Vodafone buddies up to social networking

British operator giant Vodafone is in talks with a number of social networking services, with plans to announce partnerships in early 2007. "The time has come for us to offer social networking services," Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin told BusinessWeek. "We expect [next-generation mobile applications] to generate 10 percent of our revenue within three or four years."

Sarun declined to identify which social networking services Vodafone is exploring. But given that MySpace's exclusive deal with U.S. MVNO Helio is set to expire at year's end--and with MySpace confirming reports it is searching for European service and marketing partnerships--it's easy to connect the dots.

For more on Vodafone's social networking plans:
- read this BusinessWeek article

Related article:
- More on MySpace mobile plans