Vodafone, world’s largest cellular phone company is ready to make a $30 billion bid for AT&T Wireless, reports The London Observer. “There is still a chance that Arun Sarin will be prevented from bidding by some of his big shareholders, who fear an aggressive move in the US will hold back earnings growth for one or two years,” writes the paper. But as one telecom analyst told The Observer: “Grabbing AT&T Wireless is a one-off opportunity for Vodafone to control a major telecoms asset in the most lucrative market in the word. He [Sarin] would be crazy not to bid.”

Of course, Cingular and NTT DoCoMo will up the ante as well. Vodafone may try to offload its stake in Verizon Wireless, and do a possible swap. And of course if that does not work, then Vodafone will go after AT&T the old fashioned way. Still there are some problems with the bid. The regulatory and Verizon issues would need to be worked out, consuming much time, effort, and resources, which could slow down AT&T Wireless even more. Chances are Cingular will raise its bid as well, and in the end walk away with the bounty.