20945274 Interim Report on Telecom Sector by Deepankar

8/8/2019 20945274 Interim Report on Telecom Sector by Deepankar

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INTERIM THESIS

ON

Critically Analyze the Customer Preference and Satisfaction

Measurement in Indian Telecom Industry

SUBMITTED BY

Dipankar.B.GhoshEnroll no: 8NBAH027

A report submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements of

THE MBA PROGRAM(The Class of 2010)

GUIDED BY

Mrs. Monika MehrotraMT Guide

ICFAI National College, Allahabad


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Critically analyze the customer satisfaction and satisfaction measurement in Indian Telecom Industry

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY...1

INTRODUCTION..2

INDUSTRY PROFILE...3

COMPANY PROFILE...6

REVIEW OF LITERATURE10

BODY OF THE THESIS...13

ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION.15

REFERENCES...26

ANNEXURES27

SUMMARY


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The research conducted is descriptive in nature. Allahabad segment would be

surveyed to attain certain results. The survey would be conducted to analyze that with

the increasing competition in telecom services, higher level of customer satisfaction

with affordable prices and improved quality of services being achieved or not . The

survey would be conducted to find out how much the customers are satisfied about

their operators & find out the factors which would influence the buying decision of the

customer. This would also help us to understand the service providers who are

expected to become more sensitive and responsive to the customer needs and choices

and endeavor to give great satisfaction.

With these above objectives in mind, a survey would be conducted in the city of

Allahabad. Questionnaire method is being used to obtain the required information.

Random sampling will be used as the mode of conducting the survey. Care would be

taken that the respondents would be as diversified as possible, with all the regions

being given equal weight age and the sample size being suitably divided among

various regions.

A sample size of about 50 people is taken for this purpose form various parts of

Allahabad. At the interim level 20 respondents have been surveyed and results are

interpreted and analyzed accordingly. After the completion of survey, the remaining

data to be analyzed on the chosen parameters would later be converted into various

forms of graphs such as pie-chart bar graphs. This would make results easily

comprehensible by anyone going through the report. Thus would make it easy to draw

conclusions based on the research and provide a presentable format of the report.

INTRODUCTION


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The customers are very important and play a crucial role in any process of marketing.Today, customers are the kings of the market because the customer loyalty andcustomer preference are built by the products and the services offered to the

customers and they seek for the more benefits and moneys worth for the amount theyspend. That is where the concept of customer preference and consumer behavior comes because the customers make the marketers to rethink about designing the

products and services.

They have to think about the market segmentation, market strategies, consumer behavior, consumers preferences, and consumers lifestyle etc . Many marketers aresmart enough to understand consumers needs, wants and demands and perform

beyond their expectations i.e. they delight them. It provides them growth, profitabilityand creativity with lot of inventions.

Objectives of the Study :

To understand the improvement and customer preferences in telecom sector.

To study the service providers and their service quality in telecom sector.

To study the customer satisfaction and current market scenario in telecomsector.

Commercial viability of the study :

In todays scenario, communication has become much faster day by day bytelephones, internet, media etc. One of them is the growth of telecom sector. Today

many organizations provide services for telecom purpose.This study will help to understand customer preferences and their satisfaction levels

by the services provided by different organizations in the sector.

INDUSTRY PROFILE


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Today the Indian telecommunications network with over 375 Million subscribers issecond largest network in the world after China. India is also the fastest growingtelecom market in the world with an addition of 9- 10 million monthly subscribers.

The Department of Telecommunications has been able to provide state of the artworld-class infrastructure at globally competitive tariffs and reduce the digital divide by extending connectivity to the unconnected areas. India has emerged as a major base for the telecom industry worldwide. Thus Indian telecom sector has come a longway in achieving its dream of providing affordable and effective communicationfacilities to Indian citizens. As a result common man today has access to this mostneeded facility. The reform measures coupled with the proactive policies of theDepartment of Telecommunications have resulted in an unprecedented growth of the

telecom sector.

According to TRAI, by the end of February, the total number of subscribers hadreached 413 million. Of this, 91% were mobile phone subscribers. The rising number of subscribers has pushed the tele-density to 35.62% showing a stupendous annualgrowth of about 50%, one of the highest in any sector of the Indian Economy. Alsoindustry estimates show that telecom industry in India will witness a compound

annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26% to reach 3, 44,921 crore by 2012. It is set togenerate employment opportunities for close to 10 million.

Indias telecom sector has shown massive upsurge in the recent years in all respectsof industrial growth. From the status of state monopoly with very limited growth, ithas grown in to the level of an industry. Telephone, whether fixed landline or mobile,is an essential necessity for the people of India. This changing phase was possible

with the economic development that followed the process of structuring theeconomy in the capitalistic pattern. Removal of restrictions on foreign capitalinvestment and industrial de-licensing resulted in fast growth of this sector.


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At present the countrys telecom industry has achieved a growth rate of 14 per cent. Till 2000, though cellular phone companies were present, fixed landlines were

popular in most parts of the country, with government of India setting up the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India, and measures to allow new players country, thefeatured products in the segment came in to prominence.

Indian Telecom sector, like any other industrial sector in the country, has gonethrough many phases of growth and diversification. Starting from telegraphic andtelephonic systems in the 19th century, the field of telephonic communication hasnow expanded to make use of advanced technologies like GSM, CDMA andWLL to the great 3G Technology in mobile phones. Day by day, both the PublicPlayers and the Private Players are putting in their resources and efforts toimprove the telecommunication technology so as to give the maximum to their customers.

The huge potential offered by the untapped rural market will help push growth for telecom operators in the years to come. At present, rural India accounts for just 27%of the countrys cellular base, though it constitutes 70% of the population.

The list of telecom operators operating in India with their market share is detailed a sunder:


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Recent things to watch out in Indian telecom sector are:

1. 3G and BWA auctions

2. MVNO

3. Mobile Number Portability

4. New Policy for Value Added Services

5. Market dynamics once the recently licensed new telecom operators start rolling out

6. Services.

7. Increased thrust on telecom equipment manufacturing and exports.

8. Reduction in Mobile Termination Charges.

9. Due to technological advancement and increase in traffic.


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COMPANY PROFILE

Bharti Airtel is one of Asias leading providers of telecommunication services

with presence in all the 22 licensed jurisdictions (also known as Telecom Circles)

in India, and in SriLanka. We served an aggregate of 96,649,487 customers as of

March 31, 2009; of whom 93,923,248 subscribe to our GSM services and2,726,239 use our Telemedia Services either for voice and/or broadband access

delivered through DSL.

The company is the largest wireless service provider in the country, based on

the number of subscribers as of March 31, 2009. Airtel also offers an integrated

suite of telecom solutions to our enterprise customers, in addition to providing long

distance connectivity both nationally and internationally. The company has

recently forayed into media by launching our DTH and IPTV Services.

All these services are rendered under a unified brand Airtel. The company

also deploys, owns and manages passive infrastructure pertaining to telecom

operations under its subsidiary Bharti Infratel Limited.


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Idea Cellular Limited is a publicly listed company, having listed on BSE and

NSE in March 2007. It has licenses and spectrum to operate in all 22 service areas

of India, with commercial operations currently in 15 service areas. With a customer

base of 43 million as on March 31st, 2009,the footprint currently covers

approximately 80% of Indias potential telecom market.

IDEA was the first company in India to commercially launch next generation

EDGE technology in Delhi in 2003. It has been a leader in the introduction of value

added services. From basic voice and SMS services to offering high end VAS such

as Mobile TV, Games etc, IDEA is seen as an innovative, customer focused brand.

IDEA has received international recognition for its path-breaking innovations when

it won the GSM Association Award for Best Billing and Customer Care Solution

for 2 consecutive years.

IDEA Tariff plans are customer friendly and cater to unique needs of different

segments. IDEA Womens Card caters to the special needs of the women on

move, and Youth Card covers emerging youth segment. IDEA My Gang the

widely popular closed user group product recently bagged the prestigious Golden

Peacock Award 2008 under the Most Innovative Product category at the 19thWorld Congress on Total Quality. IDEA Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla

Group, Indias first truly multinational corporation. The Group is anchored by an

extraordinary force of over 125,000 employees, belonging to 25 different

nationalities, and is in the League of Fortune 500 companies.


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Reliance Telecom Limited (RTL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reliance

Communication Limited, a member of Reliance ADA Group. Reliance ADA

Groups flagship company. Reliance Telecom Limited (RTL) began operations

in 1997-98. It provides GSM based Mobility services, Value Added Services &

Applications in 8 telecom circles covering 15 Indian states.

RTL has undertaken a major expansion and increased its coverage to 6,300

towns. This has enabled RTL to significantly scale up subscriber base to 11.5

million as of March 31, 2009. RTL is in the process of further expanding its

coverage to 12,000 towns under its licensed areas.

RTLs Business has been further strengthened and complimented by its parent

companys GSM expansion to remaining 14 Circles across various Indian

states. Parent Companys rapid and successful ramp up in GSM based Mobile

services has provided an added advantage to RTL of a bigger in-house

ecosystem .


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Vodafone Essar is the Indian subsidiary of Vodafone Group and commenced

operations in 1994 when its predecessor Hutchison Telecom acquired the

cellular license for Mumbai. The company now has operations across the

country with 68.76 million customers (as of March 31, 2009). Over the years,Vodafone Essar, under the Hutch brand, has been named the Most Respected

Telecom Company, the Best Mobile Service in the country and the Most

Creative and Most Effective Advertiser of the Year.

Vodafone is the worlds leading international mobile communications

company. It currently has equity interests in 27 countries across 5 continents

and more than 40 partner networks with over 289 million proportionate

customers Worldwide. The Essar Group is Vodafones principal partner in

India.


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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1. Kalavani (2006) in their study analyzed that majority of the respondents

have given favorable opinion towards the services but some problems exist

that deserve the attention of the service providers. They need to bridge the

gap between the services promised and services offered. The overall

customers attitude towards cell phone services is that they are satisfied with

the existing services but still they want more services to be provided.

2. Seth et al (2008), in their study titled Managing the Customer Perceived

Service Quality for Cellular Mobile Telephone: an Empirical Investigationanalyzed that there is relative importance of service quality attributes and

showed that responsiveness is the most importance dimension followed by

reliability, customer perceived network quality, assurance, convenience,

empathy and tangibles. This would enable the service providers to focus

their resources in the areas of importance. The research resulted in the

development of a reliable and valid instrument for assessing customer

perceived service quality for cellular mobile services .

3. Samuvel, customer satisfaction for cellular services, a study with a

reference to BPL and Aircel mobile phones and services, a published

M.Phil. dissertation, submitted to Bharathiar university, Coimbatore,

December 2002

4. Kalpana and Chinnadurai (2006) in their study titled Promotional Strategies

of Cellular Services: A Customer Perspective analyzed that the increasing

competition and changing taste and preferences of the customers all over


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the world are forcing companies to change their targeting strategies. The

study revealed the customer attitude and their satisfaction towards the

cellular services in Coimbatore city.

5. Rick (2008): in his study found that companies with sound customer

strategies can use that ultimate loyalty program as a differentiator in an

increasingly muddled market. In an increasingly competitive market,

customer loyalty efforts can play a major part in the attraction of new

customers and the retention of current ones. As consumers' choices expand,

the importance of a sound customer relationship strategy becomes more andmore important for the success of the company.

6. Shikha Ojha (2009) conducted a study on Consumer Awareness of VAS of

Telecom Sector of India. She analyzed the contribution of the mobile phone

services not only at the national or state level, but also its involvement in an

individual's life. She found out that the less number of users are aware of all

the VAS provided by the service providers and thus the companies should

focus on the awareness campaign.

7. Shirshendu Ganguli (2008) conducted a study on Drivers of Customer

Satisfaction in Indian Cellular services Market in which he discussed the

impact of service quality and features on customer satisfaction from the

cellular users viewpoint.

8. J D Power(2009) conducted a study on Customers increasingly want

telecom services and products to be bundled based on responses collected


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from 11,911 customers nationwide and examined the overall customer

satisfaction on six factors customer service, reliability, billing, image, cost

of service, offers & promotions.

9. Girish Taneja & Neeraj Kaushik (2007) conducted a study on Customers

perception towards Mobile service providers: An analytical study aims to

deduce the factors that customers perceive to be the most important while

utilizing the services of a mobile service provider.

10. Anita Seth (2007) in his study on Quality of service parameters in cellular

mobile communication developed a model of service quality and a set of

dimensions for comparative evaluation which could provide useful

directions to regulators and service providers.


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BODY OF THESIS

Research Methodology

Area : Allahabad city

Location :Bairhana,Rambag,Darajung,Allahpur

Sample Type : Random

Sample Size : 20 Users

Data Type : Primary and Secondary data

Data Collection Tool : Questionnaire

Data Presentation Tool : Pie charts and Tables

Sources of Data

The study undertaken is mainly based on the primary data i.e. structured

questionnaire is designed. The study also contains secondary data i.e. data from

books, authenticated websites and journals for the latest updates just to gain an

insight for the views of various experts.

Methodology & Presentation of Data

The data collected is then coded in the tables to make the things presentable and

more effective. The results are shown by tables & pie- charts which will help me

out in easy and effective presentation of results.

Research Design

The design for this study is Exploratory and Random sampling.


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Data Collection

The data is collected randomly irrespective of the category of the people in the

form of questionnaire and the sample size is 100 respondents. Because it is a pilotstudy and due to time constraint the sample size is small.

Work Undertaken by me :

In this project I have completed the first phase of my study which is to adapt proper research technique and sampling.

On the basis of sampling, I prepared my schedule which has two phases:

1) Getting the information from the customer

2) Getting the information from the company.

In this interim report I have completed my first phase in which a sample of 20 respondents are surveyed and their response is analyzed and interpretedwith the help of pie-charts and tables.

The remaining part of the survey and the second phase would be performed

in the mean while before I submit my final report with detailed analysis andexplanation regarding the same.


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ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

(1) TYPE OF CONNECTION

75%

25%

Pre-paid

Post-paid

Out of the total respondents, 75% people acquire pre-paid connection and25% people acquire post-paid connection.


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(2) RENDERING OF SERVICE

10%

15%

20%

10%

35%

10%IDEA

AIRTELBSNL

VODAFONE

RELIANCE

TATA

The above analysis reveals that majority of the people are using Reliance because of different schemes like free talk time and STV have helped to gainthe market share while the least are interested in using Airtel, Vodafone &Idea.

(3) TECHNOLOGY PREFERENCE

70%

25%

5%

GSM

CDMABOTH

As per the data it can be analyzed that GSM has earned a huge market shareof 70% while only 25% people prefer CDMA. Moreover there are only 5%

people who are willing to use both the technologies.


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(4) DURATION OF USAGE

25%

10%

15%

50%

LESS THAN 3 MON

3-6 MONTHS

6-12 MONTHS

MORE THAN 1 YR

From the above analysis it can be found that 50% of the total people havekept their connection for more than 1 year. Whereas only 10% people prefer to keep their connection for 3-6 months.


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(5) EXPECTATION

30%

20%

40%

10%

PRICEVOICE QUALITY NETWORK GOOD SERVICES

As per the pilot study most of the people are inclined towards network of their service providers followed by the price. Here the price not onlyincludes the amount of pre-paid or post paid connection but include differentschemes, tariff plans etc.

(6) SPENDING PER MONTH IN PRE-PAID

68%

16%

11%

5%

RS500

RS501-1000

RS1001-1500

MORE THAN RS1500


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In above graph , maximum spending is done up to Rs 500 which ishighlighted by 68% of the total surveyed people and the lowest is the rangeof more than Rs 1500 which is done only by 5% people.

(6) SPENDING PER MONTH IN POST- PAID

30%

40%

20%

10%

UPTO RS 500RS 501-1000

RS 1001-1500MORE THAN RS 1500

In above graph, the maximum spending is between Rs 501-1000 range done by 40% of total post paid connection users out of the surveyed people.Whereas the lowest spending is in the range of above Rs 1500 by 10%

people.


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(7) BEHAVIOUR OF CUSTOMER CARE

58%26%

5%11% PROFESSIONAL &

PROMPT

WARM & HELPFUL

NOT RESPONDING

LAZY & SLOW

Acceptance or rejection of any product is largely dependent on the services provided by the customer care which is also known as after sales service or CRM (Customer Relationship Management). As per the survey it was foundout that 58% of the surveyed people feel that the executives are professionaland prompt in their approach. While 5% customers are not happy with theservices which means customer care are not responding to them properly.

(7) SELECTION OF SERVICE PROVIDER

5%

18%

9%

23%

36%

9%TATAAIRTELVODAFONERELIANCEBSNLIDEA


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As the above chart suggests and as per the findings, it can be seen that inmajority of the case customers prefer to have BSNL with an inclination of 36%, followed by Reliance & Airtel with an penchant of 23% and 18%respectively. Only 5% of people fancy using TATA.

LIKERT SCALE GRADING USED BELOW:

1. VERY GOOD

2. GOOD

3. AVERAGE

4. POOR

5. VERY POOR


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(9) OVERALL GRADING OF BSNL AS PERLIKERT SCLAE

23

3

4

1

55

2

2

3

5

13

ISD RATES

STD RATES

LOCAL RATES

MSG SERVICE

NETWORK

BILLING

VOICE CLARITY

QUICK SMS FOR BAL

INTERNET

CALL PERFORMANCE& RELIABILITY VAS

TALK TIME &VALIDITY BRAND IMAGE &ADS


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OVERALL GRADING OF RELIANCE ASPER LIKERT SCALE

3

3

1

1

3

33

2

4

3

31 1

ISD RATES

STD RATES

LOCAL RATES

MSG SERVICE

NETWORK

BILLING

VOICE CLARITY

QUICK SMS FOR BAL

INTERNET

CALL PERFORMANCE& RELIABILITY

VAS

TALK TIME &VALIDITY

BRAND IMAGE &ADS


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OVERALL GRADING OF AIRTEL AS PERLIKERT SCALE

1 1

3

2

2

122

3

2

2

21

ISD RATES

STD RATES

LOCAL RATES

MSG SERVICE

NETWORK

BILLING

VOICE CLARITY

QUICK SMS FOR BAL

INTERNET


VAS



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OVERALL GRADING OF VODAFONE AS PERLIKERT SCALE

3

2

3

1

1

22

2

3

2

1

31

ISD RATES

STD RATES

LOCAL RATES

MSG SERVICE

NETWORK

BILLING

VOICE CLARITY

QUICK SMS FOR BAL

INTERNET


VAS



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OVERALL GRADING OF IDEA AS PERLIKERT SCALE

3

3

3

3

3

323

2

2

3

42

ISD RATES

STD RATES

LOCAL RATES

MSG SERVICE

NETWORK

BILLING

VOICE CLARITY

QUICK SMS FOR BAL

INTERNET

CALL PERFORMANCE& RELIABILITY VAS

TALK TIME &VALIDITY

BRAND IMAGE &ADS


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From the pilot study conducted from respondents, we can conclude thatAirtel is having the highest pedestal in customer satisfaction and preferencesince they provide best features with value added services.

Whereas Vodafone & Reliance is having the second & third highest pedestalin customer satisfaction as they possess strong competition to Airtel in termsof Local talk time, good availability, voice clarity etc.

Finally apart from having different schemes BSNL is the laggard in meetingthe customer satisfaction and preference due to lack of certain attributes inits wing


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REFERENCES

BOOKS :i. Schiller Jochen Mobile Communication Second Edition 2006

TMH, India

ii. Taher Nasreen Indian Telecom Industry- Trends & CasesISBN:81-7881-421-8, ICFAI University Press

iii. Sisodia Amit & Rao Janardhan Global Telecommunication Issues & Perspectives ISBN : 978-81-314-1709-6 ,Mar 2009

iv. Alagiri Dhanpat Telecommunication in India EmergingScenario ISBN: 81-314-1171-5, ICFAI University Press

v. Mukherjee Arindham Mobile Service providers Perspective& Practises ISBN: 978-81-314-2126-0264, ICFAI UniversityPress

vi. Chalam G.V Quality of Services in Telecom Sector: UsersPerception- An Assessment, ICFAI University Journal of Managerial Economics, 2005

MAGAZINE & JOURNAL:

i. Singh Yashvendra Business India Telecom Sector-SurveyMay 2009 pg:109-111

ii. Goyal Vatsal The Indian Telecom Industry, IIM Calcutta,2007


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WEBSITES:

i. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_satisfaction

ii. www.dot.gov.in

iii. www.trai.gov.in

iv. http://www.coai.com/service_providers.php

ANNEXURES

SCHEDULE I

Questions for customers:

1. Which type of connection do you prefer?

Pre-paid Post-paid

2. Whose service(s) are you rendering now?

BSNL Vodafone Reliance Airtel Idea TATA

3. Which technology do you prefer? CDMA GSM Both

4. How long have you been using this connection of your service provider?

Less than 3 months 3-6 months
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_satisfactionhttp://www.dot.gov.in/http://www.trai.gov.in/http://www.coai.com/service_providers.phphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_satisfactionhttp://www.dot.gov.in/http://www.trai.gov.in/http://www.coai.com/service_providers.php


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6-12 months More than 1year

5. What kind of expectations do you have from your service provider?

Good service Network Voice quality Schemes Price

6. How much do you spend per month on your mobile connection?

Up to Rs. 500

Rs. 501- Rs. 1000

Rs. 1001- Rs. 1500

More than Rs. 1500

7. How do you find the behavior of customer care executives of your service provider?

Professional & prompt Not Responding

Warm & helpful Lazy & slow

8. Given a choice with same number, which service provider will you select?


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TATA Vodafone Airtel

Reliance Idea BSNL

9. How will you rate the following attributes for your service providers? Please tick ( ) theappropriate:

No Attributes Very Good Good Average Poor Very poor 1) Call charges

ISD

STD

LANDLINE2) MessageService

3) Network

4) Billingsystem

5) Voiceclarity

6) Quick SMSservice for balance

7) InternetService

8) Call performance& reliability

9) Value addedservices

10) Talk time &validity

11) Brandimage &

Ads

10. According to you, which Value Added Services appeals the best?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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11. What do you feel about the latest technology being offered by the service provider like3G?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12. What do you think about the competition in market from telecom operators?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

13. What factors do you consider upon while going for a new connection or switching onto adifferent operator?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14. According to you does media plays an important role in branding the product and providing customer satisfaction?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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15. According to you what would be the scenario if the telecom operators are not present to provide services?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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SCHEDULE II

Questions for Company:

1. On which type of connection do you concentrate more?

a) Pre-paid b) Post-paid c) Both

2. When do you launch new schemes?

____________________________

3. What factors do you consider while launching a new scheme?

__________________________________________________

4. Which Strategy do you implement to acquire new customers?

___________________________________________

5. Which strategy do you implement to retain customers?

____________________________________________

6. Do you do any pilot project before launching any product to know

customers preference?

a)Yes b) No


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7. How do you solve problems of customer?

8. Do you have any grievance handling department to solve customers

problem?

____________________________________________

9. According to you how does technology and network play role in customer

satisfaction?

____________________________________________

10. On which value added service you focus more?

____________________________________________

Benefit to the Organization

Every mobile service provider wanted to know the perception about themobile users on their schemes. So this study will help the Telecom

companies to know the perception of the users in the Allahabad City.This study will also help the company to find out what are the factors to beanalyzed for customer preference and satisfaction measurement. All theabove will help the companies to find their drawback in services, and helpthem overcome it by finding new and improvised strategies to meets the

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20945274 Interim Report on Telecom Sector by Deepankar

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