Vodafone's chief executive Vittorio Colao has said Europe's biggest cable group, Liberty Global, could be a good fit for the mobile operator "for the right price", according to a Bloomberg report.
Shares in Vodafone fell in afternoon trading in London, with traders attributing the decline to the reported comments.
Meanwhile, Liberty's shares rose on the back of the news.
Vodafone declined to comment.
Vodafone has bought cable operators in Spain and Germany in the past two years to beef up its mobile operations and respond to consumer demand for bundled offers of broadband, TV, as well as fixed and mobile calling.
Owning fixed networks also allows Vodafone to carry its users' mobile traffic more cheaply and efficiently.
Liberty, which is owned by billionaire John Malone, has grown via a decade of acquisitions to encompass cable operations in 12 European countries, including Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands.
The firm is also the parent company of UPC, which provides television, phone and broadband services in Ireland.
Liberty has a market capitalisation of about $33bn, and had 2013 sales of $14.47bn.
Vodafone's market capitalisation is roughly £53.98bn with 2013 sales of £44.4bn.
