$275 million asking price much less than Google paid for AdMob.
Apple is buying mobile advertising network Quattro Wireless for $275 million, according to well-connected Silicon Valley site All Things Digital.
The acquisition, which has not yet been formally announced by Apple, would appear to confirm reports last November that Apple had been one of the suitors for rival mobile ads firm AdMob, which was eventually bought by Google for $750 million.
TechCrunch also says the deal is done between Apple and Quattro, and suggests that Microsoft may have also been sniffing around.
It remains to be seen what Apple's ownership of a mobile advertising network will mean for iPhone developers.
Will they be forced to use Quattro's platform? Of course, the same questions can be asked of Google and AdMob - where thus far there's no suggestion of such a restriction.
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Meanwhile, other mobile advertising networks like Millennial Media and Jumptap may now become the focus of interest from Microsoft, Nokia and Research In Motion.
