Fixed to Mobile Convergence (FMC): technological convergence and the restructuring of the European telecommunications industry”, SPRU 40th Anniversary B12Conference

The European telecommunications industry is in transition. Innovation and regulation have transformed the competitive environment, the organization of the industry, and the status of the incumbent firms. One of the objectives of the telecommunications industry’s deregulation process was to unbundle progressively the industry into competitive markets (terminal equipment, satellite communications, value added services, mobile telephony, network infrastructure and the voice telephony) and regulated segments of the value chain (e.g., last mile). Twenty years after these reforms in the European telecommunications industry, specific market structures are reintegrated as the result of the co-evolution of technologies and market dynamics (Vong Srivastava and Finger, 2005). These significant changes affect not only traditional market structures but also the coordination among actors in the management of their innovation efforts. These modifications impact progressively the current regulatory framework governing each market and the incumbent firms ’ capabilities along the value chain. Indeed, the vertical reintegration of market structures poses significant challenges to institutions and to incumbent firms ’ capabilities. The early stage of Fixed to Mobile Convergence (FMC) in services and products illustrates this vertica