<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The article traces the evolution of over-the-top (OTT) services in order to analyse how the growing use of Internet distribution influences the structural conditions and institutional arrangements in Denmark. This story is told in four parts: first, I outline how the shift from postal services to e-mail restructured the conditions for asynchronous one-to-one communication; second, I examine the introduction of web-based services and the declining role of the press as gatekeeper for asynchronous one-to-many communication; third, I focus on the impact of mobile broadband and smartphones on synchronous one-to-one communication and the telecommunications sector; and fourth, I analyse the emergence of streaming technologies and the reorganisation of synchronous one-to-many communication and broadcasting. Building on these examples, I argue that key welfare state principles have come under pressure and that research tends to underestimate the fundamental transformations of the institutional order.</p>
</abstract>

The article traces the evolution of over-the-top (OTT) services in order to analyse how the growing use of Internet distribution influences the structural conditions and institutional arrangements in Denmark. This story is told in four parts: first, I outline how the shift from postal services to e-mail restructured the conditions for asynchronous one-to-one communication; second, I examine the introduction of web-based services and the declining role of the press as gatekeeper for asynchronous one-to-many communication; third, I focus on the impact of mobile broadband and smartphones on synchronous one-to-one communication and the telecommunications sector; and fourth, I analyse the emergence of streaming technologies and the reorganisation of synchronous one-to-many communication and broadcasting. Building on these examples, I argue that key welfare state principles have come under pressure and that research tends to underestimate the fundamental transformations of the institutional order.

Over-the-top and under the radar<break/><italic>An analysis of Internet distribution and its structural consequences in Denmark</italic>

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The article traces the evolution of over-the-top (OTT) services in order to analyse how the growing use of Internet distribution influences the structural...

Over-the-top and under the radarAn analysis of Internet distribution and its structural consequences in Denmark

Published Online: Mar 21, 2021

Page range: 93 - 108

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2021-0022

Keywords
OTT, digital distribution, Internet infrastructure, Internet history, political economy of communication

© 2021 Sofie Flensburg, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Over-the-top and under the radarAn analysis of Internet distribution and its structural consequences in Denmark

Published Online: Mar 21, 2021

Page range: 93 - 108

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2021-0022

KeywordsOTT, digital distribution, Internet infrastructure, Internet history, political economy of communication

© 2021 Sofie Flensburg, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
OTT, digital distribution, Internet infrastructure, Internet history, political economy of communication