Minitel, i-mode and iPhone : three telecommunications ecosystems over three decades

In 1983, the French Ministry of Post, Telecommunications and Telegraph (PTT) launched the world's first videotex system, the Minitel. French households subsequently had unique access, from a small terminal in their homes, to a variety of commercial, entertainment and administrative services, as well as multiple information sources and messaging services. Sixteen years later in Japan, in 1999, NTT DoCoMo launched its mobile Internet platform, i-mode, with a comparable range of services available on a mobile device. In the US in 2007, it is the turn of PC and music device manufacturer, Apple, to revolutionize the telecommunications world with the launch of its iPhone that offers access to a vast array of services via its App Store. Once again, the terminal surprised, in the case of the iPhone, with its intuitively interactive screen. In three decades, three telecommunications ecosystems have thus emerged in three different parts of the world. These platform-based ecosystems have certain things in common, such as an ergonomic terminal as an entry point into a broad selection of services offered by independent suppliers and a billing system that allows the central actor to gather and distribute large volumes of small payment amounts. They also exhibit differences, notably the marginal role played by the telecommunications opertator in the case of the iPhone. A comparative analysis of the emergence of these three ecosystems highlights the pioneering role played by the central actor in each case: the French telecommunications administration, NTT Docomo and Apple. This chapter outlines the motivations, competencies and choices of the key actor in the development phase of each of the three platform-based ecosystems. Similarities and differences between the early stages of development of the three ecosystems will then be analysed. Further research of this type is suggested to analyse why these platforms emerged, and why competing platforms did not and to develop insight into the other phases of the lifecycle of platform-based ecosystems.