A grounded exploration of regulatory dynamics and competitive forces in the Indian telecom network industry

Abstract

This research studies the disassociation phenomenon between network and data services that has disrupted the telecom sector in India. We employed grounded theory approach to explore this phenomenon and its impact on the Telecommunication Service Providers (TSPs). We have derived the insights and developed a coding paradigm via a judgmental sample of 19 senior experts at decision-making positions in the Indian telecom sector. Through literature review, we identified the fundamental changes in the Indian telecom sector from 2013 to 2019, when this phenomenon was widely observed. The findings indicate the technology evolution’s role in driving the data-network disassociation in the presence of regulatory forbearance, 4G spectrum availability, hyper-competition, and evolving device ecosystem. These conditions have proved advantageous to Over-The-Top (OTT) players, caused financial stress to the TSPs, and forced them to resort to consolidation measures and shift from voice-based to data-based business models. The study’s insights will help the Industry understand the phenomena, regulatory issues in technology adoption, survival challenges, and decision-making strategies for pre-empting technical disruptions. It also emphasizes being watchful of the competing non-conventional industries from a regulatory perspective.