Bharti Airtel as part of its ‘Google for India’ digitisation fund. The Google/Bharti deal includes investment of $700 million to acquire 1.28 per cent ownership in Airtel and up to $300 million toward potential multi-year commercial agreements. The agreement is a multi-year, long-term […]

Vewd Software, a provider of OTT software solutions, has announced the US Bankruptcy Court’s approval of its Plan of Reorganisation, paving the path for accelerated growth in the next phase of its business plan. Vewd’s financial restructuring efforts will eliminate the vast majority of Vewd’s debt and position Vewd for long-term growth with the backing […]

UK creative industries businesses will benefit from a £50 million (€60.7m) Government boost to help drive economic growth and level up the country. The investment includes £21 million to help build on the international success of the UK film industry through a three-year UK Global Screen Fund. This follows a successful one-year pilot of the […]