Title: An empirical Lotka-Volterra system for competition dynamics in the telecommunication sector of Sri Lanka

Authors: A.W. Wijeratne, J.A. Karunaratne, Chuncheng Wang, Junjie Wei

Addresses: Harbin Institute of Technology, Room 510, House A-06, No. 92 West Dazhi Street, Nangang District, Harbin 150001, P.R. China; Department of Agri-Business Management, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, P.O. Box 02, Belihuloya 70140, Sri Lanka. ' College of Economics and Management, Harbin University of Science and Technology, No. 4 Linyuan Road, Dongli District, Harbin, 150040, P.R. China. ' Department of Mathematics, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 92 West Dazhi Street, Nangang District, Harbin 150001, P.R. China. ' Department of Mathematics, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 92 West Dazhi Street, Nangang District, Harbin 150001, P.R. China

Abstract: The objective of the present research is to build an empirical Lotka-Volterra system using real-time data and information from two telecommunication service providers of Sri Lanka. The temporal change in market share of the two service providers was modelled by logistic population growth equation of which the coefficients were used as initial values to developing the competition system. Results show that the mobile telecom service providers and the fixed telephone service providers of Sri Lanka are in the process of reaching long-run stable coexistence equilibrium where they would own 83% and 17% shares of the market, respectively. The experimental procedure applied in the present research shows a path to linking mathematical models and economic theories with real-time information to build empirical models that address contemporary issues in life sciences for decision making.

Keywords: Lotka-Volterra formulation; telecommunications; strategic variables; logistic population growth equation; competition dynamics; Sri Lanka; telecommunication service providers; market share; mobile phones; cell phones; fixed phones; decision making.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2008.018599

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2008 Vol.3 No.5, pp.482 - 497

Published online: 01 Jun 2008 *

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