Identification of customer values in telecommunication service industry: A case of postpaid cellular customers in Indonesia

The vast development of mobile technologies has led to a competitive environment between the existing providers of telecommunication services in delivering their best offers to create customer values. Among their customers, postpaid subscribers have a distinguished position due to their exclusive characteristics which require special treatments from respective providers. This study aims to identify customer values created by telecommunications services provider, particularly for postpaid subscribers. A descriptive and causal analysis with further examination using Structural Equation Modeling is taken as the research methodology. There are 650 postpaid subscribers of 3 major telecommunications service providers in Indonesia, i.e. Telkomsel, Indosat and XL Axiata, asked to be the respondents. The results indicate that to create customer values particularly for postpaid mobile customers, companies should prioritize the development and performance improvement of customers´ relationship management, a deeper integration of customer characteristics, and an improved marketing mix. Looking at these results, this study offers a strategic step for telecommunication service providers in improving customer values as a means to increase customer loyalty to their services.