“A PROJECT REPORT ON”

VALUE ADDED SERVICES PENETRATION

IN

A report submitted to Delhi Business School, New Delhi

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment Master of Business Administration

BY

RAJIV RANJAN

Roll No.: : DBS/W09-11/074

Batch Jan 2009-2011

Under the Guidance of

Mrs. KIRAN MALHOTRA (Faculty of Marketing)

Delhi Business SchoolB-II/M.C.I.E.,Mathura Road , New Delhi

Website-www.dbs.edu.in

1

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I am happy to disclose the individuals who have spent their valuable time

from their busy schedule for encouraging me in the completion of the

project. I express my respect and gratitude to all of them, their fruitful

guidance, encouragement, support and supervision had given us a positive

dimension for Initiation and completion of this project successfully.

I wish to express our most sincere appreciation and deep sense of gratitude

to Mr. RAMESH BAGLA, for their inspiring guidance, encouragement and

invaluable help. Their sustained interest, patience, sound counsel and

innovative ideas have largely contributed to bring this work into its present

form. I am highly indebted to them in this regard and submit my sincere

thanks for making their guidance a pleasant experience.

I am also grateful to all those people of sales working in AIRCEL, who

directly or indirectly helped me in accomplishing this project.

2

Last but not the least I am also thankful to my faculty Mrs. Kiran Malhotra

Faculty of Marketing, in Delhi Business School, my honorable internal

project guide who has been a constant source of inspiration to me.

(RAJIV RANJAN)

4th Sem.

Delhi business School

New Delhi.

3

PREFACE

The aim of management course is not to produce readymade managers but

rather to develop a habit of thinking rationally based upon the scientific

principles of management. The post contents and theory of management

endeavors to the scientific in nature while its application and presentation in

the real business would remain a target to be developed by the individual.

The purpose of introducing the student of management to the business world

is to help the student to correlate and integrate the theory practice. The

practical training too is essential part of the management course.

4

CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION

I here by declare that the work presented in this project report entitled,

“VALUE ADDED SERVICES PENETRATION”, in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the award of the degree of DBS in marketing

management, submitted in the department of marketing management, in

Delhi Business School,New Delhi, under the guidance of Mrs. KIRAN

MALHOTRA Faculty of Marketing, in Delhi Business School

(NewDelhi).

RAJIV RANJAN

Place

Date

5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

No

1. Introduction…………………………………………...……6

2. Executive Summary………………………………….… …7

3. The Role of VAS……………………………………..……8

4. The future of VAS in India………………………...… …...9

5. Indian Telecommunication Industry……………...… …….14

6. About Aircel……………………………………..…… …..18

7. Latest Services provided by Aircel……………..………….21

8. Value Added Services…………………………………......22

9. VAS characteristics…………………………………......…23

10. Relationship to other services………………………......….24

11. VAS examples………………………………………….….27

12. VAS provided by Aircel………………...……………...….37

13. Product Details……………………………………………..39

6

14. The present study………………………………………..…41

15. Self Analysis…………………………………………….…42

16. Observations……………………………………………….43

17. SWOT Analysis …………………………………………...46

18. Questionnaires……………………………………….…….53

19. Sample Questionnaire Form..………………………….…..55

20. Suggestions………………………………………….……..56

21. Bibliography……………………………………………….57

7

INTRODUCTION

Mobile phones today have moved beyond their fundamental role of

communications and have graduated to become an extension of the persona

of the user. We are witnessing an era when users buy mobile phones not just

to be in touch, but to expert, Thus, there exists a vast world beyond voice

that needs to be explored and tapped and the entire cellular industry is

heading towards it to provide innovative options to their customers. Spoilt

by choice, the mobile phone subscribers are beginning to choose their

operators on the basis of the value added services they offer. ess themselves,

their attitude, feelings & interests.

Customers continuously want more from their phone. They use their cellular

phones to play games, read news headlines, surf the Internet, keep a tab on

astrology, and listen to music, make others listen to their music, or check

their bank balance. The increased importance of VAS has also made content

developers burn the midnight oil to come up with better and newer concepts

and services.

To understand that where this industry is at present and where it is headed,

8

IAMAI and IMRB International have jointly prepared the Mobile VAS

Report to focus back stage and uncover the trends in the cellular industry,

current market status, value chain, competition, market dynamics &

expected roadblocks.

This is the first publicly available study on Mobile VAS in India and the

insights provided herein can be used by both the mobile operators and the

content providers to better address the needs of their customers. A timely

and strategic action would help nurture the mobile VAS market in India.

9

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Need for the study

The mobile subscriber base is growing at a scorching pace in India, India is

now the 5th country in the world to have crossed the 100 million mark in

subscriber base and has in the last two months become the fastest growing

mobile market in the world.

As average revenue per user decrease from voice drops, and voice becomes

commoditized, Telcos are increasingly looking at data as an additional

revenue stream. The end users have also embraced VAS and it contributes

between 5-10% of the revenues of different Telcos. Thus Mobile VAS has

become an important element in the growth of mobile telephony in India.

Yet it is also equally true that there is little clarity on business issues and

growth seems to be driven by more by inherent market momentum than a

concentrated effort on the part of the stakeholders; differences exist even on

basic issues like definition for Mobile VAS.

Thus an understanding into the VAS space is needed to help stakeholders

give a direction to this wave of growth.

10

The Road Ahead

We believe that while the mobile VAS space is all set to grow rapidly, all

the stakeholders will have to work together and create a self-sustaining

ecosystem for this growth to sustain.

Similarly it would take a joint effort of all concerned to address the

significant roadblocks and thus unlock the true potential of Mobile VAS in

India.

The key addressable barriers would be to ensure greater rationality in

revenue sharing between Telcos & content developers; ensure copyright

protection, develop higher quality content which goes beyond Bollywood

and cricket and also to have a focused WAP strategy.

We also believe that while pure entertainment service would continue to

appeal to the younger consumers, the overall focus for Mobile VAS would

shift to utility based services like location information & mobile

transactions; as security concerns are addressed mobile transactions will also

have a good potential in India.

11

THE ROLE OF VAS

This is where the role of VAS (Value Added Services) comes into focus.

Operators are facing cutthroat competition and with the call rates in India

being one of the cheapest in the world, the margins are very low. Therefore

they are looking at VAS as the next wave for growth. It has become the

flywheel of telecom growth and a large chunk of revenue for operators is

likely to come from VAS services in the years to come. But it is not only

effort from operators which is driving the growth of VAS, there are

other factors contributing to it.

The growth of VAS in India has been helped both by macro level

environmental factors and specific market initiatives to develop this

category.

12

THE FUTURE OF VAS IN INDIA

In India, VAS will see a lot of structural changes, consolidation and

emergence of cutting edge services:

Mobile operators will lose prominence in the value chain as the

market for Content Aggregators will consolidate and with their better

bargaining power, this will ensure a revenue shift from Operators to

Aggregators in the value chain. The VAS market will reflect revenue sharing

arrangement in markets like China more closely.

In VAS content, we will see revenue from entertainment VAS come

down from the levels. End users want control and interactivity and therefore

the applications to look out for in future will be user generated content and

mCommerce. However mobile gaming will continue to grow and will

contribute a higher share to the VAS pie.

Regional content is giving a significant boost to the content market

especially in the entertainment category. Regional content is getting popular

both in voice and non- voice services. Players have anticipated the trend and

13

this is leading to regional content development. With increasing mobility

penetration into the heartland of India, significant VAS revenues will be

driven by regional content from B & C class towns.

Internet on mobile will become a more feasible option as leading

players in the internet content space especially configure their sites for

access through mobiles; this would be further strengthened by the new trend

of mobile domain being set up. Thus GPRS usage should pick up

significantly

14

INDIAN TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY

The Indian telecommunications has been zooming up the growth curve at a

feverish pace, emerging as one of the key sectors responsible for India's

resurgent economic growth.

India has surpassed US to become the second largest wireless network in

the world with a subscriber base of over 300 million in April, according to

the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The year 2008 saw India achieving significant distinctions:

1 Having the world's lowest call rates 2-3 US cents

2 The fastest growth in the number of

subscribers

15.31 million in 4

months

3 The fastest sale of million mobile phones in a week

4 The world's cheapest mobile handset US$ 17.2

5 The world's most affordable color phone US$ 27.42

6 Largest sale of mobile handsets in the third quarter

15

SEGMENT-WISE GROWTH

Wireless segment has emerged as the preferred mode of telephone service by

the consumers, reflected in the rising share of mobile phone connections to

total connections.

1. The share of mobile phones has increased from 71.69 per cent at the

end of March 2006 to 87.68 per cent at the end of May 2008.

16

2. While total mobile subscriber base was 277.92 million, wire line

subscriber base was 39.05 million.

3. Consequently, overall tele-density has increased to 27.59 per cent at

the end of May 2008.

India is likely to be

second largest mobile

market in the BRIC

(Brazil, Russia, India

and China) nations,

with 560 million

mobile users

representing the next

great growth curve for

both mobile and

interactive marketing

industries, according

to a report by

eMarketers.

17

INVESTMENT

The booming domestic telecom market has been attracting accelerating

amount of investment. During April 2000 to March 2008, cumulative FDI

inflows into the Indian telecommunications sector amounted to US$ 3.84

billion, accounting for 6.81 per cent of the total FDI inflows into the

country. In fact, the surge in mobile services market is likely to see huge

amount of investment implying a mobile in the hands of every second

person in the country.

Buyed by the rapid surge in the subscriber base, huge investments are being

made into this industry by companies like

• Maxis Communications-owned mobile service provider Aircel

• Srei Group's Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd (QTIL)

• The Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) have lined up

investments for infrastructure sectors like telecom energy and power

for 2008-09.

• Vodafone Essar will invest US$ 6 billion over the next three years in a

bid to increase its mobile subscriber base from 40 million at present to

over 100 million.

18

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

Government has taken many proactive initiatives which have provided a

framework for the rapid growth of the telecom industry.

• Opening the industry for private sector participation.

• 100 per cent FDI is permitted in telecom equipment manufacturing

through the automatic route.

• FDI ceiling in telecom services has been raised to 74 per cent.

• Establishment of an independent regulator - the Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India (TRAI)-for the telecom sector.

• Introduction of a Unified access licensing regime for telecom services

on a pan-India basis.

19

• Implementation of New Telecom Policy (NTP'99).

• Introduction of Calling Party Pay (CPP) regime and lowering of

access deficit coupled with introduction of revenue share regime in

ADC.

• Introduction of Mobile Number Portability in a phased manner,

starting with the fourth quarter of 2008.

• Allowing service providers to share active infrastructure.

ROAD AHEAD

According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, while only one in

20 of the world's first two billion mobile subscribers live in India, as

many as one in every four of the next billion subscribers will be an

Indian.

The department of telecommunication estimates the total subscriber

base to total 500 million by 2010, out of which 80 million are

expected to be from rural areas.

The Indian telecom industry's revenue, likewise, is estimated to

increase, which according to Ernst & Young is expected to total US$

35 billion, accounting for 3.6 per cent of the total GDP of the country.

20

With such growth projection, this industry is likely to see increased

investments. In fact, total investment is projected at US$ 76.6 billion during

the eleventh plan period (2007-12). Private sector is estimated to continue its

dominant share, accounting for 67 per cent of the total projected investment

while public sector accounts for the rest.

TOP PLAYERS

Cellular services can be divided into two categories:

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division

Multiple Access (CDMA). The GSM sector is dominated by Aircel, Airtel,

Vodafone-Hutch, BSNL and Idea Cellular, while the CDMA sector is

dominated by Reliance and Tata Indicom.

Surprisingly, CDMA market has increased its market share up to 30%

thanks to Reliance Communication. However, across the globe, CDMA has

been losing out numbers to popular GSM technology, contrary to the

scenario in India

21

REASONS FOR GROWTH

The two major reasons that have fuelled this growth are:

2. Low tariffs,

1. Falling handset prices regularly.

PROBLEMS FACED

The bottlenecks for ' Indian Telecom Industry ' are:

Slow reform process.

Low penetration.

Service providers’ bears huge initial cost to make inroads and

achieving break-even is difficult.

Lack of infrastructure in semi-rural and rural areas, which makes it

difficult to make inroads into this market segment as service providers

have to incur a huge initial fixed cost.

Huge initial investments.

Limited spectrum availability and interconnection charges between

the private and state operators.

22

ABOUT AIRCEL

Head Office of Aircel Ltd.

International Private company

769, 5th Fl., Spencer Plz., Anna Salai, Chennai, 600002, India

()4428490849, 4428496769 fax, http://www.aircel.com

Primary SIC: Radiotelephone Communications, Primary NAICS: Cellular and Other

Wireless Telecommunications

Description: Communications: Provider of radiotelephone communications service.

LATEST SERVICES PROVIDED BY AIRCEL

Aircel brings unlimited GPRS at Rs.14

23

To attract youngsters to encash their interest in social networking sites like

Face Book Orkut etc, Aircel today announced the launch of Unlimited

Mobile Internet Recharge at Rs.14. Earlier Aircel launched Unlimited

Mobile GPRS at Rs.98 in Mumbai and in various other circles.

If GPRS connection cost is burning a hole in your pocket than one can heave

a sigh of relief as Aircel has launched cheapest unlimited GPRS connection

for Rs.14 for 3 Days and Rs.98 per month for prepaid customers.

Aircel launches free talk time offer with Nokia phone

Aircel Mumbai today launched an innovative offer wherein subscribers will

have an opportunity to get monthly FREE TALK TIME worth Rs.50 for 6

month and 100 Local & National SMS FREE every month up for 12

Months.

24

Aircel has teamed up with the world’s largest handset maker Nokia the two

have entered into a commercial partnership to provide prepaid bundled

offers to customers across the Mumbai Telecom Circle.

Aircel brings online cricket game to ENCASH IPL F ever

After the launch of Virgin Mobile’s Indian Hatke League another telecom

service provider Aircel launched the same as Indian Fantasy League(IFL) in

association with TIMES group’s.

It is a Fantasy Online Cricket game conducting along with IPL matches any

one can select players for his/her team and win prizes. Whenever your

selected players play well in real IPL, your fantasy team get points. It is

completely free and fun. The registration of teams starts from Apr 18, 2009

To May 24, 2009

25

Now send voice SMS thorough face book

Social networking sites are lucrative medium for corporate or Brand owner

to get people talking about products and generate interest. As a result India’s

fastest growing telecom operator Aircel join hands with Face Book and has

launched a Voice Message Application for Face Book users. The ‘Aircel

Voice SMS Face Book Application’ allows networking site user’s to leave

each other voice messages instead of plain text posts on the social

networking website. So no need to pay for Voice SMS sending to your

friend if they are on Face Book!

However, before you jump with joy, let me clarify it again – it’s Web

Application for web to web usage.  Within 10 days, Aircel has managed to

get 190 users to sign up for voice-SMS application.

26

VALUE-ADDED SERVICES

INTRODUCTION

Value-added services (VAS) are unlike core services. They have unique

characteristics and they relate to other services in a completely different

way. They also provide benefits that core services can not.

A value-added service (VAS) is popular as a telecommunications industry

term for non-core services or, in short, all services beyond standard voice

calls and fax transmissions but, it can be used in ANY service industry (e.g.

Web 2.0) for the services providers provide for no cost to promote their

main service business. In telecommunication industry on a conceptual level,

value-added services add value to the standard service offering, spurring the

subscriber to use their phone more and allowing the operator to drive up

their ARPU. For mobile phones, while technologies

like SMS, MMS and GPRS are usually considered value-added services, a

distinction may also be made between standard (peer-to-peer) content and

premium-charged content.

Value-added services are supplied either in-house by the mobile network

operator themselves or by a third-party value-added service

27

provider (VASP), also known as a content provider (CP). VASPs typically

connect to the operator using protocols like Short message peer-to-peer

protocol (SMPP), connecting either directly to the short message service

centre (SMSC) or, increasingly, to a messaging gateway that allows the

operator to control and charge of the content better.

 VALUE-ADDED SERVICE CHARACTERISTICS

All VAS share the same characteristics:

1. Not a form of basic service but rather adds value total service offering

2. Stands alone in terms of profitability and/or stimulates incremental

demand for core service(s)

3. Can sometimes stand alone operationally

4. Does not cannibalize basic service unless clearly favorable

5. Can be an add-on to basic service, and as such, may be sold at a

premium price

6. May provide operational and/or administrative synergy between or

among other services – not merely for diversification

28

Every VAS will demonstrate one or more of the above characteristics.

Furthermore, a value-added service will never stand in stark contrast to any

of the above characteristics.

VAS also has a certain time dimension associated with them. Subjectively

speaking, a value-added service today becomes a basic service when it

becomes sufficiently common place and widely deployed to no longer

provide substantive differentiation on a relative basis.

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER SERVICES

There are two types of VAS. The first service types are those value-added

services that stand alone from an operational perspective. These types of

services need not be coupled with other services, but they can be. Many non-

voice services fall into this category. They are often provided as an optional

service along with voice services, but they could be offered and used by

themselves without the voice service. For example, SMS could be offered

and used as a service without voice calling.

The second, and arguably more numerous and important type of VAS, are

those services that do not stand-alone. Instead, this category adds value to

29

existing services. While it seems implicit in the definition of value-added,

this is an important principle that makes value-added services stand apart

from other services.

VAS EXAMPLES

There are many services that could be considered "value-added". For

discussion purposes, we will a few of these services below.

Push-to-Talk

Push-to-Talk (PTT) is a VAS because it:

Drives additional revenue to the wireless carrier, but doe not

cannibalize existing revenues

Provides differentiated service offerings

May be packaged with various other VAS such as MIM to provide

even greater value

Call Management Services

This type of service can not stand alone as a service. Instead, it adds value to

a core service by allowing the subscriber to manage incoming and/or

30

outgoing calls. For example, value-added service interactions occur when

the subscriber receives a call. Many call management services allow the

subscriber to establish when, where, and under what circumstances they may

be reached by calling parties. This provides value to the core service - voice

communications - by way of increased control and flexibility.

Depending on the specific commercial situation, this value-added service

could be offered as either a premium service (at a premium price) or be

bundled with other the core service offering. The benefit of bundling would

be to provide a differentiated core service and/or to increase the use of the

core service.

Location Sensitive Billing

This is another example of a service that can not stand-alone. Instead,

location sensitive billing (LSB) adds value to the core service by location

enabling the core service. Location sensitive billing can be used in

conjunction with post-paid, prepaid, and/or VPN based mobile

communications services to establish zones for which differentiated billing

treatment may be applied. For example, a "home zone", "work zone", and

"premium price zone" could be established to allow an operator to offer

differentiated service to its customers.

31

This is viewed as a value-added service to both the customer and the mobile

operator. The customer benefits from LSB through his ability to use the

mobile phone at preferred rates based on location. The wireless carrier

benefits from incremental revenues derived from additional usage and from

premium charge zones where there is already high demand and perhaps

overly taxed system capacity. While the issue of potential cannibalization of

existing service arises, customer behavior and studies indicate a net benefit

derived from overall increased usage and revenues.

Taken together, call management services and LSB also depict characteristic

number six, operational synergy. Call management services add value in

terms of providing the user options depending on location. For example, the

user may want to receive certain calls at the home zone, but not at work, and

perhaps receive only urgent calls when traveling or on vacation. LSB

provides the additional synergistic benefit of location based billing when the

user is in those various locations.

Mobile Data Services

This is an example of a value-added service that does stand-alone. Mobile

data services are considered value-added because they depict many of the

characteristics discussed earlier.

32

Does not cannibalize existing services

Can be offered at a premium price

Provides differentiation

Can provide synergy with basic service

Largely due to the current state of mobile communications evolution, many

non-voice services can be considered to be value-added. However, the extent

to which additional value-added services can be layered on top of mobile

data services will determine the limit of their value. For example, many non-

voice services will have even greater value through personalization. Two of

the most significant ways to personalize wireless services are through

location enabling them and making them personal profile driven.

Mobile data services are utilized to obtain information, content, and to perform

transactions. All of these activities are more meaningful if they are tailored to the

individual. Location based services add value by way of putting the data into a location

context for the user. Personal profiles further enhance the value through Personalization.

33

VALUE ADDED SERVICES PROVIDED BY

AIRCEL

Pocket Internet.

Non-stop downloads of your favorite stars' Wallpaper, latest

Polyphonic Ringtones, MP3 tones, True tones, Music Videos, Movie

videos, Themes, Movie Themes and Mobile games only on

Aircel pocket internet. 

What’s more, activating this service is free and browsing the portal is

charged just @10p/10Kb. Please do check your handset compatibility

for downloads. 

34

GPRS PLAN OF OUR COMPTITORS

Airtel

Unlimited

internet

(unlimited

surfing,

uploading &

downloading) in

Rs 450

Vodafone

Rs 499 monthly

rental for first

500 MB usage

and 5p / 10KB

usage charges

after that Rs 199

monthly rental

and 5p / 10KB

usage charges

Idea

Zero Rental

plan2p/KB for

WAP(wireless

application

protocol) &

Internet .

Rs. 1 Daily

Rental1 p/KB for

Internet .

Rs. 20 Daily

Rental

Unlimited

Internet

BSNL

Unlimited

internet

(unlimited

surfing,

uploading &

downloading) in

Rs 230

35

MISSED CALL ALERT

Want to know who called you when your mobile was switched off or

out of coverage area?

After subscribing to the monthly service, you will receive alerts on

your mobile for all the missed calls at no extra cost. 

Subscription Charge: Rs. 15/month.

DIALER TONES

• Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT)

• Aircel introduces Dialer Tunes! Get rid of boring tring tring and make

your callers listen to latest tunes. Dial 56500, Registration

Rs.30/month, call Rs.6/min & Rs.15/song.. Song validity is for a

period of 90 days.

36

LIVE ASTROLOGY

• Astrology service is a voice based LIVE SERVICE, where AIRCEL

customers can call at Rs. 9/min and talk to formally trained &

experienced ASTROLOGERS.

MUSIC ON CALL

• Now listen to music of your choice from the list of hit numbers

without any interruption with Aircel’s new "Music on Call".

• Just pay & use by dialing IVR 54321 @ Rs.2 / minute

Subscription pack through IVR 543213 (Toll Free) where in you can

subscribe to monthly pack @ Rs. 30 with 30 minutes free usages. 

DOCTOR ON CALL

37

• ‘Doctor-on-call' provides access to quality medical advice from the

comfort of your home/ office. Gets instant advice on medical/ health

and wellness queries from a panel of doctors specializing in various

fields.

Doctor on Call service on 54887 – Rs. 9/min (60 second pulse).

VOICE STATION

• Aircel 55500 service offers you a host of never before services - from

music on your mobile to tit-bits about celebrities. All you need to do

is call 55500 from your Aircel mobile and follow the simple

instructions to enter a world of information and entertainment.

38

• Music Messaging and Ringtones

• Prayers

• Astrology Service

• News

• Sports

• Jokes

• Call rates Rs. 6/min.

MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING SERVICE

• Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a store and forward

messaging service that allows mobile subscriber to exchange

multimedia messages with other mobile subscriber. With this facility

now start sending picture (images), audio & video clips with MMS.

• MMS charges at Rs.3/MMS,

SUBCRIPTION SERVICES

39

ServiceSubscriptio

n Keyword

Send

ToCharges Alerts Time

News Headline +

Breaking NewsSUB NEWS

5800

0Rs 7/week

Twice a

day

10:30

&

16:40

Cricket NEWS &

SCORESSUB CRI

5800

0Rs 7/week

Ball by

Ball

update

9:00

Jokes Alert SUB JOKES5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day13:30

Astro Pack

SUB

ASTRO

<SUNSIGN

>

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day13:00

Stock Alert SUB

STOCK

5800

0

Rs 7/week Thrice a

Day

10:15

&

40

13:00

&

17:00

Though of the

Day AlertsSUB THO

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day9:30

Mehfil-E-

Timepass/

Shayari

SUB

SHAYARI

5800

0Rs 7/week

Twice A

day

13:00

&

14:55

Love Express SUB LOVE5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day

11:15

&

14:00

Beauty Tips

AlertsSUB BTIP

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day13:45

Health Tips

AlertsSUB HTIP

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day17:30

Receipe Tips

AlertsSUB RTIP

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day15:20

Fun Unlimited

Alerts

SUB FUN 5800

0

Rs 7/week Once a

Day

10:00

&

41

14:45

Regional News

Alerts

SUB

RNEWS

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day14:50

Ayurvedic Tips

AlertsSUB ATIP

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day7:30

Amazing Facts

AlertsSUB AF

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day12:30

Numerlogy

Alerts

SUM NUM1

TO NUM9

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day13:45

Guru Granth

Sahib AlertsSUB GURU

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day7:00

Geeta Shloakas SUB Geeta5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day6:40

Holy Bible

AlertsSUB BIBLE

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day6:40

Quran Alerts SUB QUR5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day8:45

Ram Charit

Manas AlertsSUB RAM

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day8:45

42

Friendship

Messages Alerts

SUB

FRIENDS

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day14:00

Career Guru

PackSUB CG

5800

0Rs 7/week

Twice a

day

10:00

&

14:00

Fundoo Pack SUB FNP5800

0

Rs.30/

month

Twice a

day

11:00

&

16:00

Super Sports

PackSUB SSP

5800

0

Rs.30/

month

Twice a

day

10:00

&

15:00

Word-a-Day SUB WORD5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day9:35

Bihar NewsSUB

NEWSBH

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - BengalSUB

NEWSBN

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - KerelaSUB

NEWSKER

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

43

News –

Kernataka

SUB

NEWSKK

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News -

Maharashtra

SUB

NEWSMAH

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - NCRSUB

NEWSNCR

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - North

East

SUB

NEWSNE

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - PunjabSUB

NEWSPUN

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - RajasthanSUB

NEWSRAJ

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - TNSUB

NEWSTN

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - UPSUB

NEWSUP

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - GujratSUB

NEWSGJ

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day11:40

News - AP SUB 5800 Rs 7/week Once a 11:40

44

NEWSAP 0 Day

News - J&KSUB

NEWSJK

5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day12:40

Aduilt Jokes SUB AJ5800

0Rs 7/week

Once a

Day10:00

SMS Charges: Rs.3/SMS

Voice Station

» Voice Station (Call 55500)

Aircel 55500 service offers you a host of never before services - from music on

your mobile to tit-bits about celebrities. All you need to do is call 55500 from your

Aircel mobile and follow the simple instructions to enter a world of information

and entertainment. The service recognises your voice and gives information based

45

on the command given by you.

Music Messaging and Ringtones

Browse through the rich selection of music across the various categories and

languages and listen to your favorites while on the go, also you can dedicate songs

with a personal message to any Aircel number. You can download ringtones of

these songs. 

We have wide collection of music based on occasions like birthdays, valentines,

Rakhi, Diwali, Holi, New Year and song collections on Latest hits, Classic,

Romantic Hits

Prayers

Perform pooja from your Aircel mobile. Listen to an exhaustive collection of

devotional songs like Supbrapatham, Bhajans, Amman Songs, Gayathri & Gurbani.

Astrology Service

You can check your horoscope for the day, by entering your birth date. Astro info

is updated every day.

News

Get the latest news updates. Information is available across Regional, State,

National and International categories.

Calls to 55500 services will be charged at Rs.6/min. Conditions Apply.

46

Sports

Get the latest news and information about the happening in the sports world, like

live commentary, scores, schedules etc.

Jokes

Smile with us by listening to the jokes. We have exhaustive collection which will

make you burst in laughter for sure.

Call rates Rs. 6/min.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Local Rate Cutters

47

1. Rs. 19- Aircel to Aircel call charges in night (11pm to 6 am) is Rs.

0.10/min.

2. Rs. 29- All local calls charges is Rs. 0.50/min.

3. Rs. 49- All local calls charges is Rs. 0.50/min and Aircel to Aircel call

charges in night(11pm to 6 am) is Rs. 0.10/min. Aircel to Aircel call

charges in day is Rs. 0.25/min.

STD Rate Cutters

1. Rs.15- STD call rates to Bihar, Punjab and Delhi are Rs. 1/min.

2. Rs. 18- STD call rates to Maharashtra, Goa and Mumbai are Rs.

1/min.

3. Rs. 30- All STD call rates are Rs. 1/min.

ISD Rate Cutters

48

Rs.70- ISD call rates are as follow-

Malaysia & Singapore: 3.00

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain & Qatar: 7.00

Oman-8.20, Sri Lanka: 5.50

China & South Korea: 4.00

US/CAN (except Alaska, Hawaii & Guam): 2.00

US (Others): 5.00

UK (Fixed): 3.75

SMS Pack

1. Rs. 27- 300 Local and National SMS free.

2. Rs 60- 2000 Local SMS free.

3.

Minute Packs

1. Rs.11- 25 Local Aircel to Aircel minutes free.

2. Rs.31- 100 Local Aircel to Aircel minutes free.

3. Rs.45- 200 Local Aircel to Aircel minutes free.

4. Rs.55- 100 local minutes free for all network.

5. Rs.65- 65 STD minutes free.

49

6. Rs.79- 100 Local Aircel to Aircel minutes and 100 local minutes for

all networks.

THE PRESENT STUDY

Market for the Project

50

The activity has been carried out under AIRCEL. I carried out my project

within AGRA CITY of UTTAR PRADESH state where target segments are

working people and new generation boys and girls.

Significance/Needs of the Project

This project was undertaken as a part of organization learning for MBA

students to understand assigned in order to analyze the, market scenario of

AIRCEL with special reference to AGRA city. This project also helps Aircel

in taking their corporate decision. This project would also help AIRCEL to

recognize the main strength and weaknesses and would also help to increase

its customer’s base by adopting a better marketing strategy.

The findings and recommendation of the project would prove to be very

vital from the point of AIRCEL and would help them to increase their sales

and better role in their services.

Scope of the Project

Through the project work AIRCEL can take a better knowledge about

the market scenario regarding people perception and preference

towards communication sector as compared to other brands.

51

Research Methodology

In order to know the market scenario of AGRA City regarding to AIRCEL

one set of Questionnaires were administered at the canopies which were

organized at different locations.

Research Design

In order to understand the likings of the people which are the most important

to study the communication market scenario a (survey research) is carried

on.

Exploration of Document

Exploration of documents or survey of documents will be made from various

sources like Magazines and journals.

Data Collection through Questionnaire

Primary data have been collected personally from the runners and feeders

through questionnaire. The respondents have been asked to fill up the

questionnaire and more over data collection process also includes oral

interview.

52

Sampling Design & Sampling Size

The elements of research of population or universe of interest are the people

choice about the communication market scenario.

SELF ANALYSIS

1. I promoted the Value Added Services of Aircel by visiting retailers

shop with Distributor Sales Manager (DSM) at different places of

Agra.

2. Tried to understand and analyze the problems of Retailers and

Customers related to Value Added Services.

3. Educated the Retailers and Customers about Value Added

Services.

4. Sold new connections and promote the Value Added Services like

Pocket Internet, Rate Cutters and SMS packs through Canopy.

53

5. Tackled the customer’s problems related to the Pocket Internet

during canopy activity.

6. Started new outlets of aircel at different locations of Agra hence

generating revenues for the company.

7. Participated in telecalling to customers and convinced them to use

our value added services.

8. Took feedback by filling questionnaire and feedback form by

customers in Aircel stores.

OBSERVATIONS

1. The service provided by the AIRCEL related to internet which is

available in Recharge of Rs. 98 is very acceptable by customers.

54

2. Most of the GPRS users use this plan to use internet in their mobile.

3. Customers query related to Pocket Internet were that they have

problem in GPRS settings installation in their handsets.

4. Most of the customers are not able to use Internet service with their

PC or Laptop. It creates dissatisfaction to customers.

5. The disconnection of the call between callings creates a negative

impact on the customers mind; most of customers are facing this

problem.

6. Many times it happens when customer calls to Customer Care for

solving their problems the phone is not received by any executive.

7. Aircel provides STD Rate Cutter at Rs. 30 which reduces the STD

calls at Rs 1/min. But our competitor like Idea provides the STD Rate

Cutter at Rs. 54 in which reduces the STD call rate to Rs. 0.75/min.

SWOT ANALYSIS

55

Strength

• Aircel provides Low call rates like Re.1 for first minute, 60p. for next

another minute and 40p. for rest of the call duration in a continue call.

• Low rate of Rate Cutters vouchers like Rs.29 and Rs. 49.

• All the rate cutters vouchers works in UP WEST as well as in UP

EAST also where our competitors does not gives this facility.

• Free Roaming service in Delhi for first 3 months.

• 300 local and national SMS at just Rs.27 only where other

competitors provides only local SMS at this price. Moreover 2000

local SMS at just Rs. 60 only.

• Minimum Rate of Internet GPRS service at only Rs.98 (POCKET

INTERNET) for 30 days.

56

• Aircel provides voucher of Rs.14 of internet voucher for the validity

of 3 days in which the customers can access the internet in their

handsets and PC and check the service of Aircel.

• Unlimited surfing and Downloading are free with PC.

• Aircel provide unlimited calling and sms on the same network with

the recharge of Rs 225 only and also the customer’s get local calls at

50 paisa only and STD in just 1 Rupee only.

• Aircel give 100 local minutes only at Rs. 55 and can use to all

network but our other competitors give these minutes to only own

network.

• Aircel provides 65 minutes in just 65 Rs. Only.

Weakness

• Network problem in main city Agra.

• There is no network coverage in rural areas.

57

• Problem in internet speed on computer.

• Service problem like some customers complained that they already

recharged with Rs 98 and received GPRS settings but they are not

able to access internet.

Opportunity

• Indian market is too vast that we can grab this opportunity and we can

spread our services to maximum customers.

• Can cover the rural area to mature potential from that area.

• There are so many opportunities in value added services.

• If Aircel provide a proper service and speed of GPRS internet for our

customers then it will be very beneficial for our good sales.

58

• There are so many opportunities in value added services like 98 and

14.

• At this time limited numbers of people are using internet services and

we are providing this service at a very low cost in order to increase

our customer base we need to improve the quality of the service.

Threats

• Customers are facing many problems with the network and unsatisfied

with services which could lead to drawbacks of connections.

• STD rates are high. We have to reduce STD rates or reduce the rate of

STD rate cutter because other competitors like idea are providing STD

rate cutter in just Rs 54 and the STD rates is 75 paisa/min.

• Customers are facing low speed of internet service of our pocket

internet.

59

• Some customers are access the pocket internet with mobile but they

are unable to connect it with PC.

• Aircel is providing our services at very low cost which could be a

threat for us if any competitor took advantage and start giving these

services at same or low cost then we can loose our present and future

customers.

QUESTIONNAIRES

1. Which Mobile service you use?

60

Company Name In Number Percentage

Aircel 14 7%

Airtel 58 29%

Idea 42 21%

BSNL 33 16.5%

Vodafone 27 13.5%

Reliance Gsm 26 13%

Total 200 100%

2. Are you aware of our Pocket Internet?

61

Yes No

3. Are you using our Pocket Internet?

Yes No

4. Are you satisfied with the speed of our Pocket Internet?

Yes No

62

5. Are you getting information about schemes/offers given by company?

Mostly Sometimes Never

6. What is your opinion about call charge of Aircel?

63

Satisfied highly satisfied Dissatisfied

7. How do you feel about the schemes offered in Aircel?

Satisfied Highly satisfied Dissatisfied

64

8. Do you find mode of recharge easily available?

Yes No

65

9. Which features of your service provider you use most?

Voice calls Text Messages GPRS Others

10.Are you updated with latest offers & schemes by your service

provider?

Yes No

11.Are you satisfied with the amount of information provided by your

service provider?

Satisfied Highly satisfied Dissatisfied

66

12.How is the customer service of call center in terms of response time

and hold time?

Excellent Good Average Poor

13.Any improvement suggestions regarding Aircel.

67

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE FORM

1. Which Mobile service you use?

Aircel Airtel Idea

Vodafone BSNL Reliance GSM

2. Are you aware of our Pocket Internet?

Yes No

3. Are you using our Pocket Internet?

Yes No

4. Are you satisfied with the speed of our Pocket Internet.

Yes No

68

5. Are you getting information about schemes/offers given by

company?

Mostly Sometimes Never

6. What is your opinion about call charge of Aircel ?

Satisfied highly satisfied Dissatisfied

7. How do you feel about the schemes offered in Aircel?

Satisfied Highly satisfied Dissatisfied

8. How do you feel about the schemes offered in Aircel?

Satisfied Highly satisfied Dissatisfied

9. Which features of your service provider you use most?

Voice calls Text Messages

69

GPRS Others

10.Are you updated with latest offers & schemes by your service

provider?

Yes No

11.Are you satisfied with the amount of information provided by your

service provider?

Satisfied Highly satisfied Dissatisfied

12.How is the customer service of call center in terms of response

time and hold time?

Excellent Good Average Poor

13.Any improvement suggestions regarding Aircel.

70

(Thank you for filling out the form)

SUGGESTIONS

1. We should cover the rural areas through better network coverage because

it has more future customers.

2. We should promote the Rs. 29 of Rate Cutter because other service

providers give local rate cutter is more than Rs.29 and call rates are

Rs.60/min.

3. We give free local Aircel to Aircel calling and SMS in Rs.225 but our

competitor gives this service in just Rs. 199, so we should give some

extra talk time with this pack.

4. Aircel is mind only Pocket Internet but we also promote other Value

Added Services like our local rate cutters.

5. Complaint should be directly registered by sending SMS to a toll free

number provided by the company.

71

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.aircel.in

www.wikipedia.com

www.mobileindia.info

www.mobigyaan.com

www.telecomtalk.info

72

73