Global strategic alliances in the telecommunications industry

Global strategic alliances (GSA) are one of the most significant recent developments in the telecommunications industry. The global marketplace is demanding an increasingly sophisticated, seamless worldwide communications network along with one inexpensive contract for every service. GSA is a way of meeting these needs in the context of limited available resources, The current map of GSAs is dominated by five groups of players: WorldPartners, Concert, Global One, Unisource and Cable and Wireless (C&W). The critical issues in the future prospects of GSAs are trade reciprocity, legal environment and financial resources. Only the mega-carriers who can clear these hurdles will survive into the next century. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd