1.   Neil McMillan, chairman of the telecom negotiating group, attempted to dampen the pessimism and remained optimistic that an acceptable and effective deal would be achieved by tommorrow.

2.   The new head of the telecom group will be Bill Cadogan, the former CEO of ADC Telecommunications.

3.   Alcatel had been expected to announce some restructuring of its European activities, following a profit warning from rival telecom group Marconi PLC two weeks ago.

4.   Embattled German telecommunications company Mannesmann AG is playing down a surprise alliance between British rival Vodafone AirTouch PLC and French telecom group Vivendi.

5.   Embattled German telecom Mannesmann AG is playing down a surprise alliance between British rival Vodafone AirTouch PLC and French telecom group Vivendi.

6.   Hong Kong prices were pulled lower by drops in the banking giant HSBC Holdings and mainland telecom group China Mobile.

7.   It remains unclear how many have to leave the telecom group, a company source said.

8.   A merger between the two British telecommunications groups would create the biggest company in Britain and the third-biggest telecoms group in the world.

9.   A former chairman of telecom group Ameritech Corporation, he resigned as president and chief executive of Tellabs, a telecommunications network provider.

10.   Anxiety over funding at US telecom group Qwest meanwhile kept the downtrodden telecoms sector under pressure and stoked up further concern about accountancy practices at major corporates.