IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rnp/ecopol/ep1929.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Complex Services: Product Market Definition in Mobile Communications
[Услуги В Комплексе: Определение Продуктовых Границ Рынка В Мобильной Связи]

Author

Listed:
  • Shastitko, Andrey Ye. (Шаститко, Андрей)

    (Lomonosov Moscow State University; Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration)

  • Pavlova, Natalia S. (Павлова, Наталья)

    (Lomonosov Moscow State University; Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration)

Abstract

Based on the features of modern mobile services, we propose conceptual approaches to determining the boundaries of the retail market for these services in the context of antitrust law application. Taking into account the survey of consumers of mobile services conducted in 2018, we explain the sources of the complexity of mobile services on the demand side. Additionally, we address the grounds for the complexity of services on the supply side. Two key analytical approaches to the study of the mobile services market are revealed: the concept of cluster markets mand the definition of market boundaries through bundles. Summarizing foreign experience in analyzing cluster markets and markets for bundles allowed us to formulate a number of criteria, based on which conclusions about the correct boundaries of product markets in mobile communications can be drawn. Verification of compliance with such criteria on the basis of the survey, as well as on the basis of other data about the industry, suggests that the relevant product markets are bundles represented by tariff plans. Communication services in intranet roaming should also be analyzed only in conjunction with other elements of tariff plans. Isolation of individual components for the purpose of their separate analysis can lead to errors, including ignoring the fact that the prices of elements within a bundle are set based on the need to ensure the desired level of profitability of the entire bundle as a whole, rather than the profitability of individual components.

Suggested Citation

  • Shastitko, Andrey Ye. (Шаститко, Андрей) & Pavlova, Natalia S. (Павлова, Наталья), 2019. "Complex Services: Product Market Definition in Mobile Communications [Услуги В Комплексе: Определение Продуктовых Границ Рынка В Мобильной Связи]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 4, pages 120-141, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:rnp:ecopol:ep1929
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repec.ranepa.ru/rnp/ecopol/ep1929.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. K. Andersson & Ø Foros & F. Steen, 2009. "Text and voice: complements, substitutes or both?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 18(6), pages 1231-1247, December.
    2. Stoyan Deevski, 2016. "Cost Allocation Methods for Joint Products and By-products," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 1, pages 64-70, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wellmann, Nicolas, 2017. "OTT-Messaging and Mobile Telecommunication: A Joint Market? An Empirical Approach," 28th European Regional ITS Conference, Passau 2017 169503, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    2. Grzybowski, Lukasz & Pereira, Pedro, 2008. "The complementarity between calls and messages in mobile telephony," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 279-287, September.
    3. Wellmann, Nicolas, 2019. "Are OTT messaging and mobile telecommunication an interrelated market? An empirical analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9).
    4. Vélez-Velásquez, Juan Sebastián, 2019. "Merger effects with product complementarity: Evidence from Colombia’s telecommunications," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    5. Julia Wenger & Stefan Pichler & Annukka Näyhä & Tobias Stern, 2022. "Practitioners’ Perceptions of Co-Product Allocation Methods in Biorefinery Development—A Case Study of the Austrian Pulp and Paper Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Basalisco, Bruno, 2012. "The effect of user interaction on the demand for mobile text messages: Evidence from cross-country data," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 132-144.
    7. Genakos, Christos & Valletti, Tommaso, 2011. "Seesaw in the air: Interconnection regulation and the structure of mobile tariffs," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 159-170, June.
    8. Harbord, David & Pagnozzi, Marco, 2008. "On-Net/Off-Net Price Discrimination and 'Bill-and-Keep' vs. 'Cost-Based' Regulation of Mobile Termination Rates," MPRA Paper 14540, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Marius F. Niculescu & Seungjin Whang, 2012. "Research Note ---Codiffusion of Wireless Voice and Data Services: An Empirical Analysis of the Japanese Mobile Telecommunications Market," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 260-279, March.
    10. Torsten J. Gerpott & Sandra Thomas & Michael Weichert, 2014. "Usage of established and novel mobile communication services: Substitutional, independent or complementary?," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 491-507, July.
    11. Gerpott, Torsten J. & Meinert, Phil, 2016. "The impact of mobile Internet usage on mobile voice calling behavior: A two-level analysis of residential mobile communications customers in Germany," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 62-76.
    12. Youngsoo Kim & Rahul Telang & William B. Vogt & Ramayya Krishnan, 2010. "An Empirical Analysis of Mobile Voice Service and SMS: A Structural Model," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(2), pages 234-252, February.
    13. Wellmann, Nicolas, 2017. "OTT-messaging and mobile telecommunication: A joint market? - An empirical approach," DICE Discussion Papers 256, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    14. L. Wei & J. Xiao, 2012. "Factors affecting the take-off of innovative technologies: evidence from digital cameras," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(32), pages 4143-4152, November.
    15. Vogelsang, Ingo, 2010. "The relationship between mobile and fixed-line communications: A survey," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 4-17, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    antitrust; market definition; cluster markets; bundling; mobile communications; intranet roaming.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rnp:ecopol:ep1929. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: RANEPA maintainer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aneeeru.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.