Euronews: CEO Quits Over Liberty Deal

Telenet, Pace plc, Nokia Corp. and Nokia Siemens Networks are caught in today's trawl of the EMEA headlines.

Duco Sickinghe is to step down as CEO of Telenet following the successful takeover of the Belgian cable operator by Liberty Global Inc., reports Reuters. Sickinghe believed Liberty's bid to raise its stake in Telenet undervalued the Belgian operator. His shoes will be filled by the former head of Australian pay-TV firm Austar United Communications.

U.K.-based set-top box maker Pace saw full-year net profits grow 50.5 percent to $58.4 million in 2012, on revenues up 4.1 percent to $2.4 billion. Pace, which in December failed to reach a deal to buy Motorola Home from Google, landed contracts with BSkyB Ltd., Telstra Corp. Ltd. and others during the course of the year. (See Pace: Motorola Home Deal Wasn't Worth It.)

Nokia shares dropped 2.5 percent on the Helsinki exchange on Monday, reports Bloomberg, following news that index provider Stoxx was to remove the handset giant's stock from its influential Euro Stoxx 50 index. (See Nokia: Q4 Not as Bad as Expected.)

Touch, the Lebanese mobile operator, has turned to Nokia Siemens Networks for a spot of customer experience management (CEM). NSN will implement its Integrated Network Management Solution (INMS) and related Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) bits and bobs.

A new fiber network that offers Gulf operators an alternative Web traffic route to Europe via Iraq and Turkey is set to go live next week, according to a report in the Financial Times (subscription required). The governments in Qatar and Kuwait have both invested in the project, which they hope will provide a more secure connection to Europe.

Swisscom AG has signed a long-term software maintenance agreement with NetCracker Technology Corp., the U.S.-based SPIT vendor. Switzerland's largest telecom operator and service provider is pursuing an all-IP program. — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading