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Customer Retention Cellular
Customer Retention Cellular
Customer Retention Cellular
On
Customer Retention Challenges in Cellular Industry in India
BBA is stepping stone to the management carrier and to develop good manager it is necessary
that the theoretical must be supplemented with exposure to the real environment.
Theoretical knowledge just provides the base and it’s not sufficient to produce a good
management that’s why practical knowledge is needed therefore the research project is an
essential requirement for the student of BBA.
This research project not only helps the student to utilize his skills properly learn fields realities
but also provide a chance to the organization to find out talent among the budding managers in
the very beginning.
A project work is mandatory requirement for the degree of BBA in order to achieve tangible,
positive and concrete results, the classroom knowledge needed to be effectively wedded to
realities of the situation existing outside the classroom on this analogy, the students of the
management Panjab University are given research project so that they can be trained in well
effective manner. I have been given a research project on “Customer Retention Challenges in
Cellular Industry in India”. The research project not only broadens horizons but also helps to
grasp the various inerrancies of the business, this project report reflects the knowledge and
experience gained by me during my project research.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The project report concept in BBA curriculum is of immense utility to the students. Project
helps to assess the student ability to individually conceive, conceptualization, execute and
present a life like project by making use of the skills acquired during the course of study.
My project could not have been fruitful without the able guidance of Ms. Kritika Chopra (Project
Guide). I extend my deepest gratitude to all the persons who gave me support during the project.
Despite serious constraints of time and resources the study was executed with sincerity and
commitment. The report is characterized by its straight forward to the point approach, with bare
minimal reproduction of the theory of market research. A deliberate effort has been made to
introduce novelty in the report.
Shariya Garg
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project entitled on “Customer Retention Challenges in Cellular
Industry in India” embodies the work carried out by Shariya Garg, (14314000576) herself
under my supervision and that it is worthy of consideration for evaluation.
I hereby affirm that work presented in this project report entitled on “Customer Retention
Challenges in Cellular Industry in India” is exclusively my own and there are no collaboration
does not contain any work for which degree or diploma has been avoided by any other university
/ institution.
5. FINDINGS 57-58
7. LIMITATIONS 61
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 62
9. QUESTIONNAIRE 63-65
CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
The main role of marketing today is to acquire customers and retain them. Infact this is the
single most important role that any marketer has to perform in the midst of competition. At no
other point in the history of Indian marketing has this role assumed such significance. The
business world, a leading business magazine, carried out a survey of customer satisfaction and
loyalty. And this gaves the customer satisfaction score for different brands in different product
and services category. All the examples reported should that one of the important marketing
challenge that brands faced was expanding their reach and thereby providing access to the
customers across the country.
WHAT IS A CUSTOMER?
A customer is a person who brings us his wants. It is our job to handle them profitability to him
and to ourselves.
Today more and more companies are recognizing the importance of satisfying and retaining
current customers:
Acquiring new customers can cost five times more than the costs involved in satisfying and
retaining current customers. It requires a great deal of effort to induce satisfied customers to
switch away from their current suppliers.
The average company loses 10% of its customers each year.
A 5% reduction in customer defection rate can increase profits by 25% to 85% depending on
the industry.
Of the customers who register a complaints, between 54 and 70% will do business again with
organization of their complaint is resolved. The figure goes up to a staggering 95% if the
customers feels that the complaint was resolved quickly customers who have complained to an
organisation and had their complaints satisfactorily resolved tell an average of five people about
the good treatment they received.
Unfortunately, most marketing theory and practice center on the art of attracting new customers
rather than on retaining existing ones. The emphasis traditionally has been on making sales
rather than building relationships.
Trying to attract customers to your shop can seem challenging and expensive but this doesn’t
have to be the case. With a little creativity a planning, you could easily setup a cheap effective
promotion that will get new customers flooding into your store.
BE HONEST: Ask yourself what you are doing right and what might be going wrong in
your industry. Make a list of 5 things that you think buyer’s love and 5 that they don’t
PRIORTIZE & DECIDE TO CHANGE THOSE THINGS THAT AREN’T
WORKING FIRST: Taking action with purpose to make your business better makes
you feel better.
BOND: Find a way to make your customer’s day first and then your own. Find a way to
connect with your employees and make your customers feel good.
GATHER: Start gathering your customers into your store by personally invite customers
through emails and many social medias and thank them personally and by a way that
brings them back in.
ZIP IT: Stop asking other shop owners now their business is if it’s great and your isn’t.
you will feel worse. If there is worse, you’ll still won’t feel better. Instead ask them one
good thing they did yesterday.
CREATE COMBOS: A great way to attract customers and move old stocks is to
combine your stock with one other. By this way one can increase the revenue.
COUPONS: Coupons are a great marketing tool. They are cheap, especially when
compared to other forms of marketing and they are effective.
SAMPLES: It’s true, everyone loves samples gives customers the opportunity to explore
and test them in order to help them and decide what is right for them.
GET SOCIAL: With the rise of facebook, google, twitter and instagram you have the
opportunity to connect with thousands of people instantly and make your sure you focus
on your customer’s needs and talk about sales.
UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE REGULARLY AND BUILDS LINKS: Choose a web
hosting service or site platform that allows you to update your site easily.
However, several consulting and database management companies have succeeded in creating
them. However, the appropriate interval over which retention rate should be measured is not
always one year. Rather, it depends on the customer repurchase cycle. Car insurance and
magazine subscriptions are bought on an annual basis. Carpet tiles and hi-fis are not. If the
normal hi-fi replacement cycle is four years, then retention rate is more meaningful if it is
measured over four years instead of twelve months. Additional complexity is added when
companies a sell a range of products and services, each with different repurchase cycles.
Automobile dealers might sell cars, parts, fuel and service to a single customer. These products
have different repurchase cycles which make it very difficult for the dealer to have a whole of
customer perspective on retention. Sometimes companies are not clear about whether an
individual customer has defected. This is because of the location of customer related data, which
might be retained in product silos, channel silos or functional silos.
CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGIES OF TELECOM
5. Reward/loyalty programs:
Programs that offers rewards to customers for brand loyalty are extremely effective, when the
programs are easy to umderstand and the rewards are easy to achieve. It is clear from these
study results that reward/loyalty programs are quite effectively when managed well.
Introduction
Cellular services are a part of the telecommunication sector of India. It was launched in 1999
with the adoption of New National Telecom Policy by Telecom regulatory authority of India
(TRAI).
Cellular services are further divided into two categories, namely GSM (Global System for
Mobile Communications) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access).GSM segment consists
of players like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and BSNL. Whereas, CDMA segment consists of players
like Reliance, Tata, etc.
There are five private service operators in each area, and an incumbent state operator. Cellular
companies provide two types of subscriptions – pre-paid and post-paid. Almost 80% of the
cellular subscriber base belongs to the pre-paid segment.
The DoT has allowed cellular companies to buy rivals within the same operating circle provided
their combined market share did not exceed 67 per cent. Previously, they were only allowed to
buy companies outside their circle.
Airtel
“BhartiAirtel” formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) is among India's largest
mobile phone and Fixed Network operators. With more than 60 million subscriptions as of 13th
February 2008, it offers its mobile services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Mittal.
The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 14 circles. The
company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and
international long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station at
Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The company
provides reliable end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers by
leveraging its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile
circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing
station.
Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of subscribers.
BhartiAirtel owns the Airtel brand and provides the following services under the brand name
Airtel: Mobile Services (using GSM Technology), Broadband & Telephone Services (Fixed line,
Internet Connectivity(DSL) and Leased Line), Long Distance Services and Enterprise Services
(Telecommunications Consulting for corporates).
Leading international telecommunication companies such as Vodafone and SingTel held partial
stakes in BhartiAirtel.
In April 2006 Bharti Global Limited was awarded a telecommunications license in Jersey in the
Channel Islands by the local telecommunications regulator the JCRA. In September 2006 the
Office of Utility Regulation in Guernsey awarded Guernsey Airtel with a mobile
telecommunications license. In May 2007 Jersey Airtel and Guernsey Airtel announced the
launch of a relationship with Vodafone for island mobile subscribers. In July 2007, BhartiAirtel
signed anMoU with Nokia-Siemens for a 900 million dollar expansion of its mobile and fixed
network. In August 2007, the company announced it will be launching a customized version of
Google search engine that will provide an 'array of services' to its broadband customers.
Vodafone
Vodafone is basically the biggest telecom service provider of the U.K. which has a market of £75
billions by June ’08. Vodafone currently has equity interests in 25 countries and Partner
Networks (networks in which it has no equity stake) in a further 42 countries. The name
Vodafone comes from Voice Data Fone, chosen by the company to “reflect the provision of
voice and data services over mobile phones.” It had agreed to acquire a controlling interest of
67% in Hutchison Essar Ltd. (Hutch) for US$11.1 billion. At the same time, it agrees to sell back
5.6% of Airtel stake back to the Mittals. Vodafone retained 4.4% stake in Airtel. Vodafone is the
world’s leading international mobile communications company. It now has operations in 25
countries across 5 continents and 40 partner networks with over 200 million customers
worldwide. Vodafone has also tied up with Apple’siphone.
Vodafone’s revenues have been increased by 50% during the year driven by rapid expansion of
the customer base with an average of 1.5 million net additions per month since acquisition. As on
31st March, 2008, Vodafone’s customer base was 260 millions. Its turnover was £35478 millions
with a profit of £6756 million.
Idea
As India's leading GSM Mobile Services operator, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in 11
circles. With a customer base of over 17 million, IDEA Cellular has operations in
Delhi,Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal,
Haryana, UP-West, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala.
As a leader in Value Added Services, Innovation is central to IDEA's VAS Factory. It is the first
cellular company to launch music messaging with 'Cellular Jockey', 'Background Tones', 'Group
Talk', a voice portal with 'Say IDEA' and a complete suite of Mobile Email Services.
Idea Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in various states in India. It initially
started in 1995 as a join venture between the Tatas, AdityaBirla Group and AT&T by merging
Tata Cellular and Birla AT&T Communications.
Initially having a very limited footprint in the GSM arena, the acquisition of Escotel in 2004
gave Idea a truly pan-India presence covering Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Goa, Gujarat,
Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Haryana, Kerala,
Rajasthan and Delhi (inclusive of NCR).
The company has its retail outlets under the "Idea n' U" banner. The company has also been the
first to offer flexible tarrif plans for prepaid customers. It also offers GPRS services in urban
areas.
Holding
Initially the Birlas, the Tatas and AT&T Wireless each held one-third equity in the company. But
following AT&T Wireless' merger with Cingular Wireless in 2004, Cingular decided to sell its
32.9% stake in Idea. This stake was bought by both the Tatas and Birlas at 16.45% each.
Tata's foray into the cellular market with its own subsidiary, TataIndicom, a CDMA-based
mobile provider, cropped differences between the Tatas and the Birlas. This dual holding by the
Tatas also became a major reason for the delay in Idea being granted a license to operate in
Mumbai. This was because as per Department of Telecom (DOT) license norms, one promoter
could not have more than 10% stake in two companies operating in the same circle and
TataIndicom was already operating in Mumbai when Idea filed for its license.
The Birlas thus approached the DOT and sought its intervention, and the Tatas replied by saying
that they would exit Idea but only for a good price. On April 10, 2006, the AdityaBirla Group
announced its acquisition of the 48.18% stake held by the Tatas at Rs. 40.51 a share amounting
to Rs. 44.06 billion. While 15% of the 48.14% stake was acquired by AdityaBirlaNuvo, a
company in-charge of the Birlas' new business initiatives, the remaining stake was acquired by
Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd., an AV Birla family owned company.Currently, Birla Group
holds 98.3% of the total shares of the company.
Idea has successfully launched 3 more new circles (states) in India viz. Rajasthan, Himachal
Pradesh and UP (East) to make itself a pan-India player. Recently, Idea got licenses to operate in
Mumbai & Bihar. They are awaiting the spectrum from DoT.
Reliance
The Late DhirubhaiAmbani dreamt of a digital India — an India where the common man would
have access to affordable means of information and communication. Dhirubhai, who single-
handedly built India’s largest private sector company virtually from scratch, had stated as early
as 1999: “Make the tools of information and communication available to people at an affordable
cost. They will overcome the handicaps of illiteracy and lack of mobility.”
It was with this belief in mind that Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocomm)
started laying 60,000 route kilometres of a pan-India fibre optic backbone. This backbone was
commissioned on 28 December 2002, the auspicious occasion of Dhirubhai’s 70th birthday,
though sadly after his unexpected demise on 6 July 2002.
Reliance Communications has a reliable, high-capacity, integrated (both wireless and wireline)
and convergent (voice, data and video) digital network. It is capable of delivering a range of
services spanning the entire infocomm (information and communication) value chain, including
infrastructure and services — for enterprises as well as individuals, applications, and consulting.
Today, Reliance Communications is revolutionising the way India communicates and networks,
truly bringing about a new way of life.
Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocomm), along with Reliance Telecom and
Flag Telecom, is part of Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL). According to National
Stock Exchange data, Anil Ambani controls 66.75 per cent of the company, which accounts for
more than 1.36 billion shares of the company. Reliance Infocomm is an Indian
telecommunications company. It is the flagship company of the Reliance-Anil DhirubhaiAmbani
Group, comprising of power (Reliance Energy), financial services (Reliance Capital) and
telecom initiatives of the Reliance ADA Group. Reliance Infocomm is currently managed by
Anil DhirubhaiAmbani.It uses CDMA2000 1x technology
HISTORY
FOOTPRINT
At present, Reliance Telecom's GSM cellular services are available in 340 towns within its eight-
circle footprint. Reliance's CDMA services are available in 19 states and cover about 65% of the
country, state wise. Reliance Infocomm also offered for the first time in India, mobile data
services through its R-World mobile portal. This portal leverages the data capability of the
CDMA 1X network.
BUSINESS REVIEW
During the twelve months ended March 31, 2007, revenues of the Wireless business increased by
46% to Rs. 10,728 crore (US$ 2,489 million) from Rs. 7,364 crore (US$ 1,709 million).
Wireless EBITDA increased to Rs. 3,984 crore (US$ 924 million) from Rs. 2,250 crore (US$
522 million). Margins expanded to 37% from 31%.
EBITDA of the Global business increased by 98% during the twelve months ended March 31,
2007 to Rs. 1,271 crore (US$ 295 million). EBITDA margins increased to 24% from 12% last
year.
In the same period, the Broadband business achieved revenue growth of 123% to Rs. 1,144 crore
(US$ 265 million), and EBITDA increased by more than 6 times, to Rs. 519 crore (US$ 120
million). The EBITDA margin crossed 45% in the twelve months ended March 31, 2007, from
15% in the corresponding period in the previous year.
TataIndicom
TTSL was incorporated in 1995 and was the first company to offer CDMA Mobile services in
India, specifically in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
In December 2002, the company acquired the erstwhile Hughes Telecom (India) Ltd. which was
renamed TataTeleservices (Maharashtra) Limited.In September 2007, TataIndicom launched the
Talk World plan, an International Long Distance Plan.
Tata is the direct competitor with Reliance, both CDMA operators in India. The company
provides unified telecommunication solutions including mobile, fixed wireless, fixed line and
broadband. Other competitors are Vodafone, Airtel, Aircel, Idea, MTNL, BSNL providing GSM
based mobile telephony.
The company was first in India to provide free intra network calling within city limits. They
launched a unique scheme providing lifetime rental free connectivity on its mobile and fixed
wireless for a one time charge.
TataTeleservices is part of the INR Rs. 119000 Crore (US$ 29 billion) Tata Group, that has over
87 companies, over 250,000 employees and more than 2.8 million shareholders. With a
committed investment of INR 36,000 Crore (US$ 7.5 billion) in Telecom (FY 2006), the Group
has a formidable presence across the telecom value chain.
TataTeleservices spearheads the Group’s presence in the telecom sector. Incorporated in 1996,
TataTeleservices was the first to launch CDMA mobile services in India with the Andhra
Pradesh circle.
Starting with the major acquisition of Hughes Tele.com (India) Limited [now renamed
TataTeleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] in December 2002 the company swung into an
expansion mode. With the total Investment of Rs 19,924 Crore, TataTeleservices has created a
Pan India presence spread across 20 circles that includes Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat,
Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab,
Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar Pradesh (W), Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya
Pradesh and West Bengal.
Having pioneered the CDMA 3G1x technology platform in India, TataTeleservices has
established a robust and reliable 3G ready telecom infrastructure that ensures quality in its
services. It has partnered with Motorola, Ericsson, Lucent and ECI Telecom for the deployment
of a reliable, technologically advanced network.
The company, which heralded convergence technologies in the Indian telecom sector, is today
the market leader in the fixed wireless telephony market with a total customer base of over 3.8
million.
Some of the other products launched by the company include prepaid wireless desktop phones,
public phone booths, new mobile handsets and new voice & data services such as BREW games,
Voice Portal, picture messaging, polyphonic ring tones, interactive applications like news,
cricket, astrology, etc.
TataIndicom redefined the existing prepaid mobile market in India, by unveiling their offering –
TataIndicom ‘Non Stop Mobile’ which allows customers to receive free incoming calls.
TataTeleservices today has India’s largest branded telecom retail chain and is the first service
provider in the country to offer an online channel www.ichoose.in to offer postpaid mobile
connections in the country.
TataTeleservices has a strong workforce of 6000. In addition, TTSL has created more than
20,000 jobs, which will include 10,000 indirect jobs through outsourcing of its manpower needs.
Today, TataTeleservices Limited along with TataTeleservices (Maharashtra) Limited serves over
21 million customers in over 4000 towns. With an ambitious rollout planboth within existing
circles and across new circles, TataTeleservices offers world-class technology and user-friendly
services in 20 circles.
BSNL
BSNL is India's oldest and largest Communication Service Provider (CSP). Currently BSNL has
a customer base of 68.5 million (Basic & Mobile telephony). It has footprints throughout India
except for the metropolitan cities of Mumbai and New Delhi which are managed by MTNL. As
on December 31, 2007 BSNL commanded a customer base of 31.7 million Wireline, 4.1 million
CDMA-WLL and 32.7 million GSM Mobile subscribers. BSNL's earnings for the Financial Year
ending March 31, 2007 stood at INR 397.15b (US$ 9.67 b) with net profit of INR 78.06b (US$
1.90 billion). Today, BSNL is India's largest Telco and one of the largest Public Sector
Undertaking with estimated market value of $ 100 Billion. The company is planning an IPO with
in 6 months to offload 10 % to public.
BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country and now focusing on improving it,
expanding the network, introducing new telecom services with ICT applications in villages and
wining customer's confidence. Today, it has about 47.3 million line basic telephone capacity, 4
million WLL capacity, 20.1 Million GSM Capacity, more than 37382 fixed exchanges, 18000
BTS, 287 Satellite Stations, 480196 Rkm of OFC Cable, 63730 Rkm of Microwave Network
connecting 602 Districts, 7330 cities/towns and 5.5 Lakhs villages.
BSNL is the only service provider, making focused efforts and planned initiatives to bridge the
Rural-Urban Digital Divide ICT sector. In fact there is no telecom operator in the country to beat
its reach with its wide network giving services in every nook & corner of country and operates
across India except Delhi & Mumbai. Whether it is inaccessible areas of Siachen glacier and
North-eastern region of the country. BSNL serves its customers with its wide bouquet of telecom
services.
History
The foundation of Telecom Network in India was laid by the British sometime in 19th century.
The history of BSNL is linked with the beginning of Telecom in India. In 19th century and for
almost entire 20th century, the Telecom in India was operated as a Government of India wing.
Earlier it was part of erstwhile Post & Telegraph Department (P&T). In 1975 the Department of
Telecom (DoT) was separated from P&T. DoT was responsible for running of Telecom services
in entire country until 1985 when Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was carved out
of DoT to run the telecom services of Delhi and Mumbai. It is a well known fact that BSNL was
carved out of Department of Telecom to provide level playing field to private
telecoms.Subsequently in 1990s the telecom sector was opened up by the Government for
Private investment, therefore it became necessary to separate the Government's policy wing from
Operations wing. The Government of India corporatised the operations wing of DoT on October
01, 2000 and named it as BharatSancharNigam Limited (BSNL).BSNL operates as a public
sector.
The Indian cellular services market recorded the highest growth across Asia-Pacific and Japan
region in 2004, with a compounded annual growth rate of 67 percent. 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 grow at
the pace it did. The years 2001 and 2002 saw an increase in level of competition in the industry
with more operators being given licenses, and fixed line providers also entering the mobile
market.In the years ahead, there was more of competition between cellular service providers.
The key factor contributing to the increased growth is the rising standard of income. The industry
is also eyeing rural areas of the country as new opportunities to prosper. Millions of subscribers
are increasing every month including the rural areas. Still, more growth is expected in the future
years.
Opening up of international and domestic long distance telephony services are growth drivers in
the industry. Cellular operators now get substantial revenue from these services, and compensate
them for reduction in tariffs on air time, which along with rental was the main source of revenue.
The reduction in tariffs for airtime, national long distance, international long distance, and
handset prices has driven demand.
1 BhartiAirtel 1 0 5 1 7 7 6 3 5 32.29%
2 Vodafone Essar 78680291 24.16%
3 B S N L 50700367 15.57%
4 I D E A 48516824 14.90%
5 A i r c e l 23101900 7 . 0 9 %
6 Reliance Telecom 12840939 3 . 9 4 %
8 M T N L 433263 1 1 . 3 3 %
9 Loop Mobile 235053 7 0 . 7 2 %
A l l I n d i a 325701124 100.00%
Market share %
7% 4% 1%
1%
15% 32%
16%
24%
According to the latest update of July 2009, BhartiAirtel is the leding player in the mobile
telephony market with 105177635 subscribers all over India, hence covering 32% of the total
market. It is followed by Vodafone Essar with 78680291 subscribers covering 24% of the
market. This makes it to be the second-largest cellular company in India. Others major cellular
service providers in india are BSNL with 16% market share (50700367 subscribers) and Idea
Cellular with 15% market share (48516824 subscribers).
Indian service providers acquiring scale in the International Long Distance market through
acquisitions. Acquisitions - FLAG by Reliance, Tyco and Teleglobe by Videsh Sanchar Nigam
Limited.VSNL is now the world's fifth largest carrier of voice globally. Reliance’s FLAG
network connects with 28 countries. FLAG’s FALCON cable system when completed would
connect 12 countries with 25 international cable landing stations.
Market Strategies
Opening up of international and domestic long distance telephony services are the major growth
drivers for cellular industry. Cellular operators get substantial revenue from these services, and
compensate them for reduction in tariffs on airtime, which along with rental was the main source
of revenue. The reduction in tariffs for airtime, national long distance, international long
distance, and handset prices has driven demand.
Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements, loyalty rewards, discount coupons,
business solutions and talk time schemes. The most important consumer segments in the cellular
industry were the youth segment and the business class segment. The youth segment was the
largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service
providers.
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy. By 2004 it
emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service
market. Vodafone implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially, relying primarily on
its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand. BSNL, on the other hand, attracted the
consumer through its low cost schemes. Being a state owned player, BSNL could cover rural
areas, and this helped it increase its subscriber base. Reliance was another player that cashed on
its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk
time schemes. Idea, relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities.
As per COAI, income from VAS was 10% of total income of service providers in 06-07
o SMS 57%
o Caller line idntification 6%
o Other VAS 19%
o Ring tones 7%
o Content download 6%
o GPRS 5%
VAS is supplied either in-house by the mobile network operator themselves or by a third party
VASP, aka Content Provider (CP). VASPs typically connect to the operator using protocols like
SMSC or to a messaging gateway that allows the operator to control and charge of the content
better. There are many national and international investors ready to invest in this segment of
telecom sector.
3G Spectrum
3G phones is a new concept in Indian telecom market. It is notable for its ability tpo support
faster and larger quantities of data, which enables additional service offerings in the form of
games, music and video using voice video and data (triple play) and helps to bring about
broadband on mobiles.
There are more than 60 3G networks across 25 countries. 3G services are supposed to provide
high-speed data rates at a minimum of 144kbps in all use scenarios going upto 2 mbps in low
mobility and indoor environments. It has higher capacity and improved spectrum efficiency. The
amount of bandwidth needed for 3G services could be as much as 15-20MHz.
3G helps to simultaneously transfer both voice data and non-voice data. The highlight of 3G is
video telephony. 3G spectrums have been provided to GSM and CDMA players like BSNL,
MTNL, Bharti, Reliance, Tata and Vodafone. GSM players operate on 900 MHz and 1800MHz
while CDMA players operate on 800 MHz. 3G services enhance the internet speed, fast
downloading and video calling.
One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment
which promotes a level playing field n facilities fair competition. In pursuance of above
objective TRAI has issued from time to time a large number of regulations, orders and directives
to deal with issues coming before it and provided the required direction to the evolution of Indian
telecom market from a Government owned monopoly to a multi-operator multi-service open
competitive market.The directions, orders and regulations issued cover a wide range of subjects
including tariff, interconnection and quality of service as well as governance of the Authority.
With a vision to establish and sustain a world-class cellular infrastructure and facilitate
affordable mobile communication services in India. Keeping the mandate given to it, COAI is
the official voice for the Indian Cellular industry and on its behalf it interacts withthe policy
maker, the licensor, the regulator, the spectrum management agency, the industry (telecom /non-
telecom) associations.
CHAPTER-2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Rodolfo MartínezGras ; Eva Espinar Ruiz (2012) highlight a new dimension in information
and technology with respect to teenagers in spain. The main objective of this article is to analyze
the relationship between Information and Communication Technologies and Spanish
adolescents. Specifically, researchers have studied, through qualitative methodology, the
characteristics of teenagers’ access and uses of technological devices. and analyzed the purposes
that motivate the utilization of Information and Communication Technologies, highlighting a
close relationship between technologies and peer communication and entertainment. On the
contrary, there is an under-utilization of all these devices for teaching and learning purposes.
NasrAzad ;MaryamSafaei (2012)states that there are many evidences to believe that customers
select their products based on brand name. Products also maintain their own characteristics,
which make them differentiable from others. In this paper, researchers have present an empirical
study to determine important factors influencing customers' purchasing intend for cellular phones
in capital city of Iran, Tehran. The results of the study show that there are some positive
relationships between exclusive name and quality perception, between exclusive name and word
of mouth advertisement, between quality perception and fidelity, between word of mouth
advertisement and brand name and between brand name image and brandname.
Harsha de Silva, (2011), generally shows that adoption of (primarily) mobile telephones has
significant benefits not just to the adopter, but to the community at large. In this context, the
objective of the current article is to examine, from a user perspective, the influences (as well as
the interplay of these influences) on mobile phone adoption by the poor in a selected set of
countries in the emerging Asianregion.
Androulidakis ; G. Kandus (2011) correlated the brand of mobile phone to users’ security
practices,. Users show different behavior in an array of characteristics, according to the brand of
the mobile phone they are using. As such, there is a categorization of areas, different for each
brand, where users are clearly lacking security mind, possibly due to lack of awareness. Such a
categorization can help phone manufacturers enhance their mobile phones in regards to security,
preferably transparently for the user.
Oyeniyi, Omotayo Joseph - Abioudun, Abolaji Joachim (2010) emphasis on customer loyalty
and customer switching cost. Switching cost is one of the most discussed contemporary issues in
marketing in attempt to explain consumer behaviour. The present research studied switching cost
and its relationships with customer retention, loyalty and satisfaction in the Nigerian
telecommunication market. The study finds that customer satisfaction positively affects customer
retention and that switching cost affects significantly the level of customer retention.
ShakirHafeez ; SAF Hasnu (2010) states that Customer satisfaction is a crucial element for the
success of all businesses. One of the biggest challenges for a market is how to satisfy and retain
the customers. This study is based on Mobilink’s prepaid customers. The findings suggest that
overall customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is comparatively low among the customers of
Mobilink. The Customer loyalty in Pakistan’s mobile sector is relatively low because it is an
emerging industry, new players are entering in this market and customers are more fascinated to
try the new service providers. However it is expected that when the industry will be well
established, the results will be more comparable to other studies.
ArvindSahay and Nivedita Sharma (2010) focused on brand relationships are indeed important
for different categories of young consumers; second, to investigate the effect of peer influence,
family influence, and brand relationships on switching intentions amongst young consumers; and
third, to look at the impact of price changes on switching intentions in the context of brand
relationships. Researcher’s results suggest that young consumers develop relationships on all
brand relationshipdimensions.
Gummerson, (2008). Partners in a relationship need to decide on how they will communicate,
the type and amount of information they need to share. How frequently they must exchange the
information. Communication must be two way process, where the organization can pass on
information to inform customer of new products, promotions, advice on product usage, service
recovery messages. On the other hand the customer can put forward their complaints, queries,
and request for their needs.
The Dream Catchers Group (2008) investigated if demographic variables or if telephone
features included on phones students already owned were predictive of young consumers'
perceptions of bundled features. In addition, this study set out to determine if there were any
significant differences in students' perceptions of bundled features across demographic variables
(rural vis-a-vis HBCU, gender, grade level, cellular telephone brand, major, andage).
Ranaweera and Prabhu, (2003). Thus when exploring the concept we need to look at both the
bavioural and attitudinal consequences of any intervention of the marketing effort. Behavioural
variables include: customer contracts, transactional data, and customer response to the marketing
effort and customer complaints. Attitudinal relates to customer satisfaction.
Ranaweera and Prabhu (2003) proposed one of thetheories that looks at the combined effects
on satisfaction, trust and switching barriers have on customer retention. It analyses both the
independent and combined effects they have on customer retention. They content that
satisfaction is key to customer retention. The basis for customer retention is customer delight
through enhanced customer value. Any meaningful and sustainable competitive advantage
should be based on customer delight.
Jonathan, Lee ,Janghyuk, Lee and Lawrence, Feick, (2001) analysed that moderating role of
switching costs in the customer satisfaction-loyalty link; and to identify customer segments and
to retain them. Thus the purposes of this paper are: to examine the moderating role of switching
costs in the customer satisfaction-loyalty link; and to identify customer segments and then
analyze the heterogeneity in the satisfaction-loyalty link among the different segments. An
empirical example based on the mobile phone service market in France indicates support for the
moderating role of switching costs. Managerial implications of the results arediscussed.
Sharma and Patterson 1999 (Relationship Commitment Model) .The two identified the
factors that influence relationship commitment or bonding are viewed as; communication
effectiveness; technical Quality functional quality and trust. All the first three factors have an
impact on trust, which in turn positively or negatively influence relationship commitment.
Reichheld (1996), identifies three factors that he believed influences commitment which are;
level of customer involvement in the search process; attraction of alternatives –that is how
customers compare firms offers with that of competitor. If customers perceive competitors‟
offers as having better value they will switch to competitor‟ products. The other factor identified
is extent of ambivalence, which is the state when the customer is not completely converted to the
firm’s products, and is dissatisfied with some aspect of the product.
Crossby et al. (1990) define it as reliance on, or confidence in the person or process. Services
are acts , deeds or performances .As a result the customer cannot evaluate the value / quality
before consuming them, thus they generate high customer perceived risk. Thus the service
marketers effort should go towards boosting customer confidence in the service provider by
providing physical proxies to tangibilise the services. The greater the trust the stronger the
relationship.
CHAPTER-3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology means how the research of the project will be carried out. Whether
primary data or secondary data is used. Basically both the data will be used. Research
Instrument i.e .Questionnaire will be used to conduct the survey. Various statistics tools will be
used to conduct the survey for example- Mean , correlation ,etc. will be used for conducting
survey.
Primary Data- In primary data first hand data is used. Mainly Questionnaire will be used for
conducting research. Questionnaire is a set of printed or written questions with a choice of
answers , devised for the purposes of a survey or statistical study. Interviews will also be
conducted for conducting research.
Secondary Data- In secondary data , the data which is already published or is available in
various Government and Non-Government institutions. Secondary data includes Published
reports , websites ,internet ,on-line bases ,etc. which will be used for the survey.
Sample size and Sample selection
Sample size is a statistical sample. It is the number of observations that constitute it.
Sample size and Sample selection includes Unit , Size and Procedure .
Size – Size means how many users or samples will be used for conducting the survey. In this
survey of 100 respondents will be taken in Ludhiana area only. Questionnaire was distributed to
100 respondents was further used for data analysis.
Unit – Unit means who are eligible for samples. In other words who are the users of the product
or the service. In this survey or research businessmen , students , servicemen , etc. are the users
of the mobile telecom services.
Procedure-The survey will be conducted as per convenience of the availability and the time of
the respondents.
Research Analysis
Research analysis means how data will be further analyzed. Research will be conducted with the
help of various statistical tools. Various statistical tools like Mean, weighted added score etc.
will be used.
Appropriate Research tools will be used in the analysis of data to reach useful conclusions. The
study will be conducted on the basis of Primary and Secondary data. Primary data are first hand
data like questionnaire. Secondary data are published reports, internet, websites, etc.
Scope of Research
The present study will be confined to Mobile Telecommunication users in Ludhiana only.
The primary motive is to study the level of customer satisfaction in various mobile
telecommunication services providers.
CHAPTER-4
Age group
15% 20%
17-25
25-35
35%
30% 35-55
More than 55
Interpretation:
The above pie chart shows that 35% of the respondents are in age group of 35-55, 30% of the
respondents are in age group of 25-35, 20% of the respondents are in age group of 17-25 and
15% of the respondents are in age group of more than 55.
2. Gender of the respondents
Gender
28%
Male
72% Female
Interpretation:
It is interpreted that 72% of the respondents are female and 28% of respondents are male.
3. Place of Domicile
Place of Domicile
27%
Rural
73% Urban
Interpretation:
The above pie chart depicts that 73% of the respondents belong to urban area and 27% of the
respondents belongs to rural area.
4. Educational Qualifications
30
25 25
25
20 20
20
15
10
10
Interpretation:
The above bar graph shows that 25% of the respondents are graduated and post graduated, 20%
of respondents are 12th passed and others and 10% of respondents are 10th passed.
5. Occupation of the respondents
Occupation
20%
30%
Businessman
Interpretation
Out of 100 respondents, 30% of the respondents are student and others and 20% of the
respondents are businessman and govt. employee.
6. Monthly income of the respondents
45
40
40
35
30
25 23
20
20 17
15
10
0
<5000 5000-10000 10000-20000 Above 20000
Interpretation:
The above bar graph shows that 40% of the respondentsmonthly income is 10000-20000, 23% of
therespondents monthly income is 5000-10000, 20% of the respondents monthly income is
above 20000 and 17% of the respondents monthly income is below 5000.
PART-II: Analysis and Interpretation
10%
12% 40% Airtel
10% Vodafone
Idea
BSNL
28%
Others
Interpretation:
The above pie chart shows that 40% of the respondents have Airtel connection, 28% of the
respondents have Vodafone connection, 12% have BSNL connection and 10% of respondents
have Idea and others connection.
2. What kind of service you have?
28%
Prepaid
72% Postpaid
Interpretation:
The above pie chart shows that 72% of the respondents have postpaid service and 28% of the
respondents have prepaid services.
3. How long have you been using the service of that company?
20%
32%
1-6 months
6 months-1year
24%
1-3 years
24%
3 years and more
Interpretation:
Out of 100 respondents, 32% of the respondents have been using the service for 1-6 months,
24% of respondents have been using for 6 months-1 year and 1-3 years and 20% of the
respondents have been using the service of that company for 3 years and more.
4. What is your average monthly bill?
1%
10%
Interpretation:
The above pie chart shows that average monthly bill of 64% respondents are below 500, 25% of
the respondents are 500-1000, 10% of the respondents are 1000-1500 and 1% of the respondents
are above 1500.
5. How did you rate the overall knowledge and utility of staff to solve your problem?
35
31 31
30
25
20
16
15 14
10 8
0
Very good Good Average Poor Very poor
Interpretation:
The above graph depicts 31% of the respondents says thatthe overall knowledge and utility of the
staff is good and averageand16% ofthe respondents says poor, 14% of the respondents says very
poor and 8% of the respondents says that the overall knowlegdeand utility of the staff is very
poor.
6. Have you shared your problem with service provider?
30%
Yes
70% No
Interpretation:
Out of 100 respondents, the above pie chart shows that 30% of the respondents have shared the
problem with service provider and 70% have not shared the problem with service provider
7. If yes, is our team doing a lot of efforts on solving your problem?
40%
Yes
60%
No
Interpretation:
The above pie chart shows that 40% of the respondents are agree with the team efforts on solving
the problem, and 60% of the respondents are not agree with the team efforts on solving the
problem.
8. Please rate the friendliness and helpfulness of staff members?
20%
30%
Impressed
20% Satisfied
Average
30% Very poor
Interpretation:
The above data shows that 20% of the respondents are impressed and satisfied with the
friendliness and helpfulness of staff members and friendliness and helpfulness of the staff is
average and very poor for 30% of the respondents.
9. How do you rate the helpfulness of staff of resolve your problem?
43
45
40
35
30 26
25
20
13 12
15
10 6
5
0
Very good Good Average Below Poor
average
Interpretation:
The above bar graph depicts that 43% of the respondents says that the staff is very good in
resolving the problem, 26% says that staff is good, 13% says that staff is average, 12% says that
staff is below average and 6% says that staff is poor in resolving the problem.
10. Please rate the accessibility to customer care department?
22% 28%
Interpretation:
Out of 100 respondents 28% of the respondents says that accessibility to the department is not at
all likely and 50% says that accessibility to the department is neutral and 22% says that
accessibility to the department is extremely likely.
11. State how many times you frequently visit this department in a year?
12% 20%
1-2 times
28%
3-5 times
6-10 times
40%
More than 10 times
Interpretation:
It is interpreted that 40% of the respondents have visit the department 3-5 times, 28% visit 6-10
times and 20% visit 1-2 times and 12% of the respondents visit the department for more than 10
times.
12. Communications and instruction received from staff was clear?
Table No.18: Communications and instruction received from staff was clear
Figure No.18: Communications and instruction received from staff was clear
36%
Yes
64%
No
Interpretation:
The above pie chart shows that 64% of the respondents says that Communications and
instruction received from staff was clear and 36% says that Communications and instruction
received from staff was not clear.
13. How would you rate our overall experience with our company?
30
30
25
25
20
15 15 15
15
10
0
Very Satisfied Neutral Unsatisfied Very
satisfied unsatisfied
Interpretation:
The above bar graph clear that 15% of the respondents are very satisfied, unsatisfied and very
unsatisfied with the experience of the company and 25% of the respondents are satisfied and
30% of the respondents are neutral for overall experience with company.
14. Would you recommend our services?
30
26
25 23
20
20
16
15
15
10
0
Definitely Probably Not sure Probably not Definitely not
Interpretation:
The above bar graph shows that15% of the respondents definitely recommend the services, 23%
of respondents probably recommend, 20% of the respondents are not sure, 16% of the
respondents probably not recommend the services and 26% of the respondents will not definitely
recommend the service.
15. Would you like to shift to other service provider in future?
32%
Yes
68% No
Interpretation:
The above pie chart shows that 68% of the respondents would like to shift to other service
provider and 32% of the respondents would not like to shift to other service provider.
16. If yes, which mobile connection you will choose?
30 28
25 24
20
20
16
15
12
10
0
Airtel Vodafone Idea BSNL Others
Interpretation:
The above bar graph shows that 28% of the respondents will go for airtel, 24% of the
respondents will go for Vodafone, 12% for idea, 20% for BSNL and 16% of the respondents will
go for others.
17. What are the reasons for which you are shifting to some other service provider?
30 27
25
25 23
20
15 12 13
10
0
Plans are not Costly Poor Service Others
upto mark connectivity providers don’t
resolve
problems
Interpretation:
The above bar graph shows that 27% of the respondents says that connection is poor, 25% of the
respondents says some other problems, 23% of the respondents says that its costly, 13% of the
respondents says that service provider don’t resolve problems and 12% of the respondents says
that plans are not upto mark.
CHAPTER-5
FINDINGS
40% of the respondents have Airtel connection, 28% of the respondents have Vodafone
connection, 12% have BSNL connection and 10% of respondents have Idea and others
connection.
72% of the respondents have postpaid service and 28% of respondents have prepaid
services.
32% of the respondents have been using the service of that company for 1-6 months, 24%
of respondents have been using 6 months-1 year and 1-3 year and 20% of the respondents
using the service of that company for 3 years and more.
The above pie chart shows that average monthly bill of 64% respondents are below 500,
25% are 500-1000, 10% of respondents are 1000-1500 and 1% are above 1500.
30% of the respondents have shared the problem with service provider and 70% have not
shared the problem with service provider.
40% of the respondents are agree with the team efforts on solving the problem, and 60%
of the respondents are not agree with the team efforts on solving the problem.
20% of the respondents are impressed in satisfied with the friendliness and helpfulness of
staff member and friendliness and helpfulness of the staff is average and very poor for
30% of the respondents.
43% of the respondents says that the staff is very good in resolving the problem, 26%
says that staff is good, 13% says that staff is average, 12% says that staff is below
average and 6% says that staff is poor in resolving the problem.
28% of the respondents says that accessibility to the department is not at all likely and
50% says that accessibility to the department is neutral and 22% says that accessibility to
the department is extremely likely.
40% of the respondents have visit the department 3-5 times, 28% visit 6-10 times and
20% visit 1-2 times and 12% of the respondents visit the department for more than 10
times.
64% of the respondents says that Communications and instruction received from staff
was clear and 36% says that Communications and instruction received from staff was not
clear.
15% of the respondents are very satisfied, unsatisfied and very unsatisfied with the
experience of the company and 25% of the respondents are satisfied and 30% of the
respondents are neutral.
26% of the respondents definitely recommend the services, 23% of respondents probably
recommend, 20% of the respondents are not sure, 16% of the respondents probably not
recommend the services and 26% of the respondents not definitely recommend the
service.
68% of the respondents would like to shift to other service provider and 32% of the
respondents would not like to shift to other service provider.
28% of the respondents will go for airtel, 24% of the respondents will go for Vodafone,
12% for idea, 20% for BSNL and 16% of the respondents will go for others.
27% of the respondents says that connection is poor, 25% of the respondents says some
other problems, 23% of the respondents says that its costly, 13% of the respondents says
that service provider don’t resolve problems and 12% of the respondents says that plans
are not upto mark.
CHAPTER-6
The mobile phone industry has matured to the point where companies have to take immediate
steps to shift their emphasis from pure customer acquisition and facilities growth to product
enhancement and customer centricity. Unfortunately, mobile phone providers have traditionally
been decentralized and cannot afford to invest the time and resources required to shift their
resources to a centralized servicing culture and infrastructure. Instead, the mobile companies
must use technical innovation to build a customer centric culture and infrastructure. A well-
developed speech analytics implementation accompanied by senior management support and
best practices can give a company a strategic advantage, even in the most competitive markets.
SUGGESTIONS
The study analyzed the structure and effect of the service quality, customer satisfaction and
switching barriers on customer retention in mobile telecommunication industry with an aim to
suggest appropriate customer retention strategies. There are also other factors influencing
customer retention, apart from the factors suggested in this study, such as demographics
characteristics of customers, their life cycle and their usage pattern of mobile telecommunication
service. It is recommended that future studies may focus on this aspect of customer retention.
Furthermore, customer retention strategies already in practice can be evaluated.
In addition, in order to identify more methodically the factors influencing customer retentions,
mobile telecommunication services must be compared with other communications services and
with other industries.
CHAPTER-7
LIMITATIONS
1. The sample is selected by using non probability sampling methods and in single phase so
as the perception is influenced by time in which data was collected and the context in
which the respondents were at the time of data collection.
2. The primary data and observational methods of research have its own limitations and the
study is limited to Ludhiana city.
3. the study is limited to selected telecom companies and selected revenue centres of the
state and therefore the findings may not be generalized to whole industry.
4. Personal bias and perceptions of the respondents might have influenced the primary data
collected through the questionnaire. Lack of conceptual clarity on certain issues of some
of the respondents might have caused error in their responses.
5. Although an effort has been made to over almost all factors that affect customer
retention, yet survey approach has its limitations in exploring human perceptions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aspinall, E., C. Nancarrow, et al. (2001), "The Meaning and Measurement of Customer
Retention", Journal of Targeting, Measurement & Analysis for Marketing, 10(1), pp. 79-88
Aydin, S. and G. Ozer (2000), "Customer Loyalty and the Effect of Switching Cost as A
Moderator Variable: A Case in Turkish Mobile Phone Market", Marketing Intelligence
and planning 23(1), pp. 89-103.
Websites:
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www.google.com
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Respondent,
I am Shariya Garg, a student of BBA final year at Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana. This
questionnaire is a part of academic research and is being conducted to know the Customer
Retention Challenges in Cellular Industry in India.
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
Name :
Age Group:
Gender:
(a) Male (b) Female
Place of Domicile:
(a) Rural (b) Urban
Educational Qualification:
(a) 10th (b) 12th (c) Graduation (d) Post-graduation
(e) Others
Occupation
(a) Businessman (b) Govt. Employee
(c) Student (d) Others
Monthly Income:
(a) <`5000 (b) `5000-10000 (c) `10,000-20000 (d) above `20,000
Part-II
Q.1 Which mobile connection do you have?
(a) Airtel (b) Vodafone
(c) Idea (d) BSNL
(e) Others
Q.2 What kind of service you have?
(a) Prepaid (b) Postpaid
Q.3 How long have you been using the service of that company?
(a) 1-6 months (b) 6 months -1 year
(c) 1-3 years (d) 3 years and more
Q.7 If yes, is our team doing a lot of efforts on solving your problem?
(a) Yes (b) No
Q.8 Please rate the friendliness & helpfulness of our staff members?
(a) Impressed (b) Satisfied
(c) Average (d) Very poor
Q.9 How do you rate the helpfulness of our staff to resolve your problem?
(a) Very good (b) Good (c) Average
(d) Below Average (e) Poor
Q.13 How would you rate our overall experience with our company?
(a) Very satisfied (b) Satisfied
(c) Neutral (d) Unsatisfied
(e) Very unsatisfied
Q.17 What are the reasons for which you are shifting to some other service provider?
(a) Plans are not upto mark (b) Costly
(c) Poor connectivity (e) Service providers don’t resolve problems
(f) Others