Valerie Feldmann*
COMPETITIVE STRATEGY FOR MEDIA COMPANIES IN THE
MOBILE INTERNET**
ABSTRACT
The provision of mass media content over next-generation 3G mobile networks is envi-
sioned as an exciting new application of new media. This paper focuses on the mobile
Internet as strategic challenge for media and entertainment companies. It provides an
overview of distinctive features of the mobile Internet related to personalization, time and
location sensitivity, uncertainties between technology push and market pull, and motiva-
tions for engagement in mobile interactivity. The analysis of competitive strategy in the
mobile Internet suggests that the changing market structures in the converging media and
entertainment and mobile wireless telecommunications industries lead to shifts of bargain-
ing power. The emerging co-opetition challenges media and entertainment companies to
re-evaluate their activities in the mobile value chain that provide potential for the creation
of sustainable competitive advantage in the mobile Internet. These changes are reflected
in the emerging business models for media and entertainment companies in the mobile
Internet. The paper presents three strategic options for media companies: a syndication
strategy, a portal strategy, and a mobile virtual network operator strategy.
JEL-Classification: D8, L8, M3.
1INTRODUCTION
The provision of mass media content over next-generation 3G mobile wireless
networks
1
is envisioned as an exciting new application of new media. But its key
success drivers remain uncertain. It is yet to be seen, if serving mobile content will
be highly profitable or a money-losing business. The media uses various buzz-
words such as m-trading, mobile multiplayer games, and mobile movies and thus
creates high expectations. Yet, the demand for mobile content tends to be
assumed rather than demonstrated, and reality may disappoint.
Schmalenbach Business Review ◆ Vol. 54 ◆ October 2002 ◆ pp. 351 – 371
sbr 54 (4/2002) 351
* Dipl.-Kffr. Valerie Feldmann, M.A., Affiliated Researcher, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information,
Columbia Business School, New York, Visiting Scholar, Economics and Mass Communications,
Freie Universit?t Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, D-12249 Berlin, Phone: +49-177-73 694 72, e-mail: feld-
mav@zedat.fu-berlin.de.
** Acknowledgements: I thank the seminar participants at the CITI Ph.D. research seminar, Columbia
Business School, New York, March 2001, for many helpful suggestions. The paper has also bene-
fited from its discussion at the 19th Annual International Communications Forecasting Conference,
Washington D.C., June 2001. Any errors that remain are only my responsibility.
1 The international standards are specified by the International Telecommunication Union in its
IMT-2000 report.
However, mobile communications have become an integral part of both business
and private life. In 2002, for the first time mobile phones worldwide will outnum-
ber fixed-line phones
2
. The diffusion of wireless communications technology,
fixed wireless, but in particular mobile wireless, has taken place rapidly, exceed-
ing even that of the Internet. Forecasts predict that by 2010 there will be more
wireless phones than PCs or even TVs
3
.
Against this background, the mobile Internet will gain in significance and rele-
vance in media companies’ strategies to distribute their content via multiple digital
platforms. Mobile communication’s use and its applications are moving beyond
simple point-to-point voice to data applications such as text, pictures, graphs,
audio, and video. Creating the appropriate and relevant content may be a key dri-
ver for the development of a next-generation mobile infrastructure. Therefore,
media content providers are developing strategies for the distribution of mobile
wireless content
4
. This development is particularly challenging, since the wireless
telecommunications market is characterized by rapid technological change and
great uncertainty about the significance and duration of technological standards,
as well as consumer demand. Thus, the evolvement of profitability becomes an
important challenge in these markets. Convergence processes in media and enter-
tainment and mobile wireless telecommunications industries are leading to
changes in industry structure and hence will challenge strategic management of
media companies to build and sustain competitive advantages. However, opera-
tional effectiveness through better technology will probably not determine how
the players sustain a competitive advantage. Delivering a unique type of value to
the customers has more potential to become source of competitive advantage.
Therefore, the direct channel to contact mobile Internet customers is an important
asset and suggests growing importance of customer relationship management as
well as brand strategy for media companies in the mobile Internet.
In section 2, the analysis focuses on the mobile Internet as strategic challenge for
media and entertainment companies. The section provides an overview of distinc-
tive features of the mobile Internet, and examines uncertainties between technol-
ogy push and market pull and motivations for engagement in mobile interactivity.
Section 3 concentrates on competitive strategy in the mobile Internet. This section
discusses changing market structures in the converging media and entertainment
and mobile wireless telecommunications industries, media and entertainment com-
panies in the mobile value chain, and the creation of sustainable competitive
advantage. Section 4 presents emerging business models for media and entertain-
ment companies in the mobile Internet and suggests three strategic options for
media companies: a syndication strategy, a portal strategy, and a mobile virtual
network operator strategy. Section 5 concludes.
V. Feldmann
352 sbr 54 (4/2002)
2 See International Telecommunication Union (2002).
3 See Durlacher Research (2001); Boston Consulting Group (2000).
4 For a critical discussion of mass media content for mobile wireless communications see
Groebel/Noam/Feldmann (forthcoming).
2THE MOBILE INTERNET AS STRATEGIC CHALLENGE FOR MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT
COMPANIES
According to Rogers (1995) perceived attributes of innovation, the adoption of
mobile communications services will be influenced by the relative advantage,
compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability
5
. Parameters of the mobile
Internet that may contribute to the first attribute, the perception of a relative
advantage, could be the spatial and temporal needs of communication, functional
needs of users, an individual cost optimum of communication, and content.
Among these parameters, media content on mobile wireless distribution platforms
could become a dominant driver of data traffic. Therefore, content will be an
important element in both media and telecommunications companies’ business
models. The success of mobile wireless media could be largely dependent on the
context in which it functions
6
. Ubiquity of content does not necessarily create rel-
evance, and pure availability does not create demand. It is context that creates rel-
evance that can be translated in a further step into transactions.
“Wearable” computing is an example of trying to avoid disruptive experiences
with mobile devices. Projects at the MIT Media Lab such as Nomadic Audio
7
or
MIThrill
8
experiment with how to smoothly integrate communications technology
into clothes and into the context of the individuals’ life. IBM introduced pervasive
computing in intelligent jewelry, e.g., in watches, rings, necklaces, and earrings.
The use of media content is affected through ubiquitous computing as well. Time-
sensitive information is being pushed at the consumer; location-based services can
be pulled by consumers. Both have the potential to become an integral part of
individual and business life. Customer loyalty to certain media offers can be
increased by these measures
9
. However, ubiquitous technology can easily harass
consumers and turn the vision of a continuous information flow into a permanent
intrusion through distractions and sales pitches
10
.
2.1 DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE MOBILE INTERNET
The mobile Internet enhances the use of services in the dimensions time and
space. It does so by adding ubiquity of Internet access and immediacy of commu-
nication and (inter)activity.
Mobile Internet
sbr 54 (4/2002) 353
5 For a derivation and discussion of these attributes see Rogers (1995).
6 See Feldmann (2001).
7 See Sawhney/Schmandt (1999).
8 See http://www.media.mit.edu/wearables/.
9 Anand/Shachar (2001) analyze brand loyalty to multiproduct firms using data on television view-
ing choices. Their findings suggest that the profile of a multiproduct firm is an important element
in the information set of consumers. Ubiquitous availability may be one attribute across the media
firm’s products that affects loyalty.
10 See Gleick (2001).
Originally, the concept of mobility was rooted in the area of transportation. Now,
it has been transferred to communications networks. Mobile communications con-
quers constraints of location and geography and allows ubiquitous availability
11
.
New time management capabilities emerge with real-time pushed and pulled
voice and data communications that quicken the pace of both business and per-
sonal life in business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets. The mobile
Internet’s access device also differs from the fixed desktop computer that accesses
the Internet. The mobile phone is far more personal than a PC and is likely to be
used by only one single person. Personalization of processes and services in the
mobile Internet based on the depicted characteristics may be among the most rel-
evant sources of competitive advantages in strategic mobile Internet management.
A characteristic of the mobile Internet is its hybrid structure, which combines the
virtual and the real world in a unique way. This hybridisation differs from the vir-
tual worlds of the Internet. Movement and mobility in the physical offline world
and surfing in virtual online worlds are no longer exclusive. Instead, they can now
be combined. This hybridization of on- and offline media environments as well as
of voice and data communications has fostered ideas and expectations for the
mobile phone as a transaction device. Integrating the on- and offline experience
without shifting the channel becomes possible when interactive rich media appli-
cations of the Internet which have already been implemented in e-commerce, are
augmented through their use in nomadic environments
12
and the option to link
mobile data transaction offers to call centers.
Another interesting process of hybridization will take place in navigation, which
may also use the voice to browse mobile Internet offers. Voice-activated services
are being developed to adapt mobile Internet usage to the specific usage
context
13
. When a person is moving, e.g., walking down a street, voice navigation
as a background activity will be the only possible navigation mode that will
enable the user to keep on moving and still be able to concentrate on the street as
foreground activity.
While it has been argued that the Internet serves mainly as a tool to gather infor-
mation on a product that will later be bought in bricks-and-mortar stores, the
mobile Internet can reverse this relationship. A customer can gather information in
a store and, if there are price, quality or service advantages, purchase the good in
the virtual world via the mobile device. Whereas the Internet reduces the impor-
tance of location, since virtual markets are not bound to it, the mobile Internet
emphasizes the importance of location.
Various capabilities and functions are integrated into mobile communications ser-
vices. One can distinguish communications, real-time content, storage content,
and transaction services. The most obvious function is communications. Voice ser-
vices and complementary data communication services such as Short Message Ser-
V. Feldmann
354 sbr 54 (4/2002)
11 See Buderi (2001); Townsend (2000).
12 For a definition of nomadic environments see Sawhney/Schmandt (1999).
13 See Werbach (2000b).
vices (SMS) are the basic feature of cell phones and today also the main reason for
use
14
. This primary use has the potential to expand to using the cell phone as
device to access the mobile Internet. Forecasts estimate that data communications
will increase in importance for cell phones
15
. The success of SMS and related info
services, the possibility to read e-mails, send Multimedia Messaging Services
(MMS), and use instant messaging (IM), are raising high expectations on more
advanced data services, especially in terms of generating revenues.
The real-time content in mobile devices is time sensitive published data. Examples
are stock quotes, weather reports, or traffic information. This data can be provided
by media companies like Reuters, the Financial Times, or The Weather Channel;
content aggregators like Yahoo; or other wireless portals as well as municipal
authorities. Storage content comprises databases such as the “Yellow-Book” phone
directory or restaurant guides. This content can also be provided by publishers
such as lifestyle magazines, as well as established institutions and brands like the
Yellow Pages or the Zagat restaurant guides.
Transactions represent an area that raises as many hopes as it raises doubts.
Mobile electronic commerce can develop the cell phone from a communications
into a transaction device. However, the adoption of m-commerce transactions is
still very low. The limited size of the display, e.g., determines the amount of pro-
duct information. However, when the device can support convenient use, includ-
ing one-click m-commerce applications as well as secure and trusted billing sys-
tems, adoption rates may be higher. Identification of the user is one clear advan-
tage of cell phones over other mobile devices as well as traditional e-commerce.
Yet, before m-commerce can play a significant role in e-commerce, telecoms need
to implement secure identification processes and a standardized micropayment
system. A central success factor for m-commerce will be its context specificity.
Connecting e-commerce offers to the described enhanced dimensions of time and
space and embedding it in context-aware services will be crucial for building and
sustaining competitive advantages in m-commerce.
Taking into account the discussed distinctive features of the mobile Internet as
well as thinking in terms of immediate, fast access to information, customers will
have little acceptance and a short attention span when they are surfing the mobile
Internet. They will instead rely on information they can find quickly and in trusted
brands with which they already have a customer relationship. This potential con-
sumer behavior suggests that the mobile Internet could enhance the importance of
brands and of customer relationship management.
2.2 UNCERTAINTIES BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY PUSH AND MARKET PULL
Mobile Internet access does not improve the mobility of its users – (since this is a
question of transportation), but information and communications infrastructure
Mobile Internet
sbr 54 (4/2002) 355
14 Voice over IP is a possibility for future voice communications via these handheld devices. One rea-
son, why this might not become too successful is the unstable connection and inconveniences of
IP telephony.
15 See Durlacher Research (2001), p. 13; Boston Consulting Group (2000), p. 12.
becomes ubiquitously available on personal devices. It will complement, rather
than substitute for, conventional Internet services.
However, a sensitive question that still needs to be considered concerns the ratio
of technology push and market pull in the emerging mobile wireless telecommu-
nications and content markets. There is much uncertainty on this question, and
this uncertainty influences the development of innovative processes, products, and
services. Uncertainty appears on two levels, about technological development in
highly competitive environments and the establishment of standards
16
that might
drive market acceptance and shift competition to services, as well as about con-
sumer demand.
Concerning technological development, the broadband capacity offered by 2.5G
networks might be sufficient for services that users demand via their mobile
phones and would call into question investments in 3G networks. Positioning
technologies, device operating systems, microbrowsers, protocols, gateways, lan-
guages, and micropayment systems need to be developed and standardized for
the mobile Internet. This list represents only a very small fraction of unsolved
technological problems. The choice of the device is also in the technological
realm, but may be determined by the context in which the device is used and
how well it fulfills the functions that customers demand
17
.
It is even less clear what market pull, i.e. consumer demand, will be. Little reliable
data is available that deals with demand for 3G services and consumers’ willing-
ness to pay for them. To acquire information on the development of the mobile
Internet in Europe or North America, telecom researchers are closely watching
how the mobile Internet in Japan and the rapid adoption of NTT DoCoMo’s
i-mode service develop
18
.
However, the diffusion of innovative products and services in media communica-
tions is always particularly related to their social meaning and use. Innovative ser-
vices for mobile phones create different usage contexts. Communications are not
restricted to the private sphere, but are performed in public spaces. The personal
nature of the mobile phone is leading to new usage patterns. It also marks the
participation in certain lifestyles and peer groups. The dimension of functional
images of the mobile Internet in relation to and in the context of communication
and media usage patterns of existing media is relevant for the creation of usage
options for consumers. Against this background, the integration of mobile Internet
services in existing companies strategies as well as the evolution of new busi-
nesses
19
seems both very promising and risky. The key drivers of market develop-
ment could be personalization of services, ubiquity and immediacy of access, and
possibly the reduction of transaction costs. For the specification of key drivers,
especially consumers’ motivations for mobile interactivity are crucial.
V. Feldmann
356 sbr 54 (4/2002)
16 See Funk (2001b).
17 For a comprehensive discussion of new digital media and devices see Rawolle/Hess (2000).
18 See Funk (2001a).
19 For research on the origin and evolution of new businesses see Bhidé (2001).
2.3 MOTIVATIONS FOR ENGAGEMENT IN MOBILE INTERACTIVITY
Uses-and-gratifications research
20
has identified gratification factors for cellular
telephony such as sociability, relaxation or entertainment, instrumentality or acqui-
sition, reassurance, and fashion and status
21
. From the consumers’ perspective,
motivations for the use of mobile wireless data communications are often
grounded in lifestyle criteria and may focus on communications, entertainment,
and convenience
22
. Communications, comprising e-mail, text and multimedia mes-
saging, and mobile instant messaging, has the potential to become the “killer
application”, similar to its function for the Internet. Forecasts for the use of mobile
interactivity underline the growing popularity of entertainment services such as
multiplayer games or music downloads
23
. Convenience is also a promising factor.
Mobile interactivity offers instant gratification. If conducting certain transactions
via mobile devices is more convenient, e.g., due to the integration of barcode
scanning technology, then mobile commerce could become a key driver for using
mobile interactivity. The necessary precondition is mobile usability and ease of
mobile Internet navigation.
The motivations for media companies to expand their services onto new digital
platforms and to engage in mobile interactivity are brand and customer relation-
ship management and the creation of multiple revenue streams. Integrating mobile
wireless platforms into a digital multiple-platform strategy will build on existing
brands’ identity and will extend the reach of the digital media brands into markets
without significant PC penetration. Thus, a mobile strategy will not only deepen
the relationship with existing customers, it will also open the potential to acquire
new customers. Mobile revenue streams can have multiple sources, subscription
from customers, advertising revenues from cross-promotion, and revenue-sharing
agreements with network operators.
Mobile network operators have, in the past, focused primarily on growth and the
speed at which they can enlarge their customer base. They must now direct their
focus to profitability and rethink their strategic approaches. To define a unique
value proposition for their customers, they turn to content providers who in return
gain bargaining power. Telecommunication companies are dependent on content
providers since they do not have the core competency to create the appealing
content that may generate revenue. Media companies are dependent on the new
mobile distribution platform and the customer contacts and billing relationship of
wireless operators. Since there is the potential for a shift of power from the net-
work operator to the content provider, the next section will discuss the emerging
co-opetition
24
between the media and telecommunication companies.
Mobile Internet
sbr 54 (4/2002) 357
20 The uses-and-gratifications-approach is concerned to identify how people use the media to gratify
their needs, in contrast to the previous media effect paradigm that asked what media do to the
people.
21 See Leung/Wei (2000).
22 See Nohria/Leestma (2001).
23 See Jupiter MMXI (2002); Durlacher Research (2001), p. 96.
24 See Nalebuff/Brandenburger (1996).
3COMPETITIVE STRATEGY IN THE MOBILE INTERNET
The digitization of content distribution has lead to structural changes in media and
entertainment markets
25
. Online content has become an established component of
traditional media companies’ offers. It has also led to the emergence of new media
companies. The next diversification in the multiple digital distribution strategies of
media companies can relate to the provision of personalized mobile wireless
media content. However, before analyzing emerging strategic options for media
companies, we must observe changes in industry structure, and changes in activi-
ties of media companies by using the tool of the value chain in order to seek
potentials for building sustainable competitive advantage.
A lesson that media companies have learned from the Internet is that they do not
want to follow the Internet rule “follow the free”
26
. The media companies want to
charge for mobile Internet services, although it is still unclear if customers are will-
ing and ready to pay for such services after having been used to getting content
for free on the Internet. The telecoms have learned from past experience with
mobile communications that they must avoid distorted revenues, costs, and share
prices. For example, strong subsidies of handsets, in Europe have led to a distor-
tion of telecommunication companies’ customer base and the determination of the
industries’ leading revenue measure, the average revenue per user (ARPU). Subsi-
dizing prepaid phone handsets contributed to this trend. Consumers bought hand-
sets, used the prepaid card and simply bought a new handset instead of buying a
new prepaid card. Thus, the telecommunication companies’ customer base has
grown on paper, but not in revenue. The subsequent distortion of ARPU not only
leads to mistakes in internal processes bought forecasting demand and sales, but
also misleads shareholders.
The impact of strategy in mobile Internet markets is extremely high, because gain-
ing sustainable competitive advantage lies in differentiation
27
, awareness of cus-
tomer demand, and good estimation of technological development to overcome
the high level of uncertainty of the mobile Internet. These are the elements that
will determine if the mobile Internet can create economic value for the players
involved in the mobile value chain. Ultimately, this uncertainty will be resolved by
the uses and gratifications the mobile Internet will offer to businesses and con-
sumers. When we analyze the industry structure of mobile Internet markets related
to the media and telecommunications industries, we see that there is the potential
for profitability. However, we have yet to see who is going to capture the eco-
nomic benefits. This uncertainty is due to potential power shifts in the industry
and how much value can be reaped by the customers.
V. Feldmann
358 sbr 54 (4/2002)
25 See ECC (2002); ECC (2000).
26 See Jupiter MMXI (2002).
27 See Geng/Whinston (2001); Porter (2001).
3.1 CHANGING MARKET STRUCTURES IN THE CONVERGING MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT AND
MOBILE WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRIES
The rules of competition that determine an industry’s attractiveness and influence
a firm’s competitive strategy are embodied in five competitive forces
28
. The entry
of new competitors, the threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of buyers and
of suppliers, and the rivalry among the existing competitors determine a firm’s
profitability. The strength of these five competitive forces can change as an indus-
try evolves.
Mobile Internet
sbr 54 (4/2002) 359
28 See Porter (1998).
29 See Bughin/Lind/Stenius/Wilshire (2001).
Rivalry among
existing
competitors
Bargaining Power
of Suppliers
Buyers
Bargaining
Power of
Channels
Bargaining
Power of
End-Users
Barriers to Entry
Threat of Substitute
Products or Services
Adapted from: Porter (2001), p. 67
Competitors from the mobile
wireless telecommunications
industry enter the media industry
(+)
Access to mobile consumers through
a carrier
(+)
By adding another distribution platform,
media markets could be expanded, but
serve different needs
(+) 2.5G services are potentially sufficient, 4G
services are on the horizon
(-)
Lack of licenses to media content(+)
Strong brand identities of established
brands
(+)
Raises bargaining power over
licenses
(+)
The mobile Internet
provides a channel for
production companies to
reach end users,
reducing the leverage of
intervening companies
(+)
Attention
economy shifts
bargaining
power to end
consumers
(-) Binding
contracts
(+)Telecoms’
portals are
dependent on
content
(-)
Strong intra-medial competition(-)
Table 1: The Mobile Internet influences the Media Industry’s Structure
As the mobile Internet develops, the industry structure of the media and enter-
tainment industry turns into a relationship of co-opetition with wireless operators.
Rivalry among competitors extends from the competition among pure media com-
panies to the competition among players in the converging telecommunications
and media industries. Media companies gain in bargaining power, because con-
tent is suggested to be a main driver of the adoption of mobile communication
services in the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector.
With the option to establish mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) media
companies can use their core assets and enter the wireless telecommunications
market. From the point of view of wireless operators, the emergence of new play-
ers such as MVNOs will be even more crucial, if MVNOs such as media compa-
nies or Internet denovo companies, e.g. portals like Yahoo!
29
, establish strategic
reducing the leverage of
intermediating companies
Strong intra-medial competition
Competitors from the media
industry enter the mobile wireless
telecommunications industry
New distribution platforms complement
rather than substitute traditional media
markets by serving different needs
.
alliances with banks and other content and application providers. These players
not only have a lower churn rate than do the mobile carriers, but can also reduce
carriers to mere providers of pipes
30
. However, among the carriers’ most valuable
assets are their existing customer relationships. Barriers to market entry in the
wireless telecommunications market for established media companies therefore do
not represent major investments for spectrum licenses, network infrastructure, or
other physical assets. The carriers’ existing customer relationships and media com-
panies’ need for access to mobile consumers are instead a barrier to market entry.
Moreover, entry barriers include the ability to establish conventional telecommuni-
cation services and billing relationships with customers.
For potential new entrants who would like to pursue a similar approach to that of
existing media companies the lack of licenses and digital rights to attractive con-
tent could be one additional barrier to market entry. For these new entrants,
strong brand identities of established brands in the real world as well as in the
Internet can be another entry barrier. The brand extension of existing media
brands onto the mobile Internet will already attract a lot of the scarce attention
dedicated to the mobile Internet. However, the experiences of the mobile Internet
in Japan give evidence of competitive advantages for new entrants due to the dis-
ruptiveness of the mobile Internet
31
.
Substitute offerings are another specific and interesting characteristic of 3G mobile
wireless markets, because a potential threat does not come from an enhanced, but
from a reduced technology. 2.5G services could be sufficient for business and
consumer needs
32
. These services already offer enough bandwidth to deliver new
media services. This characteristic means even greater uncertainty for investments
in future 3G markets. The cost structure for 2.5G services is far less, and relative
price performance of 2.5G services has good potential to outperform 3G services.
In Japan, the success of i-mode can so far not be duplicated for NTT DoCoMo’s
3G Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA) services. Consumers do not
perceive that FOMA offers enough additional value to justify higher prices for
handsets and services
33
. In comparison to the 2.5G offers, the increasing adoption
of wireless local area networks (WLANs) poses substantial threats to 3G license
holders as a possible shortcut to 4G
34
, although WLANs are rather seen as a com-
plementary technology. Traditional media as a potential substitute will not
threaten mobile Internet offers because of its different usage context and its com-
plementary relationship.
The bargaining power of suppliers will decrease on the one hand, because of
strong internal competition in, e.g., handset manufacturers’ and telecommunica-
tion equipment suppliers’ markets. Bargaining power can increase however
V. Feldmann
360 sbr 54 (4/2002)
30 See Harrigan (2001).
31 The concept of disruptive technologies and their implications on incumbents and new entrants has
been developed by Christensen (1997) and has been applied to the mobile Internet by Funk
(2001a).
32 See Knorr (2001); moreover, applications such as streaming video will not be feasible in 3G net-
works due to transmission speeds of up to 384 kbps that are far below initial expectations.
33 See Nishimura (2002).
34 In Europe, HiperLAN2 is an interesting system that is also designed for wide area networks. See
Dornan (2002) for the comparison of different 4G systems.
through the differentiation of inputs. Suppliers can negotiate on features, such as
built-in cameras, that they are asked to integrate to ensure the usability of applica-
tions the telecoms and media companies want to offer. License owners of media
content can also increase their bargaining power in renegotiating digital rights of
produced content. Production companies, those former suppliers to media compa-
nies, can close direct contracts with telecom operators and reduce the leverage of
media companies as intermediaries between content producers and consumers.
Buyers will have the highest increase in bargaining power. End users gain in bar-
gaining power, because their scarce attention is highly valued
35
. A lack of product
and service acceptance in mobile Internet markets can burn through a huge
amount of invested capital. Since the network operators or MVNOs have a strong
interest in developing and sustaining the kind of customer satisfaction that can
lead to customer loyalty and customer retention, the power of the buyer increases.
One customer lock-in effect that decreases bargaining power and differentiates the
Internet from the mobile Internet is the predominance of binding contracts
between network operator and customers
36
; the exception to this rule are prepaid
models in B2C markets. Media companies can also raise switching costs for con-
sumers through their branded content and regain some of their bargaining power
by using exclusive content contracts with certain wireless carriers. Consumers
loose bargaining power if they wish access to the exclusive media content and
related pushed (advertising) services
37
. However, public policy is concerned with
open access to content and will therefore strive for strengthening buyers’ bargain-
ing power for mobile wireless content services
38
. The deployment of the mobile
Internet will likely put pressure on the profitability of the converging media and
wireless telecommunication industries by shifting power to consumers.
3.2 MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES IN THE MOBILE VALUE CHAIN
The activities that a media company performs to design, produce, market, deliver,
and support its products is represented in its value chain
39
. The value chain
reflects a firm’s history, its strategy, its implementation, and the underlying eco-
nomics of the activities themselves.
The value activities can be divided into primary and support activities. To discuss
some of the potential changes in the value chain due to the emergence of the
mobile Internet, we must further subdivide these activities. The five generic cate-
gories of primary activities are inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics,
marketing and sales, and services. Through real-time and advanced demand man-
Mobile Internet
sbr 54 (4/2002) 361
35 See Davenport/Beck (2001).
36 Number portability that has been introduced in Germany in 2002 will lessen the lock-in effects of
wireless operators’ contracts again in the near future.
37 A EU bill from May 2002 has called for an opt-in system that prohibits the placement of commer-
cial e-mails or SMS without the person’s explicit permission.
38 Noam (2002) argues for an implementation of regulatory measures to protect consumers’ interests
of choice and free access to content.
39 See Porter (1998), p. 36.
aging and planning, the mobile Internet enhances both inbound and outbound
logistics, and services to consumers and advertising clients
40
. Real-time services
could be offered on the mobile Internet, from digital content order processing to
product development and delivery status and integrated channel management. Vir-
tual mobile Internet services can be linked to telephone voice services and
thereby allow interaction with skilled personnel. Contact with staff in call centers
or with customer relation managers in companies could be established through a
one-click-button so that customer satisfaction with the integrated virtual and real
experience advances. Whereas Internet transactions often require physical activi-
ties in the value chain such as warehousing and shipping as a result of virtual
ordering, the mobile Internet will require virtual activities like SMS-based services
as a result of consumers’ physical activity and roaming.
The most profound changes in the value chain of media and entertainment com-
panies will be associated with marketing and sales. The means by which con-
sumers can purchase digital content will extend to all devices connected via a
wireless network. Media companies can tailor mobile wireless media to personal
needs via opt-in marketing that ensures personal relevance of content. Means of
persuading consumers to purchase, such as advertising and promotion, can be
augmented by using wireless communications tools. Mobile Internet or SMS-based
surveys as a means of real-time customer feedback are a promising new tool for
mobile marketing efforts. Location-based services may have only restricted poten-
tial to create competitive advantage in the near future. Evidence from Japan shows
that implementing location-based services is very difficult. It requires enormous
capabilities in real-time, third party data, and transaction management, and also
exceeds current carrier billing models
41
. However, price-reductions coupons,
mobile electronic commerce, and mobile community-building around media con-
tent are relevant applications that strengthen customer relations in the media and
entertainment companies’ value chain.
The value chain as a basic tool for understanding the influence of the mobile
Internet on media companies can also be used for the analysis of elements of an
industry’s value chain. The value chain of the mobile wireless communications
industry consists of four distinct segments that can serve consumers and busi-
nesses: these are equipment, networks, software, and services. Players in the
equipment segment provide components, infrastructure, and devices. Wireless car-
riers represent the network segment. Enabling software and services contribute
among other things portals, communication and transaction services, and content.
Mobile content providers are important drivers in the mobile Internet value chain.
Therefore, upstream players make strategic alliances with media companies. For
example, Nokia as a handset manufacturer has partnered with the mobile portal of
the Financial Times. Vodafone and Vivendi founded their joint venture, Vizzavi, in
April 2000. Internet portals like Yahoo! cooperate with “real people”-TV formats
such as “Survivor” in order to offer games and entertainment news on mobile
V. Feldmann
362 sbr 54 (4/2002)
40 The described real-time activities are part of Porter’s 5th stage of information technology evolution
that optimizes various activities in real-time. See Porter (2001), p. 75.
41 See Funk (2001a).
devices. Also, new intermediaries emerge, such as AvantGo, which serves as a
content aggregator and syndicator on PDAs. Users of the AvantGo service can syn-
chronize the content channels they subscribe to every time they connect their
PDA to the (wireless) Internet. Carriers are negotiating to control the content pro-
vided via their networks and portals through exclusive content contracts for, e.g.,
event-driven content such as a hit movies or a sports event. However, for publish-
ers of digital content like ABCNews.com, Cnet.com, or The Weather Channel,
exclusive contracts with only one wireless carrier is not a dominant strategy. This
development is not only true for media players in the mobile value chain, but for
players of any other industry, e.g. the retailing or financial industries, that will
seek for mobile Internet strategies to gain competitive advantage.
3.3 CREATING SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Analyzing media companies’ value chain in the mobile Internet offers one way to
examine sources of competitive advantage. Following Porter’s (2001) argumenta-
tion on strategy and the Internet, sustainable competitive advantage is most likely
to be reached through the design of the strategic positioning. Operational effec-
tiveness is a prerequisite for offering competitive pricing structures to customers.
Since there is a higher probability for an open platform for content and applica-
tions, as it is already practiced in parts in Japan by NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode ser-
vice
42
, instead of an exclusive “walled garden” strategy, packaging of products and
services gets a greater importance. The aggregation of mobile wireless content has
to be personally relevant.
Unlike the fixed Internet, where customers can keep a certain level of anonymity,
the subscriber identity module (SIM) card of mobile devices identifies its user. As
one result, the potentials of (mass) customization, such as that opened by the
Internet, can be enhanced by true personalization of mobile Internet services. The
degree of personalization and the degree of usage relevance that a media com-
pany will be able to establish will to a large extent determine the degree of its
competitive advantage. This importance of personalization will even be enforced
through the ability to create an integrated communications system. In such a sys-
tem, the mobile Internet is one part that complements the whole and supports
and develops a user’s voice and data communications activities.
The context of how the consumer uses the mobile Internet also comprises the
enhanced opportunities to combine virtual and physical activities. Its ubiquity and
real-time capabilities and its potential for use with many devices, including micro-
processors in clothes or even the body as suggested in concepts of ubiquitous
computing, opens new dimensions to customers’ everyday experience of informa-
tion access in the physical world. Strategic positioning of media companies that
will exploit this hybrid context of use may create uniqueness and promote indis-
pensability as sources of sustainable competitive advantage.
Mobile Internet
sbr 54 (4/2002) 363
42 I-mode offers an open platform for content; however, DoCoMo contracts only with a limited
amount of preferred content providers for representation in the official menu and billing capabili-
ties. This hybrid approach between open platform and “walled garden” is also pursued for i-mode
services in Europe.
Forming strategic alliances with credit card companies, banks, retailers, or munici-
pal corporations for location-based services within a city can lead to distinct ser-
vices. This formation of business webs will allow media and entertainment com-
panies to enter the mobile transaction business and develop new features for their
audience as well as their advertising clients. The mobile Internet will make it pos-
sible and easier for the consumer to use media or purchase online while he or she
is actually in an inspiring physical environment. This capability also offers poten-
tial for network operators to capture parts of profits gained via the mobile Internet
by setting up a commission fee for the back-end billing that they would never be
able to access through fixed (mobile) e-commerce. Automated payment systems
based on the recognition of the customer through the SIM card can also make
mobile commerce more convenient than traditional forms of e-commerce. The
customer avoids filling in forms on shipping and billing information every time a
new product/service provider is used.
For building sources of competitive advantage, the discussed level of high uncer-
tainty means an increased importance of strategy for the mobile Internet that inte-
grates traditional competitive advantage and new sources that exploit the mobile
Internet characteristics. These sources are reflected in the changing industry struc-
ture, the value chain of the mobile wireless industry, and the value chain of indi-
vidual media firms and must be translated into media companies’ business models.
4EMERGING BUSINESS MODELS FOR MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES IN THE
MOBILE INTERNET
Business models for media and entertainment companies in the fixed-line Internet
comprise, e.g., infomediary, advertising, and subscription models. Under the
assumption that marginal costs of reproduction and distribution of digital informa-
tion goods are close to zero
43
, it is rational for a content provider to distribute
existing and newly produced content on a plurality of digital platforms. However,
it is still difficult to predict what kind of business model will be profitable and sus-
tainable in the Internet.
By analysing the available definitions of business models, we can identify six
generic elements: mission, structure, processes, revenues, legal issues, and tech-
nology
44
. The mission provides strategic goals and the value proposition, the
structure determines the roles and agents of the business community. Processes
show the elements of the customer-oriented value-creation process and its coordi-
nation mechanism. Revenues analyse the sources of revenues and the business
logic. Legal issues and technology have to be considered along all dimensions of
the business model.
Business models in the media and entertainment industries often focus on specific
elements of a business model, such as the source of revenue. The predominant
advertising model in traditional media markets has not proven very successful on
V. Feldmann
364 sbr 54 (4/2002)
43 See Bakos/Brynjolfsson (2000).
44 See Alt/Zimmermann (2001).
the Internet. Even if it is combined with subscription models like the Interactive
Edition of the Wall Street Journal, WSJ.com
45
, it is still difficult to extract rents from
the activities and the value the content provides to the targeted customer seg-
ments.
The traditional media has seen the Internet as a complement to other distribution
platforms, one that offers added value to the customer and that needs to adjust its
offers to the characteristics and specifics of the Internet. Mobile media strategies
might also complement existing stationary media
46
. Existing content can benefit
from the stronger customer loyalty created by ubiquitous, real-time media brand
access. Moreover, mobile media can be further personalized. In the mobile Inter-
net, media companies will focus again on the sources of revenue, which will be
dependent on the customer’s perception of the value proposition.
Revenue-generating business models in the mobile Internet could possibly rely on
the advertising model again. Sponsorship of media content is one promising form
of mobile advertisement. Integrating media content and time-sensitive and loca-
tion-based advertising services from media advertising clients that consumers can
opt in might be of value. Cross-promotion is an important benefit of mobilizing
media brands. For media companies, it can strengthen the media brand through
availability on all digital platforms that complement each other. To advertising cus-
tomers, it offers more cross-media activities, using new packages of cross-promo-
tion and an improved consumer targeting by mobile advertisement.
Wireless advertising is yet another example for the co-opetition between media
companies and wireless operators. In Japan, the wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo and
the advertising agency Dentsu have formed a joint venture that specializes on
wireless advertising and successfully delivers its services, e.g., electronic coupons.
According to a study conducted by Jupiter Media Matrix, wireless advertising will
be hindered by the limits of the platform and per-minute or per-byte charges
47
.
However, the study assigns strong feasibility to the sponsorship of content that
builds brands by linking them to useful content. Other data shows that click-
through rates in the mobile Internet are more than ten times higher than they are
for PC-based web advertising
48
. The high click-through response rates could be
attributed to their novelty value, though.
But also subscription models are very successful in Japan. This raises hopes that in
Europe, the US, and the Americas similar services will lead to comparable con-
sumers’ willingness to pay for digital content
49
. Windowing and versioning strate-
gies
50
can be extended to the mobile Internet to generate multiple revenue
streams for media companies. Revenue flows for content providers can come from
Mobile Internet
sbr 54 (4/2002) 365
45 See Steinbock (2000).
46 See Rawolle/Kirchfeld/Hess (2002).
47 See Jupiter Media Matrix (2000), p. 24.
48 See Durlacher Research (2001), p. 95.
49 The adoption of i-mode in Europe is rather modest during its first months of introduction. How-
ever, about 30% of the consumers that have decided to subscribe to the i-mode service also use
content subscription channels. See http://www.eplus-imode.de/1/de/html/pub/presse/index.html.
50 See Shapiro/Varian (1998).
even more sources. Apart from revenues generated at the media companies’ two
relevant markets, the audience and advertising clients, content providers can
negotiate to receive revenue shares of data access charges from network opera-
tors. Additionally, mobile wireless transactions made through mobile wireless
media content sites might lead to commission fees.
Media content providers in mobile environments include developers of original
content for various digital distribution platforms, license holders of digital media
content, and pure content aggregators that package and structure content from dif-
ferent sources for delivery over mobile wireless networks. Media content
providers have three distinct strategic options to distribute mass-media content via
mobile platforms. The syndication strategy distributes existing content to new
intermediaries or third party portals. The portal strategy builds on the brand asset
media brands can provide. The mobile virtual network operator strategy binds the
media company closer to the consumer and emphasizes customer relationship
management.
4.1 SYNDICATION STRATEGY
The syndication of content is a well-known concept in the media and entertain-
ment industries. The Internet has re-interpreted this concept
51
. Syndication on the
Internet involves the sale of the same product to many customers who integrate it
into their offerings and redistribute it. For example, financial news providers syn-
dicate their content to websites, e.g., websites of financial institutions or financial
service providers, who in turn can focus on their core competencies. Another
model involves intermediaries such as iSyndicate, which bundle branded media
content and package and sell it to other distributors.
Syndication has become a widely accepted model of generating multiple revenue
streams from digital content. Price differentiation can apply by using different lev-
els of consumer acceptance of timeliness of content and the context in which it is
consumed. Digital content is especially useful for that purpose, considering the
near-zero marginal costs of reproduction and multiple distributions. On the mobile
Internet, publishers can syndicate their existing content to third party portals, e.g.,
portals of telecom operators. Soneras’s Zed, British Telecom’s Genie, Deutsche
Telecom’s T-Mobile all partner with content providers to offer news and entertain-
ment services to their customers and to drive data traffic. New intermediaries such
as AvantGo emerge and fixed-line Internet syndicators expand their Internet strat-
egy. AvantGo offers a variety of mobile content channels that consumers can sub-
scribe to on their PDAs. Whenever consumers synchronize their PDA with their
desktop, the latest data, such as the mobile edition of The Economist.com, is
transmitted. The range of news and entertainment reaches from cnet.com to astrol-
ogy.com and location-based crime news for wireless. Vindigo is a mobile start-up
that provides mobile localized interactive services, syndicating information from
branded editorial sources. Mobile service providers like Iobox.com or 1StopMo-
bile.com offer, among a wide range of SMS info services, the download of ring-
V. Feldmann
366 sbr 54 (4/2002)
51 See Werbach (2000a).
tones, display pictures, and screen savers that are in part syndicated from music
labels or comic strip producers.
The syndication model proves to be specifically valuable, if media content
providers only want to expand their content onto a new platform without invest-
ing heavily into the production of new, medium-tailored content. It also provides
opportunities to weaker media brands to gain attention and usage.
4.2 PORTAL STRATEGY
Mobile media portals can only be established by strong media brands that attract
substantial attention. Mobile portals are the point of entry to the mobile Internet.
Scale will influence the profitability of a mobile portal
52
. To ensure scale, mobile
portals must excel in providing ease of access, including technology, pricing, and
openness; providing awareness through branding and networking; and by provid-
ing the right services that enable them to gain strategic control. Mobile portal
operators have the ability to set the default portal and thus determine what menus
and what services appear.
In general, branded portals can be established by network operators, handset
manufacturers, retail, financial industry, mass media, and Internet companies.
There are two different kinds of branded portals, horizontal and vertical portals. In
the mobile screen space, personalization and the desire for instant gratification
lead to the assumption that vertical portals could be successful. An entertainment
brand such as MTV could establish a vertical portal. Yet, its credibility for the
delivery of, e.g., political news that might also be of interest to the increasingly
hybrid consumer, is doubtable. But also horizontal portals can encounter difficul-
ties. For example, the Internet media company Yahoo! has launched Yahoo!
mobile. The Internet portal follows the Yahoo! Everywhere strategy, moving estab-
lished digital services like site directory, e-mail, and instant messaging on mobile
distribution platforms. Yahoo! offers syndicated alerts on news, sports, stocks, and
weather. It provides local information such as Yellow Pages listings, restaurant list-
ings, entertainment guides, and travel resources. Yahoo! users can play games like
Trivia, Black Jack, or Alien Fish Exchange. In 2001, Yahoo! mobile partnered with
the CBS TV program “Survivor”. Together, Yahoo! and CBS have created the
mobile “Survivor Pick’em” game where the audience can decide over the fate of
the players in the real people TV show. However, evidence from Japan shows that
new players in the mobile portal business are a lot more successful than Internet
portals such as Yahoo! that pursue a diversification strategy of their core busi-
nesses
53
.
Media company Vivendi has formed the joint venture Vizzavi together with the
wireless operator Vodafone. The pan-European company aims at becoming the
leading multi-access portal through its mobile portal and entertainment content and
services. Vizzavi integrates narrowband, broadband, broadcasting, and wireless,
Mobile Internet
sbr 54 (4/2002) 367
52 See Bughin/Lind/Stenius/Wilshire (2001).
53 See Funk (2001a).
creating a portal for the two partners’ mobile phone and pay TV subscribers. It
combines core competencies in content, aggregation, and distribution
54
. Vizzavi fol-
lows a local strategy, acting in markets in France, the UK, Netherlands, Germany,
Italy, and Japan. The services they offer in their country-specific portals relate to
news, including job listings, and entertainment categories like sports, travel, leisure,
finance, games, and shopping. To build an advertising revenue model, Vizzavi
plans to implement sophisticated data mining techniques. However, doubts about
the multichannel communication portal and difficulties in implementing this con-
cept illustrate the challenges combined with such a portal strategy
55
.
Mobile entertainment portals that focus on wireless gaming are appearing and con-
stitute an interesting option for media companies
56
. The community building around
such a mobile entertainment portal that is necessary, e.g., for multiplayer games, is
one core competence that media and entertainment companies have developed
through their online strategies for media content. Loyal gaming communities evolve
from portals in the fixed Internet; similary, the wireless gaming industry is develop-
ing mechanisms to meet the requirements for building loyal wireless gaming com-
munities. An entertainment portal for mobile wireless multiplayer gaming could also
take advantage of emerging mobile wireless peer-to-peer applications
57
.
Portals deliver relevant and personalized content, commerce, and community
functions. The recent failures of new start-up Internet portals indicate that in
mobile environments portals may also encounter difficulties in succeeding as a
stand-alone business. Therefore, successful mobile portals may be pushed largely
by existing brands
58
. If strong media brands additionally own complementary
assets such as experiences in direct customer relationship management, they
might go one step further and pursue a mobile virtual network operator strategy.
4.3 MOBILE VIRTUAL NETWORK OPERATOR STRATEGY
To recoup the investments operators have made and will make for UMTS license
and network costs, mobile network operators have strong incentives to open up
their networks to third parties. Mobile network operators can act as wholesalers to
virtual operators (VOs) from telecom, retail, media, financial, and automotive
industries. VOs have access to the networks of one or more mobile network oper-
ators
59
. However, the right to use radio spectrum in GSM and UMTS designated
frequency bands stays with the mobile network operators. VOs offer services
under their own brand and maintain the contract and billing relationship with the
customers. In some markets, VOs are intermediaries that offer integrated commu-
nication services. In addition to mobile access services, they provide bundles con-
sisting of cable, fixed-line and mobile access.
V. Feldmann
368 sbr 54 (4/2002)
54 See Rose (2000).
55 See Gribnitz (2002); N.N. (2001). The problematic implementation process will become even more
critical after Vivendi’s strategy shifts planned by its new management, deployed in July 2002.
56 See Raghu/Ramesh/Whinston (2002).
57 See Feldmann (2002).
58 See Durlacher Research (2001), p. 29.
59 For a conceptual and legal distinction between MVNO’s and service providers see Kurth (2001).
UMTS technologies significantly increase traffic capacity per carrier. Thus, provid-
ing third parties with capacity is a means to maintain optimal levels of traffic
60
. It
is also a way to generate additional revenue, since revenues from voice services
alone are not sufficient for a 3G system. License holders must develop a range of
advanced applications for secondary spectrum markets that are marketed and
bundled differently for different market segments
61
. To maximize 3G revenues,
license holders have a strong incentive to lease parts of their spectrum wholesale
to value-added resellers. These MVNOs could target specific customer segments.
Advanced brands may have an interest in buying airtime and bandwidth from net-
work operators, from the retail business, e.g. Tesco in the UK, to Internet compa-
nies like E-Bay, mobile portals like Io-box, or traditional media companies. In
March 2001, the Financial Times Group and The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC
launched a commercial joint venture to a virtual mobile network, offering high
quality phones, premium business and financial content, and first-class after-sales
service. Virgin Mobile is a strong diversified consumer brand that functions as a
mobile virtual network operator. It focuses its efforts on branding and pricing and
is currently seeking global expansion.
A clear advantage of a mobile virtual operator strategy for media companies is to
hold and build the direct customer relationship and multiply revenue streams, not
only by participating further in advertising and subscription revenues, but also by
click-through and commission fees, and foremost by airtime and data revenue.
MVNOs have complete control over their SIM cards, branding, marketing and pro-
motion, billing, and customer-facing services
62
. Media companies such as Bertels-
mann are in a strong position to opt for an MVNO strategy. Due to its book clubs,
Bertelsmann already has extensive knowledge and experience in distribution net-
work management and direct customer relationship management. However, for
any third party MVNO, it is a challenge to champion the telecommunications man-
agement that is not part of MVNO players’ core competency. Investment into
building this expertise could possibly outweigh the benefits that can be reaped.
5CONCLUSIONS
The mobile Internet offers distinct features related to personalization, and time
and location sensitivity that reveal the opportunity for profitability in mobile wire-
less media markets. Yet, technological standards are as uncertain as is future con-
sumer demand.
There are clear motivations for engagement in the mobile Internet. Consumers are
looking for instant gratification, and media companies strive for leveraging their
brands, and strengthening their customer relationships to their audience and their
advertising clients. Telecommunication companies need content to drive traffic
into their networks to recoup past and future investments.
Mobile Internet
sbr 54 (4/2002) 369
60 See Valletti (1999).
61 See McKnight/Linsenmayer/Lehr (2001).
62 See McKnight/Linsenmayer/Lehr (2001), p. 9.
The strategic challenges alter competitive strategy in the mobile Internet. The
mobile Internet leads to co-opetition in the media, entertainment, and wireless
telecommunications industries. This development is changing industry structure
and bargaining power among the five leading forces that constitute industry struc-
ture. Because much bargaining power will shift to the consumers of mobile ser-
vices, media companies need to re-evaluate their activities reflected by the value
chain and their position in the industry’s mobile value chain.
Competitive advantage will depend strongly on differentiation and strategy. The
strategic positioning must be reflected in the emerging business models. Depend-
ing on the strength of their brands, experiences with direct customer relationships,
and the willingness to investments, media companies have the option to pursue
either a syndication strategy, a portal strategy, or an MVNO strategy.
Outperforming the average competitor will require knowledge and skills of realis-
tic and solid business fundamentals to reap economic value from changes in bar-
gaining power. Media companies must create relevance for businesses’ and con-
sumers’ everyday life by reinforcing integrated virtual and physical activities to
compensate for the mobile Internet’s performance limits. The current reluctance of
media companies to develop competitive strategies for the mobile Internet
demonstrates the wide range of difficulties that are connected with the decisions
on the mobile wireless media strategy and calls for further investigation.
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