and Telia connectivity Customers Trans- portal provider content Retail Service and Tele2 connectivity Customers portal provider Reuters content Service and connectivity (Customers) portal Tickets provider Example of value chains with portals Figure 4.21 The position of the portals Telecom Business Application Service Provider The terminology is not quite clear regarding application service providers. For example, sometimes the content provider role is combined with a very general application (service) provider role. Sometimes the interpretation is narrower and business oriented, according to the following description. An application service provider offers access to applications (such as software) and related services on a rental basis via the Internet. This role has evolved and also fits in the context of web services, as 'software-as-a-service' provider. ASP services are an important alternative, not only for smaller companies and individu- als with small technology budgets, but also for larger companies as a form of outsourcing. There will be a transition from locally installed applications to network-enabled applica- tions and software. See Figure 4.22. Another interpretation sees ASP as a role between a content provider and a service provider in a value chain serving for example the mobile market. The original role was defined: to deploy, host, manage and lease packaged application software to customers from centrally managed data facilities. The role is not yet firmly established. The application services are installed in centralized server farms in safe data centre buildings. In a way it is a step back to the mainframe network type, with thin clients, but based upon Internet technology. Any application can be accessed from any termi- nal, if admitted by the contract/service level agreement between ASP and the customer (normally an enterprise). The ASP is responsible for the end-to-end application perfor- mance, including the BD role, which is solved as a leased line, a frame relay PVC or an I-VPN. Only the