Europe

Belgium's largest cable operator Telenet announced this week it has entered into a seven-year framework deal with Alcatel-Lucent for the construction, operation and maintenance of its new mobile network, reports Reuters.

Cellular News notes that Tele2 has announced that Dmitry Strashnov has been appointed the new CEO of Tele2 Russia. Dmitry Strashnov succeeds Donna Cordner, who is leaving the company.

Telecom Italia has selected the city of Milan to launch a HSPA+ network capable of theoretical peak download speeds of 28Mb/s, notes Telecompaper. Ericsson is the kit provider.

French media conglomerate Vivendi announced in a short statement this morning that it has called-off talks to acquire a majority stake in Zain's African mobile businesses.

Kuwait-based Zain reported a 4.4 percent rise in net income for the first half of this year, but its results announcement was overshadowed by continued M&A rumours at the firm.

French telecoms regulator Arcep will this week publish details on the allocation of the fourth mobile license in its Official Gazette, Les Echos reports, notes Telegeography.

Light Reading notes that BT is getting out of the consumer voice and broadband business in Ireland and will hand over its customers to Vodafone.