Research Proposal

Research Topic:

The Impact of Substitute Products in the Telecommunication Sector.

Introduction: Bangladesh has seen a rapid growth in the telecom and mobile communication
sector in the last 2 decades. Improved IT infrastructure has enabled telecom operators to offer
better additional services. In 2012, Teletalk became the first telecom provider to provide 3G
facilities to consumers and currently all operators are offering 3G. With the availability of better
internet communication, more and more Bangladeshis are being able to maximize the utilities
that their smartphones can offer. One of these utilities includes internet communication
applications (or apps as they are called in short). Instead of using the conventional modes of
communication (SMS and conventional mobile phone calls) people have switched to internet
communication tools like Whatsapp (internet aided text service) and Viber (internet aided text
and voice call service).
While this concept is still emerging in Bangladesh, it has the potential to make a significant
impact on mobile and telephony communication. Thus it is important to research on the
consumers perception on these applications as well as the telecom industrys response to the
potential shift in mobile communication because of such apps.
Research Objective: In this research we would like to find out the impression or the impact of
substitute products such as Viber, Whatsapp and Skype in the telecommunication sector and how
much impact they have on the mind and behavior of mobile users of different telecom companies
of Bangladesh. Some of the following factors will be issued in this research:
1. What are the conventional uses of cell phones at their beginning stage and how new apps
started to be introduced and are spread for use by mobile phone users?
2. What the mobile users of Bangladesh actually think or feel about the emergence of these
over the top apps and why are these as becoming popular day by day?
3. What are the potential and technical problems in use of the social communication apps?
4. How often do they use these social communication apps and why?

5. Are these apps cost effective for the consumers compared to conventional mobile
communication?
6. What are the benefits that they get from these products?
7. How much time mobile users spend on chatting, calling as well as file sharing through
these apps?
8. How much popularity have these Over-the-top applications (apps) such as WhatsApp,
Viber and Skype have gained amongst mobile users?
9. Does availability of cheaper internet connection encourage users to use these apps instead
of using mobile phones?
10. Do these communication facilitating products pose any threat to the telecom industry? If
they do then how?

Methodology:
The study will aim secondary and primary data secondary information will be generated from
sources like various articles, newspapers, magazines, journals, books and academic materials.
Primary data will be collected by using various data collection instruments such as
questionnaires, interviews and subject matter observation. The survey will target individuals
living in Dhaka and will include an age group of 20-40 years and the sample size will be 100
people such as students, different types of professionals like traders, engineers, doctors, lawyers
etc. We will collect our primary data by Survey questionnaire to the sample.
Since a significant part of the research content involves telecom operators, explore opinion
survey will conducted for understanding the opinion of people in policy making and opinions in
different mobile service operators.

Significance of the research: This research will unveil the notion of mobile users about the
Over-the-top applications and this will definitely help the telecom marketers and government to
think whether to take any specific actions to lessen the influence of these apps so that the
telecom sector can survive profitably in Bangladeshi market.

Scopes:
This research is going to show that the significance of using the over-the-top applications among
young people is increasing in such a way that can be a matter to be concern for the telecom
service providers. As the numbers of smart phone users are raising and the availability of data is
abundant, it is possible to get closer to know about the significance of using those smart data
connection apps.
Limitations:
The limitation of this research in our data collection is like most people may not answer correctly
to our research questionnaire. Also the time is also very limited. So its not possible to collect as
many as sample to prove the significance of our study.
Request for Approval: I would like to ask for your approval of my research proposal. You are
always welcome to give any suggestion or recommendation regarding the paper. I will be glad to
make any necessary modification according to your choice and advice.

References:
1) Valuing the effect of regulation on new services in telecommunications
JA Hausman, A Pakes, GL Rosston
2) Internal capabilities and external knowledge sources: complements or substitutes for
innovative performance?
3) Assessing the impact of communication costs on international trade
C Fink, A Mattoo, IC Neagu Caloghirou, I Kastelli, A Tsakanikas
4) Are main lines and mobile phones substitutes or complements? Evidence from Africa
J Hamilton - Telecommunications