| dc.description.abstract | The report analyses the structural conditions for the design of business models regarding new information and communication services. The services examined are mobile VoIP (MVoIP) and multi-play – services that already are on the market, however in their infancy, and which represent different kinds of services in terms of structural conditions market-wise and in regulatory terms. As the two service categories are relatively new on the market, dominating business model designs have not yet settled and the strategic choices of companies are very open. Being on the market, the discussion on the business model design, however, transcends the purely speculative stage. The structural conditions studied are the market conditions including the regulatory conditions. In addition, the different technological solutions are examined, as MVoIP as well as multi-play include different technology solutions for the delivery of services to users. This means that the analysis includes technological as well as market-based and regulatory elements. The aim of the analysis of the structural conditions is two-fold: On the one hand, to deepen the understanding of the structural condition and, on the other hand, to discuss the conditions for different business model design options. The report examines the regulatory policies and market characteristics in MVoIP and multi-play as a basis for a discussion on how these policies and characteristics affect the business model decisions of service providers in the two areas. Using empirical material from Norway and Denmark, the report presents a comparative analysis of the structural conditions and the business model choices made by actors in the market. The basic theoretical framework for the analysis is the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) framework. The strength of this framework is that it stretches all the way from the structural conditions, through the conduct (business models and strategies) of companies seen in connection with these structural conditions, to the actual performance of companies in the market. The focus of the present report is on the structural conditions with a view to the framework that these conditions constitute for the business model design of companies. The empirical basis of the report consists primarily of interviews with representatives from IT and telecom industry organizations, policy makers and regulators in the telecom area in Norway and Denmark. | en |
