Vodafone has announced that it has agreed to buy ZYB for 31.5 million Euros. The Danish company operates a social networking and online management tool that allows mobile phone users to share their contact, calendar and location information as well as providing network back up capbility.

This acquisition shows that even mobile operators are getting into the social networking business. This ties in with Vodafone’s strategy of offering a wider range of communication services to customers, and growing new revenue streams such as mobile advertising and internet services that integrate the mobile and PC customer experience.

Pieter Knook, Internet Services Director for Vodafone Group, said: “Vodafone understands that the core of any customer’s personal and business network is the set of contacts they hold on their mobile phone.

“Using a web portal as a link between the PC and the mobile device, ZYB provides an interactive way for people to nurture, contact and develop their relationships with their most important friends and colleagues and builds links with those contacts’ wider networks. This is Web 2.0 in action”.

See the full release here.