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doi:10.1016/j.te

Telecommunications Policy 31 (2007) 438–439

www.elsevierbusinessandmanagement.com/locate/telpol

Book review

Mobile Strategies—Understanding Wireless Business Models, MVNOs and the Growth of Mobile Content,

Weiss, T., Futuretext, London (2006). 186pp., Paperback, £19.99, ISBN : 0-9544327-7-0

This book seeks to explain the different wireless business models that have been adopted so that businesseswishing to enter the mobile industry can determine whether they should do so. With this in mind, the book isdivided into 11 chapters. After the introductory chapter, the remaining 10 chapters of the book are groupedinto three parts. The three chapters of part 1 provide a selected history of the telecommunications industry.Chapter 2 describes the evolution of the industry. The first half of the chapter focuses on the evolution oftelecommunication technologies, whilst the second half concentrates on the introduction of competition at thestart of the 1980s. In Chapter 3, the diversity and evolution of wireless technologies is highlighted, withparticular attention being paid to radio and TV broadcasting as well as satellite TV.

The final chapter in this part concentrates on the mobile telecommunications industry. The growth of themobile industry and the proliferation of standards start the chapter, which then moves on to moresubstantively address the roles taken on by a mobile network operator (MNO). The economics of running amobile network, as well as its revenue sources, are both discussed before the chapter concludes with a briefmention of the mobile ecosystem.

Chapters 5–7 form the second part of the book that purports to describe the state of art. Given the title ofChapter 5—who needs a network—it is no surprise that it focuses on mobile virtual network operators(MVNO). The chapter begins by noting that launching an MVNO is a major endeavour that has preventedmany brand owners from launching their services before describing the roles performed by MVNOs. Themiddle part of the chapter focuses on the possible MVNO strategies that may be adopted, highlighting the roleof prices, bundling and brands. The chapter concludes with a one-page description of MVNO business modelsand a brief guide to starting one.

Short message service (SMS) and handsets are the subject of Chapters 6 and 7 respectively. Chapter 6acknowledges the significant role of SMS for operators before suggesting various strategies to promote SMSwhilst Chapter 7 focuses on the relationship between handsets and content. It is argued that handsets may bepersonalised through faceplates, ringtones and wallpaper and that content may be sold through one of threechannels—directly to consumers or indirectly through either MNOs or content aggregators.

The final part of the book considers how the wireless industry may evolve in the coming years. Chapter 8tackles the mobile Internet, arguing that its emergence was inevitable once colour screens and other technicalissues were resolved. A significant proportion of the chapter is given over to a discussion as to why i-mode hasbeen so successful and how mobile Internet may develop in the coming years. It is concluded that the mobileInternet will only grow in Europe once networks and devices are improved and compelling content madeavailable. Chapter 9 concentrates on three different types of content—games, music and TV—to explorewhether mobile media is ever likely to become a mass market. The final chapter in this part of the book askswhether new technologies such as 3G can deliver a suitable platform on which new services can develop. Thebook concludes with a brief chapter that offers guidance as to how successful strategies and business modelsshould be identified.

The first point that can be made is that this book is not written for an academic audience. Setting aside thehandful of acknowledgements associated with examples, no references are included within the main body ofthe text and whilst there is a glossary and index at the end of the book, there is no reference list orbibliography. There are also some factual errors in the first part of the book such as the incorrect date of BT’s

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privatisation. Although these are minor, they do undermine the confidence that the reader has in thesubsequent points that are made as the book progresses.

As the sub-title implies, the book is wide-ranging in scope yet it is only 186 pages long. The inevitableconsequence of this trade-off is that depth has been sacrificed for scope. Too often points are made in swiftsuccession without being elaborated, and the lack of references means that the reader cannot follow upthemselves on any points that may be of interest. It is perhaps no surprise that the longer and more detailedparts of the book, such as Chapter 5, are also the most rewarding for the reader. As each chapter covers abroad array of material, their structure is clearly important. Whilst each chapter in the three parts of the bookdoes contain an introductory and concluding comment, some are better structured than others in that theircontent relates to and supports one another.

It is also worth asking whether the book is successful in achieving its stated aim of identifying businessopportunities for companies located outside of the mobile telecommunications industry. The book doesidentify a range of business opportunities that could be exploited, but it does not provide anything other thana relatively brief critical appraisal of these opportunities. A few success stories are described, but these are notas rigorously assessed as they could have been. This is unfortunate as the author’s background in mobilecontent naturally lends itself to such an appraisal. Against this should be counted the second of the stated aimsof the author, namely, to provide a relatively high-level overview of the opportunities. In this respect, theauthor has been successful.

All things considered, this book offers relatively little to an academic audience other than to act as anintroductory or overview text for those not familiar with wireless business models. The book may have morevalue as a practitioner orientated book, though the lack of references does hinder its ability to act as aspringboard for further reading by would-be investors in the mobile wireless industry.

Jason WhalleyDepartment of Management Science,

Strathclyde Business School, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

E-mail address: jason.whalley@strath.ac.uk