Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A INDICOM
Research Guide:
Mrs.Surya Bhamre
Department of Business Management
Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil University
CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai
2008-2010
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the dissertation “consumer behavior study while buying new
mobile connections” submitted for the MBA Degree at Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil U
niversity’s Department of Business Management is my original work and the disser
tation has not formed the basis for the award of any degree, associate ship, fel
lowship or any other similar titles.
Place: Mumbai
Date:
(_________________)
Signature of the Student
Certificate
This is to certify that the dissertation entitled “CONSUMER BEHAVIOR STUDY WHIL
E BUYING NEW MOBILE CONNECTIONS” is the bona fide research work carried out by M
r. Venugopal Arravelli N. student of MBA, at Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil Universit
y’s Department of Business Management during the year 2008-2010, in partial fulf
illment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master in Business Ma
nagement and that the dissertation has not formed the basis for the award previo
usly of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or any other similar tit
le.
______________________
(Mrs Surya Bhamre)
__________________
(Dr. R. Gopal,)
Director,
Department of Business Mgt,
Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil University)
Place: Mumbai
Date:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the first place, I thank Mrs Surya Bhamre , Lecturer, Department of Business
Management, Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil University, Navi Mumbai for having given m
e her valuable guidance for the project. Without her help it would have been imp
ossible for me to complete the project.
I would also like to thank the various people from the service industry who have
provided me with a lot of information and in fact even sharing some of the conf
idential company documents and data – many of which I have used in this report a
nd without which this project could not have been completed.
I would be failing in my duty if I do not acknowledge with a deep sense of grati
tude the sacrifices made by my parents and thus have helped me in completing the
project work successfully.
Place: Mumbai
Date:
Signature of the student.
CONTENTS
Chapter No Title Page No
A List of Tables 15
B List of Figures 16
C List of Abbreviations
1 Executive Summary 1
2 Objective of the Study 2
2.1 Need of the study 3
2.2 Scope of the study 5
3 Research Methodology 6
3.1 Statement of the problem 9
3.2 Limitation of the study 10
4 Review of Literature 11
5 Tata company profile 13
6 About Tata Teleservice 18
7 Introduction
7.1 Consumer buying behavior while buying new mobile connection
22
7.2 Factors effecting Consumer Buying behavior 24
7.3 Consumer Buying Decision Process
27
8 Analysis Of Mobile Communication Spread And Its Implications In
India 32
9 Future mobile communication in india 38
10 Details about service providers 39
11 Data Analysis and interpretation 52
12 Suggestions 81
13 Conclusion 83
14 ANNEXURE 85
14.1 QUESTIONAIRE
BIBLIOGRAPHY 91
ARTICLES 145
“CONSUMER BEHAVIOR STUDY WHILE BUYING NEW MOBILE CONNECTIONS”WITH RESPECT TO TAT
A INDICOM
Research Guide:
Mrs.Surya Bhamre
Department of Business Management
Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil University
CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai
2008-2010
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Consumer behavior during taking new mobile connections is a vast topic to study.
In order to analyze the subject minutely the topic is being divided into three
parts. First part of my project is all about designing a suitable questionna
ire so that the various variable factors that the consumer behavior and their ef
fectiveness in molding the same can be studied. The next part is dedicated to se
lection a suitable sample size of consumers using mobile connections and taking
their feedback through the questionnaire. Well in the last part of my study is d
evoted on doing the analysis and interpretation from the feedback collected from
the respondents. Then application of suitable statistical tool is decided on to
arrive at some results. Based on these results, a conclusion will be drawn ther
eafter which will stand as an ultimate result of my study in the concerned field
so called “CONSUMER BEHAVIOR STUDY WHILE BUYING NEW MOBILE CONNECTIONS”
The services structure can be renewed based on the provide suggestions and recom
mendations which can help to increase the client base and increase the market sh
are in the concerned field as the findings will basically revolve around the mos
t favored services by the investors and locate the core areas where the services
can be improved further according to the market demand.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:
1. To ascertain the attributes which influenced the customer’s in selecting a pa
rticular cell phone services provider.
2. To study the consumer’s satisfaction towards different cellular service provi
ders.
3. To assess the general problems faced by the cellular service users.
4. To offer valuable suggestions to improve the customer base of Tata Indicom.
Cellular service providers emerge as a boon quench such a thirst, thus by provid
ing facilities, which a common man cannot imagine. Though the telecom industry h
as its origin in the recent past and the growth has been excellent. Day by day m
any new competitors enter the market with new attractive schemes, provide additi
onal facilities, add new features to existing ones, reduce the charges of incomi
ng and outgoing calls, introduce varieties of handsets, models a healthy competi
tion that benefits the subscribers. Hence in this context, it is important to st
udy the various attributes or factors which shape the consumers mind during taki
ng or switching over to new mobile connections. In terms of value- addition to t
he organization, this study will definitely help the Company to grow in future.
As, we all are aware of the fact that a fierce competition is going on, in order
to stay alive in the market place. In this situation, one competitor tries to p
enetrate through the loop holes of the other competitor. This project will visua
lize all sorts of loop holes which the Tata Indicom possesses right now and will
also give a complete insight to all types of problems such as, whether the prod
ucts & services are competent enough to fight back their competitor’s products &
services or not
SCOPE OF THIS STUDY:
The present study is contained to Mumbai and it is decided to consider Airtel, T
ata Indicom and other cell phone service rendered to the customers. In Mumbai t
here are 11 cellular services available - Airtel, Aircel, Tata Indicom, TataDoco
mo, MTNL, Loop, Idea, virgin, Vodafone and Reliance Comm,MTS. The main objective
s of this study is to analyze the customer behavior during taking new mobile con
nections and consumers of different cellular service providers of Mumbai city h
as been taken for the current research work.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY –
Research is a systematic effort to gain new knowledge.
Research is a movement of knowledge from known to unknown from the available pla
ce to the required place. Research methods:
Those methods which are used by the researcher during the course of studying are
research problem are termed as research methods.
Research methodology:
The research methodology, not only the research methods are but also consider th
e logic behind the methods. They are in the contest of our research studied. And
explain why we are using a particular method or techniques and we are not using
others.
Descriptive research design:
In includes surveys, and facts finding enquires of different kinds. The major pu
rpose of descriptive research is description of state of affairs as it exists at
present. The main character of this method is that the researcher has no contro
l over the variables. He can report what has happened? Or what is happening?
Nature of data:
Primary data –
Interviews
Questionnaires
Personal observations
Secondary data –
Journals
Reports
Books
Websites
Collection of data:
The data were collected from the respondents through the distribution of questio
nnaire.
Area of the study- This study covers Mumbai city only.
Sample size - The sample size covered for the purpose of this study is 30
Statement of problem:
In our country the growth of service marketing especially telecom industry is st
ill in its infancy stage, as compared to the industrially advanced countries. It
is for the fact that the economy of our country has been in the developing stag
e. There are various cellular service services providers in our country and they
are playing an essential role in fulfilling the needs of the customers. Now-a-d
ays, the customers are more dynamic. Their taste, needs and preference can be ch
anging as per current scenario. Hence the development of
cellular industry mainly depends on the customer satisfaction. However the follo
wing questions may arise regarding customer satisfaction
1. Does the cell industry satisfy the social responsibility?
2. What are the expectations by the customer’s regarding service provided by the
cell phone service provider?
3. Whether the service provided by cell phone industry is satisfying the custome
rs?
4. Are the facilities available adequate to satisfy the customers?
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
C. PERSONAL FACTORS
These include those aspects that are unique to a person and influence purchase b
ehavior. These factors include demographic factors, lifestyle, and situational f
actors.
Example:
Lifestyle is an indicator of how people live and express themselves on the basis
of their activities, interests, and opinions. Lifestyle dimension provide a bro
ader view of people about how they spend their time the importance of things in
their surroundings and their beliefs on broad issues associated with life and li
ving and themselves. This is influenced by demographic factors and personality.
E.g. A CEO or Manager is likely to buy more formal clothes, ties and shoes or PD
As and less informal clothes like jeans as compared to a Mechanic or Civil engin
eer. So according to their lifestyle and profession, the buying behavior of peop
le differs from one another.
Stage I:
It’s when a person recognizes that she/he cannot make a call from her mobile pho
ne that’s when she/he recognizes that her phone has been damaged i.e. the phone
has hardware problems and needs to be repaired or buying a new piece.
Information Search
After the consumer has recognized the need, he / she will try to find the means
to solve that need. First he will recall how he used to solve such kind of a pro
blem in the past, this is called nominal decision making. Secondly, a consumer w
ill try to solve the problem by asking a friend or goes to the market to seek ad
vice for which product will best serve his need, this is called limited decision
making.
Sources of information include:
• Personal sources
• Commercial Sources
• Public sources
• Personal experience
STAGE II: The user of the phone after recognizing that her phone is damaged, sh
e will eventually try to find out how she can repair her phone. If she cannot re
pair it herself she will ask a friend to help out, if the friend cannot solve th
e problem she will go to mobile repair shop, if they also cannot repair it then
she will try to find which mobile phone is good and that can serve her need. In
this process of information collection it will yield awareness of set of brands
of mobile connections she can buy.
Alternatives evaluation
Consumers’ evaluates criteria refer to various dimension; features, characterist
ics and benefits that a consumer desires to solve a certain problem. Product fea
tures and its benefit is what influence consumer to prefer that particular produ
ct. The consumer will decide which product to buy from a set of alternative prod
ucts depending on each unique feature that the product offers and the benefit he
/ she can get out of that feature.
STAGE III : When that user got enough information concerning the different brand
s of mobile connections available in the market, she will decide which kind of a
mobile phone and brand she’s going to buy depending upon her need for that part
icular mobile, either a mobile for multimedia and entertainment, Smartphone or c
lassic phone.
Purchase Action
This stage involves selection of brand and the retail outlet to purchase such a
product. Retail outlet image and its location are important. Consumer usually pr
efers a nearby retail outlet for minor shopping and they can willingly go to a f
ar away store when they purchase items which are of higher values and which invo
lve higher sensitive purchase decision. After selecting where to buy and what to
buy, the consumer completes the final step of transaction by either cash or cre
dit.
STAGE IV: After selecting brand of the phone and model from different alternativ
es of mobile connections, she will make a final decision of where to buying that
phone and make the final transaction procedures.
Post-purchase Actions
Consumer favorable post-purchase evaluation leads to satisfaction. Satisfaction
with the purchase is basically a function of the initial performance level expec
tation and perceived performance relative to those expectations. Consumer tends
to evaluate their wisdom on the purchase of that particular product. This can re
sult to consumer experiencing post purchase dissatisfaction. If the consumer’s p
erceived performance level is below expectation and fail to meet satisfaction th
is will eventually cause dissatisfaction, and so the brand and/ or the outlet wi
ll not be considered by the consumer in the future purchases. This might cause t
he consumer toinitiate complaint behavior and spread negative word-of-mouth conc
erning that particular product.
STAGE V :
If she decided to buy a multimedia phone she will try to compare the quality of
music it provides and pictures taken if they meet her expectations. If she will
find that her expectation are meeting she will be satisfied, if she found that t
here are more additional features that she did not expect this mobile phone to h
ave, she will be delighted, otherwise, she will be dissatisfied. Since my title
is “Consumer behavior during taking new mobile connections”, I need to do the su
rvey of existing/new consumers of the service of different cellular service prov
iders. Hence, my project is totally based on comparative analysis of different a
ttributes shaping the consumer behavior during taking new mobile connections. Ti
ll date I have completed the survey of 150 consumers of different cellular servi
ce providers and I got many Suggestions & Recommendations from the customers.
GSM Subscribers
As per the data released by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI),
the total number of GSM subscriptions in India reached 288.3 Million in the rece
ntly ended fiscal, with an addition of 10.84 Million new subscribers in March 20
09, Released in Business Standard.
The figures released were excluding the subscriptions recorded by Reliance Commu
nications, the CDMA service provider which has recently launched its GSM service
s, as the Company did not disclose its GSM numbers separately. On adding estimat
ed 2.5-2.7 Million GSM subscribers for Reliance Communications, the overall incr
ease for GSM subscribers will reach 13.54 Million..
The number of mobile users in India surged amid gloomy economic conditions and t
his is due to the efforts of companies trying to increase the sales at the end o
f the fiscal year. The industry experts believe that fiscal year 2009-10 will wi
tness monthly incremental growth of 14-15 Million subscribers. In addition, mobi
le penetration is anticipated to increase to 50% from the current level of 35% b
y the end of 2009-10.
Besides, the COAI has projected that there will be nearly 500 Million GSM subscr
ibers in India by the end of the current fiscal year while the figure will cross
the 800 Million mark by 2012.
Attributing this rapid growth to the availability of affordable devices and low
tariffs, As a result, CDMA reached 50 million subscribers in India twice as fas
t as any competing cellular technology.
He further added the recently-introduced CDMA mobile broadband solutions are poi
sed to have a similar significant impact on increasing broadband penetration in
the country.
Bharti Airtel:
Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises. The B
harti Group has a diverse business portfolio and has created global brands in th
e telecommunication sector. Bharti has recently forayed into retail business as
Bharti Retail Pvt. Ltd. under a MoU with Wal-Mart for the cash & carry business.
It has successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group
to export fresh agro products exclusively to markets in
Europe and USA and has launched Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd under a jo
int venture with AXA, world leader in financial protection and wealth management
. Airtel comes to you from Bharti Airtel Limited, India’s largest integrated and
the first private telecom services provider with a footprint in all the 23 tele
com circles. Bharti Airtel since its inception has been at the forefront of tech
nology and has steered the course of the telecom sector in the country with its
world class products and services. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been str
uctured into three individual strategic business units (SBU’s) – Mobile Services
, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. The mobile business provides
mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles
while the Airtel Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone servic
es in 94 cities. The Enterprise services provide end-to-end telecom solutions to
corporate customers and national & international long distance services to carr
iers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand.
Globally, Bharti Airtel is the 3rd largest in-country mobile operator by subscr
iber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom. In India, the company has a 24.
6% share of the wireless services market, followed by 17.7% for Reliance Communi
cations and 17.4% for Vodafone Essar.In January 2010, company announced that Man
oj Kohli, Joint Managing Director and current Chief Executive Officer of Indian
and South Asian operations, will become the Chief Executive Officer of the Inter
national Business Group from 1st April 2010. He will be overseeing Bharti s over
seas business. Current Dy. CEO, Sanjay Kapoor, will replace Manoj Kohli and will
be the CEO with effective from 1st April, 2010.
The total is 121,714,243 or 30.86% of the total 394,349,733 GSM mobile connectio
ns in India till December 2009; and presently the Number 1 operator in India.
On the 9th of May, 2009 Airtel signed a major deal with Manchester United Footba
ll Club. As a result of the deal, Airtel gets the rights to broadcast the matche
s played by the team to its customers.
Reliance
The late Dhirubhai Ambani dreamt of a digital India – an India where the common
man would have access to affordable means of information and communication. Dhir
ubhai, who single-handedly built India’s largest private sector company virtuall
y from scratch, had stated as early as 1999:”Make the tools of information and c
ommunication available to people at an affordable cost. They will overcome the h
andicaps of illiteracy and lack of mobility”.
It was with this belief in mind that Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance
Info Comm) started laying 60,000 route kilometers of a pan-India fiber optic bac
kbone. This backbone was commissioned on 28 December 2002, the auspicious occasi
on of Dhirubhai’s 70th birthday, though sadly after his unexpected demise on 6th
July 2002.
Reliance Communications has a reliable, high-capacity, integrated (both wireless
and wire line) and convergent (voice, data and video) digital network.
It is capable of delivering a range of services spanning the entire Info Comm (i
nformation communication) value chain, including infrastructure and services – f
or enterprises as well as individuals, applications, and consulting.
Today, Reliance Communications is revolutionizing the way India communicates and
networks, truly bringing about a new way of life.
Tata Teleservices
Tata Teleservices is part of the INR Rs.120000 Crore (US$ 29 billion) Tata Group
, that has over 87 companies, over 330,000 employees and more than 2.8 million s
hareholders. With a committed investment of INR 36,000 Crore (US$ 7.5 billion) i
n Telecom (FY 2006), the group has a formidable presence across the telecom valu
e chain.
Starting with the major acquisition of Hughes Tele.com (India) Limited [now rena
med Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] in December 2002 the company swung
into an expansion mode. With the total investment of Rs.19,924 Crore, Tata Teles
ervices has created a pan India presence spread across 20 circles that includes
Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Tamil N
adu, Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
(E), Uttar Pradesh (W), Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Tata Te
leservices has a strong workforce of 6000. In addition, TTSL has created more th
an 20,000 jobs, which will include 10,000 indirect jobs through outsourcing of i
ts manpower needs. Today, Tata Teleservices Limited along with Tata Teleservices
(Maharashtra) Limited serves over 21 million customers in over 4000 towns. With
an ambitious rollout plan both within existing circles and across new circles,
Tata Teleservices offers world-class technology and user-friendly services in 20
circles.
TTML Organization
Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Limited (TTML) spearheads the Tata Group’s presenc
e in the Indian telecom sector by being the premier telecommunication service pr
ovider, licensed, to provide services in Maharashtra (including Mumbai) and Goa.
Formerly Hughes Tele.com (India) ltd., the company was renamed to Tata Teleserv
ices Maharashtra Ltd subsequent to the acquisition of 70.83% equity shareholding
by TATA Group in December 2002. The company’s shares are traded on the Bombay S
tock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Tata communications L
td. unites the industry and market expertise VSNL, VSNL international, Teleglobe
, Tata Indicom Enterprise Business Unit, VGSL and CIPRIS to become the leading i
ntegrated provider of telecommunications solutions. The global reach and industr
y expertise of Tata communications drives and delivers a new world of communicat
ions. The company leverages its Tata Global Network, vertical intelligence and l
eadership immerging markets to deliver value-driven, globally managed solutions.
Vodafone
Vodafone, the world’s leading international mobile communications company, has f
ully arrived in India brand will be lunched in India from 21st September onwards
. The popular and endearing brand, Hutch, will be transitioned to Vodafone acros
s India. This marks a significant chapter in the evolutic brand change over the
next few weeks will be unveiled nationally through a high profile campaign cover
ing all important media. Vodafone, the world’s leading mobile telecommunication
company, completed the acquisition of Hutchison Essar in May 2007. Asim Ghosh, m
anaging director, Vodafone Essar, said “We have had a great innings as Hutch in
India and today marks a new begin that created Hutch, but an acceleration into t
he
future with Vodafone’s global expertise..” the Vodafone mission is to be the com
munications leader in an increasingly connected world – enriching customers live
s, helping increased by delivering their total communication needs.
TATA DOCOMO
Tata DOCOMO is Tata Teleservices Limited s (TTSL) telecom service on the GSM pla
tform-arising out of the Tata Group s strategic alliance with Japanese telecom m
ajor NTT DOCOMO in November 2008. Tata Teleservices has received a pan-India lic
ense to operate GSM telecom services, under the brand Tata DOCOMO and has also b
een allotted spectrum in 18 telecom Circles. TTSL and has already rolled out its
services in various circles.
The launch of the Tata DOCOMO brand marks a significant milestone in the Indian
telecom landscape, as it stands to redefine the very face of telecoms in India.
Tokyo-based NTT DOCOMO is one of the world s leading mobile operators-in the Jap
anese market, the company is clearly the preferred mobile phone service provider
in Japan with a 50 per cent market share.
NTT DOCOMO has played a major role in the evolution of mobile telecommunications
through its development of cutting-edge technologies and services. Over the yea
rs, technologists at DOCOMO have defined industry benchmarks like 3G technology,
as also products and services like the i-modeTM, mobile payment and a plethora
of lifestyle-enhancing applications. Today, while most of the rest of the indust
ry is only beginning to talk of LTE technology and its possible applications, DO
COMO has already started conducting LTE trials in physical geographies, not just
inside laboratories!
DOCOMO is also a global leader in the VAS (Value-Added Services) space, both in
terms of services and handset designs, particularly integrating services at the
platform stage. The Tata Group-NTT DOCOMO partnership will see offerings such as
these being introduced in the Indian market under the Tata DOCOMO brand.
Tata DOCOMO has also set up a Business and Technology Cooperation Committee, co
mprising of senior personnel from both companies. The committee is responsible f
or the identification of key areas where the two companies will work together. D
OCOMO, the world s leading mobile operator, will work closely with the Tata Tele
services Limited management and provide know-how on helping the company develop
its GSM business.
Despite being a late entrant, Tata Indicom, TTSL s CDMA brand, has already estab
lished its presence and is the fastest-growing pan-India operator. Incorporated
in 1996, Tata Teleservices Limited is the pioneer of the CDMA 1x technology plat
form in India. Today, Tata Teleservices Limited, along with Tata Teleservices (M
aharashtra) Ltd, serves over 37 million customers in more than 320,000 towns and
villages across the country offering a wide range of telephony services includi
ng Mobile Services, Wireless Desktop Phones, Public Booth Telephony and Wire-lin
e Services.
VIRGIN MOBILE
Virgin is a leading branded venture capital organisation and is one of the world
s most recognised and respected brands. Conceived in 1970 by Sir Richard Branso
n, the Virgin Group has gone on to grow very successful businesses in sectors ra
nging from mobile telephony to transportation, travel, financial services, media
, music and fitness.
Virgin has created more than 200 branded companies worldwide, employing approxim
ately 50,000 people, in 29 countries. Global branded revenues in 2008 exceeded £
11 billion (approx. US$17 billion).
CONSUMER’S PREFERENCE TOWARDS CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDERS ON THE BASIS OF AGE G
ROUP
SR.NO NAME
OF
CELLUL-AR
SERVICE
PROVIDE-R
UPTO 25 YEARS
25-35 YEARS
35-55 YEARS
MORE THAN 55
YEARS
TOTAL
NO.
OF RESP
OND
ENTS %
OF RESP
OND
ENTS NO.
OF RESP
OND
ENTS %
OF RESP
OND
ENTS NO.
OF RESP
OND
ENTS %
OF RESP
OND
ENTS NO.
OF RESP
OND
ENTS %
OF RESP
OND
ENTS NO.
OF RESP
OND
ENTS %
OF RESP
OND
ENTS
1 AIRTEL 3 10% 4 13% 1 4% 0 0
8 27
2 AIRCEL 3 10% 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 10
3 TATA DOCO 0 0 2 7% 0 0 0
0 2 7
4 VODAFONE 1 3.5% 1 3.5% 0 0 0
0 2 7
5 TATA INDICOM 0 0 2 6.5% 2 6.5% 0
0 4 13
6 RELAINCE 0 0 0 0 1 3.5% 1
3.5% 2 7
7 IDEA 1 3% 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 3
8 LOOP 3 10% 3 10%
6 20
9 MTNL 1 3%
1 3
10 VIRGIN 1 3%
1 3
Continue--
INFERENCE:
Among respondents up to 25 years of age group, majority of them (i.e. 27%) are
using AIRTEL followed by AIRCEL users (10%).
Consumers in the age group of 25 – 35 years 13% of respondents mostly prefer A
IRTEL and 7% of the respondents are using TATA DOCOMO
of customers, who are in the age group of 35 – 55 years are using TATA INDICOM
.
In (above – 55 years) 33.33% respondents are using Airtel and 3.5% of respond
ents are using Reliance.
INFERENCE:
The married respondents using mobile connections are about 17%, and the unmarrie
d respondents using mobile connections are about 83%.
INFERENCE:
On the basis of purchasing the cellular connections 33.% of the respondents are
induced by their friends, and neighbors have the least effect on the respondents
(17%) in inducing them to buy a particular mobile connection.
INFERENCE:
About 93% of the respondents are using cell connections for incoming and
Outgoing both, but only 7% of respondents are only using cell connections for VA
S.
COMPOSITION OF RESPONDENTS ON THE BASIS OF
USEFULNESS OF MOBILE CONNECTIONS
INFERENCE:
33% of respondents are purchasing the particular service by its brand image, and
17.% of respondents are choosing the particular service provider by their servi
ce charges.
FACTORS INFLUENCING TO PURCHASE A PARTICULAR MOBILE CONNECTION
SR.NO SATISFACTION
LEVEL
HIGE SATISFACTORY
SATISFACTORY NON
SATISFACTORY TOTAL
NO.RESP
% OF RESPON
NO.RESP
% OF RESPON
NO.RESP
% OF RESPON
NO.RESPOND %
RES
PONDENT
1 PRICE 20
67 10 33 30
2 PERFORMANCE
20
67 10 33 30
3 SCHEMES
20 67 00 00 10 33 30
4 PERIODICAL OFFERS
20
67 0 0 10 33 30
5 OUT GOING CALLS
20
67 10 33 30
INFERENCE:
67.% of the respondents are states that mobile connections are necessity, and 13
% of respondents are only states that mobile connections are Status.
SUGGESTIONS
Tata Indicom and Vodafone should try to expand their customer’s networ
k.
RELAINCE and MNTL should try to attract the young people. (Up to25yea
rs)
Aircel, Tata Indicom and Vodafone should try to attract old peoples al
so.
All the service providers are made good advertisements for their servi
ce. Because, advertisements are take little part for influencing the consumers.
All the service providers should try to increase post paid users.
75% of the peoples are unaware about the various services rendered by
their service provider. So the service providers should try to make awareness o
f their customer services to their customers.
Reliance, Tata Indicom should attract the customers by reducing their
price.
Virgin mobile , Reliance customers are highly dissatisfied about the p
erformance of the service provider. So they should try to add some advanced feat
ures towards their services.
Tata Indicom and Vodafone should give periodical offers to their custo
mers.
Tata Indicom should increase their network strength to attract more c
ustomers.
CONCLUSION
India has one of the world’s largest telecommunication networks. The telecom sto
ry continues to be the best evidence of the efficacy of the reforms process. In
just six years, the number of mobile subscribers has gone from just about one mi
llion to 100 million, a subscriber base that only four other countries China, th
e US, Japan and Russia can boast of. None can doubt the correlation between this
explosive growth in numbers and the steep decline in the cost of the mobile pho
ne and of its usage. Effective tariffs have dropped from over Rs.14 a minute to
Re 1, bringing the phone within reach of people even below the middle-class. The
Government may have, therefore, landed itself a winner in the mobile phone, but
the task of taking telecom to the other 90 per cent of the population will call
for even greater innovation in policymaking, technology and marketing. Still th
ree-fourths of the land mass is not illuminated by a cellular signal and the pri
ce of the instrument is beyond the reach of a substantial section of the populat
ion let alone the charges for its use. These issues, of course, can be resolved
by decisive policy action, such as a creative use of the Universal Services Obli
gation fund that now has over Rs.70 billion, releasing adequate spectrum to oper
ators in the metros, and a proactive investment policy that invites many more eq
uipment manufacturers to set up base in this country.
The road for India achieving the top most position in telecommunication is no lo
nger a dream as India is nearing China in all aspects in few years India will ov
er power all countries and achieve its target of top most position in telecom in
dustry.
ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am conducting a survey on consumer (existing/new) behavior during taking new m
obile-connections. Kindly spare some of your valuable time to go through the que
stionnaire & give your view on this topic. The information provided by you would
be kept confidential & only be used for improving customer service.Personal det
ails (Put tick mark (√) in appropriate box.)
Name __________________________
Age □ 0-25yrs □ 25-35yrs □ 35-55yrs □ > 55yr.
Gender: □ Male □ Female
Marital status: married □ unmarried □
Occupation: _____________________
Qualification: Undergraduate □ Graduate □ Post-graduate □
Professional
Specify) Income group Monthly income
a) Below 5000 b) Between 5000-10000
c). Between 10000-15000 d). Between 15000-20000
4. For which purpose are you using your mobile connection (Service Provider) mai
nly for?
a) Incoming
b) Outgoing
c) Both
d) SMS Messaging
e) V-A-S
9. Are you aware of the following details relating in your mobile connection (P
re / Postpaid connection)
1.Aware 2.Neutral 3.Unaware
a) Scheme □ □ □
b) Balance of Talk charges □ □ □
c) Periodical offers □ □ □
12. If you are a existing customer of Tata Indicom then which type of value adde
d services do you want to incorporate in Tata Indicom
____________________________________________________________________
13. As per your opinion how can you improve the existing brand you are using? An
y recommendations for Tata Indicom if you have to.
________________________________________________________________________________
______________
______________________________________________________________________________
BIBLIOGRAPHY -
BOOKS-
• Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, 11th Ed, Princeton-Hall India 2003
• Marketing Research-Naresh .K.Malhotra
• Business Research methods : ICMR Publication
• Marketing Management - V.S. Ramaswamy,
• Research Methodology - C.R.Kothari
• Operation Research – Vittal
• Business Week
• The Times
• Market Areas Analysis (Author: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodriguez).
JOURNALS-
• Business India
• 4Ps of Marketing
INTERNET SOURCE-
• http: www.google.com
• http:www.wikipedia.org
• http: www.yahoo.com
• http: www.economicstimes.indiatimes.com
• http :www.thehindubusinessline.com
• www.tataindicom.com
ARTICLES
HISTORY OF CELLULAR SERVICE PROVIDERS -----BY THOMAS WILLIAMS
Since AT&T was being sued by the Justice Department for anti-competitive behavio
r in the market place during the market test, other non-AT&T radio service provi
ders were able to convince the Federal Government that they too should be allowe
d to provide cellular mobile telephone service in markets awarded to AT&T s Bell
Operating Companies. Further, after allowing other companies to provide cellula
r mobile phone service in competition with AT&T, the FCC ruled that all areas of
the country, even those not served by AT&T s operating companies would be open
to competition. There were now 306 MSA s within the United States were two compa
nies in each MSA were to be granted licenses to provide cellular service; a wire
line company and a non-wireline company.
The original cellular radio systems that were to be deployed by AT&T, its compet
itors and other independent telephone companies, were designed to operate utiliz
ing analog radio technology and were restricted to radio spectrum within the 800
MHZ band range.
Upon reaching an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, AT&T agreed to dive
st itself of all of its local Bell Operating Companies. These local Bell Operati
ng Companies were allowed by the Justice Department to Regionalize and thus Regi
onal Bell Operating Companies (RBOC s) were formed in 1982. Included in the Dive
sture Agreement was the requirement for AT&T to transfer its cellular service li
censes to the newly incorporated Regional Bell Operating Companies. The Regional
Bell Operating Company for the Midwest was known as Ameritech.
Ameritech assumed ownership of the original AT&T market trial cellular system in
Chicago when the AT&T license for cellular service was transferred to the newly
formed RBOC.
Throughout 1982 and for most of 1983, Ameritech expanded the original market tri
al system to serve the metropolitan Chicago area. On October 13, 1983, Ameritech
, the wireline company, launched the country s first commercial cellular radio s
ystem with nine cell sites and was in business to begin offering service under t
he Ameritech Mobile brand. Since a portion of the service area for the new syste
m was in an area where local phone service was provided by an independent teleph
one company, known as CenTel, CenTel became a partner in the launch system.
Shortly after Ameritech launched its commercial system, a consortium of media co
mpanies in the Washington D.C. area launched their cellular system, branded as C
ellular One, the non-wireline company of the 80 s, systems were being built and
launched in just about every major city in the United States. The list of compan
ies building and launching systems was long; the RBOC s; Ameritech, Bell Atlanti
c, Pacific Telesys, US West, South Western Bell, Bell South, Nynex, The Independ
ents; Contel, GTE, CenTel, TDS, AllTel, Century, the non-wireline companies; Cel
lular One, Mc Caw, MCI, CCI, Comcast, large media consortiums and others too num
erous to list.
While systems were being built in the major cities, the FCC begin to offer cellu
lar mobile telephone service licenses for rural America via auction to anyone wi
shing to serve rural America. These rural licenses, similar to the licenses awar
ded in the MSA s would be awarded to a wireline and non-wireline company. By the
early 90 s all areas called Rural Service Areas or RSA s had at least one licen
see. Companies such as Dobson, Centennial, the RBOC s, Midwest, Pacific Telecom,
Thumb Cellular, Illinois Valley, and others were all in the rush to build and l
aunch service. The last RSA to receive cellular service was in Barrow, Alaska. B
arrow, Alaska was located in the last RSA to receive service. Service was launch
ed in February 1993. The licensee providing service to that RSA was a partnershi
p among the Native American peoples of northern Alaska and Pacific Telecom Cellu
lar.
During the initial build out of the cellular systems throughout the United State
s, the manufactures supporting the new Cellular Industry were busy developing ne
w cellular telephones and new mobile telephone switching equipment. The first po
rtable handheld cellular telephone was introduced by Motorola in 1984, briefcase
cellular phones and transportable cellular telephones were available from OKI,
Panasonic, and Mitsubishi. General Electric introduced its line of car phones. A
udiovox and Nokia introduced smaller portable handsets. Motorola introduced its
new "Flip" Phone called the Star-Tac in 1989. With each passing year, new callin
g features were available; voice mail, three way calling, call forwarding from s
witch manufacturers such as AT&T information System, Nokia, Motorola, Northern T
elecom, Ericsson and Alcatel. Cellular Mobile Phone Service had arrived in the U
nited States.
But this was just the beginning; the communications act of 1996 would write the
next chapter for the evolution of the wireless telephone industry in the United
States. More on that chapter later!
Telecom Sector in India: Vision 2020
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to construct a vision of Indian telecom sector for
the year 2020, i.e., about two decades from now. Development being a continuous
process, the choice of the year 2020 is just an arbitrary division of time, a pr
e-defined time horizon to take stock of what is likely to be achieved.
Pre-portrayal of a stage of development in future requires understanding of the
process of change, the dynamics that set law of motion. In attempting to do so,
the present paper deciphers the recent past.
Process of change is often volatile and responsive to intervention and global ci
rcumstances impacting it. In such an inherently dynamic situation it is convenie
nt to assume that cross-country experiences incubate the most recent seeds of ch
ange. This is because countries at various stages of development encapsulate dev
elopmental experiences that occur with the passage of time.
The present paper isolates the agents of change based on international experienc
es and situates India in this development continuum. The agents of change, as ob
served from international perspective, have been broadly categorized into econom
ic structure, competition policy and technology. Economic reforms and liberaliza
tion have driven telecom sector through several transmission channels of which t
hese three categories are of major significance.
The paper, as it unfolds, is divided into six sections. Section 1 gives a brief
account of the era of competition that was heralded in Indian telecom sector and
the results achieved. Analysis of the results, particularly comparison with oth
er major countries intrigued further discussions on economic structure, synergy
between telecom and IT, competition policy and technology in sections 2,3.4 and
5 respectively. Logical extension of the arguments, as they developed, extended
to a vision for 2020 in each of these sections. The paper concludes in section 6
.
The current policy configurations of India’s telecom sector have been listed in
the Appendix.
1. Reforms and Performance
India, like many other countries of the world, have adopted a gradual approach t
o telecom sector reform through selective privatization and managed competition
in different segments of the telecom market. To begin with, India introduced pri
vate competition in value-added services in 1992 followed by opening up of cellu
lar and basic services for local area to private competition. The Telecom Regula
tory Authority of India (TRAI) was constituted in 1997 as an independent regulat
or in this sector. Competition was also introduced in national long distance (NL
D) and international long distance (ILD) telephony at the start of the current d
ecade .
The current policy stance affecting telecom sector in India is presented in the
Appendix. Two state-owned public sector incumbents with a large existing subscri
ber base dominate the fixed line service. As on December 31, 2001, the two Publi
c Sector Enterprises (PSEs), BSNL and MTNL owned 34.73 million Direct Exchange
Lines (DELs) against 0.45 million privately owned DELs. These two PSEs were allo
wed belated entry into the cellular segment in the beginning of the present deca
de. Consequently, their cellular subscriber base is tiny compared to the private
operators. Out of 7.3 million cellular subscribers in the country in June 2002,
they had only 0.2 million subscribers .
Despite asymmetry in initial market endowments between public sector incumbents
and private operators, the act of opening up of the market unleashed dynamism th
at was hitherto latent in the sector. This is evident from a number of performan
ce indicators. In terms of overall size of main telephone lines in operation, I
ndia ranked 14th in the world in 1995. The rank improved to 7th position in 2001
(Table 1).
Table 1: Top 14 countries in the world in terms of number of main telephone line
s in operation
Country No. of lines in 1995
(‘000) Ranks (1995) No. of lines in 2001
(‘000) Ranks (2001)
USA 159,735.2 1 190,000.0 1
Japan 62,292.0 2 76,000.0 3
Germany 42,000.0 3 52,280.0 4
China 40,705.7 4 179,034.0 2
France 32,400 5 34,032.9 9
UK 29,411.4 6 34,710.0 8
Russia 25,018.9 7 35,700.0 6
Italy 24,845.0 8 27,303.0 10
Korea, Rep. 18,600.0 9 22,724.7 11
Canada 17,567.0 10 20,319.3 12
Spain 15,095.4 11 17,427.0 14
Brazil 13,263.0 12 37,430.8 5
Turkey 13,215.7 13 18,900.9 13
India 11,978.0 14 34,732.1 7
Source: World Telecommunication Development Report 2002, ITU
Network expansion in India was accompanied by an increase in productivity of tel
ecom staff measured in terms of ratio of number of main telephone lines in opera
tion to total number of full time telecom staff (Table 2).
One way of looking at the welfare gains to subscribers is to watch the trend in
prices for telecom services, whether such prices came down in the competitive re
gime. What consumer ultimately pays includes rental as well as telecom tariffs.
Because of complications involved in summarizing differential rates applicable t
o peak and non-peak hours, a convenient proxy for the change in telecom prices c
ould be constructed in terms of observed trend in revenue earned from telephone
services at constant prices expressed as a ratio of number of main telephone lin
es in operation. Table 2 shows a significant decline in this ratio since 1995 in
Indian fixed line segment. It may be noted that the National Telecom Policy was
announced in May 1994. Steps were intensified to introduce private competition
in the basic and cellular services thereafter. The beginning of the declining tr
end in per line revenue at constant prices coincided with the period, which witn
essed emergence of competitive pressure in the sector.
Table 2: Trend in productivity and price
Year Number of main telephone lines in operation per full-time telecom staff
Telephone service revenue at constant prices (CPI: 1995=100) per main telephone
line in operation
(Rs. ‘000)
1991 15.58 9.13
1992 17.65 10.25
1993 20.32 11.04
1994 23.38 10.17
1995 28.45 9.23
1996 33.90 6.12
1997 41.89 5.62
1998 50.93 4.92
1999 62.97 4.24
Source: Computed from the data published in the Year book of Statistics: Telecom
munication Services, 1991-2000, ITU
Table 3 shows the long run trend in supply and demand of DELs. The number of DEL
s in operation (i.e., main line in operation) has been taken as supply whereas d
emand has been computed by adding the number of subscribers in the waiting list
to the number of DELs in operation. However, it needs to be kept in mind that th
e number in the waiting list, in certain cases, is unlikely to reflect potential
demand for telecom services in the economy. The market potential may be much mo
re than what is revealed through waiting list because the number in the waiting
list reveals demand registered in those areas where telecommunication facilities
are available and reasonable expectations exist for demand to be fulfilled. In
the areas where telecom infrastructure is not adequate, demand may not get regi
stered at all and remain suppressed.
Table 3: DEL: Supply and demand
(millions)
Year ending
March 31 Direct Exchange Lines
(DELs) Waiting List Demand
1981 2.15 0.45 2.6
1983 2.47 0.66 3.13
1985 2.90 0.84 3.74
1987 3.49 1.12 4.61
1989 4.17 1.42 5.59
1991 5.07 1.96 7.03
1993 6.80 2.85 9.65
1995 9.80 2.15 11.95
1997 14.54 2.89 17.43
1999 21.59 1.98 23.57
2001 32.44 2.92 35.36
Source: Indian Telecommunication Statistics 2002, Ministry of Communications, Go
vernment of India.
The figure below shows an interesting phenomenon. Total demand tends to exceed s
upply by a margin, which does not get narrowed down as supply expands. It shows
that market for fixed line is supply constrained and demand tends to increase as
supply expands. The figure also reveals that there is significant growth in sup
ply of DEL in the 90s, the eventful decade of sectoral reforms. The growth momen
tum is sustained in the current decade with a positive supply gap.
Total demand
Waiting List
Del