User Involvement in Technology-Based Service Innovations in Telecom: Cases From India

India has witnessed large number of telecom subscribers with their growing expectations in recent years. This is encouraging telecom operators in India to create innovative service offerings at a faster pace. Number of new value-added services (VASs) has been offered by the operators to attract and retain their subscribers with the involvement of users. Hence, objective of this article is to understand how telecom operators are creating service innovations to exploit new technological capabilities with the involvement of user. Three cases of technology-based service (TBS) innovation (mobile VASs) are studied in-depth to discover activities involved in the process. Findings suggest 46 activities and 16 subprocesses for TBS innovation. Our article proposes three strategies for telecom operators to opt for during service evolution phases depending on their unique assets with the involvement of users. Our article provides valuable insights for telecom operators to effectively design, develop, and implement new services with user involvement. In the process, we make three main contributions to the body of knowledge.