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The Network Investment Economics of the Mobile Wireless Industry

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Abstract

This paper provides a theory to account for what drives the network investments in the mobile wireless industry. In the mobile wireless industry, investments made by network operators are one of the key industry and business drivers. Of these cost drivers, the most influential on the industry’s dynamics are the capital investments, which includes network infrastructure investments. This article traces the industry’s network investments drivers, key economic characteristics and service providers’ offerings along the industry’s three chronological phases of evolution. The industry’s technology investment and subscriber penetration life cycles have been discovered and employed to explain the current industry dynamics. The industry’s stakeholders who would benefit from this paper include researchers, managers, investors and regulators. With an understanding of these cycles, the industry’s stakeholders will be better equipped to manage uncertainties, which, in turn, will lead to the emergence of a stable industry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Telecommunications & High-Technology Practice, Perot Systems Corporation, U.S.A.

    Hemant K. Sabat (General Manager)

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  1. Hemant K. Sabat
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Correspondence to Hemant K. Sabat.

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Sabat, H.K. The Network Investment Economics of the Mobile Wireless Industry. Inf Syst Front 7, 187–206 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-005-1487-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-005-1487-y

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