国外“商务领航”的运作模式

随着移动对固定通信替代效应的不断增强,全球的固网运营商纷纷陷入了用户减少和收入下降的困境。为了有效地保有用户和收入,固网运营商开始利用IT市场与电信市场逐渐融合的机遇进行业务转型。2006年,中国电信借鉴国外电信运营商的发展经验,在国内率先推出了商务领航业务,即提供基于电信有线IP宽带网络的信息通信业务,并将该业务与传统的语音业务捆绑提供给客户。以下笔者介绍国外电信运营商与商务领航同类业务的发展情况,以期为国内电信运营商提供借鉴。     

品牌、渠道、营销支撑业务融合

2009年电信行业的关键字是“转型”与“融合”。转型就是新形势下企业战略的转型，融合就是网络融合和业务融合，最后达到服务融合。 电信行业的明个基本趋势（合并、融合）已经在中国电信行业出现。去年5月国家三部委发文，通过行业重组与合并，将原有的6家电信运营商整合为3家具有全业务经营资质的运营商，同时要求建立起既有序又充分竞争的市场环境，给用户带来实惠。今年初，国家又为3家运营商颁发了3G牌照，进一步加快了电信行业发展的步伐。从目前经营大环境看，通信移动化趋势加快，异质竞争愈加激烈，同质竞争也将会进一步激化，固网话音和宽带的竞争分流压力明显加大，固网基础业务市场日趋饱和，新业务新技术替代分流不可逆转。面对全业务经营和市场宏观环境，中国电信必须摆脱传统的思维和经营模式，充分认识经营转型和业务融合对于促进企业发展、保有基础业务存量、抢占未来竞争制高点等方面的重要作用、进一步统一思想，不断增强加快转型的紧迫感，坚定不移地推进“商务领航”、“我的e家”、“天翼”三大客户品牌的拓展和融合产品的推广，积极推动企业转型和业务融合在更大范围内、更广领域里、更高层次上取得全面进展。     

英国电信受益于全球化

作为老牌电信运营商，英国电信（BT）是最早进行战略转型者之一。经过这么多年的战略转型，英国电信已经成为一个基于网络的综合信息通信服务提供商，呈现出与传统固网运营商明显不同的风范。近日，在英国电信举办的“亚太区影响力峰会”上，英国电信对其2011年的发展进行了回顾，并公布了新的发展策略，对其全球服务业务进行了深入阐述。     

NGN给新兴运营商带来机遇

1999年开始,原中国电信经过两次拆分重组,中国电信和中国网通两大固网运营商从2004年开始就步入了历史上最艰难的时期。在这样的形势下,除继续争取宏观环境的改善,两大固网运营商亟需寻找降低网络成本、增加业务收入、开发业务的战略性新途径,而下一代通信网络（NGN）概念的形成和相关技术的发展为两大固网运营商提供了一次重要的战略转型和发展的机遇。而作为固定电信市场的后进入者,新兴电信运营商通过NGN进行技术创新和差异化服务,彰显新进入者优势,解决企业的生存和发展问题,更具有现实意义。     

内容应用撬动宽带发展

近几年来,随着社会的发展,人们的消费能力、消费习惯日益发生巨大的变化,传统固网运营企业正面临着前所未有的机遇、挑战和压力：一方面,经济发展使得人们的消费能力增加,全球化使得信息化进程突飞猛进,技术进步使得通信发展日新月异,这为通信企业带来了诸多的发展机遇;另一方面,公众的通信消费取向日益移动化,造成固网用户数量和话务量的双重流失,业务的不对称管制束缚固网在移动领域发展,向信息领域的业务转型尚处于市场培育期,无法弥补传统业务流失带来的收入压力。固网企业出路何在,何去何从？笔者认为,在当前宽带业务快速发展的形势下,创新宽带内容应用,实现宽带跨越式发展,是固网运营商走出困境的一条必由之路。     

中国FMC的实现

20世纪90年代中期，业界提出FMC（固网与移动网融合）的概念，国际电信业对于FMC的关注程度一度达到顶峰。然而，由于技术和业务模式上的限制以及标准化工作的缺乏等因素，FMC并没有被广泛接受，相应的业务也没有开展起来。从2004年开始，随着竞争压力的加剧，国际电信运营商特别是固网运营商开始重新考虑FMC的价值，FMC有了实质上的进展。2008年，我国五部委联合发出《关于深化电信体制改革的通告》，宣告中国六家电信运营商重组为三家全业务运营商，这标志着中国的FMC即将启航。当前，我国正处于工业化加速发展的重要阶段。党的十七大提出了以信息化推动工业化的战略，客观上要求运营商从战略到业务完成、从通信地址服务向通信信息服务方向转型。未来电信产业的发展完全依赖于新技术、新业务和新服务的发展。信息技术与通信技术的融合，技术的进步和市场需求的演变，固网接入与移动接入方式的比较优势，必将促使固网技术与移动技术相互融合。固网和移动网的融合将成为电信产业发展的必然。     

电信运营商ICT战略的思考

电信运营商（主要是固网运营商）正在进入传统的以IT服务供应商（如IBM、惠普等）主导的领域，这似乎成为全球的发展趋势。它们提供一系列的信息和通信技术（ICT）服务，而不再将业务仅仅局限于简单的语音和数据服务。     

IPTV,抢手还是烫手？

伴随着移动话音业务替代作用的增强以及VoIP技术的快速兴起,周网运营商所处的竞争环境、技术领域发生了明显的改变,竞争压力迫使固网运营商不得不进行战略转型。纵观当前全球电信业的转型动向,两大方向主导了国内外主要电信运营商的转型战略--做综合信息服务商和以用户为导向。我国固网运营商的转型也不可避免地要以此为导向。与传统电信服务提供商不同,综合信息服务商除了能向用户提供传统语音、传真等业务之外,还要能提供视频、数据等信息增值业务供用户选择。固网运营商的转型势必要与广电、SP/CP保持千丝万缕的联系,转型的背后体现的是电信网、广电网、互联网三网融合的大趋势。由于IPTV业务融合了广电、电信两者的资源优势,是实现三网融合的突破口,因此开展IPTV业务已然成为国内外固网运营商战略转型的首选。在本文中,笔者将针对内容贫乏、不对等管制、盈利模式单一等制约我国IPTV发展的瓶颈,提出固网运营商的相应发展战略。     

转型大势下的PSTN何去何从？

“转型”已成为当今电信业最热门的话题，转型是电信业应对目前面临的种种挑战，摆脱困境，赢得新的发展机遇的必然选择。电信运营企业转型的基本方向是：从主要提供话音连接的服务商向提供包括内容服务在内的综合信息通信服务商转型，从窄带通信向宽带通信转型，从单业务运营商向全业务运营商转型。在转型的大势下，传统的公众电话交换网（PSTN）何去何从是摆在所有传统电信运营商面前的严峻课题。虽然庞大的PSTN依然是许多传统运营商的立身之本，衣食父母，然而其处境已是“英雄末路，江河日下”。据估计，到2009年，全球75％的话音呼出分钟将由移动发起（而在2004年为20％）；全球35％的PSTN用户将停止使用传统固话，而只依靠移动或VoIP业务；PSTN业务收入将降低40％。     

凤凰涅槃——英国电信的转型蜕变

目前,转型已是全球许多运营商的必然选择,而作为较纯粹的固网运营商,英国电信（BT）在本世纪初的转型无疑具有代表意义。几年的摸索下来,这家老牌的电信企业在组织结构、业务构成、内部运作和业务发展等方面进行了一系列大刀阔斧的改革,积累了宝贵的经验,也为其他已经或将要进行转型的运营商提供了重要参考。总体上看,英国电信的转型战略规划是得当的,实施效果也较好。     

走具有网通特色的创新转型之路--中国网通总裁左迅生详解转型思路

目前,全球的传统固网运营商都面临着移动通信和互联网新业务的巨大冲击。为摆脱这种困境,传统电信运营商纷纷高举转型大旗,转换自身角色,谋球新的发展,具有百年历史的中国网通,早在2003年就意识到了转型的紧迫性,提出了宽带战略、奥运战略和国际化战略三大战略。2006年中国网通进一步理清思路,提出向“宽带通信和多媒体服务提供商”转型的发展战略。那么,三大战略在中国网通的转型中占据什么样的地位？其成效如何？宽带通信和多媒体服务提供商的道路又该如何走？在“2007年宽带世界论坛亚洲会议”期间,中国网通总裁左迅生对中国网通的转型思路进行了解读。     

Organizing and Disorganizing Strategic Communication: Discursive Institutional Change Dynamics in Two Communication Departments

This article explores the institutionalization of strategic communication as a dynamic interplay between macro- and mesolevel discourses. The change processes in the two cases of this study involved both a reorientation of the purpose of the communication function and a physical relocation of the professionals to a centralized department. In both organizations, the transformation toward a strategic management function failed and the communication professionals are now working in ways similar to those before the change was initiated. The analysis illustrates that the institutionalization of strategic communication is effected by organizational-level processes and mechanisms that are not always controlled by communication professionals. The institutionalization of strategic communication is bound by organizational discourses as well as by the actions of communication practitioners and general managers. The study also shows that macro- and mesolevel discourses influence the ways in which change initiatives are translated and strategic communication effected on an organizational level. Hence, institutionalization processes of strategic communication will comply with management trends but can change direction when these trends are challenged. Our results expose that new ideas or practices of strategic communication are translated discursively within organizations in processes of recontextualization, reinterpretation, and reframing. Consequently, new ideas and practices of strategic communication are adjusted to organizational discourses and organizational settings. The translation of a new idea or practice will therefore change the initial meaning of that same idea or practice. For that reason, institutionalization of strategic communication should not be reduced to a unidirectional process but conceptualized as a dynamic interplay between discourses on different levels that moves institutionalization in multiple directions.     

Struktur und Funktion von Propaganda

At first the article reviews classic notions and concepts of propaganda, and introduces, in a first step, a comparative typology of structural features of propaganda. Propaganda emerges as a communicative technique for generating promises, the structure of which is generalising, and which claim truth but are not to be doubted. In terms of substance, it claims an exclusive title to represent, which is maintained over time and socially taken as definitively accepted. Adding meta-claims in substantive, temporal and social terms generates a type of ultrastable structure, the function of which is the generating of truth. Propaganda can therefore be considered as one of the first communicative techniques that was used for generating truth by meta-claims about fictional structures, and for achieving strong effects. The acceptance of propaganda is ensured by communicatively imposing effective sanctions on testing its validity. Thus, propaganda emerges as the most effective instrument of persuasive communication. Criteria for excluding the use of propaganda for ethical reasons are then specified. It must be assumed, however, that in the long run the use of propaganda will increase in media society: for once because of the removal of traditional certitudes of salvation by new doctrines depending on propaganda; and also by globalization and integration in newly available ways of communication.     

Die Kontroverse um die demokratischen Potenziale der interaktiven Informationstechnologien — Positionen und Perspektiven

Along with the shift towards a digital information society, new possibilities for communication and cooperation open up in almost all areas. They put traditional procedures up for consideration. In light of this, the question of the perspectives of mass democracy (primarily dealt with at the interface of political and communication science) obtains a new significance and new facets. This article critically reviews the major lines of argumentation of the controversy that has been fought out over the democratic potential of interactive information technologies since the beginning of the nineties. The author also wants to draw attention to the pragmatic rather than the theoretical aspects of a convergence of the opposing camps. He also wants to broaden the perspective of research in the field.     

Kapitalisierung von Paarbeziehungen

This study examines the role that the social networking site Facebook plays in the different aspects of relationship management by couples. The communication of couples is influenced not only by the relationship phase but also by the geographical distance between the partners. Based on the assumption that these factors are also important for the couple’s (partly) public Facebook communications, the online survey explores whether couples in the first phase of a relationship or in a long-distance relationship use Facebook intensively for relationship management. Furthermore, the concept of capitalization (Gable et al. (2004, 2006)) is applied to the social network communication. Originally, it referred to interpersonal communication. In conjunction with the publicity of social networks, the awareness of others could change the processes of capitalization. It can be shown that relationship management in a narrow (“romantic”) sense is upheld on a rather low level. Contrary to expectations, there is less (partly) public relationship communication in the first phase of a couple’s relationship as well as in long-distance relationships. Also contrary to a culturally pessimistic point of view, Facebook is not replacing traditional forms of relationship communication. Capitalization also has deficits; nonverbal forms of communication such as facial expressions, body language, and gestures are lacking on Facebook, despite all of its various emoticons.     

A Review of New Evaluation Models for Strategic Communication: Progress and Gaps

After identification of “stasis” in evaluation of strategic communication including public relations and corporate communication despite intensive focus for more than 40 years, recent initiatives in measurement and evaluation on three continents highlight a number of important advances in theory and practice. Although studies have identified a lack of standards and a narrow focus on “activities” and “outputs” in traditional evaluation models and literature, a two-year international study, which examined a number of recently developed evaluation frameworks and models and accompanying implementation guidelines, identifies several new concepts and dimensions in evaluation, along with some remaining gaps for further research. Based on content analysis of evaluation literature, interviews, and ethnography, this article reports four key findings of recent research and explains how these can contribute to theory-building and practice to transform the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public relations and corporate, government, organizational and marketing communication.     

Alltagspublizistik

No doubt, newest technologies penetrate human communication in a way unheard of. We owe the knowledge about this and other happenings around the world to everyday public communication (Alltagspublizistik). Knowledge about the world (Bescheidwissen) is formed by medialized and technicalized circular societal processes as its own re-production and re-reception. In his »Zeitungs Lust und Nutz« of 1695, Kaspar Stieler was certain: »We honest people / living presently in the world / got to know this present world« — by reading newspapers. Some 300 years later, Niklas Luhmann certified in »Die Realität der Massenmedien« of 1996: »Whatever we know about our society, even about the world we live in, we know through the mass media.« Both authors’ ideas of a cultured semantics of newspapers or media, we acknowledge, to redescribe everyday public communication in relation to world society — before the horizon of a communicational culture. We start with a comparison of public communication and mass communication theories, both German and North American and we criticize traditional epistemological obstacles handed down in communications. Than, we discuss the concepts of communication, commonplace, and public(s) in historical perspectives, refering to the »knowledge about« (Bescheidwissen), »sensemaking« (Sinnmachen) and »comprehension for use« (Gebrauchsverstehen) — »homework« to be done as future research in everyday public communication.     

Dissonante Öffentlichkeiten als Perspektive kommunikationswissenschaftlicher Theoriebildung

The article takes up an ongoing conversation among German communication scholarship about the question whether we need new theories and methods to understand the fundamental changes in public communication due to digitalization. We respond to an argument made by a group of academics around Christian Strippel and Annekatrin Bock, who maintain that communication scholarship has already begun to develop and to apply new and innovative methods to deal with new phenomena and problems that stem from digital technologies in communication. In our article we argue that the deficits in the current communication research lies in the discourse about theories. Thus, it is surprising that innovative methods are driving current studies, while the reflection about concepts and theories that help to understand the consequences of digitalization in public communication has been neglected. Provided that communication research is the academic discipline which does have particular competences in describing and explaining public spheres, we call for conceptual work and theory development that revisits public sphere theory to deal with the challenges of digital public communication in contemporary society. We propose to theorize public communication in the framework of dissonance. We suggest to introduce the notion of dissonance in public spheres in order to describe and explain the conditions of multilayered, synchronous and disparate processes of public communication and the contradictory consequences of changing public spheres. The latter are characterized by simultaneous entanglements of traditional mass communication and digital venues of communication which eventually create a hybrid media system. We also call for theory development that takes up critical, participatory and constructivist approaches of public sphere theory such as antagonistic pluralism. However, since these approaches account for the conflicts and antagonisms of contemporary pluralist society but largely neglect communication processes and infrastructures, we suggest to also look into new approaches of digital communication, such as network theories and combine them with the concepts of public sphere sociology. We think that it would be instructive and fruitful to use this newly developed framework of dissonance in public sphere to study communication processes and practices in journalism, civil society and political communication.Our article is organized in three sections. In the first part we discuss the terminology of dissonant communication and review approaches to dissonance as opposed to consonance. We revisit communication theory and music theory in order to develop a definition of dissonance. In the second section we take up concepts of public sphere which stress the coexistence of contradictions and antagonistic voices in the public realm which do not converge into consonance or consensus. We revisit studies on the nature of digital communication which focuses on network theories of communication and call for combining these two trajectories of social thought. In the third section of our article we propose a research agenda that focuses on the conditions of dissonance in public communication and the consequences of communication in dissonant public spheres for information flows and inclusion demands in contemporary society. Finally we argue that dissonant public spheres can be observed and should be studied in the fields of journalism, civil society and political communication. Thus, future research should focus on these areas.     

Lessons for Crisis Communication on Social Media: A Systematic Review of What Research Tells the Practice

This study analyzes explicit pieces of advice for effective social media crisis communication given by researchers in various subdisciplines of strategic communication. The themes are identified by a systematic content analysis of peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers (n = 104) published between 2004 and 2017. Five overall thematic “lessons” are identified and critically discussed. These are that effective social media crisis communication is about: (1) exploiting social media’s potential to create dialogue and to choose the right message, source and timing; (2) performing precrisis work and developing an understanding of the social media logic; (3) using social media monitoring; (4) continuing to prioritize traditional media in crisis situations; and finally, (5) just using social media in strategic crisis communication. These guidelines mainly emerged from quantitative research conducted in the context of the United Stated and on Twitter. There is need for more research focusing on other platforms and other empirical material. There is also a future need for an in-depth methodological discussion of how to further bridge the gap between research and practice on a global scale, and how to develop more evidence-based recommendations for strategic crisis communication practitioners.     

Strategic Communication of Israel’s Intelligence Services: Countering New Challenges with Old Methods

This study sheds light on the strategic communication of intelligence services in the new media age. Intelligence services operate in the dark, as far away as possible from the attention of the media and the public. However, in the new media age, intelligence services face a fresh set of unfamiliar challenges, including a dramatic change in the concept of time, the presence of alternative voices in the new media and a dramatic reduction in the ability to manage and control information. Using a case study approach, three traditional methods employed by Israeli intelligence services when addressing situations of exposure are examined: censorship, gag orders and the Editors’ Committee. The study addresses the organizations’ dilemmas, choices and difficulties in adjusting to the new media environment. On a broader theoretical level, the research demonstrates the importance of recognizing the differences among the diverse actors in the field of strategic communication as manifested within the well-established concepts of strategic communication, adaptation and adjustment. Since the field of strategic communication aims to include so many types of organizations and actors, it is crucial that nuances and differences among them are identified and analyzed within their specific context.