Study of Mobilink Marketing

Strategies

The Four Folks

CONTENTS
DED I CAT I
ON . . .. .....
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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ABSTRACT ..... .. ........ .. ........ .. ........ .. ........ .. .......... .. ........ .. ........ .. ........ .. ........ .. ......... .. ........ .. ........ .. ....
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R
ESEARCH
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ETHODOL
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Pr
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l ection
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OGY
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Data
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Col l..ection
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M I TAT I
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ONS
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PREM
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COMPANY
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.. .. I ZATIONAL
MOBILINK
-ORGAN
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CHART
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PRODUCTS ... ..........
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PSO
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BUS I NESS SOLUT
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... ........
Corporate SMS
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SMS Advertiser
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Mob il ink BlackBerry
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Stock
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Watch
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Conference Bridge
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ili nk
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WiMAX
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The Four Folks
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... .. ........ .. ........

Mob..ili........
nk PCO
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BCG GROWTH-SHARE MATR I
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Market
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Marketing
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Targeting
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...... ..Mob
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Sports
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Porta
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D
I FFERENT
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OS I T..I ON
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PR I CE .. .........
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R
C I NG.. STRATEGY
OF MOB I L I
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TTRACT
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.PACKAGES
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P..ROMOT
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..TRATEGY
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Promotional
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Joint
Agreements with Various
... .. Organizations
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... .. Promotional
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BUS I NESS LEVEL
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....... .. ........ ..Advertising
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Distinctive
Product
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Exceptional
Service
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........Technology
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Low28
Cost
Strategy
Funct
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nal Level
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Strategy
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Sales
Marketing
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Growth
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Penetration
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Market Share...
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Coverage
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... Analysis
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Financ i al Analysis
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Revenue
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User
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DEDICATION
Our work is dedicated to our beloved Parents, teachers, brothers, sisters and all of
our well wishers.

The Four Folks

Page 4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
To Him belongs the dimension of the Heavens and the earth, it is He who gives
Life and death and He has power over all things.
(Al-Quran)

All acclamation to Allah who has empowered and enabled us to accomplish the task
successfully. First of all we would like to thank our Allah Almighty who really helps us in every
problem during the project. We would like to express our sincere and humble gratitude to
Almighty whose Blessings, help and guidance has been a real source of all our achievements in
our life.
We would like to admit that we completed this project due to parents who pray for our success.
We also wish to express our appreciation to our supervisor Mr. Awais Khan who help us a lot
and introduce us to new dimensions of knowledge.
Last but not the least our team efforts, support, cooperation and encouragement showed by
each members in the group with each other.

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Page 5

ABSTRACT
Every organization, whether it is a multinational, private business, government offices, etc.
depend on its people. These people working as General Managers must be trained and kept motivated,
offered good working environment and must be acknowledged at work.
Telecom industry is growing in Pakistan, with new companies getting license the competition is tough as
a result the consumer is getting benefit and enjoying cheap call rates. With a population of 15 million
countries, telecom is one of the best revenue generated industry. As voice over IP, web conferencing and
online video sessions are becoming popular these companies have bright future ahead.
Mobilink GSM, a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom, started its operations in 1994, and has become the
market leader both in terms of growth as well as having the largest customer subscriber base in Pakistan a base of over 30 million and growing. We pride ourselves on being the first cellular service provider to
operate on a 100% digital GSM technology in Pakistan that also provides state-of-the-art communication
solutions to its customers.
Mobilink offers exclusively designed tariff plans that cater to the communication needs of a diverse
group of people, from individuals to businessmen to corporate and multinationals. To achieve this
objective, we offer both postpaid (Indigo) and prepaid (JAZZ) solutions to our customers. Compared to
our competitors, both the postpaid (Indigo) and prepaid (JAZZ) brands are the largest brands of their
kind in the Pakistan cellular industry.
In addition to providing advanced voice communication services that makes the lives of millions that
much easy, we also offer a host of value-added-services to our prized customers. At the same time,
Mobilink places high importance to its coverage, which is why we cover you in 8000+ cities and towns
nationwide as well as over 120 countries on international roaming service. In other words, we speak your
language, everywhere.

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Page 6

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research techniques that are adopted for the purpose of this study are as follows:

Primary Data Collection

1

Formal Interviews

Informal Interviews

The formal interviews include people from management and the informal interviews included
people from lower management.

Secondary Data Collection

1

Internet search

www.mobilinkgsm.com

www.mobilinkworld.com

www.pta.org

Newspapers

I have tried to attain the maximum authentic and complete information regarding company.

LI MITATIONS
One of the major limitations while carrying out this research was the lack of cooperation
on the part of the management of the Mobilink in providing the data regarding the company
and its policies.

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Page 7

CELLULAR INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN

Cellular Mobile segment of the industry is considered an engine of growth for telecom sector in
Pakistan, cellular Mobile sector continued to add 2.1 million subscribers per month during the year 200708, cellular mobile operators continued their aggressive marketing and network expansion, competition
among operators became more intensive with aggressive entry of CMPak, a China Mobile subsidiary in
Pakistan. CMPak with their brand Zong and Telenor have added significant subscribers very rapidly,
several cellular operators offered various Value Added Services at lower rates to attract more customers.
The sector exhibited slow growth than year before, Cellular Mobile teledensity jumped from 39% in 200607 to 54.7% in 2007- 08, collective Revenues of the sector have grew by 35% in the year 2007-08 against a
record growth of 48% in the year 2006-07, cellular subscribers grew by about 40% in the year 2007-08, as
against 82% in 2006 -07 and more than 100% during 2005-06, Main reason for its slow growth could be
the rising inflation which affects the affordability, higher taxes, saturation of the urban markets and low
tariffs.

I NTRODUCTION
Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E:
E in 1998 and has grown to become a major player in
stablished
the telecommunication market.
OTH is considered among the largest and most diversified network operators in the Middle East, Africa,
and South Asia, and has acquired in early 2008 a license to operate mobile services in North Korea.
Orascom Telecom is a leading mobile telecommunications company operating in six emerging markets
having a population under license of 430 million with an average penetration of mobile telephony across
all markets of approximately 40%. OTH operates GSM networks in Algeria (Djezzy), Pakistan (Mobilink),
Egypt, Tunisia , Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. OTH had exceeded 74 million subscribers as of March 2008.
In Pakistan, the Pakistan Mobile communications Ltd (Mobilink) started its operations in 1994 and,
until early 2001, had a market share of 40%. In April 2001, OTH took over management control of the
company. As the market leader, Mobilink serves more than 31.5 million subscribers, representing a
market share of 38.5% (as of March 2008).
OTH has positioned itself as a leader in the region for its diverse GSM operations with various GSM
support and Internet operations. One of OTH's main strategies is to create its own non- GSM subsidiaries
to act as a backbone of support for its regional GSM operations. OTH has achieved this by dedicating
financial, technical and management resources for supporting its subsidiaries.
OTH is dedicated to provide the best quality services to its customers, value to shareholders, and a
dynamic working environment for its nearly 11,000 employees.

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Page 8

MISSION
To be a superior communication service company in Pakistan which provides the best value to
its customers, employees, business partners and shareholders.

VISION

To be the leading Telecommunication Services Provider in Pakistan by offering innovative

communication xsolutions xfor xour xCustomers xwhile xexceeding xShareholder xvalue x& xEmployee
expectations".

VALUES
Commitment to Total Customer Satisfaction:
Customers are at the heart of our success. They have placed their trust and confidence in us. In
return, we strive to anticipate their needs and deliver service, quality and value beyond their
expectations.

Passion for Business Excellence:

We strive for excellence in all that we do. We aspire to the highest standards and raise the bar for
ourselves every day. This commitment to delivering world-class quality translates into unmatched
service and value for our customers and all stakeholders.

Trust & Integrity:

At Mobilink, we take pride in practicing the highest ethical standards in an open and honest
environment, and by honoring our commitments. We take personal responsibility for our actions, and
treat everyone fairly, and with trust and respect.

Respect for People:

Our relationships drive our business. We respect and esteem our employees and all stakeholders.
We believe in teamwork, empowerment and honor.

Responsible Corporate Citizen:

As the market leader, we recognize and fulfil our responsibility towards our country and the
environment we operate in. We contribute to worthy causes and are dedicated to the development and
progress of the society.

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Page 9

PREMIER CELLULAR COMPANY

Mobilink xPakistan xPremier xCellular xCompany xClaims xbe xto xhave x10 xMillion xSubscribers
nationwide what you call such a company pioneers giants whatever but the fact is that Mobilink is the
largest Cellular Company in Pakistan.
Mobilink is giant is this the reason that they are still expensive as compare to other companies like Ufone
and Warid Tel. As people relay on Mobilink services thats why Mobilink still charging high rates people
specially business class hesitate to switch to other cellular company.
Company is large and has the largest subscriber base in Pakistan. Mobilink recently started GPRS services
with RS. 500/month of unlimited usage this is the treat for GRPS users those who want to take their office
with them Mobilink give them ease with reason able charges. Mobilink also started 3 friend and family
number with a charge of 2.25/min still expensive as compared to Warid but giving incentive to
subscriber there is an additional cost of RS 25 to add friends and family number which is not fair.
Mobilink is major cellular company and will stand in first place many years to come with professional
approach and highly skilled staff behind Mobilink is the premier choice for subscribers nationwide. The
only problem I see with Mobilink is the call rates, which in my point of view are somewhat high. As the
competition is growing I hope the rates will be cut down to attract more subscribers.

NETWORK
During the last 13 years, Mobilink has set up one of the largest cellular networks in the country.
Currently, we are covering more than 10,000+ cities and towns. This has involved an investment in the
company of more than US$ 1 Billion. We have 66 Switches and more than 6,300 cell sites and the number
keeps growing at a rapid pace. We also have deployed around 5,000 km of optical cable.

Years of Business

13

Cities

10,000+

Investment

USD 1 Billion+

Switches

66

Cell Sites

6,300

Optical Cable Deployment x5,000 KM

The Four Folks

Switches

Nokia-Siemens, Alcatel, Huawei

Radio Base Stations

Motorola and Alcatel.

Intelligent Networks

Siemens

Microwave Equipment

NEC and Alcatel

Operating Frequency

900/1800 MHz

SMSC

Logica CMG

Page 10

MOBILINK -ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

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Page 11

PRODUCTS
Mobilink offers both Pre-paid and Post-paid services.
They offer tariff plans that are exclusively designed to cater to the communication needs of a diverse
group of people, taking into account occasional users to businessmen. To achieve this objective, they offer
both postpaid (Indigo) and the prepaid (JAZZ) services to their customers.
Jazz is an amazing prepaid service that allows freedom from monthly bills and gives complete control
over the customers cellular expenditure. The user can decide in advance when and how much he wants
to spend. He can load a scratch card whenever he wants to and start talking. Jazz is simple, easy and
loads of fun. not only Indigo and jazz mobilink have 13 more products given below,
1.

Mobilink Indigo

6.

Mobilink TV

11. PIA Reservations

2.

Mobilink Jazz

7.

Mobilink Game ON

12. Stock Watch

3.

Mobilink BlackBerry

8.

Jazz Cricket SIM

13. Fax Mail

4.

Mobilink PCO

9.

Conference Bridge

14. Corporate SMS

5.

Mobilink WiMAX

10. PSO Cards

15. SMS Advertiser

In addition to providing advanced voice communication services, they also offer a number of value
added services to their valued subscribers.

VALUE ADDED SERVICES

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

GPRS
Mobilink Mustt Services
SMS Messaging
Power Tools
Chat Services
Dedication Services

7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Power Tools
Mail Services
Info Services
IVR Ring tones/Logos
On Call Services
Missed Call Alerts

POSITIONING
Indigo is positioned on family platform, offering a wide range of products catering to different needs. It
comprises of a range of packages depending upon the usage levels such as indigo initial and indigo 400
supplementary packages combine postpaid life style with economical rates.

Jazz call and control is a hybrid product that offers prepaid convenience and postpaid control and is
suited for high-end prepaid users.

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Page 12

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
orporate SMS
Corporate SMS is an SMS Broadcast Application that enables corporate users to Send, Manage
and schedule message broadcasts to multiple recipients on any mobile and land line number in Pakistan.

SMS Advertiser
Mobilink GSM, the market leader with a customer subscriber base of over 30 million, offers SMS
Advertiser to all large scale businesses and organizations. Now you can send your message directly to
your customers.

SMS Advertiser can create one-on-one communication with your market. Today's consumers are
mobile and today's marketing must reflect that.

Benefits of SMS Advertiser

WIDE REACH
SMS is the world's largest platform to reach out to consumers - every mobile phone is
SMS enabled, it has 100% penetration.

FOCUSED
SMS targets end-customers directly via their mobile phones.

PROMPT CUSTOMER RESPONSE

It compels the consumer to take action in order to enjoy a promotion, thus increasing the
success rate of advertisers.

ECONOMICAL
SMS is a cost effective way to communicate, which allows timely assessment of results.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM SMS ADVERTISER?

SMS Advertiser is ideal for all organizations that want to interact with their customers in
a new yet personalized way. Whether it is a product launch or a brand reinforcement
message, SMS Advertiser is the right solution for your business.

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Page 13

SOME CORPORATE EXAMPLES

v
v
v
v

Banks announcing new products and specials offers

Consumer goods companies informing their consumers of special discount deals
Beverages companies announcing new promotions
New Businesses announcing start of operations & their offers

Mobilink BlackBerry
BlackBerry is the leading wireless enterprise solution offered by Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) that
keeps mobile professionals connected to people and information while on the go. It is a proven
platform that provides users around the world with secure, wireless access to a full suite of business
applications including:
-Email
-Phone
-SMS
-Web
-Organizer Features
BlackBerry solution comes with a Mobile phone, which allows you to get instant e-mails on your
BlackBerry handheld. This is a push-based e-mail solution where access is available to your
information while roaming nationally and internationally in selected locations. These emails can either
be personal or official. BlackBerry also allows you surf the internet.

Fax Mail
Fax mail is a unique service which allows a subscriber to receive his personal faxes on his mobile and
is able to receive them by using any fax machine.

Stock Watch
Now our Mobilink Postpaid customers can get continuous updates on their stocks listed on the LSE
(Lahore Stock Exchange) or KSE (Karachi Stock Exchange) anytime through Mobilink's Stock Watch.
The following three different options are available that can be subscribed to independently or in
combination.

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Page 14

HOURLY ALERTS
Customers can subscribe to receive alerts of any three companies at KSE or LSE at a time of their
choice to receive updates of the latest stock information (current rate, opening rate, etc.)

PRICE MOVEMENT ALERT

Customers can select any three companies and specify minimum and maximum share price limits so
that notification is sent to them whenever the trading price breaches the pre-defined barriers.

KSE/LSE INDEX ALERT

Customers can subscribe to daily stock index (trading volumes, etc.) alerts when the market closes for
the day.

PIA Reservations
Now Mobilinks customers can make seat reservations (one way or return both) through their mobiles.
As a result of this reservation the customer gets the PNR number, which can be used to buy the ticket
from PIA office or E-Kiosks. In addition to this the customer can also get flight, seat availability and
Frequent Flyer points information by sending an SMS on 7422.

PSO Cards
Mobilink has always been innovative in its approach and has developed new services for its customers.
Now Mobilink customers having any type of PSO card (Fleet, Corporate, loyalty or Prepaid), can use
this service to get information about their Fleet Card last usage, Balance available, miles traveled etc.

onference Bridge
Mobilink has always been the market leader when it comes to introducing state-of-the-art
communication services and solutions. For the first time in Pakistan, Mobilink is pleased to introduce
the Conference Bridge Service for both postpaid and prepaid users. This service is ideal for reducing
set up and gathering time for meetings as it brings geographically scattered workforce together in a
conference without any hassle.

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Conference Bridge allows organizers to schedule conference calls with up to 25 on net and off net users,
subscribers of this service can also use the web conferencing features like presentation and document
sharing during the conference call. As the organizers sets up a conference call, all participants are
informed about the date, time and dial in number & access code through an E-mail. Participants simply
have to dial in at the time of the conference call to join in while on the go!

Pakistanis are extremely passionate for cricket, all year round and especially during the World Cup,
the whole nation lives and breathes just cricket!
Further fuelling the passion for this amazing sport, Jazz now presents every cricket fans dream come
true, The Jazz Cricket SIM! The perfect SIM for all cricket lovers; where they will have instant access to
the sport no matter where they are. In addition to preactivated GPRS, cricket related services and
content will be available to the users through a simple and easy-to-use cricket menu.

Mobilink has always been a pioneer in providing its customers the chance to experience the latest
Value Added S erv i ces, R ecently mobile gaming has taken the world by a storm and this fever is
expected to grow at a phenomenal rate. Keeping its tradition of innovation alive, Mobilink now brings
you a chance to get a hands-on experience of mobile gaming.
You can now log on to our Gaming Portal and enjoy a vast variety of games from a number of
categories so Game On!

Mobilink introduces Mobile TV, you will be able to watch your favorite TV shows even when there is
no electricity! You can also listen to the hottest songs in our Audio section even in the remotest areas.

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Mobilink WiMAX
Mobilink second WiMAX service provider of Pakistan has finally hit the WiMAX surface by
introducing its services in Karachi in its first phase of countrywide rollout plan.
Uzair Ahmed broke the story on TGP backed with two official documents that reveal Mobilinks
WiMAX services, pricing and few other details. Named as Mobilink Infinity, WiMAX services would
be offered in Karachi only, as a soft launch, until they are successfully tested and taken to other regions
of Pakistan as well.

Mobilink PCO
A new project Mobile PCO by Mobilink is a commendable effort, as it directly benefits the underprivileged section of the society. It not only provides new way of earning but also facilitates
communication to the far-flung areas and offering a reliable source of income for economically
challenged areas. It targets women at home, retired personnel and jobless youth. It can be a part time
or full time job, especially for the middle class.

BCG GROWTH-SHARE MATRIX

Companies that are large enough to be organized into strategic business units face the challenge
of allocating resources among those units. In the early 1970's the Boston Consulting Group developed a
model for managing a portfolio of different business units. The BCG growth-share matrix displays the
various business units on a graph of the market growth rate vs. market share relative to competitors.

BCG Growth-Share Matrix

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On the vertical axis, market growth rate provides a measure of market attractiveness. On the horizontal
axis, relative market share serves as a measure of company strength in the market.

The growth-share matrix defines four types of SBUs:

CASH COW - (LOW GROWTH, HIGH MARKET SHARE)
A business unit that has a large market share in a mature, slow growing industry. Cash cows
require little investment and generate cash that can be used to invest in other business units.

STAR - (HIGH GROWTH, HIGH MARKET SHARE)

A business unit that has a large market share in a fast growing industry. Stars may generate
cash, but because the market is growing rapidly they require investment to maintain their lead. If
successful, a star will become a cash cow when its industry matures.

QUESTION MARK - (HIGH GROWTH, LOW MARKET SHARE)

A business unit that has a small market shares in a high growth market. These business units
require resources to grow market share, but whether they will succeed and become stars is unknown.

DOG - (LOW GROWTH, LOW MARKET SHARE)

A business unit that has a small market shares in a mature industry. A dog may not require
substantial cash, but it ties up capital that could better be deployed elsewhere. Unless a dog has some
other strategic purpose, it should be liquidated if there is little prospect for it to gain market share.

Some limitations of the Boston Consulting Group Matrix include:

High market share is not the only success factor.

Market growth is not the only indicator for attractiveness of a market.

Sometimes Dogs can earn even more cash as Cash Cows.

Some negative criticism for the following reasons:

The link between market share and profitability is questionable since increasing

market share

can be very expensive.

The approach may overemphasize high growth, since it ignores the potential of declining
markets.

The model considers market growth rate to be a given. In practice the firm may be able to grow
the market.

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Strategic Business Units of Mobilink

Jazz One
Jazz Budget
Jazz Ladies First
Jazz Easy
Jazz Octane
Mobilink Indigo
Mobilink PCO

Classification of SBUs according to growth-share matrix:

CASH COW

Jazz Ladies First

Mobilink Indigo
Jazz Budget

Because these two packages are low growth, high share products. These established and successful SBUs
need less investment to hold their market share. They produce a lot of cash to support the other SBUs that
need investment.

STAR
Jazz One
This package is a high growth, high share product. There is need to invest more for its rapid growth.

QUESTION MARK
Jazz Easy
Mobilink PCO
These packages are low share in high growth markets. They require a lot of cash to hold their share.
Management needs to think hard about question marks it should try to build into stars or should be
phased out.

DOG
Jazz Octane
It is low growth, low share product. It may generate enough cash to maintain itself but do not promise to
be large source of cash.

Comments
There is need to invest in the more promising question marks to make them stars and to
maintain the stars so that they will become cash cows as their markets mature.

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MARKET SHARE

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

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Market Segmentation
Market segmentation is dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who have distinct needs.
The market consists of many types if customers products and needs. The marketer has to determine
which segments offer the best opportunities. Consumers can be grouped and served in various ways
based on geographic demographic psychographics and behavioral factors. The process of dividing a
market into distinct groups of buyers who have different needs characteristics or behavioral who might
require separate products or marketing programs is called marker segmentation.
Every market has segments but not all ways of segmenting a market are equally useful. For example
Tylenol would gain little by distinguishing between low income and high income pain reliever users if
both respond the some way to marketing efforts. A market segment consists of consumers who respond
in a similar way to a given set of marketing efforts in the car market for example consumers who want
the biggest most comfortable car regardless of price make up one market segments. Consumers who care
mainly about price and operating economy make up another segment. It would be difficult to make one
car model that was the first choice if consumers in both segments companies are wise through focus their
efforts on meeting the distinct needs of individual marker segments.
ollowing are the different segments of Moblink

Business class

Ladies

SME sector

Sports

Flight Roaming

Marketing Targeting
The process of evaluating each market segments attractiveness and selecting one or more
segments to enter.
After a company has defined market segments. It can enter one or many of these segments. Market
targeting involves evaluating each market segment attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to

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enter. A company should target segments in which it can profitably generate the greatest customer value
and sustain it over time; following are the segments by Mobilink

Mobilink Blackberry
Mobilink now introduces Blackberry Professional Software, which specifically caters to the
needs of the Small and Medium Enterprise market segments. The Blackberry Processional Solution will
allow up to 30 users within the SME.
The Blackberry Professional Software has been designed keeping in mind the needs of the SME Market
Segment
Some of the basic needs of the SME sector are as follows:
Focus on affordability

Smaller IT footprint
Simplicity for installation and management
Minimal need for IT support resource
Require only core functionality
1.
2.

No need for developer tools SMEs use application packages

No xneed xfor xEnterprise IM x SMEs xcan xuse xBlackberry xMessenger, xMSN
Messenger

SME sector requires the power of the Blackberry Solution

1.
2.
3.

Security
Control
Performance

Blackberry Professional Software delivers the reliability, features and security performance as required
by the SME as it is easy to install and manage. Some of the basic features of BPS are as follows.

Moblink Sports Portal

Youll have a front row seat to all sporting events with Moblink Sports Portal , As close as it gets
to the game. From Cricket to golf, Tennis to Formula 1 racing, catch all the action live on your mobile
with Latest Scores, Match Schedules, Games, Chat Corners, Blogs, Content Downloads and much more.

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Following are the sports portal

Cricket
Hockey
Soccer
Tennis
Car Racing
Golf

JAZZ Mobile Hungama

Jazz now brings to you an amazing handset bundle offer by bringing together a top quality
handset along with a Jazz SIM and free balance at the most affordable price of Rs. 1575. Now you can get
your very own mobile from your nearest Mobilink Franchise Center and enjoy the best deal in town! And
thats not all, each handset has a warranty of 6 months.
Mobilink NBP Karobar
In this segment Mobilink has introduce karobar scheme with national bank of Pakistan large
financial set-up Moblink PCO with NBP under the president rozgar scheme is a highly attractive business
avenue for the unemployment populace of Pakistan.

Mobilink PCO
For the first time ever Mobilink brings Mobilink PCO, a revolution in its own right that shall
surely set apace the way our consumers communicate at the grass root level. Mobilink PCO is a fixed
wireless phone that has special PCO functions capability. It consists of two LCD's that helps customers to
keep a tap on the duration and the costing of the calls they make.

Mobilink Flight Roaming

Mobilink Now Gives It Customers the Facility to Reach the World from the Sky.
Mobilink has achieved yet another landmark by being the first operator in Pakistan to offer in-flight
communication service for its customers. Partnering with Air France and Emirates through our partner

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networks On-air and Aero Mobile, Mobilink offers GSM network onboard aircraft; providing not only
voice calls and text messages but also data over GPRS.

DIFFERENTIATION
Differentiation is actually differentiating the market offering to create superior customer value,
once a company has chosen a desired position it must take strong strips to deliver and communicate that
position to target consumers. The company entire marketing program should support the chosen
positioning strategy.
Mobilink has differentiation its products by doing different activities as follows

Price affordability

Hire famous personalities

Only company offers package for ladies

34% shares

Airplane roaming

Mobilink PCO

POSITIONING
Positioning is arranging for a product to occupy a clear distinctive and desirable place relative to
competing products in the minds of target consumers.
In positioning its product the company first identifies possible customer value differences that provide
competitive advantages upon which to build the position. The company can offer greater customer value
either by charging lower prices than competitor or by offering more benefits to justify higher prices but if
the company promises greater value it must then deliver that greater value. Thus effective positioning
begins with differentiation.
As whenever we hear the word indigo we quickly evaluate that it is Mobilink, so the Mobilink has very
strong positioning in customer minds. Another example is jazz.

PLACE
Place includes company activities that make the product available to target consumers, it includes
channels, coverage, location, inventory, Moblink Sims and connection are available all over the Pakistan,

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covering more than 10,000+ cities, towns, and villages across Pakistan, Sims are available on more than
700 franchises all over the Pakistan.

PRICE
Price is the amount of money that customer have to pay to obtain the product, Moblink offers
different packages of different call rates to capture the market, Moblink also offers discount, advances,
post paid, prepaid connections that a customer easily afford.

PRICING STRATEGY OF MOBILINK:

It xis xwell xknown xbrand xof xMobilink.
Previously xMobilink xwas xoffering xJazz xconnection xfor
about3000 xrupees x5 xyears xago. xIts xmarket xoriented
statement is Aur Sunao But through the passage of
time\now Mobilink is offering Jazz connections for about
100 rupees.
In 2002 Ufone which is one of the leading competitor of
Jazz xintroduced xits xprepay xconnection xfor xabout x2500
rupees. In 2005 Telenor came into existence in Pakistani
market and offered its connections for about 500 rupees.
Then in 2005 Warid also entered the market offering its
connections for 250 rupees. In this way price war started between these telecom brands in the market.
Previously xit xwas xJazzs xoligopoly xas xthey xoffered xtheir xprices. xIn x2005 xJazz xoffered xa
cellphone+connection+prepaid card implementing a product-bundle pricing strategy for creating more
attention and attraction. The major shift in the pricing strategy came in when they started 30.second
operations using the promotional pricing strategy.
In the early days Jazz was offering its sim-cards for a high-price using captive-product pricing strategy as
its SIM-card is a main product that must be used along with the cell phone.
Initially Jazzs call rates and SMS charges were also reduced using discount and allowance strategy and
initially directing towards promotional strategy as the competition between cellular brands in the market
grew faster.
Recently Jazz introduced its offerings of 0.99 per minute call rates in their happy hour package which
represents their operations with the promotional as well as psychological pricing of their services.
Through its happy hour package they are also operating with promotional strategy as they are engaged
in continuous promotion through their offerings. Besides that Jazz adopted segmented pricing strategy as
they were charging different call rated from one city to another but its competitors have emerged
tremendously they have responded efficiently towards their actions through cutting their pricing mainly
applying promotional and psychological strategy.

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As Ufone, Telenor and ZEM are offering great offers of call rates and SMS rates, day by day Jazz in also
responding efficiently through its strategic pricing offers.

ATTRACTIVE TARIFF PACKAGES

Since liberalization of the cellular sector in Pakistan, the tariffs declined tremendously. Telecom
regulator used to regulate airtime tariffs of cellular mobile operators through price-cap prior to
liberalization and did not allow operators to go beyond ceilings determined by PTA.
However, in competitive environment, the market forces are determining the tariffs, which are, declining
rigorously, the operators are targeting different segments of the customers and offering concessions and
packages to these customers. Interestingly, the SMS seems more attractive to operators for revenue
generation where they offered lowest tariffs during the quarter.

Mobilink Tariffs
Mobilink, an SMP operator has reduced its tariffs for
different packages. Recently, Mobilink has also introduced
Jazz One package in which its subscribers can call at very
attractive rates. Mobilink has reduced off-net tariffs of Jazz
Budget, xJazz xOctane xand xJazz xLadies xFirst xpackages xin
February 2008. For Jazz Octane package, on-net tariff has been
reduced from Rs. 2.50 to Rs. 2.40 per minute whereas off-net
tariff is reduced from Rs.2.99 to Rs. 2.50 per minute. Similarly,
off-net tariff for Jazz Ladies First package has also been
reduced from Rs. 2.99 to Rs. 2.50 per minute respectively.

1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

Old
New

On NetOff NetOff Net

Fix
Cell

Moreover, Mobilink introduced Apna Jazz Connection ON Karein promotion which was specifically
made for those who did not get the chance to experience lowered Jazz tariffs. Mobilink posted an
unconditional Rs. 30 worth of balance for those who did not used Jazz connection since March 15th. For
SMS, Mobilink has offered three different SMS packages (only from Mobilink to Mobilink) to its prepaid
customers where it has offered unlimited SMSes for one month for Rs. 100, 500 SMSes in 15 days for Rs.
50 and 100 SMSes for Rs. 15 in 7 days. Mobilink also introduced Club Red promot ion for it t s subscribers
who wanted red carpet treatment. Under this offer, Jazz subscribers who crossed the monthly usage
threshold of Rs. 1,000 got 50% discount on all calls to Mobilink numbers for the remaining days of the
month.

CM Pak Packages
China Mobile launched three prepaid packages in April 2008. The details of
their packages are as given in Table mentioned below CM Pak is offering one free
number in which subscriber can make free on-net calls (from 12 am to 7 am) for a
lifetime, Up to 10 family members can be added in free package, Happy Hours has
been offered in 12 Aanay Package which can be modified once every day. Charges for modification of
Happy Hours are Rs. 5. It has also introduced 8 Aanay (50 paisas) offer in which its subscriber can call to

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other networks at Rs. 1.40 (for the first minute) and Rs. 1.00 per minute (from second minute onwards).
CM Pak offered 1,000 SMS per day with charge of Rs. 3.00 to its prepaid customers irrespective of the
network.

Ufone's Offers
Ufone has introduced ULoan where it has offered a facility to customers to
avail a loan in order to make an important call if and when they run out of credit.
Uloan facility is available only for voice calls. The loan amount will be deducted from
the next recharge e.g. UTop Up & Card Recharge, Only customers with a balance less than Rs .2.50+tax
can avail the ULoan service. Recently, Ufone has enhanced Uloan amount to Rs. 5.00+tax. It has launched
Paanch ka Pandrah package, In this promotion, each 5 minutes call gave the next 10 minutes absolutely
free. In this offer, there are no daily charges and customer will be charged @ Rs. 1.125/30 seconds for
Ufone to Ufone and 1.25/30 second for all other fixed and mobile networks. Ufone has recently launched
another promotion in which its prepaid subscribers can now call five friends and family numbers
absolutely free from midnight to 7 am by just paying a nominal daily charge of Rs.1.99 (excluding 15%
GST), Ufone also launched unlimited SMS (up to 5,000 SMS) offer to its subscribers at Rs.150 to all
networks with 30 days validity, Through this promotion, Ufone subscribers can share their thoughts,
exchange jokes and chit chat with their friends, Ufone, in line with other operators, has launched another
package Uwon in which its subscribers can call to any other Ufone number at Rs.1.00 per minute, Offnet tariffs of Uwon package are Rs.1.60 per minute.

Telenor's Innovations
Telenor launched a value-added service (VAS) by the name of 'Telenor Auto
Advance'. This unique service allowed Telenor prepaid customers to continue the call
even after their balance exhausts, the service was activated free of charge for all
Telenor prepaid customers.
Telenor Auto Advance Service can be extremely useful in emergency situations where one call can make
the difference. Subscribers on the move, far from a recharge location or simply out of cash can benefit
from this service. Under the service, when a subscriber reaches the end of his balance, the call will
continue without disconnection and the balance will be adjusted in next recharge. Telenor Auto Advance
is only available for voice calls at the moment. Recently, Telenor also launched Ask Telenor and Tele
Doctor 1911.
Telenor launched free unlimited on-net calls offer (from 11 am to 2 pm) for limited time period, Service
activation charges for the said promotion were Rs. 49 (exclude tax). Telenor received overwhelming
response on this promotion. Recently Telenor has launched SMS Fulltime offer for its prepaid customers
in which its subscribers can send up to 10,000 On-net SMS with charge of Rs. 99/-.
Telenor's Djuice subscribers can now make free calls (from 1am to 6am) at 5 friends and family numbers
with daily charge of Rs. 3.99. It may be noted that call setup charge of Rs. 0.05 per call is also applicable
for these free calls.

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Warid Promos
Recently, xWarid xTelecom xhas xlaunched xPakistan xPackage xwherein xits
subscribers can avail 50 free on-net minutes and 500 SMS/MMS for Rs. 15.00 per day,
Warid also launched SMS craze in which its subscribers can send 2000 free SMS/MMS
(on-net as well off-net) at Rs. 150/-, Sunday craze is another promotion by Warid in which subscribers can
make unlimited free calls on Sundays from 8 am to 12 pm at a weekly subscription of Rs. 15/-. In infinite
craze, Warid subscribers can make free calls from 12 am to 7 am to one Warid number and unlimited
SMS/MMS from 12 am to 7 am across Pakistan with daily charge of Rs. 10/-. In the period of last few
months Warid has also offered number of value added service to its prepaid customers that counts, Zem
Talky, Zem committee.

PROMOTION
Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade
target customer to buy it. As we know Moblink spends millions of amount each year on advertising
through TV channels, news papers, bill boards, brushers and so on to tell the consumers about the
company and its products, Moblink hire top models and popular people like Film star Shan, Music band
like ''strings'' and Cricketers like Wasim Akram to show their brand ambassador, Sponsored award
shows.

ORPORATE

LEVEL STRATEGY

As xtheir xcorporate )level )strategy, xthey xhave xentered xinto xpartnerships xwith xdifferent
organizations.
On the basis of findings, it appears that for the past few years (1999-2003), Mobilink had a focus on
internal growth. All this is evident from the fact that since the deregulation of the mobile service industry
of xPakistan, xMobilink xhas xundertaken xvarious xefforts xto xensure xthat xit xchanges xits xstance xfrom
concentrating on its existing market to growing its market presence. The main reason for this change is
mainly to keep up with the competition and to retain and increase its market share. This transition is
obvious in Mobilinks repositioning itself and hitting the market with a new face with the catchphrase
Reshaping communication
With the threat of new entrants into the industry after the deregulation, Mobilinks strategy took a new
turn. To keep abreast with the company, Mobilink took the following steps during the last 2 years:

Expanded its international roaming Service scope in 14 more countries including Vietnam,
Germany, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan,

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Bahrain, and Caribbean Islands. Bilateral roaming agreements signed with 100 countries around
the world to have true roaming service operational in 151 operators of the world.

Promotional Campaigns

JAZZ BUNDLE OFFERS: These bundles include a handset, a JAZZ connection and airtime
worth Rs. 200

INTERNATIONAL SUMMER PROMOTION: Discounted international tour packages to Sri

Lanka, Malaysia and Maldives

JAZZ-AUR-SUNAO, LIFE MEIN JAZZ LAO (a change in the marketing strategy)

Indigo packages deliver nationwide cellular freedom at local Call rates

Exclusive deals to 6 northern area destination including Chitral, Galliat, Hunza, Kaghan ,
Skardu and Swat.

Roam the World: yearlong promotion including travel to the Holy Land in Ramadan, avail
amazing offers at the Dubai Shopping Festival, be a part if the FIFA World Cup in Germany
or visit Paris, Milan, London and NY.

Joint Promotional Agreements with Various Organizations

JAZZ-HYUNDAI BUNDLE OFFER: Jazz connection and a latest Hyundai L-120 phone set for only
Rs. 2750

Jazz member Get Member: Opportunity for customers to become the brands ambassador and at the
same time earns Rs. 400 in airtime. The new Jazz customer will also get Rs.100 free airtime.

Mobilinks Nokia 9500 offer

MOBILINK-AVIS partnership: Mobilink joined hands with AVIS, a global brand and the worlds
leading car rental company to offer discounted car rental rates (locally as well as internationally) to
all Mobilink post-paid customers. Foreigners visiting Pakistan using the Mobilink network for
cellular services were able to receive a 20% discount on Avis-Car rental Service.

Mobilink and UBL launch online bill payment facility for Indigo subscribers

MOB- Motorola V3 launch

Mobilink CITIBANK Joint Promotion (free INDIGO and Call n Control connections to all Citibank
Credit Card members)

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Handset Kiosk inside Mobilink Service Center: a hand-set Kiosk set up at Mobilink service center at
Awami Markaz, Karachi. The kiosk was set up in collaboration with Mobile Zone. It gave customers
the added convenience of purchasing quality hand sets of leading manufacturers such as Nokia,
Samsung or Sony Ericson right from Mobilink Service Center. On every purchase the customers
would get some free gifts to add more value to their purchase.

BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY

As their business level strategy it has focused on Differentiation strategy ever since it started.
Mobilink has always made successful attempts to distinguish their products or services from other in the
industry. They make their product unique through.

Advertising

Highly creative people in the marketing dept

Billboards, TV commercials, bringing in famous personalities from media to endorse their

packages

Distinctive Product Features

Value added services

Online billing

GPRS enabled

Mobilink also started 3 friend and family number with a charge of 2.25/min still expensive as
compared to Warid but giving incentive to subscriber there is an additional cost of RS 25 to add
friends and family number.

International roaming: Bilateral roaming agreements signed with 100 countries around the world
to have true roaming service operational in 151 operators of the world.

Exceptional Service

There are certain areas of Pakistan where PTCL connections are not available; the PTCL cables
have not reached yet, but Mobilink has its service in those areas.

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Providing services in 413 cities

Best customer service in the cellular market: Biggest Call Center in Pakistan, which is there to
assist the customers 24 hours.

Only cellular service in Pakistan to provide coverage on the M2 motorway.

New Technology

Introduced GSM tech- bye to AMPS?

GPRS system fast and inexpensive

MOBILINK GSM Short Message Service Center allows Vehicle Tracking and Fleet Management
services that are being provided by Tracker (Pvt.) Ltd., under the brand name of C-Track, a
company licensed by Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA). Tracker currently operates from
Karachi but can provide these facilities at all those locations where GSM coverage is available.

Their differentiation strategy is usually targeted at people who are not particularly concerned with price,
so it can be quite profitable e.g. indigo and blackberry are relatively expansive packages; blackberry is
mainly targeted for the business class who can afford it. In this way, the revenue generation remains
high. Mobilink offers tariff plans that are exclusively designed to cater to the communication needs of a
diverse group of people, taking into account occasional users to businessmen. To achieve this objective,
mob offers both postpaid (Indigo, relatively expensive) and the prepaid (JAZZ, relatively inexpensive)
solutions to their customers.

Low Cost Strategy

Mobilink does not follow a low cost strategy. Mobilink is a giant in Pakistani mobile industry Tel. Since it
first started its operations, it has been focusing its products on the upper strata of the society. That is why
its rates are higher than its competitors, Ufone, Warid, Telenor, etc.

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Functional Level Strategy

Sales and Marketing

Differentiation Advantage:

Because they target the customer groups they offer tariff plans that are exclusively designed to
cater to the communication needs of a diverse group of people, taking into account occasional
users to businessmen. To achieve this objective, they offer both postpaid (Indigo) and the prepaid
(JAZZ) solutions to their customers

The marketing department immediately identifies and responds to the customer needs

Comes up with interesting marketing strategies which include advertising,

ompotators Analysis
Subscribers Growth and Penetration
Cellular xMobile xsector xhas xshown xan ximpressive
growth over the years. Pakistan has been one of the fastest
growing xmobile xmarkets xamong xthe xemerging xtelecom
markets, Subscription o f subscribers remained impressive
for another year and all companies together added more than
25 million subscribers to their networks. Total subscribers
crossed 88 million at the end of 2007-08. During the year
2007-08, Telenor added about 7.4 million subscribers as
compared to 7.1 million in 2006-07; Mobilink comes second
with the addition of 5.7million subscribers during the same
period. Warid telecom succeeded to add another 4.8 million
subscribers this year. Ufone added 4.0 million subscribers in
2007-08 as compared to its addition of 6.5 million in previous year1. CMPak entered the cellular market
with aggressive marketing and infrastructure roll out. Its growth was negative previous year but this year
it added 2.9 million subscribers in last few months. lular Mobile penetration in Pakistan reached 54.7% at
the end of 2007-08, which is 15.3 percentage points higher than the last year, despite impressive addition
of cellular subscribers by operators during 2007-08; Cellular Mobile market could not maintain its growth
patterns of the last 3-4 years. Generally, the growth of subscribers has declined considerably in 2007-08,
which is evident in Table - 7. Total subscribers growth has been reported 40% in 2007-08, which has
declined from 82% in the year 2006-07, growth of cellular subscribers has declined by all major
companies. Mobilink growth declined from 53% to

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22% while Telenor growth has declined from 199% in 2006-07 to 69% in 2007-08, CMPak has entered the
market recently and has shown positive growth.
Cellular Mobile Penetration in all provinces has increased in last one year; the province of Punjab toped
in numbers though its total teledensity is second to Sindh, Total subscribers in Punjab at the end of June
2008 reached 52 million compared to 37 million in 2006-07, growth of cellular subscribers remained
highest in the province of Baluchistan where subscription grew by 57% in 2007-08 with total cellular
subscribers approaching 2.2 million compared to 1.4 million in 2006-072. When compared with 2006-07
and 2007- 08, Cellular Mobile penetration has increased by 36.8 percentage points in Punjab and its total
teledensity climbed to 58.0% at the end of 2007- 08, which was 42.4% in 2006-07. A significant
improvement in Baluchistan has been noted where its cellular Mobile teledensity has reached 27% in
2007-08 which was just 17% at the end of 2006-07. This improvement is due to the special attention of
regulator and Government of Pakistan for this province in telecom sector in last year .

Market Share
Market share of operators is considered an important
tool to gauge the level of competition in any sector of the
economy. xMarker xshares xof xCellular xMobile xOperators
indicate that market is moving toward perfect competition
where the share of major operators are declining and new
entrants are able to grab more share in the market. During
the year 2007- 08, Telenor has emerged as fastest growing
operator who has improved its market share from 17% in
2006-07 to above 21% slightly higher than Ufone who also
has 21% market share. On the other hand, the leading mobile
operator,
Mobilink
is
losing
its

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Significant Marker Power place rapidly and its share has declined by about 5 percentage points and
reached 36% in 2007-08 compare to 41% in 2006-07.
CMPak is also growing very fast and it has added 2.9 million subscribers, which is an impressive number
and one could hoped that in future it will grab more market share. CM Pak has added more subscribers
in last few months and it has continued its aggressive media campaign along with infrastructure rollout
which helping it to grab more market share in short span of time.

overage Analysis
Low Average Revenue per User
(ARPU) and tough competition in cellular
mobile market of Pakistan compelled all
operators to expand the network rapidly
so that they can add more subscribers on
their network to improve their revenue.
Currently xmore
than 91% xof xthe
population has access to cellular mobile
service xall xacross xPakistan xthough xthe
access xis xmore xin xthickly xpopulated
localities. Some areas of Baluchistan and
NWFP remained uncovered due to disturbances in those areas; rest of the country is almost covered by
now.
To expand the infrastructure, operators are rapidly installing new cell sites all across the country. During
the year 2007-08 all operators have added around 8,000 new cell sites, which is an impressive figure
because it takes huge investments to install the cell sites. Ufone has added the highest number of cell sites
in 2007-08 and that addition was 1,827 new cell sites during 2007-08. With addition of these, Ufone total
cell sites have reached to 3,471. Next was Mobilink who added 1,817 cell sites, its total sites stand at 7,339

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which is the highest among all. Total Cell sites in Pakistan reached 21,518 which were only 13, 752 in
2006-07. In terms cell sites growth, Ufone growth was 111% while CM Pak growth remained 100%.

Franchise
Despite
aggressive
cellular
subscriber growth, franchises
increased normally at 3%. During
the xyear x2007-08, xtotal xcellular
operators franchises increased to
1,679 xwhich xwere x1,619 xthe
previous year. One reason for this
slow growth could be the closure
of some franchises by PTA being
involved in unauthorized sale of
SIMs which was causing problem
of law and order in the country, other reason could be that expansion is going on unpopulated
areas where the operators already allotted franchises.

Financial Analysis
Financial health of the cellular mobile industry seems to be volatile and most of the operators are
operating in loss though their revenues have increased significantly over the last few years. The only
operator, Ufone has reported profit of Rs. 1.3 billion in 2006-07 who is not dependent on off shore loans
and rapid infrastructure roll out. Most of the operators are engaged in rolling out infrastructure and
operators have to spend a huge amount on import of machinery and equipments. Depreciation of
Pakistani currency has further exacerbated the financial position of the industry. Particularly those
operators who are engaged in rapid infrastructure rollout and dependent on foreign loans from off shore
sources have to bear loss due depreciation of currency.
Depreciation of local currency has increased the cost of
doing xbusiness xconsiderably. xMoreover, xlow xtariffs xand
increased tax rates could also be responsible factors for low
profit margins in the industry. However, the revenue growth
seems quite comfortable of all operators though it lower as
compared to previous years. In the year 2007-08, revenue
grew by 35% compare to 48% last year, among the operators,
Telenor is the most efficient operator in terms of revenue
generation who has increased about 97% revenue in 2007-08
compared to previous year and reported Rs. 45 xbillion
revenues in the fiscal year 2007-08. Mobilink earned about
Rs. 80 billion revenues, which is 24% higher than the last

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year. Mobilink and Telenor hold about 70% of the total revenues of the industry while 29% is held by
Warid and Ufone. Warid and Ufone have 15% and 14% of total revenue respectively.

Revenue per User

Average Revenue per User (ARPU) is an important
tool to measure the financial health of any telecom sector.
The emerging markets of cellular mobile segments in South
Asia are considered the low ARPU markets. In Pakistan
ARPU has declined significantly over the years. In the year
2003-04, ARPU in Pakistan was US$ 9 which has declined to
only US$ 3.1 in 2007-08. However, the cellular mobile
operators in Pakistan succeeded to maintain ARPU in 200708 at the level of previous year and reported only 3%
further decline. ARPU for Instaphone phone declined by
57% which is due to its transitional phase. CMPaks ARPU
has declined by 52% in 2007-08 which is due to its large
expansion and low l eve l of subscribers, Mobilinks ARPU
declined to US$ 3.5 compare to US$ 3.8 in the year 2006-07. Similarly, the Telenor's ARPU declined by
only 3% and reached to US$ 3.9 compare to its US$ 4 in 2006-073.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

Mobilink follows a differentiation strategy. If it wants to grow in this market and rise above its
competitors, it should also follow low cost strategy through it can reach to more people and
comfortably increase its market share.

Mobilink has been fined twice by Pakistan telecommunication Authority over its bad service. It
must try and emphasize on providing better services to its customers instead on concentrating
only on expansion.

Mobilink should revise its distribution channel in Pakistan. Different package cards are available
at variable prices across the country. There is no consistency in process across the country. It
should devise some strategy to deal with this trouble.

Further it does not have any promotional offerings that would attract customers. For example, in
the previous year, Ufone offered free connections to the masses and Telenor had offered SMS
service within its Network in summer 2005. If such measures were implemented, they would
increase its brand name and add value to the organization.

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Marketing
For Managers
Marketing For
ManagersMarketing
For Managers

The Four
Four FolksThe
Folks
The
Four Folks
Batch: MBA (Banking & Finance)
Section: B
Team Members:
Mohammad Naveed Arshad (Team Leader)
Muhammad Naeem
Samran Abbas
Usman Saddiq

Submitted To:
Prof K.Awais

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

University Of Central Punjab
January 2009
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