An Expert Model on Barriers to Implement Mobile Data Services

Abstract

Mobile data service for businesses were, esp. in Europe, not quite as successful as expected or forecasted. Compared to Asian success stories, European mobile data services actually failed the UMTS promise. The reasons, why European companies have refrained from implementing mobile services for themselves and their customers, remain unknown. Thus, this paper empirically describes the creation of a model of barriers factors, which hinder companies to implement mobile data services. After some preliminary model thoughts, an adapted Delphi methodology is presented. 19 European Experts have, between September 1st and November 21st 2005, contributed factors that influence a company's decision to adopt mobile data services, resulting in an 'Expert Model on Barriers to Implement Mobile Data Services". This model is then tested using 362 qualitative data sets from 156 Swiss companies via a logistic regression. As a result some factors are identified that influence the usage and investment decision of companies concerning esp. packet switched mobile data services.