Restructuring the mobile telephone industry

Abstract

Recent structural changes in the telecommunications industry (TI) induced by various factors such as technological improvement, changes in customer demands, deregulation and the explosion of the Internet and mobile telephone, are bringing about rapid changes in the competition of telecom operators. In order to meet the challenges, telecom operators are pursuing industry restructuring as an effective way to survive and grow in the future. In this thesis, I analyzed several restructuring cases in the world TI such as MCI WorldCom, Vodafone AirTouch and DDI. From this analysis, the strategic rationale for industry restructuring in the global telecom market was analyzed. Industry structure, marketing performance, financial performance, quality performance and IMT-2000 services of Korean mobile telephone industry (MI) were analyzed to review the factors for promoting industry restructuring. From this analysis, recommendations for Korean MI were formulated to enhance global competitiveness and social efficiency. The study suggests that industry restructuring has to be conducted in pursuit of economies of scale and scope to create customer value and to achieve cost efficiency. Also industry restructuring should be considered in the IMT-2000 licensing process because it influences Korean MI with its global standard and high transmission rates. In addition, industry restructuring has to be carried out under the condition of deregulation to facilitate competitive mechanism based on market principles.