TPG and Vodafone Hutchison Australia have announced they are to merge to form a new A$15bn ($11bn) integrated fixed and mobile offering to challenge Telstra and Optus
23 US states file court case to restore net neutrality rules
A group of 23 Attorneys General of the respective US states have filed a case to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, to vacate and reverse the FCC’s “Restoring Internet Freedom” order, which repealed net neutrality regulations in June 2018
Seven participants line up for Italy’s 5G spectrum auction in September
The Italian Ministry for Economic Development (MISE) has published the list of operators admitted to the first stage of the spectrum auction scheduled for September in the 700MHz, 3.6–3.8GHz, and 26.5–27.5GHz bands
Australian regulator starts review of wholesale mobile voice and SMS services
The ACCC has today commenced a public inquiry to decide whether to extend, vary or revoke the declaration of the domestic mobile terminating access service (MTAS) i.e. the wholesale markets for call and SMS termination
Italian regulator AGCOM fines Amazon for not having a licence as postal operator
The Italian regulatory authority AGCOM, which oversees the postal sector as well as communications markets, has ruled a total fine of €300k to companies of the Amazon group
Ofcom releases the Communications Markets Report 2018
UK regulator Ofcom released its annual report on the state of UK communications markets. The report shows an overall decline by 2.1% across communications markets. Telecoms markets’ revenues fell by 1.1% on the previous year
Germany tightens sales tax rules for platforms such as Amazon and eBay
The German government has approved plans to toughen the rules on the amount of tax online retail platforms such as Amazon and eBay are obliged to pay in Germany
