Euronews: DT Improves MetroPCS Offer

Deutsche Telekom AG, Alcatel-Lucent, KPN Telecom NV and Ciena Corp. are just some of the newsmakers in today's EMEA telecom news roster.

Deutsche Telekom has effectively improved its takeover offer for MetroPCS Inc. by cutting the amount of debt it is imposing on what would be the combined company formed by Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS by US$3.8 billion, reports Bloomberg. Some MetroPCS shareholders were unhappy about the level of debt with which the company was going to be saddled.

What is described as the "world's largest and most advanced" Ethernet platform has been switched on in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. DE-CIX Apollon, part of the DE-CIX Internet Exchange, is powered by Alcatel-Lucent's 7950 XRS core router, and utilizes ADVA Optical Networking's FSP 3000 transport platform, providing speeds of up to 2 Tbits/sec per fiber pair. (See DE-CIX Launches Ethernet Interconnectand ADVA Lands German 100G Metro Deal.)

Shareholders in Dutch incumbent KPN have voted in favor of a €3 billion ($3.9 billion) rights issue that will provide funds for investment and drive down debt, reports Bloomberg. (See Euronews: Slim Makes His Move on KPN.)

Ciena has appointed David Tomalin as its new CTO for the EMEA region. Tomalin has previously worked for euNetworks Group Ltd. and Level 3 Communications Inc., among others. (See Ciena Still Struggling for Profitability.)

Telefónica SA has chosen Ohio-based TOA Technologies Inc.'s cloud-based field service management system to streamline its mobile workforce operations. — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading