TOP NEWS

* SoftBank Group Corp. is part of a global investor consortium that is offering at least US$25 billion to create global tournaments for world soccer's governing body FIFA, London's Financial Times reported, citing sources. The group reportedly includes anonymous investors from China, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates. U.K.-based Centricus Asset Management Ltd., a company whose founders helped SoftBank raise funds for its $100 billion Vision Fund, is said to be assembling the consortium. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the investor group is proposing a 12-year joint venture with FIFA to expand its annual Club World Cup from the current seven teams to 24, with the event to be held every four years starting in 2021.

* India's HCL Technologies Ltd. and private equity firm Sumeru Equity Partners have inked an agreement to acquire Actian Corp., a U.S.-based hybrid data management, analytics and integration company. Under the $330 million all-cash deal, HCL will own 80% of Actian while Sumeru will own the remaining 20%. Actian will continue to operate as a separate entity within the HCL Technologies ecosystem, led by current CEO and President, Rohit De Souza.

PAN-ASIAN NEWS

* Etisalat UAE, Singtel, SoftBank Group and Telefónica SA have teamed up to form an association that will provide a portfolio of cybersecurity services. The organization, called Global Telco Security Alliance, will leverage the group's combined global reach, assets and cybersecurity capabilities, and plans to tap more than 1.2 billion customers in over 60 countries. The agreement includes sharing network intelligence on cyber threats and supporting the needs of each other's customers.

JAPAN

* Rakuten Inc. plans to use Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc.'s transmission towers and other infrastructure in and around the Kyushu region to establish a network of base stations for its new mobile network operator business commencing in October 2019.

* Jonathan Kriegel, president and CEO of DoCoMo Pacific Inc., will transition to another senior position within the NTT DOCOMO Group in July. Roderick Boss has been named as the next president and CEO of Docomo Pacific. Boss previously worked for AirTouch, AT&T, Japan Telecom America and Pacific Crossing Ltd.

SOUTH KOREA

* The Supreme Court of South Korea ordered local mobile operators to be more transparent with their costs and billing systems to provide the public with a clearer understanding of how their telecommunications fees are being charged, The Korea Times reports.

* Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. was sued by U.S.-based data security research company PACid Technologies for allegedly infringing its patents related to biometric solutions, The Investor reports.

CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN

* China Unicom is shutting down its 2G network by undergoing frequency reduction and closing of base stations, Tencent News reports. Current 2G users would be given new SIM cards and free data trial packages to aid the migration to 3G or 4G services.

* Baidu Inc. has introduced Totem, a new stock photo service which uses blockchain technology to store details of original pictures, including time of submission and real-name identity of the photographer and distribution data, 36kr reports. The data will be used to compare with images on the internet to identify intellectual property infringements.

* Baidu also relaunched its smartphone mini-apps after five years, Beijing Business Today reports.

* Tencent Holdings Ltd. is launching a blockchain-based game, "Z," on April 23, DoNews reports.

INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

* Dish TV India Ltd. said World Crest Advisors LLP, Veena Investments Pvt. Ltd. and Direct Media Distribution Venture Pvt. Ltd. are offering to buy an additional 26% equity stake in the company for 37.01 billion rupees.

* Nokia Corp. CEO Rajeev Suri told The Economic Times that the company is close to resolving its long-standing 210-billion-rupee tax dispute with India.

* Sudhin Mathur, managing director of Motorola Mobility India and country head of Lenovo Mobile Business Group India, has resigned. Lenovo-Motorola group Asia-Pacific head Shashank Sharma will take on Mathur's responsibilities in the interim, according to The Economic Times.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

* StarHub Ltd., a Singapore-based telecom operator, partnered with marina business developer and operator SUTL Enterprise Ltd. to create a digital marketplace platform for yacht chartering.

* Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd. will pay US$22.5 million in cash to satellite communication services company MEASAT Global Network Systems Sdn. Bhd. to use its transponder capacity on the Measat-3b satellite, The Star reports.

* Vilasinee Puddhikarant, former chief customer officer of Thai telco Advanced Info Service Public Co. Ltd., has been hired as a consultant by Siam Commercial Bank Public Co. Ltd., Prachachat reports. Puddhikarant will help Thailand's oldest private bank with matters regarding customer experience.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

* FOXTEL is cutting its digital marketing budget with Facebook Inc. in the wake of the Cambridge Analytical scandal, The Australian reports.

* SKY Network Television Ltd. is partnering with Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network Inc. to support the launch of Nick Play and Cartoon Network Watch and Play Apps in New Zealand. SKY domestic customers will have access to hundreds of hours of catch-up TV on the NICK Play App and access to full episodes of catch-up TV, along with the ability to stream Cartoon Network channel live, on the Cartoon Network Watch and Play App.

FEATURED NEWS

Conference Chatter: SportsPro Live: From esports to live VR, sports tech is next big opportunity: As more sports fans and leagues adopt wearable technology, data analytics and virtual reality, the sports tech sector is brimming with opportunities.

Intel betting on virtual reality as catalyst for growth: Virtual reality's shortage of profitable stand-alone businesses, underperforming headset sales and lack of content mean it is still years from mass-market adoption. Intel, however, is making huge bets on it.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Multichannel Trends: Mapping the top US broadband provider footprints as of Q4'17: The latest footprint analysis from Kagan for the top 10 wireline broadband providers again underscores the stark contrast between the coasts and the heartland.

Economics of Advertising: Global agency groups see media buying stability but M&A harms creative divisions: Organic growth rates were lower across the board in 2017 compared to previous years.

Nozomi Ibayashi, Nicole Shiwon Kim, Emily Lai, Ed Eduard and Wil Hathaway contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription.

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