Tele Marketing of Airtel Friend Locator

PROJECT REPORT

ON

TELE-MARKETING & PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES

FOR AIRTEL FRIEND LOCATOR SERVICE

at

TELENITY

Submitted to

Mr. YOGESH BIJLANI

COUNTRY HEAD India & GM (Asia Pacific)

in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) 2010-2012 in Telecom

By

FAISAL MALIK

(ROLL NO. TM 109242)

Balaji Institute of Telecom & Management Page 1

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the Project entitled as “Promotional Activities for Airtel

Friend Locator Service” under the guidance of “Mr. YOGESH BIJLANI

(COUNTRY HEAD India & GM-APAC)” and submitted to “Balaji Institute of

Telecom & Management, Pune”, as an integral part of the ‘Post Graduate

Diploma in Management’, is exclusively a bonafide and original work done by

me during the academic year 2010-2012.

FAISAL MALIK

ROLL NO. – TM109242

BITM, PUNE


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSuccessful completion of any project depends upon co-operation of many

individuals.

I take the opportunity to express my deep gratitude to TELENITY. to select me

as a summer trainee & extending me their full support & co-operation

towards the completion of this project.

I sincerely thank Mr. Yogesh Bijlani, Country Head India & General Manager

(APAC), my project guide for all his kind and prudent guidance to make this

project successful.

I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible

without the kind support and help of:

Mr Harinder Singh Anand (Senior Executive - Sales)

Mr. Amit Rai Saxena (Program Manager)

Mr. Ashish Aggrawal (Engineer)

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them.

I am highly indebted to TELENITY, for their guidance and constant

supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the

project & also for their support in completing the project.

I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents & member of

TELENITY for their kind co-operation and encouragement which help me in

completion of this project.

I express my deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Seema Singh Zokarakar ,

Director , BITM.

Also, I would like to thank my institute for providing me the opportunity to

gain some practical knowledge and experience about various aspects

required in carrying out the project.


Table of Contents:

1. Certificate

2. Executive Summary

3. Introduction

3.1. Market Share of Telecom Operators

3.2. Sectors of Telecom Industry

3.3. Value Added Services

3.3.1. VAS Characteristics

3.3.2. VAS Categories

3.3.3. VAS Value Chain

4. Company Profile

4.1. Company Mission

4.2. Target Market

4.3. Strategy for Success

4.4. Business & Technology

4.5. Operations

4.6. Global Customer Base

4.7. Unique Position

4.8. Commitment

4.9. Management

4.10. Customers

5. Product Profile

5.1. canvas® SmartAds™

5.2. canvas® USSD Service Center

5.3. canvas® PayForMe™

5.4. canvas® SmartAlert™

5.5. canvas® PFS


6. Location Based Services

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Future of Location Based Services

6.3. Airtel Friend Locator

6.3.1. Challenge

6.3.2. Concept

6.4. Main Revenue Flow

6.5. canvas® BFS – Operator Benefits

6.6. canvas® BFS – End User Benefits

6.7. canvas® BFS – Key Features

6.8. Sample Operation of Airtel Friend Locator

6.9. Promotion Activities

6.9.1. Daily Activities

6.9.2. Try-&-Buy Offer

6.9.3. Auto Provisioning

6.9.4. Other Activities

7. Analysis

8. Service Gap Model

9. Conclusion

9.1. Learning

10. Recommendations

11. Bibliography

12. Appendix



2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project is carried out for TELENITY world’s leading next generation location-based

social networking, mobile marketing, service delivery, messaging and value added

services software solutions for communications networks.

Telenity serves global telecom service providers through its offices located in USA,

Turkey India and UAE. The company is headquartered in Connecticut, USA.

The title of the project is promotional activities for Airtel Friend Locator service for

Telenity.

The key project deliverables are the promotion of telecom circles in India and ensuring

the sustainability and consistency of the campaign and measuring the conversion rate of

customers for the promoted campaign and taking needed actions.

The research methodology used in the project for data collection is personal interviewing

of VAS managers and customers. Understanding the VAS industry their trends &

challenges faced by them by personal visits to different vas managers.


3. INTRODUCTION

The Indian telecommunications industry is the world's fastest growing telecommunications

industry, with 671.69 Million telephone (landlines and mobile) subscribers and 635.51

Million mobile phone connections as of June 2010. It is also the second largest

telecommunication network in the world in terms of number of wireless connections after

China.

The Indian Mobile subscriber base has increased in size by a factor of more than one-

hundred since 2001 when the number of subscribers in the country was approximately 5

million to 635.51 Million in June 2010.

As the fastest growing telecommunications industry in the world, it is projected that India

will have 1.159 billion mobile subscribers by 2013. Furthermore, projections by several

leading global consultancies indicate that the total number of subscribers in India will exceed

the total subscriber count in the China by 2013.

The industry is expected to reach a size of 344,921 crore (US$ 74.85 billion) by 2012 at a

growth rate of over 26 per cent, and generate employment opportunities for about 10 million

people during the same period. According to analysts, the sector would create direct

employment for 2.8 million people and for 7 million indirectly.

TELECOM CIRCLES IN INDIA


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_China

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_China

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

3.1 MARKET SHARE OF TELECOM OPERATORS (APRIL 2011)

22.57%

13.62%

18.94%13.08%

8.88%

11.89%5.50% 2.38% 3.13%

Market Share

Bharti Airtel

Reliance

Vodafone Essar

Idea

Tata

BSNL

Aircel

Uninor

Others

Source: TRAI

3.2 SECTORS OF TELECOM INDUSTRY

The revenue generated in telecom industry is on the basis of following sectors, which are as

follows:

Rental17.68%

Call59.04%

Roaming7.69%

VAS15.58%

Revenue

RentalCallRoamingVAS


3.3 VALUE ADDED SERVICES

Today, in developed markets, mobile call charges are falling by 15%-20% per annum. While

several countries in this market still see high growth in new mobile subscribers, they also see

their overall revenue flattening because of the drop in call charges, as well as the fact that

new subscribers are, in general, low-usage customers. As would be expected, markets with

strong competition have seen a considerable drop in mobile call charges in developed markets

through significant price competition around capped price plans.

Mobile value-added services (VAS) are those services that offer differentiation and the ability

for mobile operators to charge a premium price. VAS include non-voice advanced messaging

services such as VOICE, SMS and DATA services based on wireless data bearer

technologies. Mobile VAS also includes voice-based services such as PTT and Voice Mail.

3.3.1 VALUE ADDED SERVICE CHARACTERSTICS

All VAS share the same characteristics:

It is not a form of basic service but rather adds value to total service offering.

It stands alone in terms of profitability and/or stimulates incremental demand for core

service(s).

It can sometimes stand-alone operationally.

It does not cannibalize basic service unless clearly favourable.

It can be an add-on to basic service, and as such, may be sold at a premium price.

It may provide operational and/or administrative synergy between or among other

services – not merely for diversification.

3.3.2 VAS CATEGORIESThe Value Added Services are broadly classified into the following categories:

Basic Services

Voice based Services

SMS based Services

GPRS based Services

3.3.3 VAS VALUE CHAIN


The value chain shown above has seven key components namely:

NETWORK OPERATIONS: This refers to the physical core access network.

Although this has remained an exclusive domain of the cellular service providers, but

now with Bharti outsourcing its network to third parties, it has become an open

avenue for independent operators.

DATA SERVICE PLATFORM: The Data Service Platform comprises of the short

messaging center, the multimedia-messaging center and related components.

APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT: This component provides the platform for

programs or applications that host the Value Added Services.

CONTENT PROCESSING: Content is the life-blood of any Value Added Service.

This component provides the content mix for a particular application.

SALES & MARKETING: This component takes care of the demand management &

pricing of the new Value Added Service.

4. COMPANY PROFILE


Founded in year 2000, Telenity provides world's leading next generation location-based

social networking, mobile marketing, service delivery, messaging and value added services

software solutions for communications networks. Telenity serves global telecom service

providers through its offices located in USA, Turkey, India and UAE. The company is

headquartered in Connecticut, USA.

4.1 COMPANY MISSION

Telenity’s mission is to deliver results to its telecom network operator customers. Operators

want to increase their average revenue per user (ARPU) by offering innovative and

personalized communication services to its subscribers. They want to be more agile and

competitive. Telenity consistently brings this experience to its customers by providing a

complete set of solution that:

Enable new value added services for mobile and fixed networks.

Enhance the end user productivity and entertainment.

4.2 TARGET MARKET

The worldwide mobile subscriber base has witnessed a significant growth in recent years,

crossing the 50% penetration mark in early 2008.With ARPU levels declining globally, data

services and value added services (VAS) are increasingly becoming an important component

of operators’ revenue models.

VAS such as SMS, USSD, mobile collect calling, ringback tones, location based services,

mobile entertainment, mobile marketing, mobile payments are expected to contribute

significantly to overall revenue generated from data services in the next five years.

4.3 STRATEGY FOR SUCCESS


Strategy for success is to offer time-to-market, differentiated solutions with the dedication of

our agile resources aligned to meet customer needs. Telenity enables the world's leading

telecom service providers to create, personalize and deliver innovative services resulting in

increased profitability and customer loyalty.

4.4 BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

Business and technology includes industry leading products, services, and solutions that

create new revenue opportunities for communications networks. With our comprehensive

strengths in messaging, value added services, and service delivery solutions, Telenity offers

you cutting edge products to stay competitive.

Under its Canvas® brand, Telenity provides five product groups all based on a telecom grade

Common Operating Environment (COE):

Integrated Messaging platform and applications

Innovative Value Added Services – suite of next generation applications/services

Service delivery components

Location-based Services

Mobile Marketing

Telenity also offers the following Services to

support its customer base:

Business Consultancy

Program Management

Professional Services

Customer Support

Their products gracefully bridge the gap between legacy and next-generation networks so you

can offer your subscribers’ consistent communications services any place, any network, and

any time.

4.5 OPERATIONS


Communication enriches lives and brings people closer. With our integrated and

geographically distributed operation, we are committed to providing operational efficiency at

your doors. Everyday, Telenity employees work around the clock in four different locations

to deliver you new products/solutions that will make your business successful and grow. Our

offices are located in:

Monroe, Connecticut, USA

Istanbul, Turkey

New Delhi, India

Dubai, UAE

To ensure quality in end-to-end delivery of our products and services, we continue to invest

in the best people, effective management skills, and industry best practices that support an

open, collaborative and fun environment.

Our people are our biggest strength and we thank them for their creativity,

dedication, commitment to quality, and attentions to detail serve our customers first.

4.6 GLOBAL CUSTOMER BASE

Global customer base includes network operators, service providers

and application providers. We serve our customers in five different

continents and they control some of the fastest growing wireless

networks globally with high subscriber growth in Europe, Africa,

Asia, North and South America.

Telenity’s products and solutions empower more than 40 network operators in

over 30 countries serving over 500 million subscribers. We value our long

lasting relationship and thank you for your confidence in us.


4.7 UNIQUE POSITION

Their unique position in the industry is our deep knowledge and expertise in value added

services infrastructure and applications. Our unrivalled delivery skills in providing a portfolio

of fully integrated modular products speak for itself with our global deployment base.

Our products and expertise have been recognized in the industry through several prestigious

awards. We actively contribute to different open standards and speak at industry conferences

to provide thought leadership. We actively contribute to OMA, JCP, 3GPP, GSM standards

and we are a member of Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). Through all of this success,

our people are our biggest asset.

4.8 COMMITMENT

As a leading provider of next generation converged services applications

and platforms, we invest heavily in R&D to build the right products for

your needs. We are committed to supporting industry forums and open

standards. Our products adopt and comply with leading and evolving

industry standards.

We work together with our global and technology partners to bring you operational

excellence and the most advanced carrier-grade solutions that are environment friendly and

cost-effective.


4.9 MANAGEMENT

Telenity is guided by a talented team with an outstanding record of accomplishment in

building new businesses and creating advanced technologies to provide innovative solutions

to solve customer problems.

Ahmet OzalpChief Executive Officer

Serif BeykozGM, Telenity EMEA

Akif ArsoyVP Marketing and

Product Management

Gurol AkmanChief Technology Officer

Korkut UluaydinVP Operations

Yogesh Bijlani Country Head India and General Manager APAC

Levent KocaturkVP EE and CIS Sales

Baris BoyDirector, Finance


http://www.telenity.com/corporate/management/serif-beykoz/

http://www.telenity.com/corporate/management/akif-arsoy/

http://www.telenity.com/corporate/management/gurol-akman/

http://www.telenity.com/corporate/management/korkut-uluaydin/

http://www.telenity.com/corporate/management/yogesh-bijlani/

http://www.telenity.com/corporate/management/levent-kocaturk/

http://www.telenity.com/corporate/management/baris-boy/

4.10 CUSTOMERSTelenity is a recognized expert in value-added services differentiation by a worldwide

customer base that includes wireless, wireline and next generation network operators, content

providers, service application developers and global channel partners. Telenity's solutions and

value added services currently serve over 500 million subscribers worldwide. Our global

customer base includes some of industry's largest service providers:

Airtel Avea Azercell BH Telecom BSNL

Eagle Mobile Geocell Globecomm Idea K’cell

KKTCELL life :) Magticom Moldcell

Nawras

Qualcomm Telfonica TSTT Turk Telekom Turkcell


5. PRODUCT PROFILE

The convergence of wireless, wireline networks and services is one of the most compelling

opportunities. Many operators embrace convergence as a new means of developing

competitive advantage, which is sustainable for the long term, and meeting their targets for

growth and profitability.

To help operators capture these opportunities, under its Canvas® brand, Telenity provides a

suite of service-enabling products that create new revenues for the communication service

providers. The Canvas portfolio of IMS ready products enables rapid development,

deployment, and reusability of converged services across fixed and mobile networks.

Telenity’s products are modular, scalable and carrier grade built for rapid service creation,

content delivery, location, multimedia messaging, mobile marketing and Voice over IP

services to drive average revenue per user (ARPU).

Our solutions are deployed worldwide and based on open standards supporting OMA,

3GPP/3GPP2. Total active mobile subscribers in networks currently deploying Telenity

products have grown to more than 500 million subscribers.


5.1. canvas® SmartAds™

Mobile Advertisement Management Platform

Advances in mobile communications and location technologies

bring a myriad of new opportunities to the advertisement market.

The sheer possibility of reaching the right customer at the right

time and at the right location enables advertisement owners and

mobile operators with a significant competitive edge.

Canvas SmartAds enables mobile operators and advertisement

owners to capitalize on these opportunities by delivering

advertisements to the subscribers on point, on time, and on interest. It is a mobile marketing

platform which facilitates new business models for mobile marketing and advertisement. It

integrates location aspect with mobile advertisement and allows contextual targeting of

subscribers on the go. It enables mobile operators and advertisement owners to boost their

reach and capitalize on new revenue opportunities.


Canvas SmartAds features a Campaign Management Module and a set of Delivery

Applications for the mobile advertisements. The Campaign Management Module acts as the

command center for mobile marketing projects that are simultaneously executed over a

mobile network. Delivery Applications create the real estate required to either present mobile

advertisement content or create an interactive session with the subscriber for a variety of

marketing activities over the mobile network.

5.2. canvas® USSD Service Center

Interactive Services for a Mobile World

Canvas USSD Service Center enables wireless operators to offer

fast and interactive messaging services through the USSD

feature of the GSM networks. It is a next generation, flexible

Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) gateway for

service providers, MVNO's and wireless operators to offer

USSD-based applications and services to both prepaid and

postpaid mobile subscribers.

Canvas USSD Service Center features a network interface to send and receive USSD

messages while maintaining application/service connectivity through Web Services interface

which enables simplicity to develop applications/services. Through its intuitive service

creation facilities, Canvas USSD Service Center also provides operators a graphical user

interface to design and launch menu structures. It can also reduce customer care costs by

allowing users to "self care", cutting down investment in call centers and preserving network

resources for billable voice calls.

5.3. canvas® PayForMe™

Mobile Collect Call Application

Calling collect has been one of the key services in the wireline networks. It has allowed

operators to generate additional revenues and has enabled subscribers to connect to friends

and family from public locations, especially in an emergency. Canvas®PayForMe™, Mobile

Collect Call Application, brings the same functionality to wireless operators.


Canvas PayForMe is a scalable and network based value added service solution that enables

wireless carriers to target end-user segments including the youth, low budget and prepaid

subscribers and enterprises. It allows mobile subscribers to make collect calls without the

involvement of an operator through flexible and easy-to-use interfaces. The system provides

multiple notification options for calling and called parties and supports subscriber list

management options.

With Canvas PayForMe, operators can increase their ARPU by allowing their subscribers to

make a collect call when they:

Are out of credit or have little credit reserved for emergency

Cannot recharge their credit because they do not have access to a recharge mechanism

Want to reverse the call charges for personal or business reasons

5.4. canvas® SmartAlert™

Missed Call Notification Application

Most pre-paid and a large number of post-paid subscribers do not have access to voice mail

services. As a result, when they are out of reach, they do not have any means of knowing if

they have missed any calls. Canvas® SmartAlert™, Missed Call Notification Application,

solves this problem.

Canvas SmartAlert uses configurable SMS alerts to notify subscribers of missed calls and

enables them to return those calls with ease. It also provides a screening mechanism for

subscribers to better manage their incoming calls and voice mails. Canvas SmartAlert uses

customized notifications to notify the caller when the called party is available again.

Canvas SmartAlert not only increases the airtime usage, but also boosts premium SMS

revenues for the network operator. It captures the caller ID, time of call, and the number of

call attempts from each caller while a subscriber is unreachable. When individual subscribers

are available again, Canvas SmartAlert sends this information to their mobile phones via


SMS. Subscribers can easily see who tried to reach them and can call back at their leisure,

improving the overall user experience and customer loyalty. Canvas SmartAlert is a proven

service that is a guaranteed revenue source for the network operators through subscription

fees, increased airtime and premium SMS usage.

5.5. canvas® PFS

People Finder Service

Canvas® PFS, People Finder Service, is a personalized real time context driven service that

takes mobility and location awareness to a new level. It enables mobile subscribers to receive

location information about selected individuals with their consent. It improves user

experience in the network and creates new revenue sources from consumers and enterprises

for the network operators, without compromising user privacy and network security.

Canvas PFS is a location-based application for GSM/GPRS and CDMA/1XRTT networks. It

allows users to locate and communicate with their colleagues, friends and family members

who use the same mobile network. Canvas PFS allows users to get their bearings and find


their colleagues and friends easily on a map with enhanced mapping functionalities. It also

supports geo-coding, reverse geo-coding, routing information and displaying Point of Interest.

Canvas PFS supports opt-in as an essential component to guarantee subscriber privacy, as

well as, other anonymity features such as aliases and code words to prevent the subscribers'

actual phone number, or identity from being displayed to unauthorized users.

Canvas PFS is a member of the Canvas Converged Value Added Services portfolio. It is a

location-based social networking application for GSM/GPRS and CDMA/1XRTT networks.

It allows users to locate and communicate with their colleagues, friends and family members

who use the same mobile network. Canvas PFS supports opt-in as an essential component

to guarantee subscriber privacy, as well as, other anonymity features such as aliases and

code words to prevent the subscribers' actual phone number, or identity, being displayed

to unauthorized users. Canvas PFS allows users to get their bearings and find their colleagues

and friends easily on a map with enhanced mapping functionalities. It also supports geo-

coding, reverse geo-coding, routing information and displaying Point of Interest. Canvas PFS

brings a new meaning to collaboration in the mobile workforce. Other features of

Canvas PFS include the following:

Advanced Buddy List Management

Canvas PFS enables subscribers to create and manage buddy lists, allowing them to add,

deletes or modify entries with ease. Users can maintain and manage multiple buddy lists, for

instance one for work, another for family members, yet another for a book club.

Strict User Privacy Control

Information safety is a vital feature in Canvas PFS. The system ensures user privacy by

giving them the confidence that their location information will be disclosed only to

individuals to whom they have consented. The privacy management function enables

service providers to give full control into the hands of the subscribers, without creating

privacy concerns. Canvas PFS also offers black list feature for additional user privacy.

User Friendly Service Personalization


An intuitive point-and-click subscriber portal allows users to manage their buddy lists and

privacy settings. Even within each buddy list, users control who can receive their location

information and who cannot. Users can also SMS and WAP to modify their profiles and

buddy lists. These user friendly interfaces increase the utility and the penetration of the PFS

service.

Canvas PFS then processes this information to provide the requested services to the users in

near real-time. It can overlap graphical map information, street names and points of interest

for an easy-to-read user interface.

Canvas PFS also provides the necessary subscriber management system, portal and

messaging interfaces – USSD, SMS, WAP – to allow users to define buddy lists, to control

their anonymity and privacy settings. With its strict service logic, Canvas PFS guarantees user

anonymity and privacy during the delivery of its services.

Canvas PFS is a forerunner of location-enabled services that will revolutionize the concept of

mobility, and it is available now from Telenity.

6.1 LOCATION BASED SERVICES

6.1. INTRODUCTION

Location based services have been talked about for quite a while and many industry giants are

foraying in this field in the past few years. Google Latitude has the maximum recall as it has

been a highly publicized service by Google that caters to the top end of the pyramid that are

advanced users of VAS. High-end location technology (GPS) available on smart phones with

data plans reaches out to niche subscribers who are actively using mobile Internet. It enables

them to find out their location, points of interest, their friend’s location and sharing such

updates between their communities of friends.

Location-based services (LBS) are wireless ‘mobile content’ services which are to provide

location-specific information to mobile users moving from location to location. Unlike

mobile (or mobile internet) services, LBS doesn’t require you to enter your area details.

Typical Location Based Services applications fall under following categories:


B2B (Business to Business) : e.g. resource tracking (fleet management, courier tracking

etc)

C2B (Consumer to Business) , i.e. Proximity-based actuation services like searching for a

business/restaurant etc.

B2C (Business to Consumer), i.e. Proximity based notifications (push/pull) : Receive

targeted ads, location based billing/discounted ads etc

C2C (Consumer to Consumer): Share your location/status with friends, Track your

friends etc.

6.2. FUTURE ON LOCATION BASED SERVICE

A convergence of factors is setting up ideal conditions for the global mobile location

based services (MLBS) market to boom by 2014, according to Juniper Research .

Global market revenues for MLBS and location-enabled mobile apps should reach more

than $12.7 billion by 2014. The greatest number of users is currently in the Far East and

China, as Japan and South Korea were early adopters of MLBS technology. However, as

the Chinese market develops and continues to have better access to 3G mobile networks,

China will become the number one market for MLBS.

The MLBS market is growing to the point that location-based services are now a standard

feature on many mobile devices. By 2014, mobile location-based services will be so

ubiquitous that Juniper expects the need to break out MLBS as a special interest category

will cease.

iPhone, iTunes Lead MLBS Drivers

The MLBS market was fairly stagnant from 2000-2007, but began accelerating in 2008

and 2009, and should only develop even more quickly in the next few years. One of the

biggest drivers for MLBS growth has been the launch of the Apple iPhone and Apple

iTunes stores. These events fundamentally changed how developers and users view

mobile phone apps, and also introduced large numbers of consumers to the concept of

mobile apps.

In addition, high-capacity infrastructure has penetrated most major markets, with 20% of

mobile users in Western Europe and North America having 3G access in 2009 and 80%

expected to have 3G accesses by 2014. Similarly, 25% of global mobile users had mobile

internet access in 2009, and 80% should by 2014.


http://www.juniperresearch.com/

http://www.juniperresearch.com/shop/viewreport.php?id=203

Other drivers include the development of sophisticated device center positioning and

navigable digital map content technologies in the past few years.

Mobile Advertising will Monetize MLBS

Although mobile advertising has a way to go before its business models and operating

mechanisms become commonplace, Juniper analysts believe mobile advertising will

weather the current recession better than most other sectors and show exceptional growth

when a recovery gets underway.

The use of some MLBS and location-enabled apps provides the ideal medium for

location-sensitive mobile advertising. The primary service type would be mobile search,

as in the local search environment the user is looking for a product or service and highly

receptive to advertising.

6.3 AIRTEL FRIEND LOCATOR:

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel is piloting a location based service called friend locator. The

service allows a subscriber to monitor the location of an individual who has agreed to share

his/her location with the subscriber. Airtel has taken innovation to the next level by offering a

similar service but focusing on a mass offering across the complete pyramid. They have

enabled the same functionality on all handsets, without the need of data service, by simply

dialing a USSD string (*321*88#).

Their FRIEND FINDER is enabled for all their 120 million subscribers and by simply

dialing the universal code, a mother can get to know the location of her teenagers who are

partying late at night, or a wife can start the dinner preparation because she has checked her

spouse has just left the office, or an employer knows the location of all his team members

who are out on a sales call. The ability of knowing the location of any mobile handset to an

approximate 300 meter of accuracy opens a plethora of applications and the services are

being consumed by a large number of subscribers.


http://www.airtel.in/

6.3.1 CHALLENGE

The challenge for this service, is in replacing the phone call. If a subscriber has to take the

initiative of requesting inputs on a buddy’s location, then what stops him from just placing a

call and asking the same question, getting the same details. I don’t think the cost of the call

will be a major factor in the urban areas for this service.

6.3.2 CONCEPT

The concept is simple and very useful, and satisfied an important need: it operates on a

‘Master-Slave’ relationship paradigm, where it is highly likely that one individual will

AGREE to share his/her location with another: for example, Husband-Wife (either way), Car

Owner- Driver, Employer-Employee, Girlfriend-Boyfriend, Parent-Child, etc. A parent would

want to know where his/her child is. The other key thing is that it addresses the privacy issue

by incorporating consent: only a person whom I allow access to my location will get it. An

SMS is sent to users, asking them to respond to a request for location sharing.

6.4. MAIN REVENUE FLOW

To analyze the mobile market, it is necessary to understand who the key players are:

SUBSCRIBER: - The user of the service, who enjoys (and pays for) it. The subscriber is

also the target audience of campaigns in a free-to-air model.

OPERATOR: - The mobile operator is responsible mainly for the billing as well as

maintaining a relationship of trust with subscribers.

SERVICE PROVIDERS: - The organization provides the actual entertainment services

in conjunction with the relevant consumer marketing. The role of the service provider can


be undertaken by the mobile operator, a white label Wireless Application Service

Provider (WASP) or a mobile portal.

PUBLISHERS: - Publishers traditionally select the applications to develop & the type of

content to use. They then source the development to application developers. Once the

application is complete, publishers distribute and market it to the service providers.

CONTENT PROVIDERS AND OWNERS: - These are the large brand owners.

Application developers and designers. The firms to actually develop the applications

(flow, software and graphics). In the mobile entertainment market, we currently see

that they are often also the content owners and/or the ASP.

Technology solution vendors. It is common to find parties that take on several of the

roles listed above. For example, we find mobile operators that are also service

providers, service providers that are also application publishers and developers that are

also publishers and/or technology providers. Markets that are not yet mature and

therefore many parties have either chosen, or been forced to take on, more than one

role.

6.5. canvas® BFS – Operator Benefits Ability to offer location based service to different segments

Try and buy campaign to promote service usage

The first true mass community portal *321#

o Instant messaging like capability for all subs

o Introduce parental control functionality with child tracker

Introduces new innovative utility portfolio.

6.6. canvas® BFS – End User Benefits Kids, teenagers and adults – creating communities and personal identities

Parents and other care takers – locate, monitor and communicate with their children’s

activities

Businesses users to find assets/employees

6.7. canvas® BFS – Key Features


Buddy Management

o Add/List/Remove/Update

o View textual address of a buddies

o Tracking of a buddy

o Where Am I?

o Change nickname

Profile Management

o View Profile

o Change Gender

o Change Age

o Change Visibility

Group Management

o Add/Remove/List/Update a group

o Add/Remove buddy to a group

o View group member’s textual address

Privacy

o Invited buddies for location access only after approval

o Nickname management

o Remove me from a other’s buddy list

o Check who’s buddy list I am in

o Set yourself Visible/Invisible mode

Subscriber Based Reports

o Who is tracking me?

o Who tracked me and when?

o Who tracked me and received my location report?

o Who asked and received my location report?

Service Usage Based Reports


o Service penetration per region

o Service revenue per region

o Churn details report

o Active user details report

o Tracking details report

o System health check report

The USSD Interface provides the following features:

o Service Registration / Un-registration

o Buddy Listing – Add / Update / Delete Buddies

o Group Management – Create / Edit / Delete Buddy Groups

o Privacy Options – Visibility / Invisibility toggle

o Privacy Options – Age, Gender Edit / Update

o Privacy Options – “The Lists That I’m in”

o Locate Buddies / Locate Groups.

o Locate Subscriber’s own.

6.8 SAMPLE OPERATION OF AIRTEL FRIEND LOCATOR


A. B.

C. D.


E. F.

Customer subscribed to friend locator now can use the above shown options according to

their requirements.

There are no charges for options like:

1. Add a friend.

2. Locate a Friend.

3. Where am I.

4. Locate Group.

5. Edit.

For features like:

1. Follow Friend

There are two kinds of charges.

i. If we follow for an hour the charge is Rs.5. In this customer get message of location in

every 15 minutes.

ii. If we follow for 6 hours than it charge Rs.10 and the location message will come on

every hour.


6.9 Promotion Activities

6.9.1 Daily Activities Regularly call up different subscriber base (Customer Calling) and educate them for this

service and take their feedback about this service. Subscriber base can be (based on priority):

o Non Active user - have subscribed to the service but are not using ito Passive Users – User who are in some other user’s buddy list but have not subscribed to

the service o Non Subscribed usero Active users

6.9.2 Try-&-Buy Offer “Try-and-Buy” offero Educate user during Customer Calling about that being an Airtel Subscriber, you can

avail Airtel’s Buddy Finder Service for FREE for 10 dayso Share the list of MSISDNs with Telenity Team to check how many “Try-&-Buy” users

have registered to this service (conversion rate)

6.9.3 Auto-provisioning Auto-provision users to BFS service. Process for auto provision are as follows:o Airtel shall provide to you “white-listed” MSISDNs for Auto-provisioning, by removing

Airtel employees MSISDNs, Users who have registered themselves to DND list etc.o Send the white-listed MSISDN list to Telenity team (Mr. Manish Sodhi) for Auto-

provisioning these users.

6.9.4 Other Activities Educating end-user about the service by demonstrating them “Live” demo (on handset) on

places having high footfalls like Malls, Public events etc. For this you need assistance from Airtel for conducting such sort of promotion events.

Sending SMS promotion messages to Airtel Users (by Telenity / Airtel). Cell info display (by Airtel). Promotion message at the end-of-call notification or end-of-balance enquiry (Airtel). Out-bound dial promotion messages to subscriber (Airtel).


7. ANALYSIS:

Blue Collar22%

White Collar36%

Student42%

Profession

Blue CollarWhite CollarStudent

Major subscribers were students who were interested and curious to know and understand

Airtel Friend Locator service. VAS is majorly the core interested area of youth who

understand its benefits better.

4%

4%

26%

4%4%10%

6%

4%

4%

34%

Customer feedback

Service sometimes stops working

Churned coz of removal of chat option

Comfortable with the service

Don't want the promotiomal messages further

No more friends on Airtel

Not comfortable in operating the service

Not getting approriate locations

Not known to service

Problem in sending friend request

Want to know the service

Customers were basically wanted to understand the service. Their feedback towards AFL

really helped in understanding their needs and problems. Some part of the customers was

comfortable with the service and some churned because of removal of chat service.


Servi

ce sometimes s

tops worki

ng

Churned coz o

f removal

of chat

option

Comfortable w

ith th

e servi

ce

Don't wan

t the promotiomal m

essage

s furth

er

No more fri

ends on Airt

el

Not comforta

ble in operati

ng the se

rvice

Not getting a

pproriate lo

cations

Not known to

servi

ce

Problem in se

nding frie

nd request

Want t

o know th

e servi

ce0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

28

16

5 109 10

76

41

7 123 2 6 4 7

19

9

10

45

12 13

33

18

White CollarStudentBlue Collar

In this section basically we highlighted the customer feedback as per the profession.

Blue collar personals were using the service from long time and finding it user friendly &

comfortable service.

Student also using this service and many of them were showing keen interest in the service

and also want to subscribe it for trial period. These sections of subscribers are the major target

segment for introducing AFL.

White collar personals were not very much involved in the service as per their busy schedules

and that’s why needed to be educated about service.

Some customers were uncomfortable using AFL, finding error in operating the service and

also some subscribers found irritating receiving the promotional messages.


Feedback as per Profession

8. SERVICE GAP MODEL


Word of mouth, Personal needs and past experience forms the expected amount of service by

a company. The company provides service based on its perception of customer expectation.

The difference between the expected service and the perceived service is known as customer

gap.

Customer Gap: The difference between customer expectation and perception the service

quality Gap.

GAP 1: The difference between what customer expected and what management perceptions

of customers expectations.

GAP 2: The difference between management’s perception of customer expectation and the

translation of the perception into service quality specification and design.

GAP 3: The difference between specification or standards of service quality and the actual

service delivered to customers.

GAP 4: The difference between the services delivered to customers and the promise of the

firm to customer about its service quality.

Telenity suffers from communication gap. It is the gap between the delivery of services and

the communication of the same to the customers.


9. CONCLUSION:

During these two months of training in Telenity, I have come to the conclusion that there are

certain problems with the product.

The customers get annoyed by receiving multiple promotional messages for the service. That

is, there is a problem in not meeting the customer needs with respond to their queries.

Lack of awareness of Location Based Service in the Indian market. People get confused &

hesitated in using AFL. Company image in the market is average.

The customers using the service are satisfied with its performance, but the market is niche in

current scenario.

Variation in price range of AFL service is available to customer, so he has a freedom to

choose the plan as per their need and convenience. It becomes easy to convince them in the

favour of the product.

9.1. LEARNINGS:

Convincing a person to buy any service is an art which cannot be taught by any teacher.

The main mantra of telemarketing is to keep patience and deal with the customer with

very pleasant tone and meeting his appropriate needs.

It is necessary to know completely about the service i.e. from its physical details to

technical details because a customer can ask anything.

A telemarketer must not give any fake information to the customer about the product; it

can harm the image of the company.


10. RECOMMENDATIONS:

According to my observation during the two months in the Telenity. I would like to

mention some recommendations to the company which are given below:

The customers need to be educated as in Indian market people finds it

uncomfortable using advanced VAS services i.e., Location Based Services (AFL).

The service is in the growth stage in Indian market, so there is a need of more

promotional activities to be done.

The target market for promotional activities should be youth who are found

interested towards the service.

Promotional Campaigns should include videos on social networking sites

educating the customers for user-friendly operation.


11. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marketing Management-An Asian Perspective, 13th Edition, Pearson

Education. Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller, Ibrahim Koshy, Mithileshwar

Jha.

Business Research Methods, 4th Edition, Wiley India Edition, Uma Sekaran.

http://www.google.co.in/

http://www.trai.gov.in

http://www.telenity.com/

www.coai.in/


http://www.telenity.com/

http://www.trai.gov.in/

http://www.google.co.in/

12. APPENDIX

Questions Asked to customers

What is your profession?

Are you using Airtel Friend Locator Service?

Are you comfortable using this service?

Do you want to know more about the service?

What kind of problems did you faced while using this service?

What is your feedback for this service?

Promotional Campaign Scripts

Feeling bored? Hang out with your friends. Subscribe to Airtel Friend

Locator ,dial*321*88# for Rs.1 /day ,select 1 to ADD FRIEND & have

great fun together !!

Are you concerned for security of your beloved ones, where they are now?

Subscribe to Airtel Friend Locator, dial*321*88# for Rs.1 /day, and know

where they are.

Locate and Track your multiple buddies, Just Subscribe to Airtel Friend

Locator, dial*321*88# for Rs.1 /day, and know where they right now.

Friend Locator subscribe karein 1 din ke liye Rs.1 se aur apne 10 Airtel

doston ko yeh service FREE mein gift Karein 10 din ke liye. Dial *321*88#

chune 1. Add Friend


Date post:	30-Aug-2014
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Tele Marketing of Airtel Friend Locator

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