Smart phones are everywhere today. You probably have one nearby right now. However, access to landline phone service has not been complete for very long, and wireless service is not as widespread as many people might think. The first phone lines (landlines) connected Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts in 1877. The last town in the United States to receive landline service was Mink, Louisiana, a small community 100 miles south of Shreveport, which received landline service in early 2005. Check any major US wireless carrier, and its maps have gaps in service. Building networks of any kind takes planning, money, and time.

A. What are some similarities between an entrepreneur starting a new business in a new profession in a new market and a telephone service network?

B. How are the requirements for a telephone network infrastructure like those for a new entrepreneur?

C. What are some estimated costs, not necessarily monetary ones?

D. What are some benefits to an entrepreneur who enters a market with established networks?

E. How do established networks save the entrepreneur valuable money and time?

F. With limited resources, what criteria should an entrepreneur use to determine priorities of spending time, effort, and money in developing networks?

G. Does each criterion have equal weight? Why or why not?