9:20 AM -- It's back!! Only days into 2008 and market talk that Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF) is interested in buying KPN Telecom NV (NYSE: KPN) has resurfaced, sending the Dutch national operator's share price up by nearly 10 percent to €13.51.

See this Bloomberg report for the details.

The rumor is not a new one -- the two carriers have been linked a number of times in the past few years. (See Dutch Put KPN on the Block.)

Telefónica is already one of Europe's (and the world's) biggest operators, with fixed-line operations in Germany and the Czech Republic along with its pan-European Telefónica Europe plc (O2) mobile empire. KPN has mobile assets in Belgium and Germany as well as its domestic operations.

— Ray Le Maistre, EuroRumors Editor, Light Reading