A

PROJECT REPORT ON

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND MODE OF COMMUNICATION

Organisational Guide: Submitted by:

Mr. HITESH RUPANI ANKUR JYOTI CHOUDHURY

(Assistant Manager, Marketing) ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai

1
 PREFACE

M.B.A being a professional course project becomes an indispensable part of formal education.
It helps us to have a practical exposure as well as better outlook of the subject, which we are
studying. In M.B.A the students equipped with strong theoretical knowledge about the business
operations and the time-tested methods of running a successful business. Only acquainted with
the theoretical knowledge will not do, we do need an exposure to real practical and to certain
assigned projects in various organizations to get an idea of practical working styles.

The Indian telecommunication has 550 million subscribers which is the fifth largest in the world
and second largest among the emerging economies of Asia.

In order to make the data and findings easily understandable, efforts have been made to present
the information in a simplified, lucid and organized manner. Wherever possible, tables and
figures have been incorporated. Recommendations have been made on the basis of findings
herein and keeping in mind the future opportunities.

This project gave me immense practical exposure to the practical working patterns and the
environment. I will be satisfied if the organization gets benefit with the study and the findings.

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project is an outcome of eight weeks mandatory summer training, which I had to undergo

for the partial fulfillment of the PGDM program. I wish to put on record my sincere gratitude to

the following person without whose support the completion of this project would not have been

possible.

I am extremely grateful to the management of “VODAFONE ESSAR” for giving me the golden

opportunity to do my summer training project work in Guwahati city. Working in the marketing

area was a life time experience for me that too in such an organization.

At the very outset with due respect, I would like to offer my heartiest gratitude and thankfulness

to my Company Guide Mr. HITESH RUPANI(Assistant Manager, Marketing) & Mr. RAVI

TANEJA(Business Development Manager) for giving me the opportunity to work at

“VODAFONE ESSAR” Guwahati.

I would also like to thank Ms SABINA YASMEEN (HR Manager, VODAFONE) for her

generous help, in spite of her busy work schedule.

I would also take this opportunity to thank my Faculty Guide Dr. V. V. Sople, ITM Business

School, Navi Mumbai, for giving me his time, immense support and guidance at every step of

the project.

(ANKUR JYOTI CHOUDHURY)

ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai

3
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PROJECT TITLE: “Study on Consumer behaviour and Mode of Communication”

PLACE: VODAFONE ESSAR, Guwahati

I have successfully accomplished my 2 months internship at “Vodafone Essar” Guwahati for

the assigned project titled “Study on Consumer behaviour and Mode of Communication”

Mr. Hitesh Rupani was my project guide who guided me on how to carry on with the project.

Purpose of the study:

The main objective of the research was to –

 Study the perception of Vodafone’s products and services by customers.

 Mode of communication preferred by customers and trade vis-à-vis competition in
relation to new product launch and various promotional offers.

This report includes an overview of the project undergone during the summer training. This

report is mainly divided into four parts:-

I. In the first part, we have mentioned the overview about Telecom Industry, about

Consumer behaviour and about Vodafone.

II. The second part of the report mainly focuses on the Methodology

III. The third part consists of analysis which is based on our survey during the

internship of eight weeks.

IV. The fourth chapter summarizes the whole report and state the Findings and gives the

Recommendations

V. The last chapter has attached questionnaire in an annexure, which was prepared in order

to get the information from customers and retailers followed by bibliography.

4
 INDEX

SRNO. TOPICS PAGE NO

CHAPTER I
1. 06 - 26
ABOUT INDUSTRY, CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR & VODAFONE
CHAPTER II
2. 27-29
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3. CHAPTER III
30-51
DATA ANALYSIS

CHAPTER IV
4. 52-72
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CHAPTER V
5. 73-78
ANNEXURE AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

5
 CHAPTER 1
ABOUT INDUSTRY,
ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR,
ABOUT GUWAHATI
&
ABOUT VODAFONE

6
 TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Telecommunication is the transmission of messages, over significant distances, for the purpose

of communication. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such

as smoke, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via

coded drumbeats, lung-blown horns, or sent by loud whistles, for example.

In the modern age of electricity and electronics, telecommunications has typically involved the

use of electric means such as the telegraph, the telephone, and the teletype, the use of microwave

communications, the use of fiber optics and their associated electronics, and/or the use of the

Internet.

Telecommunications play an 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.

7
MODERN OPERATIONS

TELEPHONE

In an analog telephone network, the caller is connected to the person he wants to talk to by

switches at various telephone exchanges. The switches form an electrical connection between the

two users and the setting of these switches is determined electronically when the caller dials the

number. Once the connection is made, the caller's voice is transformed to an electrical signal

using a small microphone in the caller's handset. This electrical signal is then sent through the

network to the user at the other end where it is transformed back into sound by a small speaker in

that person's handset. There is a separate electrical connection that works in reverse, allowing the

users to converse.

The fixed-line telephones in most residential homes are analog — that is, the speaker's voice

directly determines the signal's voltage. Although short-distance calls may be handled from end-

to-end as analog signals, increasingly telephone service providers are transparently converting

the signals to digital for transmission before converting them back to analog for reception. The

advantage of this is that digitized voice data can travel side-by-side with data from the Internet

and can be perfectly reproduced in long distance communication (as opposed to analog signals

that are inevitably impacted by noise).

MOBILE TELEPHONES

The Mobile telecommunications system in India is the second largest in the world and it was

thrown open to private players in the 1990s. The country is divided into multiple zones, called

circles (roughly along state boundaries). Government and several private players run local and

8
long distance telephone services. Competition has caused prices to drop and calls across India

are one of the cheapest in the world. The rates are supposed to go down further with new

measures to be taken by the Information Ministry. The mobile service has seen phenomenal

growth since 2000. India primarily follows the GSM mobile system, in the 900 MHz band.

Recent operators also operate in the 1800 MHz band. The dominant players are Airtel, Reliance

Infocomm, Vodafone, Idea cellular and BSNL/MTNL. There are many smaller players, with

operations in only a few states. International roaming agreements exist between most operators

and many foreign carriers.

RADIO AND TELEVISION

In a TV, the central high-powered broadcast tower transmits a high-frequency electromagnetic

wave to numerous low-powered receivers. The high-frequency wave sent by the tower is

modulated with a signal containing visual or audio information. The receiver is then tuned so as

to pick up the high-frequency wave and a demodulator is used to retrieve the signal containing

the visual or audio information. The broadcast signal can be either analog (signal is varied

continuously with respect to the information) or digital (information is encoded as a set of

discrete values).

For analog radio, the switch to digital radio is made more difficult by the fact that analog

receivers are sold at a small fraction of the price of digital receivers. The choice of modulation

for analog radio is typically between amplitude modulation (AM) or frequency modulation

(FM). To achieve stereo playback, an amplitude modulated subcarrier is used for stereo FM.

9
THE INTERNET

The Internet is a worldwide network of computers and computer networks that can communicate

with each other using the Internet Protocol. Any computer on the Internet has a unique IP

address that can be used by other computers to route information to it. Hence, any computer on

the Internet can send a message to any other computer using its IP address. These messages carry

with them the originating computer's IP address allowing for two-way communication. The

Internet is thus an exchange of messages between computers.

LOCAL AREA NETWORKS

Despite the growth of the Internet, the characteristics of local area networks (computer networks

that do not run beyond a few kilometres) remain distinct. This is because networks on this scale

do not require all the features associated with larger networks and are often more cost-effective

and efficient without them.

10
 TELECOM INDUSTRY

INTRODUCTION

The Indian telecommunication industry is one of the world's fastest growing industry, with

653.92 million telephone (landlines and mobile) subscribers and 617.53 million mobile phone

connections as of May 2010 It is also the second largest telecommunication network in the world

in terms of number of wireless connections after China. The Indian Mobile subscriber base has

increased in size by a factor of more than one-hundred since 2001 when the number of

subscribers in the country was approximately 5 million to 617.53 million in May 2010.

As the fastest growing telecommunications industry in the world, it is projected that India will

have 1.159 billion mobile subscribers by 2013. The wireless technologies currently in use Indian

Telecom Industry are Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division

Multiple Access (CDMA). Telecom Industry in India is regulated by 'Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India' (TRAI). It has earned good reputation for transparency and competence.

The number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 653.92 Million at the end of May-

2010 from 638.05 Million in April-2010, thereby registering a growth rate of 2.49%. With this,

the overall Tele-density in India reaches 55.38.

11
The main members of the body are:

 Aircel
 Bharti Airtel
 Loop Mobile
 Vodafone (Earlier Hutch)
 Uninor
 Idea Cellular
 Reliance
 Sistema
 STel
 Tata
 HFCL
 MTLN
 BSNL
 ETISALAT/ALLIANZ
 Videocon

The 'Indian Telecom Industry' services are not confined to basic telephone but it also extends

to internet, broadband (both wireless and fixed), cable TV, SMS, IPTV, soft switches etc. The

bottlenecks for ' Indian Telecom Industry ' are:

 Slow reform process.

 Low penetration.

 Service providers bears huge initial cost to make inroads and achieving break-even is

difficult.

 Huge initial investments.

 Limited spectrum availability and interconnection charges between the private and

state operators.

Indian Telecom Industry is currently expected to contribute nearly 1% to India's GDP which is

heartening and estimated to grow further and brighten the scenario of Indian Telecom Industry.

12
IMPORTANT DEVELOPEMENTS

 1902 - First wireless telegraph station established between Sagar Islands and

Sandheads.

 1907 - First Central Battery of telephones introduced in Kanpur.

 1913-1914 - First Automatic Exchange installed in Shimla.

 23 July 1927 - Radio-telegraph system between the UK and India, with beam stations

at Khadki and Daund, inaugurated by Lord Irwin by exchanging greetings with the

King of England.

 1933 - Radiotelephone system inaugurated between the UK and India.

 1953 - 12 channel carrier system introduced.

 1960 - First subscriber trunk dialing route commissioned between Kanpur and

Lucknow.

 1975 - First PCM system commissioned between Mumbai City and Andheri

telephone exchanges.

 1976 - First digital microwave junction introduced.

 1979 - First optical fibre system for local junction commissioned at Pune.

 1980 - First satellite earth station for domestic communications established at

Secunderabad, A.P..

 1983 - First analog Stored Program Control exchange for trunk lines commissioned at

Mumbai.

 1984 - C-DOT established for indigenous development and production of digital

exchanges.

 1985 - First mobile telephone service started on non-commercial basis in Delhi.

13
MODERN GROWTH

A large population, low telephony penetration levels, and a rise in consumers' income and

spending owing to strong economic growth have helped make India the fastest-growing telecom

market in the world. The first operator is the state-owned incumbent BSNL. BSNL was created

by corporatization of the erstwhile DTS (Department of Telecommunication Services), a

government unit responsible for provision of telephony services. Subsequently, after the

telecommunication policies were revised to allow private operators, companies such as

Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Tata Indicom, Idea Cellular, Aircel and Loop Mobile have entered the

space. In 2009-10, rural India outpaced urban India in mobile growth rate. Bharti Airtel now is

the largest telecom company in India.

India is divided into 22 telecom circles. They are listed below:

Andhra Pradesh

 Bihar & Jharkhand

 Chennai
 Delhi
 Gujarat & Daman & Diu
 Haryana
 Himachal Pradesh
 Jammu and Kashmir
 Karnataka
 Kerala & Lakshadweep
 Kolkata
 Madhya Pradesh excluding Mumbai & Chhattisgarh
 Maharashtra & Goa
 Mumbai
 North Eastern States (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, &
Tripura)
 Orissa
 Punjab
 Tamil Nadu excluding Chennai & Puducherry
 Eastern Uttar Pradesh
 Western Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand
 West Bengal excluding Kolkata, Andaman & Nicobar Islands & Sikkim

14
The breakup of wireless subscriber base in India as of May 2010 is given below

OPERATORS TOTAL SUBSCRIBERS

40079533
AIRCEL
10122
ETISALAT/ALLIANZ
2911685
LOOP
71687210
BSNL
1394543
VIDEOCON
106347368
VODAONE
4636043
SISTEMA
66727402
IDEA
5012929
UNITECH
133619705
AIRTEL
520820
HFCL
70208244
TATA
1233247
Stel
107972822
RELIANCE
5166654
MTNL
617528327
TOTAL

15
Following is a graphical representation of the MARKET SHARE of INDIAN TELECOM
INDUSTRY as on 31 May, 2010 –

ETISALAT/ALLIANZ
0.00%
LOOP
MTNL AIRCEL 0.47%
RELIANCE 0.84% 6.49%
17.48% BSNL
11.61%
Stel VIDEOCON
0.20% 0.23%
TATA
11.37%

VODAONE
HFCL 17.22%
0.08%

SISTEMA
0.75%
AIRTEL IDEA
21.64% UNITECH 10.81%
0.81%

16
 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy

product. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It

attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It

studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioral variables in

an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from

groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing

the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for

customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of

marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater

importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management,

personalisation, customization and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized

into social choice and welfare functions.

Definition of Consumer Behavior is "The study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the

processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas

to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society."

Consumer behaviour is influenced by: Internal Influences like demographics, psychographics

(lifestyle), personality, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings and External

Influences like culture, sub-culture, locality, royalty, ethnicity, family, social class, reference

groups, lifestyle, and market mix factors.

17
There are four main applications of consumer behavior:

 The most obvious is for marketing strategy — i.e., for making better marketing

campaigns.

 A second application is public policy.

 Then comes Social marketing. It involves getting ideas across to consumers rather than

selling something.

 As a final benefit, studying consumer behavior should make us better consumers.

18
 GUWAHATI

Guwahati (Assamese: গুৱাহাটী, previously spelled Gauhati) is a major city in eastern India, with a

population of 818,809 (2001 census). The largest city in the North-East Region of India, it is

considered by some to be the "gateway" to the region. Dispur, the capital of the Indian state of

Assam, is located within the city. Guwahati is one of the most rapidly growing cities in India;

during the past few decades it has experienced expansion and also a steep rise in population.

According to a survey done by a UK media outlet, Guwahati is among the 100 fastest growing

cities of the world, and is the 5th fastest growing among Indian cities.

The city is situated between the southern bank of the Brahmaputra river and the foothills of the

Shillong plateau, with LGB International Airport to the west, and the town of Narengi to the east.

The city is gradually being expanded as North Guwahati to the northern bank of the

Brahmaputra. The Guwahati Municipal Corporation, the city's local government, administers an

area of 216 km², while the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority, the planning and

development administers an area of 340 km².

Guwahati is a major commercial and educational center of North-East India and is home to

world class institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. The city is also a

major center for cultural activities and sports in the North Eastern region and for the

administrative and political activities of Assam. The city is also an important hub for

transportation in the North East Region.

19
The name Guwahati is derived from two Assamese words: 'guwa' (areca nut) and 'haat' (market

place). The name used to be spelled as Gowhatty (pre-colonial and colonial), standardized to

Gauhati (colonial-British), which was then changed to the present form in the late 1980s to

conform to the local pronunciation.

2.1 History

View of part of Guwahati from the Sarania Hills, with the Brahmaputra river. The peaked

Kamakhya Hills are to the left, the Saraighat bridge can be seen near the horizon, and on the

20
right bank is North Guwahati. The Nehru stadium and the railway station are faintly visible, right

bottom.

Guwahati's myths and history go back several thousands of years. Although the date of the city's

beginning is unknown, references in the epics, puranas, and other traditional histories, lead many

to assume that it is one of the ancient cities of Asia.

Demographics

Guwahati is one of the most rapidly growing cities in India. The city's population grew from just

two-hundred thousand in 1971 to more than five-hundred thousand in 1991, and in the census of

2001 the city's population was found to be 808,021. By 2011, it is estimated that Guwahati will

boast more than a million residents.

In 2001, males constituted 55 percent and females at 45 percent of Guwahati's residents. It was

found that 10 percent of the population is under 6 years of age. Guwahati has an average literacy

rate of 78 percent, with male literacy at 81 and female literacy at 74 percent.

Economy

As a river port, Guwahati has traditionally been an important administrative and trading center.

Separate income estimates for the city are not yet available as city-level income estimation is not

a traditional practice in India, and is not practiced in a systematic and continual manner.

However, by looking at the agglomeration of activities and employment patterns it can be easily

understandable that the city contributes a lion's share of the state's income.

The major economic activities are trade and commerce, transportation and services. Guwahati is

the most important trade hub in the North Eastern Region. It is a major wholesale distribution

21
center, a marketing hub, and also a retail hub of the region. The Guwahati Tea Auction Centre is

one of the largest in the world. As in other cities, 'mall culture' is slowly invading Guwahati.

Manufacturing is also an important activity, although it is not comparable to those of India's

rapidly growing industrial cities. The most important manufacturing industry in the city is the

petroleum refinery of IOCL at Noonmati. The city is contains the headquarters or regional

offices of several manufacturing and business establishments, e.g. Numaligarh Refinery Limited

(NRL). Guwahati is also important for printing and publishing, as well as businesses related to

electronic and print media. During the past two decades, businesses such as real estate

development, finance, etc. have also intensified.

Tourism and recreation, education, research, cultural activities, etc. are also slowly increasing

and contributing to city's economy.

Terrorism and Insurgency

There is a fair amount of ethnic and religious diversity in Guwahati, but the city has been

plagued by terrorism and insurgency in recent years. Several bombings were carried out in 2008

and 2009, claiming a total of at least 96 lives and wounding around 600 others.

Terrorist groups believed to be active in and around Guwahati and Dispur include:

 Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI)

 Karbi Longri N.C. Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF)

 United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)

 National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)

22
Vodafone Group is a British multinational mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury,

England. Vodafone is the world's largest mobile telecommunication network company, based on

revenue, and has a market value of about £71.2 billion (November 2009). It currently has

operations in 31 countries and partner networks in a further 40 countries. Based on subscribers,

it is the world's second largest mobile phone operator behind China Mobile and over Telefónica,

with over 427 million subscribers in 31 markets across 5 continents as of 2009.

In India Vodafone have 106347368 subscribers as of May 31, 2010. Its market share in INDIA is

17.22 %.

The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the

provision of voice and data services over mobile phones"

Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the largest wireless telecommunications network in

the United States, based on number of subscribers.

It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.

Previously Vodafone was listed on New York Stock Exchange, but later it indented to transfer

23
the listing of its American Depositary Receipts, each representing ten ordinary shares of its

company, from NYSE to NASDAQ. However, it would keep listing its debt securities on NYSE

Vodafone Essar, formerly known as Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers

23 telecom circles in India based in Mumbai. Vodafone Essar is owned by Vodafone 67% and

Essar Group 33%. It is the second largest mobile phone operator in terms of revenue behind

Bharti Airtel, and third largest in terms of customers.

On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li Ka

Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, piping Reliance Communications, Hinduja

Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner of the remaining 33%. The whole company was

valued at USD 18.8 billion. The transaction closed on May 8, 2007. Despite the official name

being Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and

postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India with good presence in the metros.

Vodafone Essar provides 2.75G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM

technology, offering voice and data services in 23 of the country's 23 licence areas. It is among

the top three GSM mobile operators of India.

24
ABOUT VODAFONE ESSAR

Type Limited

Industry Mobile telecommunications

Predecessor Hutchison Essar

Founded 1994

Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Mobile networks,
Products
Telecom services, Etc.

Vodafone Group (67%)

Owner(s)
Essar Group (33%)

Employees 10,000 – March 31, 2009

Website Vodafone India

PRODUCTS

25
 VODAFONE POSTPAID

 VODAFONE PREPAID

 VODAFONE HANDYPHONE

 MAGIC BOX HANDSETS

 WORLD CALLING CARDS

 VODAFONE PCO

 iPHONE 3GS

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

26
27
 CHAPTER 2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Objective
Main objective of the research was to –

28
  Study the perception of Vodafone’s products and services by customers.
 Mode of communication preferred by customers and trade vis-à-vis competition in
relation to new product launch and various promotional offers.

Research Type

Descriptive research

Method Used & Procedure

By Survey Method & through Questionnaire.

Coverage

Guwahati

Sampling

 The Sampling Technique used in this research in ‘Non-Probability Sampling’ where

‘Convenience Sampling’ is employed.

 No sampling techniques were employed for arriving at a ‘Sample Size’. The target given

by the company was 250 customers and 100 retailers.

 For the research for Customers- 250 Questionnaires were distributed from which 233

duly and correctly filled Questionnaires were selected. For the research for Retailers -

105 Questionnaires were distributed from which 103 duly and correctly filled

Questionnaires were selected.

 The Questionnaires were distributed to only those respondents who were using Prepaid

Connections.

Sources of Data

 The data is PRIMARY and SECONDARY in nature.

29
  The primary data is obtained from the people residing in Guwahati city.The secondary

data is collected through different websites, Newspapers, Projects and Pamphlets.

DIFFICULTIES AND LIMITATION

 This being a convenience sample, the analysis may not be a true picture of the target

population.

 Prejudice of some of the respondents.

 Out of the 250 questionnaires distributed, a few of them were not completely filled or

incorrectly filled, so 233 complete and duly filled questionnaires were selected.

 In some cases contradictory answers were given which seemed to show that the

respondents were trying to get over with the interview as soon as possible.

EXPERIENCES

 The exercise provided me with the first-hand knowledge of how real life surveys were

conducted by organisations involved in Market Research.

 It made me realize that what I thought how the majority of the respondents would react to

a particular statement need not be true in actual.

 In some cases it was felt that when a respondent was confused as to a particular response,

he or she usually responded with the same answer I hinted at.

 The research made me believe that younger respondents were more enthusiastic towards

the research than the elderly respondents and also in all cases women were more than

happy to help with the exercise.

 This exercise also made me realize that many a times a respondent did not understand

some of the statements in the questionnaire the way I intended and they brought out a

30
completely new meaning of the statement and thus the actual meaning had to be

adequately explained.

CHAPTER 3

DATA ANALYSIS

DATA ANALYSIS OF RETAILERS SURVEY

TYPE OF
RECHARGES
No of
Type of Recharge Respondents

31
 PAPER 42
EASY 61

Type of Recharge

PAPER
41%
PAPER
EASY

EASY
59%

Inference

The above chart shows that 41% of the retailers prefer keeping PAPER recharge while 59 %

prefer EASY recharge. The reason for prefering EASY recharge over PAPER recharge is that

there is no mismatch of Stock when retailers keep EASY recharge.

Chi Square Hypothesis

 Hypothesis:

 Ho: Paper recharge and e-recharge are liked equally by the retailers.
 H1: Paper recharge and e-recharge are not liked equally by the retailers.
32
RESULTS:

Chi-square Calculated = 2.00

Chi-square Tabulated = 2.773

Since Chi-square calculated< Chi-square tabulated hence null hypothesis gets accepted.

Inference: Both paper and e-recharge are liked equally by the retailers

HIGHEST TOP UP SALE

Service No. of retail

provider outlets
Vodafone 22
Aircel 35

33
 Airtel 17
BSNL 1
Reliance 26
Tata Indicom 1
Idea 1

Highest Top Up Sale

35
35

30
26

25 22

20 17 No. of retail outlets

15

10

5
1 1 1

0
Vodafone Aircel Airtel BSNL Reliance Tata Indicom Idea

Inference

From the above chart it is clearly seen that AIRCEL leads all the other network providers in case
of TOP UP sales.

RELIANCE is placed 2nd

VODAFONE in 3rd position

AIRTEL takes the 4th position.

IDEA, BSNL and TATA INDICOM make up the rest of the Network Providers.

HIGHEST SALE OF SMS

PACKS
Service No. of retail
provider outlets
Vodafone 27
Idea 2

34
 Aircel 29
BSNL 1
Reliance 25
Tata Indicom 1
Airtel 18

No. of retail outlets

Airtel
17% Vodafone
26%
Tata Indicom
1%

Idea
2%

Reliance
24%

Aircel
29
28%
Vodafone Idea Aircel BSNL
BSNL Reliance Tata Indicom Airtel
1%

Inference

Out of the 103 retail shops that were covered during the survey 29 % of the retailers say that
AIRCEL is the highest seller of SMS packs.

VODAFONE comes 2nd with 26%

RELIANCE with 24% comes 3rd

AIRTEL eats up 18% in the SMS market

IDEA, BSNL and TATA INDICOM make up the rest of the 4 % together.

Q4 Special Tariff Cards

Service No. of retail
provider outlets
Vodafone 26
Idea 0
Aircel 35

35
 BSNL 1
Reliance 19
Tata Indicom 1
Airtel 21

Special Tariff Cards

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5
26 0 35 1 19 1 21
0
Vodafone Idea Aircel BSNL Reliance Tata Indicom Airtel

Inference

AIRCEL Tariff Cards are the one’s which sells the most.

VODAFNE tariff Cards are the 2nd best

AIRTEL comes 3rd

RELIANCE comes 4th

TATA INDICOM and BSNL take up 2 % between them.

GPRS CARDS
Service No. of retail
provider outlets
Vodafone 25
Airtel 12
Aircel 30

36
 Reliance 15
Don’t Sell 21

GPRS Cards
Don’t Sell Vodafone
20% 24%

Reliance
15% Airtel
12%

Aircel
29%

Vodafone Airtel Aircel Reliance Don’t Sell

Inference

In the survey conducted among 103 retailers we have come to a conclusion that AIRCEL has the
maximum sale of GPRS CARDS in 29 % of the stores.

VODAFONE is the maximum selling GPRS CARD in 24% of the stores.

AIRTEL with 12 % and RELIANCE with 15 % make up the rest.

A staggering 20% say they don’t sell GPRS CARDS.

COMPANY PREFERENCE
No. of retail
Type outlets
Website 1
USSD 3
Out Bound 28
37
 Dial
Any Other
Mode 2
Radio 5
SMS 57
Newspaper 7

Company Preference
Newspaper Website
USSD
7% 1%3%

Out Bound Dial

27%

Any Other Mode

2%
SMS Radio
55% 5%

Website USSD Out Bound Dial Any Other Mode

Radio SMS Newspaper

Inference

When asked about which Communication Mode the various Network Providers prefers, the
Retailers were of the opinion that the various companies use SMS as the mode of
communication. The survey showed that 55 % said it was SMS while 27 % said the companies
prefer Out Bound Dial.

Radio with 5%, Newspaper with 7%, USSD with 3 %, Website 1% and Other Modes take 2%
in the opinion of retailers.

Q7 RETAILER PREFERENCE
No. of retail
Type outlets
Website 2
USSD 1

38
 Out Bound
Dial 21
Any Other
Mode 6
Radio 8
SMS 53
Newspaper 12

Retailer Preference
Newspaper Website
USSD
12% 2%1% Out Bound Dial
20%

Any Other Mode

6%

Radio
8%
SMS
51%

Website USSD Out Bound Dial Any Other Mode

Radio SMS Newspaper

Inference

When asked about which Communication Mode the various Retailers prefers, the Retailers were
of the opinion that the companies should use SMS as the mode of communication. The survey
showed that 51 % said it was SMS while Out Bound Dial was preferred by 20%.

Radio with 8%, Newspaper with 12%, USSD with 1 %, Website 2% and Other Modes take
6% in the opinion of retailers.

TIMING
PREFERENC
Q8 E
No. of retail
Preference Time outlets
Morning 37

39
 Afternoon 31
Evening 23
Night 12

Preference Time

40 37

35 31

30
23
25 No. of retail outlets

20

15 12

10

0
Morning Afternoon Evening Night

Inference

The Retailers would like to receive the Promotional offers through their preferred mode mostly
during Morning (36%) & Afternoon (30%).

22% even think Evening would be a good time to receive such promotional offer news.

But only 12% think that Night time is appropriate time to receive such information.

DATA ANALYSIS OF USERS/CUSTOMERS SURVEY

AGE GROUP

age no of respondents

40
 less than 15 22
15 - 20 37
20 - 25 87
25 - 30 52
above 30 35

Age Group
above 30 less than 15
15% 9%

15 - 20
16% less than 15
15 - 20
25 - 30 20 - 25
22% 25 - 30
above 30

20 - 25
37%

Inference

The survey was conducted with 233 Users of various network providers.

The age group that was covered included:

Less than 15 years ---- 10 %

15 years - 20 years ---- 16 %

20 years - 25 years ---- 37 %

25 years – 30 years ---- 22 %

Above 30 years ---- 15 %

GENDER COMPOSITION OF RESPONDENTS

No of
Gender Respondents
MALE 141
FEMALE 92

41
 FEMALE
39%

Gender
MALE
FEMALE
MALE
61%

Inference

The survey covered total of 233 people.

Out of that 61% were MALE

The rest of the 39 % were FEMALE.

NETWORK PROVIDER OF THE RESPONDENTS

NETWORK No of
PROVIDER respondents
AIRCEL 75

42
 AIRTEL 47
RELIANCE 49
IDEA 3
TATA INDICOM 4
BSNL 3
VODAONE 52

NETWORK PROVIDER
80 75
70

60
52
47 49
50
No of respondents
40

30

20

10
3 4 3
0
AIRCEL AIRTEL RELIANCE IDEA TATA INDICOM BSNL VODAONE

Inference

The survey covered users from various network providers which is given below -

AIRCEL ---------- 75 (33%)

VODAFONE ---------- 52 (22%)

AIRTEL ---------- 47 (20%)

RELIANCE ---------- 49 (21%)

TATA INDICOM ---------- 4 (2%)

IDEA ---------- 3 (1%)

BSNL ---------- 3 (1%)

REASONS FOR SELECTING THE VARIOUS NETWORK PROVIDERS

No of
REASONS respondents
Network 107

43
 Product Offerings 28
Pricing 62
Availability of
Recharges 17
Customer Service 6
Other Reason 13

Reasons

Other Reason 13

Customer Service 6

Availability of Recharges 17 No of respondents

Pricing 62

Product Offerings 28

Network 107

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Inference

USERS state that they use the current network providers for the following reasons –

107 out of 233 (46%) users, state that they use their network providers because of good
NETWORK.

62 out of 233 users (27%), choose PRICING as their reason for sticking to their network
providers.

12% say they like PRODUCT OFFERINGS of their network provider.

7% choose Availability of Recharges at a store near them (distribution) as a reason.

3% state that CUSTOMER SERVICE of their network provider is the reason for choosing
them.

6% choose OTHER REASONS like Celebrities, Advertisements, and Relationships as their

reasons.

COMPANY PREFERENCE AND MODE OF COMMUNICATION

Type No of respondents
SMS 98
USSD 7

44
 Out Bound Dial 75
Newspaper 20
Radio 13
Website 9
Any Other Mode 11

Company Preference
Any Other Mode
Website 5%
4%
Radio
6% SMS
Newspaper USSD
9% SMS Out Bound Dial
42% Newspaper
Radio
Out Bound Dial Website
32%
Any Other Mode

USSD
3%

Inference

When asked about which Communication Mode the various Network Providers prefers, the
USERS were of the opinion that the various companies use SMS as the mode of communication.
The survey showed that 42 % said it was SMS

While 32 % said the companies prefer Out Bound Dial.

Radio with 5%, Newspaper with 9%, USSD with 3 %, Website with 4% and,

Other Modes like Billboards, Hoardings, and Television Ads take 5% in the opinion of the
users.

CUSTOMER PREFERENCE AND MODE OF COMMUNICATION

Type No of respondents
SMS 66
USSD 14

45
 Out Bound Dial 29
Newspaper 37
Radio 18
Website 23
Any Other Mode 46

Customer Preference
SMS
Any Other Mode 28%
20%

Website
10%

USSD
Radio 6%
8%

SMS USSD Out Bound Dial Out Bound Dial

Newspaper
Newspaper
Radio Website Any Other Mode 12%
16%

Inference

When asked about which Communication Mode the USERS prefer, the USERS were of the
opinion that the various companies should use a mixture of SMS, Newspapers and Various
Other Modes as the mode of communication. The survey showed that 28 % said it was SMS

While 12 % said the companies prefer Out Bound Dial which shows it is not liked by
customers.

USSD with 6 %, shows customers can be targeted with this medium also.

Radio with 8%, Newspaper with 16%, Website with 10% is other notable medium that USERS
can be targeted with.

Other Modes like Leaflets and Television Ads take 20% in the opinion of the users which is a
significant chunk and companies should use these mediums also.

TIMING PREFERENCE BY CUSTOMERS

Preference Time No. of customers

Morning 47

46
 Afternoon 72
Evening 89
Night 25

Timing Preference
100
89
90
80
72
70
60 Timing Preference No. of
customers
50 47

40
30 25
20
10
0
Morning Afternoon Evening Night

Inference

The survey shows us that the USERS would prefer EVENING as the best time to inform them
about various promotional offers.

38% of the people choose EVENING because that time is leisure time.

31 % feel that AFTERNOON is the best time to receive promo offers because there is less work.

20% feel MORNING is a good time to receive promo news but others feel they are busy in the
morning and SMS and Outbound Calls tend to distract them and irritate them during work hours.

11% think NIGHT is a good option to receive promo news but others feel that night time is for
rest and they don’t want to get disturbed by anything.

MONTHLY EXPENDITURE COMPOSTITION

Monthly Expenditure No of respondents

less than 100 18

47
 100-200 29
200-400 76
400-600 51
600-800 39
above 800 20

Monthly Expenditure
above 800 less than 100
600-800 9% 8% 100-200
17% 12%

400-600 200-400
22% 33%

less than 100 100-200 200-400 400-600 600-800 above 800

Inference

Most of the USERS fall in the range from Rs 200 to Rs 800 where 72 % of the respondents are
categorized.

8 % people in the survey undergone fall in the slot whose expenditure is less than Rs 100 per
month.

12% people fall in the range of Rs 100 –Rs 200 expenditure per month.

33 % people are in the range of Rs 200- Rs 400 expenditure per month.

22 % people fall in the range of Rs 400- Rs 600 expenditure per month.

17 % people are in the range of Rs 600- Rs 800 expenditure per month.

8 % people fall in the range of Rs 800 and above expenditure per month.

NETWORK PROVIDER AND GENDER WISE COMPOSITION

NETWORK PROVIDER No of respondents Male Female

AIRCEL 75 41 34

48
 AIRTEL 47 27 20
RELIANCE 49 33 16
IDEA 3 3 0
TATA INDICOM 4 3 1
BSNL 3 3 0
VODAONE 52 31 21

45 41
40
35 34 33
31
30 27
25 21
20
20 16 Male
15 Female
10
5 3 3 3
0 1 0
0
AIRCEL AIRTEL RELIANCE IDEA TATA INDICOM BSNL VODAONE

Inference

Among AIRCEL customers, 55% are males and 45 % are females.

Among AIRTEL customers, 57% are males and 43 % are females.

Among RELIANCE customers, 67% are males and 33% are females.

Among VODAFONE customers, 60% are males and 40 % are females.

Among IDEA customers, 100% are males.

Among TATA INDICOM customers, 75% are males and 25 % are females.

Among BSNL customers, 100% are males.

NETWORK PROVIDER AND PREFERENCE TIME OF CUSTOMERS

NETWORK PROVIDER Morning Afternoon Evening Night

AIRCEL 17 29 25 4
AIRTEL 9 20 10 8
RELIANCE 8 13 22 6

49
 IDEA 0 0 3 0
TATA INDICOM 1 1 2 0
BSNL 0 1 2 0
VODAONE 12 8 25 7

29
30

25 25
25
22
20
20
17
Morning
15 13 Afternoon
12 Evening
10 Night
9
10 8 8 8
7
6
4
5 3
2 2
1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0
0
AIRCEL AIRTEL RELIANCE IDEA TATA INDICOM BSNL VODAONE

Inference

Out of the people who want promo news during EVENING, Aircel, Vodafone, Reliance forms
81% of that lot.

Out of the people who opted for AFTERNOON, Aircel, Airtel and Reliance forms 86% of the
lot.

Aircel Customers want the promo news to be send during afternoon

Airtel Customers want the promo news to be send during afternoon

Reliance Customers want the promo news to be send during evening

NETWORK PROVIDER AND REASONS FOR SELECTING THE NETWORK

Availability
NETWORK Product of Customer Other
PROVIDER Network Pricing Offerings Recharges Service Reason
AIRCEL 36 18 6 5 3 7

50
 AIRTEL 23 13 5 3 1 2
RELIANCE 19 15 9 4 0 2
IDEA 0 2 1 0 0 0
TATA INDICOM 2 0 2 0 0 0
BSNL 1 1 0 0 1 0
VODAONE 26 13 5 5 1 2

40
36
Network Pricing Product Offerings Availability of Recharges Customer Service Other Reason
35

30
26
25 23

19
20 18
15
15 13 13

9
10 7
6
5 5 55
4
5 3 3
2 2 2 2 2 2
1 1 11 1 1
0 0 000 0 000 00 0
0
AIRCEL AIRTEL RELIANCE IDEA TATA INDICOM BSNL VODAONE

Inference

The above chart shows why different network providers are liked by different users.

Aircel is used by USERS because of the good quality of NETWORK it provides. Aircel is also
liked because of its PRICING. 48% of Aircel users like their network while 24% like their
pricing.

Even the Airtel, Reliance and Vodafone users mainly use those services because of NETWORK
and PRICING.

However Reliance seems to have lost ground on NETWORK as it is the oldest among the TOP
4 but has the lowest number of users using their connections for Reliance Network.

NETWORK PROVIDER AND MODE OF COMMUNICATION

Out Any
NETWORK USS Bound Newspape Websit Other
PROVIDER SMS D Dial r Radio e Mode
AIRCEL 23 1 19 9 3 6 14
IDEA 2 0 0 0 0 0 1

51
 RELIANCE 14 6 1 7 4 7 10
BSNL 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
VODAONE 13 3 6 11 4 4 11
TATA INDICOM 1 0 0 1 0 1 1
AIRTEL 13 4 2 8 7 4 9

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

AIRCEL IDEA RELIANCE BSNL

VODAONE TATA INDICOM AIRTEL

Inference

Sms Mode is mostly preferred by the Aircel Users. Reliance, Vodafone and Airtel users are way
behind when liking for SMS mode is taken into account.

USSD Mode is mostly preferred by Reliance Users followed by Airtel and Vodafone. Aircel
Users don’t seem interested in USSD.

Out Bound Dial is preferred by only AIRCEL customers.

Newspapers as a medium is liked mostly by Vodafone users followed by Aircel and Reliance
Users.

Other Modes like Celebrity Endorsements, Billboards, Leaflets are mostly welcomed by Aircel,
Vodafone and Reliance users.

MONTHLY EXPENDITURE and GENDER WISE COMPOSITION

Monthly
Expenditure Female Male
less than 100 10 8
100-200 19 10
200-400 33 43

52
 400-600 20 31
600-800 6 33
above 800 4 16

50

45 43

40

35 33 33
31
30

25 Male
20 Female
20 19
16
15
10 10
10 8
6
5 4

0
less than 100 100-200 200-400 400-600 600-800 above 800

Inference

It is seen that Females are more in the slots less than 100 and 100-200. The graph shows that
number of females is more in comparison to males when the expenditures are low.

The number of Males is more when the amount of monthly expenditure is more.

The number of males and females is highest in the range 200-400.

The number of males and females in the range of 400-600 is also significant.

QUALITY OF SERVICE OF VODAFONE

No of
Paramet Responde
ers nts

53
 Poor 6
Average 10
Good 11
Very
Good 14
Excellent 11

Quality of Service of Vodafone

12%
21%

19% Poor
Average
Good
Very Good
Excellent

27%

21%

Inference

It is seen that quality of Vodafone is more than average. Around 69 % of VODAFONE

CUSTOMERS prefer the quality of service and the respondents marked their responses from
good to excellent. Only 12 % say that service quality is poor.

Hypothesis Testing:

One Sample Z test (Quality of Service of Vodafone)

Here customers were asked to indicate the quality of service of Vodafone on a five point scale
where 1 indicated very dissatisfied and 5 indicated very satissfied. Suppose that the customer
54
feel the quality of services of Vodafone are average. Let formulate the null Hypothesis the mean
is equal to 2.0.

Null Hypothesis: Ho- mean=2.0

Alternative Hypothesis: H1- mean is not equal to 2.0.

Use "z-distribution" table to estimate critical value and Alpha=.05, Zcv = 1.96 

The mean score for 52 respondents is 3.27.

In this case Test Statistic:

Critical value-
Lower limit=1.644
Upper Limit=2.356

Based on the survey mean is 3.27.In this case the sample mean is contained in the region of
rejection.

The results indicate that customers believe that services of Vodafone are very good. 

55
 CHAPTER 4

FINDINGS

&

RECOMMENDATIONS

FINDINGS

56
 AIRCEL is the market leader in GUWAHATI. From the Survey conducted it was

found out that AIRCEL is the Leader when numbers of users are taken into

consideration.

 The main reason for selecting a Network Provider is the QUALITY OF THE

NETWORK and the PRICING of recharge packs and other packs.

 USERS want to receive promotional offer alerts or information through SMS and

TV Ads, Hoardings and Leaflets. Although 12 % customers opted for Out

Bound Calls but most of the rest 88 % suggested that they don’t like Out Bound

Calls.

 Even while receiving info through SMS or other modes USERS have shown their

preference to receive such news during Evenings and Late Afternoon.

 Most of the Users(33%) confronted during the survey spend around Rs 200-400

monthly while 22 % spend around Rs 400-600 per month. 17 % users spend

around Rs 600-800 monthly. The survey covered mostly High End Users.

 On an average people spend around Rs 150 – Rs 450 per month.

 Males have a higher tendency to spend more on Mobile Recharges and other

VAS per month.

 Females outnumber Males in the lower range monthly expenditures.

 AIRCEL and AIRTEL Users prefer receiving info regarding Promotions during

Late Afternoons.

 RELIANCE and VODAFONE Users prefer receiving information regarding

Promotions during Evenings.

57
 AIRCEL and RELIANCE being the oldest player in Guwahati seem to follow

different trend. AIRCEL because of its excellent Network Coverage seems to be

gaining more users whereas RELIANCE because of its Poor Network Coverage

is losing on its existing users.

 VODAFONE users are interested in mode of communication such as TV ads,

hoardings, billboards, etc more than any other users of their competitors.

 SMS medium was the most likely accepted mode of communication by the users.

 USERS also wanted Pamphlets and Leaflets to be distributed to them whenever

new pricing scheme is adopted.

 Retailers prefer Easy recharge more than Paper recharges.

 Among TOP Ups VODAFONE’s Rs 10 & Rs 50 are mostly used. AIRCEL’s Rs

10, Rs 50 & Rs 110 are most selling ones. For RELIANCE Rs 25, Rs 50, Rs 125

is most selling. For AIRTEL Rs 10, Rs 30, Rs 111 is most selling TOP UPs

 Among SMS Packs AIRCEL has the highest sale with Rs 9 and Rs 33 being sold

the most. For VODAFONE it is Rs 34. For RELIANCE it is RS 19. AIRTEL’s

SMS pack of RS 34 is sold the most.

 Among Bonus Cards AIRCEL’s Rs 20 and Rs 48 packs are sold the most. For

RELIANCE Rs 14 & Rs 40. For AIRTEL it is RS 21. For VODAFONE it is

Rs 29.

58
  Among GPRS Packs AIRCEL’s Rs 98, Vodafone’s Rs 98, RELIANCE’s Rs 81

and AIRTEL’s RS 98 are the most selling. Out of these Rs 98 of Vodafone has a

great market share in GPRS Packs.

 MORE than 50% of the retailers are happy to receive Promotional news through

SMS alerts because it is convenient for them during rush hours also to read a SMS

and get to know about Offers.

 Most of the Retailers are happy to receive Promotional offer news in the Morning

and Afternoon because it is during their Business Hours and it can give them an

edge to provide customer with better facilities and information.

COMPETITOR’s SHCEMES

RELIANCE

59
 Scheme Amount Features Validity
Rs 19
Local + National sms@ 1p/sms 30 days
Auto -Renewal
Daily as long as
subscriber has
sufficient a/c
500 Local + National sms/day balance(@
Daily Pack 14 + Rs 10.69 talktime Rs1/day)
SMS
 
  Rs 39 500 Local + National sms/day 30 days
       
       

GPRS Rs 81 upto 2GB browsing free 7days

       

Bonus Packs Rs 14 all calls 1 p/sec;Sms 50p/sms 30 days

Rs 12 all calls ,sms @ 50p 30 days

all calls Rs 1/3 min, Sms 50
Rs 9 p /sms 30 days
100 mins free (local reliance
Rs 24 to reliance) 15 days
200 mins(local reliance to
Rs 40 reliance) 30 days

Rs 44 100 mins free (all local calls) 30 days

 
Rs 80 200 mins(all local calls) 30 days
 
 
 
 
  2000 mins( local reliance to
  Rs 250 reliance) 30 days

RELIANCE

60
 Promo Available
Top UP MRP Core Talktime Promo Talktime
Validity ON

0
  Rs 10 Rs 7.07 N/A Paper/Easy
  Rs 25 Rs 20.67 0 N/A Paper/Easy
  Rs 48 Rs 41.52 0 N/A Paper
10 mins rel to rel
free(valid for 3
  Rs 50 Rs 43.33 nights) N/A Easy
  Rs 55 Rs 47.86 Rs 7.14 7 days Paper/Easy
  Rs 75 Rs 66.00 Rs 9.00 7 days Easy
  Rs 100 Rs 88.66 Rs 11.34 7 days Paper/Easy
  Rs 110 Rs 97.73 Rs 12.27 7 days Easy
  Rs 120 Rs 108.79 Rs 31.21 7 days Easy
  Rs 125 Rs 113.33 Rs 11.67 7 days Paper/Easy
  Rs 165 Rs 149.59 Rs 15.41 7 days Paper/Easy
  Rs 200 Rs 181.32 Rs 40.68 7 days Easy
  Rs 300 Rs 271.99 Rs 61.01 7 days Easy
  Rs 399 Rs 399.00 75 min (RTL to RTL) 30 days Paper
  Rs 400 Rs 360.65 Rs 39.35 7 days Easy
  Rs 500 Rs 451.31 Rs 148.69 7 days Easy
  Rs 1000 Rs 904.62 Rs 95.38 7 days Easy
Tariff per minute        
All local
calls Rs 0.50        
All STD
calls Rs 1.50        

AIRCEL

61
Scheme Amount Features Validity Top Up MRP Talktime
SMS Rs 3 100 2 days Rs 10 Rs 7.07
  Rs 9 100 7 days   Rs 25 Rs 20.67
 
  Rs 33 500 daily free 30 days   Rs 50 Rs 43.33
          Rs 110 Rs 97.73
GPRS Rs 14   3 days   Rs 220 Rs 197.46
upto 2GB
  Rs 98 browsing free 30 days

       
Bonus to aircel - 0.35
Packs Rs 5 p/min
2 days
  to others - 0.50
  p/min
Rs20
  pay per second 30 days
to aircel - 0.35
Rs 55 p/min 30 days
    to others - 0.50  
  p/min
to aircel - 0.50
Rs 54 p/min
30 days
    to others - 0.50
  p/min
to aircel -
0.09(11pm - 6
Rs 48 am);0.19(6am- 30 days
  4pm);0.99(4pm  
-11pm)
 
  to others - 0.99
to aircel -
0.75(1st
min);0.50(2nd
min);0.25(3rd
Rs 40 min) 30 days
  to others -  
0.75(1st
min);0.50(2nd
  min);0.25(3rd
  min)
aircel - local &
Rs 18 std - 0.50 30 days
     
  others - 0.60

62
AIRTEL

Scheme Amount Features Validity

SMS Rs 9 50 7 days
  Rs 34 300 sms/day 30 days

GPRS Rs 98 upto 2 GB browsing 30 days

  Rs22   3 days
Rs 21
Bonus Packs pay per second 30 days

airtel to airtel - 0.40 30 days

Rs 39

  others - 0.50 std-1.50

  airtel - std & local -
30 days
  Rs 17 0.50
  others - 0.60

Scheme Amount

   

Top UP Rs 5

Rs 10

Rs 30

Rs 60

Rs 100

  Rs 111
 
  Rs 222
 
  Rs 255
 
Rs 365
 
  Rs 475
 
  Rs 555

63
IDEA

Scheme Amount Features Validity

SMS Rs 16 200 local sms only 15 days
 
  Rs 34 500/daily, local + national 30 days
All local calls - 0.40p & STD
Bonus Packs Rs 13 - 0.50P 30 days
  MRP Talktime Recharge Type
Top Up Rs 10 Rs 7.07 Paper
Rs 25 Rs 20.67 Paper
 
Rs 50 Rs 43.33 Paper
 
  Rs 100 RS 88.66 Easy
  Rs 111 Rs 98.63 Easy
  Rs 222 Rs 199.27 Easy
  Rs 333 Rs 299.90 Easy
Tariff per second per minute

All local calls 1p/sec 0.4

 
 
All STD calls 1p/sec 0.6  

64
TATA INDICOM

Tariff Plan Name Features

local 10 mins - Re 1;daily

rental Re 1 charged
Pay per Call 50 p/sms; local + national

STD 10 mins - Rs 3;daily rental

 
Re 1 charged
 
Local 25p/min;local upto 5
mins - Re 1,daily rental Re 1
Pay per Call
SMS 50p/SMS; local + national
Flexi
  STD 25p/min;Std upto 5 mins -
  Rs 2,daily rental Re 1

  1st 3 min - 1p/sec,Next 3 mins

free…this continues in a
Pay Per Second loop.Rs 3.60 charged in 12 SMS 50p/SMS; local + national
mins ,if not disconnected then
from 13th min onward Re 1
will be chargerd per minute
   

TATA INDICOM

Scheme Amount Features Validity

SMS Rs 15 75 sms 15 days
  Rs 30 350 sms 30 days
  Rs 55 1500 sms 30 days
Top UP MRP Talk Time Validity
  Rs 10 Rs 6.5 1 month
  Rs 25 Rs21.5 1 month
  Rs 50 Rs 46.5 1 month

65
 Rs 100 Rs 96.5 1 month

BSNL

Schem
e MRP Talktime Recharge Type
TOP UP Rs 22 Rs 18 Paper
Rs 55 Rs 50 Paper
Rs 110 Rs 100 Paper
  Rs 221 Rs 200 Paper
  Rs 500(currently Rs 800
  Rs 550 special scheme) Paper
  depends on
  Rs 10 to Rs 1000 denomination EASY
       
Schem
e Amount Features Validity
Rs 20 150 sms local +national 30 days
SMS
  Rs 50 400 sms local +national 30 days
Bonus
Cards Rs 12 pay per second 3 months
49 p /min, local,
Rs 49 STD,SMS, all networks 3 months
BSNL local 25 p, Others
60 p; 11 pm to 6 am BSNL
Rs 100 local 20 p 3 months
Rs 300 BSNL local free 24 hours 3 months

 
  local 24 hours free, Std
  19 hours free(excluding 4
  Rs 499 pm - 9 pm) 3 months

66
 SWOT ANALYSIS

a) AIRTEL

STRENGTHS WEAKNESS

Voice Clarity Tariff Plans

Customer Service Expensive Network

Brand Preference

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Can increase market share New entrant ‘IDEA’

Can earn more revenue

Can increase customer satisfaction level

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b) AIRCEL

STRENGTHS WEAKNESS

Network Coverage Except being leaders Assam and Chennai,

Network Quality they are almost non-existent in other

Customer Service circles

Tariff Plans

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Earn more revenue as it is not having that Increasing popularity of ‘VODAFONE’

great revenue. Entry of IDEA into market

Capture increase share in national market.

Increase customer satisfaction level.

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c) BSNL

STRENGTHS WEAKNESS

Voice Clarity. Customer Service.

Brand Preference. Customer perception that being a

Network Coverage. government organisation it won’t be able

to provide VALUE FOR MONEY.

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Increase market share. All the existing private operators

Earn more revenue.

Being a government body it should take

initiative and bring out new pricing

schemes and give competition to other

networks.

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d) RELIANCE

STRENGTHS WEAKNESS

Tariff Plans Voice Clarity

Network Coverage Brand Value

Customer Service

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

To keep onto the existing customers. VODAFONE’s gaining popularity and

To improve their network reach and better quality of network.

coverage. Entry of IDEA into the market.

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e) TATA INDICOM

STRENGTHS WEAKNESS

Voice Clarity Brand Value.

CDMA Technology In ASSAM people are more oriented into

Network Quality using GSM connection and are not very

Tariff Plans. attracted to use CDMA phones when

CELL PHONES are launched every now

and then with latest technology

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Increase market share. New entrant ‘IDEA’.

Attract more customers.

Can make an entry into ASSAM with

TATA DOCOMO (GSM).

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f) VODAFONE

STRENGTHS WEAKNESS

Voice Clarity Network Coverage

Network Quality Most of Vodafone’s TV ads depend on

Brand Value ZOOZOO’s. The day zoo-zoos are not

Tariff Plans welcomed Vodafone will have to re-

Customer Service strategize its marketing activities

Distribution

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Increase market share Existence of AIRTEL and AIRCEL as the

Earn more revenue oldest player in the industry.

Can take over as a leader in Guwahati in 2 Entry of IDEA into the market.

years time through better network coverage

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g) IDEA

STRENGTHS WEAKNESS

Brand Value Network Coverage

Tariff Plans Voice Clarity

Distribution

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Capture profitable market share OLD PLAYERS EXISTING IN THE

Earn huge revenue MARKET

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

 Availability of various types of recharge denominations both paper e-recharge at

all the time.

 Quality Network Service should be the main aim especially at peak hours as more
than that 50% of the customers opt for a particular network provider because they
want good network.

 Attractive offers for Students and Youngsters as comprises more than 80% of the
total customers in prepaid.

 Better Co-Ordination with the Retailers as they are the most important link between
customers and the company. Attractive Gifts and Rewards should be handed out to Star
Performers where all the retailers of the city could be invited so that others are motivated
to work for VODAFONE eagerly.

 SMS system as a tool to launch new promotional offers of the company.

 Customers should be targeted in the evenings with SMS while Retailers should be
targeted during daytime.

 While sending SMS to customer a Greeting Note with their name or surname would
make them feel more interested in the Offers. Eg. Dear Mr. Hitesh Rupani you have been
selected for a Special Offer ……………………………………….................................

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 If Vodafone plans to increase its Customer Base, it can distribute Free Sim Cards during
Durga Puja and Diwali at places where there are large number of footfalls. DONA
PLANET and BIG BAZAR are two places where this can be done. Also J14 opposite,
Commerce College and NEHRU PARK, opposite Cotton College and near Handique
Girls College can be targeted. This scheme can be undertaken to target the Youth and
College going students who flock these places in the evening. Also FREE Sim Card
Connection does not mean it will be activated; to activate people must recharge with Rs
20 there itself. And with a good network which VODAFONE has the retention of these
users should not be that difficult. Out the number of SIM card connections that can be
sold even if minimum of 20% are retained it can increase customer base drastically.

 2011 Cricket World Cup will be held next year, if VODAFONE can give its customers
some QUIZ based on previous World Cups or some other activity and provide attractive
prizes may be it can help in creating a buzz among people. Also the rate of SMS for such
quiz which is currently likely to be Rs 3/sms should be around Rs 0.50 /sms or Re 1/sms,
so that more people can play such quiz. Also on buying Top Up of more than 100, wrist
bands or other merchandise stuffs could be provided to support TEAM INDIA.

 Another Game based on SMS could be started during The 2011 World Cup. A customer
needs to pick a player from a match that has to be played on a day and guess the runs he
makes or wicket he takes during the match accordingly the customer gets benefitted by
the runs his choice of player makes or wickets he takes. An amount of recharge will be
updated into customers account depending on results.
 For 25 runs – Rs 10 talktime
 For 50 runs or more but less than 100 – Rs 10 talktime + 2days call from Vodafone to
Vodafone free
 For 100 runs or more – 3 days Vodafone to Vodafone call n Sms free
 For 2 wickets in a match - Rs 10 talktime
 For 3 wickets in a match - Rs 10 talktime + 2days call from Vodafone to Vodafone
free
 For 5 wickets in a match - 3 days Vodafone to Vodafone call n Sms free

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 * A customer can choose only one player from his/her number from a match.
* The runs guessed should be accurate or within a range of (plus/minus) 5 runs

 Instead of spending Lakhs on Print ads in Newspapers, when a new offer is to be

launched, an alternative could be to make a Colourful Envelope (size should be such
that it can contain a folded newspaper) and print the information on that envelope and
put the newspaper inside that envelope. For this the hawker can be given some money so
that he puts the newspapers in those envelopes and deliver it to people’s doorstep. If such
a promotional activity costs lesser than print ads than this may be given a try. This
activity may catch people’s eye easily and may attract people towards VODAFONE and
its offers.

 Vodafone’s distribution channel is well planned and sorted out and it has the right
number of distributors to cover the number of retailers in the city and maintain good
cordial relations with them. One symptom which was found in most of the retailers when
asked about their distributor they didn’t seem to know the name of their distributors and
only when they would check the memos they would recognize the names of the
distributor. At least something could be done so that the parties in the channel of
distribution can remember each other.

 Vodafone’s distribution channel can be more enhanced by providing their recharge

facilities in PETROL PUMPS, where a customer who has a car or a bike generally stops
once or twice a week. But this has to be kept in mind that the sentiments of current
retailers are not hurt.

 CUSTOMER SERVICE can be enhanced by providing Special One-Time Dial

Numbers, which directly puts the customer to customer care instead of dialing a number
and then pressing 1 for HINDI, 2 for ENGLISH etc.

76
 Another method to improve CUSTOMER SERVICE is to call the customer 1-2 times a
month on weekends during late afternoon & evenings to ask if the customer has any kind
of problem regarding network or any kind of query or if they want any kind of special
offers.

CHAPTER 5

ANNEXURE

&

BIBLIOGRAPHY

77
 ANNEXURE

Questionnaire For Retailers Form No:

Greetings,

I am a student of ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai. I am conducting a market research project with
Vodafone Essar Ltd, Guwahati.

I would be glad if you could spare a few minutes to answer the following questions.

Q1) Which Medium do you prefer -

Paper Recharge Easy Recharge

Q2) Out of these which has the highest sale of Top Ups? (Tick any One)

Vodafone Aircel Airtel Reliance Idea Tata Indicom BSNL

Which MRP Top Up is highest in sales? (Please Specify)

_________________________________________________

Q3) Out of these which has the highest sale of SMS packs? (Tick any One)

Vodafone Aircel Airtel Reliance Idea Tata Indicom BSNL

Which MRP SMS Pack is highest in sales? (Please Specify)

_________________________________________________

Q4) Out of these which has the highest sale of Bonus Card or Rate Cutters? (Tick any One)

Vodafone Aircel Airtel Reliance Idea Tata Indicom BSNL

Which MRP Bonus Card is highest in sales? (Please Specify)

_________________________________________________

Q5) Out of these which has the highest sale of GPRS pack? (Tick any One)

Vodafone Aircel Airtel Reliance Don’t Have

78
Which MRP GPRS is highest in sales? (Please Specify)
_________________________________________________

Q6) Which Communication Mode is mostly used by Companies for Promotional Offers?

SMS Out Bound Dial Newspaper Radio Website

USSD (*140# for Vodafone, *306# for Reliance etc) Any Other Mode

Any Other Please Specify___________________________________________

Q5) Which Communication Mode do you prefer for receiving New Promotional Offers? (Tick any One)

SMS Out Bound Dial Newspaper Radio Website

USSD (*140# for Vodafone, *306# for Reliance etc) Any Other Mode

Any Other Please Specify___________________________________________

Q6 What time do you prefer to receive the promotional offers?

Morning Afternoon Evening Night

Q7) Any POSITIVE FEEDBACK, SUGGESTION or Complaints for any network provider –

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Thank You for your time!

79
 Questionnaire for Customers Form No:

Greetings,

I am a student of ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai. I am conducting a market research project with
Vodafone Essar Ltd, Guwahati.

I would be glad if you could spare a few minutes to answer the following questions.

Q1) Which of the following age groups you belong to –

Less than 15 years 15-20 years 20-25 years 25-30 years above 30 years

Q2) GENDER: MALE FEMALE

Q3) Which of the following network connection do you avail? (Tick any One)

Aircel Airtel Reliance Idea Tata Indicom BSNL Vodafone

Q4) Which of following is the reason for selecting your connection provider? (Tick any One)

Network Product Offerings Pricing Availability of Recharges (Distribution)

Customer Service Other Reason

Any Other Please Specify___________________________________________

Q5) Which Communication Mode is mostly used by Companies for Promotional Offers? (Tick any One)

SMS Out Bound Dial Newspaper Radio Website

USSD (*140# for Vodafone, *306# for Reliance etc) Any Other Mode

Any Other Please Specify___________________________________________

Q6) Which Communication Mode do you prefer for receiving New Promotional Offers? (Tick any One)

SMS Out Bound Dial Newspaper Radio Website

80
 USSD (*140# for Vodafone) Any Other Mode

Any Other Please Specify____________________________________________

Q7) What time do you prefer to receive the promotional offers? (Tick any One)

Morning Afternoon Evening Night

Q8) What is your monthly expenditure on your network connection?(in Rupees)

Less than 100 100 – 200 200 -400 400-600 600 -800 above 800

Q 9) FOR VODAFONE CUSTOMERS ONLY -

Poor Average Good Very Good Excellent

Quality of
Services of
Vodafone

Q10) Any POSITIVE FEEDBACK, SUGGESTION or COMPLAINTS for your network provider –

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Thank You for your time!

81
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Kothari C.R, “Research Methods and Techniques” New Delhi, New Age International (P)

Limited, Publisher.

 “Marketing Management” Thirteenth Edition by Kotler, Keller, Koshy and Jha.

 Beri G.C “Marketing Research” Third Edition New Delhi Tata McGraw Hill Publishing

Company Limited.

 www.vodafone.co.in

 www.wikipedia.org

 www.surveysystem.com

 www.trai.gov.in

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