Internationalization of Mobile Telecommunications Operators: Country Factors, Institutional Distance and Regional Effects

Entry of foreign mobile network operators (MNOs) increases competition and results in lower prices, which in turn can lead to increased levels of adoption. This study aims to systematically evaluate increasing international involvement (i.e., internationalization) of MNOs across several levels of analysis and consistently assess the impact of the regional dimension on MNO internationalization. Additionally, it will test the importance of differences in institutional environments between countries (known as institutional distance) and their effects on MNO market entry. In achieving these objectives, the study will develop a theoretically-based framework that explains and predicts internationalization of MNOs. An econometric model will be built and tested based on the framework. Furthermore, the study will advance research on institutional distance by testing the importance of industry characteristics in institutional distance and constructing a mobile telecommunications-specific institutional distance index. Pogrebnyakov — Internationalization of mobile network operators 2 Introduction The " personal computing revolution " that started with the advent of IBM's Personal Computer in 1981 brought the power and resources of computing and subsequently the internet to offices and homes around the world and boosted productivity. Today, mobile telephony is seen as a logical completion of this revolution. The increasing capabilities of mobile phones and their ability to perform many tasks that were previously done on personal computers is particularly promising for developing countries, where adoption of computers has so far lagged behind developed nations (The Economist 2006). It is not surprising then that telecommunications have turned into a central driving force behind the development of information societies and a global information economy, rather than being a mere complement to economic development (Melody 2001).