Modes of governance of new service development for mobile networks: A life cycle perspective

Abstract

This paper focuses on governance modes for service development of mobile telephone networks (GSM, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), GPRS, UMTS). ‘Services’ refer to services containing information. The paper shows that the phase of the life cycle of the network and the service affects the choice of governance mode of new service development projects. Governance modes include internal development by the telecom operator, several forms of collaboration between telecom operator and service firm, and only providing a network by the telecom operator to the service firm, which then develops and provides its services (external). In this paper a model is developed for the governance mode of service development in different phases of the life cycles of the mobile network and service, based on the degrees of uncertainty and urgency involved in the network and service development processes. Four cases are presented of service development projects for mobile telecom networks. These cases indicate that the number of redesigns and the level of communication costs in collaboration projects indeed depend on the degree of urgency and uncertainty involved in these projects, which are in turn affected by the life cycle of the network and service.