Mobile operator business game

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Mobile operator business game

• Juha Kokko

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Mobile operator business game

• Game that simulates the business environment of
  mobile operators
• Purpose of the game is to introduce players
  simultaneously to many different business areas
• Learning oriented
• Does not simulate real world
• Goal of the thesis was to make playable prototype
  of the game

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Modeled games

• Demand supply balancing game
• Cellular radio game (WCDMA vs. EDGE)
• Multi radio game (cellular vs. WLAN)
• Pricing game (usage based vs. flat rate vs.
  block)
• Charging game (Prepaid vs. Postpaid)
• Messaging game (SMS vs. MMS vs. e-mail)
• Roaming game (bilateral vs. centralized)
• Content game (operator charging vs. bit-pipe)

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Description of the game

• 3-6 teams of players compete against each other
• One facilitator runs the game
• Facilitators acts as
• Regulator
• Customer
• Vendor
• Financer
• Consultant
• Game logic helps facilitator manage all of his
  roles

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Description of the game

• Game is played in seasons. One season equals one
  year.
• Each season players make new decisions based on
  market situation that facilitator has generated
• New market situations are based on players
  decisions, demand, regulators actions and
  equipment vendors actions

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Game modules
Save Read
Facilitator module
Decision module
History information
Decisions
Feedback
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Demand

• Demand is defined in two levels
• Subscriptions
• Services
• There are also two types of demand curves
  predefined and dynamic

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Allocating sales (voice)
Image index for voice
Image multiplier
Motivation of marketing personnel
Operational competence index for voice
Basic value of service
Expected benefit
Quality index for voice
Customer relationship multiplier
Motivation index of RD personnel
Expected value
Motivation index of customer service personnle
Opening charge
Expected cost
Monthly charge
Averaged calling charge
MoU
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Allocating sales (data)
Image index for data
Image multiplier
Motivation of marketing personnel
Operational competence index for cellular data
Basic value of service
Expected benefit
Quality index for data
Customer relationship multiplier
Motivation index of RD personnel
Expected value
Motivation index of customer service personnel
Monthly charge
Price of 1 MB
Expected cost
Average monthly usage
Block size
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Marketing

• Players have to make decisions on three levels
• Budget
• Division of funds between services
• Targeting service specific funds to appropriate
  customer segments
• Facilitator decides the time when a certain
  customer group is interested about a particular
  service before the game
• Facilitator also decides the limits of successful
  investment
• The interest of customer groups is linked to
  demand

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Marketing
Get investment for a target group and penetration
level.
Is tg relevant?
no
End
yes
Is inv. below lower boundary?
no
End
yes
Is inv. above higher boundary?
no
Add inv. to marketing index
yes
Add higher boundary to marketing index
12
RD

• RD actions are done on both services and
  equipment
• Players are not developing equipment but if they
  want to launch new services they need to increase
  their awareness about the related technologies
• Awareness measured in knowledge levels
• Knowledge levels are derived from cumulative
  investments

13
Network maintenance

• Condition and usage level of network equipment is
  used in determining the quality experienced by
  the customer
• Investments in maintenance improve the condition
  of network elements
• Accurately timed purchasing decisions will keep
  usage levels under control
• Players need to find a good balance with these
  parameters

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Human relations management

• Four different types of personnel included
• Marketing
• RD
• Customer service
• Maintenance
• Players have to make decisions about number of
  employees, salaries and spending on education
• Motivation levels are derived from long term
  decisions
• In order to get reliable testing results large
  part of HRM decision are not in use

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Human relations management
Personnel
Companys success
Player
Motivation
Investment in development
Capacity
Wage
Strikes
Downsizing
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Future research

• Financing
• Roaming
• Content
• Full implementation and testing of HRM model
• User friendly user interface
• Tuning of existing algorithms

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Thank you for your attention!
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Dynamic demand curve
Get gprsD, edgeD, wcdmaD, dp
gprsD true dp lt t1
gprsD true and dp lt t4 and (edgeD true or
wcdmaD true)
true
true
gr g1
gr g4
false
false
gprsD true and dp lt t2 and (edgeD true or
wcdmaD true)
gprsD true and dp lt t5 and (edgeD true or
wcdmaD true)
true
true
gr g2
gr g5
false
false
gprsD true and dp lt t3 and (edgeD true or
wcdmaD true)
gprsD true and dp lt t6 and (edgeD true or
wcdmaD true)
true
true
gr g3
gr g6
false
false
gr 1