Jason Whalley

Deconstruction of the telecommunications industry: from value chains to value networks

The telecommunications industry is undergoing a radical transformation, creating exciting new opportunities and new challenges for infrastructure and service providers. The established value chain is increasingly being deconstructed, with the entry of powerful new players and radical restructuring of the industry. Rapid technological developments and increasing market turbulences have added new dimensions to an already complex scenario. Many tested business models, as well as related frameworks, tools and techniques, have become obsolete. The paper uses recent evidence to illustrate the evolving telecommunications value chains and market structure, examine the underlying theoretical and practical reasons for such changes, and highlight the strategic implications for the various players involved. The paper concludes that some of the current changes in the telecommunications industry are very radical, and all players need to re-evaluate their strategies and market positions and make hard decisions as to where to go next. The value chains are rapidly evolving into value networks, with multiple entry and exit points, creating enormous complexity for all the players involved. Further research is urgently needed to map out the telecommunications value chains and value networks that are possible in the context of the new economy; identify the different players and the possible strategies and business models that they can adopt; develop new conceptual frameworks for understanding the current changes in the telecommunications and related industries; and create new tools and techniques for identifying opportunities and threats and for making new strategies.

Between Physical and Electronic Spaces: The Implications for Organisations in the Networked Economy

With the rapid development of computing and telecommunications infrastructure, a new electronic space has emerged which coexists, and sometimes intertwines, with the physical space and place of our world. This has greatly increased the complexity and flexibility of the new space economy for organisations and individuals, and increasingly we have to live in ‘two spaces’. Since the late 1980s researchers have successfully dismissed the misconception about the ‘death of distance’ in the information economy. However, the dissemination of this progress has been slow and fragmented. Utopian views about the ‘end of geography’ remain very influential in current business thinking and in research on information systems and organisational innovations. Numerous failed business applications of information systems have resulted from a lack of geographical considerations. This situation has been significantly exacerbated in the last few years by the rapid developments of the Internet and new applications based on it, such as e-commerce and e-business. Researchers have a duty not only to understand the new geography of the information economy, but also to inform the public about the key features of the ‘two spaces’ that all organisations and individuals have to live in. In this paper, some case studies and emerging business phenomena are used to illustrate the importance of introducing a geographical dimension into research on information systems and organisational innovations. Several new themes for further research are also highlighted.

Understanding the drivers of broadband adoption: the case of rural and remote Scotland

Broadband has been described as a transforming technology and is now widely available in many developed countries. However, broadband availability is not the same as broadband adoption. If the socio-economic benefits of broadband are to be realized, then adoption needs to be both understood and encouraged. This is particularly important in rural and remote areas. This paper explores the factors that drive broadband adoption in one particular rural and remote area; rural and remote Scotland. A causal model and a quantitative simulation model are developed indicating how the various drivers of adoption interact with one another. Both models show that past policy initiatives have impacted on the rate of adoption. However, the greatest impact could be achieved if future policy initiatives target those people who show no interest in adopting broadband. The paper concludes by suggesting that this work has implications for rural and remote areas all around the world.

Functional separation within the European Union: Debates and challenges

Since rising to prominence in the UK, functional separation has been widely discussed as a way to address the tensions that exist between incumbent fixed-wire telecommunications operators and new entrants that use their networks. The suggestion that functional separation could be employed by national regulatory authorities to achieve structural objectives has sparked considerable discussion across the European Union (EU). Through surveying the attitudes of Member States, this paper highlights that support varies across the EU with debates being influenced by the broader political and commercial contexts within which the telecommunications industry is located. It is also shown that a key debate across the EU is the extent to which functional separation will affect the willingness of incumbent operators to invest in infrastructure.

Mobile television: technological and regulatory issues

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse technological and regulatory issues arising from the introduction of TV services on mobile handsets.Design/methodology/approach – The paper looks at the various technological solutions to the provision of mobile TV and records the progress to date of trials of these technologies. It also examines the regulatory framework in the EU and certain individual countries and analyses the effects of spectrum shortages.Findings – The paper finds that the existence of competing, incompatible technologies, the constraints on the availability of suitable spectrum, the issue of what content to broadcast and the difficulties of persuading customers to pay for it are holding back the widespread dissemination of mobile TV, but only on a temporary basis.Originality/value – This paper is the first detailed attempt to investigate this topic.

Third time lucky? An exploration of Hutchison Whampoa's involvement in the mobile telecommunications industry

Each year the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development produces a report on foreign direct investment (FDI). This report highlights trends on FDI, and identifies the worlds largest transnational corporation (TNC). Prominent among the largest TNS are telecommunication companies such as Vodafone and Telefonica. Less obvious due to its diversified description is Hutchison Whampoa, a large conglomerate with a long history of an active presence in the telecommunications industry. This paper charts the history of this involvement before focusing on whether its recent investment in third-generation (3G) licences will be as successful as previous its ones. Through analysing the 3G investments that it has made, this paper argues that Hutchison Whampoa is unlikely to enjoy the same success with these 3G investments as it has in the past with Orange and its Indian operations.

The Internationalisation of Mobile Telecommunications

Based upon the very latest data available, the underlying premise of the book is that mobile telecommunications is such a fast-moving sector that operators are obliged to alter their international strategies as circumstances unravel without necessarily having a long-term master plan, and hence that opportunism is a hallmark of operators’ international strategies. This state-of-the-art overview of the internationalisation of mobile telecommunications will prove essential reading for academics and practitioners with a vested interest in technology, telecommunications and strategic management.

Interoperability and electronic commerce: a new policy framework for evaluating strategic options

Its a business truism nowadays that electronic commerce is a volatile, rapidly changing landscape. Despite recent discouraging trends, the fact remains that e-commerce is an integral force in business that must be reckoned with. Current research, however, has been limited to several narrow approaches, such as documenting economic performance, describing business models, and generating new applications and technologies. Charles Steinfield calls instead for an examination of how e-commerce influences fundamental relationships between consumers and firms, across firms, and between firms and the larger society in which they operate. New Directions in Research on E-Commerce offers an international group of scholars and practitioners representing eight countries at the cutting edge of electronic commerce. The essays are divided into four basic topics: understanding consumer responses to Internet stores; market structure and business-to-business e-commerce; e-commerce and industry structure case studies; and social and policy concerns in e-commerce. Collectively, they will help researchers, business leaders, and policy makers to arrive at informed, stable approaches to an essential facet of contemporary life.

The restructuring of African mobile telecommunications provision and the prospects for economic development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the recent restructuring of the African mobile telecommunications sector, to examine how mobile telecommunications supports economic development and to assess how such development will be influenced by the restructuring.Design/methodology/approach – An original database has been compiled and linked to recent merger and acquisition activity in the African telecommunications sector. The theoretical/case study literature on the link between mobile telecommunications and economic development is reviewed. This is then linked to the recent restructuring activity in Africa.Findings – After something of a lull during the mid‐2000s, M&A activity has once again become frenetic over the past two years. It is too early to be certain of the eventual structure of the African mobile telecommunications sector, but in the medium term the reallocation of networks to well‐funded and efficient operators should provide a spur to renewed economic growth.Research limitations/imp...

Equality of access and local loop unbundling in the UK broadband telecommunications market

The relationship between an incumbent telecommunications operator and those companies that access its network is often fraught. This is particularly true in respect of local loop unbundling (LLU), a key product in the broadband telecommunications market. OFCOM, the UKs telecommunications regulator, recently conducted a major review of the industry that resulted in a new approach to tackling this relationship. This paper focuses on this new approach, which combined a new regulatory concept - equality of access - with the establishment of a mini-regulator focusing on local loop unbundling processes, and goes on to assess the extent to which the relationship has been improved.