PROJECT REPORT ON COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS OF TELECOM SERVICES IN CHANDIGARH SUBMITTED TO PANJAB UNIVERSITY CHANDIGARH IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR REQUIREMENT

OF DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED TO: DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION PGGC-11 CHANDIGARH.

SUBMITTED BY: PRIYANKA GARG BBA III-3412 PU PIN-17609000842

DECLARATION
Hereby declare that the project report entitled COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS OF TELECOM SERVICES IN CHANDIGARH submitted for the degree of Bachelor of Business Administration, is my original work and the project report has not formed the basis for the award of any diploma, degree, associate ship, fellowship or similar other titles. It has not been submitted to any other university or institution for the award of any degree or diploma.

Priyanka garg BBA III

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that PRIYANKA GARG of BBA 3rd Year has completed his project report on the topic of COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS OF TELECOM SERVICES IN CHANDIGARH under the supervision of Mrs. Ekta narula faculty member of Post Graduate Government College, Sector 11, Chandigarh.

To best of my knowledge the report is original and has not been copied or submitted anywhere else. It is an independent work done by her.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A work is never a work of an individual. We owe a sense of gratitude to the intelligence and co-operation of those people who had been so easy to let us understand what we needed from time to time for completion of this exclusive project. We want to express our gratitude towards Mrs. Ekta narula faculty member of Post Graduate Government College, Sector 11, Chandigarh for giving us an opportunity to do this project. Last but not the least, we would like to forward our gratitude to our friends & other faculty members who always endured us and stood by us and without whom we could not have envisaged the completion of our project.

Priyanka garg BBA III

TABLE OF CONTENTS
S.No.
1. Preface 2. Introduction 3. Need and Importance of the study 4. Objective of the study 5. Executive summary 6. About the Telecom Industry 7. Research Methodology a. Data source b. Research Approach c. Sampling Plan d. Contact method 8. Analysis and Interpretation 9. Conclusion 10. 11. Recommendation Limitation Appendix 1. 2. Bibliography Questionnaires

Topic

PREFACE
This Research Project is undertaken for the partial fulfillment of MBA course from Continental Institute Of Engineering & Technology (Batch I 2009-2011). The project being Comparative analysis of telecom service provider in Chandigarh required use of lot of primary data which was collected through Questionnaires and personal interaction with the professionals. The concentration of efforts has been entirely on aspects of customers perception as well as expectations. Customer satisfaction is an internal state of being or an internal condition that activates ones behavior, giving it direction. It has also been defined as a desire or need which directs and energizes behavior that is oriented towards a goal. The basic aim of this project is to do Comparative analysis of telecom services in Chandigarh. This project has given me a chance to experience the corporate culture. There is a feeling of victory in me after completing my project successfully. This project work is of great importance to me because of many reasons. Firstly, it gave me an opportunity to face the corporate world and teach lot many things. This project work has also developed a lot of confidence in me. The Research Report has been organized into ten parts. First part deals with the introduction about the project. Then second part deals with the need and importance of the project. Third part deals with the objectives of the project work. Then fourth part includes the executive summary, which is an abstract of the entire report. Fifth part describes the major giants of telecom in India. The sixth part describes the research methodology. Seventh part deals with analysis and interpretation. Eight part deals with conclusion and ninth part include recommendation. Lastly the tenth part lists the limitations of the project. At the end are the appendix which includes references, questionnaire and the research paper. The project has been presented in such a manner that it is easy to read and understand. Several diagrams, flowcharts, tables, pictures are used to explain the content more easily and to make the project lively.

INTRODUCTION

Need of the study

Exchange of information becomes the necessity of life to a common man. In the modern world an individual tends to communicate anything to everything right from the place where he/she stands. Even while riding a vehicle he / she wants to communicate within a fraction of second at quick speed with clear voice, without any disturbance like line crossing, out of order, etc ; most of which lack in the connectivity given by the department of telecommunication. Cellular service providers emerge as a boon quench such a thirst, thus by providing facilities, which a common man cannot imagine. Though the telecom industry has its origin in the recent past and the growth has been excellent. 1. Day by day many new competitors enter the market with new attractive schemes, provide additional facilities, add new features to existing ones, reduce the charges of incoming and outgoing calls, introduce varieties of handsets, models a healthy competition that benefits the subscribers. Hence in this context, it is important to study the various attributes or factors which shape the consumers mind during taking or switching over to new mobile connections. 2. In terms of value- addition to the organization, this study will definitely help the Company to grow in future. As, we all are aware of the fact that a fierce competition is going on, in order to stay alive in the market place. In this situation, one competitor tries to penetrate through the loop holes of the other competitor. 3. This project will visualize all sorts of loop holes which the Tata Indicom possesses right now and will also give a complete insight to all types of problems such as, whether the products & services are competent enough to fight back their competitors products & services or not.

Scope of this study

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The present study is contained to Kanpur and it is decided to consider Airtel, Tata Indicom, Vodafone and other cell phone service rendered to the customers. In Kanpur there are seven cellular services available - Airtel, Aircel Tata Indicom, BSNL, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Comm. The main objectives of this study are to analyze the customer satisfaction and problem regarding billing, network, and problems at franchise. Analyzing the competition in the market. Kanpur city has been taken for the current research work.

OBJECTIVE OF THE REPORT

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Each research to start needs an objective that implies, as to why a particular research is being conducted and what is its aim? Similarly our research also has following objectives: The primary objective of the study is to Draw a comparison among the telecom players in the market and to understand the growth pattern of Mobile segment. Some other objectives of the study are as follows:1. Research and analysis of the current customer base. 2. To analyze the customer satisfaction and problem regarding billing, network, problems at franchise. 3. Analyzing the competition in the market comparative analysis of different plans of other operator. 4. To offer valuable suggestions to improve the customer base.

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INTRODUCTION OF THE MAJOR GIANTS IN TELECOM SECTOR

BHARTI AIRTEL LTD

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Business Description
Provides mobile, broadband & telephone (fixed line) and enterprise services (carriers & services to corporate)

Vision
In 2010 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India: 1. Loved by more customers 2. Targeted by top talent 3. Benchmarked by more business 4. First private telecommunications company to launch long distance services. The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises, and is India's leading provider of telecommunications services. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUs) 1. Mobile services, 2. Broadband & telephone services (B&T) & 3. Enterprise services. The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles, while the B&T business group provides broadband & telephone services in 90 cities. The Enterprise services group has two subunits- carriers (long distance services) and services to corporate. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand.

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Fact Sheet Service Areas:

Delhi (Metro) Mumbai (Metro) Kolkata (Metro) Chennai (Metro) Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Kerala Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra North East Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh (E) Uttar Pradesh (W) West Bengal

Name
Bharti Airtel Limited.

Business Description
Provides GSM mobile services in all the 22 telecom circles in India, and was the first private operator to have an all India presence. Provides telemedia services (fixed line and broadband services Through DSL) in 95 cities in India.

Established
July 07, 1995, as a Public Limited Company

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Proportionate Revenue
Rs. 369,615 million (year ended March 31, 2009-Audited) Rs. 270,250 million (year ended March 31, 2008 - Audited) As per US GAAP Accounts

Proportionate EBITDA
Rs. 151,678 million (year ended March 31, 2009 - Audited) Rs. 113,715 million (year ended March 31, 2008 - Audited) As per US GAAP Accounts

Shares in Issue
3,796,951,980 as at Dec 31, 2009

Listings
The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE) The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE)

Market Capitalization
Stock Quote: BSE: INR 298.25

Customer Base
118,864,031 GSM mobile and 2,988,545 Telemedia Customers (status as on Dec 31, 2009)

Operational Network
Provides GSM mobile services in all the 22 telecom circles in India, and was the first private operator to have an all India presence. Provides telemedia services (fixed line) in 95 cities in India.

Registered Office
Bharti Airtel Limited (A Bharti Enterprise) Bharti Crescent, 1 Nelson Mandela Road, Vasant Kunj Phase II New Delhi - 110 070 Tel. No.: +91 11 4666 6100

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MAN BEHIND BHARTI ENTERPRISES

Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman & Managing Director since October 2001 Board director since: July 1995 Age: 49 years Sunil Bharti Mittal is the Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel Limited (Bharti), Indias largest private integrated telecom player. The company has nearly 20 million customers on its well-respected brand AIRTEL. Sunil was one of the first entrepreneurs to identify the mobile telecom business as a major growth area and launched services in the city of Delhi and the National Capital Region in the year 1995. Under his inspiring leadership the company grew organically and inorganically, covering the entire country by providing integrated telecom services. In his personal capacity, Sunil has received several awards such as Sunil Bharti Mittal was awarded the GSM Association Chairmans Award 2008. The highest honour in global telecom sector, recognized his tremendous contribution to the development of Indias telecom sector. Sunil Bharti Mittal adjudged the Business Leader Transforming India, 2008 at the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards.

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Best Carrier India for innovative products & services and efficient cost models and the Ovum Telco-Transformation award recognizing philosophy and execution of a successful outsourcing strategy at the Telecom Asia Awards 2008 Best Telecom Company at the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards.

SUBSCRIBER BASE AND MOBILE PENETRATION

The graph indicates low mobile penetration in India (5%) as compared to developed countries like Australia (88%) and Singapore (92%) and low subscriber base. So there is a great potential in the market to be explored in India.

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GSM AND TOTAL MOBILE MARKET

This graph indicates the growth in the GSM and expected growth in 2007 showing a great potential of the customer to be exploited.

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CONSUMER AWARENESS OF DATA SERVICE IN INDIA

The graph indicates the awareness of data services in India that gives indication of very less knowledge about the M-banking and other activities and usage of these services as compared to SMS which is very low shown below.

INCREASING SMS VOLUMES

The graph indicates the SMS volume growth and the expected growth. 18

IDEA Cellular Pvt. LTD.

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CEO
Mr. Vikram Mehmi

Email
[email protected]

Website
www.ideacellular.com

Service Area
Delhi (Metro) Andhra Pradesh Gujarat Haryana Maharashtra Kerala Madhya Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (W)

About Idea
IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in 11 telecom circles in India. With a customer base of over 6 million as on December 31, 2005, IDEA Cellular has operations in Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP- West and Kerala. IDEA Cellular's footprint currently covers approximately 45% of India's population and over 50% of the potential telecom-market. With GPRS currently available on all its' networks, for both pre and post paid customers, IDEA Cellular has commercially launched next generation EDGE technology for its Delhi circle. It has launched music messaging with 'Cellular Jockey', 'Global SMS' in over 540 networks across all technology platforms, a voice portal with 'Say IDEA'. Among the tariff plans, IDEA Cellular offers customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid offerings, with 'Eco Talk', 'Flexi-charge', 'Super Power' and other segmented offerings. 'Lifetime Idea' is the first and only loyalty program, for pre paid customers and Pay Easy which is bill payment through the effective use of the pre-paid channel, IDEA has also launched a complete suite of Mobile Email services.

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Reliance Telecom Limited

CEO
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Mr. S.P. Shukla

Email
[email protected]

Reliance Telecom Limited

Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, Thane - Belapur Road, Navi Mumbai 406709

SERVICE AREA: Andhra Pradesh Bihar & Jharkhand Chennai Delhi Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Karnataka Kolkatta Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra & Goa Mumbai Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Tamilnadu Uttar Pradesh (East) Uttar Pradesh (West) West Bengal / Sikkim Chandigarh Pondicherry

ABOUT RELIANCE
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Reliance Infocomm began laying its 60,000 route kilometres of pan-India fibre optic backbone in 1999. The backbone was commissioned on December 28, 2002, Dhirubhais 70th birth anniversary, first since his sad demise on July 6, 2002. Present at over 240 locations in over 100 cities across the country, Reliance Web World offers a wide array of services like Broadband Surfing, Multiplayer Online Gaming, Video Conferencing, Digital Electronic News Gathering, Digital Services, relearning, Virtual Office & more, besides offering Reliance phones, accessories and related services 80,000 kms of optic fiber backbone. Wireless network covering over 2,400 cities/towns, to expand to over 5,700 cities AND 4,00,000 villages by December. 4,300 Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) across the country, to increase to around 8,500 by December. Network with superior reliability. All this managed from our state-of-the-art national network operations centre in Mumbai.

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BSNL

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Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. formed in October, 2000, is Worlds 7th largest Telecommunications Company providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India: Wire line, CDMA mobile, GSM Mobile, Internet, Broadband, Carrier service, MPLS-VPN, VSAT, VOLP services, IN Services etc. Within a span of five years it has become one of the largest public sector units in India. BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country and now focusing on improving it, expanding the network, introduces 3g new telecom services with ICT applications in villages and wining customers confidence.

Today, it has about 47.3 million line basic telephones. Capacity 4 million, WLL capacity 20.1 million, GSM capacity more than 37382, fixed exchanges - 18000 BTS, 287 Satellite Stations, 480196 km of OFC Cable, 63730 km of Microwave Network connecting 602 Districts, 7330 cities/towns and 5:5 Lakh villages. BSNL is the only service provider, making focused efforts and planned initiatives to bridge the Rural-Urban Digital Divide ICT sector. In fact there is no telecom operator in the country to beat its reach with its wide network giving services in every nook and corner of country and operates across India except Delhi and Mumbai. Whether it is inaccessible areas of Siachen glacier and North-eastern region of the country, BSNL serves its customers with its bouquet of telecom services. BSNL is number one operator of India in all services in its license area. The company offers vide ranging and most transparent tariff schemes designed to suite every customer. BSNL cellular service, Cellone, has more than 17.8 million cellular customers, garnering 24 percent of all mobile users as its subscribers. That means that almost every fourth mobile user in the country has a BSNL connection. In basic services, BSNL is miles ahead of its rivals, with 35.1 million basic phone subscribers, that is, 85 percent share of the subscriber base and 92 percent share in revenue terms. BSNL has more than 2.5 million WLL subscribers and 2.4 million internet customers who access internet through various modes namely, Dial-Up, Leased Line, DIAS, Account Less Internet (CLI). BSNL has been adjudged as the number one ISP in the country. BSNL has set up a world class multi-gigabit, multi-protocol convergent IP Infrastructure that provides convergent services like voice, data and video through the same Backbone and Broadband Access Network. At present there are 0.6 million Data One broadband customers. The company has vast experience in Planning, Installation, network integrating and maintenance of switching and Transmission Networks and also has a world class ISO 9000 certified telecom training institute. Scaling new heights of success, the present turnover of BSNL is more than Rs.351, 820 million (US $8 billion) with net profit to the tune of Rs.99, 390 million (US $2.26 billion) for last financial year. The 25

infrastructure asset on $14.37 billion). BSNL million lines to 125 investment plan to the

telephone alone is worth about Rs.630, 000 million (US plans to expand its customer base from present 47 million lines by December 2007 and infrastructure tune of Rs.733 crores (US $16.67 million).

Tata Teleservices
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Tata Teleservices is part of the INR Rs.120000 Crore (US$ 29 billion) Tata Group, that has over 87 companies, over 330,000 employees and more than 27

2.8 million shareholders. With a committed investment of INR 36,000 Crore (US$ 7.5 billion) in Telecom (FY 2006), the group has a formidable presence across the telecom value chain. Starting with the major acquisition of Hughes Tele.com (India) Limited now renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] in December 2002 the company swung into an expansion mode. With the total investment of Rs.19,924 Crore, Tata Teleservices has created a pan India presence spread across 20 circles that includes Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar Pradesh (W), Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Tata Teleservices has a strong workforce of 6000. In addition, TTSL has created more than 20,000 jobs, which will include 10,000 indirect jobs through outsourcing of its manpower needs. Today, Tata Teleservices Limited along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited serves over 21 million customers in over 4000 towns. With an ambitious rollout plan both within existing circles and across new circles, Tata Teleservices offers world-class technology and user-friendly services in 20 circles.

Vodafone
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29

Vodafone, the worlds leading international mobile communications company, has fully arrived in India brand will be lunched in India from 21st September onwards. The popular and endearing brand, Hutch, will be transitioned to Vodafone across India. This marks a significant chapter in the evolutes brand change over the next few weeks will be unveiled nationally through a high profile campaign covering all important media. Vodafone, the worlds leading mobile telecommunication company, completed the acquisition of Hutchison Essar in May 2007. Asim Ghosh, managing director, Vodafone Essar, said We have had a great innings as Hutch in India and today marks a new begin that created Hutch, but an acceleration into the future with Vodafones global expertise.. the Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an increasingly connected world enriching customers lives, helping increased by delivering their total communication needs.

About Vodafone Essar Limited

Vodafone Essar in India is a subsidiary of Vodafone Group plc and commenced operations in 1994 when its predecessor Hutchison tele Vodafone Essar now has operations in 16 circles covering 86% of Indias mobile customer base, with over 34.1 million customers. Over the year, Vodafone Essar, under the hutch brand, has been named the Most Respected Telecom Company, the Best Mobile sender effective advertiser of the year. Vodafone is the worlds leading international mobile communications company. It now has operation network with over 200 million customers worldwide. Vodafone has partnered with the Essar Group as its principal joint venture partner. The Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with interests spanning the manufacturing and service sectors like steel, energy, construction. The group has an asset base of over Rs.400 billion and employer over 20,000 people.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This section of the project emphasizes on the procedures used to accomplish the project. To accomplish the project some data have been collected and then the research has been carried out on that data. The details of the research methodology used are described below:Data Source: - The data collected is basically of two types: Primary data Secondary data

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Primary data: - Primary data means those raw data or data structures that are collected first hand and have not had any previous meaningful interpretation. It is the data originated by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the problem at hand. For my Research Project report, I have collected the primary data through survey method. The survey method was used to elicit information from respondents. The structured data collection method is used in which a formal questionnaire is prepared and then the questions were asked in a predefined manner. In the questionnaire most questions are Fixed-alternative questions that require the respondent to select from a set a predetermined set of response. There are also a few subjective questions so as to get a deeper understanding about the respondents views and thoughts. Secondary Data: - The data that has already been collected for purpose other than the problem at hand is secondary data. The various secondary data sources which I have used for my Summer Internship Project are as follows:External Sources: Among the external sources various published sources such as the guides and directories on telecom industry is used extensively. Internet was also of great importance to me in providing a deeper understanding of the topic and also provided valuable information for the successful completion of the project.

Research Approach
A research approach lays the foundation for conducting the project. For my topic, EXPLORATORY RESEARCH approach would have been the best suitable option. Hence I have used exploratory research design. Exploratory research design is used to provision of insights into and comprehension of the problem situation confronting the researcher. Exploratory research is used for the following purpose: Formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely. Identify alternative courses of action. Develop hypothesis. Isolate key variables and relationships for further examination. Gain insights for developing an approach to the problem. 31

Establish priorities for further research.

Exploratory research has been used for the following reasons: The problem needed to be defining more precisely. Identify relevant courses of action. Or gain additional insights before an approach can be developed. The sample size is small. Qualitative research has been conducted.

Sampling Plan
The objective of most marketing research project is to obtain information about the characteristics or parameters of a population, same holds true for my project in which I have to obtain information from the user of different cellular services. Thus, a sampling plan has been made.

A sample is a subgroup participation in the study.

of

the

population

selected

for

The sampling design process involved the following steps which are shown below: Target Population: The target population is the collection of elements or elements or objects that possess the information sought by the researcher and about which inferences are to be made. The target population for my project is defined as follows: Sampling Units Extent Time User of different cellular services Chandigarh. 2010.

Sampling Frame: A sampling frame is a representation of the elements of the target population. It consists of a list or set of directions for identifying the target population. The sampling frame used is the user of different cellular services in chandigarh. Sampling Technique: 32

The sampling technique used is no probability sampling. In no probability sampling Judgmental sampling has been used. Sample size:Small sample size has been used because of time constraint. Sample size used is 50.

CONTACT METHOD
Survey method is used for obtaining information based on the questioning of respondents. The respondents were contacted mainly through following methods:I. Personal Interviewing:The respondents were personally interviewed at their offices. Prior appointments were taken and then the visits were made to their offices. II. Mail Methods:e-mail surveys were also conducted in order to contact distant clients.

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DATA ANALYSIS

Market Share of Telecom Companies

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As per the survey the market share of telecomm companies are like- Airtel32% , Idea 34% , Rim 16% , BSNL- 14% , Tata Indicom -2% , Vodafone 2%

SHARE OF VARIOUS GSM OPERATORS IN INDIAN MARKET

Bharti is the market leader with 27.91% and others BSNL 24.44%, Vodafone 19.51% This gives a clear scenario of Bharti is the market leader.

Question 1
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COMPARISON POSTPAID Vs PREPAID Our analysis of companies shows more postpaid than prepaid reverse of the actual figure. This was because of the sample we have chosen was different.

The above chart shows that the people are using more prepaid connection as compare to postpaid connections. May be this is because people can use different plans as per the budget and need.

Question 2
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For what reasons you opted for the above plan a) b) c) d) e) f) Awareness of the Service provider Friends Recommended Retailer Influenced Advertisements Influenced Market share of the service provider Other reasons

The Third question intends to find out the reason for the selection of the service provider - in other words, the consumer behavior.

Airtel
Awareness of the Service Provider Friends Recommended Retailer Influenced Advertisements Influenced Market share of the Service Provider Other reasons 40.61% 21.88% 6.25% 12.50% 35% 15.63%

Hutch
42% 20% 7% 15% 40% 12%

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Almost 41 % of the Hutch customers and 42% of Air Tel customers were aware of the service and so chose it. Other reasons given by the respondents varied from gifts by Relatives Company provided phone. These accounted for 15.63 % of subscribers.

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Question 3
How satisfied are you with the cellular service brand you own. Please tick the appropriate option s given below. Very satisfied Satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Dissatisfied Strongly dissatisfied

Option
Very satisfied Satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Dissatisfied Strongly dissatisfied

Airtel
9.37% 62.50% 28.13% -

Hutch
8.55% 60.71% 27.43% 3.31% -

In terms of satisfaction level, we have 9.37% of Air Tel customers who are very satisfied compared to 8.55% of Hutch. The majority of the subscribers are a satisfied lot with 62.5% of Air Tel and 60.71% of Hutch. In terms of dissatisfaction, Air Tel fared better with no subscribers dissatisfied while 3.31% of Hutch subscribers showed dissatisfaction which should be considered very seriously by Hutch.

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Question 4
While purchasing your preferred brand of cellular connection what sort of features you look forward in your cellular service brand? Rate the factors on a scale of 1-4. Clarity Ease of connectivity Network Customer service Value added services

Airtel
Clarity Ease of connectivity Network Customer service Value added services 3.3 3.5 3.3 3.3 3.6

Hutch
3.5 3.1 3.1 3.4 3.4

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PERCEIVED QUALITY
Low Clarity Sound Sound Poor Connectivity Connectivity Poor Network Network Unfriendly Customer Service Customer Service Poor Value Added Value Added Service 1 2 3 4 5 High Clarity Good Good Friendly Good Service

AIRTEL/HUTCH The semantic differential scale shows the differences in perceived quality between the service providers. Airtel edges out Hutch in terms of connectivity, network and value added services. There is not much of difference in the ratings because the respondents mostly gave average ratings.

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Question 5
Did you experience any problem with your preferred cellular service brand? a) b) Yes No If yes please specify________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________

Options
Yes No

Airtel
22% 78%

Vodafone
26% 74%

The above result shows that the airtel users have some fewer problems as compare to Vodafone but its a minor difference. The result shows that the ratio of satisfied customer is of 3 times then dissatisfied customers which is a good indication of customer satisfaction.

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The users have told that their problems have been solved effectively in the proper manner and in short span of time. Thus the users are satisfied with the customer services. They are getting the timely information about various plans and schemes both in the case of Airtel and Vodafone. But in case of activation complaints Airtel ranked 4 due to the more activation complaints in this area. In claim disbursement Airtel is also lacking behind as compared to Idea and vodafone and Vodafone is considered to be no. 1 in claim disbursement followed by Idea.

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Question 6
Do you think that you are getting attractive and cheaper plans/Tariffs and cost from your current cellular services? a) Yes b) No If No then name the another one which according to you is the best ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________

Options
Yes No

Airtel
58% 42%

Vodafone
65% 35%

The graph indicates that people are getting satisfied plan but they think Airtel as somehow expensive as others in terms of different plans and tariffs thats why the satisfaction level is less as compare to Vodafone. They think Idea as best alternative because of cheaper plans.

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Question 7
Are you satisfied with the network coverage or signal strength of your existing cellular services? a) Yes b) No

Options
Yes No

Airtel
72% 28%

Vodafone
63% 37%

The result indicates that Airtel is market leader in telecom sector. One of the reason behind it the network coverage and better connectivity than Vodafone and other telecom giants which is the strength of Airtel and justifies its position.

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Question 8
How likely you are to recommend your preferred cellular service brand to your friends and relatives. Very Likely Somewhat Likely Somewhat Unlikely Very Unlikely ---------------------------------------------

Options
Very Likely Somewhat Likely Somewhat Unlikely Very Unlikely

Airtel
73.5% 23.37% 2.13% 1%

VodaFone
71.75% 20.55% 5.4% 2.3%

The result indicates that the users of Airtel and Vodafone are satisfied and can recommend their cellular services to their friends, relatives and family members but this percentage is high in the case of Airtel.

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CONCLUSION
Airtel
A majority of the respondents said that the advertisements of Air Tel came to their mind when they thought of Air Tel. The print and media advertisements Touch Tomorrow and God Life, were recalled. Interestingly, some respondents could quote the exact word used in the TV advertisements sawaal life ka ho, ya lifeline ka and Its a girl! - Bharti /Air Tel. Another common response was that Air Tel is a good service provider, if not the best. Some just thought of it as their mobile phone company. The other responses were service provider that helps connect people, technically advanced company, good coverage, power to connect people, making communication easy, user friendly, etc. One respondent even said Mr. Sunil Mittal (Chief of Bharti Enterprises) comes to his mind. Overall, Air Tel comes across as a competent and exciting brand.

Vodafone

Vodafone is a big competitor of Bharti Airtel and a big giant of telecom sector in India. Vodafone has occupied a different place in the mind of consumer due to their great advertisements of ZOOZOOS. These zoozoos are communicating the messages in a very decent manner and promoting the brand in a much specified manner. The innovative plans, better network coverage, good value added services, high customer centric approach like ready to help justify its position. Comparing Vodafone and Airtel on the Brand Equity Ten can conclude this study.

Vodafone cell-phone service providers in terms of satisfied and loyal customers are willing to pay a price premium, while Air Tel leads with loyal but dissatisfied customers.

Price Premium

In terms of satisfaction, Air Tel leads with both very satisfied as well as satisfied customers. Dissatisfaction level is low.

Satisfaction / Loyalty

Here again, Air Tel edges out vodafone in terms of connectivity, network and value added services. Vodafone leads in terms of clarity of sound and customer service.

Perceived Quality

Leadership and Popularity

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The results showed that majority of respondents chose Air Tel as the company with larger subscriber base compared to Vodafone Cell-phone. This reflected the number one syndrome where the leader must have merit.

The consistent responses by Vodafone Cellphone users perceive it as a valuefor-money service. Air Tel is perceived to be expensive by its customers.

Perceived Value

The brand personality of Air Tel comes across as an exciting and competent brand. Its vibrancy appeals to the customers who relate to the advertising messages.

Brand Personality:

Air Tels corporate brand is more visible than Vodafone. More respondents recognized the caption of Air Tel - Touch Tomorrow. Brand Awareness Brand awareness of the respondents was high with most being aware of both Air Tel and Vodafone. So the spoils are even for both the operators here.

Organizational Association

The market prices of the cellular service given by Air Tel and Vodafone are very similar. The difference if any is very marginal and is not considered. Also the distribution coverage is properly established. Therefore, there is not much to choose between the two operators and the spoils are even. Comparing the overall findings we see that Air Tel leads in five brand equity measures a) Satisfaction/loyalty b) Perceived quality c) Leadership & popularity d) Organizational associations e) Market share

Market Prices and Distribution Coverage

The other three measures 48

I Brand personality II Brand awareness III Market price and distribution coverage have been shared by both Airtel and Vodafone. a. Network of Airtel is better than any other telecom services. b. New schemes are not properly being conveyed to the retailers, so they are facing problem of no responses to customer queries. c. Customer diversification from Airtel is increasing in regular basis due to increase in delay of retailer incentive. d. Board and advertisements are required in many shops. It is been observed that many shops dont even have normal banner of Airtel in their shop in spite of demanding of long. e. Schemes in Airtel and tariff plans are expensive than other telecom services. f. Lot of technical problems is complained here due to those retailers. g. Dissatisfaction is increasing, also immediate services are not provided by the department of Airtel.

To conclude, the Brand Equity of AirTel is higher than Vodafone, though marginally. 49

RECOMMENDATION
1. Airtel should focus more on promotion and advertising part as areas which are surveyed have very less awareness about the schemes and all. Working of sales department should be more flexible as complaints regarding incentives and claims are being observed. 2. Major threat from Vodafone and Idea are seen as Vodafone is providing with quick sales facilities, excellent communication network and high promotion whereas Idea is giving very economical schemes and connectivity. So, to decrease customer diversification and to maintain the brand name of the company better communication network should be established between sales management and the retailers by attending their complaints properly, giving timely and verified incentives, increase in manpower, taking regular feedback. 3. By mismanagement on behalf of the distributor side also many retailers grievances are increasing, complete check on workings on distributors should be done. 4. Majority of STD/PCO shops showed interest in having Airtel and Vodafone connection. So priority should be given to them, all their needs and demands should be thoroughly taken into consideration. 5. Better schemes for dealers/ retailers so that they can be able to develop self interest and they could try their level best to make more and more sale which would lead benefit to dealers and company as well. 6. Brochures and catalogues should be made available. Websites must be promoted among the customer for their regular use. 7. More claim margins: the dealers have this issue that working in small margins is not acceptable to them i.e. just 2.47% margin is not much it should be increased so that the dealers also be able to make some more profits. 8. Companies should make up the bill distribution network strong enough to match up the customer requirement.

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a) Company may use courier services for distribution of bills. b) Company may also use the newspaper distributor.

c) Scheme and plans provided by the company should be attractive enough to have the kind attention of the customers and strong enough to meet the competitive environment. 9. Customer must be given chance to plan product for the company. 10. There must be uniformity in the information provided to the customer by customer care executive at franchise and customer care executive online to avoid communication gap.

LIMITATIONS

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Every research work suffers from some limitations; similarly this research also has some limitations. The limitations of the research project are as follows:Time constraint: - The biggest constraint was time. Because of limited time the research could not be carried out thoroughly. The research could have been better carried out with the help of a larger sample size, covering more geographical areas, and with a detailed questionnaire. The research carried out is only exploratory in nature further this research can be carried out through a descriptive or causal research. Many other factors are responsible for the business development of a company apart from the customer satisfaction or the internal management of the company, these other factors is not taken into consideration. The research has been limited to chandigarh only. It would give better results if it would be carried out on all factories of Uflex cylinders. The findings of the research are qualitative in nature, it would be better if the same could be quantified.

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ANNEXURES

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Marketing Management (10th edition) By Philip Kotler

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Publication

Prentice Hall India (PHI)

Marketing Research (5th edition) By Naresh K. Malhotra Publication Business Statistics By Ken Black Prentice Hall India (PHI)

WEBLIOGRAPHY
1. www.google/trai/l ifetimevalue/in.com

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2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

www.trai.com www.brandannalysis.com www.domain-b.com/industry/telecom/index.html www.marketresearch.com www.economywatch.com/telecom-sector/india.html www.scribd.com

QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Sir/Madam,

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I am conducting a survey on my research project comparative analysis of telecom services in chandigarh. Kindly spare some of your valuable time to go through the questionnaire & give your view on this topic. 1) Please name the cellular service/connection you are currently using. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Airtel Tata Indicom Vodafone B.S.N.L Reliance Communication Aircel Idea

2) What is your preference? a. Post-paid b. Pre-paid 3) For what reasons you opted for the above plan a. b. c. d. e. f. Awareness of the Service provider Friends Recommended Retailer Influenced Advertisements Influenced Market share of the service provider Other reasons

4) How satisfied are you with the cellular service brand you own. Please tick the appropriate option s given below. a. b. c. d. e. Very satisfied Satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

5) While purchasing your preferred brand of cellular connection what sort of features you look forward in your cellular service brand? rate the factors on a scale of 1-4. a. Clarity 56

b. c. d. e.

Ease of connectivity Network Customer service Value added services

6) Did you experience any problem with your preferred cellular service brand? a. Yes b. No If yes please specify________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________ 7) If yes was the problem effectively taken care off immediately? a. Yes b. No 8) Do you think that you are getting attractive and cheaper plans/Tariffs and cost from your current cellular services? a. Yes b. No If No then name the another one which according to you is the best___________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________

9) Are you satisfied with the network coverage or signal strength of your existing cellular services? a. Yes b. No 10) Did you switched over to any other network .if please specify the number of times. 57

a. b. c. d. e.

1 2 3 4 More than 4

Please specify the name ____________________________________ 11) How likely you are to recommend your preferred cellular service brand to your friends and relatives. a. b. c. d. Very Likely Somewhat Likely Somewhat Unlikely Very Unlikely ---------------------------------------------

12) What according to you has the most attractive promotional tools (advertising, public relations etc)? Please specify the name.

13) As per your opinion how can you improve the existing brand you are using? Any recommendation for your current cellular service. ______________________________________________________________ ______________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________

THANKS

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