COMPARITIVE STUDY OF RETAIL OUTLETS IN TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY WITH REFERANCE TO RELIANCE COMMUNICATION

RELIANCE COMMUNICATION

Submitted by:

Under the guidance of:

TABLE OF CONTENT Content Acknowlegement Chapter 1 Objective of report Overview of telecom industry Intro. To concept of retail Chapter 2 Company Profile Chairmans profile Rcom SWOT analysis Company Structure Page No. 03 04 05 07 17 21 22 26 28 29
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 Product Range Annual Report Chapter 3 Objective of research Research design Methodology Factors of analysis Anaysis of data Chapter 4 Findings Findings from customer survey Conclusion Recommendations Annexure Bibleography Questionnaire

33 39 43 44 45 46 48 50 66 67 68 73 74 76 77 79

List of Graphs and Tables Content Fig 1.a Mobile suscribers Fig 1.b Leading Cellular providers Fig 1.c Fig 1.d Telecom sector milestones Fig 2.a Company Structure Fig 3.a Total Data tabulation Fig 3.b- Fig 3.n Analysis Fig 3.o Fig 3.p Fig 4.a Most selling plan Page No. 10 12 13 15-16 29 49 30-62 63 65 68
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Fig 4.b Reason to chose sevice Fig 4.c Problem with current operators Fig 4.d Cuatomer Care ratings Fig 4.e Reason to switch company

69 70 71 72

SYNOPSIS
Project Title:- Comprehensive study of retail outlets in telecom sector with special referance to Reliance Communication Project Objective:- To understand, analyse and interpret the telecom market dynamics and also in local market giving weightage to Reliance Communication. Methodology Adopted:- Collection of primary and secondary data. Primary data collected through questionnaire, interviews and observation. Brief Summary of the Project:- there are six players in the market reliance, airtel , idea, vodafone BSNL and tata indicom. The competition among these players are very high, companies are attracting customers by offering different plans and cheaper call rates. So in this competitive scenario there are different factors which can give competitive
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advantages to the companies like customer care, good network and effective communication with the retailers. Reliance communication is number 1 player in market in terms of postpaid service the reason behind this success is cheapest call rates, good collection services, good value added services good customer care services and many more. Thus, in this project a comparative study of all the players is done through interviewing retailers and customers. Thus an effort is made to study the local market.

ACKNOWLEGEMENT
I express my sincere gratitude to my industry guide Mr. Mohd. Faraz, Assistant Marketing Manager, Reliance communication Ltd. Lucknow, for his able guidance, continuous support and cooperation throughout my project, without which the present work would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the entire team of Reliance Communication Ltd. for the constant support and help in the successful completion of my project Also, I am thankful to my faculty guide Dr. Alka S Bhatt of my institute, for her continued guidance and invaluable encouragement.

ARJITA AGARWAL

CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL PRESENTATION OF THE TOPIC

OBJECTIVE OF REPORT

To understand, analyze and interpret the telecom market dynamics and its competitiveness in local market with reference to reliance communication.

INTRODUCTION
Telecom sector is one of the booming sectors and the market opportunities are immense this is quite evident seeing the increasing number of players in this sector. But unlike the past the competition has also increased leaps and bounds. The reason for this is the availability of so many options to choose from, these are being introduced by the current operators on a timely basis. Now-a-days in the telecom sector there is cut throat competition and only that operator who can withstand this competition can survive in the market, else suffers huge losses. To start the project, I have been told by my company guide is that a survey needs to be carried out which should be focused on retailers, customers and different tariff plans available with other operators .The findings from such a survey will be used to analyze

what is the current market scenario and where Reliance Communications stands in comparison to the other operators. After this I started designing questionnaires to conduct the survey. The questionnaire was approved by my company guide and he told me that I can start the survey on retailers. This report contains the survey conducted on retailers and the data collected (Postpaid/Prepaid Mobile Plans) from various outlets of all six telecom operators in Lucknow. Based on the data collected from retailers some findings have been reported and all the competitive plans in the mobile section. This would give an analysis of what is the current status of the company among the retailers and their satisfaction levels and what are the reasons for the sale of various other mobile plans and why they are the best selling ones. In the next phase of the project a summary on the survey on Customer Satisfaction is given which will give a clear picture of the Competitiveness of Reliance among other players.

OVERVIEW OF THE TELECOM INDUSTRY

The cellular phone industry is one of the Indias rapidly growing industries. Since the industry came into being in the mid 1990s, its average per annum growth rate has been a phenomenal 85 percent. By the end of 2002, the Indian cellular phone industry had over 10 million subscribers. The industry has undergone a number of changes over the years. The National telecom Policy 1999 was an important landmark in the development of the cellular telecom industry in India, the tariff rationalization and policy regulation introduced in the Policy helped the industry to grow at the pace it did. The years 2001 & 2002 saw an increase in the level of competition in the industry with more operators
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being given license, and fixed line providers also entering in the mobile market. In 2003, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced regulation of interconnects user charges to resolve conflicts between cellular operators and fixed line operators. The telecommunication industry operates in a licensed and regulated environment. The government of India, through Department of telecommunication (DOT) and Telecom commission, both functioning under the ministry of communication and information technology decides on the policies that governs/regulates the sector and issues the abovementioned licenses and registration. Indias telecom policy is guided by overall development goals and the interests of the consumer. In order to protect and promote consumer interest and ensure fair competition, an independent regulatory authority known as Telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) was established in 1997. The sector is more liberalized then many developing markets and in most respects, the regulatory framework has caught up with the need to manage a highly competitive market environment. Competition has been introduced into all segments and licenses are available to new entrants. Tariff control have been removed or structured as ceiling tariffs in areas where there is limited competition. There is a current initiative to simplify the charging brands for long distance calls and to remove some of the artificial constrains in the segregation of long distance and access licenses.

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Consolidation among operators has been facilitated. TRAI has actively intervened in many areas to ensure a level playing field between operators. Indian Telecom sector, like any other industrial sector in the country, has gone through many phases of growth and diversification. Starting from telegraphic and telephonic systems in the 19th century, the field of telephonic communication has now expanded to make use of advanced technologies like GSM, CDMA, and WLL to the great 3G Technology in mobile phones. Day by day, both the public players and the private players are putting in their resources and efforts to improve the telecommunication technology so as to give the maximum to their customers. The Indian telecom sector can be broadly classified into fixed line telephony and mobile telephony. The major players of the telecom sector are experiencing a fierce competition in both the segments. The major players like BSNL, MTNL, VSNL in the fixed line and Airtel, Hutch, Idea, Tata, Reliance in the mobile segment are coming up with new tariffs and discount schemes to gain the competitive advantage.

SUBSCRIBER TREND OF MOBILE TELEPHONY IN INDIAN MARKET

Year ending 31-march Mobile subscriber (millions)

1997 1998 1999 2000

0.34 0.88 1.2 1.88

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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

3.58 6.43 12.69 26.15 52 143 (Source TRAI)

Fig 1.a

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The cellular services can be classified into two segments the one is CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and the other is GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), CDMA and GSM are actually two technologies upon which mobiles works. In the starting only GSM services were launched, Reliance communications were the first to launch the CDMA technology in India, presently Reliance communication and TataIndicom provides CDMA technology and all the other companies namely Airtel, Vodaphone, Idea, BPL, Aircel, BSNL, MTNL are providing GSM technology. In south India reliance communications provides both GSM and CDMA technology.

Market shares of public and private players

The public players and the private players share the fixed line and the mobile segments. Currently the public players have more than 60% of the market share. Both fixed line and mobile segments serve the basic needs of local calls, long distance calls and the international calls, with the provision of broadband services in the fixed line segment and GPRS in the mobile arena. Traditional telephones have been replaced by the codeless and the wireless instruments. Mobile phone providers have also come up with GPRS-enabled multimedia messaging, Internet surfing, and mobile-commerce. The much awaited 3G mobile technology is soon going to enter the Indian telecom market. The GSM, CDMA, WLL service providers are all upgrading them to provide 3G mobile services.

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Along with improvement in telecom services, there is also an improvement in manufacturing. In the beginning, there were only the Siemens handsets in India but now a whole series of new handsets, such as Nokias latest N-series, Sony Ericssons W-series, Motorolas PDA phones, etc. have come up. Touch screen and advanced technological handsets are gaining popularity. Radio services have also been incorporated in the mobile handsets, along with other applications like high storage memory, multimedia applications, multimedia games, MP3 Players, video generators, Cameras, etc.

The leading cellular service providers have the following number of Subscribers:
Service Provider No. of CDMA Subscribers No. of GSM Subscribers

5.75 Crores

2.07 Crores 3.37 Crores

24.98 Lakhs

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2.44 Crores

2.44 Crores

1.3 Crores

25.56 Lakhs

10.62 Lakhs

48 Lakhs

Fig 1 .b RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN INDIAN TELECOM MARKET

The telecom sector has shown impressive growth during the past decade. Today, more than 125 million telephone networks is one of the largest communication networks in world, which continues to grow at a blistering pace. The rapid growth in the telecom sector can be attributed to the various pro-active and positive policy measures taken by the government as well as the dynamic and entrepreneurial spirit of the various telecom service providers both in private and public sector. Two striking features of this growth viz. increasing preference for mobile phones and higher contribution of private sector in the incremental growth have predominated the
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telecom sector. The share of mobile phones (including WLL mobile) has overtaken the share of landlines with 62% in the total number of phones. The private sector's contribution is also increasing rapidly. Currently more than 30 lakh phones are being added each month and it is targeted that by the end of 2007 the total number of phones may reach a level of 250 million taking the tele-density to more than 22% from the present level of 11.32%

Fig 1.c

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI):

TRAI was established under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 enacted on March 28, 1997. The goals and objectives of TRAI are focused towards providing a regulatory framework that facilitates achievement of the objectives of New Technology Policy (NTP) 1999. TRAI has endeavored to encourage greater corporation in the telecom sector together with better quality and affordable prices.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI):

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) was constituted in 1995 as a registered, non-profit, non-governmental society dedicated to the advancement of

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communication, particularly modern communication through Cellular Mobile Telephone Services. With a vision to establish and sustain a world-class cellular infrastructure and facilitate affordable mobile communication services in India, COAI main objectives are to protect the common & collective interests of its members. Keeping the mandate given to it, COAI is the official voice for the Indian Cellular industry and on its behalf it interacts with:

The policy maker, the licensor, the regulator, the spectrum management agency, the industry (telecom /non-telecom) associations

UPDATES ON INDIAN TELECOMMUNICATION SECTOR

The telecom sector has shown impressive growth during the past decade. Today, India with more than 125 million telephone network is one of the largest communication networks in world, which continues to grow at a blistering pace. The rapid growth in the telecom sector can be attributed to the various proactive and positive policy measures taken by the government as well as the dynamic and entrepreneurial spirit of the various telecom service providers both in private and public sector.

Telecom Sector Milestones

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YEAR 1991

EVENTS
National Telecom Policy formed, telecom equipment segment liberalized

Value added services like paging and VSATs opened to private

1992

sector, foreign investment guidelines initiated

Guidelines for private sector participation in basic services and

1994

cellular services

1996 1997

First round cellular services and basic services launched

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India formed

1998

Internet Service Providers Policy announced, second round of bids completed

New Telecom Policy, Migration from license fee to revenue

1999

sharing

2000

National long distance opened, long distance tariffs reduced, DoT corporative

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Fourth round of basic service licenses and cellular licenses

2001

finalized

2002

International long distance to be opened up to private sector

Source: Voice & Data, 2002

Fig 1.d

Introduction to Concept of Retail

The word retail is derived from the French word retailer, meaning to cut a piece off or to break bulk. In simple terms, it implies a first-hand transaction with the customer. Retailing can be defined as the buying and selling of goods and services. It can be defined as the timely delivery of goods and services demanded by consumers at prices that are competitive and affordable. Retailing involves a direct interface with the customer and the coordination of business activities from end to end right from the concept or design stage of a product or offering, to its delivery and post delivery service to the customer. The industry has

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contributed to the economic growth of many countries and is undoubtedly one of the fastest changing and dynamic industries in the world. Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by post, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a "retailer" buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy. The term "retailer" is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as a public utility, like electric power. Shops may be on residential streets, shopping streets with few or no houses or in a shopping mall. Shopping streets may be for pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to protect customers from precipitation. Online retailing, a type of electronic commerce used for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions and mail order, are forms of non-shop retailing. Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it is done as a recreational activity.

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Recreational shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying) and browsing and does not always result in a purchase.

RETAIL INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Retailing is one of the pillars of the economy in India and accounts for 35% of GDP.The retail industry is divided into organized and unorganized sectors. Over 12 million outlets operate in the country and only 4% of them being larger than 500 sq ft (46 m2) in size. Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those who are registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include the corporatebacked hypermarkets and retail chains, and also the privately owned large retail
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businesses. Unorganized retailing, on the other hand, refers to the traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kirana shops, owner manned general stores, paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc. Most Indian shopping takes place in open markets and millions of independent grocery shops called kirana. Organized retail such supermarkets accounts for just 4% of the market as of 2008. Regulations prevent most foreign investment in retailing. Moreover, over thirty regulations such as "signboard licences" and "anti-hoarding measures" may have to be complied before a store can open doors. There are taxes for moving goods to states, from states, and even within states.

RETAIL IN TELECOM INDUSTRY

The telecom retail outlets sell a wide range of mobile products including mobile handsets, accessories and gadgets, recharge vouchers, gaming devices and even direct-to-home television services. India is the fastest growing mobile market in the world and customers needed something like Hot Spot, mobile bazaars , mobile points, mobile store, Vodafone stores and mini

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outlets , reliance web worlds and reliance fifos which offers a multi-brand option with world class service in a very congenial environment. These types of telecom retail outlets rely on its understanding of the products and the customer need-gaps to provide unmatched mobile n its services solutions. India is all set to enter other related retail telecom categories. Reliance communication retail outlets chain is also increasing its head count by tenfold to 10,000 in the next three years from the current 1,000. The Reliance communication currently having more than 2000 retail outlets across India and is planning to increase its retail presence to 15000 touch points in three formats large, medium and compact besides shop-in-shops in malls and large retail outlets.

Chapter 2

COMPANY PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
The Reliance Group, founded by Shri Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is India's largest business house with total revenues of over Rs 99,000 crore (US$ 22.6 billion), cash profit of Rs 12,500 crore (US$ 2.8 billion), net profit of Rs 6,200 crore (US$ 1.4 billion) and exports of Rs 15,900 crore (US$ 3.6 billion). Reliance Communications has a customer base of over 38 million customers which is by far one of the largest in India.

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 There are about 8.5 million individual shareholders that stand among the largest in the world The Group assets of over US$ 7.5 billion and Group net worth of over US$ 7 billion Zero net debt at Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group level. Group market capitalization of over US$ 21 billion and over US$ 4 billion owned by foreign investors. Reliance flagship Stocks are included in esteemed stock exchanges as Sensex, Nifty and MSCI. Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, an outcome of the Reliance Group founded by Shri Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002), ranks among Indias top three private sector business houses in terms of net worth. The group has business interests that range from telecommunications (Reliance Communications Limited) to financial services (Reliance Capital Ltd) and the generation and distribution of power (Reliance Energy Ltd). Reliance ADA Groups flagship company, Reliance Communications, is India's largest private sector information and Communication Company, with over 38 million subscribers. It has established a pan-India, high-capacity, integrated (wireless and wire line), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network, to offer services spanning the entire Infocomm value chain.

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Other major group companies include Reliance Capital and Reliance Energy which are widely acknowledged as the market leaders in their respective areas of operation. The companies under the group are:

Adlabs Cinemas Reliance Capital Reliance Capital Reliance Mutual Fund Reliance Life Insurance Reliance General Insurance Reliance Money Reliance Consumer Finance Reliance Communications

Reliance Energy Reliance Power Reliance Health

Reliance Communication
Reliance Communications is Indias largest information and communications service provider with over 50 million subscribers. Reliance Communications Limited is the realization of our founders dream of bringing about a digital revolution that will provide every Indian with affordable means of communication and a ready access to information. The company began operations in 1999 and has over 48 million subscribers today. It
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offers a complete range of integrated telecom services. These include mobile and fixed line telephony, broadband, national and international long distance services, data services and a wide range of value added services and applications aimed at enhancing the productivity of enterprises and individual.

The multi dimensional look conveys our deepest appreciation for the rich diversity of human life and human desires the unifying basis for our varied business interests.

The new identity (logo) of ADAG

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The symbol, Reliance APEX conveys the spirit of excellence, the human urge for progress, the desire to reach higher, the resolve to shape a better future. The APEX is the highest point the pinnacle - an abiding symbol of hope and optimism, achievement and success.

The majestic Blue represents stability, confidence, self assurance and optimism.

The auspicious Red represents energy, dynamism, passion and determination.

CHAIRMANS PROFILE

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Regarded as one of the foremost corporate leaders of contemporary India,Shri Anil D Ambani, 48, is the chairman of all listed companies of the Reliance ADA Group, namely, Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy and Reliance Natural Resources limited. He is also Chairman of the Board of Governors of Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat. Till recently, he also held the post of Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Indias largest private sector enterprise. Anil D Ambani joined Reliance in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer, and was centrally involved in every aspect of the companys management over the next 22 years. He is credited with having pioneered a number of path-breaking financial innovations in the Indian capital markets. He spearheaded the countrys first forays into the overseas capital markets with international public offerings of global depositary receipts, convertibles and bonds. Starting in 1991, he directed Reliance Industries in its efforts to

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raise over US$ 2 billion. He also steered the 100-year Yankee bond issue for the company in January 1997.

He is a member of
Wharton Board of Overseers, The Wharton School, USA Central Advisory Committee, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Board of Governors Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

In June 2004, he was elected for a six-year term as an independent member of the Rajya Sabha, Upper House of Indias Parliament a position he chose to resign voluntarily on March 25, 2006.

Awards and achivements

Conferred the CEO of the Year 2004 in the Platts Global Energy Awards Rated as one of Indias Most Admired CEOs for the sixth consecutive year in the Business Barons TNS Mode opinion poll, 2004 Conferred The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award by the Bombay Management Association, October 2002 Awarded the First Wharton Indian Alumni Award by the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) in recognition of his contribution to the establishment of Reliance as a global leader in many of its business areas, December 2001

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Selected by Asiaweek magazine for its list of Leaders of the Millennium in Business and Finance and was introduced as the only new hero in Business and Finance from India, June 1999.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF RELIANCE COMMUNICATION STRENGTHS

Mobile communication arms of a large, well-funded, well connected and ambitious Indian conglomerate. Economies of scale from large suscriber base.Expertise in a Business model hat allows it to maintain high profitability from low yielding suscribers.

WEAKNESSES
Cost structure disadvantage with suscribers spead across two different mobile network. Low ARPU compared to competitors. Weakness in rural markets. Brand positioning, limited availability of value added services.

OPPORTUNITIES
Aggressive move into the rural market, use upcoming mobile number Portability as launching pad to grab market share of higher ARPU users and ramp up on data revenue. Overseas investments. Lease spare capacity on its CDMA network to mobile virtual network operators.

THREATS
Quicker than expected slowing of growth in Indian market place. Mobile number portability risk accelerating churn of suscribers from CDMA to GSM New competitors.

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Fig 2.a

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VISION OF THE FOUNDER - LATE SHRI DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

"We will leverage our strengths in executing complex global-scale projects to make leading edge information and communication services affordable by all individual consumers and businesses in India. We will offer unparalleled value to create customer delight and enhance business productivity. We will also generate value for our

capabilities beyond Indian borders while enabling millions of India's knowledge workers to deliver their services globally". Reliance communication envisions a digital revolution that will sweep the country and bring about a New Way of Life. A digital way of life for a New India. With mobile devices, net ways and broadband systems linked to powerful digital networks, Reliance communication will usher fundamental changes in the social and economic landscape of India. Reliance communication will help men and women connect and communicate with each other. It will enable citizens to reach out to their work place, home and interests, while on the move. It will enable people to work, shop, educate and entertain themselves round
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the clock, both in the virtual world and in the physical world. It will make available television programmes, movies and news capsules on demand. It will unfurl new

simulated virtual worlds with exhilarating experiences behind the screens of computers and televisions. Users of Reliance communication's full range of services would no longer need audiotapes and CDs to listen to music. Videotapes and DVDs would not be necessary to see movies. Books and CD ROMs would not be needed to get educated. Newspapers and magazines would not be required to keep abreast of events. Reliance communication will disseminate information at a low cost. "Make a telephone call cheaper than a post card". These prophetic words of Dhirubhai Ambani will be a metaphor of profound significance for Reliance communication. Reliance communication will regularly unfold new applications. Continually adapt new digital technologies. Create new customer experiences. Constantly strive to be ahead of the world. Reliance communication will transform thousands of villages and hundreds of towns and cities across the country. Above all, Reliance communication will pave the way to make India a global leader in the knowledge age.

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MANTRAS OF SUCCESS OF LATE SHRI DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

Growth has NO LIMIT at Reliance. I keep revising my VISION. Only when you dream it. You can do it. Give the youth a proper environment. Motivate them. Extend them the support they need. Each one of them has infinite source of energy. They will deliver. Dont give up, Courage is my Conviction. Think Big, Think fast and Think Ahead, Ideas are no ones monopoly. If you work with Determination and with Perfection, Success will follow. Meeting the dead lines is not good enough, beating the dead lines is my Expectation. Between my Past, the Present and the Future, there is one common factor Relationship and Trust. This is the foundation of our Growth. We bet on people. You do not require an invitation to make profits. Pursue your goals even in the face of difficulties and convert adversities into opportunities.

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PRODUCT RANGE
For the first time in the CDMA space anywhere in the world, Reliance Info comm has indigenously developed a revolutionary product, named Get Started Kit (GSK), to empower its subscribers with the flexibility to choose from its wide range of handsets, as well as the choice to select mobile phone numbers of one's choice. The benefits of introducing GSK are listed below. GSK offers flexibility to choose from an array of handsets GSK also boosts second hand phone market and enables reusability of Deprovisioned handsets of Reliance. Rollout across Reliance Web-Worlds and 40,000-strong channel chain India's largest mobile services provider with over nine-million subscribers, Reliance Infocomm rolled out the GSK, which is available at Reliance Web-Worlds and the 40,000-strong channel partners across the country. With the new GSK, available for both prepaid and post-paid subscribers in separate packs, one can purchase any Relianceapproved handsets from the open market and get them activated, that too with numbers of their choice. Hitherto, Reliance Infocomm, or for that matter any other CDMA operator, has been providing handsets with pre-activated numbers. The GSK consists of a pre-allocated ten-digit RIM number and a nine-digit unique PIN to help activate a handset. The new product is ideally suited for those who would like to have a number of their choice, those who would like to have local numbers when they move to new cities or towns and those who would like to either sell or gift their old handsets and buy new ones.
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Reliance Info comm Ltd., a Reliance group company, is India's largest mobile service provider with over 9 million customers. Reliance Infocomm has established a pan- India, high capacity, integrated (wireless and wire-line) and convergent (voice, data and video) digital network, to offer services spanning the entire Info comm. value chain infrastructure, services for enterprises and individuals, applications and consulting. Reliance communications current ventures include:

Reliance India Mobile Wireless services Reliance Data Card Broadband services Reliance PCOs.

Postpaid and Prepaid Fixed Wireless Phone, Fixed Wireless Telephone A high Speed Mobile Internet Device

In this project only Reliance India Mobiles (RIM) has been included. This has been intentionally done as the Broadband and Reliance PCOs are a Separate division under Reliance Communications Enterprise Division so these sections have been excluded.

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MARKETING MIX OF RELIANCE COMMUNICATION

Marketers use numerous tools to elicit desired responses from their target markets. These tools constitute the marketing mix. The four broad groups which we call the four Ps of marketing are as follows: Product Price Place Promotion

An apportionment of the combination, the designing, the integration of the elements and the effort put into the product can be enumerated as follows:

PRODUCT
Products offered by Reliance include: 1. Reliance India Mobile 2. Reliance Net-connect 3. Reliance Broadband 4. Reliance India Phone 5. Reliance Data Card 6. Reliance India Call Reliance includes large variety of handsets, which also offer popular handsets of Nokia, LG, Motorola, Classic and Black Berry. They include features like: In-built modem for Internet connectivity. Caller line identification Value roaming Voicemail service
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Way call conference Caller line identification restriction International SMS Call wait/call hold/call divert SMS chatting Internet E-mail. Cameras Multimedia players. Blue tooth.

(The features of set depends upon the cost of set not every set contain all the written features) Reliance India also provides with after sales services by way of dealing with customer complaints that can be dealt at Reliance web stores.

PRICE
Reliance has flexible tariff plans that could be opted for depending on the various spend levels and calling patterns of the customers. For postpaid subscribers they have NJR 199 SOHO, Unlimited 440, 99 on net pack, SMS packs. That reduces the call rates. There are tariff plans which enables customer to call Reliance to Reliance 24 hour all India free. These flexible tariff systems has been developed keeping into consideration the segmentation of the customers on the basis of demographic, geographic and behavioral basis. Reliance communications give mobile handsets at unbelievably low prices the set range starts from Rs.777 and goes to Rs. 30000

PLACE
Reliance India Phone has coverage of 1, 65,000 kms of optic fiber backbone. Wireless network covering over 15000 cities/towns and 4 lack villages.
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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. Its distribution channel includes Reliance Web world Reliance Web worlds are company managed retail outlets where Reliance India Mobile and Reliance India Phone products are showcased and retailed. It has in all 4 web worlds in Lucknow. Reliance Web world Express ( Now RMS) Reliance 'Web world Expresses' are franchised retail and customer service outlets in the neighborhood customers. Reliance 'India Mobile and Reliance 'India Phone' products are showcased and retailed at Reliance 'Web world Express'. There are 22 web world expresses in Lucknow. Mini CIOUs(Customer Integrated Operation Units) Super Direct Sales Agents (DSA) Lucknow has 1 CIOUs. Customers can contact Reliance Sales Agents for demonstration of products, offer details, subscription and delivery of Reliance India Mobile Services at their doorstep. Payment Location To help customer pay their monthly bills, Reliance have fixed drop boxes at various locations throughout the city. The drop boxes are located at Reliance Web worlds, Retail shops, Vimal showrooms and various bank branches.

PROMOTION
Communication adds to the merits of the product and induces target customers into buying the product. Reliance has a very aggressive promotion campaign which includes newspapers, magazines, television, hoardings etc. The Company has spent a large
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amount of money in sales promotion by means of media advertising, through celebrity endorsements, hoardings, road shows and various discount schemes. Some of the prime mediums of promotion regularly used by the company are: Regular supply of collaterals, pamphlets and brochures to the vast pool of retailers. Installation of signage, gantry, glow signs and hoardings. Print media Audio video medium of communication

Company had spent Rs.90 lack on advertisement in recent brand change programs. It proves the promotion consciousness of RCVL.

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Annual Result of Reliance Communication

Annual results in brief
Mar ' Mar ' Mar ' Dec ' Dec '

Sales Operating profit Interest Gross profit EPS (Rs)

09 08 07 06 05 13,610. 13,416. 11,725. 8,584. 58 19 26 97 4,337.1 4,882.4 4,476.6 3,276. 6 6 0 94 85.58 445.17 232.38 162.84 -6.79 4,335.6 4,447.7 4,280.8 3,149. 11.59 7 5 7 84 565.0 11.40 12.53 11.78 8.42 0

Annual results in details

Mar ' 09 Mar ' 08 Mar ' 07 Dec ' 06 Other income 84.09 Stock adjustment Raw material Power and fuel Employee expenses 759.35 Excise Admin and selling expenses Research and development expenses Expenses capitalised Other expenses 8,514.07 Provisions made Depreciation 2,366.90 Taxation 12.40 Net profit / loss 2,352.93 10.46 858.65 7,675.08 1,843.66 17.64 2,586.45 Dec 05 36.65 35.74 6.47 684.40 492.04 1.11 2,119.44 1,544.81 0.56 4,444.82 1,836.12 12.00 2,408.85 3,271.18 1,364.39 18.35 1,722.10 2.74 3.20 5.65 42 '

Extra ordinary item Prior year adjustments Equity capital Equity dividend rate Agg.of non-prom. shares 6741.66 (Lacs) Agg.of non promotoHolding 32.66 (%) OPM (%) 31.87 GPM (%) 31.66 NPM (%) 17.18

Dec 05 396.56 -23.90 -45.00 1,032.01 1,032.01 1,022.31 1,022.31 0.05 Mar ' 09 Mar ' 08 Mar ' 07 Dec ' 06 6992.16 6798.04 6797.94 33.88 36.39 33.13 19.26 33.25 38.18 36.40 20.48 33.25 38.17 36.54 19.98 -

'

43

FUTURE PROSPECTS
Reliance Communication plans to raise USD 500 million funds via QIP
Reliance Communications (RCom), the country`s second-largest mobile service provider, has joined the list of companies planning to raise around USD 500 million funds through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route, reports Economic Times. The company said that it will seek shareholder approval to gather funds from qualified institutional investors, through a share sale or an issue of a variety of instruments including fully convertible, partly convertible or non-convertible debentures with warrants or any other security. RCOM said the funds will be raised in one or more tranches. The proposed exercise shall not result in increase in the company`s paid-up capital by more than 25%. It will be used
44

to finance the company`s plans to participate in the upcoming auction of frequency spectrum for 3G and Wi-Max services. Shares of the company gained Rs 8.45, or 2.84%, to settle at Rs 305.80. The total volume of shares traded was 3,834,840 at the BSE (Friday).

Reliance Communication, Etisalat ally to bid for core projects

Reliance Communications (RCom), on Wednesday, announced a long term passive infrastructure sharing agreement with Etisalat DB which is expected to generate a business of Rs 10,000 crore for a period of 10 years.

Reliance Communication to provide network services to OLPC project

Reliance Communication to provide network services to OLPC project Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has announced that they are now collaborating with One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation. Through this collaboration, Reliance Communication would now be providing Internet connectivity, network and logistics to the OLPCs India initiative.

Reliance Communication to float $500 million tender for 3G

At present, RCom is predominantly a CDMA-based operator. However, sources close to the development say that the company is looking at 3G services only in the GSM space. The tender covers equipment supply and servicing for commissioning of the 3G
45

network. The vendors include Huawei, Alcatel Lucent, Nokia Siemens Networks, ZTE and Ericsson, sources added. Currently, all mobile services offered in the country run on second generation (2G) networks. RCom already offers second generation GSM service in eight circles and holds licences for the remaining 14 circles also. RCom will have to compete with other GSM majors such as Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular in the GSM space. Besides, the auctions for 3G spectrum will be intensely fought battle as several international communication majors such as NTT DoCoMo, AT&T and Verizon amongst others are likely to enter the fray.

Chapter 3

PRESENTATION OF DATA AND ANALYSIS

46

Objective of the research:

The primary objective of the research is to understand, analyze and interpret the telecom market dynamics and its competitiveness in local telecom market, in local market there are six players in the market Reliance Communication, Airtel, Idea, Vodafone, BSNL and Tata Indicom. In the present scenario the competition among this player is very high, companies are attracting customers by offering new plans and cheaper call rates. So in this competitive scenario there are different factors which can give competitive advantage to the companies. Like customer care, network coverage and good communication with retailers. Reliance communication is no. One player in market in terms of postpaid services. The reason behind this success is the cheapest call rates good collection services, good value added services and good customer care services.

Scope of study
47

The study pertains only to the retailers of the telecom sector The study shows the impact of different factors like network coverage, tariff plans, offers and relations with the retailers. The study also portrays how the retailers rank the six companies on the basis of different factors. The study also gives the information about the competitive advantage of different companies.

Objectives of the research are:

To conduct a survey and ascertain / identify various types of services which effect retailers satisfaction and there operations. To determine and analyze the results of the survey along with the various relationships between factors. To interact with the retailers formally and informally and ascertain their problems empathetically.

RESEARCH DESIGN:
Exploratory research design was used for this project. The main purpose of this research is to interact with retailers and to know the satisfaction level by the quality of services being rendered by different telecom service providers. The major emphasis in this study is on discovering of ideas and insights.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS USED

Methods used under this kind of research design are: Developing plans for the research Drafting questionnaire Survey Analyzing and interpreting the results.

48

Here I have used method of research-based survey. The telecom retailers are my research subjects. The object of the survey is to obtain the insight into the relationship between the sales and services rendered by the companies.

Advantages
It is fast and easy to comprehend. It can get good result even with a small sample size. It gives the research the necessary flexibility to get a deeper understanding of the respondents.

METHODOLOGY
Data collection used for the specific purpose of the research was first hand data called primary data. It is the first hand data, which is collected through direct involvement of both the parties. The method that was used for obtaining primary data was through questionnaires.

SAMPLE DESIGN
Sampling is done to figure out the parameters, which decide our sampling techniques and the sample size to be adopted. It is the process of selecting units from population of interest so that by studying the samples one can fairly generalize the results to the population from which the results were chosen. This would further help the whole research to reach the final solution. SAMPLE SIZE SAMPLING UNIT : 200 : Telecom retailers and Consumers
49

SAMPLING DESIGN

: Non Probability Quota Sampling

I have planned to do the research by personally visiting the retailers or through telephonic interview. These retailers have been picked up from the sample population from the prime locations in Lucknow telecom market. Out of all the sampling techniques I have chosen non-probability sampling techniques as I have only considered samples, which are dealing in Reliance telecom services. So it is better to say that I have used purposive non-probability sampling. And among the non-probability sampling techniques I am using quota-sampling technique as I have been taking the samples, which are dealing in Reliance telecom services. In quota sampling one has to select people non-randomly according to fixed quota. I have used sample based survey, as the pool of retailer was very vast. But the sample was abstracted with utmost care. This was done because of lack of time and resources. As RCVLs market in Lucknow is broadly divided among three distributors, so my target was to cover at least 10% from the whole set of retailers. So I have covered around 10 % of retailers falling under each distributor. The prime focus was to plan the research in such way that the sample size presents the true story and depicts the actual picture

Limitations
The scope of the study is restricted only to the major areas of Lucknow and does not include the outskirts. Responsive error ---- this arises when respondents are unwilling to listen or talk. Time was the major constraints in interviewing required retailers.

50

FACTORS USED FOR ANALYSIS

The fourteen factors on which I have compared the companies are: 1. Advertising Campaigns 2. Offer from the companies to the customers at the time of new connections. 3. Network Connectivity in Lucknow. 4. Offers to the existing customers. 5. Customer care. 6. Products and tariff plans. 7. Prepaid services. 8. Postpaid services. 9. Internet/ data card services. 10. Value added services (VAS). 11. Communication with retailers for new schemes and changes in schemes. 12. Profitability from the retailers point of view.
51

13. Demand in the market. 14. Response, for the requests of the customers and retailers.

The overall tabulation of the questionnaire responses is as follows.

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Fig 3.a

1. ADVERTISEMENT CAMPAIGN

53

Fig 3.b
Ranking:
1. Vodafone 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Reliance 5. BSNL 6. Tata indicom Looking at the responses Vodafone is doing very well in advertising campaigns, Reliance stands at fourth position in advertising campaigns, it depicts that the reliance advertising is not as effective as Airtel or Vodafone. Reliance is far behind Vodafone in advertising campaigns, which shows its weakness.

2. OFFERFROM THE COMPANY TO THE NEW CUSTOMERS AT THE TIME OF NEW CONNECTION
54

Fig 3.c Ranking:

1. BSNL 2. Reliance 3. Airtel and Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom These offers are given by companies to attract the customer of other service providers or new customers of the industry. Surprisingly 23% of the retailers think that BSNL provides best offers with new connections. Reliance is at the second position, though reliance offers are very attractive but the reason is Reliance offers CDMA connection that may be a reason why it stands at the second position.

3. NETWORK CONNECTIVITY IN LUCKNOW

55

Fig 3.d Ranking: 1. Airtel 2. Vodafone 3. Reliance 4. BSNL 5. Idea 6. Tata indicom Reliance communication stands third in terms of connectivity. Airtel and Vodafone have better connectivity. Being good in connectivity is essential to survive in telecom sector, Reliance Communication uses CDMA technology which gives better connectivity and better voice clarity comparing to the GSM technology. But still retailer thinks that Reliance network is not as good as Airtel and Vodafone

4. OFFERS TO THE EXISTING CUSTOMERS

56

Fig 3.e
Ranking: 1. Reliance 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. BSNL 5. Vodafone 6. Tata indicom Reliance stands at the first position in providing offers to the customers. Reliance keeps on launching new attractive offers time to time. In last two months reliance has launched five new offers on coulor mobiles of LG and Classic at the rates. No other company can offer mobile sets at such cheaper rates.

5. PRODUCT AND TARIFF PLANS

57

Fig 3.f Ranking: I. Reliance II. Idea III. Airtel IV. BSNL & Vodafone V. Tata indicom Reliance offers best plans, cheapest call rates and attractive tariff vouchers. Reliance also provides LG and Classic handsets at unbelievably low cost. And hence it stands at the first. Idea is also offering cheaper call rates and attractive tariffs to the customer.

7 . PREPAID SERVICES

58

Fig 3.g Ranking: 1. Airtel 2. Reliance 3. Vodafone 4. Idea 5. BSNL 6. Tata indicom 37% are in the favor of Airtel and 35% are in the favor of Reliance. The reason may be due to the difference in the technology that is CDMA and GSM

8. POSTPAID SERVICES

59

Fig 3.h Ranking: 1. Reliance 2. Vodafone 3. Airtel 4. Idea 5. BSNL 6. Tata indicom Reliance enjoys no. one position in postpaid services no with no competitor near it; the nearest competitor is Airtel 20%. Which is still far away it shows that reliance has well captured the postpaid market.

9. INTERNET AND DATA CARD

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Fig 3. i Ranking: 1. Airtel 2. Reliance 3. BSNL 4. Tata indicom 5. Idea 6. Vodafone In broad band segment Airtel is no. One reason in Airtel broadband is available in every area of Lucknow but the conditions are not same with reliance its broadband is available in some parts of Lucknow. Reliance also provides Net connect facility which is a better service than broadband it is a wire less service which can be used with laptops and desk tops as well. Reliance offers net connect with attractive schemes. Net connect is now getting very popular in the market. The only competitor in this segment of net connect is Tata indicom.

10. VALUE ADDED SERVICES (VAS)

61

Fig 3. j Ranking: 1. Airtel 2. Reliance 3. Vodafone 4. BSNL & Idea 5. Tata indicom In value added services reliance stands second and Airtel is again no. One in this segment. Both Airtel and Reliance are providing excellent VAS but the target customer of Reliance and Airtel are different.

11. COMMUNICATON WITH RETAILERS FOR NEW SCHEMES AND CHANGE IN SCHEMES
62

Fig 3. k Ranking: 1. Reliance 2. Airtel 3. Vodafone 4. Idea 5. BSNL 6. Tata indicom I asked this question to the retailers to know which company is friendly with the retailers, since retailers play a very important role in increasing the sales of any company. The retailer will communicate wrong or old scheme and call rates to customer which may alter the sales of that company. Retailers think that Reliance is the in communicating about changes in schemes and new schemes. communication. This is a good sign for Reliance

12. PROFITABILITY FROM RETAILERS POINT OF VIEW

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Fig 3. l Ranking: 1. Reliance 2. Idea 3. Airtel 4. BSNL 5. Vodafone 6. Tata indicom Asking about which company is more profitable for retailers. The majority of the retailers think its Reliance. The reason behind asking this question was, retailers would promote the sales of that company more which is more profitable for them. Idea is the next more profitable company for retailers.

13. DEMAND FROM THE CUSTOMERS

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Fig 3.m

Ranking: 1. Reliance 2. Airtel 3. BSBL 4. Vodafone 5. Idea 6. Tata indicom The figures depicts that Reliance has highest demand in the market. The next is Airtel.

14. RESPONSE, FOR THE REQUEST OF CUSTOMERS AND RETAILERS

65

Fig 3 .n Ranking: 1. Airtel 2. Vodafone 3. Reliance 4. BSNL 5. Idea 6. Tata indicom Which company gives quick Responses, for the requests of the customers and retailers. Requests like demand for special mobile no., blocking the no. in case of theft of mobiles. Retailers requests like e-recharges, invalid recharge coupons etc. Retailers think Airtel gives quick responses for such request. Reliance stands third in this segment and surprisingly BSNL got 10% of the votes for quick response

RELIANCE COMMUNICATION VS. BHARTI AIRTEL

Looking at the market share of the two companies Airtel has captured the largest segment of the market and Reliance is second in terms of market share. My survey is also
66

Fig 3.o showing that Airtel is giving very tough competition to reliance in every segment. The figure shows Reliance lacks in advertising campaigns, connectivity, customer care, Internet services and value added services. In other 9 factors Reliance doing well. Airtel is only snag in Anils ambition of being the no one in Indian telecom market. The reason is Airtels seven year head start over Rcom. On most counts the different between the two is fast declining. Both have pan India presence, in all 23 telecom circles; Airtel has a 62 million subscriber base; and R Com has 46 million subscribers. Every month R Com is adding 1.6 million subscribers, as compared to Airtels 2.3 million. What Airtel has managed to achieve in 12 years R Com has aggressively managed to achieve somewhat similar level in just about five years of operations.

Reliance communication

Bharti Airtel

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Total revenues (Rs. In 19,067.76 crores) Mobile revenue Subscriber base 15,213.54 46

27,025

21,786 62 Rs. 357 9.4%of total revenue

Average revenue per users Rs. 339 Revenue from non voice n/a services Capex Reach $5.3 billion 15000 town and 4 lack villages Optic fiber Revenue from sms 165000 km n/a

n/a 5000 town and 3.42 lack villages 73,787 km 4.4%of total revenues

Over all Comparison of the six companies:

68

Fig 3.p The figure depicts the sum of all votes got by the six companies for all the fourteen factors. Airtel and Reliance communication received the same number of votes. Tata indicom received the lowest number of votes.

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Chapter 4

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

FINDINGS
Most of retailers think that the Reliance Communications Advertisement campaigns are not as effective as other companies.
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Most of the retailers prefer GSM in comparison of CDMA because GSM gives a huge choice of handsets. Reliance Communication is offering good schemes to attract new customers. Most of the retailers think that Reliance connectivity is not as good Airtel and Vodafone. Most of the retailers agree that Reliance is providing the best offers and tariff plans. According to the most of retailers no. one prepaid service provider is Airtel and Reliance stands second in prepaid services. According to most of the retailers Reliance is no. one post paid service provider. According to the retailers Airtel is no. one internet provider and Reliance stands at second position. In value added services Reliance stands behind Airtel. Most of the retailers think that Reliance has maintained strong relationship with them and communicate about new schemes very quickly. According to most of retailers Reliance is most profitable for them. According to the retailers Reliance has highest demand from customers. According to the most of the retailers Reliance do not responds quickly to retailers and to the customers request Airtel is the main competitor for Reliance and doing even better than Reliance in some areas like customer care. Idea is gradually improving its market share and it can be a threat for Reliance. Tata indicom is the weakest player in the Lucknow market. Reliance has positioned itself very well in the post paid market. Reliance is the most profitable company for retailers.

FINDINGS FROM THE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

71

Most selling plan

Company Reliance Airtel Vodaphone Idea BSNL Tata Indicom

Postpaid Plan
NJ SOHO

Prepaid Plan
199 Lifetime Prepaid

Special Pack
STV120& STV49

250 Rental FR275 Easy 400 Plan 325 224 Rental

350 Recharge Rs.7 SMS CARD,STV89 6 Month STV69, Half Rate Validity 70 My Gang STV22,STV69

200 Day EXCEL incoming POWER,STV100 149 1Year For POWER49

Fig 4.a

REASON TO CHOOSE SERVICES OF THIS COMPANY

72

Company Reliance Airtel Vodaphone Idea

Reason why chosen Tariff plans and STVs Better Network Coverage Customer focus Promotional offers Schemes &

BSNL

Promotional offers

Schemes

&

Tata Indicom

Customer Focus
Fig 4.b

PROBLEMS FACED WITH CURRENT OPERATOR

Company

Problems customer

faced

by

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Reliance

Bill not given on time and balance gets deducted automatically. Bill dispute / Hidden cost and not very satisfying. Balance gets deducted & SIM often Blocks. Network not very good. Congestion is too heavy on the network and call drops often. Network coverage is not very good and bill not given on time.
Fig 4.c

Airtel Vodaphone Idea BSNL Tata Indicom

RATING THE CUSTOMER CARE Company Excellent

05%

Good
14%

Average
60%

Unsatisfactory
21%

Reliance

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Airtel Vodaphone Idea BSNL Tata Indicom

18% 66% 12% 06% 12%

58% 23% 21% 09% 63%

21% 10% 59% 73% 19%

03% 01% 08% 12% 06%

Fig 4.d

SWITCHING TO ANOTHER COMPANY AND WHY? Company switching to %

42%

Why this company?

Due to good tariff plans for both Local & STD calling.
75

Reliance

Airtel Vodaphone Idea BSNL Tata Indicom

13% 21% 15% 06% 03% Fig 4.e

Due to better network coverage. More customer focus and good tariff plans. Due to availability of variety of Special Vouchers. Due to deep network penetration and customer focus. Cheap Handsets and Low Tariff.

45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% R im Voda fone B NL S %People S witc h

CONCLUSION
This research on market competitiveness of RCVL in Lucknow telecom sector helps to analyze and understand the trends of telecom industry and the market position of
76

Reliance Communications in Lucknow. It is an honest attempt conducted to understand the market complexities and the problems faced by the company. Telecom industry is growing very fast in India and so in Lucknow. Reliance is a major player of this industry and presently has 46 million subscriber base still it stand at second position after Airtel which has subscriber base of 62 million subscribers. The competition in telecom market is very high and each and every area of service matters equally. Reliance Communications has strongly positioned itself for accelerating market growth but now it is emphasizing to reach in the un-served market that are rural areas where it will get huge opportunity to flourish its business. Airtel and Vodafone being the strongest competitors, Reliance is required to work on its weaknesses and grab the opportunities beforehand to maintain and improve its market position in the telecom sector. The study reveals the weaknesses and strengths of Reliance communication. Reliance needed to improve its Customer care, network connectivity and offers to new connections. The study based on the several months of data, clearly brings out the need for ensuring effective interconnection between various operators in view of the rapid growth in the mobile customer base. The study further reveals, that to be able to cope up with this growing rate, without congestion in the network, there is an imperative need to drastically curtail the time needed for providing the interconnection or for meeting the augmentation requests.

RECOMMENDATION
Product line and attributes
1. Company should monitor and revive its product related features.
77

2. Company should adapt an innovative approach and always be ahead of its competitors. 3. Always look for latest technology, equipped with enhanced set of facilities 4. Regularly modify or replace the product in order to make a niche in the target segment.

Tariff plans
1. Company should make tariff plans simpler. TRAI has also its keen concern on the complexity of tariff plans which rather helping the retailers and customers they confuse them. 2. Company should categorize the tariff plans into three categories. Each category for an individual set of customers on the basis of their usage pattern. This will help them to identify the best suited tariff plan for his/her requirement. Following categories is suggested: a) Low budget users (L) b) Medium budget users (M) c) High budget users (H)

Market expansion
1. Company should try to retain the present retailer base and look forward to unexplored markets. 2. Company should focus on those retailers, which are not giving huge business but have potential to do so. Reliance must take care of its advertising complains in Lucknow cluster. The Customer Care services needed to be improved, as most of the retailers are not satisfied with it. Reliance must take care of the connectivity problems in the network. The Net connect service of Reliance still need better promotion activities as reliance still lacks behind in internet services. Value Added Services should be advertised keeping target customer in mind. And improvement in VAS is also required.
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Reliance must take care of requests of retailers and customer and should give quick response to the requests. Reliance must launch GSM service in the market to further increase its market share. Because CDMA service limits the Choice of handsets. Reliance must improve the quality of Classic mobiles as there are so many complain in the performance of Classic mobile sets. Reliance must make available its broadband services in all areas of Lucknow as it has a high demand from the customers. Reliance must take care of stock of the products which come under schemes for few days. Because generally such products run out of stock during the schemes period.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
80

Books
Kotler. Phillip, Keller. Kevin, Marketing management, Prentice hall India, 12 edition,
th

2006, (102-103) Kevin.j.clancy, Robert .s. shulmen, Marketing myths that are killing business, McGraw hill (New York), 4th edition, 1994, (213-215) Chrsto. f. lovelock , Jachen wirtz, Service marketing, Pearson education, 5 edition,
th

2004, (231-241) Chrsto. f. lovelock , Jachen wirtz, Service marketing, Pearson education, 5 edition,
th

2004, (231-241) Saxena rajan, Marketing management, Tata McGraw hill, 2nd edition, 2004, (55-67) Levin.m.david , Bearson.l.mack, Business statistics, Pearson education, 2 edition,
nd

2001, (503-509)

Internet
Company overview http://www.rimweb.in/forums/indexphp?showtopic=1896&mode http://www.rcovl.com/rcovlportal/business_profile.html http://www.rcovl.com/rcovlportal/home.jsp http://www.relianceada.com Industry overview www.trai.gov.in/trai/upload/tarifforders/54/torder21maro6.pdf www.coai.co.in www.auspi.co.in http://www.relianceada.com Competitive analysis http.//www.vodafone.in/bottom/aboutus.asp http.//www.vodafone.in/postpaid/talk_plans_upe.asp http://www.airtelworld.com/about.jsp
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http://www.tataindicom.com/aboutus.asp Research Methodology: C.R.Kothari, Harper W. Boyd, Jr. Ralph Westfall, Stanley F. Stasch 4 Ps Business and marketing http://www.relianceada.com

Questionnaire for (Retailers Survey) Q1. Which company is best in terms of advertising campaigns in Lucknow region?
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1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q2. Which company gives best offers at the time of new connections? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q3. Which one is the best service provider in terms of connectivity in Lucknow andouters of Lucknow? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q4. Which company provides the best offers to the customers? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q5. Which company gives the best customer care services to the customers? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q6. Which company provides best products and tariff plans to the customers? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q7. Which company is the best in providing prepaid services? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q8. Which company is the best in providing postpaid services? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q9. Which company is the best in providing internet/data card services? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q10. Which company provides the best value added services to the customers? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL
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Q11. Which company is the best in communicating the changes in schemes and new schemes to the retailers? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q12. Which company is most profitable from the retailers point of view? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q13. Which company has the highest demand from the customers? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL Q14. Which company gives the fastest response to the requests of customers and retailers? 1. Reliance Communication 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Vodafone 5. Tata Indicom 6. BSNL

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE (CUSTOMER SURVEY)

84

As a summer trainee in RELIANCE COMMUNICATION, survey is being conducted to measure Customer Satisfaction Level with the telecom operators in Lucknow. The information provided would be kept confidential and will be used only for academic purpose.

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
Name of the Customer: ___________________________________________ Contact Number: ___________________________________________ Q1. Which type of connection do you use? Prepaid Mobile Datacard Q2. You are using the services of which company? Reliance Airtel Vodaphone Idea BSNL Tata Indicom Q3. Which Tariff Plan are you using? _______________________________________________________________________ ______ Q5.Why you have chosen the services of this particular company? 1. Customers focus 2. Service delivery 3. Better network coverage 4. Promotional Schemes and Tariff plans 5. Better Sales Support 6. Customer Services Q6. Do you face any problem with services being offered by the operator, if yes please tick a. Bill not received on time b. Bill dispute/ Hidden costs c. Unsatisfactory plan d. Network e. Any other (Please Specify) _______________________________________________________ Q7. How would you rate the Customer care of the company whose services you are using? Excellent (4/4) Good (3/4) Average (2/4) Unsatisfactory (1/4) Q8. If you have to switch to some other Brand which would it be apart from the one you are using?
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Postpaid Mobile

Prepaid Fixed

Postpaid Fixed

Reliance 1. 2. 3.

Airtel

Vodaphone

Idea in

BSNL

Tata Indicom Network Quality Customer _ Coverage ___ Care

Q9. Any suggestions to improve the services/ customer base of Reliance Communication: Improvement Improvement Improvement in ______________________________________________________ Service in _________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

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