The Belgian government looks likely to nominate an internal candidate, Dominique Leroy, as its choice for the position of CEO at Belgacom SA (Euronext: BELG), according to a Telecompaper report (subscription required) citing L'Echo. Leroy is currently head of consumer activities at the operator, in which the state holds a 53.5% stake. Previous CEO Didier Bellens got his marching orders in November after repeatedly criticizing Belgium's federal and regional authorities. (See Euronews: Belgacom CEO for the High Jump.)

UK mobile operators EE and Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) have signed a 10-year deal to offer mobile services in the UK-to-France section of the Channel Tunnel, reports the Daily Telegraph. The other two main UK mobile players, Telefónica UK Ltd. (O2) and Three UK , may get in on the act at a later date.

Pace plc , the British set-top box maker, has sent its shares northwards by around 5% in early London trading following its announcement that its full-year earnings would rise at least 20% to around US$190 million, reports Reuters. In November, Pace added Mediacom Communications Corp. to its roster of US cable operator clients, and it has just completed the acquisition of networking equipment vendor Aurora Networks. (See Pace Notches Mediacom Win and Pace Picks Up Speed.)

Following the establishment of a point of presence (PoP) in Etisalat 's Fujairah-based SmartHub facility, data transport and managed exchange service provider Epsilon Telecommunications has set up a commercial office in Dubai to meet the "growing demand for IPX-based services and outsourced local access networks." (See Bandwidth Trading Is Back! and Epsilon Deploys More BTI Gear.)

A local operator, Swan, is to provide some competition for the three established players -- Orange, Slovak Telekom , and Telefónica Czech Republic A.S. -- in the Slovak mobile market after winning 4G spectrum in the country's most recent auction, reports Reuters.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading