IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v42y2018i2p145-153.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mobile-only consumers arise from heterogeneous valuation of fixed services

Author

Listed:
  • Liang, Julienne
  • Petulowa, Marc

Abstract

Mobile-only users are usually perceived as a consequence of fixed-mobile substitution. This study uses a unique dataset based on a survey in France, combined with interviewee's telecommunications billing data, to reveal heterogeneous consumer preferences for fixed services. With the same mixed logit model we estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for fixed communications services and fixed-mobile relationship. Results show a very large heterogeneity of WTP for fixed services among consumers. In addition, we show that fixed and mobile data are complement for all consumers. Mobile-only consumers have a much lower but non-zero WTP, and higher price sensitivity compared to fixed-mobile consumers. Consequently, an increase in the fixed offer price would reduce the demand for fixed service. Heterogeneous preferences for fixed services constitute an alternative explanation for the existence of mobile-only users, despite the complementary nature of fixed and mobile broadband. Counter-factual simulations show that the share of mobile-only could also be driven by the way to subsidize mobile handset. For instance, making the handset subsidy only available to fixed-mobile quadruple play subscribers could reduce the share of mobile-only by half.

Suggested Citation

  • Liang, Julienne & Petulowa, Marc, 2018. "Mobile-only consumers arise from heterogeneous valuation of fixed services," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 145-153.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:42:y:2018:i:2:p:145-153
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2017.09.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596116302014
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2017.09.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Madden, Gary & Coble-Neal, Grant & Dalzell, Brian, 2004. "A dynamic model of mobile telephony subscription incorporating a network effect," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 133-144, March.
    2. Savage, Scott J. & Waldman, Donald, 2005. "Broadband Internet access, awareness, and use: Analysis of United States household data," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 615-633, September.
    3. Arne Risa Hole, 2007. "A comparison of approaches to estimating confidence intervals for willingness to pay measures," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(8), pages 827-840, August.
    4. Srinuan, Pratompong & Srinuan, Chalita & Bohlin, Erik, 2012. "Fixed and mobile broadband substitution in Sweden," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 237-251.
    5. Rodini, Mark & Ward, Michael R. & Woroch, Glenn A., 0. "Going mobile: substitutability between fixed and mobile access," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(5-6), pages 457-476, June.
    6. Train,Kenneth E., 2009. "Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521766555.
    7. Gregory Rosston & Scott Savage & Donald Waldman, 2010. "Household Demand for Broadband Internet Service," Discussion Papers 09-008, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, revised Feb 2010.
    8. Lukasz Grzybowski & Frank Verboven, 2016. "Substitution between fixed-line and mobile access: the role of complementarities," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 113-151, April.
    9. David Revelt and Kenneth Train., 2000. "Customer-Specific Taste Parameters and Mixed Logit: Households' Choice of Electricity Supplier," Economics Working Papers E00-274, University of California at Berkeley.
    10. Grzybowski, Lukasz & Liang, Julienne, 2015. "Estimating demand for fixed-mobile bundles and switching costs between tariffs," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 1-10.
    11. Rosston Gregory L. & Savage Scott J & Waldman Donald M, 2010. "Household Demand for Broadband Internet in 2010," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-45, September.
    12. Mélisande Cardona & Anton Schwarz & B. Yurtoglu & Christine Zulehner, 2009. "Demand estimation and market definition for broadband Internet services," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 70-95, February.
    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. Petulowa, Marc & Liang, Julienne, 2016. "Mobile-only consumers arise from heterogeneous valuation of fixed services," 27th European Regional ITS Conference, Cambridge (UK) 2016 148699, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    2. Grzybowski, Lukasz & Hasbi, Maude & Liang, Julienne, 2018. "Transition from copper to fiber broadband: The role of connection speed and switching costs," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-10.
    3. Grzybowski, Lukasz & Liang, Julienne, 2014. "Estimating demand for quadruple-play tariffs: The impact on consumer surplus," 25th European Regional ITS Conference, Brussels 2014 101375, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    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. Nicolle, Ambre, 2016. "Are consumers myopic? Evidence from handset and mobile services choices," 27th European Regional ITS Conference, Cambridge (UK) 2016 148693, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    6. Arnold, René & Waldburger, Martin & Morasch, Bastian & Schmid, Frieder & Schneider, Anna, 2015. "The value of network neutrality to European consumers," 26th European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2015 127121, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    7. Lukasz Grzybowski & Frank Verboven, 2013. "Substitution and Complementarity between Fixed-line and Mobile Access," Working Papers 13-09, NET Institute.
    8. Paulo Chahuara, 2018. "Preferencias y Valorizacion por Atributos del Servicio de Internet Fijo en el Peru: un primer acercamiento via experimento de eleccion discreta," Documentos de Trabajo 39, OSIPTEL.
    9. Lukasz Grzybowski & Frank Verboven, 2016. "Substitution between fixed-line and mobile access: the role of complementarities," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 113-151, April.
    10. Nakamura, Akihiro, 2015. "Mobile and fixed broadband access services substitution in Japan considering new broadband features," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 140-154.
    11. Jiao Xu & Chris Forman & Yu Jeffrey Hu, 2019. "Battle of the Internet Channels: How Do Mobile and Fixed-Line Quality Drive Internet Use?," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(1), pages 65-80, March.
    12. Vaiknoras, Kate & Norton, George & Alwang, Jeffrey, 2015. "Farmer preferences for attributes of conservation agriculture in Uganda," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 10(2), pages 1-16.
    13. Sinclair, Andrew, 2023. "Assessing the benefits of high-speed broadband: Lessons from Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN)," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    14. Galperin, Hernán & Ruzzier, Christian A., 2013. "Price elasticity of demand for broadband: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 429-438.
    15. Jinsoo Bae & Yun Jeong Choi & Jong-Hee Hahn, 2014. "Fixed and mobile broadband; Are they substitutes or complements?," Working papers 2014rwp-68, Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute.
    16. Hotaling, Chelsea & Bird, Stephen & Heintzelman, Martin D., 2021. "Willingness to pay for microgrids to enhance community resilience," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    17. Prieger, James E., 2013. "The broadband digital divide and the economic benefits of mobile broadband for rural areas," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 483-502.
    18. Liu, Yu-Hsin & Prince, Jeffrey & Wallsten, Scott, 2018. "Distinguishing bandwidth and latency in households’ willingness-to-pay for broadband internet speed," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-15.
    19. Trevor Roycroft, 2013. "Empirical study of broadband adoption using data from the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 214-228, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fixed mobile dependence; Heterogeneous preferences; Substitution versus complementarity; Mobile only;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L43 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation
    • L50 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - General
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications

    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:eee:telpol:v:42:y:2018:i:2:p:145-153. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    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.