The potential of converged mobile telecommunication services: a conjoint analysis

Abstract

Purpose -Fearing that their voice and SMS business will be substituted by IP-based services from internet companies, mobile operators are developing various IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) based technologies to enable richer communication services. They reason that since the new rich communication services -such as enhanced presence, group communication and seamless switching between devices and media types within the same communication session -provide secure and more reliable services than those offered by internet companies -Skype, Whatsapp and Google þ , for instance -consumers will readily appreciate their services and consequently use them. This paper seeks to address these issues.Design/methodology/approach -To validate these claims, this study analyzes the results of a conjoint survey among 82 respondents in The Netherlands, France and Spain. Are users really willing to adopt these rich communication services and, if so, do issues like reliability, privacy and security impact their decision?Finding -The results indicate that while users are most interested in ''group communication'' features of rich communication services, they appreciate other services like ''switching devices'', ''switching media during communication sessions'' and ''file-sharing''. Still, for all services, reliability, security and interoperability (i.e. switching between devices) are valued as important requirements.Research limitation/implications -These findings contribute to the debate on platform competition, as these rich communication services are provided on the basis of the IMS platform, while competing services are offered via an internet base platform.Originality/ value -This paper contributes to the discussion in the mobile telecommunications domain on whether and how operators can counter the threat from internet players that look to take over their voice and SMS business. Theoretically, this paper will contribute both to understanding why users intend to adopt advanced mobile services and creating insight into the consumer-related factors that drive the war between competing service platforms.

SMS use intensity changes in the age of ubiquitous mobile Internet access – A two-level investigation of residential mobile communications customers in Germany

“…Even for OTT messaging applications several studies point in the direction that user needs fulfilled by such apps differ significantly from gratifications MNO customers obtain from SMS: Relative to OTT instant messengers, users experience SMS as better suited for more formal, official, task-oriented and goal-directed interpersonal exchange situations in which the possibility to reliably reach any other MNO customer regardless of whether she has also activated a specific software client of an OTT supplier on her smartphone in combination with privacy preservation are pivotal (Church and de Oliveira, 2013;Ć osić , 2013;Deloitte, 2014;Huang and Li, 2013;Lauricella and Kay, 2013;Nikou et al, 2012;Ogara et al, 2014;Reid and Reid, 2007). All things considered, the second theoretical lens implies that customers' MI usage intensity does not significantly affect their SMS activity levels.…”

Mobile tethering: overview, perspectives and challengess

“…Conjoint analysis is a method to determine, measure and predict consumers' preferences with regard to different features that define a product or a service (Green and Srinvasan, 1978;Nikou et al, 2012a;Srinivasan, 1978). Conjoint analysis identifies trade-offs consumers make for selecting different features of products or services (Batt and Katz, 1997;Green et al, 2001) by estimating the importance and utility values that consumers assign to features of a service or a product.…”

Eliciting and Considering Underlay User Preferences for Data-Forwarding in Multihop Wireless Networks

“…The results are not generalizable because user preferences are highly dependent on the chosen video and its quality profile. In [27], a conjoint analysis was performed to determine whether users are willing to adopt new advanced and secure services such as smart address book, group communication and seamless switching between devices and media types, rather than using the conventional services, e.g., Skype, Whatsapp, Google+, etc. The design of the survey is well motivated and detailed.…”