Competition in the Turkish mobile telecommunications market: Price elasticities and network substitution

This paper estimates demand elasticities for the Turkish mobile telecommunication market. In contrast to most other studies, firm level data is used to estimate dynamic panel data models including instrumental variable techniques. Both short- and long-run elasticities are calculated, yielding a long-run price elasticity of -0.72 for the post-paid market and of -0.33 for the pre-paid market. The short-run price elasticity is estimated to be -0.36 for the post-paid market and -0.20 for the pre-paid market. In addition, evidence of fixed to mobile traffic substitution is provided for consumers that use pre-paid cards. --mobile telecommunications,price elasticity,network substitution,dynamic panel data analysis

An Assessment of Customer Satisfaction with GSM Service Quality in Cross River State, Nigeria

This Study investigated the satisfaction of customers with the quality of services delivered by GSM firms operating in Cross River State. The purpose was to determine the influence of network quality, service charge, customer care support as independent variables on the dependent variable (Customer satisfaction). A conceptual model of customer satisfaction was developed for this study. Three hypotheses was formulated and tested for this study. Primary data were collected from 300 GSM subscribers drawn proportionally across the three geo-political zones of Cross River State. The questionnaire were validated through face, construct and content, and used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through split-half reliability estimate. The data were descriptively analyzed using tables and figures, while the Pearson product moment was adopted to test the hypotheses. It was found that all the research variables (network quality service charge and customer care support) had a high correlation with customer satisfaction. Arising from these finding, it was recommended that mobile operators should make a conscious effort to upgrade their mobile service equipment symbolic in their telecommunication services, by investing in the necessary material(s) that could boost call quality and coverage. It is also relevant that all the elements in a service quality programme be strictly implemented to the later. Assurance, reliability, empathy, tangibles, and responsiveness are equally important in satisfying customers Keywords: customer satisfaction, service quality, service charge, customer care and GSM service

Quality assessment and usage behavior of a mobile voice-over-IP service

Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services offer users a cheap alternative to the traditional mobile operators to make voice calls. Due to the increased capabilities and connectivity of mobile devices, these VoIP services are becoming increasingly popular on the mobile platform. Understanding the user's usage behavior and quality assessment of the VoIP service plays a key role in optimizing the Quality of Experience (QoE) and making the service to succeed or to fail. By analyzing the usage and quality assessments of a commercial VoIP service, this paper identifies device characteristics, context parameters, and user aspects that influence the usage behavior and experience during VoIP calls. Whereas multimedia services are traditionally evaluated by monitoring usage and quality for a limited number of test subjects and during a limited evaluation period, this study analyzes the service usage and quality assessments of more than thousand users over a period of 120 days. This allows to analyze evolutions in the usage behavior and perceived quality over time, which has not been done up to now for a widely-used, mobile, multimedia service. The results show a significant evolution over time of the number of calls, the call duration, and the quality assessment. The time of the call, the used network, and handovers during the call showed to have a significant influence on the users' quality assessments

Getting connected : competition and diffusion in African mobile telecommunications markets

The author studies the determinants of the diffusion of mobile telecommunications in Africa in a fixed effects model. He uses data from 1987-2000 on 41 African countries that have adopted cellular telecommunications technologies. He finds that competition is the driving force behind the mobile telecommunications explosion in Africa. Duopoly and triopoly markets grow significantly faster than monopoly markets, although growth does not appear to differ between the first two markets. Evidence of preemptive behavior is found in competitive sequential entries into the market, but the major effect of competition on diffusion occurs after the actual year of entry. The introduction of digital technology has a positive and significant effect on the diffusion of mobile phones. The presence of an incumbent-owned cellular operator has a negative effect on the diffusion of mobiles, suggesting an abuse of a dominant position by the incumbent fixed-line operator. However, privatization of the incumbent fixed-line cellular operator accelerates mobile growth and mitigates that negative effect.Trade Finance and Investment,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,ICT Policy and Strategies,Health Economics&Finance,Economic Theory&Research,ICT Policy and Strategies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Governance Indicators,Health Economics&Finance

Telephone Usage and Travel Behaviour in Nigeria

The application of telecommunications to travel has changed people’s daily lifestyles by diminishing the time-space constraints and giving virtual accessibility to activity centres. However, the effect of telecommunications on travel behaviour has been a main concern on whether it has complementary or substitution effects. This study explores the relationship between telephone usage and travel behaviour among the staff of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The information for this study was obtained from primary data through the use of structured questionnaire. From the population of 2620 staff, 5% sample size comprising of 131 staff was randomly selected for the questionnaire survey. The findings reveal that most of the staff travels less than 10km for work, shopping and social trips, spend less than 20 minutes journey time and mostly used private cars for commuting to the activities. Furthermore, there is high telephone usage among the staff as about 33% make more than 15 telephone calls per day. The hypothesis test of the relationship between telephone usage and travel shows that the correlation coefficient of 0.181 is significant at 0.047 for substituted trips and 0.226 at 0.013 for complemented trips. The study concludes that there is net substitution and strong complementary effect of telephone usage on travel among the staff. Keywords: Telephone usage, Travel behaviour, Telecommunications, Complementary, Substitutio

Measuring Network Effects in Mobile Telecommunications Markets with Stated‐Preference Valuation Methods

This paper demonstrates how stated-preference methods can be applied to modeling consumers' preferences in the field of mobile telecommunications, and to measuring and the valuation of network effects. We illustrate this with a case study of mobile phone operators in Poland. We utilize the Choice Experiment method and present the respondents with hypothetical choices of mobile phone operators, while explicitly controlling for network effects in the form of other users in the same network. Based on the hypothetical choices consumers make we construct a conditional random parameters multinomial logit model to analyze their preferences. This approach allows us to calculate welfare effects associated with alternatives, as well as marginal rates of substitution (and hence implicit prices) of the attributes used to describe the choices, such as operator brand and distribution of family and friends between available mobile networks. The latter constitutes a network effect as consumer's utility is influenced by the number (or ratio) of members of his or her family, friends and other users subscribed to the same operator. Our results confirm the existence of a strong network effect, which is related to the size of the social network group a particular subscriber belongs to, rather than the absolute size of the mobile operator's customer base. We observe that there are two sources of this 'gross' network effect - pecuniary (arising from possible price discounts for on-net calls) and non-pecuniary, and demonstrate a way to disaggregate them. In addition, we find that brand perception and brand loyalty are important determinants of operator choice. Finally, through the application of a non-market valuation method we are able to calculate monetary values of the network effect and brand loyalty, and both turn out to be relatively high. The results might be of a particular interest to mobile phone operators and regulatory authorities - we find that the capacity for vigorous price competition between mobile operators is limited due to significant non-price barriers which mitigate subscribers' mobility in the market. We demonstrate a way to measure these effects in monetary terms based on modeling of consumer preferences. --Network effects,mobile telecommunications,brand valuation,stated preference methods,non-market valuation methods,choice experiment,multinomial conditional logit model,preference heterogeneity,random parameters model

Does the growth of mobile markets cause the demise of fixed networks? Evidence from the European Union

The increasing usage of mobile communication and the declining demand for fixed line telephony in Europe make the analysis of substitutional effects between fixed and mobile networks a key aspect for future telecommunication regulation. Using a unique dataset which contains information on all 27 European Union members from 2003 to 2009, we analyze substitutability between fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Europe by applying dynamic panel data techniques. We find strong empirical evidence for substitution from fixed to cellular networks throughout Europe. In addition, the article reveals resulting policy implications.Dynamic Panel Model,Fix-Mobile Substitution,Telecommunication Markets