Research Proposal

Research Topic:
The impact of substitute products such as Viber, Whatsapp, Nimbuzz and
Skype in the telecommunication sector.
Introduction: Bangladesh has seen a rapid growth in the telecom and mobile
communication sector in the last 2 decades. Improved IT infrastructure has enabled
telecom operators to offer better additional services. In 2012, Teletalk became the
first telecom provider to provide 3G facilities to consumers and currently all
operators are offering 3G. With the availability of better internet communication,
more and more Bangladeshis are being able to maximize the utilities that their
smartphones can offer. One of these utilities includes internet communication
applications (or apps as they are called in short). Instead of using the conventional
modes of communication (SMS and conventional mobile phone calls) people have
switched to internet communication tools like Whatsapp (internet aided text
service) and Viber (internet aided text and voice call service).
While this concept is still emerging in Bangladesh, it has the potential to make a
significant impact on mobile and telephony communication. Thus it is important to
research on the consumers perception on these applications as well as the telecom
industrys response to the potential shift in mobile communication because of such
apps.

Research Objective: In this research we would like to find out the impression or
the impact of substitute products such as Viber, Whatsapp Nimbuzz and Skype in
the telecommunication sector and how much impact they have on the mind and

behavior of mobile users of different telecom companies of Bangladesh. Some of

the following factors will be issued in this research:
How much popularity have these Over-the-top applications (apps) such as
WhatsApp, WeChat, Viber and Skype have gained amongst mobile users?
Are these apps cost effective for the consumers compared to conventional
mobile communication?
How often do they use these substitute products instead of cellular phone?
Are they switching to these products substantially?
What are the benefits that they get from these products?
How much time mobile users spend on chatting, calling as well as file
sharing through these apps?
Do these communication facilitating products pose any threat to the telecom
industry? If they do then how?
Does availability of cheaper internet connection encourage users to use these
apps instead of using mobile phones?

Primary research question: Our primary research questions are

1. What the mobile users of Bangladesh actually think or feel about the
emergence of these over the top apps and why are these as becoming popular
day by day?
2. What are the reasons behind this response?
3. Are the telecom operators of Bangladesh threatened or affected by the
response of the mobile users toward these apps?

Methodology:

Secondary Data Source: Firstly we will collect some secondary information from
various secondary sources like various articles, newspapers, magazines, journals,
books and academic websites to find out relevant information and see what others
have done and to find out what questions are yet not answered. While articles from
various print and electronic media can provide a good insight, the data may be
considered obsolete.
Primary Data Source: Primary data must be collected. This data can be collected
using various data collection instruments such as questionnaires, interviews and
subject matter observation. The survey will target individuals living in Dhaka and
will include an age group of 20-40 years and our sample size will be 30 people,
irrespective of gender. We will collect our primary data by Survey questionnaire to
the sample.
Since a significant part of the research is dedicated to telecom operators, it is
important to include their opinion and this may be done in the form of interviews
(provided the respective institutions and time factor permits).

Significance of the research: This research will unveil the notion of mobile users
about the Over-the-top applications and this will definitely help the telecom
marketers and government to think whether to take any specific actions to lessen
the influence of these apps so that the telecom sector can survive profitably in
Bangladeshi market.

Scopes:

This research is going to show that the significance of using the over-the-top
applications among young people is increasing in such a way that can be a matter
to be concern for the telecom service providers. As the numbers of smart phone
users are raising and the availability of data is abundant, it is possible to get closer
to know about the significance of using those smart data connection apps.

Limitations:
The limitation of this research in our data collection is like most people may not
answer correctly to our research questionnaire. Also the time is also very limited.
So its not possible to collect as many as sample to prove the significance of our
study.

Request for Approval: We would like to ask for your approval of our research
proposal. You are always welcome to give any suggestion or recommendation
regarding the paper. We will be glad to make any necessary modification according
to your choice and advice.