India: a Case of Fragile Wireless Service and Technology Adoption?

Wireless penetration and the Indian economy have grown significantly over the past few years, but how robust and sustainable is the adoption of wireless services and products? Several papers have discussed India as a wireless service and product market, and sometimes tried to assess quantitative attributes thereof. The present paper aims instead at looking, from a management point of view, at the unique underlying evolution processes, bottlenecks and risks. On specific facets, a comparison is given to adoption indicators in other key markets such as China.For example, just to illustrate highlights of these unique attributes , it is indeed surprising that such a major economy with its very large population has not yet achieved the wireless service usage and mobile terminal penetration ratios of neither an early European adopter ,nor of a recent large scale adopter like China or Russia . India has also been characterised by a surprising regulatory development process quite different from many other contexts, both in terms of its both centralised and regional structure, of very low tariffs providing almost no ROI to investors in a stable situation, and of absence of neutrality across communications technologies. At the same time, a very large fraction of the population has not , for affordability and regional coverage reasons, been able to get the access opportunities of more developed regions , leading to a distribution unbalance which is also a significant opportunity .Also , the wireless service and product adoption pattern in India , specific to communicating services , has so far been in rather sharp contrast with the widely known software and outsourcing services industry evolutions in that country .Therefore it is important to compare the most relevant known wireless service and product adoption theories, to establish from facts whether they apply in the Indian context, and, if not, suggest new or mixed theories able to explain all such facts and cast some light into its likely future structural evolution. It is of high relevance in management to validate if indeed established models apply or not in a significant case like India, just as it is also of high relevance for the main stakeholders to identify methodology able to support their analyses.The paper first provides background information on wireless, fixed, and other operators, on wireless penetration, on telecommunications infrastructure and investments, and on Indian human capital. Thereafter is analyzed in detail the relevance, or not, of five traditional technology adoption models across the Indian user base: the absorption business model, the perceived benefits business model, consumer attitudes, the globalisation business model, and finally the brand management business model. These first analyses are followed by the identification and detailed analysis of five other business models or structural processes, some rather unique to India: the two-tier migration model, large scale imported adoption without a telecommunications infrastructure & terminals industry, unstable adoption with lack of consistent public policies, knowledge sharing and productivity enhancement adoption model, and finally late foreign capital investments into a large emerging market.From the comparison of facts and background data , with these ten wireless service and product adoption models , the paper establishes which are not relevant, and which are too some degree . Furthermore the relevant business models are shown to share, further attributes of sustainability (or not) and dynamic behaviour. This allows concluding that India has had an overall quite fragile adoption and deployment path with growing tensions such as coverage, quality of service and affordability disparities. The model comparison also allows to diagnose the key three structural measures needed to reach a sustainable equilibrium from the business, economic and social points of view.India;Mobile communications;Adoption;Business models;Economic development;Infrastructure;Manufacturing;Mobile terminals;Wireless

Telecommunication Infrastructure Development and Economic Growth: A Panel Data Approach

The present study empirically investigate the dynamic relationship between telecommunication infrastructure and economic growth, using data from twenty-four low income, middle income and high income countries for a 18 years period, from 1985– 2003. With a panel data set, this study uses dynamic fixed effect and random effect models for estimation, which allows us to test the relationship between country’s economic growth with initial economic condition, fixed investment, population growth, government consumption as well as telecommunication infrastructure. The results show that telecommunication is both statistically significant and positively correlated to the real GDP per capita of these countries included in the study. The results are robust even after controlling for investment, population growth, past level of GDP per capita and lagged growth. The results further indicate that the telecommunication investment is subject to increasing returns, suggesting thereby that countries gain more and more with the increase in telecommunication investment. The second test, Granger’s causality test confirms the causal relationship between telecommunication infrastructure and economic growth, but the relationship is significant from telecommunication to GDP per capita side but insignificant on GDP per capita to telecommunication development side.Telecommunication Growth, Panel Data, Fixed and Random Effect, Granger Causality

Rethinking connectivity as interactivity: a case study of Pakistan

Connectivity in developing countries has traditionally been viewed in terms of investment in transport and communications. This papers makes an effort to go beyond this traditional view and conceptualizes connectivity as networks between people and places. We split the overall national reforms agenda for connectivity into three prongs: a) transportation and related services, b) ICT, and c) social capital. We try to see the state of each of these three in case of Pakistan and then propose reforms keeping in view the current political economy milieu.Connectivity; Economic Growth; Transport; Communications; Social Capital

A Case Study of Telemedicine for Disaster Management in Underdeveloped Remote Districts of Balochistan, Pakistan

Balochistan (South West province of Pakistan) strategically lies at the border of Afghanistan and Iran. It is thelargest but overlooked and least developed in human development index in Pakistan. Universal Service Fund(USF) has recently started several telecom projects for broadband delivery, telemedicine and distant learning touplift and streamline the underprivileged class population of remote areas of Balochistan (Pakistan).Unfortunately, the ongoing and existing development projects are highly vulnerable to floods due tomountainous geography. This paper reports the breakdown analysis of telecom infrastructure throughunstructured interviews, blogs, newspapers and organizational reports. An overview of existing information andcommunication system shortcomings and its remedies are discussed and alternative technological options fornetwork resilience are highlighted through literature review and case studies. Two resilient designs forbroadband and narrowband networks are proposed. The proposed modifications will shoulder in sustainability oftelecommunication network, which is very vital during disaster mitigation, recovery and rehabilitation processes.The proposed models can be used to design better resilient telecommunication networks & disastercommunication systems for under developed mountainous regions in the world for sustainable development.Key Words: Disaster management, Information and communication systems, Telecom infrastructure,Balochistan, Floods, Telemedicin

Go west for fame and fortune? The role of internationalization in the growth of Chinese telecom firms

This paper focuses on the role played by internationalization in the growth of Chinese telecom firms by comparing the three cases from China’s telecom sector – Huawei Technologies (Huawei), Zhongxing Telecom Equipment Corporation (ZTE), Datang Telecom Technology (Datang). Faced with a global market that was strongly oligopolistic and dominated by Western firms, we show that internationalization strategies triggered by resource seeking played different roles in the growth strategies of these three firms. The contrasting fortunes of these firms also underscores the fact that the success of internationalization strategies of firms from emerging markets cannot be understood without reference to the global competitive environment faced by firms

Impact of Quality, Advertisement and Company Image on Brand Loyalty in CMPAK (ZONG)

The purpose of this study is to know the customer loyalty in telecom sector and the factors affecting it. Telecom services provider like zong has become important part of our society and has become profitable business. Our study focused on determining impact of factors like service quality, Company image, Advertisement and brand loyalty of telecom sector. A survey was conducted through self-constructed questionnaire to measure brand loyalty. Responses to each item are rated using of five point likert scale with anchors labeled: 1=strongly disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neutral, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly Agree. Participants of the research included 100 people from all walks of life. Statistical information in several areas collected. Mean differences of demographics were calculated. Pearson correlation and regression were used to check relationship and variances. The result show that company image services quality, Advertisement has positive impact on brand loyalty in quick services telecom sector whereas advertising has significant negative impact on brand loyalty. Keyword: Service Quality, Advertisement, Company Image

India: a Case of Fragile Wireless Service and Technology Adoption?

Wireless penetration and the Indian economy have grown significantly over the past few years, but how robust and sustainable is the adoption of wireless services and products? Several papers have discussed India as a wireless service and product market, and sometimes tried to assess quantitative attributes thereof. The present paper aims instead at looking, from a management point of view, at the unique underlying evolution processes, bottlenecks and risks. On specific facets, a comparison is given to adoption indicators in other key markets such as China. For example, just to illustrate highlights of these unique attributes , it is indeed surprising that such a major economy with its very large population has not yet achieved the wireless service usage and mobile terminal penetration ratios of neither an early European adopter ,nor of a recent large scale adopter like China or Russia . India has also been characterised by a surprising regulatory development process quite different from many other contexts, both in terms of its both centralised and regional structure, of very low tariffs providing almost no ROI to investors in a stable situation, and of absence of neutrality across communications technologies. At the same time, a very large fraction of the population has not , for affordability and regional coverage reasons, been able to get the access opportunities of more developed regions , leading to a distribution unbalance which is also a significant opportunity .Also , the wireless service and product adoption pattern in India , specific to communicating services , has so far been in rather sharp contrast with the widely known software and outsourcing services industry evolutions in that country . Therefore it is important to compare the most relevant known wireless service and product adoption theories, to establish from facts whether they apply in the Indian context, and, if not, suggest new or mixed theories able to explain all such facts and cast some light into its likely future structural evolution. It is of high relevance in management to validate if indeed established models apply or not in a significant case like India, just as it is also of high relevance for the main stakeholders to identify methodology able to support their analyses. The paper first provides background information on wireless, fixed, and other operators, on wireless penetration, on telecommunications infrastructure and investments, and on Indian human capital. Thereafter is analyzed in detail the relevance, or not, of five traditional technology adoption models across the Indian user base: the absorption business model, the perceived benefits business model, consumer attitudes, the globalisation business model, and finally the brand management business model. These first analyses are followed by the identification and detailed analysis of five other business models or structural processes, some rather unique to India: the two-tier migration model, large scale imported adoption without a telecommunications infrastructure & terminals industry, unstable adoption with lack of consistent public policies, knowledge sharing and productivity enhancement adoption model, and finally late foreign capital investments into a large emerging market. From the comparison of facts and background data , with these ten wireless service and product adoption models , the paper establishes which are not relevant, and which are too some degree . Furthermore the relevant business models are shown to share, further attributes of sustainability (or not) and dynamic behaviour. This allows concluding that India has had an overall quite fragile adoption and deployment path with growing tensions such as coverage, quality of service and affordability disparities. The model comparison also allows to diagnose the key three structural measures needed to reach a sustainable equilibrium from the business, economic and social points of view

Impact of Risk and Ethics on Adoption of Mobile Banking in Pakistan

Mobile banking is information based one of the newly introduced digital banking services in Pakistan. The objective of this research was to analyze the impact of risk and ethics on consumer behavior towards adoption of mobile banking in Pakistan. This research was totally based on primary data, which was collected during the field survey through questionnaire from 500 students of private and public universities of Pothohar region (District Islamabad/Rawalpindi). The correlation and regression analysis was calculated by using SPSS software. The correlation results showed that there is insignificant relationship with Ethic, and significant relationship was found with Risk. The regression results showed thatR square = 0.621, which stated that the independent variables (Risk and ethis) have 62%  effect on dependent variable Mobile banking adoption and the model can predict the research results. So, ethic is main hurdle for mobile banking adoption. The findings are helpful for managers to reorganize their business plans to capture maximum latentbusinesses. Keywords: Telecom sector, Mobile banking Adoption, Risk, Ethics

Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: A Comparative Study in Mobile Telecommunication Industry

This paper is a part of the doctoral research attempts to know the existence of significant difference between public and private telecom service providers concerning to customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and to know the degree of impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty as the two objectives and the data is collected through a structured questionnaire from 360 customers selected on stratified random basis from customers of both public sector and private sector mobile telecom service providers. The findings of the study is an useful information for both public sector and private sector mobile telecom service providers for the understanding of existing situation of the customer thought for their services. So this conclusion can get drawn here that the many of the other hidden components can be not revealed with this study effecting customer loyalty for the services of the service provider either the public or private. The further research might be able to find those components and would be revealing some other outcome. Key Words: Telecom service provider, mobile, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, public, private

Scenario driven requirement engineering for design and deployment of mobile communication networks

The numbers of users and usage of mobile data service are increasing dramatically due to the introduction of smartphones and mobile broadband dongles. For the next decade the mobile broadband market is expected to grow and reach a level where the average data consumption per user is orders of magnitude greater than today. For the telecom industry it is a magnificent challenge to design and deploy these s high-capacity wireless networks taking into account limitations in cost, energy and radio spectrum. The objective of this paper is to highlight the need to consider a multitude of scenarios for the requirements, design and deployment of mobile broad band networks. The R&D has for many years been targeting high peak data rates enabled by improved spectral efficiency, adding more spectrum bands, aggregation of frequency bands and offloading to local wireless networks connected via public fixed phones or broadband. However, many of these features driving the technology development are representative for the conditions in US and Western Europe. The wireless networks also need to be designed assuming deployment in regions in the world where both the availability of spectrum as well as the penetration of fixed phones and broadband are limited. --Mobile broadband networks,cost and capacity,spectrum,deployment strategies,telecommunications,management of technology and R&D,economic development of natural resources