It's been a very tough, competitive year for Europe's three major telecom vendors -- Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC), and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) (representing Nokia Networks ) -- but only one of the trio managed to give its investors a lift during 2010. (See AlcaLu in Recovery Mode, AlcaLu Feels the Squeeze in Q1, Parts Problems Hurt Ericsson's Q2, Carrier Caution Cuffs Ericsson in Q1, Nokia Delays & OS Plays, NSN: Parts-Shortage Problems Easing, Nokia Reports Q3 , and Nokia Feels High-End Heat in Q2 Warning .)

As the table below shows, Ericsson's share price is more than 17 percent higher today than at the start of 2010, while both AlcaLu and Nokia have seen their capital values shrink.

Table 1: How Major European Vendors' Shares Have Fared in 2010

AlcaLu's CEO Ben Verwaayen has been talking about his company returning to some sort of corporate normality in the coming year, and with that he'll be hoping to see a rise in the share price (especially if the company can put together a run of profitable quarters) and an increasing acceptance of the vendor's applications enablement strategy. (See AlcaLu Posts Q3 Profit, KPN Kicks Apps With AlcaLu , AlcaLu Shows Off Its Apps Abs, and AlcaLu OpenPlugs Away at Apps Enablement.)

Nokia, meanwhile, will be hoping its new CEO can work some magic, and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) is gearing up for a year of major milestones as it contemplates the completion of an acquisition and some potential external investment. (See Nokia's 'Unpolished Gems', Nokia Dumps CEO, Hires Elop, Might NSN Choke on Its Moto Morsel?, NSN CEO Talks Up US Push in 2011, and Rumor: NSN Stake Sale Near.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading