Back to search

City Telecom: How David Took on Goliaths in the Telecom Infrastructure Race

By Lily Fang
Published 22 Feb 2010
Reference 5674
Topic Economics & Finance
Industry Telecommunications
Region Asia
Length 10 page(s)
Language English
Inspection copy
6.00
Add to cart
Summary

A young, start-up telecom company has to decide whether or not to undertake a massive investment in telecom infrastructure, given significant uncertainty in the technology and in the market potential.

Teaching objectives

The case (1) Allows students to use analytical frameworks (such as NPV) to analyse investment decisions under uncertainty, but also to appreciate the issues beyond the NPV calculations. (2) Illustrates successful entrepreneurship in a highly competitive market. (3) Illustrates the way in which a firm?s competitive strategy, investment decisions and financing capabilities are intricately inter-related.

Keywords
  • Net Present Value
  • Investment Decisions
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Telecom infrastructuring investments
  • RD0110
  • AR2010
  • AR0910
About the author
Fang

Lily Fang

Professor of Finance

Recommended Cases

Siraj Capital: Investing in SMEs in the Middle East

By  Vikas A. Aggarwal,  Pascale Balze
Add to cart
In 2009, Siraj Capital is deciding whether to invest in Tower United Contracting Company, a telecom infrastructure provider based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The protagonist needs to evaluate the risks associated with the investment, as well as the value that Siraj Capital brings to the deal.
    View case

    BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund

    By  Pierre Hillion,  Jean Wee
    Add to cart
    In 2013, the long-delayed IPO of the Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Co. Ltd. (BTSC) took place, but in an unusually complex form. Instead of selling the shares of the company that owned the elevated railway concession, what was offered were investment units in Thailand’s first publicly listed infrastructure mutual fund: the BTS Rail Mass Transit Growth Infrastructure Fund (BTSGIF).
      View case

      SK Telecom (A): Leveraging Home Market Advantage

      By  Peter Williamson
      Add to cart

      • Reference 5025

      • Published 06 Dec 2002

      • Length 22 page(s)

      • Topic Strategy

      • Region Asia

      Against tight financial constraints and a small market base, SK Telecom (SKT), South Korea’s largest mobile telecoms company, was offering some of the world’s most innovative, leading-edge wireless services, by the end of 2001. Earlier that year, the company had developed its long-term strategic vision, identifying globalisation as the ultimate aim.
        View case