Euronews: Nokia Considers Espoo HQ Sale

Nokia is looking into the possibility of selling its headquarters in Espoo -- though the company claims it has no plans to move away from the site. Website YLE, citing Finnish dailies Helsingin Sanomat and Ilta-Sanomat, reports that the ailing handsets giant is considering becoming a tenant in the concrete and glass complex, which sits beside the Baltic Sea and is estimated to be worth up to €300 million (US$388 million). (See Euronews: Carnage at Nokia and Euronews: Nokia Cash Burn Freaks Analysts.)

As widely signposted on Tuesday, U.K.'s mobile operators have agreed a new timetable for the introduction of 4G services with regulator Ofcom . The 4G spectrum auction process will now, according to Ofcom, begin "at the end of the year," with 4G services being switched on "during the first half of 2013." EE , the joint venture between Orange UK and T-Mobile (UK) , will still get to go early on 4G, using existing spectrum to begin services before Christmas, and rivals Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) and Telefónica UK Ltd. (O2) have agreed not to launch legal challenges to EE's head start. (See Ofcom Speeds 4G Spectrum Clearance, Euronews: Will UK Fast-Track 4G Auction? and Euronews: Orange/T-Mob JV Given 4G Head Start.)

Telefónica is continuing on its debt-cutting program with a planned initial public offering (IPO) of shares in its German unit, Telefónica O2 Germany GmbH & Co. OHG , in this quarter, reports Bloomberg. It is suggested the IPO could raise up to €1.5 billion ($1.9 billion). (See Telefónica Plans Regional IPOs.)

PacketFront Solutions, the managed services arm of fixed access technology specialist PacketFront AB , has formed a systems integration partnership for the Swedish market with Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU). The systems integrator believes that a combination of PacketFront's BECS provisioning software and AlcaLu products is "the most powerful solution for centralized subscriber management."

At the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) conference in Brussels on Tuesday, telecom movers and shakers put their weight behind the creation of a so-called Connecting Europe Facility which, if we can decipher the Brussels-speak correctly, is a pan-European financial instrument that will enable those in charge to lay their hands on up to €50 billion ($64 billion) of funding for strategic infrastructure projects, including broadband rollouts.

Orange (NYSE: FTE) CEO Stephane Richard obviously believes in telling it like it is: Bloombergy reports that he said the rollout of 4G is vital because it will enable the operator to, erm, charge more. "There will be a premium. The model with HSPA+ has made it clear that customers will pay," he said in an interview at the ETNO conference in Brussels on Tuesday.

Ned Sullivan is to step down as chairman of Irish incumbent Eircom, reports The Irish Times. Debt-laden Eircom was taken over by its senior lenders in June. (See Lenders to Lean on Eircom.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading