France Telecom's chief executive has been reassuring investors that the operator will be playing it safe when it comes to future foreign acquisitions, reports Reuters. Speaking at a conference in Barcelona organized by Morgan Stanley, Stephane Richard said, "We will have a very rigorous M&A strategy with a focus on emerging markets."

Speaking at the same conference, News Corp. (NYSE: NWS)'s James Murdoch indicated that he might consider taking his business out of the UK if the British government blocks News Corp.'s proposed bid for the 61 percent of BSkyB it does not already own, reports The Daily Telegraph. (See Euronews: Nov. 4.)

Deutsche Telekom has threatened to take legal action over the windfall tax levied on Hungary's telecom sector, a sector that includes DT subsidiary Magyar Telekom plc , reports Hungarian business Website Real Deal, citing news agency MTI. The tax, said DT director Guido Kerkhoff, has been "a cold shower for us." (See Euronews: Oct. 20.)

Svyazinvest , Russia's state-owned telecom holdings company, remains confident that its grand restructuring plan is on schedule, despite media reports to the contrary, writes Ria Novosti. The restructuring will see long-distance carrier Rostelecom merge with regional operators.

Nokia boffins in world domination bid alert! The Moscow Times reports that the Finnish handset giant plans to open a research facility at the Skolkovo innovation center being set up on the outskirts of Russia's capital city. Russia will become the eighth country where Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) has a hi-tech hothouse of this sort.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading