"Choose a local market based on the location of one member of your team. You should try and choose a market where pricing plans are readily available on-line. You will collect data regarding mobile or cell phone pricing plans in that area; i.e., that is available to the selected team member. You will identify all the current providers and determine what pricing plans are on offer and what each package delivers. You will then use that data to address the following problems in a report on the determinants of cell phone pricing.

The problems to be answered are as follows:

Consider five consumer types (eg, high-use business, low-use personal, traveller etc). Determine which plan each consumer type would optimally select in the markets you have collected data for.

describe, both theoretically and in reality, what the drivers of differences in price plans are. For instance, are there different numbers of competitors in different market segments, different technologies or different regulatory arrangements?

Choose one provider in the market. Determine whether you think they could change their pricing options in a profitable manner. It may be that they cannot. In order to analyse this, you will need to set up a spreadsheet and make some assumptions. Make sure that your assumptions are explicit and comment on their reasonableness.

What non-price strategies do cell phone network providers use in the market you are studying? How does a consideration of this affect your answer in problem 3 above?

Assess the overall pricing and non-price strategy of the provider you are studying in problem 3. What can they do in the short and long run to improve their profitability"