Carlos Slim's América Móvil S.A. de C.V. has upped its stake in Telekom Austria AG (NYSE: TKA; Vienna: TKA) to 26.8%, which is enough to constitute a "blocking minority," according to Reuters. Last year Slim tried to take control of Dutch incumbent KPN Telecom NV (NYSE: KPN), but his efforts were thwarted when a foundation closely associated with KPN exercised an option to award itself around 50% of the voting stock. (See Euronews: Slim Abandons KPN Bid.)

Ofcom , the UK telecom regulator, has come under fire from industry analysts for hiking up the fees it plans to charge for 2G spectrum, reports the Daily Telegraph. The criticism, from Enders Analysis (and commissioned by EE), follows complaints from operators, who point out that the proposed annual fees of £309 million (US$507 million) are almost five times the current levels they pay for their 2G spectrum.

Neul Ltd. , a UK startup operating in the M2M technology space, has launched what it describes as a "two-way, wide-area networking solution for the Internet of Things," and announced a trial with BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA). The NeulNET platform is offered to network operators on a "per device, per month" basis, using terminal modules that can operate for ten to 15 years using two standard AA batteries, claims the vendor. (See Neul Unveils NeulNET M2M Platform .)

CityFibre , which lays claim to being largest independent provider of fiber infrastructure to secondary towns and cities in the UK, has raised around £16.5 million ($27.1 million) from an IPO on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. (See CityFibre Raises £16.5M From IPO.)

TTNET, a Turkish broadband provider, is to use Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU)'s Motive Data Management Platform analytics offering in a bid to improve the customer experience for its IPTV subscribers. (See TTNET Uses Alcatel-Lucent Analytics.)

And finally: One of the big guns of UK soccer, Arsenal, has signed a sponsorship deal with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, Huawei becomes the club's "official smartphone partner," whatever that means. It could mean Arsenal's current crop of pampered players whipping out oversized Huawei devices at regular intervals in nightclubs across London in the coming months. For a taste of the Arsenal glory days, when players didn't have smartphones, let alone smartphone partners, see this netbuster.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading