and carrying the entire risk) and offering a product that is a component in a service (reduced risk). I-mode has shown that only a fraction of services is successful. The sequential value chain will often be combined with horizontal roles, especially transport providers. See for example Figure 4.24. This gives service providers on top of transport providers. CNN.com Mobile Network AMERICA network provider/ Online TOYOTA operator Service AMERICAN YAHOO! EXPRESS provider Microsoft AmericanAirlines Figure 4.27 The service layer business environment Understanding Changing Telecommunications - Building a Successful Telecom Business Business relation Content Charging providers, Application Billing bank, retail developer Customer support FAB = Actor-user Retailers interface, with fulfillment, Roles assurance and billing SM = service Service providers management Portal (may include Service layer distribution with NM = network Tuning management Control network fundamental Interfaces technical plans Network Connectivity providers network Distribution W.C = Wireless caster, an information broker. Content encoding provided by content provider./W.C Figure 4.28 Example of a value chain for mobile media distribution 4.5 TOOLS FOR PROFITABILITY CALCULATIONS AND BUSINESS CASES Since profitability is a key word for telecom business actors, there is a need for tools to support the management staff in decision making and experts in evaluating alternative investments before submitting proposals. The first tool is a broad management tool: the business plan (Figure 4.29). This plan will be briefly dealt with here, whereas the other more narrow tools will be dealt with in Section 4.5. Business case development Operating expense Financial Revenue modelling Capital expenditure Tools Figure 4.29 The structure of the business case Telecom Business The following tools are treated in this chapter: 1. The business plan. A shift in business planning. 2. Simplified operator process plans. 3. The business case. A simplified business case work mod