IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/idb/brikps/13957.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

An Examination of Numerical Portability in Mobile Communication in Uruguay

Author

Listed:
  • Gandelman, Néstor
  • Roldán, Flavia
  • Viera, Sofía

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) using data from Uruguay. MNP allows customers to switch mobile providers while retaining their phone number, thereby reducing switching costs and potentially enhancing competition. Our analysis reveals that firms responded by increasing the share of postpaid contracts, partially countering the exogenous reduction in switching costs with new endogenous barriers. We find that while market concentration increased in terms of subscriber share, it decreased for data traffic, reflecting differing customer behaviors and firms' commercial strategies. Additionally, we observed reductions in mobile data prices and an increase in new mobile subscribers, suggesting that MNP contributed to overall market growth. Using a world panel of data prices for the internet we find that MNP is associated with lower prices in the range of 42-50 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Gandelman, Néstor & Roldán, Flavia & Viera, Sofía, 2025. "An Examination of Numerical Portability in Mobile Communication in Uruguay," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13957, Inter-American Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:13957
    DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0013380
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/An-Examination-of-Numerical-Portability-in-Mobile-Communication-in-Uruguay.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0013380?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Otsuka, Tokio & Mitomo, Hitoshi, 2013. "User benefits and operator costs of mobile number portability in Japan and impact on market competitiveness," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 345-356.
    2. Minjung Park, 2011. "The Economic Impact of Wireless Number Portability," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 714-745, December.
    3. Lee, Jongsu & Kim, Yeonbae & Lee, Jeong-Dong & Park, Yuri, 2006. "Estimating the extent of potential competition in the Korean mobile telecommunications market: Switching costs and number portability," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 107-124, January.
    4. Czajkowski, Mikołaj & Sobolewski, Maciej, 2016. "How much do switching costs and local network effects contribute to consumer lock-in in mobile telephony?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 855-869.
    5. Paul Klemperer, 1995. "Competition when Consumers have Switching Costs: An Overview with Applications to Industrial Organization, Macroeconomics, and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(4), pages 515-539.
    6. Buehler, Stefan & Dewenter, Ralf & Haucap, Justus, 2006. "Mobile number portability in Europe," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 385-399, August.
    7. Paulo Chahuara & Sergio Cifuentes, 2018. "El Relanzamiento de la Portabilidad Numerica Movil: reduciendo los costos de cambio e incentivando la competencia," Documentos de Trabajo 38, OSIPTEL.
    8. Nakamura, Akihiro, 2010. "Estimating switching costs involved in changing mobile phone carriers in Japan: Evaluation of lock-in factors related to Japan's SIM card locks," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 736-746, December.
    9. Victor Stango, 2002. "Pricing with Consumer Switching Costs: Evidence from the Credit Card Market," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 475-492, December.
    10. Usero Sánchez, Belén & Asimakopoulos, Grigorios, 2012. "Regulation and competition in the European mobile communications industry: An examination of the implementation of mobile number portability," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 187-196.
    11. V. Brian Viard, 2007. "Do switching costs make markets more or less competitive? The case of 800-number portability," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 38(1), pages 146-163, March.
    12. Ausubel, Lawrence M, 1991. "The Failure of Competition in the Credit Card Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 50-81, March.
    13. Lukasz Grzybowski, 2008. "Estimating Switching Costs in Mobile Telephony in the UK," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 113-132, June.
    14. Mengze Shi & Jeongwen Chiang & Byong-Duk Rhee, 2006. "Price Competition with Reduced Consumer Switching Costs: The Case of "Wireless Number Portability" in the Cellular Phone Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(1), pages 27-38, January.
    15. Maicas, Juan Pablo & Polo, Yolanda & Javier Sese, F., 2009. "Reducing the level of switching costs in mobile communications: The case of Mobile Number Portability," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 544-554, October.
    16. Klemperer, Paul D, 1987. "Entry Deterrence in Markets with Consumer Switching Costs," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(388a), pages 99-117, Supplemen.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Florez Ramos, Esmeralda & Blind, Knut, 2020. "Data portability effects on data-driven innovation of online platforms: Analyzing Spotify," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(9).
    2. Pacharasut Sujarittanonta, 2017. "Evaluating mobile number portability policy in the Thai mobile telecommunications market," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 220-233, April.
    3. Lucio Fuentelsaz & Juan Pablo Maicas & Yolanda Polo, 2012. "Switching Costs, Network Effects, and Competition in the European Mobile Telecommunications Industry," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 93-108, March.
    4. Czajkowski, Mikołaj & Sobolewski, Maciej, 2016. "How much do switching costs and local network effects contribute to consumer lock-in in mobile telephony?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 855-869.
    5. Rebeca Escobar Briones, 2018. "Impacto de las modificaciones en el proceso de portabilidad numérica sobre los servicios de telecomunicación móvil/The impact on telecommunications services of modifications to mobile number portab," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 33(1), pages 3-28.
    6. Mothobi, Onkokame, 2022. "The impact of telecommunication regulatory policy on mobile retail price in Sub-Saharan African countries," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    7. Dejan Trifunović & Đorđe Mitrović, 2018. "Pro-Competitive Regulatory Policies For Post-Paid And Pre-Paid Mobile Phone Markets," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 63(218), pages 85-104, July – Se.
    8. Usero Sánchez, Belén & Asimakopoulos, Grigorios, 2012. "Regulation and competition in the European mobile communications industry: An examination of the implementation of mobile number portability," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 187-196.
    9. Amante, Ana & Vareda, João, 2010. "Improving consumer mobility in the mobile voice services market: a comprehensive set of remedies," 21st European Regional ITS Conference, Copenhagen 2010: Telecommunications at new crossroads - Changing value configurations, user roles, and regulation 2, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    10. Capponi, Giovanna & Corrocher, Nicoletta & Zirulia, Lorenzo, 2021. "Personalized pricing for customer retention: Theory and evidence from mobile communication," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1).
    11. Park, Yuri & Koo, Yoonmo, 2016. "An empirical analysis of switching cost in the smartphone market in South Korea," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 307-318.
    12. Niloofar Abolfathi & Andrea Fosfuri & Simone Santamaria, 2022. "Out of the trap: Conversion funnel business model, customer switching costs, and industry profitability," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(9), pages 1872-1896, September.
    13. Bouckaert, Jan & Degryse, Hans & Provoost, Thomas, 2010. "Enhancing market power by reducing switching costs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 131-133, November.
    14. Michael Grubb, 2015. "Failing to Choose the Best Price: Theory, Evidence, and Policy," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 47(3), pages 303-340, November.
    15. Guney, Begum & Richter, Michael, 2018. "Costly switching from a status quo," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 55-70.
    16. Kirgiz, Omer Bugra & Kiygi-Calli, Meltem & Cagliyor, Sendi & El Oraiby, Maryam, 2024. "Assessing the effectiveness of OTT services, branded apps, and gamified loyalty giveaways on mobile customer churn in the telecom industry: A machine-learning approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8).
    17. Srinuan, Pratompong & Srinuan, Chalita & Bohlin, Erik, 2014. "An empirical analysis of multiple services and choices of consumer in the Swedish telecommunications market," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 449-459.
    18. Niloofar Abolfathi & Simone Santamaria & Charles Williams, 2022. "How Does Firm Scope Depend on Customer Switching Costs? Evidence from Mobile Telecommunications Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(1), pages 316-332, January.
    19. Polo, Yolanda & Sese, F. Javier & Verhoef, Peter C., 2011. "The Effect of Pricing and Advertising on Customer Retention in a Liberalizing Market," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 201-214.
    20. Zhao, Tianshu & Matthews, Kent & Murinde, Victor, 2013. "Cross-selling, switching costs and imperfect competition in British banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5452-5462.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mobile number portability; telecommunications; Competition; Switching costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:13957. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Felipe Herrera Library (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iadbbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.