2:00 PM -- Bell Labs , the R&D arm of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), and Korean mobile operator SK Telecom (Nasdaq: SKM) are teaming up to develop "post 4G wireless telecommunication technologies and intelligent network technologies."

The new partners are to examine: the architecture of future wireless networks; the technologies that enable "self-optimized" networks, which "manage and configure themselves"; and the potential for cloud-computing services in mobile network environments.

SK Telecom is among the more forward-thinking carriers around, and is already examining the potential for making its recently launched applications store available to users outside Korea. (See SKT's App Store Aims Globally.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading