TY - JOUR
T1 - A tale of two continents
T2 - the internationalisation of Millicom in Africa and Latin America
AU - Curwen, Peter
AU - Whalley, Jason
PY - 2020/9/19
Y1 - 2020/9/19
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to chart the growth of Millicom, a Luxembourg based but international operator of cable and mobile telecommunication networks. Design/methodology/approach: A longitudinal case study approach is adopted covering the period 1990–2019 (inclusive). Data are drawn from multiple sources, including annual reports of Millicom and the trade press. Findings: The analysis of this study highlights the changing geographical focus of Millicom. When founded, it was present in three regions – Africa, Asia and Latin America – but over time, it has concentrated its operations on the latter region. Secondly, Millicom has widened its operational remit to include more lines of business. This reflects the converged strategy that has been adopted in Latin America, where it is now active in cable and mobile telecommunication markets. Research limitations/implications: The paper illustrates the difficulties of research into privately owned companies and especially those active in the telecommunications industry in the early 1990s. Practical implications: The analysis of this study highlights the challenges of researching companies active, as the telecommunications sector began to be liberalised. There is limited data in the public domain covering the early 1990s, not least because the Internet as understood today had not yet emerged. Originality/value: To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first academic paper to analyse the internationalisation of Millicom.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to chart the growth of Millicom, a Luxembourg based but international operator of cable and mobile telecommunication networks. Design/methodology/approach: A longitudinal case study approach is adopted covering the period 1990–2019 (inclusive). Data are drawn from multiple sources, including annual reports of Millicom and the trade press. Findings: The analysis of this study highlights the changing geographical focus of Millicom. When founded, it was present in three regions – Africa, Asia and Latin America – but over time, it has concentrated its operations on the latter region. Secondly, Millicom has widened its operational remit to include more lines of business. This reflects the converged strategy that has been adopted in Latin America, where it is now active in cable and mobile telecommunication markets. Research limitations/implications: The paper illustrates the difficulties of research into privately owned companies and especially those active in the telecommunications industry in the early 1990s. Practical implications: The analysis of this study highlights the challenges of researching companies active, as the telecommunications sector began to be liberalised. There is limited data in the public domain covering the early 1990s, not least because the Internet as understood today had not yet emerged. Originality/value: To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first academic paper to analyse the internationalisation of Millicom.
KW - Convergence
KW - Internationalisation
KW - Millicom
KW - Mobile
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087051853&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/DPRG-08-2019-0065
DO - 10.1108/DPRG-08-2019-0065
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087051853
VL - 22
SP - 177
EP - 199
JO - Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance
JF - Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance
SN - 1463-6697
IS - 3
ER -