Application of the Rohman-Stork price basket to unlock the complexities of cellular price in Indonesia

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the complexity of prepaid mobile pricing in Indonesia and suggest tools that allow consumers to make informed decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

Defining a basket of services and pricing it for all prepaid mobile products available in Indonesia.

Findings

Findings suggested the importance of price transparency to ensure that consumers are well-informed concerning the range of services and prices available.

Practical implications

The paper provides recommendations for the Indonesian Telecommunication Regulation Agency (BRTI), which could use price baskets to create transparency and monitor price developments in the market. Another measure BRTI could undertake is to require any advertisement to include the cost for a price basket defined by BRTI.

Social implications

Price transparency is likely to lead to price competition and thus lower prices and/or better services. The economic impact of lower prices is well documented.

Originality/value

The authors have developed a unique basket methodology to address the specific situation in Indonesia.

Citation

Kholilul Rohman, I. and Stork, C. (2013), "Application of the Rohman-Stork price basket to unlock the complexities of cellular price in Indonesia", info, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 7-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/info-05-2013-0024