Telefónica UK Ltd. , Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and Telecom Italia (TIM) top the bill in today's helping of Euro telecom news headlines.

U.K. mobile operator O2 has made its first move into the potentially lucrative smart-metering market with the signing of a multi-million-pound deal with G4S, a smart-meter operations firm. Under the terms of the three-year deal, O2 will provide M2M technology, including around 200,000 SIM cards, to connect smart meters across the U.K. to G4S’s data center. (See O2 Makes Smart-Meter Move and Smart Grid Creates Lucrative Market.)

It appears that Samsung Corp. is on the hunt for Nokia engineers who might be considering their options in the wake of the recent "Nokisoft" announcements, according to a Samsung official newsletter item picked up by Finnish website YLE. The gist of it is: If you fear for Symbian's future, come and work on Bada, Samsung's smartphone operating system. (See Samsung Sees Open Water With 'Bada' and RIP Symbian & MeeGo: Nokia Ties Future to WP7.)

Telecom Italia has spent US$145 million to increase its stake in Sofora, the holding company controlling Telecom Argentina (NYSE: TEO). It now holds 68 percent of Sofora's capital, up from 58 percent. As a result its economic interest in Telecom Argentina rises to 21.1 percent from 18.3 percent. (See Telecom Italia Ups Argentinian Stake, T Italia's Latino Lunge and Euro Carriers Catch Latino Fever.)

The BBC reports that residential broadband users across Europe are sacrificing speed for convenience by opting for Wi-Fi rather than a fixed connection. It cites a study by Epitiro which ran 1 million tests over 14,000 Wi-Fi connections in the UK, US, Spain and Italy found that Wi-Fi links are, on average, 30 percent slower than their plugged-in equivalents.

Elsewhere in Europe:

• VimpelCom Enters Laos
  
• Tech Mahindra Sets Up in Germany
  
• Iliad Reports 2010

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading