Strategic Transition In Telecommunications Toward Network Convergence

In the recently research of Industrial Organization, the analysis of telecommunications is a hot field. During the regulatory reform and the emergence of competition in telecommunications, IO theory offered powerful instrument, and conduct the practice. However, with the emergence of network convergence, there erupted new challenge according to the industrial convergence between telecommunications and other information industry. Which was called"Strategic Transition"in telecommunications, or"from tradition telecommunication service to synthesized information service".Although there are many view of strategic transition in telecommunications, this paper will set out from industrial convergence, analyze the evolution of industrial chain, discuss the vertical restrain of industrial chain, and survey the transition strategy. The questions we discussed are: How is evolution of the telecommunications industrial chain? How to understand new rules during the strategic game between stakeholders in the industrial chain? How to use these new rules conduct the practice of the strategic transition?Chapter 1 introduces the background of the strategic transition in telecommunications. We assure the substance of network convergence is industrial convergence. Because industrial convergence will overlap the boundary of the tradition industry, we must study the strategic transition according to industrial chain. By which, we limited our research scope, clarify our research question, choose our research instrument.Chapter 2 summarizes the research traditions and theory of industrial chain. The research of industrial chain scattered in a few of fields: industrial relationship (I/O research), strategic management and industrial organization. We focus in two fields, which are value chain(VC) and value net(VN) in strategic management, and vertical relationship in industrial organization, especial is vertical relationship in"two-sided market".Chapter 3 review the development in the telecommunications, analyze the evolution of the new telecommunications in details. During the regulatory reform and the emergence of competition in telecommunications, the market structure of the telecommunications has changed from vertical integrate to vertical divestiture. In the trend of network convergence, more and more entrants entered the telecommunications market. According to which, there emerged multi-leverage structure, and the strategic game make which become network structure. In one word, the market has changed from"enterprise/product center"to"customer center". So we must study the question of"two-sided market".Chapter 4 study the"two-sided market"in the telecommunications, focused in vertical restrains. First we analyze the emergence of the"two-sided market"in the telecommunications;...