5.5 Information Providers
Information Market. Being the national grid connecting
users to each other and IPs, the NIG can be viewed as an information marketplace
for IPs to offer their products and services.
Information Broker. As explained in The NIG Concept, the NIG provides the value-added service of searching and / or consolidating information from several IPs in order to satisfy user requests. With this service layer, the NIG can be seen as a broker for the various IPs.
Lower Start-up Costs. With the NIG in place, companies intending to be an IP will not need high investments in setting up their own delivery infrastructure, such as networking and telecommunications equipment, advertising, and multiple delivery-mechanism support.
Ready Subscriber Base. By working through the NIG, IPs will have a ready subscriber base. This factor may also shorten the period prior to the break-even point for new products and services.