Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Vodafone have failed to convince German regulators that the forthcoming 5G spectrum -- due to start next week -- should be delayed. As the Financial Times reports (subscription required), the operators believe that the conditions attached to the auction -- the provision of 100Mbit/s mobile Internet to 98% of German households and along all of the country's motorways by 2022 -- are too onerous.

Everynet has entered into an agreement to set up a LoRaWAN network in Spain, which the wholesaler claims will help accelerate the rollout of the country's national IoT network. According to Everynet, its neutral-host infrastructure provides a "fast track" for any network operator looking to provide a low-power, wide-area network service, whether it's campus-wide or on a national scale.

Irish broadcaster RTL Group has declined an invitation from ProSiebenSat.1's to participate in a joint German streaming venture with Discovery, Broadband TV News reports.

Spotify's legal challenge to Apple over what the former sees as the latter's abuse of its dominant position in app distribution is causing ripples. According to Reuters, Apple retorted that the Swedish music streaming company "wants all the benefits of a free app without being free." EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, meanwhile, is considering an investigation into the way Apple treats its rivals on its App Store, drawing potential parallels with Google, which was fined $2.7 billion in 2017 by the EU for what was seen as unfair treatment of its rivals on its platform. (See Eurobites: EU Fines Google $2.7B Over Shopping Shenanigans.)

Sweden's Telia has officially notified the European Commission that it has acquired Bonnier Broadcasting. The 9.2 billion Swedish kronor deal, which brought Bonnier brands TV$, C More and Finnish MTV into the Telia fold, was announced last year. Telia expects to complete the acquisition in the second half of 2019.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading