Swisscom AG, MegaFon and Naguib Sawiris start the week in today's roundup of EMEA headlines.
Swisscom, which currently boasts 728,000 IPTV customers, is to take the bold step of offering an introductory IPTV service for free to all of its DSL broadband customers as from next month, a move that will significantly boost its TV service customer base as it has 1.7 million fixed broadband users. The free TV Light package offers more than 60 channels, with 22 in HD. Customers paying for their IPTV service get at least 110 channels. Swisscom's move signals its intent to grab a greater share of the Pay TV market from satellite service providers and rival UPC Cablecom, which has about 690,000 digital TV customers. It is surely to be hoped that Swiss Toni will feature on one of Swisscom's free IPTV channels somewhere, sometime... (See Swisscom Provides IPTV for Free.)
Russian mobile operator MegaFon has got an "unofficial green light" from U.K regulators for its plan to float on the London stock market, according to a report on Reuters. It is thought that the IPO could now go ahead in late November or early December. (See Euronews: More 4G for Russia.)
Vodafone Group plc boss Vittorio Colao is looking to strike deals with TV companies and newspaper publishers in Europe to generate new income streams in the face of declining "traditional" revenues, according to a Bloomberg report. (See Vodafone Digs Deeper to Cut Costs.)
The head of Google in the U.K. is up before a Parliament Accounts Committee today to defend the search giant's use of "innovative" taxation arrangements that saw it paying just £6 million (US$9.5 million) tax on U.K. turnover of £395 million ($627 million), reports the BBC. Representatives from Starbucks and Facebook will be squirming alongside the Google guy.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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