Competing platform models for mobile service delivery: the importance of gatekeeper roles

This paper introduces and analyses four potential business models for emerging mobile service platforms. For each model, a real-life case is described and briefly analyzed. It is found that 'platform leadership' strategies - focused a.o. on the balance between control and core intellectual property assets on the one hand, and consensus and open interfaces on the other hand -, permeate the strategies and models introduced by the stakeholders vying for dominance in this market, but that these strategies and models may differ strongly according to the specific set-up and control of gatekeeper roles.