Network Challenge (Chapter 24), The: Telecommunications: Network Strategies for Network Industries?

by Kevin Werbach

Telecommunications is a networked business, yet it traditionally has resisted a network-based view in its strategies and business models. In this chapter, Kevin Werbach explores this paradox, contrasting the worldview of Monists such as AT&T, who see the infrastructure as inseparable from the network, and Dualists such as Google, who see the network and its applications as distinct from the underlying infrastructure. Not surprisingly, AT&T is a proponent of “tiered access” whereas Google argues for “network neutrality.” Finally, Werbach examines how a more modular future might bridge the gap between those who seek to own and capitalize on the network and those who seek to expand it through more neutral offerings.

27 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 19, 2009

About the author

Kevin Werbach is Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Founder of the technology consulting firm Supernova Group, he has advised the FCC and Department of Commerce on communication policy. He is the coauthor of For the Win: How Game Thinking Can Revolutionize Your Business.