PSS Characterisation of Telecom Offerings

The global telecommunication network provides a powerful infrastructure supporting a multitude of offerings. As early as the 1980's the telecom industry had moved to services using telecom products that could be provided within the offers (a gateway included in the offer) or by the customers themselves (a computer to access the web). However, although modern telecommunication systems are often considered as good support for Product Service Systems (PSS), telecom carriers hardly refer to PSS when establishing their own offers. Indeed it is not always easy to understand how modern telecom services, using personal mobile phones and other objects, really fit with PSS philosophy. This paper evaluates telecom offerings from a PSS standpoint. Current telecom offerings are compared with PSS characteristics found in literature. The results clarify the potentials of current telecom offerings in the PSS paradigm.