Mobile Internet Services in Japan and Europe: Examining Industrial Organisation in Relation to Interactive Electronic Publishing

Based on our field and desk-research , this paper will discuss the current situation of mobile telephones in relation to electronic publishing—a convergence that remains yet to be developed-- with a view to the feasibility of interactive electronic publishing availability in these devices. Our paper offers a special focus on the different modes of stakeholder organization that exist in Japan and Europe, given that the main actors involved in the field of mobile Internet, i.e. telecom operators, handset manufacturers and content providers, interact very differently in these two regions. There are marked distinctions between the Japanese model, which is strictly coordinated by one player, and the European model, which makes more use of open standards without a dominant party. The result has been that electronic publishing content has taken off rapidly in Japan, with an abundance of services available, while in Europe it is virtually non-existent. The relevance of the contrastive appro...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: ELPUB
• Authors: Myriam Diocaretz, Richard Tee
• Keywords: Electronic Publishing, Electronic Publishing Availability, Electronic Publishing—a Convergence, ELPUB 2003