The Effect of Telecommunication Price War on Consumers in the Kumasi Metropolis

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Date
2011
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Abstract
Twelve months ago, the Ghanaian telecom sector's average mobile call rate was fifteen Ghana pesewas (GHp 15) per minute. Today, it has fallen sharply to eight Ghana pesewas (GHp 8) per minute. Vodafone, Zain, Tigo and MTN have all announced price cut of up-to 50% from their original levels. As good as consumers in Kumasi Metropolis may find the price war, very little is known about how responsive consumers would to the price decreases and how the price reduction affects consumers’ spending. This research looked at how consumers perceived the existence of price war in the telecom industry and how they have responded to these price decreases in the telecommunication industry. This researched also looked at the effect of price war on consumer spending on telecommunication and effects on service quality in the industry. The research analysis was based on a consumer survey that involved 200 subscribers in Kumasi Metropolis primarily from four tertiary institutions in Kumasi. The research findings showed that the recent acquisition of mobile operator, Zain, by India’s Airtel, prompted the all-out price war. And consumers, the intended beneficiaries were aware of the price war phenomena in the telecom industry. The Price war has caused an increase in multiple subscriptions in Ghana, a situation which was also worsening because of the introduction of dual SIM card mobile phones in the market. However, people were unwilling to change or switch completely to a different network because of high switching cost. This research found that spending by consumers across networks has decreased because subscribers have acquired additional sim cards therefore, many people carefully choose network to use in order to get the best rate depending on who they are calling. Because more attention is given to winning the current price war, key service qualities has been neglected. This research established the following service qualities exist in the industry: Poor customer service, poor signal availability, average call connection rate, high call drop rate, less accurate billing. Finally, the research also established that consumers prefer cheaper brand in terms of services charges. However, that must be in consonance with an excellent service quality.
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A Thesis submitted to the Institute of Distance Learning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Commonwealth Executive Masters in Business Administration,
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