Alcatel-Lucent's board is set to meet next week to discuss the implementation of the company's previously announced job cuts, according to a report on Reuters. However, the report suggests that the sale of major assets is not currently being contemplated by AlcaLu's management. (See Euronews: S&P Downgrades AlcaLu, Euronews: Alcatel-Lucent Admits Faults and Alcatel-Lucent to Cut 5,000 Jobs.)

When Ciena met Janet: Ciena has got the nod to supply its 6500 packet-optical platform to the U.K.'s Janet6 research and education network. It is hoped that the 100Gbit/s coherent network will be able to support the exponential growth in bandwidth needed by applications such as large-scale "e-science," distributed computing and storage at the country's various universities and other educational/research institutions. (See Ciena Lands 100G Deal in UK, Euronews: Ciena Lands 100G Deal in UK and Packet-Optical Moves Beyond 100G.)

Nokia Siemens Networks has notched up a business win in Poland, having been chosen by Polkomtel SA and partner operator Aero 2 Sp. z o. o. to modernize and expand their HSPA+ and LTE networks. Part of the deal will see an upgrade and extension of NSN's NetAct network management system, which, says the vendor, helps reduce energy consumption. (See NSN Expands Polkomtel's HSPA+, LTE.)

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) has signed a five-year contract with Norway's UDS to manage HBO Nordic's playout services. HBO Nordic is a joint venture between Time Warner HBO and Persifal International that will bring HBO TV content to Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark.

Nigeria is suffering a spate of attacks on its mobile infrastructure, reports Reuters. In Maiduguri, in the north-east of the country, 10 masts were seen burned to the ground on Wednesday. The Boko Haram Islamist group is thought to be behind the attacks.

Stand by your beds -- it's your new word for the day: "iPadagogy." Yep, that's what's being proposed in U.A.E. colleges, reports Arabian Business, where students are apparently being told that they have to leave their pens and paper behind and do all their work on Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s ubiquitous tablet.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading