A report on Research on

Consumer Perception on Tata Indicom’s True Value

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the
M.B.A Degree Course of Bangalore University
By
Gokul Daga
Registration NO – 06XQCM6093

Under the guidance of

Prof. Jairaj Nair

Internal Guide

2006-2008

M P Birla Institute Of Management

Associate Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
#43, Race course Road, Bangalore – 560001

M P Birla Institute Of Management, 1

Bangalore
 Declaration

I hereby declare that this research report entitled “Customer perception

towards Tata Indicom” is a record of independent work carried out by me
towards partial fulfillment of the requirements of the MBA degree
Course, Bangalore University at M.P.Birla Institute of Management.

Place : Bangalore Gokul Daga

Date : Reg No : 06XQCM6093
 Principals CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Gokul Daga bearing the registration no -

06XQCM6093 has satisfactorily completed his internship training at Tata
Indicom, Bangalore, towards the partial fulfillment of MBA course
prescribed by the Bangalore University, for the year 2007-08 under our
guidance and supervision.

Place : Bangalore Dr. N S

Mallavali Date: (Principal)
 Guide Certificate

This i s to certify that this research report entitled “Customer perception

towards Tata Indicom” has been prepared by Mr. Gokul Daga under my
guidance and supervision.

Place : Bangalore Prof. Jairaj Nair

Date : Faculty MPBIM
 Acknowledgement

This is to acknowledge the management of Tata Teleservices

for having permitted me to under go my research report as part of MBA
course.

I am extremely thankful to Mr. Uthappa S C, for giving me

an opportunity to under go the training at their esteemed organization, my
sincere gratitude to all those who have responded to my queries.

I would like to acknowledge the guidance given by the internal

guide Prof. Jairaj Nair in undergoing the research report and preparation
of project work. I further extend my sincere gratitude to our Principal Dr.
Nagesh Malavalli.

Finally I would like to thank my parents and all my friends

who have stood beside me in completing my project.

Gokul Daga
 Table of Content
Sl No Particular Page No
1 Executive Summary 1
2 Industrial Profile 2
3 Tata sons Profile 4
4 Company Profile 7
5 About True value Hub 9
6 Technology 16
7 Statement of Problem 21
8 Research 23
9 Findings 27
11 Conclusion 51
12 Recommendation 52
13 Bibliography 53
14 Questionnaire 55
 List of Tables

No Titles Page No
Table 1 Gender of respondents interviewed 26
Table 2 Marital Status of the respondents 28
Table 3 Age wise distribution of the respondents 30
Table 4 Occupation distribution of the respondents 32
Table 5 Response time 34
Table 6 Customers perception of prices offered 36
Table 7 Customer perception of service provided 38
Table 8 Customer perception towards parking facility 40
Table 9 Customer perception towards billing system 42
Table 10 Customer perception towards the promotions 44
Table 11 Customer perception towards Interaction of Sales people 46
Table 12 Service Offered 48
 List of Chart and Graphs

Chart No Particular Page Number

Graph 1 Distribution of gender 25
Graph 2 Marital status of Respondents 27
Graph 3 Age wise distribution of the Respondents 29
Graph 4 Occupation distribution of Respondents 31
Graph 5 Response time 33
Graph 6 Customers perception of prices offered 35
Graph 7 Customer perception of service provided 37
Graph 8 Customer perception towards parking facility 39
Graph 9 Customer perception towards billing system 41
Graph 10 Customer perception towards the promotions 43
Graph 11 Customer perception towards Interaction of Sales people 45
Graph 12 Service Offered 47
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 Executive Summary

Indian telecom industry is one of the fastest growing in the world. The technology is
divided in to CDMA and GSM, Tata made its entry in the telecom industry through
CDMA. True Value is the outlets the company opens in order to serve the customers. In
this research, the company showroom located at koramangala is taken for study purpose.

In this research, randomly selected population of 100 were interviewed in order to

draw a conclusion towards the customer perception towards the outlets as well as the
brand Tata Indicom.

The findings showed that the population has a very positive attitude towards TATA as a
company but Tata Indicom is having a below average satisfaction level. The study showed
that, the service provided, problem solving, and giving new connection by the company is
no good when compared to its competitors.

The Company need to take personal care of its big accounts and should be faster in
problem solving and responding to the customer queries. The different departments should
work together in order to fasten the work process from taking orders till giving new
connection. Even issues related to billing should be solved.
INDUSTRY PROFILE
 Telecom industry

Indian telecommunication Industry is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in

the world. The mobile sector has grown from around 10 million subscribers in 2002 to
reach 150 million by early 2007 registering an average growth of over 90% yoy. The two
major reasons that have fuelled this growth are low tariffs coupled with falling handset
prices.

Surprisingly, CDMA market has increased it market share up to 30% thanks to

Reliance Communication. However, across the globe, CDMA has been loosing out
numbers to popular GSM technology, contrary to the scenario in India. The other reason
that has tremendously helped the telecom Industry is the regulatory changes and reforms
that have been pushed for last 10 years by successive Indian governments. According to
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) the rate of market expansion would
increase with further regulatory and structural reforms. Even though the fixed line market
share has been dropping consistently, the overall (fixed and mobile) subscriber has risen to
more than 200 million by first quarter of 2007. The telecom reforms have allowed the
foreign telecommunication companies to enter Indian market which has still got huge
potential. International telecom companies like Vodafone have made entry into Indian
market in a big way.
Currently the Indian Telecommunication market is valued at around $100 billion
(Rupees 400,000 crore). Two telecom players dominate this market - Bharti Airtel with
27% market share and Reliance Communication with 20% along with other players like
BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) and AT&T.One segment of the market that has
been puzzling is broadband Internet. Despite the manner in which the country’s Internet
market has been booming, India’s move into high-speed broadband Internet access has
been distinctly slow. And, while there appears to be considerable enthusiasm amongst the
population for the Internet itself, this has not been reflected in broadband subscription
numbers. In 2006 India witnessed a good surge in broadband users with the total subscriber
base in the country expanding by almost 200% to just over 2 million by years end. Despite
this surge, broadband penetration in India still remains around only 0.2%; broadband
services still account for only 25% of the total Internet subscriber base, still in itself
comparatively low.
 The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is has very
aggressive plans to increase the pace of growth, targeting 250 million telephone subscribers
by end-2007 and 500 million by 2010. Most of the expansion in subscribers is set to occur
in rural India. India’s rural telephone density has been languishing at around 1.9%;
So, if 70% of total population is rural, the scope for growth in this Industry is
unprecedented. The Indian Telecommunications network with 110.01 million connections
is the fifth largest in the world and the second largest among the emerging economies of
Asia. Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world and represents unique
opportunities for U.S. companies in the stagnant global scenario. The total subscriber base,
which has grown by 40% in 2005, is expected to reach 250 million in 2007. According to
Broadband Policy 2004, Government of India aims at 9 million broadband connections and
18 million internet connections by 2007. The wireless subscriber base has jumped from
33.69 million in 2004 to 62.57 million in FY2004- 2005. In the last 3 years, two out of
every three new telephone subscribers were wireless subscribers. Consequently, wireless
now accounts for 54.6% of the total telephone subscriber base, as compared to only 40% in
2003. Wireless subscriber growth is expected to bypass 2.5 million new subscribers per
month by 2007. The wireless technologies currently in use are Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). There are primarily
9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile services in 19 telecom circles and 4
metro cities, covering 2000 towns across the country.
Evolution of the industry-Important Milestones

1851 : First operational land lines were laid by the government near

Calcutta. 1881: Telephone service introduced in India

1883: Merger with the postal system

1923: Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT)

1932: Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Cable Communication Company.

1947: Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies.

1985: Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive provider

of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own regulator.

1986: Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies: the Videsh

Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international telecommunications and

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in metropolitan areas.

1997: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created.

1999: Cellular Posts, Telephone Services are launched in India. New National

Telecom Policy is adopted.

2000: DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL

 Tata Sons Profile

Tata Sons is the promoter company of the Tata Group. Established as a trading
company by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, it evolved into the custodian of the Tata companies that
were to follow. It was the promoter of all key companies of the Tata Group for nearly a
hundred years, till the role of promoting new ventures was taken over by Tata Industries in
the 1980s.

Tata Sons holds the bulk of the equity owned by the Group in the share capital of its
key companies. The chairman of Tata Sons is traditionally regarded as the Group chairman.
The current Group chairman is Ratan N. Tata.

The company is the owner of the Tata name and the Tata trademarks that are
registered in India and several other countries and are used by all Tata companies in
relation to their products and services.

About 66 per cent of the equity capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts
endowed by the members of the Tata family. These trusts have sponsored and promoted a
number of public institutions in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social service,
rural welfare and the performing arts.
 Tata Industries Profile

Tata Industries was set up in 1945 as a managing agency for businesses promoted by
Tata Sons. After the abolition of the managing agency system its mandate was recast in the
early 1980s to promoting the Group's entry into new and high-tech industries.

Over the last two decades, Tata Industries has initiated and promoted the Group's
ventures in control systems, information technology parks, financial services, auto
components, advanced materials and telecommunication hardware. The latest sector in
which Tata Industries has been a key player is telecommunication services, which is
currently the Group's biggest investment.

Tata Group Profile

The Tata Group is India's best-known industrial group with an estimated turnover of
around US $ 14.25 billion (equivalent to 2.6 % of India's GDP). Long known for its
adherence to business ethics, it is India's most respected private business group. With more
than 220,000 employees across 91 major companies, it is also India's largest employer in
the private sector.

Founded by Jamsetji Tata in the 1860s, the Tata Group's early years were inspired
by the spirit of nationalism. The Tata Group pioneered several firsts in Indian industry:
India's first private sector steel mill, first private sector power utility, first luxury hotel
chain and first international airline, amongst others. In more recent times, the Tata Group's
pioneering spirit continues to be showcased by companies like Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS), today Asia's largest software and services company, and Tata Motors, the first car
maker in a developing country to design and produce a car from the ground up.

The business operations of the Tata Group currently encompass seven business
sectors - Engineering, Materials, Energy, Chemicals, Consumer Products, Services, and
Communications and Information Systems. The scale of the Tata Group's operations is
increasingly turning global. Tata Tea is the first Indian MNC in the global tea industry and
India's largest integrated tea company; Tata Chemicals is Asia's largest manufacturer of
soda ash; Titan Industries is the world's sixth largest manufacturer brand and Tata Motors
is amongst the top six medium and heavy commercial vehicle manufacturers in the world.
The Tata Group is increasingly focusing on new technology areas, and has the largest
footprint in India's new economy; besides being the largest software services provider in
the country, it is also one of the leading private sector telecom service providers, and is also
India's largest international long distance and internet services provider.

The Tata brand is recognized as the largest homegrown brand in India and the most
respected brand across consumer segments. The Tata Group's stable of brands also includes
many national and some internationally renowned product and service brands, including
Tata Indica, Tata Indigo /Indigo Marina, Tata Safari, Tata Indicom, Taj Hotels, Resorts and
Palaces, IndiOne, Tata Tea, Tetley, Tata Salt, Titan, Tanishq, Voltas and Westside.

The Tata Group has always believed in returning wealth to the society it serves.
Thus, nearly two-thirds of the equity of Tata Sons, the Tata Group's promoter company, is
held by philanthropic trusts which have created a host of national institutions in community
development, education and research centers, hospitals and scientific and cultural
establishments. The Trusts also give substantial annual grants and endowments to
deserving individuals and institutions in the areas of education, healthcare and social
upliftment.

By combining ethical values with business acumen, globalization with national

interests and core businesses with emerging ones, the Tata Group aims to be the largest and
most respected global brand from India whilst fulfilling its long-standing commitment to
improving the quality of life of its stakeholders.
 About Tata Teleservices Limited
Tata Teleservices is part of the Rs.54, 000/- crore (US$11.2 billion) Tata Group, that
has over 90 companies, over 2, 10,000 employees and more than 2.16 million shareholders.
With an investment of over Rs.9, 000 crore (US$ 2 billion) in Telecom, the Group has a
formidable presence across the telecom value chain. The Tata Group plans an additional
investment of around Rs.9, 000/- crore (US$ 2 billion) in this sector in the next two years.
Tata Teleservices spearheads the Group's presence in the telecom sector.
Incorporated in 1996, Tata Teleservices was the first to launch Mobile services in India in
the Andhra Pradesh circle.
The company offers services under the brand name 'Tata Indicom' in eight key
Indian circles of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Tamil
Nadu and Chennai comprising 70% of the telecom revenue potential of the country.
Starting with the major acquisition of Hughes Telecom (India) Limited [now
renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] in December 2002, the company has
swung into expansion mode. The company has recently acquired a Universal Access
Service License (UASL) for 12 new circles. The new circles are Bihar, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh
(East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal. The company plans to launch its services in
the new circles by December 2004. The investment in the company as of March 2004 totals
Rs.5,995 crore (US$ 120 million).
Having pioneered the CDMA 3G1x technology platform in India, Tata Teleservices
has established a robust and reliable 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 customer
base of over 1 million.
Tata Teleservices’ bouquet of telephony services includes Mobile services, Smart
Wireless Services, Public Booth Telephony, and Wire line services. Other services include
value added services like voice portal, roaming, post-paid Internet services, 3-way
conferencing, CUG, Wi-Fi Internet services and data services.
The company has launched prepaid Smart Wireless Service (SWS) and interactive
applications like news, cricket, astrology, etc. It has exciting plans to launch public phone
booths, new handsets, Push-To-Talk services (first across the world to partner with
Qualcomm for BREW Chat), expand Wi-Fi across public hotspots, new voice & data
services such as Java & BREW games, picture messaging and polyphonic ring tones.

Tata Teleservices has a strong workforce of 5500. The company is in the process of
recruiting personnel for its 12 new circles and would have created more than 20,000 jobs
by March 2005, which will include 10,000 indirect jobs through outsourcing of its
manpower needs.
Today, the company serves over 2 million customers in over 290 towns. With an
ambitious rollout plan both within existing circles and across new circles, Tata Teleservices
will offer world-class technology and user-friendly services to over 1000 cities in 20 circles
by March 2005.
 About True Value Hub

Full Service Outlet (FSO) is a customer touch point that offers a pleasant shopping
experience to all existing & prospective customers. The outlet offers all the Products &
Services available under the Tata Indicom brand.

Products:

 Prepaid & Post paid Connections with plans to suit all usage patterns of customers
 Attractive and User friendly Mobile Phones at every price point
 Fixed wireless Telephones
 Calling Cards
 Broadband services
 Telephone Accessories for life style and basic usage

Services:

 Bill payment
 Recharge Vouchers
 Value Added Services
 Query Handling
 Complaint Handling

The ambience of these outlets is vibrant, cheerful and inviting so as to make

customers feel comfortable and reassured with the environment and improve their
interaction and feeling of efficiency. Each and every customer is offered personalized
service by professionally trained executives.

With an objective of “Turning waiting into Experience”, FSOs have been equipped
with an Experience Zone with interactive kiosks. These kiosks allow customers to browse,
experience and gather information on latest Products & Services including Mobile, Internet
Connectivity, Fixed Wireless services, ringtones, wallpapers and other Value added
services thus lending these stores to be classified as truly “User Friendly Store”
TATA TELESERVICES

Tata Teleservices is part of the INR Rs. 119000 Crore (US$ 29 billion) Tata Group,
that has over 98 companies, over 289,500 employees and more than 2.9 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.
Tata Teleservices spearheads the Group’s presence in the telecom sector. Incorporated in
1996, Tata Teleservices 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 Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] in December 2002 the
company swung into an expansion mode. With the total Investment of Rs 19,924 Crore,
Tata Teleservices has created a Pan India presence spread across 19 circles that include
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, Tata Teleservices 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. Tata Teleservices’ bouquet
of telephony services includes Mobile services, Wireless Desktop Phones, Public Booth
Telephony and Wireline services. Other services include value added services like voice
portal, roaming, post-paid Internet services, 3-way conferencing, group calling, Wi-Fi
Internet, USB Modem, data cards, calling card services and enterprise services. 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.

Tata Indicom redefined the existing prepaid mobile market in India, by unveiling
their offering – Tata Indicom ‘Non Stop Mobile’ which allows customers to receive free
incoming calls. Tata Teleservices today has India’s largest branded telecom retail chain and
is the first
service provider in the country to offer an online channel www.i-choose.in to offer post paid
mobile connections in the country.

Tata Teleservices 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, Tata Teleservices Limited along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra)

Limited serves over 25 million customers in over 5000 towns. With an ambitious rollout
plan both within existing circles and across new circles, Tata Teleservices offers world-
class technology and user-friendly services in 19 circles.

Prepaid
ATA Indicom has three wonderful prepaid plans for you. Each plan comes with unique
benefits to cater to different needs. So choose the one that best fits your pocket and your
need.

Ready-to-use features with your Tata Indicom True Paid

SMS
Roaming in over 2400 cities
STD & ISD Facility
Caller Line Identification
Balance Carry Forward
Anywhere/ Anytime Recharge
Instant Balance Enquiry

Post paid Tata Indicom mobile services now offer you both Pre-Paid as well as post-
paid mobile phone connections.

Tata Indicom post paid mobile phone STD call charges are amongst the lowest in India for
distances over 500 km with absolutely no additional-airtime charges!

Most importantly, Tata Indicom Tata Indicom post-paid mobile phone offers superior voice
clarity, congestion-free networks, high speed data access, and coverage in over 1000 cities.
Wireless

Tata Indicom is proud to bring you a revolutionary new home phone - Tata Indicom
with a unique 10 digit number for small & semi urban towns. A superior phone with
advanced features like Internet, caller ID, speaker phone, address book etc. And Tata
Indicom 10 is available in both Prepaid and Post paid versions, so that you can choose what
suits your requirements best... With Tata Indicom 10, you control your monthly home
phone budget.
Here are a few more exciting benefits of Tata Indicom 10:

Instant Connection
you can get an instant connection over the counter. No waiting period, no excessive
paperwork.

Wireless
As Tata Indicom 10 is wireless, it is easy to install, with no annoying wires and – no major
connections inside your house.

Tata Indicom is proud to bring you a revolutionary new home phone - Tata Indicom with a
unique 10 digit number for small & semi urban towns. A superior phone with advanced
features like Internet, caller ID, speaker phone, address book etc. And Tata Indicom 10 is
available in both Prepaid and Postpaid versions, so that you can choose what suits your
requirements best... With Tata Indicom 10, you control your monthly home phone budget.

Here are a few more exciting benefits of Tata Indicom 10:

Instant Connection
You can get an instant connection over the counter. No waiting period, no excessive
paperwork.

Wireless
As Tata Indicom 10 is wireless, it is easy to install, with no annoying wires and - no
major connections inside your house.
Landline

Tata Indicom offers you almost instant phone connections. Get Tata Indicom Landline
Phone services based on the state of the art Optical Fibre Cable-based backbone. Enjoy
greater voice clarity and say goodbye to excessive billing.

Tata Indicom Phone Connections Advantage

Superior voice clarity

Instant and hassle - free connections

Accurate billing

Secure and tamper - proof lines

Responsive and friendly service

24 x 7 friendly customer service

If you take a wire-line connection, your telephone is connected to the Tata Indicom
exchange by a combination of high technology fibre-optic and copper cables. Global
standard today, fibre-optic cables enable our network to handle higher capacities of load as
compared to ordinary cables and at much higher transmission speeds. This gives you
trouble-free and faster connectivity.

CALL MANAGEMENT SERVICES

This service helps the subscribers to effectively manage their calls.

Key features and benefits:
 Call waiting: enables our subscribers to second incoming call while is already busy
on one.
 Call hold: allow our subscribers to put a call on hold to make a second call.
 CLIP: Call line identification presentation: Enables our subscribers to view the
phone number after calling person, while receiving a call.
  STD or ISD Lock: enables a customer to restrict out going STD and ISD calls from
his mobile phone to prevent misuse.

TEXT MESSAGING
This allows an Indicom subscriber to send and receive text message to, and from any
mobile phone.
Key features and benefits
 Can be used to communicate when a subscriber cannot talk, e.g., in quite place
movie theatre or at noisy place like shopping malls.
 Can be used to send messages to friends when they are not responding to calls.
 Provides flexibility to communicate using icons and pictures.

The subscriber can make sending and receiving of messages more interesting
by
:
 Sending messages to e-mail account and receiving e-mail on their handsets as the
message.
 Sending and receiving messages in either English or Hindi.

VOICE MAIL SERVICE

Voice mail is a 24 hours personal call answering service that enables the subscribers to
receive voice mail from the caller when they are unable to take call.
 This service receives messages from callers and stores them.
 Subscribers can use “call diverts” to divert calls from handset to voice mail.
ID CALLER SERVICE
 They can also look up for STD/ISD codes.
 They can search for names in calls history and get details about the people who
called.
 And make it more convenient, there are options to send messages, make calls
and add the number to the address book within the Directory search function.
Apart from the phone number of the caller, this service also gives the number of attempts
made by the caller also date and time of the last call. The subscriber can also call back
these numbers while he viewing the details.
Out of vast range of accessories we have a portfolio of accessories that are in demand. you
will be getting a simple, easy to read user manual with your handset.
 THE TECHNOLOGY

Global shift to wireless communication

Wireless mobile communication become more popular in the last few year as
compare to wireless communication. It involves the use of radio frequencies for
communication.

Need for mobility:

Wire line communication restricts you to a particular place because communication device
is fixed. On the other hand, in a wireless environment you can carry the excess device.

Lower cost of deployment:

Cost of wireless technology deployment is dropping as technology is maturing and volumes
are growing. Also, only the cables for the main backbone need to be laid. There is no cost
of taking these through the last mile as required in wire line.

Lower Operation cost:

Operation cost is also lower compared to wire line communication as there is
additional laying or repairing of cables required. The primary cost is of maintaining the
transmission tower and the other network elements which are all “indoor” and hence the
maintaining is not as expensive.

Rapid Hookup of subscriber:

Getting new user is also easy because rapid hook up of subscriber is possible. It
does not involves connecting a cable line from a subscriber’s home to exchange. Also there
is no additional man power cost for doing internal wiring in a new house.
 CDMA

The wire less world is dominated by two main technology, CDMA (Code division
Multiple Access) and GSM (Global system of Mobile Communication), CDMA was
pioneered by Qualcomm; it works by digitizing multiple conversations and attaching codes
known only to senders and receiver’s handsets; then it dices the signals into bits, transmits
them and reassembles them. In fact, this technology evolved in 1940’s and was initially
used in the military because coded signals with trillions of possible combinations resulted
in extremely secure transmission.

Advantages of CDMA over other technology:

 Increased wireless communication security.
 The cost advantage- Cost of CDMA technology is 1 ½ times lesser than the GSM
technology and eight times lesser than the GPRS technology.
 Capacity Advantage- CDMA capacity is approximately 2-3 times more than the
GSM capacity.
 Soft handoff- In GSM, there is frequent occurrence of calls being dropped when the
user is on the move and shifts from one coverage are to another. This is because of
the “hard hand-off” between the mobile stations servicing as he moves.
The CDMA hand sets can tune in to multiple cell sites at the same time. There is
constant information about the cell phone fed from the mobile station to the network. This
in turn results in both (or more) stations serving a CDMA phone concurrently for some
times before the CDMA phone is handed-off by one of these to the other. This is called a
“Soft Hand Off” This ensures efficient hand offs and reduced drooped calls.
Other advantages include:
 Lower power requirement leading to longer battery life.
 Faster communication.
 Enhanced voice clarity and quality of WAP and multimedia services such as
voice, data, fax, and video.
 Handsets

Difference between GSM and CDMA handsets

 CDMA phone looks similar to GSM phones:

o They are approximately of the same size and weight.
o They support both voice and data.
 There are a few key differences.
o They do not have sim-cards.
o They generally have longer battery life.
 Recent advancements in CDMA technology provides greater support for data
service and enhances sound clarity.
Tata indicom has taken special care to bring sleek and feature-rich CDMA Handsets. These
handsets have then been tested and customized by indicom to support a hold range of data
and multimedia features.

OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES

 Higher capacity phone book memory.
 Special lifestyle features such as organizer and calendar.
 Longer battery life.
 Polyphonic ring-tones for superior sound quality.
 SELLING TO SEGMENTS

Clearly the TATA Indicom mobile service has a far reaching appeal. It is not just a
mobile for up the up market customers.
 Trade.
 Service provider e.g. Doctor and lawyers.
 Youth.
 Young working adults.
 Transaction provider e.g. Carpenter, Electrician.
 Very rich.
 House wife.
PROBLEM STATEMEMENT
Statement of the Problem:

The companies should be dynamic and should update themselves according to

the changing needs of the customer. Coming to our study customer perceptions can give a
lot of inputs and scope for improvement, lots of customers across all the ages, income
groups and occupations visit the store. Different customers have different experiences and
perceptions towards the store, understanding these differences and rendering what the
customers need is very vital for the survival and the growth of the store. In this study we
are attempting to understand the customer perceptions so that the store can improve upon in
the areas where the customers do not have good perceptions.

TATA INDICOM is facing problem in retaining the customers when seen on a long
term basis. Even tough Tata’s plans are more competitive than the competitors the
customers are enjoying its competitor’s services.

Need and Importance of the Study

It is very important for any company to know how the customers perceive their
products, services or the organization as a whole. It is the customer’s perception which
influences the products and services of the organization. If the organizations makes an
attempt to find the customers perception then, it can alter its products accordingly and offer
to its customers. So understanding the customer’s perception is a very difficult and vital
task for the organizations.
Objectives of the study:

 To know the gender, marital status, age, occupation and income of the respondents
visiting the store.

 To ascertain and understand the perception towards the prices, product variety,
parking facility, billing system, promotions offered, interaction of the sales
personnel with the customers and the quality of the products offered at the outlets.

 To understand the customer perception towards Tata Indicom.

 To know the overall customers perception towards the store and improve in the
areas where the customers had bad experiences.

 Customer satisfaction towards service provided by Tata Indicom and True Value
outlets.
 Type of research design
Meaning: A research design is a method and procedure for acquiring information needed
to solve the problem. A research design is a basic plan that helps in data collection or
analysis. It specifies the type of information to be collected, the source and collection
procedure. A good research decision will ensure that the data collected is relevant to the
objectives to be achieved.

Types of Research Design:

1. Exploratory Research
2. Descriptive Research
3. Causal Research Design

 Exploratory research design: Exploratory research focuses on the discovery

of the ideas; the major purpose of this study is to identify the problem. Exploratory
study is used in the initial phase of the research. The broad and vague problems are
divided into small and precise statements. Exploratory research is intended to
develop initial insight and provide direction for any other further research needed.

 Descriptive research design: It is a research, having clearly defined objectives

and data requirements and is capable of suggesting a specific course of action to be
taken by the decision makers.
As the name suggests, it implies to describe something. It is
intended to generate data describing characteristics of the groups such as consumers,
Salespeople, Market areas; Questionnaires can be used to gather data.

 Causal research design: The design attempts to specify the nature of

functional relationship between two or more variable factors present in the problem
environment. Experimentation is done to find the effect of one factor on the other.
The objective of the causal research includes: to study the Cause-Effect
relationship of factors that affect the market.

The research design used in the study is the descriptive research design.
 Research Method
There are mainly five types of research methods used in a study.
They are:

 Observation
 Experimentation
 Survey
 Test Marketing
 Consumer panel

For this study, the survey method was more appropriate then other methods because the
study required the responses from the respondents and survey method suited the most.

Data Type
Primary data: Primary data is the data, which is collected at the first hand either by
the researcher or by someone else especially for the purpose of the study.
Communication and observation are two basic means of obtaining primary data.
Communication involves the questioning of respondents to secure the described
information using a data collection instrument. Observation does not involve
questioning. Rather it means that the situation of interests is checked and the relevant
facts, actions and behaviour are recorded.

The primary data for this study was collected through questionnaires. This method of
data collection is quite popular, particularly in case of big enquiries. The questionnaire
has been used to survey the customers who visit the store.

Secondary data: Secondary data includes those data, which are collected for some
earlier research work and are applicable in the study, the study researcher has presently
undertaken.
Efficacious use of secondary data can both save money and time of the
researcher. The researcher using secondary data must also know the fundamentals of
the primary data collection. Secondary data is a valuable source of data.
 Though the secondary data is less expensive and can be collected within a short period
of time yet, they do not solve the research problems completely. This may be due to
different units of its measurement, different classes employed to report data, which may
become outdated by the time of its publication, this data may not be adequately
processed, it may not be sufficient and so on.

Sampling Procedure

In the study of this kind primary data plays a vital role. Regardless of the method
used to obtain the primary data (experimentation, observation and survey), the
researcher has to decide whether the data to be obtained from every unit of the
population under study or only a representative portion of the population will be used.
The first approach, which is collecting data about each and every unit of the population,
is called census method. The second approach, where only a few units of population
under study are considered for analysis is called sampling method.

Sampling plan

Type of sampling: The sampling is non-probability convenient sampling of customers.

The respondents are chosen according to the convenience of the researcher. The customers
who gave visit to the store during the study they were picked randomly according to the
researcher convenience.

Sample size: The total sample size for the study was 100 respondents.

Research Instrument
The instrument used in the study is – structured questionnaire.

Method of data collection

The data was collected by personally interviewing all the respondents.
Limitations of the study
Every research is carried under some boundaries and this research is not an exception.
The limitations of this research are:

 The opinion of the respondents visiting the store may not represent the whole population.

 Due to the limitations of time, a larger respondent base could not be covered and was
limited to a sample size of 100 respondents.

 There might have been tendencies among the respondents to filter their responses under
the given conditions.

 The customer’s opinion might have been biased and may not represent the whole
population of the city.

 Analysis of data obtained from the questionnaire was done on the assumption that
honest and correct information had been given by the respondents.
FINDINGS
Table 1: shows Gender of respondents interviewed.

Sl.No OPTIONS No. OF RESPONDENTS %

1 Male 63 63

2 Female 37 37

Total 100 100

Interpretation:
From the above mentioned table it is clear that nearly 63% of the respondents are male and
only 37% of the respondents are females.
Graph 1 shows Gender of respondents interviewed.
Table 2: showing the distribution of gender:

S.No. OPTIONS No. OF RESPONDENTS %

1 Married 76 76

2 Unmarried 24 24

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above mentioned table it is clear that nearly 76% of the respondents
are married and only 30% of the respondents are unmarried.
Graph 2 : Showing Marital Status
Table 3: Age Ratio

S.No. OPTIONS No. OF RESPONDENTS %

1 15 to 25 13 13

2 26 to 34 27 27

3 35 to 45 47 47

4 45 & above 13 13

Total 100 100

Interpretation:
Out of the 100 respondents, 13 respondents aged between 15 to 25, 27 respondents aged
between 26 to 24, 47 respondents aged between 35 to 45 and 13 respondents age above 45.
Graph 3 : Showing age distribution
Table 4: Occupation ratio

S.No. OPTIONS No. OF RESPONDENTS %

1 Student 17 17

2 Business man 56 56

3 Government employee 8 8

4 Private employee 19 19

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

Out of the 100 respondents, 17 are students, 56 are business man, 8 are Government
employee and 19 are private employee.
Graph 4 : Showing occupation
Table 5 : Response time

S. No Options No Of Respondents %

1 Poor 58 58

2 Average 35 35

3 Good 7 7

Total 100 100

Interpretation:
Out of the 100 respondents, when asked about response time ( Queue system, in the True
value store) 58 of them rated for poor, 35 rated towards Average and 7 rated for Good.
Graph 5 : Showing Response Time
Table 6 : Price Offered

S. No Options No Of Respondents %

1 High 33 33

2 Average 67 67

3 Good 0 0

Total 100 100

Interpretation:
Out of the 100 respondents, When asked about price offered by Tata Indicom compared to its
competitors, 33 responded as high price, 67 responded to average pricing and Nil for good
pricing strategy.
Graph 6 : Showing Price Offered
Table 7: Comparision to other service providers

S. No Options No Of Respondents %

1 Poor 46 46

2 Average 42 42

3 Good 12 12

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

Out of the 100 respondents, when asked about rating the service provided of indicom with its
Competitors, 46 rated as poor service, 42 of them rated Average and 12 responded for good
service.
Graph 7 : Showing Comparison to other service providers
Table 8 : Parking Facility

S. No Options No Of Respondents %

1 Poor 11 11

2 Average 61 61

3 Good 28 12

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

Out of the 100 respondents, when asked about parking facility in the True Value stores, 11
of them responded for poor, 61 of them responded for average and 28 of them responded
for Good parking facility.
Graph 8 : Showing Satisfaction level towards Parking Facility
Table 9: Billing System

S. No Options No Of Respondents %

1 Poor 21 21

2 Average 57 57

3 Good 22 22

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

Out of the 100 respondents, when asked about the present Billing System, 21 responded
for poor, 57 responded for Average and 22 Responded for Good facility.
Graph 9 : Showing the satisfaction level towards Billing Facility
Table 10 : Promotions Offered

S. No Options No Of Respondents %

1 Poor 29 29

2 Average 47 47

3 Good 24 24

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

Out of the 100 respondents, when asked about promotions offered by the company, 29
rated as poor offers, 47 responded as Average and 24 responded for Good offers as
compared to its competitors.
Graph 10 : Showing Promotional Offers
Table 11 : Interaction of Sales People

S. No Options No Of Respondents %

1 Poor 37 37

2 Average 42 42

3 Good 21 21

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

Out of the 100 respondents, when asked about Interaction of Sales People, 37 responded

for poor service, 42 rated for Average and 21 for Good.

Graph 11 : Showing Interaction With the Sales People
Table 12 : Service Offered

S. No Options No Of Respondents %

1 Poor 26 26

2 Average 39 39

3 Good 35 35

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

Out of the 100 respondents, when asked about service offered, 26 rated for poor, 39
for Average and 35 for God.
Graph 12 : Showing Services Offered
 Conclusion

The overall perception of the Tata Indicom is good except in some areas like billing system,
interaction with the salesmen. Customers find the service provided below average when
compared with its competitors, as the customers find the other service providers more
competitive in terms of giving new connections, solving problems etc.
Customers responded positively to the promotions offered, store ambience, Response
time etc. More of the Tata Indicom users are in the age group of 35 and above, and most of
them are working class. The present customers find the service as below average, they just
want to continue with the same since they have distributed their number to others.
 Recommendations

 Since most of the customers complained about the billing, the company
should rectify the problem of billing.
 The company should make strict policies when it comes to giving new
connections in time and problem solving.
 The different departments in the company should coordinate with each other
in order to see smooth work flow.
 Corporate customers should be treated with more personalised services,
(since I happened to meet a manager of a company who came to the office
since his repeated calling to the company did not work) and problem solving
should be faster.
 More and more offers should be given in order to attract new customer.
 Proper service should be given in order to retain the present customers.
 All though the company has got high end technology (Optical Fibre) when
compare to the competitors, the company is not utilising the technology
completely.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Bibliography

 Business Research Methods by D. COOPER AND P. SCHINDLER

 www.tataindicom.com
 www.tata.com
 www.google.com
ANNEXURE
 Hypothesis
H0 - Age has no affect on the chara cteristics H1
- Age has affect on Chara cteristics.

Age 26-35 36-45 Total

Price offered 36 38 74
Comparison 40 48 88
Service Offered 30 35 65
Promotion
offered 40 36 76
Total 146 157 303

(O-
O E o-e E)(O-E) A/ E
A
36 35.65677 0.343234 0.11781 0.003304
38 38.34323 -0.34323 0.11781 0.003073
40 42.40264 -2.40264 5.77268 0.13614
48 45.59736 2.40264 5.77268 0.126601
30 31.32013 -1.32013 1.742749 0.055643
35 33.67987 1.320132 1.742749 0.051745
40 36.62046 3.379538 11.42128 0.311882
36 39.37954 -3.37954 11.42128 0.290031
Total 0.978418

3 DOF, Ztab = 7.815

Zc al < Ztab

Therefore, Ho accepted, hence age has got no affect on other characteristics.

 Questionnaire

Sir/Madam
I am a student of M.P.Birla Institute of Management Bangalore, doing a
study on customer perceptions towards TATA INDICOM (Koramangala). Kindly
answer the questions listed below. Responses provided would be strictly used
for academic purpose.

1) Gender

1) Male  2) Female 

2) Marital status

1) Married  2) Unmarried 

3) Age
1) 15 to 25 
2) 26 to 35 
3) 36 to 45 
4) 46 to 55 
5) 55 & above 

4) Occupation

1) Student 
2) Business man 
3) Government employee 
4) Private employee 
5) Specify if not in above option
6) How do you rate the response time (customer waiting time) in the
TATA INDICOM show room?
1) Poor  2) Average  3) Good 

7) How do you perceive the prices offered at TATA INDICOM?

1) High  2) Average  3) Low 

8) How do you rate TATA INDICOM compare to other service provider?

1) Poor  2) Average  3) Good 

9) The parking facility at TATA INDICOM is.

1) Poor  2) Average  3) Good 

10) How is the billing system at TATA INDICOM?

1) Poor  2) Average  3) Good 

11) The promotions offered by TATA INDICOM are.

1) Poor  2) Average  3) Good 

12) The interaction of sales people with the customers in the store is.

1) Poor  2) Average  3) Good 

13) The quality of the service offered at TATA INDICOM is.

1) Poor  2) Average  3) Good 

14) Any suggestions for improvement