IntJ Mobile Communication. Vol 2 No.1. 2004 Critical success factors in mobile communications a comparative roadmap for Germany and India Bardo fraunholz and chandana Unnithan Deakin University, School of Information Systems, Faculty of Business and Law, 221, Burwood Highway, Burwood. Melbourne Victoria 3125. Australia E-mail: bardo@@deakin.edu. au E-mail: Chandana deakin edu. au communications. continues to evolve with innovative technologies and high-speed data services. In many economies, mobile phones have overtaken fixed lines. In this dynamic context, we have envisaged to study mobile mmunication diffusion in Germany and India, from a historical comparative rspective. The basic standard for comparison has been Global Systems for Mobile Communications(GSM) and its data ser hich was adopted by th economies. Subsequently, critical success factors in each economy is drawn and compared with the other, to elicit future directions. Keywords: mobile communications; Germany; India; data services: GSM diffusion; critical success factors; historical comparative research; open coding Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Fraunholz, B. and Unnithan, C.(2004)'Critical success factors in mobile communications a comparative roadmap for Germany and India, Int J Mobile communication Vol.2,No.l,pp.87-101 Biographical notes: Bardo Fraunholz is a Lecturer in Information Systems Project Management, Enterprise Modelling and Business Communication Systems. He has a German masters degree in Information Systems/ Accounting. Further, he is a post-graduate in legal studies specialising in IT, Media and Corporate Law from London. He spent several years in the Information Communication Technologies sector as coeditor/board member of a publisher specialising in IT and Telecommunication Magazines. Currently, he is actively involved in managing/consulting with a number of projects dealing with SMEs and information systems. His main research interests are mobile communications, IT& Law and Is/T Project Management Chandana Unnithan is a Lecturer in Business Information Systems and IT/s Project Management. She has a masters degree by research in Business mputing and an MBA from Australia. She has spent 14 years in the Information Communications Technology sector, some highlights being with IBM GSA and TATA of India. Her current research focuses on project proces modelling, mobile appl in project management, and impact of new generation mobile techne in various economies. She has a special in comparative cross-cultural or cross-economy mobile communication opyright o 2004 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Int. J. Mobile Communication, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2004 87 Copyright © 2004 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Critical success factors in mobile communications: a comparative roadmap for Germany and India Bardo Fraunholz and Chandana Unnithan Deakin University, School of Information Systems, Faculty of Business and Law, 221, Burwood Highway, Burwood, Melbourne, Victoria 3125, Australia E-mail: bardo@deakin.edu.au E-mail: Chandana@deakin.edu.au Abstract: The world of telecommunications, especially mobile communications, continues to evolve with innovative technologies and high-speed data services. In many economies, mobile phones have overtaken fixed lines. In this dynamic context, we have envisaged to study mobile communication diffusion in Germany and India, from a historical comparative perspective. The basic standard for comparison has been Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) and its data services, which was adopted by both economies. Subsequently, critical success factors in each economy is drawn and compared with the other, to elicit future directions. Keywords: mobile communications; Germany; India; data services; GSM; diffusion; critical success factors; historical comparative research; open coding; SMS. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Fraunholz, B. and Unnithan, C. (2004) ‘Critical success factors in mobile communications: a comparative roadmap for Germany and India’, Int. J. Mobile Communication, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.87–101. Biographical notes: Bardo Fraunholz is a Lecturer in Information Systems, Project Management, Enterprise Modelling and Business Communication Systems. He has a German master’s degree in Information Systems/ Accounting. Further, he is a post-graduate in legal studies specialising in IT, Media and Corporate Law from London. He spent several years in the Information Communication Technologies sector as coeditor/board member of a publisher specialising in IT and Telecommunication Magazines. Currently, he is actively involved in managing/consulting with a number of projects dealing with SMEs and information systems. His main research interests are mobile communications, IT & Law and IS/IT Project Management. Chandana Unnithan is a Lecturer in Business Information Systems and IT/IS Project Management. She has a master’s degree by research in Business Computing and an MBA from Australia. She has spent 14 years in the Information Communications Technology sector, some highlights being with IBM GSA and TATA of India. Her current research focuses on project process modelling, mobile applications in project management, and impact of new generation mobile technologies in various economies. She has a special interest in comparative cross-cultural or cross-economy mobile communication studies
B. fraunholz and C. Unnithan 1 Introduction The world of telecommunications has been transitioning rapidly over the past decade with mobile technologies enabling data services [1]. By the end of 2001, over 90% of countries had a mobile network in place, and 97 countries had more mobile than fixed telephone subscribers [2]. In 2002, 51% of the worlds phone owners were mobile phone subscribers [3]. Parallel to the rapid uptake of mobile phones has been the adoption of Global Systems for Mobile Communications(GSM) standard by 197 countries [4]and its acclaimed General Packet Radio Services(GPRS)data services 5] The key objectives of this paper are to derive some critical success factors for mobile communications, specifically in the two countries -Germany, a developed economy, and India, a developing economy. Despite their differences in stages of development and infrastructure, there seem to be interesting similarities in the mobile communications diffusion and the accepted network standard of GSm. In this precinct, we endeavoured to examine the critical factors in mobile communication diffusion from a historical omparative perspective [6] focussing on the evolution of the mobile telephony sector, networks and data services as leading indicators. The following section describes our 2 Methodology Our philosophical perspective for the purposes of this research has been interpretive, that is, the systematic analysis of socially meaningful action through the direct detailed observation of people in natural settings in order to arrive at understandings and interpretations (2, 3]. Through this approach, we expected to give our research the practical orientation as we study meaningful social action, not just observable behaviour of people. We hypothesised that there may be inherent meanings behind the uptake and diffusion of mobile communications within each of these countries and, perhaps, critical success factors could be derived. Many authors recommend exploratory studies when there is relatively less information regarding an evolving phenomenon to advance knowledge further [2, 3, 7]. Our study was exploratory but evaluative using cross-sectional data, and taking into consideration the rapid time transition in mobile communications. We have used the comparative historical technique for data collectio accommodate a mix of qualitative data such as existing statistics, documents, observations and random semi-structured interviews, which were found necessary to measure/conceptualise critical success factors in mobile communications. Comparative researchers examine patterns of similarities and differences across cases and try to come to terms with their diversity [6]. It helps in identifying aspects of social life that are general across units (or cultures in this context). The approach often encourages the researchers to ask questions that challenge their own cultural traditions. With both the researchers involved in studying relevant countries, the interpretation of socially relevant meanings were easily possible. Our research question was: what may be some of the critical success factors in mobile communication diffusion in Germany and india Within the approach, the cultural context type was the mobile communication diffusion process within the two economies. Conceptual equivalence(the ability to use the same concept across divergent cultures )and measurement equivalence(measuring the
88 B. Fraunholz and C. Unnithan 1 Introduction The world of telecommunications has been transitioning rapidly over the past decade with mobile technologies enabling data services [1]. By the end of 2001, over 90% of countries had a mobile network in place, and 97 countries had more mobile than fixed telephone subscribers [2]. In 2002, 51% of the world’s phone owners were mobile phone subscribers [3]. Parallel to the rapid uptake of mobile phones has been the adoption of Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard by 197 countries [4] and its acclaimed General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) data services [5]. The key objectives of this paper are to derive some critical success factors for mobile communications, specifically in the two countries – Germany, a developed economy, and India, a developing economy. Despite their differences in stages of development and infrastructure, there seem to be interesting similarities in the mobile communications diffusion and the accepted network standard of GSM. In this precinct, we endeavoured to examine the critical factors in mobile communication diffusion from a historical comparative perspective [6] focussing on the evolution of the mobile telephony sector, networks and data services as leading indicators. The following section describes our methodology. 2 Methodology Our philosophical perspective for the purposes of this research has been interpretive, that is, the systematic analysis of socially meaningful action through the direct detailed observation of people in natural settings in order to arrive at understandings and interpretations [2,3]. Through this approach, we expected to give our research the practical orientation as we study meaningful social action, not just observable behaviour of people. We hypothesised that there may be inherent meanings behind the uptake and diffusion of mobile communications within each of these countries and, perhaps, critical success factors could be derived. Many authors recommend exploratory studies when there is relatively less information regarding an evolving phenomenon – to advance knowledge further [2,3,7]. Our study was exploratory but evaluative using cross-sectional data, and taking into consideration the rapid time transition in mobile communications. We have used the comparative historical technique for data collection, to accommodate a mix of qualitative data such as existing statistics, documents, observations and random semi-structured interviews, which were found necessary to measure/conceptualise critical success factors in mobile communications. Comparative researchers examine patterns of similarities and differences across cases and try to come to terms with their diversity [6]. It helps in identifying aspects of social life that are general across units (or cultures in this context). The approach often encourages the researchers to ask questions that challenge their own cultural traditions. With both the researchers involved in studying relevant countries, the interpretation of socially relevant meanings were easily possible. Our research question was: what may be some of the critical success factors in mobile communication diffusion in Germany and India? Within the approach, the cultural context type was the mobile communication diffusion process within the two economies. Conceptual equivalence (the ability to use the same concept across divergent cultures) and measurement equivalence (measuring the
Critical success factors in mobile communications same concept in different settings) was applicable. The concept of mobile communication diffusion could be measured across the two economies, as the technologies and adoption patterns were found to be similar -although motivations may differ. We used the open coding method to elicit emerging themes and build them into critical success factors As the comparative method often stimulates theory building [8], we expected to synthesise the critical success factors that may emerge into future frameworks for furthering academic research A variety of themes such as mobile penetration rates of mainly cellular phones, pricing of mobile packages, activity/motivation of cellular providers, availability of phones emerged as critical success factors. The pap the research. Subsequently, we build is structured as follows. We begin with a contextual introduction and methodology of taxonomy on relevant mobile technologies and standards to place our research in context Further, we analyse emerging themes, elicit critical success factors and draw conclusions to form ground for further research 3 Definitions and taxonomies a common definition of mobile communication was found to be evasive due to the evolutionary nature of the term as well as the differences in interpretation among global communities. In broad terms, mobile communications encompasses any form of communication that is exchanged over mobile networks [5]. The term is increasingly used as a reference to a broad spectrum of applications ranging from communications to infotainment, consumer transactions and corporate services [9]. Mobile communications imply a connected society, increased speed of service, simplicity and convenience [10] To place our research in the context, we attempted to build a taxonomy of mobile communication technologies that are relevant in the following paragraphs. The foremost is the mobile or cellular phone which is basically a two-way walkie-talkie that acts like a telephone [11]. In the cellular' phone system, the geographic region is divided into cells, to make most use of a limited number of transmission frequencies [7]. Each connection, or conversation, requires its own dedicated frequency and the terms analogue' and digital'refer to this transmission mechanism. The major difference is in how the audio signals are transmitted between the phone and base station. With analogue systems, the audio is modulated directly onto a carrier while with digital systems the audio is converted to digitised samples, transmitted and converted back at the receiving end [7]. The earlier mobile systems were analogue (e.g. AMPS) and the latest are digital (e.g. GSM). As technology progressed, analog systems are getting phased out, and digital systems are either adapted or adopted-depending on the country [7] GSM is one of the leading digital cellular systems, introduced in 1991. It uses narrowband TDMA which allows eight simultaneous calls on the same radio frequency As of April 2003, GSM service has become the de facto standard in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa [4]. TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)is a technology for delivering digital wireless service using time-division multiplexing and is the second most popular digital wireless standard [12]. TDMa works by dividing a radio frequency into time slots and then allocating slots to multiple calls. In this way, a single frequency can support multiple, simultaneous data channels [13]
Critical success factors in mobile communications 89 same concept in different settings) was applicable. The concept of mobile communication diffusion could be measured across the two economies, as the technologies and adoption patterns were found to be similar – although motivations may differ. We used the open coding method to elicit emerging themes and build them into critical success factors. As the comparative method often stimulates theory building [8], we expected to synthesise the critical success factors that may emerge into future frameworks for furthering academic research. A variety of themes such as mobile penetration rates of mainly cellular phones, pricing of mobile packages, activity/motivation of cellular providers, availability of phones emerged as critical success factors. The paper is structured as follows. We begin with a contextual introduction and methodology of the research. Subsequently, we build taxonomy on relevant mobile technologies and standards to place our research in context. Further, we analyse emerging themes, elicit critical success factors and draw conclusions to form ground for further research. 3 Definitions and taxonomies A common definition of mobile communication was found to be evasive due to the evolutionary nature of the term as well as the differences in interpretation among global communities. In broad terms, mobile communications encompasses any form of communication that is exchanged over mobile networks [5]. The term is increasingly used as a reference to a broad spectrum of applications ranging from communications to infotainment, consumer transactions and corporate services [9]. Mobile communications imply a connected society, increased speed of service, simplicity and convenience [10]. To place our research in the context, we attempted to build a taxonomy of mobile communication technologies that are relevant in the following paragraphs. The foremost is the mobile or cellular phone which is basically a two-way walkie-talkie that acts like a telephone [11]. In the ‘cellular’ phone system, the geographic region is divided into cells, to make most use of a limited number of transmission frequencies [7]. Each connection, or conversation, requires its own dedicated frequency and the terms ‘analogue’ and ‘digital’ refer to this transmission mechanism. The major difference is in how the audio signals are transmitted between the phone and base station. With analogue systems, the audio is modulated directly onto a carrier while with digital systems the audio is converted to digitised samples, transmitted and converted back at the receiving end [7]. The earlier mobile systems were analogue (e.g. AMPS) and the latest are digital (e.g. GSM). As technology progressed, analog systems are getting phased out, and digital systems are either adapted or adopted – depending on the country [7]. GSM is one of the leading digital cellular systems, introduced in 1991. It uses narrowband TDMA which allows eight simultaneous calls on the same radio frequency. As of April 2003, GSM service has become the de facto standard in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa [4]. TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) is a technology for delivering digital wireless service using time-division multiplexing and is the second most popular digital wireless standard [12]. TDMA works by dividing a radio frequency into time slots and then allocating slots to multiple calls. In this way, a single frequency can support multiple, simultaneous data channels [13]
90 B fraunholz and C. Unnithan CDMA( Code-Division Multiple Access) is a digital technolo spread-spectrum techniques, i.e. every channel uses the full available spect Originally developed as military technology, Qualcomm claimed patent and became the first to commercialise it [14]. EDGE(Enhanced Data GSM Environment) is a faster version of gSM wireless service that enables data to be delivered at rates up to 384 Kbps on a broadband. The standard is based on the GSM and uses TDMA multiplexing technology [12] Third generation(3G)is an Intemational Telecommunication Union specification for the third generation of mobile communications technology which promises increased bandwidth, up to 2 mbps in fixed applications, 384 Kbps when a device is moving at pedestrian speed and 128 Kbps in a car [15]. It works over wireless-air interfaces such as GSM, TDMA and CDMA [16-18]. UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)is the 3G standard identified by the UMTS forum- an offshoot of International Mobile Technologies 2000 (IMT2000) group that is defining standards for 3G mobile communications based International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recommendations [16, 19, 20]. It is the natural evolutionary choice for GSM operators GPRS(General Packet Radio Service) is which runs at speeds from 64 up to 171.2 kbps, compared with current GSMs 9.6 up to 14.2 kbps. GPRS, which supports a wide range of bandwidths, is an efficient use of limited bandwidth and is particularly suited for sending and receiving small bursts of data, such as e-mail and web browsing, as well as large volumes of data [21] Text Messaging refers to the process of sending text messages, usually not longer than a few 100 characters, between two or more mobile devices [13]. SMs(Short Message Service) is the service that uses this concept, as a GSM Phase I standard [4] to send short messages from one mobile phone to another, usually not longer than 160 characters using Latin alphabet or 70 characters using Arabic or Chinese [13] MMS(Multimedia Message Service)is a store and forward method of transmitting graphics, video clips, sound files and short text messages over wireless networks using the wAP protocol [13. Location Based Services build on the tracking facilities of GSM networks to offer services to customers that are based on their location [22]. Such a service can be the provision of hotels or petrol stations in the proximity of the customer as well as the tracking of a mobile if it has been lost or misplaced [23] In this research, we are focusing on the gSm standard and its data services (see Table 1)as they were found to be relevant to both the economies under reviev Table 1 Roadmap of data services for GSM Timeframe Capabilitie 9.6 kbps service Available Circuit-switched Service available from most GSm data and fax 14. 4 kbps service Available Higher speed Should work identically to 9.6 kbps circuit-switched service only at higher speed. V 42 bis data and fax compression will further increase throughput by about 200% Direct IP access Available Circuit-switched Reduces call set-up time and connection directly provides a stepping stone to packet to internet data. Will also be available for igh-speed circuit-switched data services
90 B. Fraunholz and C. Unnithan CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) is a digital technology that uses spread-spectrum techniques, i.e. every channel uses the full available spectrum. Originally developed as military technology, Qualcomm claimed patent and became the first to commercialise it [14]. EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment) is a faster version of GSM wireless service that enables data to be delivered at rates up to 384 Kbps on a broadband. The standard is based on the GSM and uses TDMA multiplexing technology [12]. Third generation (3G) is an International Telecommunication Union specification for the third generation of mobile communications technology which promises increased bandwidth, up to 2 mbps in fixed applications, 384 Kbps when a device is moving at pedestrian speed and 128 Kbps in a car [15]. It works over wireless–air interfaces such as GSM, TDMA and CDMA [16–18]. UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) is the 3G standard identified by the UMTS forum – an offshoot of International Mobile Technologies 2000 (IMT2000) group that is defining standards for 3G mobile communications based on International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recommendations [16,19,20]. It is the natural evolutionary choice for GSM operators. GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is a standard for wireless communications which runs at speeds from 64 up to 171.2 kbps, compared with current GSM’s 9.6 up to 14.2 kbps. GPRS, which supports a wide range of bandwidths, is an efficient use of limited bandwidth and is particularly suited for sending and receiving small bursts of data, such as e-mail and web browsing, as well as large volumes of data [21]. Text Messaging refers to the process of sending text messages, usually not longer than a few 100 characters, between two or more mobile devices [13]. SMS (Short Message Service) is the service that uses this concept, as a GSM Phase I standard [4], to send short messages from one mobile phone to another, usually not longer than 160 characters using Latin alphabet or 70 characters using Arabic or Chinese [13]. MMS (Multimedia Message Service) is a store and forward method of transmitting graphics, video clips, sound files and short text messages over wireless networks using the WAP protocol [13]. Location Based Services build on the tracking facilities of GSM networks to offer services to customers that are based on their location [22]. Such a service can be the provision of hotels or petrol stations in the proximity of the customer as well as the tracking of a mobile if it has been lost or misplaced [23]. In this research, we are focusing on the GSM standard and its data services (see Table 1) as they were found to be relevant to both the economies under review. Table 1 Roadmap of data services for GSM Timeframe Capabilities Notes 9.6 kbps service Available Circuit-switched data and fax Service available from most GSM operators today 14.4 kbps service Available Higher speed circuit-switched data and fax Should work identically to 9.6 kbps service only at higher speed. V.42 bis compression will further increase throughput by about 200% Direct IP access Available Circuit-switched connection directly to internet Reduces call set-up time and provides a stepping stone to packet data. Will also be available for high-speed circuit-switched data services
Critical success factors in mobile communications Table 1 Roadmap of data services for GSM(continued Timeframe Capabilities Available gh-speed rates to A software-only upgrade for circuit-switched 4 kb arriers not requ data service xpensive infrastructure (HSCSD) Operators will need to decide whether to offer this service or gPrs or both GPRS Available High-speed packet data Extremely capable and ith transmission speeds flexible mobile nost user device offering about 56 kbps EDGE Available High-speed packet data ill triple the rates available with GPrS generation Available in High-speed packet data Completely new air link ermany was one of the earliest GSM members and has continued to work with GSM and its data services. It has not adopted CDMA nor has there been any other mobile technology standard in Germany. This may be so because of the closeness to other countries and the European Union, where it is especially important to have the roaming facility available. Germany is committed to the UMTS (3G standard) as part of the The Indian government had adopted GsM as athe standard and although cellular licenses were made technology neutral in 1999, all the private operators continued offer only GsM based mobile services [25]. However, CDMA [26] technology is particularly attractive to India, as the market had clearly defined points of usage within a elecom circle where unlimited mobility of gsm may not be required. As 20% of the subscribers are willing to try cheaper CDMA services [27], CDMA connections are likely to affect GSM operators. In May 2003, 3G services were introduced with CDMA2000 1X platform [8]in 92 cities. However, CDMA is still expected to coexist with GSM and future 3GSM services Given the above, for the purposes of historical comparison, we have limited this esearch to GSM and related data services, which are present in both economies 4 Mobile communications in Germany Germany, as an industrialised country, has had a modern telecommunications infrastructure. In 1989,'Deutsche Telekom- then a monopoly -introduced incentives for customers to switch from analogue to Isdn telephone lines. The intentions were multifold -to benefit from the better services, a second phone line and digital data transmission. At the same time. the first digital mobile etwork, the di network. was rolled out to coexist with the then established analogue network C-Net. This was also the start of privatisation because a second license (D2)was issued to a private
Critical success factors in mobile communications 91 Table 1 Roadmap of data services for GSM (continued) Timeframe Capabilities Notes High-speed circuit-switched data service (HSCSD) Available High-speed rates to 64 kbps A software-only upgrade for carriers not requiring expensive infrastructure. Operators will need to decide whether to offer this service or GPRS or both GPRS Available High-speed packet data with transmission speeds over 100 Kbps, with most user devices offering about 56 kbps Extremely capable and flexible mobile communications EDGE Available High-speed packet data which will triple the rates available with GPRS Third generation cellular Available in some countries High-speed packet data up to 2 Mbps Completely new air link Germany was one of the earliest GSM members and has continued to work with GSM and its data services. It has not adopted CDMA nor has there been any other mobile technology standard in Germany. This may be so because of the closeness to other countries and the European Union, where it is especially important to have the roaming facility available. Germany is committed to the UMTS (3G standard) as part of the European Union [24]. The Indian government had adopted GSM as a ‘the’ standard and although cellular licenses were made technology neutral in 1999, all the private operators continued to offer only GSM based mobile services [25]. However, CDMA [26] technology is particularly attractive to India, as the market had clearly defined points of usage within a telecom circle where unlimited mobility of GSM may not be required. As 20% of the subscribers are willing to try cheaper CDMA services [27], CDMA connections are likely to affect GSM operators. In May 2003, 3G services were introduced with CDMA2000 1X platform [8] in 92 cities. However, CDMA is still expected to coexist with GSM and future 3GSM services. Given the above, for the purposes of historical comparison, we have limited this research to GSM and related data services, which are present in both economies. 4 Mobile communications in Germany Germany, as an industrialised country, has had a modern telecommunications infrastructure. In 1989, ‘Deutsche Telekom’– then a monopoly – introduced incentives for customers to switch from analogue to ISDN telephone lines. The intentions were multifold – to benefit from the better services, a second phone line and digital data transmission. At the same time, the first digital mobile etwork, the D1 network, was rolled out to coexist with the then established analogue network C-Net. This was also the start of privatisation because a second license (D2) was issued to a private