Once a feeding frenzy like this begins, it's hard to stop. It's easy now to see Vodafone, which got Son into the business by selling its Japanese unit, being moved to combine with Verizon Wireless in a defensive move. The two companies are roughly the same size, but Verizon also owns a landline business that would likely be ditched, plus the old MCI long-distance and Internet core business, whose future would have to be evaluated. Figure Vodafone as the surviving entity.