Last week's column examined Internet Myopia from the perspective of the consumer value chain. This week we will take the concept through the business value chain. For e-businesses and content providers, the business value chain is more manageable.
Companies can choose to have direct control over multiple elements in the value chain.
However, greater control may come at higher economic costs. Outsourcing the access network allows companies to source competitive bids. In addition, once a technology choice is made, it can be costly and timely to switch. The access network is the most tenuous part of the business value chain for a number of reasons. First, access networks are mostly outsourced due to network economies of scale.