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ON
“COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
OF
B.S.N.L AND AIRTEL TELE COMMUNICATIONS”
I, Om Chand, hereby declare that the project report entitled “COMARITIVE STUDY
OF B.S.N.L & AIRTEL TELE COMMUNICATIONS” is original of mine,
done as of the job training report submitted in partial fulfillment of Masters Degree In
Business Administration.
OM CHAND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With deep sense of gratitude I would like to take this opportunity to thank my honorable project
guide Mr. Pravin Misra (Faculty), M.B.A (H.P. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
STUDIES) who has always been a sincere advisor and inspiring force behind this report. He has
been extremely generous with his time and rendered me all possible help to seek this work
complete. I could not have asked for more co-operative guide, his invaluable support has always
given me the confidence to do hard work. Without his guidance this project report would not
have been light of the day.
I would also like to thank my friends who were of immense help to me. I would thank all the
respondents who gave their invaluable time during the survey.
Last but not least I would like to thank my parents, who supported me throughout in making of
this report.
(OM CHAND)
CONTENTS
5. OBJECTIVE OF STUDY.
6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
11. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
12. QUESTIONNAIRE.
TELE COMMUNICATION SCENERIO
In the today’s competitive world communication plays a very important role. Communication
has become an integral part of the growth, success and efficiency of any business. This is the
technology that gives a person the power to communicate anytime, anywhere. Due to
advancement in technology, now communication becomes easy and faster.
India's telecom sector has shown massive upsurge in the recent years in all respects of industrial
growth. From the state monopoly with very limited growth, it has grown in to the level of an
industry. Telephone, whether fixed landline or mobile, is an essential necessity for the people of
India. This changing phase was possible with the economic development that followed the
process of structuring the economy in the capitalistic pattern. The stupendous growth of the
telecommunication companies in India over the last fifteen years can be attributed to the liberal
government of India, economic policy. In this research paper, special emphasis has been laid
over the comparative analysis of telecom companies AIRTEL and BSNL by using primary
sources of data in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. For the completion of efficient research
work, descriptive and exploratory research design has been used which further conclude that
BSNL is having weak performance as compared to Bharti Airtel .Trends of previous 5 years in
Mandi division have shown that AIRTELcompany has slowly deteriorated its position.
INTRODUCTION:-
Given this growth, telecommunications play an increasingly important role in the world
economy and the worldwide telecommunication industry's revenue was estimated to be $3.85
trillion in 2008. The service revenue of the global telecommunications industry was estimated to
be $1.7 trillion in 2008, and is expected to touch $2.7 trillion by 2013. The telecom sector
reforms were undertaken in three phases. The first phase began in the 80’s, when private
manufacturing of customer promise equipment was given a go-ahead in 1984. A proliferation of
individual STD/ISD/PCO network also took place throughout the country by way of private
individual franchises. Maharashtra Telephone Nigam
(MTNL) was created out of the department of telecommunication (DOT) to handle the sectors of
Mumbai and Delhi respectively. A high powered telecom commission was set up in 1989. Later
Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) became the international service provider catering to telecom
services originating from India. The second phase of reforms commenced in 1991 with the
announcement of new economic policy. The government delivered the manufacturer of telecom
equipment in 1991. It also ahead up radio services in 1992. In 1994, basic telephony was opened
to the private sector by granting operating licenses to six companies. Also part of the second
phase was the introduction of the National Telecom Policy 1994. It emphasized universal service
and qualitative improvement in telecom services among other objectives. An independent
statutory regulatory was established in 1997, Internet services were opened up in 1998. The third
phase & reforms began with the announcement of the new telecom policy in 1999. The theme of
NTP was to usher in full competition through a restricted entry of private players in all service
sectors. The policy favored the migration of existing operators from the era of fixed license fee
regime to that of revenue sharing. The policy further declined the strengthen of the regulator
opening up of international long distance (ILD) and National Long Distance (NLD) services to
the private sector and corporation of telecom services. The year 2001 witnessed the entry of
private operators in offering basic telephony and NLD services. The telecom sector began
witnessing a trend of growth with these reforms basic services were opened for unlimited
competition more licenses were issued to the private sector for cellular services. There has also
been a considerable increase in the rate of tale density. The telecom sector has thus completely
changed both in terms of coverage and efficiency of services. Provision of landlines a demand,
digital telephone, exchanges and the acceptability of optic fiber and wireless technology are a
few instances of the change that took instances of the change that took place in the industry.
Cellular telephone services have achieved great commercial success; because users recognize the
mobile telephone access can improve productivity and enhance safety. A new subscriber is opting
for cellular services for personal security, safety and convenience. Increase in demand and the
poor quality of existing telecommunications landline services. Mobile service providers will be
benefited from the research, the ways to improve their quality of service and to support more
users in their system. The present study has been made to identity the customer’s attitude
towards cell phones, telephones, broadband services of BSNL and AIRTEL in Gwalior Division.
Many private operators have entered in to the cellular segment to provide services. It has brought
heavy competition in to the market. They have to find out the customers attitudes towards this
service which could be useful to formulate new strategies policy and market their services in a
better way.
INTRODUCTION
BSNL is India's oldest and largest communication service provider (CSP). It had a customer base
of 95 million as of June 2011. It has footprints throughout India except for the metropolitan cities
of Mumbai and New Delhi, which are managed by Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL).
SERVICES
BSNL provides almost every telecom service in India. Following are the main telecom services
provided by BSNL:
Universal Telecom Services: Fixed wire line services and landline in local loop (WLL)
using CDMA Technology called bfone and Tarang respectively. As of 30 June 2010,
BSNL had 75% market share of fixed lines.
Internet: BSNL provides Internet access services through dial-up connection (as Sanchar
net through 2009) as Prepaid, Net One as Postpaid and ADSL broadband as BSNL
Broadband[10] BSNL held 55.76% of the market share with reported subscriber base of
9.19 million Internet subscribers with 7.79% of growth at the end of March 2010. Top 12
Dial-up Service providers, based on the subscriber base, It Also Provides Online Games via
its Games on Demand (GOD)
Intelligent Network (IN): BSNL offers value-added services, such as Free Phone
Service (FPH), India Telephone Card (Prepaid card), Account Card Calling (ACC),
Virtual Private Network (VPN), Tele-voting, Premium Rae Service (PRM), Universal
Access Number (UAN).
3G:BSNL offers the '3G' or the'3rd Generation' services which includes facilities like
video calling, mobile broadband, live TV, 3G Video portal, streaming services like online
full length movies and video on demand etc.
IPTV: BSNL also offers the 'Internet Protocol Television' facility which enables watch
television through internet.
FTTH: Fibre To The Home facility that offers a higher bandwidth for data transfer. This
idea was proposed on post-December 2009
Helpdesk: BSNL's Helpdesk (Helpdesk) provide help desk support to their customers for
their services.
WiMax: BSNL has introduced India's first 4th Generation High-Speed Wireless
Broadband Access Technology with the minimum speed of 256kbit/s. The focus of this
service is mainly rural customer where the wired broadband facility is not available.
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS
BSNL is divided into a number of administrative units termed as telecom circles, metro districts,
project circles and specialized units. It has 24 telecom circles, 2 metro districts, 6 project circles,
4 maintenance regions, 5 telecom factories, 3 training institutions and 4 specialized telecom
units.
HISTORY
BSNL then known as the Department of Telecommunications had been a near monopoly during
the socialist period of the Indian economy. During this period, BSNL was the only telecom
service provider in the country. MTNL was present only in Mumbai and New Delhi. During this
period BSNL operated as a typical state-run organization, inefficient, slow, bureaucratic, and
heavily unionized. As a result subscribers had to wait for as long as five years to get a telephone
connection. The corporation tasted competition for the first time after the liberalization of Indian
economy in 1991. Faced with stiff competition from the private telecom service providers, BSNL
has subsequently tried to increase efficiencies itself. DoT veterans, however, put the onus for the
sorry state of affairs on the Government policies, where in all state-owned service providers were
required to function as mediums for achieving egalitarian growth across all segments of the
society. The corporation (then DoT), however, failed to achieve this and India languished among
the most poorly connected countries in the world. BSNL was born in 2000 after the
corporatisation of DoT. The corporatisation of BSNL was undertaken by an external international
consulting team consisting of a consortium of A.F.Ferguson & Co, JB Dadachanji and NM
Rothschild - and was probably the most complex corporatisation exercise of its kind ever
attempted anywhere because of the quantum of assets (said to be worth USD 50 Billion in terms
of breakup value) and over half a million directly and indirectly employed staff. Satish Mehta,
who led the team later, confessed that one big mistake made by the consortium was to
recommend the continuation of the state and circle based geographical units which may have
killed the synergies across regions and may have actually made the organization less efficient
than had it been a seamless national organization. Vinod Vaish, then Chairman of the Telecom
Commission made a very bold decision to promote younger talent from within the organisation
to take up a leadership role and promoted the older leaders to a role in licensing rather than in
managing the operations of BSNL. The efficiency of the company has since improved; however,
the performance level is nowhere near the private players.
The corporation remains heavily unionised and is comparatively slow in decision making and its
implementation, which largely acts at the instances of unions without bothering about outcome.
Management has been reactive to the schemes of private telecom players. Though it offers
services at lowest tariffs, the private players continue to notch up better numbers in all areas,
years after year. BSNL has been providing connections in both urban and rural areas. Pre-
activated Mobile connections are available at many places across India. BSNL has also unveiled
cost-effective broadband internet access plans (Data One) targeted at homes and small
businesses. At present BSNL enjoy's around 60% of market share of ISP services.
2007 was declared as "Year of Broadband" in India and BSNL announced plans for providing 5
million broadband connectivity by the end of 2007. BSNL upgraded Data one connections for a
speed of up to 2 Mbit/s without any extra cost. This 2 Mbit/s broadband service was provided by
BSNL at a cost of just US$ 11.7 per month (as of 21 July 2008 and at a limit of 2.5GB monthly
limit with 0200-0800 hrs as no charge period). Further, BSNL is rolling out new broadband
services such as triple play BSNL planned to increase its customer base to 108 million customers
by 2010. With the frantic activity in the communication sector in India, the target appears
achievable.
BSNL is a pioneer of rural telephony in India. BSNL has recently bagged 80% of US$ 580 m
(INR 25 billion) Rural Telephony project of Government of India.
On 20 March 2009 BSNL advertised the launch of BlackBerry services across its Telecom circles
in India. The corporation has also launched 3G services in select cities across the country.
Presently, BSNL and MTNL are the only players to provide 3G services, as the Government of
India has completed auction of 3G services for private players. BSNL shall get 3G bandwidth at
lowest bidder prices of Rs 185 billion, which includes Rs 101.86 billion for 3G and Rs
83.13 billion for BWA.
As of December 2011, many other private operators have started rolling out their 3rd Generation
(aka 3G) services alongside and are enjoying some success in their campaigns to get market
share. While BSNL still maintains its connectivity standard and expands too many more areas
including rural areas with their 3G services. Also the network infrastructure has been upgraded
from to provide 3.6 Mbit/s to 7.2 MBits/sec. It is enjoying a slow but somewhat steady success in
gaining market share in this regard.
The introduction of MNP (Mobile Number Portability) which is an service that lets the consumer
change wireless service providers while retaining their actual mobile number, BSNL has seen
many customers opting for this service to move away from the services to other operators.
Despite this as the Indian Wireless market grows BSNL still has a loyal base of subscribers and
many more subscribers being added to it every day. This provides customer services for 95
million as of June 2011.
BSNL announced the discontinuation of its telegram services from 15 July 2013, after 160 years
in service. It was opened to public in February 1855; in 2010 it was upgraded to a web-based
messaging system in 2010, through 182 telegraph offices across India.
CHALLENGES
During the financial year 2008–09 (from 1 April 208 to 31 March 2009) BSNL has added 8.1
million new customers in various telephone services taking its customer base to 75.9 million.
BSNL's nearest competitor Bharti Airtel is standing at a customer base of 62.3 million. However,
despite impressive growth shown by BSNL in recent times, the fixed line customer base of
BSNL is declining. In order to woo back its fixed-line customers BSNL has brought down long
distance calling rate under One India plan, however, the success of the scheme is not known.
However, BSNL faces bleak fiscal 2009-2010 as users flee.
Presently there is an intense competition in Indian Telecom sector and various Telcos are rolling
out attractive schemes and are providing good customer services. But situation as on 2012 BSNL
will be third largest operator (Service) and No 1 access operator among country. As TRAI Report
2011-12 BSNL became most trustworthy brand due to its loyalty towards customers and its rule.
Access Deficit Charges (ADC, a levy being paid by the private operators to BSNL for provide
service in non-lucrative areas especially rural areas) has been slashed by 20% by TRAI, w.e.f. 1
April 2009. The reduction in ADC may hit the bottom lines of BSNL.
BSNL has started 3G services in 290 cities and acquired more than 600,000 customers. It has
planned to roll out 3G services in 760 cities across the country in 2010-11. According to users
and big sources BSNL's 3G data speed is much higher than other operator and also it is
competitively cheap.
Broadband services: The shift in demand from voice to data has revolutionized the very nature of
the network. BSNL is poised to cash on this opportunity and has planned for extensive expansion
of the Broadband services. The Broadband customer base of 3.56 Million customers in
March'2009 is planned to be increased to 16.00 million by March 2014. On 13 June 2012, BSNL
employees participated called off an earlier planned nationwide strike against discriminatory
policies of BSNL management upon promise by Management to resolve the Demands of the
protesting unions
In March 2013, BSNL was also (according to one study) a major transit point for internet spam
CHALLENGES
OPPORTUNITY:-
3G
While it did not participate in the 3G auction, BSNL paid the Indian government Rs.
101.87 billion for 3G spectrum in all 20 circles it operates in. State-owned MTNL provides 3G
services in the other 2 circles - Delhi and Mumbai Both these state-owned operators were given a
head start by the government in the 3G space by allotting the required 3G spectrum, on the
condition that each will have to pay an amount which will be equivalent to the highest bid in the
respective service areas as and when the 3G auctions take place. BSNL recently launched a 3G
wireless pocket router named Winknet Mf50 for 5800/- Indian rupees. It was released in
collaboration with another telecom service provider Shyam networks. Winknet Mf50 enables you
to connect multiple devices to the internet using a single sim card.
3G COVERAGE
BSNL has the largest 3G network in India. Additionally, BSNL 3G services usually cover not
only the main town/city but also the adjoining suburbs and rural areas as well. As of now BSNL
has 3G services in 826 cities across India. The following is a list of BSNL 3G enabled
towns/cities. This list covers only BSNL 3G services provided through HSDPA/HSUPA and
HSPA+ for GSM subscribers and not EVDO for CDMA subscribers.
MILESTONES:-
Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephony and second largest provider of fixed telephony
in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. It offers its
telecom services under the airtel brand, and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Bharti Airtel is the
first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco Gold Certification. It also acts as a carrier
for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a
submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting
Chennai and Singapore.
Airtel is credited with pioneering the business strategy of outsourcing all of its business
operations except marketing, sales and finance and building the 'minutes factory' model of low
cost and high volumes. The strategy has since been copied by several operators. Its network—
base stations, microwave links, etc.—is maintained by Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Network[8]
whereas business support is provided by IBM, and transmission towers are maintained by
another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. in India). Ericsson agreed for the first time to be paid by
the minute for installation and maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid up front,
which allowed Airtel to provide low call rates of 1/minute (US$0.02/minute). During the last
financial year (2009–10), Bharti negotiated for its strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the
network infrastructure for the tele-media business. On 31 May 2012, Bharti Airtel awarded the
three-year contract to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up an Internet Protocol access network (mobile
backhaul) across the country. This would help consumer’s access internet at faster speed and
high quality internet browsing on mobile handsets.
HISTORY:-
Sunil Mittal founded the Bharti Group. In 1983, Mittal was in an agreement with Germany's
Siemens to manufacture push-button telephone models for the Indian market. In 1986, Mittal
incorporated Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL), and his company became the first in India to offer
push-button telephones, establishing the basis of Bharti Enterprises. By the early 1990s, Sunil
Mittal had also launched the country's first fax machines and its first cordless telephones. In
1992, Mittal won a bid to build a cellular phone network in Delhi. In 1995, Mittal incorporated
the cellular operations as Bharti Tele-Ventures and launched service in Delhi. In 1996, cellular
service was extended to Himachal Pradesh. In 1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired control of JT
Holdings, and extended cellular operations to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 2000, Bharti
acquired control of Skycell Communications, in Chennai. In 2001, the company acquired control
of Spice Cell in Calcutta. Bharti Enterprises went public in 2002, and the company was listed on
Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. In 2003, the cellular phone
operations were rebranded under the single Airtel brand. In 2004, Bharti acquired control of
Hexacom and entered Rajasthan. In 2005, Bharti extended its network to Andaman and Nicobar.
This expansion allowed it to offer voice services all across India. In 2009, Airtel launched its first
international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In 2010, Airtel acquired the African operations of the
Kuwait based Zain Telecom.In March 2012, Airtel launched a mobile operation in Rwanda.
On 26 February 2013, Airtel announced that it had deployed Ericsson’s Mobile Broadband
Charging (MBC) solution and completely modernized its prepaid services for its subscribers in
India. As a part of the deal, Ericsson’s multi service MBC suite allows prepaid customers to have
personalized profile based data charging plans. Prepaid customers will be able to customize their
data plans across mobility, fixed line and broadband by cross bundling across multiple domains
(2G, 3G, 4G/LTE & Wi-Fi). It will also offer flexible multi service charging in geographical
redundant mode, making Airtel the first operator to implement geographical redundancy at such
a large scale. In May 2013, Bharti Infotel paid Rs 50,000 as compensation to a customer "for
unfair trade practices". The customer alleged that the company continued to aggressively demand
payment despite customer requests for disconnection of service.
CORPORATE STRUCTURE:-
Airtel's initial corporate structure concentrated on the hierarchy of the operations inside the
company as a whole. The structure depicted the corresponding operation/region of different in-
charges and it didn't hold anyone responsible for each of its services. So, the company found it
better to restructure its corporate hierarchy. The transformed organisational structure has two
distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer) and
B2B (Business to Business) segments. Bharti Airtel's B2C business unit will comprehensively
service the retail consumers, homes and small offices, by combining the erstwhile business units
- Mobile, Telemedia, Digital TV, and other emerging businesses (like M-commerce, M-health,
M-advertising etc.). The B2C organization will consist of Consumer Business and Market
Operations.
MOBILE SERVICES:-
Airtel's initial corporate structure concentrated on the hierarchy of the operations inside the
company as a whole. The structure depicted the corresponding operation/region of different in-
charges and it didn't hold anyone responsible for each of its services. So, the company found it
better to restructure its corporate hierarchy. The transformed organizational structure has two
distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer) and
B2B (Business to Business) segments. Bharti Airtel's B2C business unit will comprehensively
service the retail consumers, homes and small offices, by combining the erstwhile business units
- Mobile, Telemedia, Digital TV, and other emerging businesses (like M-commerce, M-health,
M-advertising etc.). The B2C organization will consist of Consumer Business and Market
Operations.
3G:-
On 18 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel paid the Indian government
122.95 billion (US$2.1 billion) for spectrum in 13 circles, the most amount spent by an operator
in that auction. Airtel won 3G licences in 13 telecom circles of India: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal
Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, and Jammu & Kashmir. Airtel also operates 3G services in
Maharastra & Goa and Kolkata circles through an agreement with Vodafone and in Gujarat
through an agreement with Idea. This gives Airtel a 3G presence in 15 out of 22 circles in India.
On 20 September 2010, Bharti Airtel said that it had given contracts to Ericsson India, Nokia
Siemens Networks (NSN) and Huawei Technologies to set up infrastructure for providing 3G
services in the country. These vendors would plan, design, deploy and maintain 3G–HSPA (third
generation, high speed packet access) networks in 13 telecom circles where the company had
won 3G licences. While Airtel awarded network contracts for seven 3G circles to Ericsson India,
NSN would manage networks in three circles. Chinese telecom equipment vendor Huawei
Technologies was introduced as the third partner for three circles.
On 24 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G services in Bangalore, Karnataka — its largest circle by
revenue. With this launch, Airtel became the third private operator (fifth overall) to launch its 3G
services in the country following Tata Docomo and Reliance Communications. On 27 January
2011, Airtel launched 3G in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. On 27 July 2011, 3G
services were launched in Kerala's 3 largest cities - Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.
Airtel 3G services are available in 200 cities through its network and in 500 cities through intra-
circle roaming arrangements with other operators. Airtel had about 5.4 million 3G customers of
which 4 million are 3G data customers as of September 2012.[23]
4G:-
On 19 May 2010, the broadband wireless access (BWA) or 4G spectrum auction in India ended.
Airtel paid 33.1436 billion (US$570 million) for spectrum in 4 circles: Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Punjab and Kolkata. The company was allocated 20 MHz of BWA spectrum in 2.3 GHz
frequency band. Airtel's TD-LTE network is built and operated by ZTE in Kolkata, Huawei in
Karnataka, ZTE in Punjab and Nokia Siemens Networks in Maharashtra. On 10 April 2012,
Airtel launched 4G services using TD-LTE technology in Kolkata, becoming the first company
in India to offer 4G services. The Kolkata launch was followed by launches in Bangalore (7 May
2012), Pune (18 October 2012) and, Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula (25 March 2013).
Airtel plans to provide voice services for its TD-LTE subscribers through its existing GSM
network, which would make it the only operator in India to combine voice with TD-LTE services
through GSM network. Airtel selected Nokia Siemens Networks to deploy its Circuit Switched
FallBack (CSFB) voice solution in Airtel’s TD-LTE network in Pune. With CSFB, the network
can transfer customers to GSM platform to make and receive voice calls while retaining the TD-
LTE network for data services.
On 24 May 2012, Airtel announced an agreement to acquire a 49% stake in Qualcomm Asia
Pacific's India entities, at an investment of 907 crore (US$165 million). Airtel bought 26% in
Qualcomm Asia Pacific from Global Holding Corporation and Tulip Telecom and the balance
23% by subscribing to fresh equity of Qualcomm. Global Holding Corporation and Tulip
Telecom had bought 13% each in the BWA entities for US$57.72 million (about 268 crore) in
2010. Qualcomm held 4G spectrum and licenses in Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Mumbai. As per
the agreement, by the May 2014, Airtel will assume full ownership and financial responsibility
for 4G operations in these 4 circles. The deal gave Airtel a 4G presence in 8 circles.
Airtel has plans to launch WiFi services in India. It intends to start offering WiFi services in
Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore in initial phase. All plans will be on secure wireless
broadband internet with unlimited usage and will be session or time based. Users can use the
service by finding a hotspot, selecting 'airtel WiFi Zone', activating the voucher and then login to
start browsing.
Airtel intends to partner with establishments to set up hotspots which will be termed WiFi
Hangout for an establishment owner and WiFi Partner for the cafe and restaurant owners. Airtel
WiFi Partners can offer services at zero investments and can earn commission on every WiFi
session sold.
AIRTEL MONEY
Airtel has started a new mCommerce platform called Airtel Money in collaboration with Infosys
and Smart Trust (now Giesecke & Devrient). The platform was launched on 5 April 2012, at
Infosys' headquarters in Bangalore. Using Airtel Money, users can transfer money, pay bills and
perform other financial transactions directly on the mobile phone.
SMARTDRIVE:-
Smart Drive is navigation app exclusive to Airtel customers. The app features voice-based turn
by turn navigation, real time information update on traffic, approximate time of the travel on the
basis of the traffic situation on the various routes and also lets users see their location on the map
and plan the journey accordingly. It also suggests the subscriber an alternate route in case of
traffic congestion on the normal route. According to Airtel, Smart Drive calculates the traffic on
the basis of the number of GPS devices used on a particular road, their average speed, as well as
historical trends of traffic on that route. Smart Drive also allows users to search for points of
interest like restaurants, theatres and shopping malls. The app also allows users to keep a record
of all trips they make when using voice navigation for later reference through the 'Trip Recorder'
feature, Wikipedia information of places for which information is available and the ability to add
frequently visited locations to favorites, in addition to weather information about the place.
Airtel will offer navigation at 10 per day or 99 per month. Live traffic will be cost 3 per day
or 49 per month. Search and map viewer are available for free. The costs do not include data
charges. Airtel states in Smart Drive's FAQ that data is only used when the user performs
searches or calculates routes.
The app is developed by Wise pilot, a mobile navigation solutions provider and uses Navteq
Maps for location and traffic info. It was launched on 12 September 2012. At the time of launch,
it was available only in Bangalore, Mumbai and NCR. Services are currently available in
Chennai. Service will be expanded to Pune and Hyderabad by December 2012.
Airtel has a Network Experience Centre (NEC) which observes end to end customer experience,
in near real time, along with the standard network elements on Airtel's operations. The NEC is
located in Manesar, Haryana and went live on 31 October 2012. It is the first such facility in
India and will be able to monitor Airtel's network performance across mobile, fixed line,
broadband, DTH, M-Commerce, enterprise services, International Cable Systems and internet
peering points from a single location. It will monitor all Airtel and partner NOCs. In case of an
emergency, the NEC will enable the operator to prioritize actions to restore normalcy and reduce
resolution time.
The NEC houses a video wall with 3600 square feet of solid state LED screen to monitor Airtel's
telecom network. This is the world's biggest video wall for a telecom operator. Each cube in this
wall is 1.6mx1.2 m and there are 175 cubes arranged in a 25x7 matrix. The clear span of the roof
is 49 m x 18 m and the beams, which are fireproof and about 8 feet deep, have been specially
designed to hold the structure without columns. The NEC was designed specifically to be used as
a command center in case of national emergencies and natural catastrophes. The facility is
earthquake proof and also provides for a single control of command and a fully redundant
technology layout.
I-PHONE:-
The iPhone 3G was rolled out in India in 2008 by Airtel. However, high prices and contract
bonds discouraged consumers and it was not as successful as the iPhone is in other markets of
the world. Airtel introduced the iPhone 4 on 27 May 2011 and the iPhone 5 on 2 November
2012.[52]
TELEMEDIA:-
Under the Telemedia segment, Airtel provides broadband internet access through DSL, internet
leased lines as well as MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) solutions, as well as IPTV and
fixed line telephone services. Until 18 September 2004, Bharti provided fixed line telephony and
broadband services under the Touchtel brand. Bharti now provides all telecom services including
fixed line services under a common brand airtel. As of September 2012, Airtel provides
Telemedia services to 3.3 million customers in 87 cities. As on 30 November 2012, Airtel had
1.39 million broadband subscribers.
Airtel Broadband provides broadband and IPTV services. Airtel provides both capped as well as
unlimited download plans. However, Airtel's unlimited plans are subject to free usage policy
(FUP), which reduces speed after the customer crosses a certain data usage limit. In some plans,
Airtel provides only 256kbit/s beyond FUP, which is lower than the TRAI specified limit of half
the subscriber's original speed. The maximum speed available for home users is 16Mbit/s.
TPB AIRTEL BROADBAND BLOCKING:-
In May 2012, Airtel Broadband and some other Indian ISPs temporarily blocked file sharing
websites such as vimeo.com megavideo.com, thepiratebay.se etc. without giving any legal
information to the customers. The block was due to a Madras High Court issued ‘John Doe’
order taken by Chennai-based Copyright Lab. In response to a petition filed by Vinay B, a
resident of Shimoga, Karnataka, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum ordered Airtel
to pay 20,000 to the petitioner for "deficiency in internet service" thereby causing mental agony
to the complainant. "By misinterpreting the Madras High Court order, Airtel blocked entire
websites. It is needless to say that the company’s actions amount to deficiency in service as well
as unfair trade practice," said the forum.
DIGITAL TELEVISION:-
AIRTEL DIGITAL TV
The Digital TV business provides Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV services across India under the
brand name Airtel digital TV. It started services on 9 October 2008 and had about 7.9 million
customers at the end of December 2012.
ENTERPRISE
The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and
national and international long distance services to telcos through its nationwide fiber optic
backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international
bandwidth access through the gateways and landing stations. It has two sections under it.
The different services under mobile data are BlackBerry services, a web-enabled mobile email
solution working on 'Push Technology', USB modem that helps in getting instant access to
Internet and corporate applications, Airtel Data Card that gives the liberty to access the internet
anytime, Easy Mail is a platform that provides access to personal/corporate e-mails independent
of handset operating system and application services that shorten the queues at the billing section
off-load the pressure on the billing staff and bring convenience to the user.
There are two kind of solutions offered by Airtel. One is GPRS Based Solutions like mobile
applications tools for enterprise, Track Mate, automatic meter reading solutions etc. and the other
is SMS Based Solutions like interactive SMS, bulk SMS inbound call center solutions.
ANDROID-BASED TABLET
Beetle Teletech Ltd., a unit of Bharti Enterprises Ltd., on 18 August launched a 9,999 ($220) 7-
inch tablet in India based on Google Inc.'s Android operating system. The offering is intended to
capitalize on the expected demand for cheap computing devices in the world's fastest-growing
and second-largest mobile phone market.
MILESTONES AND TIMELINE
1995
2004
2010
On 18 May 2010, Airtel won 3G spectrum in 13 circles: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal
Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir for 122.95 billion.
Bharti Airtel wins broadband spectrum in four circles: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab
and Kolkata for 33.14 billion.
On 18 November 2010, Bharti Airtel announced a re-branding campaign wherein, they
would be referred as airtel, with a new logo.
On 20 December 2010, Airtel launched its new identity for Bangladesh subscribers.[84]
On 23 December 2010, Airtel opened its first underground terrestrial fibre optic cable
built in alliance with China Telecom.
2011
2012
On 4 February 2013, Bharti Airtel launches its emergency alert service in eastern region
In 2013 the department of telecommunications (DoT) was investigating Bharti Airtel for
violations of a license agreement the company violated between 2003 and 2005
COMPARISON BETWEEN AIRTEL AND BSNL
Airtel and BSNL are the two top most internet service providers (ISP's) in India. Both have a
huge competition for their services and both offer unlimited net pack to their customer. These
two broad-bands have their own advantages and disadvantages. Here are the detailed advantages
of one over another.
The dedicated service and the longer reachable area are the specialties of BSNL
broadband which had not been beaten by any provider till now. You can get broadband
connection even if you are living in a rural or backward area unlike all other ISP's who
restricted their services majorly for urban areas.
BSNL is the one who introduced the internet service to residential users.
BSNL is very popular in the internet service providing category and it still holds its
reputation as the top most broadband provider in India.
The delay in paying bills is accepted up to 15 days i.e. internet connection will remain up
to 15 days after the due date of bill payment.
You will never expect a line or connection or server or lower speed problems.
The broadband connection of BSNL comes along with landline connection with free
usage (The free usage of landline will depends on the region and the broadband plan you
take up).
The exciting new unlimited plans and the special offers for government employees make
the BSNL broadband really special.
The tariff of BSNL is very less and also the unlimited plans start at very lower price
keeping in mind about the lower and middle class customers.
BSNL is owned by government. So their main concentration will be on providing service
rather than gaining profits like other private ISP's.
BSNL is far away from Fair Usage Policies, where the customer has to check for
download and upload limits regularly.
Airtel broadband service is considered to have a more organized, better customer support as
compared to that provided by BSNL.
Airtel comes equipped with extra features, luring customers with varied interests. Airtel has
recently come up with an on-demand usage scheme wherein the customer pays for as much as
he/she uses. This plan will help Airtel stand strongly against less expensive service providers like
BSNL.
Thanks to the dedicated and wide network, BSNL’s broadband service has a wider reach
compared to any service provider operating in India. The service reaches even the rural areas,
unlike other major service providers.
BSNL’s broadband service is considered to be more cost-effective that other broadband service
providers, making it a popular choice in an economical perspective.
Compared to BSNL’s broadband service, the Airtel broadband service requires its subscribers to
shell out more money.
BSNL broad band’s popularity has made people queue up for its service. However, the long
delay in getting a broadband connection may actually deflect the pursuers to another broadband
service provider.
BSNL has not been known for its customer service. Its poor customer support is credited to its
state-owned status.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is the leading broadband service provider in India.
Owned by the government of India, BSNL has the widest reach among all internet service
providers operating in the city.
Data One, a broadband service provided by broadband already covers more than 700 cities in the
country. This September will see broadband reaching more than twenty thousand rural locations
like panchayats, zila parishads, and district headquarters connect to the rest of the world through
broadband, that is, when BSNL’s new, ambitious project materializes.
The service provider will employ advanced software technology for making this plan come alive.
BSNL is also looking at making the telecom and broadband usage more cost-effective for its
consumers.
Apart from this rural-reach plan, BSNL has quite a number of plans in its kitty. Extensive fiber
networks across the country and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are just to name a couple of
its plans. BSNL will be employing 3G telecom networks all over the country.
With government of India’s dream to offer free, high-speed broadband to all the citizens of India
by 2009, I wonder what would happen to the other service providers in the country. They must
gear up for the challenge.
In the today’s competitive world communication plays a very important role. Communication
has become an integral part of the growth, success and efficiency of any business. This is the
technology that gives a person the power to communicate anytime, anywhere. Due to
advancement in technology, now communication becomes easy and faster. In this research paper,
special emphasis has been laid over the comparative analysis of telecom companies AIRTEL and
BSNL by using primary sources of data in Mandi division of Himachal Pradesh. For the
completion of efficient research work, descriptive and exploratory research design has been used
which further conclude that BSNL is having weak Network performance as compared to Airtel .
Trends of previous 5 years in Mandi division have shown that BSNL Company has slowly
deteriorated its position.
INTRODUCTION:-
The telecom sector reforms were undertaken in three phases. The first phase began in the 80’s,
when private manufacturing of customer promise equipment was given a go-ahead in 1984. A
proliferation of individual STD/ISD/PCO network also took place throughout the country by way
of private individual franchises. Maharashtra Telephone Nigam (MTNL) was created out of the
department of telecommunication (DOT) to handle the sectors of Mumbai and Delhi
respectively. A high powered telecom commission was set up in 1989. Later Videsh Sanchar
Nigam (VSNL) became the international service provider catering to telecom services
originating from India. The second phase of reforms commenced in 1991 with the announcement
of new economic policy. The government delivered the manufacturer of telecom equipment in
1991. It also ahead up radio services in 1992. In 1994, basic telephony was opened to the private
sector by granting operating licenses to six companies. Also part of the second phase was the
introduction of the National Telecom Policy 1994. It emphasized universal service and
qualitative improvement in telecom services among other objectives. An independent statutory
The telecom sector began witnessing a trend of growth with these reforms basic services were
opened for unlimited competition more licenses were issued to the private sector for cellular
services. There has also been a considerable increase in the rate of tale density. The telecom
sector has thus completely changed both in terms of coverage and efficiency of services.
Provision of landlines a demand, digital telephone, exchanges and the acceptability of optic fiber
and wireless technology are a few instances of the change that took instances of the change that
took place in the industry.
Cellular telephone services have achieved great commercial success; because users recognize the
mobile telephone access can improve productivity and enhance safety. A new subscriber is opting
for cellular services for personal security, safety and convenience. Increase in demand and the
poor quality of existing telecommunications landline services. Mobile service providers will be
benefited from the research, the ways to improve their quality of service and to support more
users in their system.
The present study has been made to identity the customer’s attitude towards cell phones,
telephones, broadband services of BSNL and AIRTEL in MANDI Division. Many private
operators have entered in to the cellular segment to provide services. It has brought heavy
competition in to the market. They have to find out the customers attitudes towards this service
which could be useful to formulate new strategies policy and market their services in a better
way.
Customer satisfaction is an important because a higher level of satisfaction can deliver many
satisfactions. Those satisfactions are as follows:
Loyalty: A highly satisfied customer is a loyal customer.
Repeat purchases: A highly satisfied customers buy more products.
Referral: A highly satisfied customer tells their friends and family about the product or
service.
Retention: A highly satisfied customer is less likely to switch brands.
Reduced cost: A highly satisfied customer costs less to serve than a new customer.
Premium safety: A highly satisfied customer is willing to pay more for the products or
service.
Research design of the present study is exploratory cum descriptive and partially casual in
nature, as the study aims at achieving insights into a relatively new phenomenon of A Study of
Comparative analysis of the BSNL & AIRTEL. As the research is aimed at to find out the
consumers satisfaction level towards BSNL & AIRTEL.
SAMPLE DESIGN:
Sample design is that part of universe, which we select for the purpose of investigation. A sample
should exhibit characteristics of the universe. The researcher must decide the way of selecting
sample. Sample can be either probability samples or non-probability samples. So here in this
project I have taken the non- probability samples of the research works.
SAMPLE FRAME:
It is also known as “Source of list” from which sample is to be drawn. The sample frame of my
study is from district Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
SAMPLE PROCEDURE:
The sampling design, I have chosen to decide the sample for study is based on convenient
sampling.
DATA COLLECTION
PRIMARY DATA:
Whatever the data I have collected, it is primary data which was collected with help of a by
direct feedback from the customer.
SECONDARY DATA:
I have also collected the secondary data for research work, which I have taken from BSNL &
AIRTEL internal records, trade and business publications, and various sites related to BSNL and
Airtel.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Summary of the survey module for the Basic (Wireline) At Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
Table 1:-
S.NO. Performance BSNL AIRTEL
1 Customers satisfied with provisioning of service. 90 96
2 Customer satisfied with billing performance. 96 96
3 Customers satisfied with network performance, 74 84
reliability and availability.
4 Customers satisfied with maintability. 93 95
5 Customers satisfied with supplementary and value 85 88
added services
6 Customers satisfied with help services including 96 96
grievance redressal
7 Customers satisfied with overall service quality 79 89
INTERPRETATION:
From the above table it can be clearly be seen that airtel is dominating in all the cases in wire-
line services, which means that most of the customers are satisfied with the airtel wire-lines.
Table 2:
Summary of the survey module for (wire-less) in the Mandi division.
INTERPRETATION:
In case of wireless also, airtel again wins the race of being the dominator. This is mainly because
airtel on regular basis increases its frequency width which provides the clarity in talking without
any hurdles.
Table: 3
Summary of the survey module for (broadband) in the Mandi division.
INTERPRETATION:
From the above figures it can be seen that both the networks gives a head to head competition to
each other. Both the networks enjoy the positive responses from the customers.
FINDINGS
Interpretation: From the above table it can be clearly seen that majority of the respondents are
composed of students who now a days plays a major role in any purchase decision.
Qus: 2 Among these two which company’s network you use?
Interpretation: From the table above, it can be said that most people prefer to connect with the
airtel network that is the why AIRTEL is dominating in this sector.
CATEGORY RESPONDENTS
Brand image 12
Price 16
Plans and features 34
Call rates 28
Functional performance 10
Interpretation: From the information above it can be said that most of the respondents are
concerned with the call rates and special plans provided by any tele - operator. They give a close
watch to these two categories in order to adapt the best plan with the least cost involved in it.
Q5: Are you satisfied with the services which your operator provides?
Category Yes No
Respondents 60 40
Interpretation: Most of the respondents are satisfied with their user network
where the dis - satisfaction is 40%. The main reason for their dissatisfaction is the
after sale services which they earlier promise at the time of purchase.
Q6: Which are the sources of information that made you opt for the purchase?
Category Respondents
Tele vision ads 40
Newspaper ads 5
Magazines 2
Friends and relatives 33
Network dealers 20
Interpretation: Most of the people are influenced by t.v.ads and with the
suggestions of friends and relatives.
Q7: How much are you satisfied with your present network?
Category Respondents
Very much satisfied 20
Satisfied 40
Average 25
Dis -satisfied 8
Very much dis- satisfied 4
Interpretation : From the table above it can be seen that majority of the
respondents are satisfied with their present networks as they are satisfied with
their features and plans and tele operators have achieved in a large extent to know
the requirements of the people.
Q8: Which factor do you suggest the company should lay emphasis to enhance its
sales?
Category Respondents
Quality features 20
Feedback 30
Advertisement campaign 15
After sale services 35
o With the help of data collected and meeting with the people in MANDI division, the
response which I get from the people is that they are mostly satisfied with the services
of airtel. This is mainly because of hurdles free network when I asked about its
characteristics. People want the clearty in network. As MANDI is a region surrounded
with the mountains, it becomes difficult for most of the operators to fully adapt to the
conditions in the MANDI region. But airtel considering all such difficulties, tried in
better way to satisfy the local people of MANDI. People can enjoy a good
communication network all around the world with out any interference or network
problem.
o BSNL on the other hand is also a very good service operator in tele communication
zone. It has enjoyed a good response for the last few years, but unable to keep its
dominance at the top because of time consuming factors in adopting the BSNL
network. It also has high charges in case of certain cases which has resulted in the
withdrawal of network by the people. Earlier there was a wire line telephone in each
and every house of BSNL. But for the last few years most of the people has dis
connected the BSNL network due to the fixed charges which the people has to pay
whether they make a call or not.
o Another problem with the BSNL is the easy recharge, people has to go to the distance
places to refill their BSNL networks. And it is not easily available; on the other hand
it is not the case with the AIRTEL Operators.
o Various plans which the AIRTEL provides to its customers enjoy the good feedback
from the people because these plans are made according to the requirements of the
people and don’t make a heavy burden on their pocket. On the other hand it is not the
case with BSNL; people are dissatisfied with the high charges of BSNL.
o Through the data collected it can be seen that both the network enjoys the good
network with out any hurdles. So still both these networks gives a tough competition
to each other
SUGGESTIONS:
Taking both the networks into consideration, I want to suggest that BSNL should come
up with the new plans to gain the positive attitude of the people.
BSNL has to understand the needs of the people, what they actually wants, and what is
their attitude towards their network, a regular feedback should be taken on time to time
basis about their performance in tele communication world.
AIRTEL being at the top should concentrate on the unnecessary charges they cut from
their network holders.
AIRTEL has already entered into the T.V digitalization, so I will also suggest the BSNL
to make a quick entry into this field in order to capture the more market share.
LIMITATION
Due to limited span of time, fewer respondents were taken into consideration.
Due to less information about these two operators, many people gave the misleading
responses.
Due to lack of literacy level in Mandi region, difficulty arised in collecting the accurate
results.
BOOKS:
ECONOMIC INDIA (2012-13)
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR (K.ASHWATHAPA, 2012-13)
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING (C.B.GUPTA 2012-13)
WEBSITES:
www.airtel.in
www.bsnl.com
www.cnn.in
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Respondent,
This survey will help us in understanding the consumer
behaviour and also in making a comparative analysis of tele
networks. It will only take 5-10 minutes of your time.
Name _____________
Age _____________
Q5: Are you satisfied with the services which your operator
provides?
(a) Yes (b) No
Q6: Which are the sources of information that made you opt for the
purchase?
(a) TV Ads (b) Newspaper Ads
(c) Magazines (d) Friends and Relatives
(e) Network Dealers
Q7: How much are you satisfied with your present network?
(a) Very Much Satisfied (b) Satisfied
(c) Average (d) Dissatisfied
(e) Very Much Dissatisfied
Q8: Which factor do you suggest the company should lay emphasis
to enhance its sales?
(a) Quality features (b) feedback
(c) Advertisement Campaign (d) After Sale Services