दूरसंचार प्रणाली एवं प्रबंधन

An Economic Assessment of Nigerias Smart Phone Data Bundle Consumption, Subscriber Resource Constraints and Dynamics: The Case of Abuja and Lagos States

Abstract

Eke CI

This paper examines ways in which smart phone data consumption trends influence demand for airtime data bundles. A model of subscriber response to economic and technical stimuli, conditional on cybernomic and subscriber characteristics, is developed. Three years of survey data, gathered from subscribers of data and voice bundles to evaluate the model empirically. Single SIM smartphones, subscribers are responsive to relative Data Bundle prices and Airtime volume discounts. However, different Data Bundle packages elicit different responses. In particular, some data sharing takes place primarily through subscriber-substitution and intensified smartphone use, while changes in tariff or volume discounts for subscribers having dual SIM smartphones induces frequent and spontaneous network migration. Subscriber and public power constraints bind at different points for different data bundles demand. These results suggest that because multiple data/voice bundle platform interact, subscriber smartphone response coefficient must have multiple strands in order to replace incentives to further bundle demands.