Vodafone have made the news as they have moved into the satellite navigation market with their acquisition of the Swedish sat nav software provider Wayfinder.� The move comes after a proposal was made by Vodafone back in December 2008 for 98 per cent of the sat nav provider leaving the remaining 2 per cent of shares to be taken up through compulsory acquisition under the Swedish Companies Act.

Vodafone’s cash offer was accepted, providing Vodafone with 19,562,032 shares in the Swedish company, allowing Vodafone customers the ability to use the LBS technology straight from their handsets, according to Vodafone’s director of Internet services, Pieter Knook.

The deal is said to be set to go ahead on or around the 30^th January 2009 and will lead to the Swedish company being removed from the Nordic Growth Market.� The move made by Vodafone is set to take the company into the next generation of mobile services, as location-based services are set to take over from services such as selling music, videos and games which have been fairly unsuccessful.

Wayfinder’s key selling point is the ability to provide the user with turn-by-turn directions as apposed to such competition from Google Maps Mobile which doesn’t offer such a feature.� Wayfinder is also keenly proud of their huge database of points of interest which surpasses the three million mark.� Vodafone will also be keen to advertise the fact that Wayfinder allows features such as sharing routes with users.

Vodafone will also jump at the chance of applying charges to services that will allow the user to receive information regarding those 3 million points of interest and the service should prove to be fairly lucrative, at least that is what Vodafone are hoping for.

Vodafone are also continuing to thrive through the economic crisis as they have teamed up with the United Arab Emirates telecom provider du and included the company in their Partner Market programme.� The deal will allow du to access Vodafone’s product range exclusively within the UAE.� In return, Vodafone customers in the UAE will be able to access du’s 3G network within the country.

Hatem Dowidar, Vodafone’s partner markets chief executive, has said, “Through this agreement with du, Vodafone will be able to increase its brand recognition and extend its product range to a key market with a growing population. Mobile usage in the UAE is growing steadily and more of our customers require enhanced roaming services to and from the region.”

Osman Sultan, du’s chief executive, has said that the deal will see du move into a much larger market, saying, “The partnership with Vodafone will enable du and our customers to join the world’s largest international mobile network, whilst maintaining the advantages of being a local operator, thus supporting our prime mission of best serving the UAE population. This alliance will bring substantial benefits to our customers and shareholders, becoming a catalyst for expanding our service portfolio and improving our operational efficiency. “