> Verizon Wireless will pay a $10 billion dividend on Jan. 31, 2012, to its parent companies, Verizon Communications and Vodafone, ending a drama that had been a source of speculation between the two telecom giants. Article
> A total of seven bidders pledged a combined $19.8 million for 16 of the 700 MHz spectrum licenses the FCC auctioned this week. The licenses up for grabs in the FCC's Auction 93 covered a number of locations in Puerto Rico and areas in North Carolina, North Dakota, Texas, Virginia and elsewhere. Article
> The Spanish Industry Ministry announced that Telefónica, France Telecom Orange and Vodafone will pay a total of $2.4 billion to acquire LTE spectrum. The three companies dominated Spain's second LTE spectrum auction to the extent that eight other bidders failed to acquire any frequency bands. Article
> Italy's upcoming auction of LTE spectrum has attracted five companies: Telecom Italia Mobile, Vodafone Italy, Wind, 3 Italia and the WiMAX operator Linkem, which currently provides wireless broadband services to 200 cities and towns across Italy. Article
> Nortel Networks said it completed the sale of all of its remaining patents and patent applications to a consortium consisting of Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research In Motion and Sony, for a cash purchase price of $4.5 billion. Article
And Finally... A tortoise gets a prosthetic limb. Video