Strategic focus of incumbents in the European telecommunications industry: The cases of BT, Deutsche Telekom and KPN

Authors:
H.L. (Hans) van Kranenburg;John Hagedoorn
Affiliations:
Department of Strategy and Marketing, Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9108, 6500 HK Nijmegen, The Netherlands;Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Organization and Strategy, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Venue:
Telecommunications Policy
Year:
2008

Citing 0
Cited 6

Factors determining municipal broadband strategies across Europe

Telecommunications Policy
Complexity in the telecommunications industry: When integrating infrastructure and services backfires

Telecommunications Policy
Dynamic estimation of markets exhibiting a prey-predator behavior

Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal
Dynamic performance analysis of U.S. wireline telecommunication companies

Telecommunications Policy
Competition in wholesale markets: Do MNOs compete to host MVNOs?

Telecommunications Policy
Mapping worldwide mobile networks: Some problems and indicative solutions

Telecommunications Policy

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

This study investigates the internal and external strategic choices that telecommunications firms, operating in a dynamic network environment, make to adapt to changes and to respond quickly in order to create or to sustain their competitive advantage. In particular, in the European telecommunications industry incumbent firms have faced important challenges from new technologies, liberalization and the convergence of markets. The leading European telecommunications companies initially focused on new markets and new businesses, emphasizing their plans to become major players in relevant markets. However, after the telecommunications euphoria companies were more restrained due to their huge burden of debt and their market value. Through refocusing or restructuring, these companies have tried to streamline their businesses in order to restore their value and to improve their competitiveness. Insight into the specific strategic actions of traditional telecommunications companies in Europe to the recent developments in the industry is provided from the analysis of three leading traditional telecommunications companies: BT, Deutsche Telekom and KPN.