Alcatel-Lucent, the GSM Association (GSMA), Neelie Kroes and Cisco Systems Inc. lead the charge in today's assault on the EMEA headlines.

Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes is to "announce his mid-term plan for the company" to the analyst and media community in an early morning presentation in Paris on June 19. The vendor says the CEO, who has been taking a close look at AlcaLu's existing business during the past few months, will "outline the plan’s scope in detail" during his presentation. (See Alcatel-Lucent CEO Preps Kill List.)

A new report from the GSMA highlights just how far Europe has fallen behind the U.S. and other regions when it comes to the deployment of next-generation mobile technologies, squandering the lead it had just a few years ago. Among other findings, the report claims that by the end of 2013, nearly 20 per cent of U.S. connections will be on LTE networks, compared to fewer than two per cent in the EU; and that, on average, U.S. consumers get through five times more voice minutes and nearly twice as much data than their European counterparts each month.

Neelie Kroes, the European Commission 's vice president for the Digital Agenda, is to deliver a key speech today on her ambitions for single pan-European telecom market, free from roaming charges and other such unpleasantness. If she sticks to her script, Kroes will dust down her mixed metaphors and say: "I believe we have enough common ground to rock the boat together, and then sail it to a harbour." A case of operator pain ahoy, perhaps? (See Euronews: 'Single Market' Plan Rolls Into Action.)

Cisco Systems Inc. has been complaining to the EU General Court in Luxembourg about Microsoft Corp.'s acquisition of Skype, telling the assembled that Microsoft had been allowed to "buy its way to monopoly," reports Bloomberg. This comes as Microsoft integrates Skype into its Lync enterprise communications system, moving it away from halting-conversations-with-grandma territory and into the business mainstream. (See Cisco Challenges Microsoft/Skype Deal.)

Telecom Italia SpA is planning to spend €10 billion (US$13 billion) on its fixed-network unit over the next ten years, according to a report on Bloomberg.

Irish incumbent eircom continues to struggle, its third-quarter results revealing that group revenue is down 10 percent year-on-year and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) down 11 percent, despite costs having been cut significantly. — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading