Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF) and Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) proffer something for the weekend in today's scan of the EMEA telecom headlines.

Alcatel-Lucent is on the verge of winning a juicy contract with Telefonica in Spain to build a nationwide Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, reports Bloomberg. Telefonica has already been conducting LTE trials with AlcaLu in Madrid and Barcelona. More details of Telefonica's LTE strategy are expected to emerge at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month. (See AlcaLu CEO Unveils New Vision, Euronews: AlcaLu Stock Leaps 16%, Euronews: Layoff Costs Tear Into Telefonica's Q3 and Telefónica Picks AlcaLu for LTE.)

Members of the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) have said they ought to be able charge rivals more for access to their networks to help fund investment in FTTH, reports Reuters. "Steely" Neelie Kroes, the European Commission 's vice president for the Digital Agenda, might have something to say about that... (See Steely Neelie's FTTX Face Off.)

Apple overtook BlackBerry to become the numero uno in U.K. smartphone sales in 2011, according to The Guardian, citing research by Gartner/Dataquest . As the newspaper points out, the research contradicts figures produced by RIM earlier in the month that showed it had held on to top spot. (See Europe to Apple: Gimme Five! and RIM Cuts 2,000 Jobs.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading