Voda's M&A Play for Wayfinder a Sign of Things to Come?

When Vodafone acquired online calendar and phonebook sharing site ZYB back in May, the news sent a clear message they had no intention of allowing their brand to become a wastewater utility in the face of Internet powerhouse competition. Today's announcement of their $29M takeover bid for apps provider Wayfinder is more evidence, and the deal is also a first for the industry - no other European carrier has acquired an LBS apps developer to date - check this list of M&A deals.  Could this mark a new trend for acquisitive behavior from the carrier community?  I think so if 1) the larger Internet-facing developer community continues to fill long tail niches leaving fat-head opportunities available for carriers to own directly; 2) infrastructure providers continue to demand millions for gear that under delivers on solutions; and 3) smaller, more nimble mobile app startups innovate solutions for a lesser M&A cost below infrastructure prices.