Big Data in the Telecom Industry - A Study of How Big Data Affects Innovativeness and Market Dynamics

Abstract: Companies and authorities have captured huge amounts of information for decades. But during recent years the amounts of accessible and analyzable data have exploded, giving rise to the term Big data. Big data has in many ways changed how companies look at their market, evaluate their business and analyze their customers, but to this date there are no comprehensive studies of its effects. This thesis aims to obtain an understanding of the phenomenon and analyze what effects Big data has on innovativeness and market dynamics. The research is conducted through a case study of the Swedish telecom market, together with theory and literature studies. With basis in ten in-depth interviews, this thesis concludes that Big data works as a powerful representational practice, which significantly affects the dynamics of the studied market. Furthermore, the findings suggest that Big data has a considerable impact on innovativeness and innovation processes within all three studied companies.