IntJ Mobile Communication. Vol 2 No.1. 2004 Critical success factors in mobile communications a comparative roadmap for Germany and India Bardo fraunholz and chandana Unnithan Deakin University, School of Information Systems, Faculty of Business and Law, 221, Burwood Highway, Burwood. Melbourne Victoria 3125. Australia E-mail: bardo@@deakin.edu. au E-mail: Chandana deakin edu. au communications. continues to evolve with innovative technologies and high-speed data services. In many economies, mobile phones have overtaken fixed lines. In this dynamic context, we have envisaged to study mobile mmunication diffusion in Germany and India, from a historical comparative rspective. The basic standard for comparison has been Global Systems for Mobile Communications(GSM) and its data ser hich was adopted by th economies. Subsequently, critical success factors in each economy is drawn and compared with the other, to elicit future directions. Keywords: mobile communications; Germany; India; data services: GSM diffusion; critical success factors; historical comparative research; open coding Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Fraunholz, B. and Unnithan, C.(2004)'Critical success factors in mobile communications a comparative roadmap for Germany and India, Int J Mobile communication Vol.2,No.l,pp.87-101 Biographical notes: Bardo Fraunholz is a Lecturer in Information Systems Project Management, Enterprise Modelling and Business Communication Systems. He has a German masters degree in Information Systems/ Accounting. Further, he is a post-graduate in legal studies specialising in IT, Media and Corporate Law from London. He spent several years in the Information Communication Technologies sector as coeditor/board member of a publisher specialising in IT and Telecommunication Magazines. Currently, he is actively involved in managing/consulting with a number of projects dealing with SMEs and information systems. His main research interests are mobile communications, IT& Law and Is/T Project Management Chandana Unnithan is a Lecturer in Business Information Systems and IT/s Project Management. She has a masters degree by research in Business mputing and an MBA from Australia. She has spent 14 years in the Information Communications Technology sector, some highlights being with IBM GSA and TATA of India. Her current research focuses on project proces modelling, mobile appl in project management, and impact of new generation mobile techne in various economies. She has a special in comparative cross-cultural or cross-economy mobile communication opyright o 2004 Inderscience Enterprises LtdInt. J. Mobile Communication, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2004 87 Copyright © 2004 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Critical success factors in mobile communications: a comparative roadmap for Germany and India Bardo Fraunholz and Chandana Unnithan Deakin University, School of Information Systems, Faculty of Business and Law, 221, Burwood Highway, Burwood, Melbourne, Victoria 3125, Australia E-mail: bardo@deakin.edu.au E-mail: Chandana@deakin.edu.au Abstract: The world of telecommunications, especially mobile communications, continues to evolve with innovative technologies and high-speed data services. In many economies, mobile phones have overtaken fixed lines. In this dynamic context, we have envisaged to study mobile communication diffusion in Germany and India, from a historical comparative perspective. The basic standard for comparison has been Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) and its data services, which was adopted by both economies. Subsequently, critical success factors in each economy is drawn and compared with the other, to elicit future directions. Keywords: mobile communications; Germany; India; data services; GSM; diffusion; critical success factors; historical comparative research; open coding; SMS. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Fraunholz, B. and Unnithan, C. (2004) ‘Critical success factors in mobile communications: a comparative roadmap for Germany and India’, Int. J. Mobile Communication, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.87–101. Biographical notes: Bardo Fraunholz is a Lecturer in Information Systems, Project Management, Enterprise Modelling and Business Communication Systems. He has a German master’s degree in Information Systems/ Accounting. Further, he is a post-graduate in legal studies specialising in IT, Media and Corporate Law from London. He spent several years in the Information Communication Technologies sector as coeditor/board member of a publisher specialising in IT and Telecommunication Magazines. Currently, he is actively involved in managing/consulting with a number of projects dealing with SMEs and information systems. His main research interests are mobile communications, IT & Law and IS/IT Project Management. Chandana Unnithan is a Lecturer in Business Information Systems and IT/IS Project Management. She has a master’s degree by research in Business Computing and an MBA from Australia. She has spent 14 years in the Information Communications Technology sector, some highlights being with IBM GSA and TATA of India. Her current research focuses on project process modelling, mobile applications in project management, and impact of new generation mobile technologies in various economies. She has a special interest in comparative cross-cultural or cross-economy mobile communication studies