Case Notes/Answers
The Cellphone Industry from the Origins to
Deregulation, Industry Note by Miguel Rivera-Santos;
Carlos Rufin
Discussion Questions:
1. Did Orange/MTN make a good decision in entering Cameroon? What are the prospects
for Orange/MTN in Cameroon?
2. How can Orange/MTN grow in Cameroon? What are the characteristics of current and
potential consumers?
3. How does Orange/MTN deal with these challenges? What is each company’s economic
model in order to be profitable in Cameroon?
4. What is the impact of the government in a country like Cameroon? Does it make the
market more or less attractive? How should Orange/MTN respond? Consider both the
strategic and ethical implications of the choices available to Orange/MTN.
5. What would you do next if you were Orange/MTN? How would you respond to the third
license? What about the transnational network threat posed by Celtel?
, BAB633
May 6, 2009
MTN vs. Orange in Cameroon
Teaching Note
Case Synopsis and Structure
This case is composed of four separate documents, which are self-standing and can thus
be either combined or used separately as deemed appropriate by the instructor. The first case,
“MTN Cameroon: The Competitive Advantage of Being African”) (BAB-XX-XXXX) describes
MTN’s history, international expansion, entry into Cameroon, and the successive innovations
introduced by MTN in Cameroon which allow the company to gain a dominant market share by
2005. The second case, “Orange Cameroon: A global telecommunications company in Africa”
(BAB-XX-XXXX) describes the history of France Telecom (Orange’s corporate group), the
changes in company strategy upon the deregulation of Europe’s telecoms markets, its
international expansion and entry into Cameroon, and the innovations introduced by Orange in its
quest to match MTN’s leadership and dominant position. Two background notes, “An Overview
of Cameroon” (BAB-XX-XXXX) and “The Cellphone Industry: Industry Note” (BAB-XX-
XXXX), provide, respectively, general information about Cameroon and about the history and
characteristics of the cellphone industry.
Purpose
The cases deal with the challenges of entering and growing in markets at the “base of the
pyramid” (BOP), the term used to describe the roughly four billion people around the world who
subsist on one or two dollars a day of income. The base of the pyramid is a difficult but rich
setting in which a variety of concepts can be illustrated, depending on the course or session for
which the cases are used:
- in an international business course, they can be used to illustrate multinational strategy,
with a focus on international expansion, and entry into foreign countries;
- in a competitive strategy course, they can be used to discuss business model innovation
and to study competitive rivalry, with a focus on leader-follower dynamics and first-
mover advantage;
The Cellphone Industry from the Origins to
Deregulation, Industry Note by Miguel Rivera-Santos;
Carlos Rufin
Discussion Questions:
1. Did Orange/MTN make a good decision in entering Cameroon? What are the prospects
for Orange/MTN in Cameroon?
2. How can Orange/MTN grow in Cameroon? What are the characteristics of current and
potential consumers?
3. How does Orange/MTN deal with these challenges? What is each company’s economic
model in order to be profitable in Cameroon?
4. What is the impact of the government in a country like Cameroon? Does it make the
market more or less attractive? How should Orange/MTN respond? Consider both the
strategic and ethical implications of the choices available to Orange/MTN.
5. What would you do next if you were Orange/MTN? How would you respond to the third
license? What about the transnational network threat posed by Celtel?
, BAB633
May 6, 2009
MTN vs. Orange in Cameroon
Teaching Note
Case Synopsis and Structure
This case is composed of four separate documents, which are self-standing and can thus
be either combined or used separately as deemed appropriate by the instructor. The first case,
“MTN Cameroon: The Competitive Advantage of Being African”) (BAB-XX-XXXX) describes
MTN’s history, international expansion, entry into Cameroon, and the successive innovations
introduced by MTN in Cameroon which allow the company to gain a dominant market share by
2005. The second case, “Orange Cameroon: A global telecommunications company in Africa”
(BAB-XX-XXXX) describes the history of France Telecom (Orange’s corporate group), the
changes in company strategy upon the deregulation of Europe’s telecoms markets, its
international expansion and entry into Cameroon, and the innovations introduced by Orange in its
quest to match MTN’s leadership and dominant position. Two background notes, “An Overview
of Cameroon” (BAB-XX-XXXX) and “The Cellphone Industry: Industry Note” (BAB-XX-
XXXX), provide, respectively, general information about Cameroon and about the history and
characteristics of the cellphone industry.
Purpose
The cases deal with the challenges of entering and growing in markets at the “base of the
pyramid” (BOP), the term used to describe the roughly four billion people around the world who
subsist on one or two dollars a day of income. The base of the pyramid is a difficult but rich
setting in which a variety of concepts can be illustrated, depending on the course or session for
which the cases are used:
- in an international business course, they can be used to illustrate multinational strategy,
with a focus on international expansion, and entry into foreign countries;
- in a competitive strategy course, they can be used to discuss business model innovation
and to study competitive rivalry, with a focus on leader-follower dynamics and first-
mover advantage;
