Telefónica has firmed up the details of its German unit's initial public offering (IPO), setting a listing date of Oct. 30 and a share price of between €5.25 and €6.50 per share. The offer period starts Oct. 17, with 258.8 million shares up for grabs. According to Bloomberg, Telefónica is Europe's most indebted operator, being in the red to the tune of €58 billion (US$75.4 billion), and it is hoped that this IPO will reduce the debt pile by as much as €1.68 billion ($2.2 billion). (See Telefónica Plans Regional IPOs.)

The Broadband World Forum kicked off today in Amsterdam with a call from Ericsson CTO Ulf Ewaldsson for a new, hybrid approach to software-defined networking (SDN) that would meet the needs of network operators. (See Ericsson CTO: Let's Redefine SDN, BBWF 2012: Canny Couple and Why 9.2 Is the Magic Number.)

Jolla Mobile's CEO Jussi Hurmola has stepped down from his position at the Finnish startup and will be replaced by Jolla co-founder and COO Marc Dillon. Both execs previously worked together on the MeeGo OS and devices at Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK). Hurmola will now focus on developing Jolla's MeeGo-based mobile operating system, code-named Sailfish, and fostering an ecosystem around it. (See Startup Jolla Revives MeeGo in China , One Giant Leap for MeeGo and Nokia Refugees Revive MeeGo.)

Zain KSA (Zain Saudi Arabia) , Saudi Arabia's third-largest mobile operator, is blaming a trend away from international calls for the widening of its losses in the third quarter, reports Reuters. The operator made a net loss of 493 million riyals ($131 million), compared with a loss of 484 million riyals ($129 million) in the same period a year earlier.

It has emerged that Vertu, the luxury handset maker that Nokia offloaded to venture capital firm EQT this week, has chosen Nokia veteran Anssi Vanjoki as its non-executive chairman. As Reuters reports, Vanjoki left Nokia in 2010, after 20 years' service, when its board opted for Stephen Elop as the new CEO.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading