Telecommunications Market Research Articles

Predictions from an Empirical Study in the Turkish Mobile Telecommunications Market on the Determinants of Mobile Customer Churn

Acquiring new customers compared to holding the existing ones is costlier and more troublesome for businesses, so customer retention is of great importance in today's intensely competitive environment. It is crucial in customer relations management to identify and analyse customers whose loyalty decreases and who tend to leave, and prevent churn through various methods under resource constraints. This issue is especially prominent in the mobile communication market. This paper uses a binomial logit model based on a survey with 637 mobile users in Turkey to determine the factors affecting customer churn and how they find their effect. Results indicate that, among various factors, network quality, billing, tariff level, tariff plan, and education level are the determinants affecting customer churn and associated with the intention to switch. Our findings demonstrate implications for both managers and rule-makers in the mobile telecommunications sector.

Analysis on Competition Type between Fixed and Mobile Broadband Service in Indonesia

Both fixed and mobile broadband technologies are adopted in Indonesia. This study aims to identify the competition model between both of them. Non-linear exponential model is employed to estimate diffusion pattern of both broadband services. Meanwhile, Lotka-Volterra method is applied to identify competition model between those two. Results of the study show that for Indonesia telecommunication market, competition relationship between fixed and mobile broadband are mutualism or win-win solution. Considering topography of the regions of Indonesia especially those categorized as rural area, the existence of both fixed and mobile broadband technologies are crucial to accelerate the distribution of the equal access to broadband internet for all Indonesia people both in urban and rural areas. This becomes more urgent when commercial 5G services is deployed in Indonesia.

Cost assessment of elasticity for a 5G broadband network

AbstractIn the highly competitive telecommunications market, operators need to consider techniques that might lead to a more cost‐efficient use of the network resources. The recently proposed concept of resource elasticity focuses on the inherent cost reductions achieved by tailoring the resource utilization of network elements, such as radio and cloud elements, to the real network demand. However, no research has been conducted so far regarding the cost benefits that such schemes could bring to 5G networks, in terms of total cost of ownership. This article makes a novel contribution by analyzing the cost benefits of employing elasticity in a 5G network providing users with a broadband service in a hotspot area. The area exemplarily analyzed was the Port of Hamburg in Germany, which is a realistic scenario and which receives a considerable number of additional mobile users when a cruise ship arrives at the port. The results show that, for the different scenarios analyzed, the total radio access network cost reductions of using elasticity compared to a non‐elastic network range from 2.5% to 4.4%. Considering the edge cloud site‐related cost component alone, a 16.4% saving from elasticity was found. Further research is needed to understand the benefits of elasticity for other types of 5G use cases in different types of areas.

The Charismatic Organization: Vision 2000 and Corporate Change in a State-Owned Organization

British Telecom’s 1984 partial privatization set in motion the privatization and deregulation of many international state-owned telecommunications carriers. Most previous research on the privatization and deregulation of state-owned telecommunications carriers has focused on the economic outcomes. However, this was also a time of changes in managerial practice and thinking influenced by organizational theory. This article presents an analysis of the use of the prescriptions of Rosabeth Kanter in the attempted reform of the organizational culture of Australia’s largest business in the 1980s: the government-owned telecommunications monopoly Telecom Australia (now Telstra). It details the attempt to transform Telecom under the incipient threat of the introduction of competition to the telecommunications market and demonstrates how the country’s largest change management program, Vision 2000, represented an alternative approach to telecommunications reform.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR IN THE ECONOMY OF KAZAKHSTAN AS THE BASIS OF THE NATIONAL MODEL OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

The completion of the stabilization stage of the republic's economy and its transition to a trajectory of sustainable growth create objective prerequisites for the real use of medium-term and indicative long-term planning tools in the practice of state regulation and management. An important place in the general system of long-term planning is given to the formation on a medium-term basis of a strategy for the development of large industrial complexes, one of which is the telecommunications sector, whose increasing role at the present stage is determined by the trends of globalization and informatization of all aspects of public life on a global scale. Telecommunications are an integral part of the infrastructure, the development of which, in accordance with the provisions of the Development Strategy of Kazakhstan until 2030, is assigned to one of the seven long-term priorities and should contribute to: strengthening national security; political stability; economic growth. However, the formation of planned and forecast parameters for the development of telecommunications is impossible without defining the conceptual foundations of the long-term functioning of the industry, assessing trends in the development of the telecommunications market based on internal and external factors, conducting periodization and highlighting stages of development, choosing priorities of state sectoral policy, rational evolution of the regulatory system, optimization of the legislative and regulatory framework in the industry.

Concentration of the mobile telecommunications markets and countries’ competitiveness

This study examines how the level of concentration of a country’s mobile telecommunications market affects its competitiveness. We created a unique database with information on 59 countries, which we used to perform several estimations including an instrumental variable approach to explain the degree of concentration in mobile phone markets. Our first and direct estimation shows that the higher the concentration in this industry, the lower the countries’ competitiveness. In order to understand this positive correlation, we provide two additional estimations. First, using an instrumental variable, we find that the concentration in mobile telecommunications market explains the use of information and communications technology (ICT). Moreover, we also find that the use of ICT is positively correlated with countries’ competitiveness. Thus, our results confirm that the mobile phone industry has positive spillover effects on countries’ competitiveness and demonstrate the benefits of policies designed to reduce concentration and market power in the industry.

An Investigation on Consumer Switching Behavior in an Asian Telecommunication Market

The paper investigates the determinants of consumer switching behavior in the Indian telecom industry, overcoming the scarcity of research from emerging economies. The study collected data using a questionnaire instrument directly from the customers and was selected through purposive sampling. Binomial probit regression technique was used for modeling purposes. The study concludes that the critical services, service specification, loyalty, and user engagement-related factors influence customer churn. The study specified the key sub-factors directly influencing these four factors. The findings are presented as a set of four different models. The article is the first exploration of the idea of proposing function-specific models and the use of purposive sampling. The study attempts to provide models that are convenient to administer, require specific data, specific to functional area, economic data collection, and may be used based on the context of an investigation. The paper suggests how to perform a convenient investigation using a small dataset.

Market Entry, Fighting Brands, and Tacit Collusion: Evidence from the French Mobile Telecommunications Market

We study a major new entry in the French mobile telecommunications market, followed by the introduction of fighting brands by the three incumbents. Using an empirical oligopoly model, we find that the incumbents’ fighting brand strategies are difficult to rationalize as unilateral best responses. Instead, their strategies are consistent with a breakdown of tacit semi-collusion: before entry, the incumbents could successfully coordinate on restricting product variety to avoid cannibalization; after entry, this outcome became harder to sustain because of increased business stealing incentives. Consumers gained considerably from the added variety and, to a lesser extent, from the incumbents’ price responses. (JEL L13, L21, L96, M31)

Customer retention: Exploring the effects of relationship layers and perceived indifference

AbstractInformed by the social orientation of loyalty, the study extends the current body of knowledge by integrating multiple relationship layers (i.e., personal loyalty, relationship with online consumption communities and local network effects) as antecedents of various states of firm‐customer interactions including habitual loyalty, fanaticism, and retaliation. Data collection was carried out in the mobile telecommunications market using a paper‐based survey. A total of 600 completed survey responses were collected. The respondents were 18 or older and had been mobile service users for at least 1 year. Overall, it was found that personal loyalty, relationship with online consumption communities and local network effects were significant antecedents of fanaticism. Personal loyalty and local network effects can reinforce habitual loyalty whereas the relationship with online consumption communities can increase retaliation. The role of relationship with online consumption communities becomes more significant as customers perceive a higher level of indifference among service providers. Further, local network effects were significantly and negatively related to retaliation. The findings of this study provide important theoretical and practical implications for academics and practitioners alike, especially in the contractual, network industries.

Exclusion of South African Rural Communities from Digital Communication Podia: A Regulatory Conundrum

This article reports on a study that examined how SA Connect (i.e., the South African broadband policy that was approved in 2013) has sought to integrate rural South Africans into the digital communication podia. The study drew from a major recent study focusing on selected themes as captured in SA Connect. Furthermore, it interrogated the current configurations of the South African telecommunications market and the role of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in levelling the playing field within the sector. Located within the terrain of telecommunications policy and regulation, the study interrogated the interplay between mobile operators and ICASA in expediting broadband penetration into rural South Africa. Theoretically, the study was guided by the tenets of the knowledge gap theory as proposed by Philip Tichenor, George Donohue and Clarice Olien in 1970 and the principles of universal access within the context of the broadband ecosystem. The findings showed that an unreconstructed and predisposed skewed urban market as well as the indecisive regulator stance led to failure to reduce the digital divide. Thus, despite relentless attempts to address these challenges at policy level, South African rural areas remain excluded from the digital communication podia, subsequently causing digital inequality. The findings confirmed critical perspectives on digital inclusion which maintain that, the more information is circulated through the new conduits of information technology, the more communities from the low economic stratum of society are excluded from the information society and participation in the digital economy.

Overage Disutility, User Trading, and Tariff Design

Popular tariffs in the telecommunications market, such as three‐part tariffs and flat‐rate plans, specify an allowance below which customers enjoy a free and high‐quality service. When they consume beyond the allowance, customers either need to pay for the overage (under three‐part tariffs) or receive a degraded service (under flat‐rate plans), thus experiencing an overage disutility. Some network service providers have recently begun to allow data trading among their subscribers, who can now sell their allowances or buy up to meet their needs. We study whether and how allowing user trading can enhance a service provider's profitability. Considering a monopolistic firm, we find that allowing trading among users improves system‐wide consumption efficiency and reduces overage disutility at the expense of losing overage revenue. Overall, trading can be beneficial to the firm. Particularly, the profitability of the firm is critically driven by addressing customers’ overage disutility. Moreover, allowing trading always improves social welfare and can also improve consumer surplus. Finally, on a self‐operated platform, the firm may find it not profitable to charge a transaction fee but will regulate up the trading price.

CAN NON-DOMINANT ENTITIES BEHAVE DOMINANTLY: REVISITING THE CONTOURS OF PREDATORY PRICING UNDER INDIAN COMPETITION LAW.

Predatory pricing policy in India is at crossroads with Jio becoming the largest player in the wireless telecommunication market and reducing the market to a triopoly. There is a need for the Competition Commission of India to reflect on its enforcement policy under Section 4 of the Indian Competition Act, 2002. The article starts by exploring the concept of predatory pricing and why it remains a contested concept. The second part of the paper argues the need for revisiting the dominance requirement to initiate an investigation under Section 26 read with Section 4 of the Indian Competition act by drawing inferences from US and France antitrust law. It shall discuss in detail the need for adopting an attempted monopolization benchmark for cases of predatory pricing. The third part proposes two thresholds (a) common market share and; (b) proof of exclusion, that the commission can adopt in order to differentiate legitimate promotional pricing from illegitimate predatory pricing. The article questions the major premises on which predatory pricing abuse can be invoked. It will be illustrated, that a non-dominant entity can achieve the same result of distorting competition as a dominant entity can, by predation. In particular, it will be argued that for an entity to commit predation, market power is not a prerequisite instead the commission must look at the effect in the market. Therefore, the Competition Commission of India is well advised to revisit the prerequisite of dominance for predatory pricing wrongs.

Digital Agenda, New Technologies and Education for the Integration of Europe: an Economic Study

New technologies are a key factor for integration in Europe by enabling citizens to solve their daily problems and interact with people everywhere. The European Commission established the Digital Agenda for Europe with the aim of improving the speed of navigation, establishing a single market for telecommunications and achieving a digital single market. We highlight the importance of applying new technologies in the field of education, since teaching and learning through these means will contribute to increasing creativity and reasoning capacity, allowing for more interactive and participative learning. The Horizon Report and the new emerging technologies proposed by that report are analysed, and are aimed not only at facilitating learning, but also at enabling a more integrated Europe. It also presents some technological ideas to be developed in the educational field that will enhance the development and integration of the EU Member States. Furthermore, in order to analyse the influence of the use of the Internet and new technologies on other socio-economic variables, a regression analysis has been carried out. The objective is to study whether in any way the fact that citizens use the Internet affects variables such as Gross Domestic Product, unemployment or Human Development Index which may affect the integration of Europe.

Customer Churn Analysis: Analyzing Customer Churn Determinants on an ISP Company in Indonesia

The growth of Internet Service Providers (ISP) in Indonesia, has led Indonesia to be one of the world’s fastest-growing telecommunications market. This condition derives a number of internet service providers pushing the Indonesian market massively one of them is HELOSEL (pseudonym). With this condition, ISP can suffer from a loss of valuable customers to competitors due to many attractive offers from the competitions or known as customer churn. Customer churn is one of the most pressing challenges in today's fast-paced and challenging telecom industry. The trend of customer churning in HELOSEL is increasing from month to month during the year of 2020 with the average churn rate of each month is 6,48%. To retain the HELOSEL customers’, company needs to know what kind of factors that could possibly affect the customer from churning. Hence, knowing the customer churn determinants in HELOSEL is essential for to prevent customer churn.

Analysis of Consumer Trends in the Telecommunications Markets of Russia and Vietnam

By way of descriptive and comparative analysis, the subscriber bases and revenues of television, fixed and mobile telephony, and fixed and mobile broadband segments of the Russian and Vietnamese telecommunications markets for the period of 2015-2019 were analysed. The results of the study revealed similar global trends in the telecommunications markets of Russia and Vietnam. Fixed and mobile telephony revenues are declining, since customers prefer new communication technologies to the old ones. The television subscriber base is growing in both countries; TV revenues are increasing in the Russian market and somewhat declining in the Vietnamese telecommunications market. With further penetration of broadband, more customers are upgrading their television from Free TV to Pay TV (IPTV and OTT services). The results of the study confirmed the global consumer trends in telecommunications markets and the applicability of approaches used herein for other countries.

Techno-Economic Analysis of The Shared Virtualized Resources in 5G Small Cells Operating in Millimeter-Wave Spectrum Bands

Many of the research studies agree that there is an explosive growth in mobile broadband traffic that will continue to increase each year. Also, many studies agree that current and planned low and medium spectrum bands supply cannot satisfy this growth in the coming years. Releasing the Millimeter-Waves spectrum bands could help here; however, it requires a massive amount of investments to deploy a high number of sites in dense urban areas due to these bands' propagation characteristics and their sites backhaul issues. Such a thing could not be done individually by many commercial operators, which could then restrict the deployment of the 5G high-quality services in dense urban areas and reduce the value extracted from these spectrum bands. It could also prevent many smaller operators in the local market from accessing the millimeter-Waves spectrum bands, and then jeopardize the existence of the required healthy competition in the telecommunication market. Many scholars have attempted to solve this problem in the past by suggesting resource sharing between telecommunication and non-telecommunication operators. Still, their efforts have faced many difficulties due to the absence of reliable technology that facilitates the sharing process and how it is governed. Both the advent of virtualized network slices in 5G networks and the recent advancements in using Millimeter-Wave spectrum resources raise hope again toward successful and productive resources sharing measures between the different resource's owners. This paper will survey the current 5G small resources virtualization approaches mentioned in academic and industrial research. And provide techno-economic modeling for such approach's different deployments. The outcome of this paper will be used as input to more policy analysis research that could help in achieving the telecommunication policy goals of higher spectrum utilization in 5G small cells, better 5G broadband services, and better policy competition rules.

Local 5G services on campus premises: scenarios for a make 5G or buy 5G decision

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to build possible future scenarios for indoor connectivity in a venue such as a university campus and build alternative value network configurations (VNCs) defining different local network deployment options, focused on the Finnish telecom market. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, Schoemaker’s scenario planning method (Schoemaker, 1995) is used to construct future scenarios and the VNC method of Casey et al. (2010) is used to build alternative VNCs. The paper studies the Aalto University campus network for current end-user data usage demand and the existing technology used in meeting the end-user needs and forecasts the demand for the next five years to understand the need for 5G. Findings This research concludes that with the provision of local spectrum licenses, there is an opportunity for venue owners to take the role of 5G local operator on the venue premises. Furthermore, it enables venue owners to collaborate with the incumbent mobile network operators (MNOs) in a neutral host model and provide venue-specific connectivity services. Research limitations/implications A detailed economic assessment for the network deployment in the campus is considered for future study. Originality/value Considering the provision for local spectrum licenses, this paper has taken a unique attempt in identifying the future scenarios for local 5G network operations. It provides a strategic direction for the venue owners in adopting 5G technology and whether to make 5G or buy 5G from MNOs.

Global FRAND licensing: the UK Supreme Court Judgment in Unwired Planet v Huawei and Conversant v Huawei and ZTE

In markets for global telecommunications products, including mobile phones, standards enable the necessary infrastructure equipment and devices produced by different manufacturers to work with one another and for those products to be available for use internationally by consumers who travel with their phones. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is responsible for developing and publishing telecommunications standards in Europe.1 such as 2G (GSM), 3G (UMTS) and 4G (LTE). The underlying technology which is incorporated into these standards is generally protected by SEPs; it is not possible to make, sell, use or operate devices which comply with the standard without infringing those patents. The ETSI IPR Policy (the ‘Policy’) requires SEP holders to grant licences to use their technology on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms so as to ensure that access to the use of the standard is not blocked. Against that background, the Judgment identifies two attributes of patent law that are relevant to the development of a global telecommunications market: first, that the prima facie entitlement of a SEP holder to obtain an injunction within a national jurisdiction has the potential to disrupt a global market for equipment using that technology; and, secondly, that the national nature of patent rights, which means that the SEP holder must commence proceedings in individual national courts to enforce its patent rights, makes it very difficult, if not wholly impracticable, for a SEP holder to protect an invention which is used in equipment manufactured in another country, sold in many countries and used by consumers globally. The Supreme Court explains that the first attribute may give SEP holders excessive power to disrupt an otherwise global market potentially resulting in excessive royalties while the second attribute may enable those implementing the standard (implementers) to avoid paying SEP holders a proper price for the use of their inventions internationally. The need to balance these ‘alternative evils’ lies at the core of the Judgment.

Ethiopian Telecom Industry: Gaps and Recommendations Towards a Meaningful Connectivity and a Thriving Digital Eco-System

Ethiopia, the second-most populous country in Africa with 110 million inhabitants, has one of the oldest public telecommunication operators established in 1894. Despite its age, Ethiopian telecommunication remains one of the least developed in the world. According to ITU, in 2019, mobile-cellular subscription (per 100 people) was 39%, and 20% internet penetration. And as of June 2018, the international transmission speed per internet user was two kbits/s. Different studies widely acknowledge that no modern economy can be developed short of telecommunication services. It is, therefore, no wonder that nowadays Ethiopia is depicted as one of the weakest economies of the world. This paper will identify causes for the extraordinarily poor telecommunications service in Ethiopia and offer recommendations for near-term improvement.The approach considered in this study includes existing works survey and document examination; and to this end, this work relied primarily on secondary sources of data. After analyzing data collected from various sources, the paper identifies several reasons for Ethiopia’s low subscribership and network performance. Such factors include inexperienced and ineffectual regulatory oversight, the absence of facilities-based competition, inadequate interconnection with the networks located in adjacent nations, and the inability to localize outbound traffic. Upon identifying the above listed factors, the paper suggested the following recommendations for Ethiopian telecom industry stakeholders. First and foremost, the Ethiopian telecom market needs full liberalization with an independent and efficient regulatory body establishment. Since massive investment is required to improve last-mile, middle-mile and first-mile connectivity, mobilizing investment from various stakeholders is crucial. In addition to this, Ethiopia must host sizeable Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) to improve interconnection among countries within the continent.

Competitive Analysis of Contracts with Mixed Bundling in Oligopoly Markets

By packaging different kinds of products, firms always use mixed bundling to gain competitive advantages. In traditional markets, single-product firms mainly bundle products through merging its complementary firms. As antitrust authorities pay more attention to mergers, some firms are turning to engage in mixed bundling by contracts. For example, mobile phone firms and telecom service providers offer contract plans and prepaid plans with mobile phone, which are essentially mixed bundling. With the development of information technology, more and more internet enterprises have begun to implement the“mixed bundling contracts”. In this context, the“Anti-Monopoly Guide on Platform Economy”issued by the State Council of China has made it clear that platforms may adopt bundling and restrict market competition, which has been emphasized as“enhancing antitrust and prevent capital sprawl”in the 14th-Five-Year Plan of China. Thus, it is of great significance to analyze the motivation of manufacturers to implement mixed bundling contracts and its influence on the market competition for a better business environment and the improvement of anti-monopoly policy.Based on the research of Choi（2008）and Armstrong and Vickers（2010）, this paper constructs a dynamic game model to study the competition problem of oligarchic firms that produce complete complementary products by signing the“mixed bundling contracts”strategy, which is common in the real telecom market, computer hardware and software market and other service markets. The results show that: In the case of one-sided bundling contracts, contract firms will gain competitive advantages by increasing the bundling price and reducing the component price through mixed bundling contracts, while its competitors are forced to lower their prices and fallen into a competitive disadvantage. In the case of two-sided bundling contracts, firms’ profit decreases though the bundling price decreases and the component price increases, but consumer surplus still increases and the total social welfare decreases. Finally, all of the firms choose to sign contracts with mixed bundling and fall into the“Prisoners’ Dilemma”. Thus, competition policy should be opposed to the strategic behavior of firms negotiating and signing contracts with mixed bundling.The innovation of this paper lies in that: It develops a unified analytical framework based on Choi（2008）and Armstrong and Vickers（2010）, which extends and deepens existing studies. In particular, due to the interactive influence of the“vertical externality”of complementary products and the“horizontal externality”of competition, the results are different with previous studies. It also explains the competitive strategy of firms and the mechanism of bundling through mixed bundling contracts, providing a new perspective for understanding the bundling motivation. The research of this paper has important application value in reality. For example, in the telecom market, we observe that some telecom operators negotiate with mobile phone firms to sign contracts with mixed bundling to compete with their rivals. Based on the conclusion of this paper and the implementation status of anti-monopoly policy in China, policy suggestions are summarized as follows: （1）When antitrust authorities evaluate the effect of bundling competition, the product characteristics and market competition status should be considered.（2）Antitrust authorities should understand the motivation of bundling and evaluate the long-term welfare effect of mixed bundling contracts.（3）It is suggested to introduce third-party evaluation to build a multi-level governance model of mixed bundling contracts.