Title: Valuing wireless data services solutions for corporate clients using real options

Authors: William Ramirez, Fotios C. Harmantzis, Venkata Praveen Tanguturi

Addresses: Cingular Wireless, 810 7th Ave 5th floor, New York, NY 10019, USA. ' Stevens Institute of Technology, School of Technology Management, Telecommunications Management, Castle Point on the Hudson, Hoboken NJ 07030, USA. ' Stevens Institute of Technology, School of Technology Management, Telecommunications Management, Castle Point on the Hudson, Hoboken NJ 07030, USA

Abstract: The paper deals with wireless data services and their importance in the enterprise world. Provisioning in difficult-to-reach areas of tall buildings is challenging. To extend coverage, operators deploy ad-hoc solutions that are usually costly. Four alternative deployment cases from both the corporate customer|s as well as service provider|s point of view are proposed and quantified using real options. The objective is to maximise revenue and reduce risk for operators while improve customer satisfaction levels within the budget constraints of the customer. Analysis suggests that savings due to improvements in productivity are much higher than revenues perceived by the service provider.

Keywords: wireless data services; global systems; mobile communications; GSM; EDGE; UMTS; Wi-Fi; real options; investment analysis decisions; net present value; NPV; corporate clients; customer satisfaction; productivity improvement; wireless service providers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMC.2007.012394

International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2007 Vol.5 No.3, pp.259 - 280

Published online: 11 Feb 2007 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article