1

An Empirical Study of Service Gap b/w Major Telecom Companies and their Customers of TABLE OF CONTENT
CONTENTS TITLE PAGE WHOM TO CONCERN DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NEED, OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Page No. 1 2 3 4 5 6-8 9 10 15-22

CHAPTER -1 1.1 Introduction To Subject 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4 Indian Telecommunication Evolution of the Industry Major Players in the Industry Companies Market Share

CHAPTER -2 Introductions to Companies 2.1 Vodaphone 2.2 Airtel 2.3 Bsnl 2.4 Idea

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CHAPTER -3 Review of Literature CHAPTER -4 Gap b/w Consumer Expectation and Companies Performance

29-37 38-52

CHAPTER -5 Summary, Recommendation, Limitations, Conclusion CHAPTER -6 Bibliography CHAPTER -7 Appendix

53-56 57-61 62-66

Executive Summary
This study will help those researchers who are doing a research on service gaps between customers and companies of telecom brands. Study will examine what company thinking about customer perception and what actually is delivered by the customer. A gap between companys promises and delivery can be seen easily in telecom sector. Level of gap and its reasons will be analyzed by various methods. In this study I have consider some factor like Price, Network Service, Brand Image and various Value Added Services that influence a consumer behavior toward a particular brand. I have prepared a structured questionnaire in which different questions will be asked from respondents in order to know most influencing factors that led to their preferable behavior for a particular brand. The scope of study is limited to four major players of Telecom industry that are Aitel. Vodaphone, Bsnl, Idea. Study objective is to examine various factors that led to customers preferable behavior and further their buying behavior for various telecom products and services. My study will consider rural and urban area of Ferpzepur Distt. Now my study purpose is to know consumer behavior for these various telecom brands. Consumers have various choices available to them with different features and services. Now how consumers select a particular brand is a question of our study. Which factors influence there buying behavior and how they perceive various factors like price, network service, brand image and VAS while their purchasing decision. I have studied about all the marketing aspects and all other expenses of the company. The first few pages talk about the introduction of the subject and also of the organization. This is followed by literature review followed by the objectives of the study and research methodology. Then comes real part of the study in which I have written all what I had analyze through my 100

questionnaire filled by various users of different telecommunication brand. The last part consists of findings, recommendations, limitations, conclusion and bibliography. The objectives of the study which I undertook is To study consumer perception regarding major Telecom Brands w.r.t Price, Network Service, Brand Image and Value added services, for this I have used the statistical method of Chi Squire and presenting it in very effective manners by tables. One of my another objective was to study and analyze the level of service recovery provided by major telecom brands, for this I have made structure questionnaire and interpretation for the same has been done and also in order to make it more effective I have used tables and bar charts. From my study I have found that Airtel is the most excellent and good service provider as 19 out 20 responded believes that the service of the company is excellent. Then vodaphone has also good rate of excellence as 16 out of 18 respondents rated Vodaphone as a good service provider. But the idea and Bsnl are not under good ratings. 8 respondents of BSNL and 5 of Idea have rated their service provider as Poor. BSNL is found to be worst service provider from all above as 12 respondents rate it as a average service provider and 8 as a poor service provider. It has been also found that Airtel is being preferred because of its best network service and Brand image as well. Where Vodaphone is preferred because of its good pricing strategy, network service, brand image and the most Value Added Services of the company. And Idea is preferred because of all above factors. Where Bsnl is preferred the most because of its low price as compare to its competitors and because of its value added services as well. BSNL has to concentrate on its customer care service as most of the respondents are found dissatisfied with company service. Even some of them have called it the worst customer care service provider in the market. But it is also rated as best company for value of money. So company can be competitive in the market by just investing in their customer care service. BSNL users also found not satisfied with the network service to some extent. So it can also improve it. I hope that my experience with this project will not only help me in my future in marketing field but also in my current studies.

NEED OF THE STUDY This study will help those researchers who are doing a research on service gaps between customers and companies of telecom brands. Study will examine what company thinking about customer perception and what actually is delivered by the customer. A gap between companys promises and delivery can be seen easily in telecom sector. Level of gap and its reasons will be analyzed by various methods. In this study I have consider some factor like Price, Network Service, Brand Image and various Value Added Services that influence a consumer behavior toward a particular brand. I have prepared a structured questionnaire in which different questions will be asked from respondents in order to know most influencing factors that led to their preferable behavior for a particular brand. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY To study consumer perception regarding major Telecom Brands w.r.t Price, Network Service, Brand Image and Value added services. To study and analyze the level of service recovery provided by major telecom brands.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY The scope of study is limited to four major players of Telecom industry that are Aitel. Vodaphone, Bsnl, Idea. Study objective is to examine various factors that led to customers preferable behavior and further their buying behavior for various telecom products and services. My study will consider rural and urban area of Ferpzepur Distt.

Now my study purpose is to know consumer behavior for these various telecom brands. Consumers have various choices available to them with different features and services. Now how consumers select a particular brand is a question of our study. Which factors influence there buying behavior and how they perceive various factors like price, network service, brand image and VAS while their purchasing decision.

1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY SOURCES OF DATA The study undertaken there to be mainly based on the primary data i.e. structured questionnaire is designed. The study also contains secondary data i.e. data from authenticated websites and journals for the latest updates just to gain an insight for the views of various experts. METHODOLOGY & PRESENTATION OF DATA The data collected is then coded in the tables to make the things presentable and more effective. The results are shown by tables which will help me out in easy and effective presentation and hence results are being obtained. TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES USED FOR ANALYSIS In this study the technique used for interpreting the results is CHI SQUARE test. It is used as because sample size is 100. RESEARCH DESIGN The design for this study is Exploratory and Random sampling. DATA COLLECTION

The data is collected randomly irrespective of the category of the people in the form of questionnaire and the sample size is 100 respondents. Because it is a pilot study and due to time constraint the sample size is small.

HYPOTHESIS First Objective Null Hypothesis 1. H0: Price is the most influencing factor for the purchase of Telecom service and products.

2. H0: Network Service is the most influencing factor for the purchase of Telecom service and products.

3. H0: Brand Image is the most influencing factor for the purchase of Telecom service and products.

4. H0: Value Added Services are the most influencing factor for the purchase of Telecom service and products.

Second Objective Null Hypothesis 1. H0: The level of service quality and recovery of AIRTEL is much better than other three players.

2. H0: The level of service quality and recovery of VODAPHONE is much better than other three players.

3. H0: The level of service quality and recovery of IDEA is much better than other three players.

4. H0: The level of service quality and recovery of BSNL is much better than other three

players. Findings of the Study Airtel is the most excellent and good service provider as 19 out 20 responded believes that the service of the company is excellent. Then vodaphone has also good rate of excellence as 16 out of 18 respondents rated Vodaphone as a good service provider. But the idea and Bsnl are not under good ratings. 8 respondents of BSNL and 5 of Idea have rated their service provider as Poor. BSNL is found to be worst service provider from all above as 12 respondents rate it as a average service provider and 8 as a poor service provider.

Airtel is being preferred because of its best network service and Brand image as well. Where Vodaphone is preferred because of its good pricing strategy, network service, brand image and the most Value Added Services of the company. And Idea is preferred because of all above factors. Where Bsnl is preferred the most because of its low price as compare to its competitors and because of its value added services as well.

Airtel is being preferred because of its internet service. And vodaphone because of its Concession calls rates and full talk time VAS. Where Idea the most because of its Concession Call Rates and SMS pack. But BSNL because of its SMS pack mainly and then concession rates also.

The most of the users are using their telecom service from last one year. Some of the users are also using it from last 3 year, where majority of the users are BSNL connection holders. Most of the users of the Vodaphone are using it from last 6 months. Very few respondents are new users of their services.

The satisfaction rate of network service is leaded by Airtel as not a single user of service is neutral or dissatisfy. And vodaphone network service satisfaction rate is also good. And it can be also found that BSNL network service is not good as compare to others competitors as 14 respondents are found to be not satisfied with the company network service. And last Idea is not good enough to compete with Airtel and Voda.

BSNL has the highest rating of Value for money as 33 persons out 34 has rated it as an excellent and good service provider. Then Idea Company is following Bsnl as a best service provider for value for money. Other two players Airtel and Voda have similar performance approximately. Both have been rated good and excellent, where good has been rated more as compare to other options.

The most of the users of telecommunication contact to their customers care for activation and deactivation of various services. Then they also contact for information about various value added services provider by companies like validity, call rates, sms pack, caller tones etc. Network service has been found a problem of mainly BSNL users and to some extent of Idea users as well.

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Airtel is the best service provider of customer care service. As it has been also found in some of the article that Airtel is expending more on its customer care service as compare to other competitors in the market. The Vodaphone service is also satisfactory as most of the users have rated it as satisfied service provider. But Bsnl is to be found as not a satisfactory service provider. Most of the users said that they have not talk to their customer care service provider even for a single time. Idea Pre-Paid users are not satisfied with the customer care service as they said it can be found busy most of the times.

The most of the users, who are satisfied with their customer care service, are also satisfied with the process of getting their queries resolved. Airtel again has been rated as the best service provider for getting queries resolved. Results are similar approximately as the 10th question analysis.

The users of all companies found their customer service provider courteous. But the result of BSNL is not good as the users say that they have not talk to their customer care service provider even for a single time. Some of them have talk but after a lot of waiting time. So they are found not satisfied and rated this question also as dissatisfied. So after studying their views with a personal discussion we can not say that the customer care representatives of BSNL are not courteous.

The most of the users of all companies found their customer service provider knowledgeable. But the result of BSNL is again not good as the users say that they have not talk to their customer care service provider even for a single time. Some of them have talk but after a lot of waiting time. So they are found not satisfied and rated this question also as dissatisfied. So after studying their views with a personal discussion we can not say that the customer care representatives of BSNL are not knowledgeable. But one more

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finding is there in that question that Idea is not perfect in hiring best personnel for customer care representatives as 8 users are neutral for this question reply.

The most of the users of all companies are found satisfactory with the waiting time their queries resolved. But the result of BSNL is again not good as the users say that they have not talk to their customer care service provider even for a single time. Some of them have talk but after a lot of waiting time. So they are found not satisfied and rated this question also as dissatisfied and neutral. So after studying their views with a personal discussion we can not say that the customer care representatives of BSNL are not able to solve their customer queries in a satisfactory time.

These are four recommendations to major market players in the industry. These are the Gaps between customers expectations and then performance of the company. Some so the companies are found performing well as per their customer expectations, but still they are not perfect. A lot of improvements are required in each company service delivery after studying their customers behavior and expectations through feedback.

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CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION TO THE SUBJECT

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1.1 INTRODUCTION TO SUBJECT 1.1.1 Indian Telecommunications:

It 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. It is the fastest growing telecommunication market in the world, and with 353.66 million telephone connections (at the end of September 2008, include both the wire line as well as the wireless subscribers) is the third largest telecom market. Simultaneously, overall tele-density has increased to 30.64 percent. While the subscriber base for wireless services has increased to 315.31 million. The subscriber base of the wire line service has declined to 38.35 million from 38.92 million at the end of September 2008 . (Source: Corporate Bureau 2009-01-14). The stupendous growth of the telecommunication companies in India over the last fifteen years can be attributed to the liberal government of India, economic policy. The economic renaissance affected in the early 1990s brought around a paradigm shift on the overall business scenario of India. The telecommunication companies in India went through a huge make-over during the implementation of the open-market policy of India. The erstwhile closed market policy was replaced by a more liberal form of economic policy. A whole new form of Indian Telecommunication Policy was drafted to compliment the change effected in the economic policy of India. The amendment affected the new telecommunication policy of India

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made huge changes with respect to investments and entry of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and Foreign Institution Investors (FII) respectively, into the virgin Indian telecommunication market. This resulted entry of private, domestic and foreign telecommunication companies in India. The economic contribution made by these newly formed telecommunication companies of India is really mentioned worthy and this industry witnessed highest growth after the Indian Information Technology industry. The robust growth of Indian economy after the economic liberalization in the 1990s induced massive change in the telecom policy and new draft was framed and implemented by the 'Telecom Regulatory Authority of India' (TRAI) and 'Department of Telecommunication' (DOT), under the Ministry of Telecommunication government of India.

1.1.2 Evolution of the Industry:

The important milestones achieved by the telecommunication industry have been shown in the following table: Table 1.1: Important Milestones of Telecommunication Industry
Year 1851 Important Milestones First operational land lines were laid by the government near Calcutta (seat of British power) 1881 1883 1923 1932 Telephone service introduced in India Merger with the postal system Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT) Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Cable Communication Company (IRCC) 1947 Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies to form the Posts, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) 1985 Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own regulator (separate from the postal system)

15 1986 Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies: the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in metropolitan areas.

1997 1999

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created. Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom Policy is adopted.

2000

DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL

(Source: By Consulting Club, IIM Calcutta)

1.1.3 Major Players

There are three types of players in telecom services: -State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL) -Private Indian owned companies (Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices,) -Foreign invested companies (Hutchison-Essar, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Escotel, Idea Cellular, BPL Mobile, Spice Communications) BSNL On October 1, 2000 the Department of Telecom Operations, Government of India became a corporation and was renamed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). BSNL is now Indias leading telecommunications company and the largest public sector undertaking. It has a network of over 45 million lines covering 5000 towns with over 35 million telephone connections. The state-controlled BSNL operates basic, cellular (GSM and CDMA) mobile, Internet and long distance services throughout India (except Delhi and Mumbai). BSNL will be expanding the network in line with the Tenth Five-Year Plan (1992-97). The aim is to provide a telephone density of 9.9 per hundred by March 2007. BSNL, which became the third operator of GSM

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mobile services in most circles, is now planning to overtake Bharti to become the largest GSM operator in the country. BSNL is also the largest operator in the Internet market, with a share of 21 per cent of the entire subscriber base. BHARTI Established in 1985, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit, ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private basic telephone service provider in the country, first Indian company to provide comprehensive telecom services outside India in Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch National Long Distance Services in India. Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting investments in telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate telecom services across India. Bhartis operations are broadly handled by two companies: the Mobility group, which handles the mobile services in 16 circles out of a total 23 circles across the country; and the Infotel group, which handles the NLD, ILD, fixed line, broadband, data, and satellite-based services. Together they have so far deployed around 23,000 km of optical fiber cables across the country, coupled with approximately 1,500 nodes, and presence in around 200 locations. The group has a total customer base of 6.45 million, of which 5.86 million are mobile and 588,000 fixed line customers, as of January 31, 2004. In mobile, Bhartis footprint extends across 15 circles. Bharti Tele-Ventures' strategic objective is to capitalize on the growth opportunities the company believes are available in the Indian telecommunications market and consolidate its position to be the leading integrated telecommunications services provider in key markets in India, with a focus on providing mobile services. MTNL MTNL was set up on 1st April 1986 by the Government of India to upgrade the quality of telecom services, expand the telecom network, introduce new services and to raise revenue for telecom development needs of Indias key metros Delhi, the political capital, and Mumbai, the business capital. In the past 17 years, the company has taken rapid strides to emerge as Indias leading and one of Asias largest telecom operating companies. The company has also been in the forefront of 5 technology induction by converting 100% of its telephone exchange network

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into the state-of-the-art digital mode. The Govt. of India currently holds 56.25% stake in the company. In the year 2003-04, the company's focus would be not only consolidating the gains but also to focus on new areas of enterprise such as joint ventures for projects outside India, entering into national long distance operation, widening the cellular and CDMA-based WLL customer base, setting up internet and allied services on an all India basis. MTNL has over 5 million subscribers and 329,374 mobile subscribers. While the market for fixed wireline phones is stagnating, MTNL faces intense competition from the private playersBharti, Hutchison and Idea Cellular, Reliance Infocommin mobile services. MTNL recorded sales of Rs. 60.2 billion ($1.38 billion) in the year 2002-03, a decline of 5.8 per cent over the previous years annual turnover of Rs. 63.92 billion.

HUTCH Hutchs presence in India dates back to late 1992, when they worked with local partners to establish a company licensed to provide mobile telecommunications services in Mumbai. Commercial operations began in November 1995. Between 2000 and March 2004, Hutch acquired further operator equity interests or operating licences. With the completion of the acquisition of BPL Mobile Cellular Limited in January 2006, it now provides mobile services in 16 of the 23 defined licence areas across the country. Hutch India has benefited from rapid and profitable growth in recent years. it had over 17.5 million customers by the end of June 2006. IDEA Indian regional operator IDEA Cellular Ltd. has a new ownership structure and grand designs to become a national player, but in doing so is likely to become a thorn in the side of Reliance Communications Ltd. IDEA operates in eight telecom circles, or regions, in Western India, and has received additional GSM licenses to expand its network into three circles in Eastern India -- the first phase of a major expansion plan that it intends to fund through an IPO, according to parent company Aditya Birla Group . RELIANCE INFOCOMM

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Reliance is a $16 billion integrated oil exploration to refinery to power and textiles conglomerate (Source: http://www.ril.com/newsitem2.html). It is also an integrated telecom service provider with licenses for mobile, fixed, domestic long distance and international services. Reliance Infocomm offers a complete range of telecom services, covering mobile and fixed line telephony including broadband, national and international long distance services, data services and a wide range of value added services and applications. Reliance IndiaMobile, the first of Infocomm's initiatives was launched on December 28, 2002. This marked the beginning of Reliance's vision of ushering in a digital revolution in India by becoming a major catalyst in improving quality of life and changing the face of India. Reliance Infocomm plans to extend its efforts beyond the traditional value chain to develop and deploy telecom solutions for India's farmers, businesses, hospitals, government and public sector organizations. Until recently, Reliance was permitted to provide only limited mobility services through its basic services license. However, it has now acquired a unified access license for 18 circles that permits it to provide the full range of mobile services. It has rolled out its CDMA mobile network and enrolled more than 6 million subscribers in one year to become the countrys largest mobile operator. It now wants to increase its market share and has recently launched pre-paid services. Having captured the voice market, it intends to attack the broadband market. TATA TELESERVICES Tata Teleservices is a part of the $12 billion Tata Group, which has 93 companies, over 200,000 employees and more than 2.3 million shareholders. Tata Teleservices provides basic (fixed line services), using CDMA technology in six circles: Maharashtra (including Mumbai), New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Karnataka. It has over 800,000 subscribers. It has now migrated to unified access licenses, by paying a Rs. 5.45 billion ($120 million) fee, which enables it to provide fully mobile services as well. The company is also expanding its footprint, and has paid Rs. 4.17 billion ($90 million) to DoT for 11 new licenses under the IUC (interconnect usage charges) regime. The new licenses, coupled with the six circles in which it already operates, virtually gives the CDMA mobile operator a national footprint that is almost on par with BSNL and Reliance Infocomm. The company hopes to start off services in these 11 new circles by August 2004. These circles include Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East) & West and West Bengal.

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1.1.4 Companies Market Shares

Company BSNL Reliance Bharti MTNL Hutchison Idea Cellular BPL Tata Teleservices Spice Escotel Million Subs(Nov 2003) 40.3 6.1 5.7 4.9 2.9 2.1 1.4 1.3 1.0 0.8 % share 58.8 8.9 8.3 7.2 4.2 3.0 2.1 1.9 1.4 1.1

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Fascel Aircel Hexacom Shyam Telelink

0.8 0.9 0.2 0.1

1.1 1.4 0.3 0.2

CHAPTER-2

INTRODUCTION TO COMPANIES

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2. Introduction to Companies 2.1 Vodafone Essar Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 23 telecom circles in India. Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India with good presence in the metros. Vodafone Essar provides 2.75G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology, offering voice and data services in 23 of the country's 23 license areas. It is among the top three GSM mobile operators of India. Ownership Vodafone Essar is owned by Vodafone 52%, Essar Group, 33% and other Indian nationals, 15%. On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, pipping Reliance Communications, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner of the remaining 33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8 billion. The transaction closed on May 8, 2007. Previous brands In December 2006, Hutch Essar re-launched the "Hutch" brand nationwide, consolidating its services under a single identity. The Company entered into agreement with NTT DoCoMo to

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launch i-mode mobile Internet service in India during 2007. The company used to be named Hutchison Essar, reflecting the name of its previous owner, Hutchison. However, the brand was marketed as Hutch. After getting the necessary government approvals with regards to the acquisition of a majority by the Vodafone Group, the company was rebranded as Vodafone Essar. The marketing brand was officially changed to Vodafone on 20 September 2007. On September 20, 2007 Hutch becomes Vodafone in one of the biggest brand transition exercises in recent times. Vodafone Essar is spending somewhere in the region of Rs 250 crores on this highprofile transition being unveiled today. Along with the transition, cheap cell phones have been launched in the Indian market under the Vodafone brand. The company also plans to launch cobranded handsets sourced from global vendors as well. A popular daily quoted a Vodafone Essar director as saying that "the objective is to leverage Vodafone Group's global scale in bringing millions of low-cost handsets from across-the-world into India. During the Indian Premier League (IPL), Vodafone commercialised Zoozoos, a white, ghost-like creatures with ballooned bodies and egg heads through their advertisements. These ads though look animated are in real humans in the Zoozoo costumes. Ogilvy & Mather, the agency that handles Vodafone advertisements, wanted to make real people look as animated as possible and hence employed Bangalore-based Nirvana Films to shoot these ads in Cape Town, South Africa, just in time for IPL. 2.2 Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures LTD (BTVL) is India's largest cellular service provider with more than 92 million subscribers as of February 2009. It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its TELECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 14 circles. It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUs) - Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom

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circles while the Airtel Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone services in 95 cities and has recently launched a Direct-to-Home (DTH) service, Airtel digital TV. The company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station. Globally, Bharti Airtel is the 3rd largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom. In India, the company has a 24.6% share of the wireless services market, followed by 17.7% for Reliance Communications and 17.4% for Vodafone Essar. Brands Airtel Airtel is a brand of telecommunication services in India and Sri Lanka owned and operated by Bharti Airtel. It is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of subscribers. Services are offered under the brand name Airtel: Mobile Services (using GSM Technology), Broadband & Telephone Services (Fixed line, Internet Connectivity (DSL) and Leased Line, Long Distance Services and Enterprise Services (Telecommunications Consulting for corporates). It has presence in all 23 circles of the country and covers 71% of the current population (as of FY07). In December 2008, Bharti Airtel rolled out third generation services in Sri Lanka in association with Singtel. SingTel is a major player in the 3G space in Asia. It operates third generation networks in several markets across Asia. It had been largely criticised in recent times on its inability to start operation even two years after its certification and proposed date of launch. Airtel's operation in Sri Lanka, known as Airtel Lanka, commenced operations on the 12th of January 2009.

2.3 Idea Cellular

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Idea Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in various states in India. It initially started in 1995 as a joint venture among the Tatas, Aditya Birla Group and AT&T by merging "'Wings Cellular'" operating in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (UP) West, Rajasthan and Tata Cellular as well as Birla AT&T Communications. Initially having a very limited footprint in the GSM arena, the acquisition of Escotel in 2004 gave Idea a truly pan-India presence covering Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi (inclusive of NCR). The company has its retail outlets under the "Idea n' U" banner. The company has also been the first to offer flexible tariff plans for prepaid customers. It also offers GPRS services in urban areas. Idea Cellular won the GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer Care Solution" for 2 consecutive years. Holding Initially the Birlas, the Tatas and AT&T Wireless each held one-third equity in the company. But following AT&T Wireless' merger with Cingular Wireless in 2004, Cingular decided to sell its 32.9% stake in Idea. This stake was bought by both the Tatas and Birlas at 16.45% each. Tata's foray into the cellular market with its own subsidiary, Tata Indicom, a CDMA-based mobile provider, cropped differences between the Tatas and the Birlas. This dual holding by the Tatas also became a major reason for the delay in Idea being granted a license to operate in Mumbai. This was because as per Department of Telecom (DOT) license norms, one promoter could not have more than 10% stake in two companies operating in the same circle and Tata Indicom was already operating in Mumbai when Idea filed for its licence. The Birlas thus approached the DOT and sought its intervention, and the Tatas replied by saying that they would exit Idea but only for a good price. On April 10, 2006, the Aditya Birla Group announced its acquisition of the 48.18% stake held by the Tatas at Rs. 40.51 a share amounting to Rs. 44.06 billion. While 15% of the 48.14% stake was acquired by Aditya Birla Nuvo, a company in-charge of the Birlas' new business initiatives, the remaining stake was acquired by

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Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd., an AV Birla family owned company. Currently, Birla Group holds 49.1% of the total shares of the company.

2.4 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (known as BSNL, India Communications Corporation Limited) is a public sector telecommunication company in India. It is India's largest telecommunication company with 24% market share as on March 31, 2008. Its headquarters are at Bharat Sanchar Bhawan, Harish Chandra Mathur Lane, Janpath, New Delhi. It has the status of Mini Ratna, a status assigned to reputed public sector companies in India. BSNL is India's oldest and largest Communication Service Provider (CSP). Currently has a customer base of 90 million as of June 2008. It has footprints throughout India except for the metropolitan cities of Mumbai and New Delhi which are managed by MTNL. As on March 31, 2008 BSNL commanded a customer base of 31.55 million Wireline, 4.58 million CDMA-WLL and 54.21 million GSM Mobile subscribers. BSNL's earnings for the Financial Year ending March 31, 2007 stood at INR 397.15b (US$ 9.67 b) with net profit of INR 78.06b (US$ 1.90 billion). BSNL has an estimated market value of $ 100 Billion. The company is planning an IPO with in 6 months to offload 10% to public in the Rs 300-400 range valuing the company at over $100 billion. Services

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Universal Telecom Sevices : Fixed wireline services & Wireless in Local loop (WLL) using CDMA Technology called bfone and Tarang respectively. As of December 31, 2007, BSNL has 81% marketshare of fixed lines.

Cellular Mobile Telephone Services: BSNL is major provider of Cellular Mobile Telephone services using GSM platform under the brand name CellOne[2]. Prepaid cellular services of BSNL are know as Excel. As of March 31, 2007 BSNL has 17% share of mobile telephony in the country.

Internet: BSNL provides internet services through dial-up connection (Sancharnet) as Prepaid, (NetOne) as Postpaid and ADSL broadband (DataOne). BSNL has around 50% market share in broadband in India. BSNL has planned aggressive rollout in broadband for current financial year.

CHAPTER-3

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

27

3. Review of Literature
1. Rick (2008) This study finds that companies with sound customer strategies can use that ultimate loyalty program as a differentiator in an increasingly muddled market. In an increasingly competitive market, customer loyalty efforts can play a major part in the attraction of new customers and the retention of current ones. Marketers dealing in the telecommunications arena are established in an exciting era of industry growth. As consumers' choices expand, the importance of a sound customer relationship strategy becomes more and more important for the success of the company. 2. Inger (2008), This study aims at deepening understanding of the role of emotion in customer switching processes and identifying the relative frequency of negative discrete emotions in terms of different triggers. The main finding was that the identified emotions were located in the trigger part of the relationship, and was expressed by the respondents during the switching process in form of annoyance, anxiety, disappointment, dissatisfaction, distress, depression, rage, stress and tension. Mainly study is trying to find one answer that do customers return rather quickly to the switched-from operator when the trigger was influential/stress-related, or do they become stable at the switched-

28

to-operator. 3. Gamie (2008), undertook a research to explore the challenges of reaching low-income customers in developing markets. The whole study is just one interview based in which Anderson is asking question from Gurdeep Singh Operations Director with Hutchison Essar India. Now that discussion concludes that managers need to go beyond traditional approaches to serving the poor, and innovate by taking into account the unique institutional context of developing markets. In most cases, MNOs have served the poorest consumers through shared-use models such as GrameenPhone's Village phone concept in Bangladesh, due to the commonly held belief that reaching these consumers is difficult due to two key challenges affordability and availability. This paper demonstrates that MNOs can deliver availability and affordability to achieve increased individual or household penetration through business model innovation. 4. Thomas (2008) Empirical findings of the study showed that the respondents attended the event mainly for business and networking opportunities. Overall, they were satisfied with Hong Kong as the location for the ITU Telecom World 2006. Additionally, there were no significant differences in perception between overseas and local attendees in all but two attributes. This study showed that location, infrastructure and safety did not seem to influence attendees' decision for attending the event. Moreover, attendees considered traveling to or visiting the destination would have a low influence on their decision to attend the event. 5. Shankar (2006) This article examines the emergence of innovation and value creation for enhancing customers' experience, as a result of increasing competition in the Indian telecom industry during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The report provides a detailed account of the evolution of the Indian telecom industry. It traces various developments in the industry before, during and after the liberalization of the Indian telecom sector. It also provides information about the increasing popularity of cellular services which led to the emergence of several private telecom operators like Bharati Tele Ventures, Hutchison Telecom, Idea Cellular Ltd, Reliance Telecom Ltd, etc.

29

6. Gustafsson (2005) The purpose of this study is to enhance understanding of the club's role in the customer relationships of a telecommunications company by re-considering the concepts of frequency and commitment in a telecom-customer club. Study found an umbrella concept for the club regarding loyalty: A keeping function, which divided the customer club in two ways,: the affective role makes the customer stay with the company and the calculative role with a more inferred loyalty function. The expressions that were not connected to loyalty are the attracting function. So it seems obvious that customers do not merely look at certain parts of the club offering where loyalty is concerned: they evaluate the club and their relationship with the service provider according to different criteria.

7. Robins (2008) This paper is about marketing the next generation of mobile telephones. The study is about third generation of cell phone technology, what is usually known as 3G for short. There are various issues about that new innovative. One is how to price 3G handsets and services at a level which will enable telephone operating companies to recoup the high prices they have already paid to governments for operating licenses. Second the technology is not yet complete, there are no agreed international standards and companies do not yet know what new services the technology will prove capable of delivering effectively. All variants of 3G remain dependent on largely unproven technology. Marketing 3G is going to be about services which are new and in many cases, yet to be designed. At the same time, it will involve services which can also be obtained by computer and other means. It follows that the marketing task will be high risk. First, 3G has no obviously unique selling proposition to build on except, perhaps, the combination of live video and easy portability. Second, the potential customers have not yet had adequate opportunity to signal their service likes and dislikes. Third, the cost and complexity of service provision leave doubt about the markets reaction to price. 8. Debnath (2008) This study explain that the prime focus of the service providers is to create a loyal customer base by benchmarking their performances and retaining existing customers in order to benefit from their loyalty. With the commencement of the

30

economic liberalization in 1991, and with a view to expand and improve telecom infrastructure through the participation of the private sector, the Government of India permitted foreign companies holding 51 percent equity stake in joint ventures to manufacture telecom equipment in India. The Indian Government has announced a new policy, which allows private firms to provide basic telephone services. There had been a monopoly of the state-owned department of telecommunications. However, several companies are expected to benefit from the policy change.

9. Bhatt (2008), in his study titled A Study of Mobile Phone Usage Among the Post

Graduate Students analyzed that it is important for mobile carriers, service providers, content developers, equipment manufacturers, as well as for parents and young people alike that the key characteristics of mobile technology is well understood so that the risks associated with its potentially damaging or disruptive aspects can be mitigated. This paper has tried to compare the usage difference by gender with respect to the difference manufacturing and service provider companies.

10. Jha (2008), in his study analyzed that it is the youth which is the real growth driver of the

telecom industry in India. Considering this fact, the paper is an attempt to give a snapshot of how frequently young people use their mobile phones for several embodied functions of the cell phones. Data was collected from a sample of 208 mobile phone owners, aged between 20 and 29. The study sheds light on how gender, monthly voucher amount and years of owning mobile phones influence the usage pattern of this device. Findings of the study would be helpful for the telecom service providers and handset manufacturers to formulate a marketing strategy for different market segments.

31 11. Kalavani (2006) in their study analyzed that majority of the respondents have given

favourable opinion towards the services but some problems exist that deserve the attention of the service providers. They need to bridge the gap between the services promised and services offered. The overall customers attitude towards cell phone services is that they are satisfied with the existing services but still they want more services to be provided.

12. Kumar (2008), in their study titled Customer Satisfaction and Discontentment vis-a-vis

BSNL Landline Service: A Study analyzed that at present, services marketing plays a major role in the national economy. In the service sector, telecom industry is the most active and attractive. Though the telecom industry is growing rapidly, India's telecom density is less than the world's average telecom density as most of India's market is yet to be covered. This attracts private operators to enter into the Indian telecom industry, which makes the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) more alert to run its business and survive in the market.

13. Seth et al (2008), in their study titled Managing the Customer Perceived Service Quality for Cellular Mobile Telephone: an Empirical Investigation analyzed that there is relative importance of service quality attributes and showed that responsiveness is the most importance dimension followed by reliability, customer perceived network quality, assurance, convenience, empathy and tangibles. This would enable the service providers to focus their resources in the areas of importance. The research resulted in the development of a reliable and valid instrument for assessing customer perceived service quality for cellular mobile services.

32 14. Sundaram (2008) in their study titled Marketing Mix Strategies Adopted By Selected

Indian Business Outsourcers analyzed that Indian business process outsourcers are mostly marketing through the web advertisement as a promotional strategy to provide accounting and form processing service to Asian and North American customers and price them on the basis of slab rate. Smart sourcing can be best explained as the tactical use of specialized external resources to perform core and non core activities, which were originally carried out by internal staff and resources. Business process outsourcers in India are marching towards knowledge process and value added outsourcing.

15. Fernandez (2007) in their study titled Understanding Dynamics in an Evolving Industry:

Case of Mobile VAS in India analyzed that Mobile Value Added Services (VAS) is a rising star in the fast growing wireless business. In the paper, attempt is made at understanding the strategic dynamics of the evolving environment within which the Indian players are operating, the challenges and structure of the same. Our literature and industry review indicates that - while the value chain of industry is complicated yet one can observe the bipolar nature of bargaining powers between mobile network operators and content aggregators.
16. Kaliyamoorthy and Kumar (2007) in their study titled Influence of Demographic

Variables on Marketing Strategies in the Competitive Scenario analyzed that Demographic variables have much significance in marketing. They are used as bases for segmenting the market, and their role in consumer's buying decision is notable and vital. Even when the target market is described in non-demographic terms (say, a personality type), the link back to demographic characteristics is needed in order to estimate the size of the target market and the media that should be used to reach it efficiently. So, identifying the demographic profile of the target consumers is very important for the marketers. The paper, with a strong backing of literature, explains why the marketers must give much importance to the changing demographic trends while evolving marketing strategies in the prevailing competitive business environment.

33

17. Bismut (2006) in his study titled Competition in European Telecom Markets analyzed that in recent years the European telecommunications market has witnessed major developments, with rapid expansion in access to telecommunications networks and a surge in the number of available services and applications. While many factors have contributed to the transformation of the telecommunications industry, competition has played a key role in driving telecom players to invest in new technologies, to innovate and to offer new services.

18. Kalpana and Chinnadurai (2006) in their study titled Promotional Strategies of Cellular Services: A Customer Perspective analyzed that the increasing competition and changing taste and preferences of the customers all over the world are forcing companies to change their targeting strategies. The study revealed the customer attitude and their satisfaction towards the cellular services in Coimbatore city. It was found that advertisement play a dominant role in influencing the customers oriented rather than customer oriented. but most of the customers are of opinion that promotional strategies of cellular companies are more sale

19. Batra (2006) In this ICFAI journal of Consumer behavior has discussed that India's economic prosperity and maturity has also helped to shape the world of advertising agencies in India, enabling the latter to reach global standards. Advertising has become serious and big business in India, with its worth being estimated at Rs. 13,200-crore, by those in the know. This can only mean one thing that apart from the quality of work, the volume of the work has increased. Companies are using different media to persuade the customer. All most all marketing and advertising agencies in India believe in the concept of 360 degree branding. Agencies are creating, sharing and managing stories and brand experiences in a manner that involves and engages, rather than interrupts and alienates.

34

20. Fredric (2008) analyzed the importance of yield management and discrimination pricing in telecommunication sector. Yield management is the process of allocating the right type of capacity or inventory unit to the right kind of customer at the right price so as to maximize revenue or yield. Yield management and dynamic pricing strategies could be usefully applied to preserve and increase profitability. Yield management techniques can help telecom operators and similar companies to optimize the benefits they can derive from a subtle management of information networks and partnerships. However, such an approach is more difficult to implement in the telecommunications industry than in the airlines sector because of the difficulty to control (and sometimes to refuse) network access to customers. 21. Ray (2007), in his article study has concluded that the most important character of spoke character is the control over the character. The spoke characters appearance can be altered according to the marketers need and objective. The spoke character has distinct personality; it reflects on the brands and gives the brand a unique personality. But sometime spoke character become so entangled with brand that removing spoke character may lead to negative impact on the image of the brand. This is the another factor which is impacting the advertisement.

22. Chris (2003) has analyzed Telecom advertising in print media. This research attempted to investigate why Telecom theme are used in advertisement, and the motives that lead companies and advertisers to use sport celebrities and sport concept in advertisements. From study it has been revealed that the appearance of sport celebrities in advertising endorsement occurred more often in Telecom magazines than in other magazines, because their target group is more acquainted with athletes. The sport celebrities that dominated each printed media are related with their target group characteristics. 23. Surrender (2004), undertook a research to evaluate the impact of advertising on both the rural and urban consumers, in term of improving the sales of products, to analyze the differences between rural and urban consumers. The study examined different media

35

habits of the rural and urban consumers with regard to the purchase of the selected luxury items and also effectiveness and usefulness of advertising to the society in general and in rural consumers.

CHAPTER-4

GAP BETWEEN CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS &

36

COMPANIES PERFOMANCE

Gap b/w Consumer Expectations and Companies Performance of Telecommunication Q1: - Which mobile connection do you have?

Particular
AIRTEL VODAPHONE IDEA BSNL

No. of respondents

20 18 36 26

37

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 No. of resp on d en ts

Airtel Vod ap h on e Id ea Bsn l

Interpretation: - As the area of the study is ferozepur of Punjab, where the market leader is Spice that is now known as Idea after taker over of spice by idea. Thats why majority of the questionnaire I got filled by Idea users. Above data analysis shows that majority of the market that is approximately 50% is covered by two market leaders IDEA and BSNL.

Q2:- What kind of service you have?

Particular
Pre-Paid Post-Paid

No. of respondents

84 16

38

P re-P a id P ost-P a id

Interpretation: - Above data shows that most of the respondents in the area have pre-paid connections. And I got only 16% questionnaire filled by post-paid users.

Q3:- Overall, how would you rate your service provider?

Brands Airtel Vodaphone Idea

Excellent 7 5 1

Good 12 11 10

Avg 1 2 12

Poor

Terrible

Not Sure

39

Bsnl

14

12

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Ex cellent Good A vg P oor Terrible Not S ure A irtel V odaphone Idea Bsnl

Interpretation:- From the graphic it depict that Airtel is the most excellent and good service provider as 19 out 20 responded believes that the service of the company is excellent. Then vodaphone has also good rate of excellence as 16 out of 18 respondents rated Vodaphone as a good service provider. But the idea and Bsnl are not under good ratings. 8 respondents of BSNL and 5 of Idea have rated their service provider as Poor. BSNL is found to be worst service provider from all above as 12 respondents rate it as a average service provider and 8 as a poor service provider.

Q4:- Rank the following factors which influenced you the most to buy the service of your choice?

H1: -Price factor is not the most influencing factor for the purchase of Telecom service. H0: - Price factor is the most influencing factor for the purchase of Telecom service.

Brands

Price

Network

Brand

VAS

Expected

40

Service Airtel Vodaphone Idea Bsnl 7 6 22 16 4 7

Image 4 3 3 6 10 10

values 25 25 25 25

Chi square value:

6.035

Table value: 5.991

Interpretation of Chi: - As the 95% level of confidence Chi square value 6.035 is more than the table value 5.991, so the null hypothesis is rejected, it means Price factor is the most influencing factor for the purchase of Telecom service.

Interpretation:- Above data analysis shows that Airtel is being preferred because of its best network service and Brand image as well. Where Vodaphone is preferred because of its good pricing strategy, network service, brand image and the most Value Added Services of the company. And Idea is preferred because of all above factors. Where Bsnl is preferred the most because of its low price as compare to its competitors and because of its value added services as well.

Q5- Rank the following VAS which attracted you the most to buy or retain the mobile service:

Particular SMS Pack Concession Call Rates Internet Service

Airtel

Vodaphone 4 3 12 6 1

Idea 9 15

Bsnl 16 11

41

Full Talk Time

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Airtel Voda phone Idea B s nl S MSP a c k Conc es s ion C a ll R a tes Internet S ervic e F ull T a lk T ime

Interpretation: - Above data analysis shows that Airtel is being preferred because of its internet service. And vodaphone because of its Concession calls rates and full talk time VAS. Where Idea the most because of its Concession Call Rates and SMS pack. But BSNL because of its SMS pack mainly and then concession rates also.

Q6:- How long have you used the service of that company?

Brands Airtel Vodaphone Idea Bsnl

>1 Month

1-6 Month 2 1 2 2 3 3 5

6 M 1 Year < 1 Year 7 11 7 3 9 3 13 18

< 3 Year 2

3 6

42

18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

A irtel V odaphone Idea Bsnl > 1Month 1 -6 Month 6M 1 <1Y ear <3Y ear Y ear

Interpretation:- Above table analysis depicts that most of the users are using their telecom service from last one year. Some of the users are also using it from last 3 year, where majority of the users are BSNL connection holders. Most of the users of the Vodaphone are using it from last 6 months. Very few respondents are a new users of their services that let our study not vague.

Q7:- Overall, how satisfied are you, with network service of your company?

Brands Airtel Vodaphone Idea

Very Satisfied 7 3 2

Satisfied 13 14 23

Neutral

Dissatisfy

Very Dissatisfy

1 2

43

Bsnl

18

25 20 15 10 5 0 Airtel Voda phone Idea B s nl

Very S a tis fied

S a tis fied

Neutra l

D is s a tis fy

Interpretation: - Above table data analysis shows that the satisfaction rate of network service is leaded by Airtel as not a single user of service is neutral or dissatisfy. And vodaphone network service satisfaction rate is also good. And it can be also found that BSNL network service is not good as compare to others competitors as 14 respondents are found to be not satisfied with the company network service.

Q8:- How would you rate the service's value for money?

Brands Airtel Vodaphone Idea Bsnl

Excellent 6 3 2 9

Good 14 10 20 24

Fair

Poor

Not Sure

5 6 1

44

3 0 2 5 2 0 1 5 1 0 5 0 E xc ellent Good F a ir Airtel Voda phone Idea B snl

Interpretation: - Above data and chart analysis depicts that BSNL has the highest rating of Value for /money as 33 persons out 34 has rated it as a excellent and good service provider. Then Idea Company is following Bsnl as a best service provider for value for money. Other two players Airtel and Voda has similar performance approximately. Both has been rated good and excellent, where good has been rated more as compare to other options.

Q9:- What kind of problems occurs the most for which you need to contact customer care/service department of your service provider?

H0: - People do not contact customer care mostly for activation and deactivation of the service H1: - People contact customer care mostly for activation and deactivation of the service

Brands

Billing Related

Activation/ Deactivation

Informatio n of VASs

Network Problem

Expected values

45

Airtel Vodaphone Idea Bsnl

8 18

10 7 5 11 3 13

25 25 25 25

12 6

Chi square value:

9.351

Table value: 7.815

Interpretation of Chi:- As the 95% level of confidence Chi square value 9.351 is more than the table value 7.815, so the null hypothesis is rejected, it means People contact customer care mostly for activation and deactivation of the service.

Interpretation: - From the above data analysis it has been found that most of the users of telecommunication contact to their customers care for activation and deactivation of various services. Then they also contact for information about various value added services provider by companies like validity, call rates, sms pack, caller tones etc. Network service has been found a problem of mainly BSNL users and to some extent of Idea users as well.

Q10:- In thinking about your most recent experience with that company, how much satisfied are you with the customer care service?

H0: - Airtel is not the best service provider of customer care service. H1: - Airtel is the best service provider of customer care service.

Brands Airtel

Very Satisfied 14

Satisfied 6

Neutral

Dissatisfy

Very Dissatisfy

46

Vodaphone Idea Bsnl

3 1

12 11 2

3 6 3 3 7 7 22

Chi square value:

11.143

Table value: 9.488

Interpretation of Chi:- As the 95% level of confidence Chi square value 11.143 is more than the table value 9.488, so the null hypothesis is rejected, it means Airtel is the best service provider of customer care service in the industry..

Interpretation:- From the above data interpretation we can conclude that Airtel is the best service provider of customer care service. As it has been also found in some of the article that Airtel is expending more on its customer care service as compare to other competitors in the market. The Vodaphone service is also satisfactory as most of the users has rated it as satisfied service provider. But Bsnl is to be found as a not satisfactory service provider. Most of the users said that they have not talk to their customer care service provider even for a single time.

Q11:- How satisfied are you with the process of getting your queries resolved?

Brands Airtel Vodaphone Idea Bsnl

Very Satisfied 12 2 1

Satisfied 8 12 11 3

Neutral

Dissatisfy

Very Dissatisfy

3 8 3 6 9 2 19

47

20 15 Airtel 10 5 0 Voda phone Idea B s nl Very S a tis fied S a tis fied Neutra l D is s a tis fy Very D is s a tis fy

Interpretation: - From above data analysis we can say that most of the users, who are satisfied with their customer care service, are also satisfied with the process of getting their queries resolved. Airtel again has been rated as the best service provider for getting queries resolved. Results are similar approximately with the 10-question analysis.

Q12:- The customer service representative was very courteous.

Brands Airtel Vodaphone Idea Bsnl

Strongly Disagree

Somewhat Disagree

Neutral

Somewhat Agree 7 8 2 12 2

Strongly Agree 13 10 14

20

12

48

20 15 10 5 0 Airtel Voda phone Idea B s nl S trong ly S omewha t Neutra l S om ewha t S trong ly D is a g ree D is a g ree Ag ree Ag ree

Interpretation: - Above data analysis shows that most of the users of all companies found their customer service provider courteous. But the result of BSNL is not good as the users say that they have not talk to their customer care service provider even for a single time. Some of them have talk but after a lot of waiting time. So they are found not satisfied and rated this question also as dissatisfied. So after studying their views with a personal discussion we can not say that the customer care representatives of BSNL are not courteous.

Q13:- The customer service representative was very knowledgeable.

Brands Airtel Vodaphone Idea Bsnl

Strongly Disagree

Somewhat Disagree

Neutral

Somewhat Agree 3 1 8 5 2

Strongly Agree 17 17 15

20

12

49

20 15 Airtel 10 5 0 Voda phone Idea B s nl S trong ly S omewha t Neutra l S omewha t S trong ly D is a g ree D is a g ree Ag ree Ag ree

Interpretation: - Above data analysis shows that most of the users of all companies found their customer service provider knowledgeable. But the result of BSNL is again not good as the users say that they have not talk to their customer care service provider even for a single time. Some of them have talk but after a lot of waiting time. So they are found not satisfied and rated this question also as dissatisfied. So after studying their views with a personal discussion we can not say that the customer care representatives of BSNL are not knowledgeable. But one more finding is there in that question that Idea is not perfect in hiring best personnel for customer care representatives as 8 users are neutral for this question reply.

Q14:- The waiting time for having my questions addressed was satisfactory.

Brands Airtel Vodaphone Idea Bsnl

Strongly Disagree

Somewhat Disagree

Neutral

Somewhat Agree 2 3 8 5 2

Strongly Agree 18 15 15

20

12

50

20 15 10 5 0 Airtel Voda phone Idea B s nl S trong ly D is a g ree Neutra l S trong ly Ag ree

Interpretation: - Above data analysis shows that most of the users of all companies are found satisfactory with the waiting time their queries resolved. But the result of BSNL is again not good as the users say that they have not talk to their customer care service provider even for a single time. Some of them have talk but after a lot of waiting time. So they are found not satisfied and rated this question also as dissatisfied and neutral. So after studying their views with a personal discussion we can not say that the customer care representatives of BSNL are not able to solve their customer queries in a satisfactory time.

CHAPTER-5

51

LIMITATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSION

Recommendations BSNL has to concentrate on its customer care service as most of the respondents are found dissatisfied with company service. Even some of them have called it the worst customer care service provider in the market. But it is also rated as best company for value of money. So company can be competitive in the market by just investing in their customer care service. BSNL users also found not satisfied with the network service to some extent. So it can also improve it.

Airtel performance of network service is the best in the market. It has been also rated the best customer care service provider. But it has been found a little costlier than others competitors in the market as not a single customer preferring it because of its pricing

52

strategies. So company should rethink on its pricing strategies. All the companies in the industry have entered into a pricing war in the industry. So Airtel should also provide some of its product and services competitive in the market.

Vodaphone again rated best network service provider, best Value added services provider and customer care service provider as well. Overall the performance of the company is best in the industry. Company is also very competitive in the industry as well. But it can improve more by providing more good value added services. Company SMS pack weekly service is no more attractive in these days. And that is one of the most preferred factors by youngsters for the purchase of a telecom service.

Idea is the market leader of the area according to our survey as most of our respondents are using idea services. Company is also providing a good network service. But company users does not found satisfied with the customer care service as they found it busy most of the times. And some of also said that customer care representatives are not knowledgeable and courteous as well. So company should improve its Pre-Paid customer care service.

Limitations of the Study Carrying the survey was a general learning experience for us but we also faced some problems, which are listed here: The market of Telecommunication is too vast and it is not possible to cover each and every dealer, manufacturer and seller in the available short span of time.

Generally the respondents were busy in their work and were not interested in responding rightly.

53

Respondents were reluctant to discover complete and correct information about themselves and their organization.

Most respondents were not maintaining proper knowledge of various services provided by their company, so they were unable to provide exact information.

Most of the respondents dont want to disclose the information about the various other companies which they have experienced before.

Some of the respondents were using the service first time of their company and they were not able to properly differentiate among their product.

Due to human behavior information may be biased. Mainly in BSNL case.

Conclusion
After doing that all study we can conclude that yes the Gap exist there in telecommunication industry. Consumers have a lot of expectations from their service provider that are not performed or deliver by their companies. As we know that consumer expect from BSNL to improve its customer care service that can be found busy most of the times.

54

Now users of BSNL have rated it as a best company for value of money but still they are not satisfied with some of companys strategies. So this is the Gap between BSNL users and company performance. Then we have example of Punjab market leader Idea. Users of Idea are not satisfied with company customer care service as it is a difficult process because one has to wait a lot or call again and again to talk with a customer care representative. Vodaphone performance is good but Gap exists not just with Voda, but with all the companies in the industry. Various VAS (Value Added Services) provided by company does not seems to be satisfying their users. Customers are not satisfied with SMS pack that is perceived costlier as compare to others companies SMS packs by Voda users. Users also found monthly low call rate pack costlier as well. Airtel is to be found the best service provider of network service and customer care service as well. This is one company in the industry that can be found delivering as per their customer expectations. Thats why customers have rated it not as satisfactory but excellent. But one has to pay more for superior service and Airtel is one example of such service. It is the costlier service in the industry. Users of airtel paying more for validity and other value added services. And they expect from company to offer some of the VAS at some of the competitive prices. Price is the only Gap exists in Airtel between company and users.

55

CHAPTER-6

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERANCES
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contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1718193&history=true>) [Viewed 10/3/09] 3. Jallet, Frederic, Yield management, Dynamic pricing and CRM in telecommunications, (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=236E2B6B45C F101465D540FD4401AEB9? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1747102&history=true>) [Viewed 13/3/09] 4. Ferguson, Rick, Telecom's search for the ultimate customer loyalty platform, 2008 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=236E2B6B45C F101465D540FD4401AEB9? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1737913&history=true>) [Viewed 10/3/09] 5. Roos, Inger, Emotional experiences in customer relationships a telecommunication study 2008 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=236E2B6B45C F101465D540FD4401AEB9? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1729216&history=true>) [Viewed 7/3/2009] 6. Debnath, Roma Mitra, Benchmarking telecommunication service in India, 2008 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=236E2B6B45C F101465D540FD4401AEB9? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1742535&history=true>) [Viewed 2/3/09] 7. Anderson, Gamie, Developing a route to market strategy for mobile communications in rural-India2008 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=236E2B6B45C

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F101465D540FD4401AEB9? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1747159&history=true> 10/3/09] 8. Shankar, Ravi, Innovation in the Indian Telecom Industry, Feb, 2006 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=4128386147394 7BDB028FACA82763465? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=873964&history=true>) 28/3/09] 9. Gustafsson, Anders, The role of customer clubs in recent telecom relationships, vol 16, 2005 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=236E2B6B45C F101465D540FD4401AEB9? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1523881&history=true>) [Viewed 18/3/09] 10. Robins, Fread, The marketing of 3G, vol 21, no 6, 2008 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=236E2B6B45C F101465D540FD4401AEB9? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=854647&history=true>) 2/4/09] 11. Ramman, S.Raghu, People Management issues in Indian KPOs, 2007 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=236E2B6B45C F101465D540FD4401AEB9? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1634390&history=true>) [Viewed 5/4/09] 12. Kalwani, Banumathy, Consumers Attitude towards Cell phone Services, 2006 [Viewed [Viewed [Viewed

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13. Sundram, Geetha, Marketing Mix Strategies Adopted By Selected Indian Business Outsourcers, 2008
14. Fernandez, Fronnie, Understanding Dynamics in an Evolving Industry: Case of Mobile

VAS in India, 2007 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=2086527F0757 A565F9A6CBAC8800F658? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=881588&history=true>) [Viewed 4/4/09]

15. Kumar, Kaliyamoorthy, Influence of Demographic Variables on Marketing Strategies in the Competitive Scenario, 2007 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=2086527F0757 A565F9A6CBAC8800F658? contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=881588&history=true>) [Viewed 4/4/09] 16. Chinnadurai, Kalpana, Promotional Strategies of Cellular Services: A Customer Perspective, 2006 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=2086527F0757 A565F9A6CBAC8800F658? contentType=Book&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1758667&history=true>) [Viewed 5/4/09] 17. Seth et, Etal, Managing the Customer Perceived Service Quality for Cellular Mobile Telephone: an Empirical Investigation, 2008 (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=2086527F0757 A565F9A6CBAC8800F658? contentType=Book&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1758667&history=true>) [Viewed 6/4/09] 18. Tecor, Jha, Understanding Mobile Phone Usage Pattern among College-Goers, 2008

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(http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=2086527F0757 A565F9A6CBAC8800F658? contentType=Book&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1760544&history=true>) [Viewed 7/4/09] 19. Bhatt, Andre, A Study of Mobile Phone Usage Among the Post Graduate Students, 2008 20. Chris, Kambitsis, Telecom advertising in print media, 2003 Journal

The Indian Telecom Industry, IIM Calutta, Vatsal Goyal, 2007 Investment Surge in the Indian Telecom Space, Times Global, Issue 2, 2008 A multiple-perspective model for technology assessment, vol 3, 2008 The marketing of 3G, Vol 21, no. 6, 2003

Books Zeithaml, Valarie (2008), Service Marketing, 4th Ed. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Lmt.

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CHAPTER-7

APPENDIX

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1.6 ANNEXURE Questionnaire Q1:- Which mobile connection do you have? a) Airtel b) Vodaphone c) Idea d) Bsnl

Q2:- What kind of service you have a) Pre-paid b) Post-paid

Q3:- Overall, how would you rate your service provider? a) Excellent b) Good c) Average d) Poor e) Terrible f) Not Sure

Q4:- Rank the following factors which influenced you to buy the service of your choice? a) b) c) d) Price Network Service Brand Image Value Added Services (Rel to Rel Free after 11PM)

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Q5- Rank the following VAS which attracted you the most to buy or retain the mobile service: a) SMS pack b) Concession Call Rates c) Internet Service d) Full Talk Time 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 Excellent --1 2 3 4 5 -- Poor

Q6:- How long have you used the service of that company? a) Less than one month d) 1 to 3 years b) 1 to 6 months e) Over 3 years c) 6 months to a year

Q7:- Overall, how satisfied are you, with network service of your company? a) Very satisfied b) Satisfied c) Neutral d) Dissatisfied e) Very dissatisfied

Q8:- How would you rate the service's value for money? a) Excellent b) Good c) Fair d) Poor d) Not sure

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Q9:- What kind of problems occurs the most for which you need to contact customer care/service department of your service provider? Rank them. a) b) c) d) Billing related Activation/deactivation related Information about VASs Network problem

Q10:- In thinking about your most recent experience with that company, how much satisfied are you with the customer care service? a) b) c) d) e) f) Very satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied N/A

Q11:- How satisfied are you with the process of getting your queries resolved?
a) b) c) d) e) Very satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

Q12:- The customer service representative was very courteous.

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a) b) c) d) e)

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Strongly Agree

Q13:- The customer service representative was very knowledgeable. a) b) c) d) e) Strongly Disagree Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Strongly Agree

Q14:- The waiting time for having my questions addressed was satisfactory. a) b) c) d) e) Strongly Disagree Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Strongly Agree

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If you were not totally satisfied with the customer service, will you please describe the reasons for your dissatisfaction? --

NAME-

AGE-

MOBILE MODEL-

OCCUPATION-