American Express has successfully implemented its spend-centric model and closed-loop network to achieve growth over the last few years and was one of the few financial companies to come out of the economic crisis of 2008 virtually unscathed.

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Before the work to introduce the new loop can begin, Network Rail is consulting members of the public and other groups ahead of a submission to the Infrastructure Planning Committee.

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In this context, a network effect is a positive feedback loop whereby platforms with stronger ecosystem of developers, content and service providers attract more customers.

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As long as BT controls the "local loop", the last link from the network to a phone or modem, and insists on metered access, it hardly pays to offer unmetered web deals.

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And the product examples you cite attest to Alcatel's U.S. market leadership in the fast-growing optical submarine network, ADSL broadband Internet access and digital-loop carrier product areas.

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The screen that users will be drawn to most frequently -- the home screen, if you will -- is The Loop, a near-real-time aggregation of social network status updates, images, and RSS feed items culled from the user's contacts, media, and settings.

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This loop also passes through the Sasso San Gottardo, a demilitarised tunnel that is part of a network of clandestine Swiss Army caves and tunnels built into the mountain and used as bunkers during WWII and the Cold War.

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