Essays on the mobile communications policy and business strategies : R&D and standardization,Handset subsidy,and Switching costs

Abstract

The rapid growth of mobile communication services and the manufacturing industry brings many issues related to national policies, including R＆D policy, standardization, industrial targeting plans, and management strategies, including competition strategies and marketing plans, for consideration by policy-makers, mobile communication service carriers, and the related academic world. The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze the issues that arose in the mobile communication industry through national policies, regulation, and marketing strategies. The basic motivations of this thesis are as follows: firstly, to structure the complicated issues arising from national policies and regulations for the mobile communication industry into an organized framework; secondly, to evaluate selected key issues using qualitative and quantitative methodologies; and thirdly, to propose directions for national policies for next-generation mobile communications and for the strategic guidance of the mobile communication carriers. This thesis consists of three essays. The first essay is titled ``From R&D to an international standard in the mobile communications field and the case of Korean CDMA``. The main purposes of this essay are $\emph{to identify the ways of being international standards}$ in the mobile communication field from the perspective of national policy and technological evolution, and $\emph{to propose policy directions}$ for a successful diffusion of the next generation mobile communication technology. Among various mobile communication technologies, the NMT, AMPS, GSM, and CDMA are classified as international standards upon the number of the subscribers and the operating nations. There are different patterns for international standards: the strategic alliance pattern (the way of Europe) of NMT and GSM, and the technological leadership with political supremacy pattern (the way of the US) of AMPS and CDMA. The strategic alliance pattern is initiated by multiple ...