Mobile data business networks and the shadow of Videotex: a comparison of the Japanese and French markets

The popularity of the French Videotex system (also known as Minitel) as the first successful electronic content delivery channel, prior to the rise of the Internet, is widely acknowledged. There is a significant degree of similarity between the French Videotex business model and current business models used for mobile data services, with a particular mention for the i-mode model implemented by the Japanese NTT-Docomo. This similarity can be explained by the presence of similar barriers to the successful launch of a new network-based service, and in particular of network externalities and other sources of increasing returns. Some differences however can be observed, due to specific path dependencies, business traditions, market size, and technological standard choices. In Japan, we can therefore observe a system of competing vertical business networks, each one mimicking a kind of Videotex business model. In France, the system is characterised by significant horizontal relationships between vertical networks, aiming at providing benefits to those provided by the former monopoly-based Videotex system. In this paper, we analyse the French and Japanese cases from a business network and ecosystem perspective, highlighting how specific conditions and path dependencies have given rise to different business network configurations.