Nortel CEO Bill Owens says Cisco is vulnerable in the enterprise due to the fact they have no strong competition. But wait, we thought Nortel… Oh, it will be, once new COO Gary Daichendt and CTO Gary Kunis, both ex-Cisco execs, file their business plan for taking Nortel forward, including helping to develop the enterprise business into a formidable competitor to their former employer… (Read the story)

…D'oh! Daichendt and Kunis both resigned suddenly a day or two after Owens' statements. Owens said he and Daichendt did not see eye-to-eye. Kunis followed his buddy out the door. Owens will take on Daichendt's COO duties, but just as it looked to be stabilizing, it's back to Square One at Nortel. (Read the story)

Nortel may not be the only telecom company losing top executives. Carrier XO Communications has filed a golden parachute provision with the SEC in anticipation of a change of control at the company. Qwest is said to be eyeing XO. A source recently told Network World Qwest was performing due diligence at the once-bankrupt Reston, Va., carrier. Qwest is looking to acquire smaller assets after the bigger asset - MCI - repeatedly rebuffed several higher offers from Qwest in favor of several lower offers from Verizon. (Read the story)