Tech Business & Policy

Thai Telecom Regulator Neutral in US-China Tech Trade War (4,11 Jun)

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has established a neutral policy on the country’s 5G development plans, in the hopes of attracting both China’s Huawei and U.S.-based vendors to develop the infrastructure required for 5G. While the NBTC invited major global vendors to collaborate on its 5G test framework, only Huawei committed to a partnership with NBTC and Chulalongkorn University to work on a test site. Huawei is also collaborating with Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Ministry to roll out 5G in the Eastern Economic Corridor, having invested US$5 million in Sri Racha’s 5G testbed.

Sources: Bangkok Post, Nation

U.S. Moving Toward Major Antitrust Probe of Tech Giants (4, 12 Jun)

The U.S. government is gearing up to investigate whether Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google misuse their massive market power, setting up what could be an unprecedented, wide-ranging probe of some of the world’s largest companies. Technology companies face a backlash in the U.S. and across the world, fuelled by concerns among competitors, lawmakers and consumer groups that the firms have too much power and are harming users and business rivals. Makan Delrahim, antitrust chief of the U.S. Department of Justice, suggested that studying the 1982 enforcement actions against Standard Oil and AT&T could lay the groundwork for examining the anti-competitive behaviour of tech giants today.

Sources: Reuters, CNA

China Issues 5G Licenses Amid Fallout from U.S. Blacklisting of Huawei (6, 9 Jun)

China granted 5G licenses to the country’s three major telecom operators and China Broadcasting Network Corp. This will trigger investment in the telecommunications sector, benefitting top vendors such as Huawei Technologies, just as the Chinese network equipment provider struggles to overcome a U.S. blacklisting that has hurt its global business. Meanwhile, tech firms such as Intel and Qualcomm have restricted employees from informal conversations with Huawei, slowing down the international development of 5G standards. While the U.S. Department of Commerce has not banned contact between companies and Huawei, international tech companies issued such restrictions in order to avoid any potential issues with the U.S. government.

Sources: Reuters, CNBC

G20 Agrees to Push Ahead with Digital Tax (8,9 Jun)

In a communiqué issued after their meeting in Fukuoka, Japan, G20 finance ministers agreed to compile common rules to close loopholes used by global tech giants to reduce their corporate taxes. Tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon, and Google face criticism for cutting their tax bills by booking profits in low-tax countries regardless of the location of the end customer. While Britain and France have supported minimum corporate tax and proposals to prevent tech giants from shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions, the US has expressed concern that American tech companies are being unfairly targeted in moves to update the global corporate tax code.

Sources: Reuters, Financial Times

Vietnam ramps up pressure on Google’s YouTube advertisers (12 Jun)

Vietnam has asked companies not to advertise on videos hosted by Google’s YouTube that contain “anti-state propaganda,” as reported by state media. Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication listed several foreign companies, including Samsung, Huawei, Yamaha and Grab, as having advertised on YouTube videos containing “illegal and malicious content”. Vietnam’s controversial Cybersecurity Law, which requires tech companies to set up offices in Vietnam and store data there, took effect in January, and has been criticised by businesses and rights groups for allowing authorities to easily seize customer data and expose Vietnamese employees to arrest.

Source: Reuters

Grab Eyes Singapore Banking License as MAS Studies Virtual Banks (12 Jun)

Grab, South-east Asia’s most valuable startup, is gearing up to apply for a digital-only bank license in Singapore, and is hiring a consultancy to advise on its banking potential. The MAS will reportedly make a decision in the coming months on whether to admit digital-only banks with non-bank parentage, as well as the eligibility of the applicants. It is likely to issue only two to three licenses in the first phase, whereas Hong Kong, Singapore’s financial centre rival, has already begun issuing licenses earlier this year. Grab’s foray into banking underscores how Asia’s non-banking firms are keen to challenge traditional banks by leveraging their technology and their user databases to offer banking services to retail customers and small businesses.

Source: Business Times

Alibaba files for HK listing that may raise $20 billion as soon as third quarter (13 Jun)

China’s biggest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has filed confidentially for a Hong Kong listing that could raise up to $20 billion as early as the third quarter of this year. A deal of that size would be the biggest follow-on share sale globally in seven years and give Alibaba funds for technology investment – a priority for China as economic growth slows and a trade spat with the United States intensifies. A listing by Alibaba in Hong Kong will be seen as a victory for the city by its stock-focused market professionals, who mourned the lost trading revenue when the e-commerce group chose to float in New York.

Source: Reuters