The EC concluded that the merger of the companies wouldn't significantly impede competition in Europe despite their combined large share of the markets for optical core switches and DSL multiplexers.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the deal between Paris-based Alcatel and Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent in June. The stock-swap agreement, which was announced in April, is scheduled to be voted on by the shareholders of both companies in early September.

Briefly noted

-- Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. said Lee Hsien Yang plans to step down from the post of group CEO once a successor is named. SingTel said a global search is under way for a successor to Yang, who has been the company's CEO since 1995. No reason was given for his planned departure.

-- The Sage Group PLC in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, has acquired a 51 percent stake in Elit Group, an Ecully, France-based vendor of business process management software for the transportation and food industries. The deal was valued at about #10.8 million (US$20 million). Sage develops financial and CRM software for small and midsize users.