Your guide to what’s happened this week in the media, entertainment and technology industry.

Google faces Irish regulation on privacy breach
The Irish data protection commission has opened an investigation into Google over suspected infringements of European Union’s privacy rules, according to the Guardian. The inquiry will consider whether Google’s online Ad Exchange violated general data protection regulations (GDPR). 

EE to launch UK’s first commercial 5G network 
EE customers in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester will be first to get faster services with plans for 10 more cities to be added this year, when its 5G network is turned on next Thursday. The BBC reported that prices for 5G will start at £54 per month for 10 gigabytes of data and will require a new handset. EE announced its range of 5G phones would not include Huawei.  

Netflix succeeds HBO, Hulu and Amazon as favourite 
Netflix has been voted by consumers as having the “best original programming” among premium TV and OTT subscription services, according to new research from Morgan Stanley. Variety reported that 40% of respondents chose Netflix ahead of HBO at 11% followed by Hulu with 6% and Amazon Prime Video with 5% of the vote. 

Game of Thrones backlash in China
China’s Tencent Video delayed the broadcast of the Game of Thrones finale, prompting uproar among fans of the popular TV series in the country. Reuters reported, fans blamed political tensions between the US and China despite Tencent stating it was a media file transfer error. 

Space X launches internet satellites 
Elon Musk’s satellite firm has launched 60 internet satellites to form a mega-constellation of Falcon-9 rockets designed to give users high-speed internet connections on the ground. According to the BBC, the low-Earth orbit satellites are design to be less than 2,000 km above the planet, to minimise the delay and latency for internet connections. UK start-up OneWeb and Amazon are also entering the “ambitious” market.   

Huawei blacklisted and dropped from Android devices 
Huawei has been axed by Google after the US government blacklisted the Chinese tech giant last week. According to CNN, Huawei mobile phones are no longer allowed to integrate official Android updates and will be barred from hosting Google Play mobile apps including YouTube and Gmail. 

Eurosports wins ATP deal for Nordic region
Discovery-owned pan-European sports network Eurosport has landed the exclusive rights to tennis associations ATP and ATP Media tours in the Nordics region for four years starting in 2020. Rapid TV News reported the new deal means tennis fans in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland will have coverage of all four Grand Slams on Eurosport’s platforms year round. 

Disney-backed VR startup raises $7.8M 
Immersive media start-up Tyffon, backed by Disney, has raised a new $7.8 million in Series A round of funding, which was led by Tokyo Broadcasting System and brings the total amount raised to $12 million. According to Variety, the company plans to expand its operations outside of Tokyo to Hollywood by the end of the year. 

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