Weekly news round-up: Ericsson offloads tech division & Facebook's privacy push

Ericsson sells majority stake in Media Solutions, keeps Red Bee
Private equity firm One Equity Partners has acquired a majority stake in Ericsson’s Media Solutions division, but the Swedish telecoms giant has maintained ownership of its playout business Red Bee Media, reported Broadcast magazine. Following a strategic review, the Swedish telecoms giant has accepted an undisclosed offer for 51% of Media Solutions, a business with £4bn in assets across industrial, healthcare and technology.

Facebook privacy push ahead of GDPR
In preparation for the new European data protection laws, Facebook announced on Monday it would publish privacy principles and roll out educational videos to help its two billion users worldwide control who has access to their information including Facebook. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on May 25, which marks the biggest overhaul of personal data privacy rules since the birth of the internet, reported Reuters.     

FCC Chair opposes government 5G network
The Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is opposed to the Trump administration’s proposals to create a 5G nationwide network to protect against Chinese leadership. According to The Verge, Pai suggested the government continues to make spectrum available for commercial users like T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T, which all have their own 5G plans in the pipeline. 

Sky to launch all-IP Italian service
Sky announced it will launch an all-IP version of its service to its Italian market in April allowing viewers to access pay TV channels and on-demand content without the need for a satellite dish. Digital TV Europe reported the offering will hit Italy before it is deployed across its key markets as well as highlighting bigger plans to expand into the online streaming market, launching a lower cost Now TV stick.  

Discovery set to capture total Olympic video views
Discovery has revealed three new metrics to capture the total video watched across free-to-air, pay TV, online and social platforms. According to Advanced Television, Eurosport and Discovery will track the delivery of the Olympic Winter Games through measuring audience consumption through a post-Games survey. 

Nokia shares rise ahead of 5G rebound
Nokia shared its quarterly profits with a forecast recovery by 2020. The results should encourage investors otherwise concerned by the weakening equipment market and the challenge of spending high budgets on the new 5G networks. Reuters reported Nokia had stepped up its capital spending which could see it win future 5G upgrade deals.   

UK’s ultrafast broadband promise
The UK’s BT-owned Openreach has plans to accelerate its fibre connections directly to homes and businesses by 2020. The company said it would increase internet speeds from 24 megabits a second under superfast broadband to 100 megabits. Phase one will begin this year targetting eight cities across the UK, reported the BBC.