Strategic focus of incumbents in the European telecommunications industry: The cases of BT, Deutsche Telekom and KPN

This study investigates the internal and external strategic choices that telecommunications firms, operating in a dynamic network environment, make to adapt to changes and to respond quickly in order to create or to sustain their competitive advantage. In particular, in the european telecommunications industry incumbent firms have faced important challenges from new technologies, liberalization and the convergence of markets. The leading european telecommunications companies initially focused on new markets and new businesses, emphasizing their plans to become major players in relevant markets. However, after the telecommunications euphoria companies were more restrained due to their huge burden of debt and their market value. Through refocusing or restructuring, these companies have tried to streamline their businesses in order to restore their value and to improve their competitiveness. Insight into the specific strategic actions of traditional telecommunications companies in europe to the recent developments in the industry is provided from the analysis of three leading traditional telecommunications companies: bt, deutsche telekom and kpn.