A

SYNOPSIS

Consumer perception and learning towards

Airtel prepaid mobile in noida.
Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of Post Graduate Diploma in Management

Under supervision:

PROF. VISHAL AGRAWAL

Submitted By:
SARITA MISHRA
PGDM 2ND year
Roll No: - 48
Batch (2009- 11)

G. L. Bajaj Institute of Management and Research

Plot no. 2, Knowledge Park 3, Greater Noida – 20130

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Sumit Srivastava who has

been guiding force for my Project Report on “Consumer perception and

learning towards Airtel prepaid mobile in noida.”

I am also very thankful to all of my teachers and friends for their support and

encouragement in finding out the appropriate material for this Project Report,

without their thankless support and efforts, making this report would have been

impossible for me.

I would hereby, make most of the opportunity by expressing my sincerest

thanks to Mr. Vishal Agrwal and all my faculties whose teachings gave me
conceptual understanding and clarity of comprehension, which ultimately made
my job more easy.

Sarita Mishra

PGDM-Final year

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 COMPANY PROFILE

Airtel comes to you from Bharti Cellular Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated

telecom conglomerate, Bharti Enterprises. Bharti provides a range of telecom services, which

include Cellular, Basic, Internet and recently introduced National Long Distance. Bharti also

manufactures and exports telephone terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the

largest manufacturer of telephone instruments in India, it is also the first company to export

its products to the USA. Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with a footprint in 15

states covering all four metros and more than 7 million satisfied customers.

VISION:

To make mobile communications a way of life and be the customers' first choice.

MISSION:

We will meet the mobile communication needs of our customers through:

•Error-free service delivery

•Innovative products and services

• Cost efficiency

• Unified Messaging Solutions

CORE VALUE:

We will delight our customer with our simplicity, speed & innovation.

We will honours our commitment.

We will follow the highest standard of professional integrity & behaviour.

We will respect individual, build winning teams and lead by example.

We will create a fun filled and friendly workplace.

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 AIRTEL MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED

Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting investments in

telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate telecom services across India. Bharti

Tele-Ventures is India's leading private sector provider of telecommunications services based

on a strong customer base consisting of 7.42 million total customers, which constitute, 6.76

million mobile and 657,000 fixed line customers, as of April 30, 2004.

Bharti Tele-Ventures vision for its mobile business is “To make mobile communications a

way of life and be the customers first choice”.

The mission is to meet the mobile communication needs of the customer through 1) error free

service 2) Innovative products and services and 3) cost efficiency. The Company’s strategic

objective is to consolidate its leadership position amongst the mobile service providers in

India.

The Indian mobile market, according to the COAI, has increased from approximately 1.2

million subscribers as of March 31, 1999 to approximately 29.21 million subscribers as of

June 30, 2004.

Despite this rapid growth, the mobile penetration rate in India, at approximately 2.8% as of

June 30, 2004, is significantly lower than the average mobile penetration rate in other Asian

and international markets.

The number of mobile subscribers in India is expected to show rapid growth over the next

four years. By 2006 it is projected at 50 million by COAI and 44 million by Gartner.

Bharti Tele-Ventures believes that the demand for mobile services in India will continue to

grow rapidly as a result of the following factors:

⇏ Lower tariffs and handset prices over time;

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⇏ Growth in pre-paid customer category;

⇏ Greater economic growth and continued development of India's economy;

⇏ Higher quality mobile networks and services; and

⇏ Greater variety and usage of value added services.

Bharti Tele-Ventures, through its subsidiary has the licenses to provide GSM services in all

the twenty-two telecom circles in India. It proposes to consolidate all its subsidiaries

providing mobile services under Bharti Cellular Limited.

Type Public, Listed on BSE

Founded 1985

Headquarters New Delhi, India

Key people Sunil Mittal

Industry Telecom

Products Mobile and Fixed-Line Telecommunication operator

Revenue $60 Billion

Slogan Express Yourself

History of Pre-Paid

1986 Main GSM radio transmission techniques were chosen.

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1987 September - 13 operators and administrators from 12 areas in the CEPT GSM advisory

group signed the charter GSM (Groupe Spéciale Mobile) MoU "Club" agreement, with a

launch date of 1 July 1991.

The original French name Groupe Spéciale Mobile was changed to Global System for Mobile

communications; but the original GSM acronym remains.

GSM SPECIFICATIONS WERE DRAFTED.

1989 – 1998

In 1989, GSM responsibility was transferred to the European Telecommunication

Standards Institute (ETSI), and phase I of the GSM specifications was published in 1990.

Commercial services started in mid 1991, and by 1993 there were 36 GSM networks in 22

countries, with 25 additional countries like South Africa, Australia and many Middle and Far

East countries opting for GSM. By the beginning of 1994, there were 1.3 million subscribers

worldwide.

The developers of GSM chose an unproven (at that time) digital system, as opposed to the

then standard analog cellular systems like AMPS in the United States and TACS in the

United Kingdom. They had faith in the advancements in compression algorithms and digital

signal processors to allow the fulfillment of the original criteria and the continual

improvement of the system in terms of quality and cost.

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) defined GSM as the

internationally accepted digital cellular telephony standard.

GSM MOU was formally registered as an association registered in Switzerland with 156

members from 86 areas.

Pre-Paid Users

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 Airtel Pre-Paid service
Airtel has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and
innovations to its credit, ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private
basic telephone service provider in the country, first Indian company to provide
comprehensive telecom services outside in India in Seychelles and first private sector service
provider to launch National Long Distance Services in India.
In a scenario where Telco ARPUs have been squeezed down to rock bottom and most users
prefer to go prepaid, MVAS could be the way out.

Mobile value-added services (MVAS) have led to the emergence of a fresh business
ecosystem giving rise to supporting industries such as content development and aggregation.
The evolution of the MVAS market has come in parallel with the changes and advances that
have taken place in the telecom industry. A well demarcated value chain of MVAS seem to
have evolved.

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MVAS is now considered as a major tool for additional revenue, service differentiation and
customer retention. One of the majors, Bharti Airtel, has been looking to MVAS to provide
its next wave of growth.

According to industry estimates, Mobile VAS in India would account for 18% of the total
revenues generated by operators from mobile services by end 2010, For Bharti Airtel, VAS
accounted for 11.8% of its total revenues as on March 31, 2010. SMS revenues had risen
from 4.1% in the previous fiscal to 6%. Non-voice revenues, which are considered to be the
core MVAS category, had increased from 9.5% to 11.8%.

Airtel pre –paid mobile customers in smaller cities like Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram,
Surat, Pune and Udaipur with basic phones priced at less than Rs. 5,000 have taken the lead.
Social networking and utility apps ranked highest on the popularity charts. Other popular
categories included books, entertainment and games.

The downloads from Airtel App Central have indicated that the Indian mobile applications
model will be different from the global one. Occupying an average of not more than 2% of
available space on the customer’s handset per app, downloads from Airtel App Central are
being led by feature phones and not smart phones. While 25% of the apps are free to
download, the top five are subscription-based. Airtel recently launched its own movie library,
Airtel Talkies, and followed it up with another product with pre-release audio promos of
films, starting with My Name Is Khan. “Then came The Japanese Wife and the initiative has
been extremely successful,” commented Shireesh Mukund Joshi, Director of Marketing and
Communications at Airtel.

Venkatesh V., CEO, Mobile Services, Karnataka Circle, Bharti Airtel, said, “Today, a pre-
paid mobile phone is not used solely for communication; it is a cost-effective option that is
available for entertainment, for news and for any other information that one may require. This
shift in consumer behavior, where subscribers expect more than just connectivity, has ensured
that service providers are actively announcing various value-added services that will help
retain customers.”

This year, customers have been making a big shift away from two-year contracts toward
"prepaid" cell phone service, which often costs less and does not require contracts.

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 This is happening even though contracts are needed to get popular phones such as the
iPhone and the Droid.

Now prepaid service looks like it will get even more attractive, with further price cuts.
That's because wireless carriers have hit a wall when it comes to finding new customers
who will sign contracts.

Unlike contract plans that bill subscribers each month for the services they used the
previous month, prepaid services traditionally let subscribers buy minutes in advance for
around 10 to 20 cents each. When the minutes are used up, people "refill" their accounts as
needed. For years, such plans were marketed primarily to people who did not have the
credit to qualify for plans with contracts. About one-fifth of Americans with cell phones are
on prepaid, according to the New Millennium Research Council, a Washington-based think
tank. But as the recession forced more people to cut costs, prepaid service appealed to a
broader slice of the market, and prepaid services responded by offering better deals. Now
it's possible to make unlimited calls and text messages on a prepaid plan for Rs.45 a month
- half of what it costs a customer with a contract on Verizon Wireless. At Tracfone, the
largest independent provider of prepaid service, customers pay an average of $11 per
month.

The popularity of text messaging is also making some people move away from contract
plans that provide a big bucket of monthly minutes that may not get used. Finlay uses
prepaid service from Airtel Mobile, because he talks no more than 15 to 20 minutes on the
phone each month. That costs him $5 per month. He sends and receives up to 2,000 text
messages, so he tacks on an unlimited-texting option for $20 per month.. Together, the
seven largest U.S. wireless carriers expanded their contract subscribers by just 230,000
people in the first quarter. Prepaid service, meanwhile, attracted about 3.1 million new
subscribers to the seven largest carriers in the quarter.

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Airtel Pre-paid

Are you wary of committing yourself to a date for making your bill payments? Is it too much

of a bother for you to remember dates for bill payments? Do you often end up paying late fees

against your monthly utility services bills? Do you end up spending too much if you have the

option to pay the bill later?

Think over for if one of these represents you, we have a solution for you. Start thinking

prepaid is our advise!

So what exactly is this prepaid! It is simply a way of going cellular by paying for the talk

time in advance. For e.g. if you feel that you need Rs. 300 worth of talktime for a month, you

can buy a recharge coupon which gives you that much talktime on your cellphone. Once that

money gets exhausted you can buy another recharge coupon for the same or different

denomination depending on your future need.

Prepaid allows you to be in control of your cellular expenses even while you are spending.

You will be surprised that today In India, Prepaid connections account for almost 60 to 70

percent of the total new entrants into cellular telephony. That’s because almost every one of

us wants to be in control of our cellular expense.

Advantages of Pre-Paid:

Some of the many advantages that you enjoy with Airtel Pre-Paid...

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• Total Cost Control

Enjoy the liberty of total cost control with your Airtel Pre-paid! Re-charge as much as you

feel the need to! Now that's what we call complete freedom!

No Rentals

Buy an Airtel prepaid card without having to pay any rentals!

No deposits

Your Airtel prepaid card comes without you having to pay heafty deposits!

STD/ISD facility till the last rupee

Now experience complete freedom like never before with Airtel! Our STD/ISD facility

allows you to make long distance calls in India and Overseas from your cellular phone!

Instant Balance Inquiry

Check your talk-time instantly by calling our toll-free number!

60 second pulse

Airtel provides you with a 60-second pulse rate! Freedom for you to experience like never

before!

Instant Recharge

Avail of instant recharge on your Airtel prepaid card with just a few simple steps!

24-hour recharge facility

With our round-the-clock recharge facility, recharge you Airtel prepaid card anytime,

anywhere!

• Caller Line Identification

Call Line Identification gives you the power to know the phone number of the calling

party even before you answer the call, thus giving you the choice to either reject or

take the call. It provides the added advantage of saving the incoming number directly

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 in the Handset Phone Book. So that the next time you want to call the same person,

you don't need to retype his number, simply use your phone book.

Call Divert, Call Hold and Call Wait

Avail of special services like call waiting, call hold and call divert – all with your

Airtel prepaid card!

Short Messaging Service (SMS)

With Airtel’s Short Messaging Service (SMS), send messages and jokes to your

friends and colleagues, anytime anywhere!

SMS based Information Services

With Airtel's SMS based information services; you can get up to-the-minute cricket

scores, order flowers as well as send couriers or check your daily horoscope!

Voice Mail service

Voice Mail lets you receive messages even when your handset is switched off or when you

are outside the coverage area. You can listen to your messages whenever you feel like, from

anywhere in the world. Voice Mail can store up to 75 messages, with each message of two-

minute duration.

Airtel Out of Home Circle Service

We have established one of the most extensive roaming tie-ups - both national and

international- with the best service providers in the respective regions to ensure that you get

uninterrupted coverage throughout. We currently provide roaming coverage in more than

1000 cities and major highways across India. We also provide international roaming in 56

countries across 101 networks.

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National Roaming

Our national roaming coverage currently spans across more than a 1000 cities across India.

Airtel Pre-Paid User

30
25
20
15
preferen…
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5
0

When the preferences for mobile phone connections were asked, results drawn that 40%
of persons prefer to take BSNL because they believe in BSNL’s better coverage & cheaper
rates after BSNL, 20% of people opt Reliance services because of its cheaper rate and flexible
schemes, then Airtel is only 25% but there is very high recommendation for its better
connectivity. Airtel is rich in attractive schemes and plans for business persons and persons
related to corporate world.

Survay of Airtel Pre-Paid market –Noida

Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's Airtel Lapu Competitor's

Outlet Name
market % market% market% Market% % Lapu %
Careter’s meeting Pt. 40% 60% 45% 55% 41% 59%
Final Touch 67% 33% 45% 55% 45% 55%
Naaz photo comm. 36% 64% 42% 58% 43% 57%
Tone & melodies 45% 55% 43% 57% 40% 60%
Milan comm. 38% 63% 43% 57% 38% 63%
Aalamcomm. 45% 55% 57% 43% 29% 71%
Vijay electronics 38% 62% 38% 63% 38% 62%
Aman comm. 42% 58% 40% 60% 38% 62%
Rose comm. 43% 57% 29% 71% 29% 71%

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 TOTAL 45% 55% 43% 57% 37% 63%

Airtel market Competitor's Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's

Outlet name
% market% market% market% Lapu % Lapu %
A 2 Z communication 43% 57% 40% 60% 33% 67%
B.K.Marketing 64% 36% 50% 50% 40% 60%
Santacruz mart 61% 39% 9% 91% 41% 59%
Mobile villa 68% 32% 27% 73% 44% 56%
Vakola Mall 80% 20% 40% 60% 44% 56%
Matrix telecom 37% 63% 50% 50% 30% 70%
Gupta Telecom 58% 42% 38% 62% 45% 55%
Moon contacts 74% 26% 42% 58% 53% 47%
Mobile city 44% 56% 33% 67% 45% 55%
Konkan electronics 58% 42% 38% 62% 43% 57%
TOTAL 61% 39% 24% 76% 43% 57%

Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's

Outlet Name
market % market% market% market% Lapu % Lapu %
Gala & sons 75.00% 25% 53% 47% 60% 40%
Bharat telecom 75.00% 25% 45% 55% 45% 55%
Praveen & sons 70.97% 29% 56% 44% 56% 44%
Zarina general store 64.52% 35% 57% 43% 48% 52%
Ravi communication 72.73% 27% 55% 45% 48% 52%
Sai communication 75.00% 25% 45% 55% 44% 56%
Quality inn 62.50% 38% 52% 48% 56% 44%
Nirmals shop 76.47% 24% 48% 52% 60% 40%
Andheri Shop 66.67% 33% 50% 50% 43% 57%
Total 72.27% 28% 49% 51% 54% 46%

Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's

Outlet Name
market % market% market% market% Lapu % Lapu %
Nair Gallery 55% 45% 45% 55% 33% 67%
Poonam Art Gallery 50% 50% 44% 56% 43% 57%
Aman comm. 63% 38% 42% 58% 42% 58%
Khar Internationals 44% 56% 33% 67% 31% 69%
Saif business 26% 74% 47% 53% 40% 60%
Unique telecomm. 43% 57% 36% 64% 67% 33%
Antique
54% 46% 54% 46% 43% 57%
Communications
Harmain Entp.. 56% 44% 42% 58% 43% 57%
Orpat watches 56% 44% 56% 44% 29% 71%

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 Sindhi Mobiles 45% 55% 40% 60% 38% 62%
TOTAL 50% 50% 43% 57% 40% 60%

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION LEVEL

45% Fully satisfied

10% Fully dissatisfied
35% Dissatisfied
10% Partially
The above graph shows a slice of 50%. These are the total no. of People who are using Airtel.
It seems that people are more aware of Airtel than any other brand.

As the above graph clearly shows that customer services at Airtel Seems poor. 35% of the
people are dissatisfied with the customer services provided by Airtel. They are the ones who
have the maximum share in the market but they are lagging behind in the customer services.
10% of the people were fully dissatisfied with the customer services of Airtel. This could
leave an impact on the mind of the consumer. He can even switch over his brand. 10% of the
people seemed partially satisfied with the customer services and only 45% seem to be fully
satisfied with Airtel’s customer services, which is a very small amount.

Airtel Pre-Paid-GSM Growth In India

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16
 SUGGESTIONS
Following are the few suggestions to AIRTEL for improving the market share and image of
the products concerned.

1. PRODUCT
*Modification must be brought about in AIRTEL, in terms of quality. Its demand should be
increased.

2. PLACE
* The brands must be made available easily in, PCO & general stores.
3. PROMOTION

*Company must undertake extensive promotional activities like advertisements must be

released in different Medias to create brand awareness.

*Free samples should be distributed among the prospects. Sales promotion tools like gifts,
contests and coupons must be given to retailers as well as customers and prospects.

* Catalogues should be distributed among customers.

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 SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
• Being one of the largest companies in India the company has achieved a degree of
focus in its core business of its products.
• It has a strong brand name, superior quality products and an enviable distribution
network.
• It has a clear and well-defined organization structure and limits of financial authority.
• Increase in advertisement spends affect the company’s margins.
• The company‘s bottom line falls victim to the bloated and highly paid workforce,
which affects its margins.

Weakness:
• Little efforts over the Advertising of products.
• Distribution channel is not accurately categorized.
• Premium priced products, hence can’t compete in low price 70segment.
• No separate strategy for rural market.

Opportunities:
• The company's financial performance can receive a major boost from its cost
reduction efforts.
• There is a lot of scope of product and market diversification.
• Exports of products will also have huge chances in the coming years.
• Airtel’s business has ample scope for gaining market share from the unorganized
sector. Rural penetration too holds vast potential to bring about growth.

Threats
• The slowdown in the economy has restricted topline growth of most FMCG majors
and for Airtel also it will be difficult to maintain historical growth rates in such a
depressed scenario.
• Company’s major raw materials are influenced by government policies / controls as
well as vagaries of the monsoons. Fluctuations in the prices of raw materials would
have significant impact on costs and margins of the company.
• Moreover, inordinate hike in Broad Band Internet products would also increases
company’s production and distribution cost.

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 LIMITITATIONS

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 • During the study, on many occasions the respondentgroups gave us a cold shoulder.

• The respondents from whom primary data was gatheredany times displayed complete
ignorance about the complete branded range, which was being studied.

• Lack of time is the basic limitation in the project.

• Some retailers/wholesellers refuses to cooperate with the queries.

• Some retailers/wholesellers gave biased or incomplete information regarding the

study.

• Money played a vital factor in the whole project duration.

• Lack of proper information and experience also becausehurdle for me.

• Some retailers did not answer all the questions or do nothave time to answer.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

In this project report, while finalizing and for analyzing quality problem
in details the following Books, Magazines/Journals and Web Sites have been
referred. All the material detailed below provides effective help and a guiding
layout while designing this text report.

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Websites:
www.airtelworld.com
www.google.com
www.india.com

Magazines:
Business India
India Todays
Cowards India

Books:

Developing India
Business today

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 QUESTIONNAIRE
Name
Occupation-
City-

1. Are you the user of mobile phone?

a. a) Yes b) no

2. Are you the user of ?

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 a. a) prepaid b) postpaid.

3. Which cell phone connection you are using?

a. a) Idea b) Vodafone
b. c) Airtel d) Others

4. What criteria do you give while choosing the service provider?

a. a) Cost b) Connectivity
b. c) Value aided services d) Plan

5. Which service provider is providing the best value aided services?

a. a) Idea b) Vodafone
b. c) Airtel d) Others

6. According to you whose connectivity is best?

a. a) Idea b) Vodafone
b. c) Airtel d) Others

7. According to you which kind of value aided services do you want to be provided by
your service provider?

a. a) ring tones b)caller tones

b. c) wallpapers d) games
c. e)GPRS f)SMS

8. Are you satisfied with the talk time given & charges of prepaid connection?

a. a) yes b) no

b. According to you voice clarity of which one is better?

c. a) GSM b) CDMA

9. By which mode of promotions you came to know about the service provider?

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 a. a) Advertisement b) Road show
b. c) WOM d) any other………….(specify)

10. The recharge coupons of which network are easily available?

a. a) Idea b) Vodafone
b. c) Airtel d) Others

11. Which one would to like to promote or suggest to you relative / friend?

a. a) GSM b) CDMA

12. If you are using dual sim phone which type of connection you prefer to use ?

a. a) Both post paid b) both pre paid

b. c) one pre paid & one post paid

13. By which manner do you recharge your mobile?

a. a) Easy recharge b) Through recharge coupons

b. c) Through Internet.
14. For how long you have been using Airtel pre paid mobile ?

a. 0-2 Years b. 2-5 Years c. 5-10 Yearsd.

d. More than 10 years

15. Are you satisfied with service of Airtel pre paid mobile?
 Yes  No

16. Do you collect any information search before making purchase?

 Yes No

17. .Which of these marketing / sales schemes attracts you while

18. Purchasing airtel pre paid mobile?

 Good Network

 Discount scheme

 Service package

 Any other

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 19. Q.5 As a pre paid mobile user , why you opt airtel pre paid mobile?
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
_____

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 CONCLUSION

Telecom sector is booming sector. Its market is quite competitive in Noida with so
many companies venturing here. Most of the customers are associated with Airtel due to its
good connectivity & coverage.

After analyzing the findings of the research, I can conclude that Airtel lagged behind
its competitors as far as customer service and availability is concerned. The maximum no. of
people who use the mobile are in the age group of 20 to 28. Cash cards are the most popular
type of mobile connections, as they are consumer friendly and Recharging the connection is
not a problem. Maximum no. of people spends RS 500 on their connections. As Airtel is the

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only company having the maximum no of mobile connections so it must seriously look into
the loop holes of the existing customer service department. As we know that now airtel has
already launched its product with logo:-
“’ Aisi azaadi aur kahan”’ has already became popular in market. So we can say that inspite
of so many competitor in the market Airtel is having a good position just because every time,
it tries its best to understand the need of its important customer.

Due to the ever burgeoning telecom market, these service providers have started
offering competitive rates for long distance calls, competitive rate plans and great discounts.

Due to the growing need for mobile phones, it’s no wonder that service providers are
going all out to capture, as much market space as they can.

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