http://repub.eur.nl/res/concept/jel-L96/ Recent publications classified by JEL Code L96 en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/38780/ 2013-02-11T00:00:00Z In recent years, Combinatorial Clock Auctions (CCAs) have been used around the world to allocate frequency spectrum for mobile telecom licenses. CCAs are claimed to significantly reduce the scope for gaming or strategic bidding. In this paper, we show, however, that CCAs significantly enhance the possibilities for strategic bidding. Real bidders in telecom markets are not only interested in the spectrum they win themselves and the price they pay for that, but also in the price competitors pay for that spectrum. Moreover, budget constraints play an important role. When these considerations are taken into account, CCAs provide bidders with significant gaming possibilities, resulting in high auction prices and problems associated with multiple equilibria and bankruptcy (given optimal bidding strategies). Janssen, M.C.W. Karamychev, V.A. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12461/ 2008-05-23T00:00:00Z In recent years, the mobile telecommunications market has been very dynamic in terms of innovations. Mobile service providers continuously invest in new technologies and introduce many new mobile services for consumers, such as MMS and web services. However, adoption rates are often not very high, which makes it difficult for firms to get return on their technology investments. In this thesis we investigate the individual consumer adoption of new mobile services and consider a range of antecedents and possible moderators. Most importantly, we study the effects of different types of marketing communications on individual adoption timing, and the moderating effect of cultural values on adoption behavior across countries. In addition, we consider the next step in the adoption process: postadoption usage, which has received little attention in the adoption literature so far. In a longitudinal study, we investigate the effect of adoption timing on consumer usage patterns after the adoption of a new mobile service. By taking customer and relationship characteristics into consideration in each study, we also contribute to the customer management literature. We show that relationship characteristics can have a significant impact on adoption behavior and that a loyal and experienced customer can be a valuable asset to companies that introduce a new service. Prins, R. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/16416/ 2008-05-01T00:00:00Z This paper analyzes empirically whether and if so to what extent later entrants in the European mobile telephony industry have a disadvantage vis-à-vis incumbents and early mover entrants. To analyze this question a dynamic model of market share development and a series of static models are considered. There is clear evidence of early mover advantage, mainly caused by the influence of the penetration rate: it pays to enter when still few people have acquired a mobile telephone. Another important determining factor is the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index at the moment of entry: it is significantly easier to enter a highly concentrated industry. Finally, there are important differences between countries, possibly indicating the relative strength of the national regulators. Bijwaard, G.E. Janssen, M.C.W. Maasland, E. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/12246/ 2008-04-25T00:00:00Z This paper links communications and media usage to social and household economics boundaries. It highlights that in present day society, communications and media are a necessity, but not always affordable, and that they furthermore open up for addictive behaviours which raise additional financial and social risks. A simple and efficient methodology compatible with state-of-the-art social and communications business statistics is developed, which produces the residual communications and media affordability budget and ultimately the value-at-risk in terms of usage and tariffs. Sensitivity analysis provides precious information on communications and media adoption on the basis of affordability. Case data are surveyed from various countries. ICT policy recommendations are made to support widespread and responsible communications access. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11762/ 2008-03-19T00:00:00Z China’s mobile communications market presents unique market challenges. With a high subscriber growth rate but polarized and stratified consumer adoption trends, an investigation into the current status of this market will improve our understanding on how adoption of mobile communications is evolving. In this descriptive paper we analyze key issues relating to market characteristics of mobile communications with an objective to better comprehend the dynamics of this largest mobile subscribers market. Using secondary data we identify mobile industry and end-user related trends to infer our conclusions for the industry. Sangwan, S. Chong, G. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11141/ 2008-02-07T00:00:00Z Individual services and tariffs existed briefly in the beginning of telecommunications history 150 years ago but faded away over time. Service provisioning evolved into the current supplier-centric situation which has many limitations and disadvantages. This thesis re-embraces the user-centric service provisioning and tariffing philosophy and applies it to current mobile communication services setting, which differs significantly in scale and scope from the historical practices. A design methodology and tool for the determination of individualized mobile services and tariffs is provided, and benefits to both the user and the supplier are evaluated. The design has three aspects. The first involves the construction of a conceptual framework consisting of the behavioral models of the user and the supplier (firm) and a game theoretical negotiation mechanism to determine individual services and tariffs. Second is the operationalization of the conceptual framework in a computational design with methods, computational models, negotiation algorithms, risk metrics and a prototype implementation. Third is the extension of the individual services and tariffs concept to a community setting via a proposed community business model. Two evaluations are performed. First, for the firm-based design, a user survey is conducted and computational cases, that address value-added mobile services and generic mobile service bundles, are developed. The numerical analyses show that the users always achieve gains in utility. The benefits to the supplier include adjustable risk-profit equilibrium points, increased network traffic and reduced churn. Second, two case studies on communities are conducted. The results demonstrate that the proposed business model of community-based individual service provisioning and tariffing can meet the demands of their members precisely and address both affordability and sustainability issues. Last, a specific engineering implementation and integration of the individualized service and tariff design tools into the existing infrastructure of the communication services suppliers is proposed. Further research issues are pointed out. Chen, H. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10718/ 2007-11-04T00:00:00Z Warnings to the broad population in an emergency situation, irrespective of location and condition, is a public policy responsibility. Public wireless networks offer now the opportunity to deliver emergency warnings in this way with explanations, because in many countries the mobile penetration rates are higher than any other access form .The paper summarizes the analysis of the selection process between Short messaging services (SMS) and Cell Broadcast messaging in the context of Denmark based on end user requirements and stakeholder roles. It demonstrates the many technical, cost-benefit and other trade-offs needed in supporting the population now with a dependable and wide-spread technology. Simonsen, P. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10503/ 2007-08-28T00:00:00Z This paper introduces a conceptual framework and a computational model for individual tariffs for mobile communication services. The purpose is to provide guidance for implementation by communication service suppliers or user groups alike. The paper first examines the sociological and economic incentives for personalized services and individual tariffs. Then it introduces a framework for individual tariffs which is centered on user and supplier behaviours. The user, instead of being fully rational, has "bounded rationality" and his behaviours are subject to economic constraints and influenced by social needs. The supplier can belong to different types of entities such as firms and communities; each has his own goals which lead to different behaviors. Individual tariffs are decided through interactions between the user and the supplier and can be analyzed in a structured way using game theory. A numerical case in mobile music training is developed to illustrate the concepts. Chen, H. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10515/ 2007-08-28T00:00:00Z This paper presents results on mass customization of wireless communications services and tariffs. It advocates for a user-centric view of wireless service configuration and pricing as opposed to present-day service catalog options. The focus is on design methodology and tools for such individual services and tariffs, using altogether information compression, negotiation algorithms, and risk portfolio analysis. We first analyze the user and supplier needs and aspirations. We then introduce the systematic design-oriented approach which can be applied. The implications of this approach for users and suppliers are discussed based on an end-user survey and on model-based calculations. It is shown that users can achieve desired service bundle cost reduction, while suppliers can improve significantly their risk-profit equilibrium points, reduce churn and simplify provisioning. Chen, H. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10518/ 2007-08-28T00:00:00Z A design approach is offered for individual tariffs for mass customized mobile service products, whereby operators can determine their contract acceptance rules to guarantee with a set probability their minimum profit and risk levels. It uses realistic improvements to earlier reported negotiation algorithms [1], and a full operator operational model including infrastructure and content acquisition. Value at risk and profit are analyzed when a random user has consistent characteristics to a survey group, so that risk and profits are pooled. This analysis is necessary to give the supplier business guarantees to enter individual tariff agreements. A full numerical case is given for a class of mobile service. Chen, H. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10519/ 2007-08-28T00:00:00Z This paper introduces individual tariffs at service and content bundle level in mobile communications. It gives a theoretical framework (economic, sociological) as well as a computational game solution method. The user can be an individual or a community. Individual tariffs are decided through interactions between the user and the supplier. A numerical example from mobile music illustrates the concepts. Chen, H. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/9043/ 2007-02-17T00:00:00Z 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. Pau, L-F. Motiwalla, J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/8110/ 2006-11-16T00:00:00Z Recognizing the importance of privacy management as a business process and a business support process, this paper proposes the use of service level agreements (SLA’s) around privacy features, including qualitative and quantitative ones. Privacy metrics are defined by both parties with boundary values on each qualitative or qualitative feature. Their distribution is relying on stress distributions used in this field. The use of service level agreements also casts privacy management into a business perspective with benefits and costs to either party in a process. This approach is especially relevant for communications operators as brokers between content owners (individuals, businesses) and enterprise applications; in this context, the privacy SLA management would be carried out by the operator, while the terms and conditions of the SLA negotiation reside with the two external parties. This work was carried out as part of the large EU project PRIME www.prime.project.eu.org. on privacy enhancing technologies. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7830/ 2006-06-02T00:00:00Z Heidi was a PhD candidate at the Department of Decision and Information Sciences at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands from 2004-2006. She holds a Masters of Arts in English (1999) from Florida International University (FIU) and a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Miami (1979). She was presented with FIU’s Presidential Award for outstanding contributions in research and education for her work on the Inter-regional Grid Enabled Center for High Energy Physics Research and Educational Outreach at FIU (CHEPREO, 2003). She also holds Executive Development certification from the FIU College of Business (2002). Heidi L. Alvarez is the Director at the Florida International University (FIU) Center for Internet Augmented Research and Assessment (CIARA), where she is responsible for support of the division’s directive to offer Internet Augmented Research and Assessment, Internet2, and high-performance next generation networking services to research and education institutions. She develops and implements information technology grant activities with local, state and federal agencies, either solely or in collaboration with various colleges and offices of the University, with an emphasis on science and educational outreach collaboration. Alvarez works with colleagues and collaborators to plan and implement high performance Research and Education (R&E) networks and US e-Science initiatives in South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Alvarez is Principal Investigator of CyberBridges (NSF Award #OCI-0537464) to create a new generation of scientists and engineers who are capable of integrating cyberinfrastructure into the whole educational, professional, and creative process of diverse disciplines. She has served as Co-PI for AMPATH since 2000, Co-PI for CHEPREO since 2003, and the Western Hemisphere Research and Education Network (WHREN) – Links Interconnecting Latin America (LILA) since 2005. She served as Director of Information Technology Research for the Madrid-Miami Center, Madrid, Spain, for a year in 2002-2003. The Madrid Center for Education, Research and Development focuses on three areas of importance to South Florida and greater Madrid: immigration, economic development and information technology. Alvarez, H.L. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7639/ 2006-03-29T00:00:00Z In this study indicators of agglomeration economies and their effect on entrepreneurship in the ICT industry are analysed in diverse urban contexts. Agglomeration economies have a stronger impact on new firm formation than on the growth of incumbent firms. Concentration and diversity both have a positive effect on new firm formation as well as on the growth of incumbent firms, while competition only has a positive effect on new firm formation. It is especially the effects of industrial diversity that are revealed to be sensitive to urban contexts: positive effects on new firm formation are attached to the connected cities and to the highly urbanized Randstad, and positive effects on firm growth to the intermediate zone, the connected cities and urban municipalities. Oort, F.G. van Stam, F.C. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7593/ 2006-03-17T00:00:00Z Het doel van dit onderzoek is het analyseren van de marktgrootte van mobiel betalen en de bijbehorende omzetbasis, alsmede de invoering van knelpunten, om inzicht te verkrijgen in de introductie en ontwikkeling van mobiele bankservices in Nederland. Het onderzoek beschrijft verscheidene aspecten van mobiel betalen/mobiel bankieren in Nederland. Onderwerpen als implementatie, wetgeving, geschatte businesscase, aanbevolen businessmodel, ontwikkelingsscenario’s, een SWOT - analyse van technische oplossingen, organisatorische knelpunten, een analyse van de redenen van succes en falen en openstaande problemen en uitdagingen komen aan de orde. Het voornaamste doel van het onderzoek is het trachten te beantwoorden van de vraag of er een markt voor mobiel betalen is in Nederland en een analyse geven van waarom mobiele bankservices niet succesvol zijn geweest in Nederland. Bovendien dient gemeld te worden dat de focus van dit verslag lag op microbetalingen, waar over het algemeen betalingen tot €10 onder verstaan worden. Waris, F.S. Mubarik, F.M. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7319/ 2006-02-01T00:00:00Z With the emergence of smart business networks, agile networks, etc. as important research areas in management, for all the attractiveness of these concepts, a major issue remains around their design and the selection rules. While smart business networks should provide advantages due to the quick connect of business partners for selected functions in a process common to several parties, literature does not provide constructive methods whereby the selection of temporary partners and functions can be done. Most discussions only rely solely on human judgment. This paper introduces both computational geometry, and genetic programming, as systematic methods whereby to display possible partnerships, and also whereby to plan for their effect on the organizations or functions of those involved. The two techniques are also been put in the context of emergence theory. Business maps address the first challenge with the use of Voronoï diagrams. Cellular automata, with genetic algorithms mimicking living bodies, address the second challenge. This paper does not include experimental results, which have been derived in the high tech area to determine especially the adequateness of systems integrators to set up joint ventures with smaller technology suppliers. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6989/ 2005-10-14T00:00:00Z Diffusion of mobile communication has induced great societal changes in China. Factors at global market, communications industry and end-user market levels are driving the adoption at a high rate. Firstly, China’s economic emergence together with e.g. accession to WTO has led to foreign investment increase in telecom and communications industry. Secondly, a parallel deregulation and reengineering of the telecom industry ensured an introduction of competition in the domestic terminals market and facilitated manufacturing in China. Finally, overall growth in China has increased purchasing power enabling consumers to adopt new technologies. At the market level, challenges and future growth depends on a favorable business environment both for local and multinationals organizations, operators and service providers, and most importantly to the distribution channels (retailers and resellers). Market mechanisms such as improvement in payment methods, regulations for content providers, branded and low-end mobile phones marketing, applications and support in Chinese language are required for a systematic and not just sporadic adoption of mobile devices. Product development and innovation, improvement in distribution infrastructure, mobile services operators skill enhancement are some measures that can growth of mobile communication and increase in average consumer spending. Sangwan, S. Pau, L-F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6927/ 2005-09-16T00:00:00Z Network shares and retail prices are not symmetric in the telecommunications market with multiple bottlenecks which give rise to new questions of access fee regulation. In this paper we consider a model with two types of asymmetry arising from different entry timing, i.e. a larger reputation for the incumbent and lower cost of servicing for the entrant as a result of more advanced technology. As a result firms have divergent preferences over the access fee. In case of linear and non-linear prices the access fee might still act as the instrument of collusion, but only if a side-payment is permitted which is generally welfare decreasing. Moreover, in contrast with the European regulatory framework, the access fee on the basis of termination cost might not necessarily be a socially preferable solution. Kocsis, V. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6728/ 2005-06-28T00:00:00Z Recently, several new mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) have entered the European mobile telecommunications markets. These service providers do not own a mobile network, but instead they buy capacity from other companies. Because these virtual operators do not possess an infrastructure of their own, they have signed contracts with incumbent mobile operators with a network. The growth of these MVNOs which use leased network capacity from existing carriers, presents the incumbent mobile operators with a strategic dilemma. Network-based mobile operators have almost full control over their infrastructure but they may not know their customers well enough to fill the demand for cheaper and/or innovative services. New service-based operators may create affinity with the customer and introduce quickly all kinds of innovations and/or price discounts, but they still have to negotiate access terms and conditions with one of the domestic network-based operators. It has become important, and in some countries even urgent, to introduce regulatory measures concerning non-discriminatory access to the mobile telecommunications sector. This paper looks furthermore deeper into the entry and innovation strategies by MVNOs on the mobile market in the Netherlands, and its impact on competition. Jaspers, F.P.H. Hulsink, W. Theeuwes, J.J.M.