Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT), Etisalat , Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc (London: CW) and BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) get the week off to a frisky start in today's roundup of news from the EMEA region.

Deutsche Telekom saw its share price leap by about 13 percent following news of its deal to sell problem child T-Mobile US Inc. to AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) for $39 billion. (See DT's Shares Rocket on AT&T Deal.)

"Political turmoil" is one of the reasons cited by UAE-based carrier Etisalat for abandoning its plan to buy a 46 percent stake in Middle East rival Zain Group , according to a report on Zawya Dow Jones. Etisalat launched its original offer, worth US$12 billion, in September last year. (See Etisalat Extends Zain Talks and Euronews: Sept. 30.)

Cable&Wireless Worldwide and IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) have booked their places on the smart-grid bandwagon with the launch of the perhaps immodestly titled "U.K. Smart Energy Cloud," which the pair hope will provide a "complete overview of energy usage across the country" and give them a slice of the U.K.'s government-supported smart-metering rollout action. (See IBM, C&W Worldwide Get Smart.)

U.K. incumbent BT is doing its bit for cash-strapped Britain by raising its call charges by an inflation-busting 9 percent from April 28, reports the BBC. Customers on certain special call plans will not be affected, however, and the carrier is reducing the prices of some other services, such as its BT Vision TV service, in a bid to soften the blow. (See BT Reports Q2 Ups & Downs.)

Mobile giant Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) is the only British company to make it into a newly compiled league table of the world's top brands, reports The Independent. According to the latest Brand Finance Global 500 report, Vodafone bags fifth place with a "brand value" of almost $31 billion, four places behind something called Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and three ahead of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL). (See Vodafone Updates Strategy, Profit Outlook.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading