A

Project Report on
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS VODAFONE
A Project report submitted to the
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, KAKINADA

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Submitted by
M.N.V.M.S.R MADHU
Regd No.: 14PA1E0039
Project Guide
PROF. K.NARENDRA KUMAR
.,

DEPARTMENT OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

VISHNU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
APPROVED BY A.I.C.T.E & AFFILIATED TO JNTU, KAKINADA
VISHNUPUR,BHIMAVARAM-534202
(2014-2016)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is not possible to prepare a project report without the assistance &
encouragement of other people. This one is certainly no exception.
On the very outset of this report, I would like to extend my sincere & heartfelt
obligation towards all the personages who have helped me in this project.
Without their active guidance, help, cooperation & encouragement, I would not
have made headway in the project.
I gratefully acknowledge prof K.Narendra Kumar, VISHNU INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY,I am sincerely thankful to my guide of the project, for guiding me
with attention and care. He has provided me with valuable insights during the
entire project work and his co-operation at every step. Plus, he has taken pain to
go through the project and make necessary corrections as and when needed.
I also express my deep gratitude to all who have contributed for the successful
completion of this project.

M.N.V.M.S.R.MADHU

PREFACE
Progress is a continuous process. It is relative and absolute. We cannot stop at a certain
destination and declare that target has been achieved and we need not to go further.
In this new are all the countries & their companies are trying their best to improve
economic growth. This trend has created a very complex & competitive environment in
the field of business, trend & win the race a new system of management is much needed.
To fulfill this need a new field of modern science has developed very fast i.e. Master of
Business Administration. In this curriculum there are several phases, which have to be
covered & compelled properly.
At the completion of the Second semester of MBA I got opportunity to provide them
particular knowledge about each and every aspect of market. It could be in related fields
viz. Human Resource Management, Marketing or Finance as per their specialization in
the course. It is important because it provides the students about the practical knowledge
of the field, which is very essential beside the theoretical knowledge.
The experience that I have gathered during this period has certainly provided me with an
orientation which, I believe, will help me to shoulder my assignment successfully in near
future. During this period, I have collected all the information of VODAFONE
Corporate Connections through primary and secondary.
4

CONTENTS
1.Introduction..6
2.
3.Objective of the study.....7
4.Company profile......8
-Mission, Vission
-History
-About VODAFONE
-Special services by VODAFONE
-Tele services
5.Customer satisfaction .31
6.SWOT Analysis. .35
7.Scope of study39
8.Research Methodology....40
9.Research design.41
10.Data analysis and interpretation.42
11.Findings..63
12.Conclusions...64
13.Suggestions65
14.Limitation..66
15.Questionnaire.67
16.Bibliography..72

INTRODUCTION
"Telecommunications is the backbone of our future economy. International
competitiveness increasingly depends on the development of a telecommunications
infrastructure that is compatible with international standards"
The cellular industry all over the world has been witnessing very high growth rates in
subscriber base in recent years. For developing countries in particular, cellular services
are becoming a very significant proportion of the overall telecom infrastructure. The
mechanics of competition within this market involve complex feedback effects between
individual service providers and with their operating environment, and these forces play
an important role in governing the growth of this industry.
The Indian telecommunications sector has undergone a major process of transformation
because of significant Government policy reforms during the recent years. The New
Telecom Policy, 1999 focused on creating an ideal environment for investment,
establishing communication infrastructure by leveraging on technological development
and providing affordable telecom services to all. These objectives of the policies have
resulted in rapid growth of subscribers and lower tariffs. We believe that with these major
initiatives of the Government, the mobile market in India will have a promising future.

In a country like India which is not yet telephone-saturated and the ongoing changes in
related areas are resulting in a rapidly changing profile of users, providers and their
respective needs, continuous revision of the telecom policy is imperative. Given the
emerging new technologies and the integrating economies there must be fairness among
competitors.
The tele-density in India is about four per hundred people in respect of the fixed
telephones and a little less than one in respect of the mobile telephony. The low densities
are not because there is no need for a telephone but because of its high cost that many
cannot afford that one. The situation here is nothing but holding true of the law of
demand. Isnt it?

Objective of study:

Following are the main objective to study about the customer satisfaction on Vodafone.
To study telecommunication industry.
To study the company profile of Vodafone.
To study customer satisfaction of Vodafone.
To study various Marketing activities provided by Vodafone.
To study the various services provided by Vodafone.
To know the expectation of Vodafone Customers.

COMPANY PROFILE
Vodafone is a mobile network operator headquartered in Berkshire, England, UK. It is
the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and
has a market value of about 75 billion (August 2014). Vodafone currently has operations
in 25 countries and partner networks in a further 42 countries.
The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the
provision of voice and data services over mobile phones."
As of 2014 Vodafone had an estimated 260 million customers in 25 markets across 5
continents. On this measure, it is the second largest mobile telecom group in the world
behind China Mobile.
In the United States, Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless.

MISSION:
Vodafone will enhance value for its stakeholders and contribute to society by providing
our customers with innovative, affordable and customer friendly communications
services.
VISION:
Our Vision is to be the worlds mobile communication leader enriching customers
lives, helping individuals, businesses and Communities be more connected in a mobile
world.

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HISTORY:
In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of two UK
cellular telephone network licenses. The network, known as Racal Vodafone was 80%
owned by Racal, with Millicom and the Hambros Technology Trust owning 15% and 5%
respectively. Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985. Racal Strategic Radio was
renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited in 1985. On 29 December 1986
Racal Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB110 million.
In September 1988 the company was again renamed Racal Telecom and on 26 October
1988 Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued Racal Telecom
at GB1.7 billion On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal
Electronics as Vodafone Group.
In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for
30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples
Phone for 77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using
Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec
Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores.

11

In 1997 Vodafone introduced its Speech mark logo, as it is a quotation mark in a circle;
the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting
conversation.
On 29 June 1999 Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc.
and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading of the new company commenced
on 30 June 1999. To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-Plus
Mobilfunk. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the
largest German mobile network.
On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of
Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed on 4 April 2000.
In November 1999 Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was
rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's purchase
of Orange, the UK mobile operator. Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into
the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory.
The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany and a "titanic struggle" which
saw Mannesmann resists Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the
Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of 112bn, then the largest corporate
merger ever. The EU approved the merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was
subsequently broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off.
On 28 July 2000 the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc. In April
2001 the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network. In
2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebranded it as
12

Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-largest mobile operator JPhone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan.
On 17 December 2001 Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks" by
signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone
international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone.
The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where
it does not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the
dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e.,
TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.)
In February 2002 Finland was added into the mobile community, as Radiolinja is signed
as a Partner Network. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa. Later that year the
Company rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone live! and on 3
December 2002 the Vodafone brand was introduced in the Estonian market with signing
of a Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti). Radiolinja (Eesti) later changed
its name to Elisa.
On 7 January 2003 the Company signed a group-wide Partner agreement with mobilkom
Austria. As a result, Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia were added to the community. In April
2003 Og Vodafone was introduced in the Icelandic market and in May 2003 Vodafone
Italy (Omnitel Pronto-Italia) was rebranded Vodafone Italy. On 21 July 2003 Lithuania
was added to the community, with the signing of a Partner Network agreement with Bit.

13

In February 2004 Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with Luxembourg's

LuxGSM and a Partner Network Agreement with Cyta of Cyprus. Cyta agreed to rename
its mobile phone operations to Cytamobile-Vodafone. In April 2004 the Company
purchased Singlepoint airtime provider from John Caudwell (Caudwell Group) and
approx 1.5million customers onto its base for 405million, adding sites in Stoke on Trent
(England) to existing sites in Newbury (HQ), Birmingham, Warrington and Banbury. In
November 2004 Vodafone introduced 3G services into Europe.
In June 2005 the Company increased its participation in Romania's Connex to 99% and
also bought the Czech mobile operator Oskar. On 1 July 2005 Oskar of the Czech
Republic was rebranded as Oskar-Vodafone. Later that year on 17 October 2005
Vodafone Portugal launched a revised logo, using new text designed by Dalton Maag, and
a 3D version of the Speech mark logo, but still retaining a red background and white
writing (or vice versa). Also, various operating companies started to drop the use of the
SIM card pattern in the company logo. (The rebranding of Oskar-Vodafone and ConnexVodafone also does not use the SIM card pattern.) A custom typeface by Dalton Maag
(based on their font family InterFace) formed part of the new identity.
On 28 October 2005 Connex in Romania was rebranded as Connex-Vodafone and on 31
October 2005 the Company reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Sweden to Telenor for
approximately 1 billion. After the sale, Vodafone Sweden became a Partner Network. In
December 2005 Vodafone won an auction to buy Turkey's second-largest mobile phone
company, Telsim, for $4.5 billion. In December 2005 Vodafone Spain became the second

14

member of the group to adopt the revised logo: it was phased in over the following six
months in other countries.
In 2006 the Company rebranded its Stoke-on-Trent site as Stoke Premier Centre, a centre
of expertise for the company dealing with Customer Care for its higher value customers,
technical support, sales and credit control. All cancellations and upgrades started to be
dealt with by this call centre. On 5 January 2006 Vodafone announced the completion of
the sale of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor. On February 2006 the Company closed its
Birmingham Call Centre. In 1 February 2006 Oskar Vodafone became
Vodafone Czech Republic, adopting the revised logo and on 22 February 2006 the
Company announced that it was extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the signing of
Partner Network Agreement with Mobiltel, which is part of mobilkom Austria group.
On 12 March 2006 former chief, Sir Christopher Gent, who was appointed the honorary
post Chairman for Life in 2003, quits following rumours of boardroom rifts. In April
2006 the Company announced that it has signed an extension to its Partner Network
Agreement with BITE Group, enabling its Latvian subsidiary "BITE Latvija" to become
the latest member of Vodafone's global partner community. Also in April 2006 Vodafone
Sweden changed its name to Telenor Sverige AB and Connex-Vodafone became Vodafone
Romania, also adopting the new logo. On 30 May 2006 Vodafone announced the biggest
loss in British corporate history (14.9 billion) and plans to cut 400 jobs; it reported oneoff costs of 23.5 billion due to the revaluation of its Mannesmann subsidiary. On 24 July
2006 the respected head of Vodafone Europe, Bill Morrow, quit unexpectedly and on 25
August 2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25% stake in Belgium's Proximus for
15

2 billion. After the deal, Proximus was still part of the community as a Partner Network.
Vodafone Iceland and on 19 December 2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25%
stake in Switzerland's Swisscom for CHF4.25 billion (1.8 billion). After the deal,
Swisscom would still be part of the community as a Partner Network. Finally in
December 2006 the Company completed the acquisition of Aspective, an enterprise
applications systems integrator in the UK, signaling Vodafone's intent to grow a
significant presence and revenues in the ICT marketplace.
Early in January 2007 Telsim in Turkey adopted Vodafone dual branding as Telsim
Vodafone and on 1 April 2007 Telsim Vodafone Turkey dropped its original brand and
became Vodafone Turkey. On 1 May 2007 Vodafone added Jersey and Guernsey to the
community, as Airtel was signed as Partner Network in both crown dependencies. In June
2007 the Vodafone live! Mobile Internet portal in the UK was relaunched. Front page was
now charged for and previously "bundled" data allowance was removed from existing
contract terms. All users were given access to the "full" web rather than a Walled Garden
and Vodafone became the first mobile network to focus an entire media campaign on its
newly launched mobile Internet portal in the UK. On 1 August 2007 Vodafone Portugal
launched Vodafone Messenger, a service with Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo!
Messenger.
On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its footprint to Serbia as VIP mobile was added to
the community as a Partner Network and on 20 May 2008 the Company added VIP
Operator as a Partner Network thereby extending the global footprint to Macedonia. In
May 2008 Kall of the Faroe Islands rebranded as Vodafone Faroe Islands.
16

On 30 October 2008, the company announced a strategic, non-equity partnership with

MTS group of Russia. The agreement adds Russia, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and
Uzbekistan to the group footprint.

About Vodafone:
Today, in India, becomes Vodafone. Now, the pink color logo of Hutch is replaced by
Vodafone Essars corporate red colored one.
In 2005-06, the Orange brand in Mumbai was phased out to introduce (now Vodafone).
The company also changed the colors of its logo from orange to pink and then red.
After acquiring 67 per cent of stake (around Rs. 250 crores) in ison Essar from Hong
Kong-based ison Whampoa, Vodafone Essar is expecting to touch over 35 million
customers across 400,000 shops and thousands of s own employees along with
employees of its business associates.
Vice chairman, Ravi Ruia, Vodafone Essar, said Weve had a good innings as in India
and today marks a new beginning for us, not as a departure from the fundamentals that
created , but an acceleration into the future with Vodafones global expertise.
Vodafone CEO, Marten Pieters of the Vodafone Essar will be landing in India for the
meeting that would discuss branding exercise, expansion plans, spectrum requirements
for its expanding subscriber base and future plans.
17

Vodafone offers a host of premier value added services (VAS) including national and
international roaming in over 70 countries in over 160 networks, Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP), short message service, voice mail service, auto roam, fax and data,
cricket updates, M-banking, general information, tarot line, etc. The company launched
WAP in Delhi in October 2000, much before its rival Bharti. It has 5000 WAP customers,
as in December 2000. The company has been a prime mover in introducing these valueadded services in the Delhi circle.
The values are stated simply. To be fair and transparent in what they do and how they do
it. To provide the quality services with more customer friendly practices. To make ones
communications experience simple, pleasurable and fun. Where he doesn't simply get
technology - but technology that is relevant. Where solutions are not just promised in the
future - but delivered in the present.

CORE VALUES:

We shall uphold the dignity of the individual.

We shall honor all commitments.
We shall be committed to Quality, Innovation and Growth in every endeavor
We shall be responsible corporate citizens.

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Accomplishments:
- Over the years, Vodafone Essar, under the Hutch brand, has been named the Most
Respected Telecom Company, the Best Mobile Service in the country and the Most
Creative and Most Effective Advertiser of the Year.
-Vodafone is the worlds leading international mobile communications group with
approximately 315 million proportionate customers as at 30 June 2009.
-Vodafone currently has equity interests in 31 countries across five continents and around
40 partner networks worldwide
- The Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with a balanced portfolio of assets
in the manufacturing and services sectors of Steel, Energy, Power, Communications,
Shipping Ports & Logistics, and Projects.
-Essar employs more than 50,000 people across offices in Asia, Africa, Europe and the
Americas.
-The company now has operations across the country with over 78.68 million customers.

Services:
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Staying connected becomes a lot easier with Vodafone. We have a wide range of services
you can access right from your Vodafone phone. From cell banking to flight updates to
call management services, get all that you want, instantly.
Prepaid services (latest):
-Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular service providers announced a new Bonus
Card 25 for its prepaid customers in Punjab. With this new bonus card, Vodafone
customers can enjoy the benefit of unlimited national SMS at just 20paisa/SMS. The new
bonus card comes with 30 days validity.
Sunil Sood, Chief Executive Officer, and Vodafone India Ltd We have always aimed
to provide value offering to our customers. The new Bonus Card 25 facilitates Vodafone
customers to stay connected with their loved ones across India at an economical rate.
-Has introduced two new Bonus Cards. Bonus Card 17 and Bonus Card 27 come with one
month validity and are priced at Rs 17 and Rs 27 respectively. All Vodafone prepaid
customers including the lifelong customers in Kolkata and rest of Bengal can enjoy the
new Bonus Cards offer available across Stores and Ministores.
Lifelong Prepaid @Rs.46 plan for its prepaid customers in Kerala. This new prepaid
offer comes with lifetime validity and a talk time of Rs.5. Vodafone customers can make
local calls to all Vodafone numbers, other mobiles and landlines at Re 1 per minute and
all STD calls are at Rs1.50 per minute. Customers need to recharge with Rs 200
cumulative in 180 days to stay connected.

20

Postpaid services(latest):
Vodafone india, one of Indias leading cellular services providers has launched three new
monthly rental plans - Budget 500, Budget 750 and Budget 1000 - for its postpaid
customers in Kolkata and West Bengal. These Budget plans offer combinations of free
minutes over local and STD calls along with free local SMS. This offer is valid for new
and existing customers.
Value added services:
Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular services providers, has announced a
special offer for Zoozoo fans across India. Vodafone customers can now get special oozoo
DVDs from a Vodafone Store and watch these adorable characters from Vodafone Essars
recent television commercials as they live lifes little moments in their inimitable style.
Vodafone Prepaid customers can get the DVD through a recharge of above Rs 300 at the
Vodafone Store. Vodafone Postpaid customers can enroll for Direct Debit or activate
Callertune or Vodafone Alerts at the Vodafone store to get the Zoozoo DVD.

Dial 600 to activate:

21

To activate these values added services on your Vodafone phone simply dial 600 and
access our Interactive Voice Response system.

SMS:
Message your family and friends through Vodafone SMS Services. It's convenient and
affordable. Communicate with cell phone users in over 100 countries and anywhere in
India. Pay just Rs. 1.50 per message for sending SMS anywhere across the country.
SMS Chat:
Now, you can chat on your Vodafone phone with as many people as you want. Its fun and
as simple as sending an SMS. Your identity will remain anonymous as your phone
number is never displayed during the chat. You can have your own profile and chat name.
You can also create your own chat rooms or chat in the different rooms that already exist
including: Teens, 20s, 30s, Office, Bollywood, Delhi.
All you have to do is type in your messages and send them to 2428. You will be charged
Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.
Vodafone Online:
Get all the useful information you need directly on your Vodafone phone - with Vodafone
Online. Including cricket, finance, entertainment, weather, astrology and more.

22

 Simply go to the Vodafone Online menu on your Vodafone phone. If you do not see
the Vodafone Online menu on your phone, send HELP to 123. We will send you the list
of keywords.
Scroll to the topic on which you need information.

Select

the

information

and

key

input

as

requested

on

the

screen.

You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

MTNL Directory:
With this facility you can get to know the address and telephone no. of MTNL users.you
will be charged Rs.2 per outgoing message.
STD / ISD Codes:
You don't need to look up your diary or a phone directory to find out STD and ISD codes.
You can find it directly through your Vodafone phone.
Ringtones & Logos:
Now you can change the ringtone on your Vodafone phone according to your moods. You
can download logos as well. With the Vodafone and Yahoo! tieup you have hundreds of
tunes and logos to choose from.
For every ringtone downloaded, you will charged Rs. 7.00 (including the cost of SMS
sent). For every logo/picture message downloaded, you will charged Rs. 3.00 (including
the cost of SMS sent).
23

Flash & Blink

Vodafone now offers you two exciting ways to send messages. You can make your
message flash directly on your recipients screen instead of the inbox. You can also
highlight the important parts of your message through blinks. So your text messages
become not only more visible, but more effective too.
You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.There are
occasions when you may not want to take a call, or your Vodafone phone maybe busy or
simply unreachable. By paying a nominal monthly access fee, you can now retrieve your
messages at your convenience. Even if you are roaming, you can retrieve your messages
from your voice mailbox through a fixed line, anywhere on earth.
Your Vodafone voicemail can
Hold up over 17 messages at a time.
Receive a message that lasts up to 90 seconds.
Store a message for as long as you want.
You can also record your voice signature and welcome message.
Calling Line Identification

24

You can check your caller's telephone name and number on your phone screen whenever
you receive a call. This gives you the flexibility to either accept or reject an incoming
call. This service is also helpful in identifying your missed calls
You can access this service by just paying Rs. 49 per month, if you are a postpaid
customer. This service is absolutely free if you are a Vodafone Prepaid customer.
Itemized Billing
As a Vodafone Postpaid customer, you can choose to receive an itemized bill at the end of
each month. This is a detailed billing statement which helps you keep track of all your
calls. Your itemized bill includes:
Origin of the call
Destination of the call
Duration of the call
Toll charges
Airtime and total charge

Get your itemized bill.

via post: Pay a monthly rental of 49 only.
via e-mail: Pay just Rs. 19 per itemized bill.
Fax & Data Services
This service enables you to constantly keep in touch with your office, colleagues and
information sources. You can send or receive faxes and transmit data using your Vodafone
phone anytime, anywhere. Whether you are operating from home,
25

Hotels and airport lobbies.

At speeds of up to 9600 bps within the network or while roaming. You can even access
the Internet.
All you need is a handset compatible data card (PC Card) or a GSM Software.
You can also opt for either Vodafone Fax or Vodafone Data services independently. Your
Vodafone fax number can help you differentiate between incoming voice calls and fax
transmissions. You can also send and receive faxes anywhere on earth with your Vodafone
phone .
By opting for the Vodafone Data Services you can access e-mail, databases and the
Internet.
Charges to activate the Vodafone Fax and Data service, you just need to pay a one-time
activation fee of Rs 500. To access the Fax service, the fee is Rs. 250. The usage charges
are nominal at Re 1 per minute.
Call Management Services
There may be occasions when you need to conference with up to six people at a time or
talk to just two. Or you are speaking to someone and want to forward an incoming call to
another phone. With your Vodafone phone, you can do this and more. Vodafonehelps you
manage your calls effortlessly so that you stay in control of your conversations, always.
Voice Response
Get your Vodafone phone to respond directly to your commands. Custom designed to
recognize Indian voices and accents, the Voice Response service makes your life more
26

convenient. You can get the latest updates on news, stocks, cricket and your horoscope.
Airtime charges will be Rs.6 per minute (1 minute pulse).

Voice Messaging
Voice Messaging has become even more affordable. You can now send voice messages to
cellular phones as well as fixed telephone lines in USA or Canada for just Rs.3.95 per
min*.
Voice messages within India across select networks will cost you Rs. .95 per min only.
Also, recipients of the cellular Voice Messaging service have the option of replying back
to the messages, which get returned back as return Voice Mail messages, facilitating twoway (though not simultaneous) voice communication.
Yahoo! Messenger For SMS
You do not have to wait to get a PC to use the Yahoo! Messenger. With the exclusive
Vodafone-Yahoo! tie-up, you can easily get connected through your Vodafone phone.This
unique messenger comes with a lot of exciting features. You can connect with all Yahoo!
Messenger users, send, receive and reply to instant messages, view and manage your
friend list and also manage authorization requests. All this and more just by using SMS.
You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

27

Cell Banking
Vodafone now puts the bank in your pocket with Cell Banking. Access your bank account
and transact directly on your Vodafone phone by sending text messages.
The first of its kind in India, this service enables you to conduct your banking without
having.
You

can

do

Cell

Banking

from

over

90

countries

worldwide.

You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.
Roaming
Now you can always stay connected, no matter where you are. With the Vodafone
Roaming facility, you can use your Vodafone phone in over 100 countries worldwide and
over 1000 cities, towns and highways across India. Vodafone Roaming makes life easy
and convenient for you.
Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular services providers, today announced
significant reduction in international roaming rates for its Postpaid customers traveling to
South Africa during the upcoming DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament.
Vodafone Essar is the official partner to DLF IPL 2013
One number across the globe
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Your Vodafone phone number and PIN number remains the same whether you are in
Delhi,

Chandigarh,

London,

Paris

or

anywhere

else

in

the

world.

National and International Roaming on Vodafone Prepaid

Roaming on Vodafone Prepaid gives you the most extensive coverage in over 1000 cities,
towns and highways across India, and in over 100 countries around the world. Enjoy
Roaming on your Vodafone Prepaid card and stay in touch wherever you go.
Yahoo! Mail For SMS
You can now directly access your email account on Yahoo! Mail on your Vodafone
phone. Whats more, you do not need a WAP enabled handset for this service as it is
based on SMS. So gain freedom from your PC and access your Yahoo! mails anytime,
anywhere on your Vodafone phone. You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message.
Incoming messages are free.
WAP
With WAP, you can have the Internet directly in your pocket. So if you are looking for
quick and easy delivery of information and services, your Vodafone phone can show it all.
Use it to check out news, finance, shopping, entertainment, travel, entertainment and city
service information etc. To access this service all you need is a WAP enabled handset and
WAP services activated on your Vodafone phone. This service comes to you at a nominal
charge of Re. 1 per minute (1 min pulse).
Group Messaging

29

Party invitations, movie outings, festive greetings... whatever be the occasion, you can
send

your

message

to

all

your

friends

at

one

go!

With Group Messaging from Vodafone, you can thus save yourself the bother of
painstakingly sending your message to one person at a time whether you are on Vodafone
Prepaid or Postpaid.

Vodafone4help
Vodafone4help now lets you take advantage of a lot more services than before. You can
connect to the nearest fire brigade or mechanic or florist or even order a pizza. If you are
stranded in the middle of the road, or if you you need immediate medical attention or if
you are looking for a police station close by, Vodafone4help gives you instant access to
your nearest source of help, anywhere in Delhi or the NCR.
All the help services are charged@Rs.6/min. while for police and fire help only local
airtime charge is applicable.

30

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Introduction:
Customer satisfaction, a business term, is a measure of how products and services
supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key
performance indicator within business and is part of the four perspectives of a Balanced
Scorecard.
In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer
satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of
business strategy.
There is a substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of customer
satisfaction for firms.

31

Measuring customer satisfaction

Organizations are increasingly interested in retaining existing customers while targeting
non-customers; measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful
the organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace.
Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation
of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to
product/service. The state of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and
physical variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and
recommend rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the
customer may have and other products against which the customer can compare the
organization's products.
Because satisfaction is basically a psychological state, care should be taken in the effort
of quantitative measurement, although a large quantity of research in this area has
recently been developed. Work done by Berry, Brodeur between 1990 and 1998 defined
ten 'Quality Values' which influence satisfaction behavior, further expanded by Berry in
2002 and known as the ten domains of satisfaction. These ten domains of satisfaction
include: Quality, Value, Timeliness, Efficiency, Ease of Access, Environment, Interdepartmental Teamwork, Front line Service Behaviors, Commitment to the Customer and
Innovation. These factors are emphasized for continuous improvement and organizational
change measurement and are most often utilized to develop the architecture for
satisfaction measurement as an integrated model. Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml
and Berry between 1985 and 1988 provides the basis for the measurement of customer
32

satisfaction with a service by using the gap between the customer's expectation of
performance and their perceived experience of performance. This provides the measurer
with a satisfaction "gap" which is objective and quantitative in nature. Work done by
Cronin and Taylor propose the "confirmation/disconfirmation" theory of combining the
"gap" described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry as two different measures
(perception and expectation of performance) into a single measurement of performance
according to expectation. According to Garbrand, customer satisfaction equals perception
of performance divided by expectation of performance.
The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with a set of statements
using a Likert Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement and
in term of their perception and expectation of performance of the organization being
measured.
Vodafone had highest customer satisfaction index in 2011
Lisbon, 25 August 2013 - Vodafone obtained the highest customer satisfaction index in
the telecommunications sector in 2013, according to annual results published by Anacom.
Vodafone achieved a satisfaction index of 74.4 (on a scale of 0 to 100), the highest score
of all the companies in the Portuguese telecommunications market and considerably
above the sector average of 67.6.
In the report published by Anacom, Vodafone is ranked in first place in all the indicators
included in the survey: Satisfaction with the operator, Image that customers have of the
operator, Customer Expectations, Perceived Quality of the operator's network and
33

services, Perceived Value for Money, Complaints received and their handling, and
Loyalty of customers to their operator.
In the Perceived Quality indicator, Vodafone obtained a score of 8.3 points for overall
quality, way ahead of the scores of the other two operators (both obtained 7.7 points).
Vodafone comes top in all the indicators for perceived quality of network and services:
technical quality of the network (8.2 points); customer service and advice capability (7.6
points); quality (8.2 points), diversity (8.0 points) and reliability (7.9 points) of products
and services offered; clarity and transparency of information supplied (7.8 points);
network coverage (7.9 points) and clarity and transparency of price plans (7.9 points).
Similarly, in the indicators measuring the Image of mobile operators, Vodafone comes top
in the five categories analyzed (on a scale of 1 to 10): 'It is a reliable company in terms of
what it says and what it does' (8.1 points); 'It is stable and well established in the market'
(8.8 points); 'It contributes positively to society' (7.5 points); 'It cares about its customers'
(7.6 points); and 'It is innovative and forward looking' (8.5 points).
The methodology used in the ECSI Portugal 2009 survey (ECSI European Customer
Satisfaction Index) is similar to that used by the European Commission to survey
customer satisfaction in 25 Member States, enabling comparisons to be made between the
results obtained in each country.
The ECSI Portugal 2011 Communications survey was carried out by the Higher Institute
of Statistics and Information Management at Lisbon's New University in partnership with
the Portuguese Quality Institute and the Portuguese Quality Association, with sponsorship
from Anacom.
34

SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It
involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the
internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that
objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a research project at
Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Leadership Position

Centralized Control

Global Brand Strength

Internal

High Geographical reach

Low Flexibility
High Consumer churn
rates

Opportunities
35

Threats

Expanding
boundaries
External

marketing Increased Competition

Market

saturation

in

Growth through 3G

Europe

Strategic Alliances

Emergencies of Low
cost Brands

SWOT ANALYSIS OF VODAFONE

Strengths:
The main strength of Vodafone within the telecommunications market lies in its
brand image and recognition. Vodafone, having established a global presence and having
invested highly in marketing a differentiated image by promoting a Vodafone life style,
currently enjoys a differentiating advantage that, if exploited properly, can offer a lead in
competition. The presence of Vodafone in numerous countries within Europe as well as in
all part of the world enhances this image. It allows customers to travel and enjoy easily
the services of their home country operator. In the few countries that Vodafone is not
physically present (e.g. Norway) it has well established strategic alliances which allow
for a better service of mobile clients.
Weaknesses:
The expansion of Vodafone has been completed at the expense of direct control of
its operations. The company grew through a process of acquisitions of national
36

telecommunications companies (e.g. the acquisition of the third biggest Czech mobile
phone operator, Cesky mobile) rather than organic growth. This increased its subscribers
base quickly, offering direct market knowledge and immediate additions of customer
bases at the expense of direct effective control of the subsidiaries. At the same time
though, it implicitly imposed a centralized operational structure for the group, nominating
the UK headquarters as the leading business unit running a much centralised marketing
and handset procurement at group level. This has resulted in the neglect of local markets
and local differences, allowing market share to be gained by smaller local competitors.
Due to the highly saturated Western European market this has resulted in an increase in
the price elasticity of demand, with consumers becoming continuously price oriented.
This has resulted in high customer churn rates reaching the level of 32.8% in the UK
compared to O2s 24%.
Opportunities:
The telecommunications market, even though highly saturated in some regions
offers great potential due to the ageing population and the sophistication of the
consumers. It offers great opportunities through a careful market segmentation and
exploitation of particular profitable segments. Different strategies should be pursued
simple phones and simplified pricing plans to the ageing population and more updated,
sophisticated solutions for younger generations. The expanding Boundaries of the market
could provide further opportunities by allowing Vodafone to enter more aggressively
intoservice and to better enjoy the benefits of its high investment in 3G technology.
Moreover the company has undertaken its first steps in establishing strategic alliances to
develop customized solutions for endusers: Vodafone recently announced two new
partnerships, one with supermarket group ASDA to launch an ASDA branded mobile
service in the UK, and another with electrical retailer DSG International to provide
mobile solutions to small businesses. This could further be enhanced to avoid being a
lateentrant in this new method of distribution which offers access to a wide potential
customer base.
Threats:
37

The European part of Vodafones market is characterized by existing high levels of

competition. Major brands such as O2 and TMobile are exploiting the price sensitivity of
customers and in this way they are building a stronger image and presence in the market.
Indirect competition is also increasing further, through the presence of Skype and other
related (not only voice) Internetbased services. This combined with the upcoming
European legislative measures is expected to limit further the tariffs for the network
providers imposing further need for price cuts which could harm the bottom line
profitability of the company.

38

SCOPE OF STUDY:

There are many benefits related to take this study. Some of the benefits of taking this
study are as follows:
By analyzing this information, the company would be able to better design schemes &
services & target right prospects needs & wants.

More people will get aware about Vodafone that will increase profit level of Vodafone.

This study helps to identify the behavior of consumer when there are no offers &

schemes from Vodafone.

39

RESEAECH METHODOLOGY
Introduction:
Marketing research means the systematic gathering, recording, analyzing of data
about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services
METHODOLOGY ADOPTED:
Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. Here we
study the various steps generally adopted by the researcher in studying the research
methods to continue a part of research methodology.
In this research, both Primary and Secondary data taken into consideration. The project
would be executed through primary data i.e. questionnaires, discussion with various age
groups of employee, information from other group of companies, internet datas.
Primary data: - This is those, which are collected as fresh and for the first Time,
and thus happen to be original in character. There are many ways of data collection
of primary data like questionnaire, observation method, interview method, through
schedules, pantry Reports, distributors audit, consumer panel etc.
Secondary data: - These are those data, which are not collected afresh and are
used earlier also and thus they cannot be considered as original in character. There
are many ways of data collection of secondary data like publications of the state
and central govt., website, journals, companies reports, reports prepared by
researchers, reports of various associations connected with business, Industries,
40

banks etc. For this project secondary data was taken from companys reports and
websites.

RESEARCH DESIGN:
1.Type of research: Descriptive research design
2.Sources of data: Primary Data & Secondary Data
3.Primary Data Questionnaire
4.Secondary Data Websites
5.Data collection method: Survey Method,Questionnare
6.Survey Instrument: Questionnaire (Closed and Open Ended)
7.Method of communication: Collect the data through survey of the employees in

the organization
8.Sample size: 100 Employees
9.Sample unit: Here the researcher has randomly selected the respondents of the

New Delhi.
10.Sampling Design: Convenient sampling (sample collection)

Data Analysis and Interpretation

41

After all the above steps are completed now the important step is data analyzing and
interpretation. For this there are various analytical and statistical tools. Some of these
tools are Percentage, Average, Dispersion, Co-relation, Co-efficient, etc.
Q1) Do you have a mobile phone?
Purpose:
The main purpose of this question is to know how many respondents use mobile phone.
Suggestions

Yes

No

No. of respondents

93

Interpretation:
93% of the respondents are have a mobile phone while 7% of the respondents do
not have a mobile phone.

Q2) Are you aware about telecommunications services?

Purpose:
42

The main purpose behind this question is to know about the awareness of respondents
regarding different telecommunications services and also to know about which
telecommunication(operators) service they use.
Suggestions

Yes

No

No. of respondents

95

Interpretation:
95% of the respondents are aware about telecommunications services while 5% are
not aware.

Which operators service do you use?

Operators service name

No. of respondents

Vodafone

87

43

Airtel

29

Idea

17

Reliance

21

BSNL

Tata Indicom

Interpretation:
Major respondents using mobile are enjoying Vodafone services. 16% of the
respondents use Airtel, 6% respondents use Idea while 12%, 4% and 2% respondents use
Reliance, BSNL and Tata Indicom respectively.

Q3) Are you aware about Vodafone?

Purpose:

44

The purpose behind this question is to know about the awareness of Vodafone
among all the respondents.

Suggestions

Yes

No

No. of respondents

87

13

Interpretation:
Here 87% of respondents are aware about Vodafone Services.

Q4) From which source you came to know about Vodafone?

Purpose:

45

Sources

No. of respondents

Advertisements

63

Hoardings

52

Newspapers

35

Mouth Publicity

26

The purpose behind this question is to know from which source the respondents
came to know about Vodafone
Interpretation:
36% of the respondents are aware about Vodafone through Advertisements, 29% are
aware because of Hoardings while 20% and 15% of the respondents are aware because of
Newspapers and Mouth Publicity respectively.

Q5) Since how long you are using Vodafone Services?

Purpose:
46

The purpose behind this question is to know about the usage time of Vodafone
customers i.e. since how long they are using Vodafone services.
Time period

No. of respondents

Less than 1 month

12

2-6 months

19

6-12 months

22

More than 1 year

34

Interpretation:
Major Respondents using Vodafone are old customers. 39% of the respondents use
Vodafone services from past more than 1 year while the lowest is 14% respondents using
Vodafone services less than 1 month.

Q6) Which of the following services do you use of Vodafone?

Purpose:
47

The purpose behind this question is to know which services do the Vodafone
customer use, Pre-Paid or Post-Paid.
Services

No. of respondents

Pre-Paid

73

Post-paid

14

Interpretation:
84% of the respondents use pre-paid services while only 16% of the respondents use
post-paid services.

Q7) Which services are more helpful to you while using Vodafone Services?
Purpose:
The purpose behind this question is to know which services are more helpful to the
respondent while using Vodafone.
48

Services

No. of respondents

Call Rates

27

SMS Rates

48

Network

36

Value Added Services

19

Interpretation:
Here major Respondents are youngsters so they mainly use SMS services of
Vodafone. 37% of the respondents use Vodafone for SMS services while only 14% of the
respondents use Vodafone for Value Added Services.

Q8) Do you call at customer care?

Purpose:
The purpose of this question is to know how many times and how often the
respondents call at customer care of Vodafone.
49

Suggestions

Yes

No

No. of respondents

76

11

Interpretation:
87% of the respondent calls at customer care while 13% respondents do not call at
customer care.

Q(9)If yes, how often you call at customer care?

Time Period

No. of respondents

Daily

Once a week

12

Once a month

24

Occasionally

35

50

1
Interpretation
Major respondents here call customer care occasionally. 31% respondents
respondents call customer care once a month while 16% and 7% of respondents call once
a week and daily respectively.

Q9) For what reason you call at customer care?

Purpose:
The main purpose of this question is to know the reason of the respondents
regarding calling at customer care.
Reasons
Value Added Services
Information regarding new schemes
Complaining
Other queries
51

No. of respondents
21
23
42
36

Interpretation:
34% of respondents call at customer care for complaining purpose while 30%, 19%
and 17% of respondents call customer care for other queries, information regarding new
schemes and value added services respectively.

Q10) Rate the following on the basis of your satisfaction.

Services

Excellent Very Good

Fairly Good Average

Poor

Network

31

29

17

SMS Rates

19

35

24

schemes 3

14

27

33

10

New

and offers
Customer Care

32

29

15

Recharge

12

28

31

14

52

Outlets
Call Rates
Value

20

43

19

Added 9

24

29

19

Services

Network:
Purpose:
Service

Excellent

Very Good

Fairly Good

Average

Poor

Network

31

29

17

The purpose of this analysis is to know the perspective of the customers of

Vodafone regarding network service.

53

Interpretation:
Here major respondents are satisfy with the network coverage. 36% of the
respondents are rate the Vodafones network excellent, 33% rate it very good, 20% rate it
farely good while 8% and 3% rate it average and poor.

SMS Rates:
Purpose:
The purpose of this analysis is to know the perspective of the customers of
vodafone regarding Rates of SMS.

Service

Excellent Very Good

SMS Rates 6

Interpretation:
54

19

Fairly Good

Average

Poor

35

24

Here major respondents are not much satisfied with the SMS rates of Vodafone as
major respondents are youngsters. 7% of respondents rate it excellent, 22% rate it very
good, 40% rate it fairly good, 28% rate it average, 3% rate it poor.

New Schemes and Offers:

Purpose:
The main purpose of this analysis is to the respondents perspective related to the
new schemes and offers provided by Vodafone.

Service

Excellent

New schemes 3
and offers

Interpretation:

55

Very Good

Fairly Good Average

Poor

14

27

10

33

Here major respondents are not much satisfied with new schemes and offers of
Vodafone. 38% respondents rate new schemes and offers as average, 31% respondents
rate it as fairly good, 16% rate it as very good while 12% and 3% rate it as poor and
excellent respectively.

Customer Care:
Purpose:
The main purpose of this analysis is to know about the satisfaction of customer
care service provided by Vodafone to their customers.

Service

Excellent

Customer Care 6

Interpretation:
56

Very Good

Fairly Good Average

Poor

32

29

15

Customer care service of Vodafone is better compared to some of the other

services. 37% respondents rate it as very good, 33% rate it as fairly good, 17% rate it as
average, and 6% and 7% rate it as poor and excellent respectively.

Recharge Outlets:
Purpose:
The purpose behind this analysis is to know about the satisfaction of the Vodafone
customers regarding recharge outlets.

Service

Excellent

Very Good

Fairly Good Average

Poor

Recharge

12

28

31

Outlets

57

14

Interpretation:
Recharge outlets of Vodafone are majorly rated on fairly good and very good basis.
36% of the respondents rate it as fairly good, 32% rate it as very good, 16% rate it as
average, 14% rate it excellent and 2% respondents rate it as poor.
Call Rates:
Purpose:
The purpose behind this analysis is to know about the perception of vodafone
customers regarding different call rates.

Service

Excellent

Very Good

Fairly Good Average

Poor

Call Rates

20

43

19

Interpretation:
Major percentage of respondents are not happy with the call rates of Vodafone.
49% of respondents rate call rates of vodafone as fairly good, 23% rate it as very good,
58

22% rate it as average while 4% and 2% respondent rate it as poor and excellent
respectively.

Value Added Services: Purpose:

The purpose behind this analysis is to know about the perception of vodafone
customers regarding Value Added Services.

Service
Value

Excellent
Added 9

Very Good

Fairly Good Average

Poor

24

29

19

Services
Interpretation:
Value added services of Vodafone are quite feasible as compared to some of the
other services. 33% respondents rate it as fairly good, 28% rate it as very good, 22% rate
it as average while 10% and 7% rate it as excellent and poor respectively.

59

Q12) Why you are not using Vodafone Services?

Purpose:
The purpose of this question is to know why other respondents do not use Vodafone
services.
Reasons

No. of respondents

Lack of awareness

High Prices

Poor Services

Poor Network

Interpretation:
60

6 dont use Vodafone services because of high prices. 3 respondents dont use
Vodafone services because of poor services while 2 respondents each dont use vodafone
services because of lack of awareness and poor network.
Q13) Would you like to recommend Vodafone to others?
Purpose:
The purpose of this question is to know the recommendations of the respondents
towards Vodafone, whether they would like to recommend the Vodafone services to
others or not.
Suggestions

Yes

N
o

No. of respondents

78

Interpretation:
90% of the Vodafone customers would like to recommend Vodafone services to
others while 10% of the Vodafone Customers wont recommend to others.

61

FINDINGS
93% of the respondents are have a mobile phone while 7% of the respondents do
not have a mobile phone.
100% of the respondents are aware about telecommunications services.

16% of the respondents use Airtel, 6% respondents use Idea while 12%, 4% and
2% respondents use Reliance, BSNL and Tata Indicom respectively.
100% of respondents are aware about Vodafone Services.
36% of the respondents are aware about Vodafone through Advertisements, 29%
are aware because of Hoardings while 20% and 15% of the respondents are aware
because of Newspapers and Mouth Publicity respectively.
39% of the respondents use Vodafone services from past more than 1 year while
the lowest is 14% respondents using Vodafone services less than 1 month.
84% of the respondents use pre-paid services while only 16% of the respondents
use post-paid services.
37% of the respondents use Vodafone for SMS services while only 14% of the
respondents use Vodafone for Value Added Services.
87% of the respondent calls at customer care while 13% respondents do not call
at customer care.
62

 31% respondents respondents call customer care once a month while 16% and
7% of respondents call once a week and daily respectively.

Conclusion
Follwing are the conclusion that the researcher found after the survey.
From the above analysis the researcher concludes that major respondents are
dissatisfied with some of the major services like call rates, SMS rates and new
schemes & offers.
Major respondents from all respondents use services of Vodafone.
Major customers of Vodafone are old customers so many of the respondents are
satisfied with the services of Vodafone and thus they would like to recommend
Vodafone to others.
Major respondents using Vodafone use pre-paid services compared to post-paid
services.
Major respondents are youngsters so they need more SMS facilities and low call rates,
but Vodafone dissatisfies these age group (18-25) as their call rates and SMS rates
are much high.

63

SUGGESTIONS
Following are some of the suggestions given by the researcher so that Vodafone can serve
people and its customers in an improved way:
Vodafone should decrease call rates for local users.
Vodafone should provide more offers to Post-Paid customers so that the number
of Post-Paid customers increase.
Vodafone should bring introduce some new SMS schemes for the youngsters.
Vodafone should introduce more schemes and offers.
Vodafone should provide more schemes and offers to its old customers.
Vodafone should decrease call rates of STD and ISD.

64

LIMITATION OF STUDY
Certain limitations do creep in a research study due to constraints of the time, money and
human efforts, the present study is also not free from certain limitation, which were
unavoidable. Although all effort were taken to make the result of the work as accurate as
possible as survey but the survey have following constraints.
Here the researchers problems are:A number of customers are not satisfied with services, new schemes and offers.
A number of customers are not satisfied with the network coverage.
A number of customers are not satisfied with the current call rates of Vodafone.
A number of customers are not satisfied with the Free SMS schemes.
A number of customers are not satisfied with the service of customer care of Vodafone.

65

66