Title of the Thesis A Cross-Country Comparison of

HELSINKIUNIVERSITYOFTECHNOLOGYDepartmentofElectricalandCommunicationsEngineeringNetworkingLaboratoryHannuVerkasaloACross-CountryComparisonofMobileServiceandHandsetUsageThethesishasbeensubmittedforofficialexaminationforthedegreeofLicentiateofScience(Technology)inEspooonJanuary25th,2007.SupervisorandinstructorProfessorHeikkiHämmäinen-ii-HELSINKIUNIVERSITYOFTECHNOLOGYAbstractoftheLicentiate’sThesisAuthor:HannuVerkasaloTitleoftheThesis:ACross-CountryComparisonofMobileServiceandHandsetUsageDate:January25,2007Numberofpages:12+200Department:DepartmentofElectricalandCommunicationsEngineeringProfessorship:S-38TelecommunicationManagementSupervisorandinstructor:ProfessorHeikkiHämmäinenThisthesisdiscussespotentialcountry-specificeffectsthatmightexplainmobilesubscriberbehaviorindifferentcountries.Therearebothtechno-economicandpsycho-socio-culturalfactorsexplainingcross-countrydifferences.Basedonthetheoreticalframeworkseveralhypothesesarepresentedwithregardstopossibleusage-levelobservations.Thetheoreticalframeworkisutilizedwitharecentlydevelopedhandset-basedempiricalresearchplatform.Severalinternationalpanelstudieswereimplementedthroughout2005and2006infivedifferentcountries(Finland,Germany,England,FranceandtheU.S.),andusage-levelbehaviorofrecruitedconsumersubscriberswasmonitoredoveracourseof2-4months.Allinall,1726smartphoneuserswereincludedinthestudy.Thedataisanalyzedwithbothdescriptivestatisticsandregressionmethods.Atthesametimeacross-countryserviceusageindexisdeveloped.Normalizedvariablesareusedinstudyingthelocuspointsofsmartphoneusageacrosscountries.However,challengesremainingeneralizingtheresultstothemassmarketdomain.TheempiricalresultsindicatethattheFinnishmarketlagsotherdevelopedmobilemarketsonmanyfronts.Inparticular,invalue-addedservice(VAS)usageFinnsarebehindothermarkets.However,inperson-to-personserviceusageFinnsperformmoderately.TheobservationsinFinlandareprobablydrivenbysupplysideeconomicsastheFinnishmobilemarketecosystemishorizontallyoriented.Severecompetitioninconventionalvoiceserviceshaspushedmobilevoicepricesdownbutatthesametimeavertedoperatorfocusawayfromnewdataandmultimediaservices.AtthetimeofthestudyhandsetbundlingwasprohibitedinFinland,andoperatorsdidnotseeincentivestopushnewdataservicesortofullydeploy3Ginfrastructure.Thefixed-to-mobilesubstitutioninvoiceservices,however,hasexperiencedafasttake-offinFinland.TheU.S.marketisactiveintermsofmobileInternetusage.AmericansenjoybenefitsfromInternetspill-overservices,i.e.fixed-to-mobileInternetconvergence.InsteadofSMS,whichsufferedfromsevereinteroperabilityproblemsintheU.S.market,Americansfluentlymovestraighttomobileemailandinstantmessagingservices.FrancedistinguishesamongtheEuropeanmarketsbecauseofactivevoicecommunicationandWebbrowsingpatterns.InGermanylittlemobileperson-to-personserviceusageisobserved,andinEnglandmobilesubscribersaremostinclinedtomultimediaandSMSservices.Onahigherleveltwomajorconclusionscanbedrawnbasedonthetheoreticaldiscussionandempiricalobservations.First,handsetbundlingandpowerofoperatorsmighthavepositiveinitialeffectsontheemergenceandadoptionofnewmobileservices.Althoughhandsetbundlingdoesnotdrivearchitecturemodularity,itprovidesacloserlinkbetweenthesupplyanddemandsidesofthemobilemarketecosystem.Consequentlyoperatorshaveintheshorttermbetterincentivestopushnewservicesanddeploy3Gtechnology.Newservicesmightotherwisefinditdifficulttoattractcriticalmasses.Atthesametimeoperatorscanbettermeetend-userdemandsandneeds,bytailoringandcustomizinghandsetsandpreinstalledsoftwareonopensoftwareplatforms.Inthelongtermhandsetbundling,however,mightdecreasecompetition.Secondly,open-mindedoperatorstrategiesarebeneficial,andintheturbulentevolutionofmobilebusinessecosystemsoperatorshavetocarefullyconsidercollaborativeactionsandinmanycasesjoinspecializedcontentandservice-levelplayersinprovidingmorevalue-addedtotheend-user.Anorchestratorkindofoperatorstrategymightcurrentlybethemostsuitableoneindevelopedmarkets.CollaborativelinksbetweentraditionalcellularoperatorsandInternethousesarelikelytoincreaseinimportanceinthefuture,andthisholdsirrespectiveofcountry.Keywords:Cross-countrycomparisonofmobileserviceusage,smartphones,handset-basedmonitoringofmobilesubscribers,end-userresearch,mobilemarketecosystems-iii-TEKNILLINENKORKEAKOULULisensiaattityöntiivistelmäTekijä:HannuVerkasaloTyönnimi:KansainvälinenälypuhelintenjamobiilipalveluidenkäyttövertailuPäivämäärä:25.1.2007Sivumäärä:12+200Osasto:Sähkö-jatietoliikennetekniikanosastoProfessuuri:S-38TietoverkkotekniikkaTyönvalvojajaohjaaja:ProfessoriHeikkiHämmäinenTutkimuslähestyykansainvälistämobiilipalveluidenja–asiakkaidenkäyttövertailututkimustateoreettisestanäkökulmastakehittämälläerityisenviitekehyksen,jollamahdollisiamaidenvälisiäerojavoidaanselittää.Viitekehysnojaatoisaaltatekno-ekonomiseen,jatoisaaltapsykologis-sosiologis-kultturelliseenlähestymistapaan.Viitekehykseenperustuentutkimuksessaesitetäänhypoteesejakansainvälisillemobiilipalveluidenjapäätelaitteidenvertailututkimuksille.Tätäteoreettistaviitekehystäkäytetäänyhdes