Page 42 - SAMENA Trends - March 2020

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Facebook to Award US$100 Million in Cash

Grants, Ad Credits to Small Businesses

Facebook Inc said that it plans to award $100 million in cash disclose more details soon about how businesses will be able
grants and ad credits for up to 30,000 small businesses in over to apply for assistance. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl
30 countries to address the economic impact of the coronavirus Sandberg said in a post that the economic disruption poses
outbreak. The majority will be in cash grants and Facebook will a severe risk to small businesses. “We’ve listened to small
businesses to understand how we can best help them. We’ve
heard loud and clear that financial support could enable them
to keep the lights on and pay people who can’t come to work,”
Sandberg said, adding that Facebook is also going to make it
easier for small businesses to get training and support from its
teams. Facebook said companies will be able use cash to pay
rent, cover operational costs or run advertising on Facebook.
Many tech firms are taking steps to help small businesses that
are facing a dramatic economic fallout as restaurants are forced
to stop eat-in service and hundreds of millions of people around
the world remain in their homes. Uber Technologies Inc said
Monday it would waive the delivery fee for the more than 100,000
independent restaurants across United States and Canada on
Uber Eats and would launch daily dedicated, targeted marketing
campaigns to promote delivery from local restaurants, especially
those that are new to the app.”

Facebook Mulls Reliance Jio Investment

Social media giant Facebook was tipped to at more than $60 billion. An agreement the company’s WhatsApp platform hit 400
take a significant stake in Indian operator was originally expected to be announced million users in the country. But Facebook
Reliance Jio, as part of a bid to expand its sometime this month, but the global has long struggled with regulatory hurdles
presence in the country, Financial Times outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus) threw in India, most recently battling for approval
(FT) reported. Sources told the newspaper the timing into question, FT reported. The to launch a WhatsApp payments feature
Facebook was nearing a deal to acquire a move comes as Facebook looks to establish there. And in 2016, authorities blocked
10 per cent share of the company as part a more secure foothold in a strategically Facebook’s attempt to offer consumers
of a “multibillion-dollar” transaction. In important market. On earnings calls in the country its Free Basics sponsored
its Q4 2019 earnings report, Reliance Jio throughout 2019, executives pointed to data program, which would have provided
said it had 370 million subscribers as of India as a leading driver of growth in daily access to its platform at zero cost.
31 December 2019. Analysts at financial active users on Facebook’s namesake
company Bernstein pegged its worth app. In July 2019, TechCrunch reported

Huawei, Turkcell Trial 800G WDM Transmission
on Live Network

Turkish mobile and fiber broadband of the live network, which can implement Turkcell says its network traffic has
operator Turkcell has partnered Huawei to 1,040km of un-regenerated transmission increased by 35% year-on-year, and with
test 800Gbps WDM fiber transmission on from Istanbul to Ankara. Huawei’s the emergence of 5G, cloud computing,
a live network between two data centers in technology supports programmable and and Big Data, service traffic will triple in the
Istanbul. The trial also confirmed the 400G flexible adjustment of multiple modulation next five years, making fiber technology
ultra-long-haul transmission capacity formats ranging from 200G to 800G. evolution essential.

42 MARCH 2020