UNIVERSITY of LATVIA Juris Binde COMPETITIVENESS OF TELECOMMUNICATION ENTERPRISES IN LATVIA Summary of the Promotion Paper For promotion to the degree of Doctor of Economics (Dr. oec.) Branch: Management Science Sub-branch: Entrepreneurship Management Riga, 2007 Goal and tasks of thesis The goal of the study is to perform analysis of the mobile telecommunications industry within the electronic communications technologies market in Latvia and assessment of competitiveness of telecommunications enterprises. To reach this goal, the following tasks have been carried out by the study: 1. A comprehensive analysis of external environment factors in the ECT market has been performed to assess the competitiveness of the existing telecommunications enterprises of the market. 2. On the basis of analysis of theoretical and practical studies, M.Porter's Five Competition Forces Model has been critically assessed as to its compliance with specificity of the market of electronic communications technologies, including mobile telecommunications. 3. A survey has been performed and the intensity and dynamics of competitive forces in the mobile telecommunications industry in Latvia from 1995 until 2010 have been analysed. 4. On the ground of the results of the analysis of theoretical and practical aspects of the competition and normative-legal regulatory principles, the main factors distorting competition have been identified. 5. The activities of National Regulatory Authority - Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in the electronic communications technologies market in Latvia have been assessed. 6. By applying adapted Jipp's model, developed by the author, saturation level of Latvian electronic communications market and market potential has been assessed. 7. The main factors influencing dynamics of mutual substitution of ECT services have been defined on the basis of theoretical and practical studies about processes of ECT mutual substitution in the world. 8. Trend models for substitution process of Latvian fixed telecommunications have been developed and the analysis of the parameters of those models has been performed. 9. The service of the telecommunications service subscriber's number portability and the effect of this process on the migration of customers have been analysed. 46 10. A model to assess the effect of advertising expenditure on the change of the number of customers in the mobile telecommunications market in Latvia has been developed and analysed. Research methods • Analysis of the literature and results of studies on peculiarities of mobile telecommunications enterprises' activities under competition circumstances in electronic communications technologies industry. • Modelling to discover and analyse customers' migration processes in Latvian electronic communications technologies (ECT) enterprises and services market, including Fixed-to-Mobile Substitution (FMS) processes. • Experts' method to analyse external and internal factors influencing competitiveness of mobile telecommunications enterprises (operators and service providers), as well as significance of these factors. • Statistical analysis and grouping methods, information analysis and reflecting methods, dynamic row and forecasting methods. • Public Management Resources-Result scheme or Input-Output Model, to assess efficiency of Public Utilities Commission (PUC) activities in the mobile telecommunications services industry. Research constraints Electronic communications technologies industry has been studied and analyzed in the promotion paper only to such extent as far as it is necessary to study, analyse and assess processes in mobile telecommunications sphere. Structure of thesis Structure of the paper is composed of six parts. The paper consists of 169 printed pages excluding appendixes. The paper contains 14 tables, 36 figures and 3 appendixes. References and other information sources consist of 160 titles. Research period The research covers the period between 1994 and 2005. In some parts data from 1992 onwards have been used.