Competition and strategic dilemmas in the telecommunications industry : making the triple play /

Southern Bell Corporation, now AT&T, decided to upgrade its existing networks by extending its optical fiber network only to the neighborhood nodes and use existing telephone twisted pair copper wires to connect nodes with households. Leaders of Verizon Communications, on the other hand, decided...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dekleva, Sasha (Author), Zadony, Markian (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: London : Palgrave MacMillan UK, 2015.
Series:SAGE Knowledge. Cases.
Subjects:
Online Access:Connect to the full text of this electronic book
Description
Summary:Southern Bell Corporation, now AT&T, decided to upgrade its existing networks by extending its optical fiber network only to the neighborhood nodes and use existing telephone twisted pair copper wires to connect nodes with households. Leaders of Verizon Communications, on the other hand, decided to extend their optical fiber network all the way to homes at much higher cost. The choice of which of the two approaches was a better business decision is the main dilemma in the case. The network upgrades were necessary to keep telecommunication operators competitive with cable television companies, which after they upgraded their networks started offering the 'triple play,' a combination of video programming, telephone, and Internet services. The case reviews the history of telecommunication and cable industries in the United States, which leads to exploration of the key issues including (i) whether, and if so how competition in the telecommunication industry is even possible, (ii) how much bandwidth do we really need, and (iii) what is the effect of various compression techniques, convergence of digital technologies, and what other countries are doing. The case (describing the state of the industry at about the start of 2011) addresses an issue affecting all of us as we decide what services to select for our entertainment and communication needs.
Item Description:Originally Published InDekleva, S., & Zadony, M. (2015). Competition and strategic dilemmas in the telecommunications industry: Making the triple play. Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases, 5, 45-55.
Physical Description:1 online resource : illustrations.
ISBN:9781526478160
1526478161