The UK's Ministry of Defence is to release a chunk of spectrum to telecom regulator Ofcom , which will auction it off to mobile operators in 2015/2016, reports Reuters. Around 200MHz of airwaves in the sub-15GHz category are being released.

Dutch tax authorities have agreed to let KPN Telecom NV (NYSE: KPN) record a balance-sheet loss of €3.7 billion on its planned sale of its E-Plus Service GmbH & Co. KG mobile subsidiary to Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF), reports Bloomberg. KPN will, of course, be able to offset this "loss" against its taxable income over the next few years, which will be music to the ears of of Carlos Slim, whose América Móvil S.A. de C.V. is attempting a takeover of the Dutch incumbent. (See Euronews: KPN to Sell E-Plus for €8.1B and Euronews: Slim Says KPN Cash Is in Place.)

Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) CEO Vittorio Colao has been reassuring Greece that it is committed to speeding up the rollout of 4G there, using part of the windfall from its planned sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless to do so, reports Reuters.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) has made its first product announcement since the news of its planned sale to Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) emerged. The Nokia 108, with a recommended retail price of just $29, is a "candybar"-style featurephone aimed squarely at emerging markets. Is this any kind of portent for what Microsoft will do with Nokia? Or is it a case of "we've made the damn things and now we'd better sell 'em"? (See Poll: Microsoft's Nokia Buy Has Most Impact, The Nokia/Microsoft Conspiracy Theory, and Nokia Sells Devices Business to Microsoft .)

DiViNetworks Ltd. , the Israeli firm that provides cloud services to network operators and Internet service providers, has banked a $5 million investment from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. DiViNetworks' capacity-boosting technology is currently deployed in 21 developing countries.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Facebook is planning to join the cluster of hi-tech companies that are, er, clustering in the King's Cross area of London. It has put in an offer for a 90,000 sq ft space that has a swimming pool and -- get this -- a running track on its roof. Not too fast on those bends, Mark!

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading