A MAJOR PROJECT REPORT

ON

CONSUMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS PARLE G

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Award of the

Degree of Bachelor in Commerce (Hons.)

2015-2018

Under the Guidance of: Submitted By:

Ms. Parul Gaba Ujjawal Nanda

(Assistant Professor) 01219388815

Kasturi Ram College of Higher Education

(Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi)

Narela, Delhi-110040
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report entitled “CONSUMER PERCEPTION

TOWARDS PARLE G” submitted by me to Kasturi Ram College of Higher
Education; for the fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Bachelors
in commerce (Hons.), is a record of bonafide project carried out by me under the guidance
of Ms. Parul Gaba. I further declare that the work reported in this project has not been
submitted and will not be submitted, either in part or in full, for the award of any other
degree or diploma in this institute or any other institute or university.

Name of Student:

Ujjawal Nanda

Enrollment number:

01219388815

2
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that “Ujjawal Nanda” has accomplished the project “CONSUMER
PERCEPTION TOWARDS PARLE G” under the guidelines and supervision.

He has submitted this project in the partial fulfillment of the award of degree of Bachelor
of commerce (Hons.) from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.

The work has not been submitted anywhere else for the award of degree. All sources of
information have been duly mentioned.

Under the guidance of:

Ms. Parul Gaba

(Assistant Professor)

KRCHE

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A project is never the work of an individual. It is moreover the combination of

suggestions, ideas, review, guidance and contribution. The success and final outcome of
this project required a lot of guidance and assistance.

I own my heartily and profound sense of gratitude to my faculty guide and my project
coordinator Ms. Parul Gaba under the expert guidance only project got completed. The
goal of how idea and development can only be obtained by hard work.

I acknowledge my inner most gratitude to my project guide for her co-operation and kind
assistance during framing of this project.

Finally, I would like to thank to all my well-wishers for their blessings and co-operation.
They boost up me every day to work with a new and high spirit.

4
 Table of Content

S.NO TOPIC Page No

1. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 9
1.1 BISCUIT INDUSTRY IN INDIA 10

1.4 History of biscuit industry 15

1.5 Market Size 16

1.7 Government Initiatives 17

1.8 Objectives of the study 18

1.9 Research Methodology 19-21

1.10 Review of Literature 22

1.11 Limitations of the study 23

2. CHAPTER 2 Company Profile 24

2.1 About the company 25

2.2 PARLE G 25

2.3 Business description 25

2.4 Established 25

2.5 Proportionate revenue 25

2.7 No of Shares in issue 26

2.8 Customer base 26

2.9 Registered office 26

2.10 Company Strategy 26

2.11 History 27-29

2.12 Rank & Recognition 31

3. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRATION 49

4. FINDINGS 62
5. CONCLUSIONS 63-64

5
6. RECOMMEDATIONS 65
7. BIBLOGRAPHY 67

8. ANNEXURE(QUESTIONNAIRE) 68-70

6
 List of Figures

FIGURE NO: PARTICULARS PAGE NO:

Chapter No:1 Figure No:1 Telecom service sector – 12
Revenues (Rs. bn)
Chapter No:2 Figure No:2 Bharti Airtel limited 29-31
Chapter No:2 Figure No:3 Vodafone India 47
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:4 No. of customers user 50
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:5 Service provided after sales 51
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:6 Internet service provider 52
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:7 Brand Loyalty 53
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:8 Connection provider 54
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:9 Services 55
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:10 Factors/reasons 56
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:11 Behaviour of customer 57
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:13 Expectations of customer 58
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:14 Customer satisfaction level 59
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:15 Per month expenditure 60
Chapter No: 3 Figure No:16 Time period 61

7
 List of Table

TABLE NO: PARTICULARS PAGE NO:

Chapter No: 3 Table No:1 Operators service name 50
Chapter No: 3 Table No:2 Company services after sales 51
Chapter No: 3 Table No:3 Internet service provider 52
Chapter No: 3 Table No:4 No. of years 53
Chapter No: 3 Table No:5 Connection provider 54
Chapter No: 3 Table No:6 Operators Service name 55
Chapter No: 3 Table No:7 Factors/reasons 56
Chapter No: 3 Table No:8 Behaviour of customer 57
Chapter No: 3 Table No:9 Expectations of customer 58
Chapter No: 3 Table No:10 Customer satisfaction level 59
Chapter No: 3 Table No:11 Per month expenditure 60
Chapter No: 3 Table No:12 Time period 61

8
 Chapter 1
Introduction

9
 INTRODUCTION TO THE BISCUIT INDUSTRY

The word 'Biscuit' is derived from the Latin words 'Bis' (meaning 'twice') and 'Coctus'
(meaning cooked or baked). The word 'Biscotti' is also the generic term for cookies in
Italian. Back then, biscuits were unleavened, hard and thin wafers which, because of their
low water content, were ideal food to store.

As people started to explore the globe, biscuits became the ideal travelling food since they
stayed fresh for long periods. The seafaring age, thus, witnessed the boom of biscuits when
these were sealed in airtight containers to last for month sat a time. Hard track biscuits
(earliest version of the biscotti and present-day crackers) were part of the staple diet of
English and American sailors for many centuries. In fact, the countries which led this
seafaring charge, such as those in Western Europe, are the ones where biscuits are most
popular even today. Biscottiis said to have been a favorite of Christopher Columbus who
discovered America!
Making good biscuits is quite an art, and history bears testimony to that. Duringthe 17th
and 18th Centuries in Europe, baking was a carefully controlled profession, managed
through a series of 'guilds' or professional associations. To become a baker, one had to
complete years of apprenticeship - working through the ranks of apprentice, journeyman,
and finally master baker. Not only this, the amount and quality of biscuits baked were also
carefully monitored.
The English, Scotch and Dutch immigrants originally brought the first cookies to the
United States and they were called teacakes. They were often flavoured with nothing more
than the finest butter, sometimes with the addition of a few drops of rose water. Cookies in
America were also called by such names as "jumbles","plunkets" and "cry babies".

10
 BISCUIT INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Biscuit industry in India in the organized sector produces around 60% of the total
production, the balance 40% being contributed by the unorganized bakeries. The industry
consists of two large scale manufacturers, around 50 medium scale brands and small scale
units ranging up to 2500 units in the country, as at 2000-01. The unorganized sector is
estimated to have approximately 30,000 small &tiny bakeries across the country.

The annual turnover of the organized sector of the biscuit manufacturers (as at 2007-08) is
Rs. 4,350 crores.
In terms of volume biscuit production by the organized segment in 2007-08 is estimated at
1.30 million tones. The major Brands of biscuits are - Britannia, Parle, Bake man, Parle G,
Elite, Cremica, Dukes, Anupam, Craze, Nezone, besides various regional/State brands.
Biscuit industry which was till then reserved in the SSI (Small Scale Industry) Sector, was
unreserved in 1997-98, in accordance with the Govt Policy, based on the recommendations
of the Abid Hussain Committee.

The annual production of biscuit in the organized sector, continues to be predominantly in

the small and medium sale sector before and after de-reservation. The annual production
was around 7.4 Lakh tones in 1997-98. In the next five years, biscuit production witnessed
an annual growth of 10% to 12%, up to 1999-00.

The annual Growth showed a decline of 3.5% in 2000-01, mainly due to 100%hike in
Central Excise Duty (from 9% to 16%). Production in the year 2001-02increased very
marginally by 2.75% where in 2002-03 the growth is around 3%.

11
 HISTORY OF BISCUIT INDUSTRY

The biscuit that was prepared earlier was a cake that was re-inserted in the oven after the
cake was removed from the tin. The item was named as 'biscuit' because it means 'an item
that is cooked twice' according to French. The biscuit was originated by the French. The
biscuit that was prepared then was very hard. The biscuit then become popular among the
warriors and navigators who went for their journey. The biscuits became very popular
during the rule of King Lious XIV and they were called stone bread. Then biscuits were
prepared in order to provide nutrition. These biscuits were known as animalized biscuits.
By the 19th century travelers used biscuits that were cakes in hard form. Later on light and
crunchy biscuits were introduced to make it easier to chew for the consumers. People
popularly in United States used biscuits during meals. Then later on beaten biscuits
became very popular. The hard biscuits were beaten to make them softer. Anyhow biscuits
meant different for different nations. In the United States biscuits are the soft cakes or
breads. For Britishers it is a product from the flour that is made sweet. Biscuit as a whole
can mean different things to different people. It may mean a cake that is made hard or a
substance that is made hard made of flour or a bread that is removed from the oven and
rolled and cut into pieces. Initially the biscuit was used by the traveling because it was a
hard substance made of preservatives to avoid perishing. The people who traveled by ships
and the army soldiers used this food. It was highly nutritious as it contained nutrition like
cereals that was processed with flour. The substance was prepared hard because it would
survive under any temperature. These biscuits were used during the Spanish Armada in
1588. Earlier the biscuits were cooked out of bread by placing in the oven twice to serve it.
Earlier biscuits that was available at a reasonable price. Earlier biscuits were recommended
for the health purposes and hence most of them were not sweet as recommended by
physicians.

Then later on in the 7th century, the Parsis who had learnt the art of cooking mixed a
number of ingredients in the flour such as butter, cream, honey to make it tastier. One of
the Armenian monk in 992 from Europe prepared a substance called gingerbread. This
items was sold in the market with high price. Then the Crusaders who learnt the art of
cooking spicy breads spread the trend into the entire northern parts of Europe. Then in the
medival period biscuits were items that were sweet substances that were prepared from the

12
bread by inserting in the oven. During the rule of King Richard they were the substances
that were prepared by mixing flour such as barley, rye and bean flour.

Biscuits of Today

The biscuits that are prepared today are the substances made of several ingredients and
available in various flavors, colors, sizes and tastes. Today people consume biscuits very
fondly during the time of snack. Today Britishers consume digestive biscuits along with
tea during the snack time. Today biscuits are usually those substances that are sweet to
taste. People are very fond of biscuits that resemble sandwitch i.e. layered with cream
between the two biscuits. The substances that are mixed with flour may be cream, flavors
of fruits and nuts, chocolate, jam and many others. The savoury biscuits have captured a
huge market today. The type of savoury biscuits are cream crackers, oatcakes, crisp breads,
etc. Rusk is also a type of biscuit that is a hard substance made from bread usually used for
teething of a baby. Rusk is a biscuit that is usually consumed by placing it in tea or coffee.
Dog biscuits are also widely in use that are served for dogs only.

Market Size

India biscuit market stood at $ 3.9 billion in 2017, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of
11.27%, in value terms, during 2017-2022, to reach $ 7.25 billion by 2022. Rising number
of health-conscious consumers, expanding working population and increasing urbanization
are boosting the country’s biscuit market. Moreover, augmenting disposable income along
with changing lifestyle, increasing awareness regarding healthy diet and change in food
consumption pattern are some of the other factors expected to propel demand for biscuits
over the course of next five years.

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OVER VIEW OF THE INDIAN BUSCUIT INDUSTRY

Biscuit industry contribute Rs 8,000 crore to the FMCG industry and provide avast
opportunity for growth, as the per capita consumption of biscuits is less than 2.1 kg 3 in
our country. India It is classified under two sectors: organized and unorganized. Branded
/Organized to Unbranded/Un organized market share of biscuit has been 70%for
Organized sector and 30% for Unorganized sector Apart from Big 3 (Britannia ,Parle ,
ITC ) there are around 150 medium to small biscuit factory in India .The Industry is now
facing problem from increase of raw material price. With Government VAT up to 12.5%
has added to their woes .Biscuit consumption per capita in India has grown to 2.1kg per
capita in comparison to 10kg per capita consumption in USA,UK and Europe .India
Biscuits Industry came into limelight and started gaining a sound status in the bakery
industry in the later part of 20th century when the urbanized society called for readymade
food products at a tenable cost. Biscuits were assumed as sick-man's diet in earlier days.
Now, it has become one of the most loved fast food products for every age group. Biscuits
are easy to carry, tasty to eat, cholesterol free and reasonable at cost. States that have the
larger intake of biscuits are Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and
Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra and West Bengal, the most industrially developed states, hold
the maximum amount of consumption of biscuits. Even, the rural sector consumes around
55 percent of the biscuits in the bakery products. The total production of bakery products
have risen from 5.19 lakh tones in 1975 to18.95 lakh tones in 1990. Biscuits contributes to
over 33 percent of the total production of bakery and above 79 percent of the biscuits are
manufactured by the small scale sector of bakery industry comprising both factory and
non-factory units. The production capacity of wafer biscuits is 60 MT and the cost is
Rs.56, 78,400 with a motive power of 25 K.W. Indian biscuit industry has occupied around
55-60 percent of the entire bakery production. Few years back, large scale bakery
manufacturers like 4 Cadbury, nestle, and Brooke bond tried to trade in the biscuit industry
but couldn't hit the market because of the local companies that produced only biscuits. The
Federation of Biscuit Manufacturers of India (FBMI) has confirmed a bright future of
India Biscuits Industry. According to FBMI, a steady growth of 15 percent per annum in
the next 10 years will be achieved by the biscuit industry of India. Besides, the export f
biscuits will also surpass the target and hit the global market successfully.

14
Two Sectors of Biscuit Industry

In terms of volume biscuit production by the organized segment is estimated at1.30 million
tones. In the organized sector, the industry is dominated by Britannia and Parle, which
account for 70 per cent of the industry's volumes. The two major organized players are
Britannia and Parle. Britannia’s market share stands at Rs 27 billion. Parle derives a large
portion of its revenues from low-priced biscuits. Parle-G and Britannia derive a fairly large
share of their revenues from the medium- and premium varieties. In fact, Britannia's
market share in the medium and premium varieties is significantly higher. Other organized
players include domestic players like Brakeman’s, Champion, Kwality, Priya and MNC’s
like SmithKline Consumer, Kellogg’s, Sara, Heinz, Excelsior (Nestle) and United Biscuits.
The unorganized sector consists of small bakery units, cottage and household type
manufacturing their goods without much packaging and distributing their goods in the
surrounding areas.

Lower overheads due to limited local area, family management, focused product lines and
less expenditure on marketing help the unorganized sector to grow.

The organized biscuit manufacturing industry‘s annual production were around 1.1million
tons in 2003-04, 1.25 million tons in 2004-05, 1.4 million tons in 2005-06, 1.6million tons
in 2006-07 and 1.7 tons in 2007-08

Government Initiatives
Some of the major initiatives taken by the Government of India to improve the food
processing sector in India are as follows:

 The Government of India aims to boost growth in the food processing sector by
leveraging reforms such as 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in
marketing of food products and various incentives at central and state government
level along with a strong focus on supply chain infrastructure.
 In Union Budget 2017-18, the Government of India has set up a dairy processing
infra fund worth Rs 8,000 crore (US$ 1.2 billion).

15
 The Government of India has relaxed foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for the
sector, allowing up to 100 per cent FDI in food product e-commerce through
automatic route.
 The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) plans to invest around
Rs 482 crore (US$ 72.3 million) to strengthen the food testing infrastructure in
India, by upgrading 59 existing food testing laboratories and setting up 62 new
mobile testing labs across the country.
 The Indian Council for Fertilizer and Nutrient Research (ICFNR) will adopt
international best practices for research in fertilizer sector, which will enable
farmers to get good quality fertilizers at affordable rates and thereby achieve food
security for the common man.
 The Ministry of Food Processing Industries announced a scheme for Human
Resource Development (HRD) in the food processing sector. The HRD scheme is
being implemented through State Governments under the National Mission on
Food Processing. The scheme has the following four components:
 Creation of infrastructure facilities for degree/diploma courses in food processing
sector
 Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP)
 Food Processing Training Centers (FPTC)
 Training at recognized institutions at State/National level

16
 Objectives of the Study

 To find out the competitive activity and merchandising through retailer of

PARLE G Biscuit in Delhi.
 To find out the consumer preference according to retailer view.
 To find out the satisfaction levels towards service provide by PARLE G.
 To find out the major competitor of PARLE G BISCUIT.

17
 Research Methodology

RESEARCH

It refers to a search for knowledge. One can also define research as a scientific and
systematic search for information on a specific topic. Research includes scientific and
inductive thinking and it promotes the development of logical habits of thinking and
organization.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

It is a way to systematically solve the research problems. It may be understood as a science

of studying how research is done scientifically. It is necessary for the researcher to know
not only the research methods or techniques but also the methodology.

RESEARCH DESIGN

It is a blueprint for collection, measurement and analysis of data. It is a framework of

project that stimulates what information is to be collected from which sources and by what
procedure.

TYPES OF RESEARCH

There are 3 types of research:

 Descriptive research: It is concern with describing the characteristics of a

particular individual or a group etc.
 Explanatory research: In the explanatory research each and everything is well
explained. Style of research in which primary goal is to understand the nature or
mechanism of the relationship between the independent and dependent value.
 Exploratory research: It is conducted into an issue or problem where there are
few or no earlier studies to refer to the focus is on gaining insights and familiarity
for late investigation.

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SOURECES OF DATA COLLECTION

Data can be classified into two types:

 Primary data
 Secondary data

PRIMARY DATA

Primary data is the data collected by face to face communication with the target
respondents.

Primary data can be collected by:

 Survey method
 Observation method
 Experiment method

SECONDARY DATA

Any data which have being gathered earlier for some other purpose and now it is referred.
That data is known as secondary data.

Secondary data can be collected by:

 Accounting records
 Sales report
 Publication of individual firm
 Books
 Internet etc.
Data source
Primary Data:
The primary data was collected by means of a survey. Questionnaires were prepared and
Customers of various brand were approached to fill up the questionnaires. The
questionnaire contains 12 questions which reflect on the type and quality of biscuit
provided by the Airtel and Vodafone to the customers. The response of the Customers is
recorded on a grade scale of strongly disagree, disagree, uncertain, agree and strongly

19
agree for each question. The filled up information was later analyzed to obtain the required
interpretation and the findings.
Secondary Data:
In order to have a proper understanding of the product quality of biscuit. A depth study
was done from the various sources such as books, a lot of data is also collected from the
official websites of the company and the articles from various search engines like Google,
Yahoo search and answers.com.

Research Design
The research design is exploratory till identification of service quality parameters. Later it
becomes descriptive when it comes to evaluating customer perception of product quality of
the biscuit.
I have taken descriptive research
Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and
characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research
answers the questions who, what, where, why, and how.
Although the data description is factual, accurate and systematic, the research cannot
describe what caused a situation. Thus, descriptive research cannot be used to create a
causal relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words, descriptive
research can be said to have a low requirement for internal validity.
The description is used for frequencies, averages and other statistical calculations. Often
the best approach, prior to writing descriptive research, is to conduct a survey
investigation. Qualitative research often has the aim of description and researchers may
follow-up with examinations of why the observations exist and what the implications of
the findings are.

RESEARCH SAMPLE
SAMPLING:
Since it is not possible to study whole universe, it becomes necessary to take sample from
the universe to know about its characteristics:
 Sampling Units: Customers of Biscuit.
 Sample Technique: Random Sampling.
 Sample size: 100 units.

20
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Miranda Goode, Ramasastry Chandrasekhar Publication Date: 11/1/2010

In 2009, Parle Products Pvt. Limited (Parle), a leading Indian biscuit manufacturer, had the
distinction of producing the largest selling glucose biscuit brand by volume in the world,
the Parle-G. Parle-G biscuits sold for approximately US$1 per kilogram and as very few
processed and ready-to-eat foods were available at this price point, Parle-G was strongly
associated with offering value for money (VFM). A looming problem in this brand
category for Parle was that the input prices of two major raw materials for the Parle-G
biscuits (which together accounted for 55 per cent of their input costs) had risen enough in
the past 18 months to decrease margins from 15 per cent to less than 10 per cent. Pressure
to restore margins led Parle to consider a price increase yet a previous attempt had caused
dramatic reduction in sales.

PR Newswire. New York: Jul 5, 2006.

Parle will request a hearing before the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel, thereby
automatically deferring the delisting of its common stock pending the Panel's review and
determination. Until the Panel issues a determination and the expiration of any exception
granted by the Panel, Parlux's common stock will continue to be traded on The NASDAQ
National Market. However, as a result of the delayed filing of its Form 10-K, the trading
symbol for the Company's common stock will be changed from PARL to PARLE.

Business line. Chennai: Nov 30, 2004.

New Delhi, Nov. 29 - IT appears as if the slackening growth rate of the Rs 1,600-crore
sugar confectionery industry has had an adverse impact on this category's advertising
spends as well. For the first time in the last four years, advertising spends have fallen.

Also, while ad spends by sugar confectionery companies on television have decreased to

about Rs 35.94 crore during the first nine months of 2004 against Rs 41.19 crore during
the same period of 2003, those on print have seen a marginal increase.

The brands that ruled television advertising during the period under review included
Chatter Patter (15 per cent), Parle Smoothies (10 per cent), Alpenliebe Cream Strawberry
(9 per cent), Alpenliebe Lollipop (9 per cent) and Mentos Mint (7 per cent).

M T Schwartzman. International Cruise & Ferry Review. Enfield: Autumn 2004.

This new era of good feelings will be on display at the association's upcoming conference
in the Cayman Islands, "For the first time, CHA is going to be participating," says
[Michele Paige]. "We'll have the incoming chairperson, Berthia Parle, who was outspoken
about the cruise industry not being a good thing. So it's a big turnaround to have her come
to the conference and participate. We're going to break new ground and forge this
partnership forward."

21
Mr. Sajja Praveen Chowdary. Schizophrenic thoughts.

In a product, that customers are unable to identify a major difference in features, it doesn't
affect the brand (using comparative advertising) to a large extent though the product isn't
up to the mark. i.e., the detergent category.. A category hard enough for the customer to
identify which gives better whiteness, better smoothness to hands, etc.

Carothers, Andre. E: the Environmental Magazine. Norwalk: Sep 1995. Vol. 6, Iss.

Nothing symbolizes the capitulation of India so much as the arrival of soft drinks and fast
food in a country where famine is periodic, hunger common, and thousands of men and
women break up rocks with hammers and chisels on construction sites for $2 a day. In
1977, Coca-Cola quit India rather than submit to government demands to turn over assets,
and the mysterious Coke formula, to local manufacturers. Last year, the champion of that
effort, Ramesh Chauhan, CEO of India's leading soft drink company, Parle, sold his
company to Coke, his former nemesis. Travelers will be distressed to know that those
familiar bottles of Limca, Thums Up and several other local soft drinks are now labeled "a
subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company."

22
 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
No project is without limitations and it becomes essential to figure out the various
constraints that we underwent during the study. The following points in this direction
would add to our total deliberations:-

 The study is only for the Airtel and Vodafone confined to a particular location and
a very small sample of respondents. Hence the findings cannot be treated as
representative of the entire telecom industry.
 The study can also not be generalized for public and private sector telecom of the
country.
 Respondents may give biased answers for the required data. Some of the
respondents did not like to respond.
 Respondents tried to escape some statements by simply answering “neither agree
nor disagree” to most of the statements. This was one of the most important
limitations faced, as it was difficult to analyze and come at a right conclusion.
 In this study I have included 100 Customers of company because of time limit.

23
Chapter 2
Company
Profile

24
 COMPANY PROFILE

BHARTI AIRTEL

Bharti Airtel Limited is an Indian global telecommunications services company based in

New Delhi, India. It operates in 16 countries across South Asia and Africa. Airtel provides
GSM, 3G, 4G LTE and VOLTE mobile services, fixed line broadband and voice services
depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its VOLTE technology
across seven telecom circles namely Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa, Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, Karnataka and Chennai in India and
should roll out the technology in rest circles by end of March 2018.It is the largest mobile
network operator in India and the third largest in the world with over 386 million
subscribers. Airtel was named India's second most valuable brand in the first ever Brands
ranking by Mill ward Brown and WPP plc.

Business description

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in

16 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company
ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India,
the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile
commerce, fixed line services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise services
including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the
geographies, it offers 2G, 3G, 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel
had over 394 million customers across its operations at the end of December 2017. To
know more please visit, www.airtel.com.

Established

July 07, 1995, as a Public Limited Company.

Proportionate revenue

Rs. 203,186 million (ended December 31, 2017-Audited)

Rs. 233,357 million (ended December 31, 2016-Audited)

As per Ind-AS Accounts.

25
Proportionate EBITDA

Rs. 75,871 million (ended December 31, 2017-Audited)

Rs. 85,705 million (ended December 31, 2016-Audited)

As per Ind-AS Accounts.

No of Shares in issue

3997.4 Mn shares as at December 31, 2017.

Customer base

India: 290,113,000 GSM mobile; 2,164,000 –Homes customers and 13,937,000- Digital
TV Services (status as on December 31, 2017)

Africa: 84,130,000 GSM mobile customers, SA: 2,150,000 mobile customers (status as on
December 31, 2017)

Registered office

Bharti Airtel Limited

(A Bharti Enterprise)

Bharti Crescent, 1 Nelson Mandela Road,

Vasant Kunj, Phase II,

New Delhi - 110 070.

Tel. No.: +91 11 4666 6100

Fax No.: +91 11 4666 6411

Company Strategy

Company is consistently fine-tuning and strategies and strengthening company innovative

core to anticipate and lead change in the global digital landscape. Airtel is credited with
pioneering the business strategy of outsourcing all of its business operations except
marketing, sales and finance and building the 'minutes factory' model of low cost and high

26
volumes. The strategy has since been adopted by several operators. Airtel's equipment is
provided and maintained by Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia Solutions and Networks whereas
IT support is provided by IBM. The transmission towers are maintained by subsidiaries
and joint venture companies of Bharti including Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers in India.
Ericsson agreed for the first time to be paid by the minute for installation and maintenance
of their equipment rather than being paid up front, which allowed Airtel to provide low
call rates of ₹1 (1.6¢ US)/minute.

History

In 1984 Sunil Mittal started assembling push-button phones in India, which he earlier used
to import from a Taiwan company, Kingtel, replacing the old fashioned, bulky rotary
phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) was
incorporated and entered into a technical tie up with Siemens AG of Germany for
manufacture of electronic push button phones. By the early 1990s, Bharti was making fax
machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear. He named his first push-button phones
as 'Mitbrau'.

In 1992, he successfully bid for one of the four mobile phone network licences auctioned
in India. One of the conditions for the Delhi cellular license was that the bidder have some
experience as a telecom operator. So, Sunil Mittal clinched a deal with the French telecom
group Vivendi. He was one of the first Indian entrepreneurs to identify the mobile telecom
business as a major growth area. His plans were finally approved by the Government in
1994 and he launched services in Delhi in 1995, when Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) was
formed to offer cellular services under the brand name AirTel. Within a few years Bharti
became the first telecom company to cross the 2 million mobile subscriber mark. Bharti
also brought down the STD/ISD cellular rates in India under brand name 'Indiaone'.

In 1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired control of JT Holdings, and extended cellular

operations to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 2000, Bharti acquired control of Sky cell
Communications, in Chennai. In 2001, the company acquired control of Spice Cell in
Calcutta. Bharti Enterprises went public in 2002, and the company was listed on Bombay
Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. In 2003, the cellular phone
operations were re-branded under the single Airtel brand. In 2004, Bharti acquired control

27
of Hexacom and entered Rajasthan. In 2005, Bharti extended its network to Andaman and
Nicobar. This expansion allowed it to offer voice services all across India.

Airtel launched "Hello Tunes", a caller ring back tone service (CRBT), in July 2004
becoming to the first operator in India to do so. The Airtel theme song, composed by A.R.
Rahman, was the most popular tune in that year.

In May 2008, it emerged that Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying the MTN
Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company with coverage in 21 countries
in Africa and the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that Bharti was considering
offering US$45 billion for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be the largest overseas
acquisition ever by an Indian firm. However, both sides emphasize the tentative nature of
the talks, while The Economist magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying
up," as MTN has more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage.
However, the talks fell apart as MTN Group tried to reverse the negotiations by making
Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company. In May 2009, Bharti Airtel again
confirmed that it was in talks with MTN and the companies agreed to discuss the potential
transaction exclusively by 31 July 2009. Talks eventually ended without agreement, some
sources stating that this was due to opposition from the South African government.

In 2009, Bharti negotiated for its strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the network
infrastructure for the fixed line business. Later, Bharti Airtel awarded the three-year
contract to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up an Internet Protocol access network across the
country. This would help consumer’s access internet at faster speed and high quality
internet browsing on mobile handsets.

In 2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In June 2010,
Bharti acquired the African business of Zain Telecom for $10.7 billion making it the
largest ever acquisition by an Indian telecom firm. In 2012, Bharti tied up with Wal-Mart,
the US retail giant, to start a number of retail stores across India. In 2014, Bharti planned
to acquire Loop Mobile for ₹7 billion (US$110 million), but the deal was called off later.

Bharti Airtel Limited ("Airtel"), the world's third largest mobile operator with operations
in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, said that its Treasury division has been adjudged as

28
a highly commended winner of the Top Treasury Team (Asia) Awards at the Adam Smith
Asia Awards 2015.

Bharti Airtel Limited

Type Public

 BSE: 532454
Traded as
 NSE: BHARTIARTL
 BSE SENSEX Constituent

ISIN INE397D01024

Industry Telecommunications

Founded 7 July 1995; 22 years ago[1]

Founder Sunil Mittal

Headquarters Bharti Crescent, 1, Nelson

Mandela Road, New
Delhi, India[1]

Area served India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,

and Africa

Key people  Sunil Mittal (Chairman)

 Gopal Vittal (MD & CEO)

Products  Fixed line telephone

 Mobile phone

29
  Broadband
 Satellite television
 Digital television
 Internet television
 IPTV

Revenue ₹955.9 billion (US$15 billion)

(2017)[2]

Operating ₹354 billion (US$5.5 billion)

income (2017)[2]

Profit ₹42.4 billion (US$660 million)

(2017)[2]

Total assets ₹2,327 billion (US$36 billion)

(2017)[2]

Total equity ₹743 billion (US$12 billion)

(2017)[2]

Number of 25,400 (2016)[3]

employees

Parent Bharti Enterprises (64%)

SingTel (36%)[4][5]

30
 Subsidiaries  Airtel India
 Airtel Sri Lanka
 airtel Africa
 Wynk
 Robi
 Telenor India

Website www.airtel.com

Figure No. 2
Rank & Recognition
1st Ranked telecom operator in India

2nd Ranked telecom operator in Africa.

2nd Ranked in Interband's 'Best Indian Brands Report, 2016'

3rd Ranked mobile operator globally (in terms of subscriber base)

2nd Ranked in the third annual Brands' Top 50 Most valuable Indian Brand 2016' report

IG Rating Investment Grade Credit Rating from S&P, Moody's and Fitch.

Fastest India's mobile network for the year 2016 by Ookla.

Airtel at a Glance

4% of world's population connected through Airtel

355.7 Mn + Mobile subscribers across Asia (India and Srilanka) and Africa

76 Mn + Wireless data customers across Asia and Africa

903 Bn MB Data traffic carried on network FY 2016-17

1.55 TN Minutes of voice traffic for the year as on March 31st, 2017

USD 16.1 Bn Total Airtel Money Transaction Value in 2016-17.

31
 VODAFONE COMPANY PROFILE

At Vodafone India, Vodafone customers are at the heart of everything we do. That’s why
over 210 million Indians have chosen to stay connected with us.

Our knowledge of global best practices along with our deep exposure to local markets has
made us leaders in the telecommunications industry. Since commencing operations in
2007, we have consistently been awarded for our best-in-class network, powerful brand,
unique distribution and unmatched customer service. Whether an individual or enterprise,
our customers always receive world-class services that cater to their needs.

MISSION:

Vodafone is primarily a user of technology rather than a developer of it, and this fact is
reflected in the emphasis of our work program on enabling new applications of mobile
communications, using new technology for new services, research for improving
operational efficiency and quality of our networks, and providing technology vision and
leadership that can contribute directly to business decisions.

VISION:

Company Vision is to be the world’s mobile communication leader – enriching customers’

lives, helping individuals, businesses and Communities be more connected in a mobile
world.

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 Milliohm 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 GB£110 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

32
at GB£1.7 billion On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal
Electronics as Vodafone Group.

In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talk land 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 Aztec
Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores.

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 Air Touch Communications, Inc.
and changed its name to Vodafone Air touch plc. Trading of the new company commenced
on 30 June 1999. To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-Plus Mobil
funk. 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 Irwell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebranded it as

33
Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-largest mobile operator J-Phone,
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 (Eest). Radiolinja (Eest) 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 Bite.

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 Single point 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 Bun bury. 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

34
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 Connex-Vodafone
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
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 center
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 center. 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 rumors 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 one-
off costs of £23.5 billion due to the revaluation of its Mannesmann subsidiary. On 24 July

35
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
€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 Inspective, 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.

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.

36
About Vodafone:

Today, in India, becomes Vodafone. Now, the pink color logo of Hutch is replaced by
Vodafone Essar 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 “We’ve 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 Vodafone’s global expertise.” CEO,
Marten Pieter’s 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.

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 value-
added 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 one’s
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.

37
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.

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 world´s 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:
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.

38
Prepaid services (latest):

Vodafone Essar, one of India’s 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.

Rajiv Kohli, Chief Executive Officer, and Vodafone Essar - Punjab said, “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
Mini stores.
 ‘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.
Postpaid services (latest):

Vodafone Essar, one of India’s 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.

Sridhar Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Essar East Limited, said

“These budget plans will specially appeal to customers with high usage who can now
manage their mobile bills without compromising on talk time or SMS volume.”

39
Announced a special offer for its customers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Customers can now avail free VIP numbers with every new postpaid connection. The VIP
numbers provide customers an option to choose a number of their preference from a range
of special Golden numbers that usually comes with a huge price tag.
Value added services:

Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular services providers, has announced a special
offer for Zoo zoo fans across India. Vodafone customers can now get special oozoo DVDs
from a Vodafone Store and watch these adorable characters from Vodafone Essar’s recent
television commercials as they live life’s 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 Caller tune or
Vodafone Alerts at the Vodafone store to get the Zoo zoo DVD.

Dial 600 to activate:

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 - by sending and receiving text msg. 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. It’s 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.

40
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. 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! tie-up you have hundreds of
tunes and logos to choose from.

For every ringtone downloaded, you will have charged Rs. 7.00 (including the cost of SMS
sent). For every logo/picture message downloaded, you will have charged Rs. 3.00
(including the cost of SMS sent).

Flash & Blink

Vodafone now offers you two exciting ways to send messages. You can make your
message flash directly on your recipient’s 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.

41
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.

Vodafone voicemail

 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

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

42
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, hotel 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, and a data .
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, database
and the internet. All on your single incoming data number.

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. Vodafone helps you
manage your calls effortlessly so that you stay in control of your conversations, always.

43
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
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 two-
way (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.

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 to visit the bank or making a call. You can do Cell Banking from over 90 countries
worldwide. You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

44
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 India’s 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

Your Vodafone phone number and PIN number remains the same whether you are in
Delhi, Chandigarh, London and 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.
What’s 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.

45
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

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.

Vodafone for Help

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 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.

46
 Vodafone India

Type Subsidiary

Industry Telecommunications

Founded 1994; 24 years ago

Headquarters Lower Parel, Mumbai,

Maharashtra, India

Area served India

Key people Sunil Sood (CEO)

Services Telecommunications
Internet service provider

Revenue ₹42,956 crore(US$6.7 billion)

(2017)[1]

Operating ₹11,784 crore(US$1.8 billion)

income (2017)[1]

Members 212.52 million[2] (December.

2017)

Figure no. 3

47
 CHAPTER- 3
ANALYSIS
&
INTERPRETATION
OF DATA

48
 Data Analysis and Interpretation
The analysis of the data as per the survey findings. The data is represented graphically in
percentage. The percentage of the people opinion are analyzed and expressed in the form
of charts.
Q1. Which operator service do you use?
Ans.
Operator’s service name No. of respondents
Airtel 40
Vodafone 30
Idea 10
BSNL 5
Jio 15
Table No. 1

No. of customer's user

15

5
Airtel
40 Vodafone
10 Idea
BSNL
Jio

30

Figure No. 4
Interpretation:

The above graph show that Airtel is more excellent brand compare to Vodafone, Idea,
BSNL, Jio. Vodafone is also good but not enough to Airtel. Jio is quiet average by the rate
of experience by the customer according to the brand name. BSNL is below average due
low markets and less awareness of the people. So Airtel is a strong brand in the market due
to their better services.

49
Q2. Which company service is good after selling product?

Ans.

Company Service No. of responses

Airtel 55
Vodafone 20
Idea 10
Jio 15
Table No. 2

Service provided after Sales

15

10

Airtel
Vodafone

55 Idea
Jio

20

Figure No. 5
Interpretation:

The above graph shows that after sales service is good of Airtel than Vodafone, Idea, and
Jio. Vodafone is also good but not enough to Airtel. Jio is quiet average by the rate of
experience by the customer according to brand name.

50
Q3. Which company Internet Service is good in Delhi?

Ans.

Internet service provider No. of responses

Airtel 50
Vodafone 40
Other 10
Table No. 3

INTERNET SERVICE

10

50
AIRTEL
40
VODAFONE
OTHER

Figure No. 6
Interpretation:

In the above pie-chart Airtel internet service are 50% and Vodafone internet service is
40% and other internet service is 10%. So Airtel provides better internet service.

51
Q4. How long you have been using this Service?

Ans.

Years No. of respondents

0-2 years 65
2-5 years 20
5-10 years 5
More than 10 years 10
Table No. 4

Brand Loyalty
10
5

0-2 years
2-5 years
20 5-10 years
More than 10 years
65

Figure No. 7
Interpretation:

This graph show that customer change their brand according to new schemes launch by the
different company. In this graph there are 65% customers which are loyal for only 0-2
years. And 20% people they used the services at least 2-5. There are some people who
used the product at least 5-10 years due to their satisfaction of the brand and 10% people
who used the product for long time. Most of the time businessmen don’t change their
product due to their business.

52
Q5. Which type of connection do you prefer?

Ans.

Connection No. of respondents

Prepaid 58%
Post-paid 42%
Table No. 5

Connection

42%

58% Prepaid
Post-paid

Figure No. 8
Interpretation:

Through the above analysis we can easily find out that, majority of the people still prefer
prepaid connections more. There are 58% people who prefer prepaid connections whereas
42% people prefer postpaid connection in Delhi. Shows that there is tough competition for
prepaid. It is because of billing problems in postpaid connections.

53
Q6. Whose services are you rendering now?

Ans.

Operator’s service name No. of respondents

Airtel 65%
Vodafone 35%
Table No. 6

Services

35%

Airtel
65%
Vodafone

Figure No. 9
Interpretation:

Through the above analysis it is found that 65% people prefer Airtel connection and 35%
people prefer Vodafone connection.

54
Q7. What are the key factors/reasons for your association with current cellular service
provider?

Ans.

Factors/Reasons Airtel Vodafone

Awareness of the service 15 16
provider
Friends recommended 18 15
Retailer Influenced 10 4
Advertisement 6 7
Recommended
Other Reasons 4 5
Table No. 7

20
No. Of respondents

18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
AIRTEL
VODAFONE

Factors/Reasons

Figure No. 10
Interpretation:

From the above graph it is clear that people are using Airtel because their friends had
recommended. Where people are using Vodafone because of advertisement attraction.
After that awareness of the service provider is the factor which influenced customer to
render the service.

55
Q8. How do you find the behavior of customer care executives of your service provider?

Ans.

Behaviour Airtel Vodafone

Professional and prompt 30 25
Warm and helpful 20 15
Not responding 0 2
Lazy and slow 3 5
Table No. 8

35

30
No. of responds

25

20

15
AIRTEL
10
VODAFONE
5

0
Professional Warm and Not Lazy and
and prompt helpful responding slow
Behaviour

Figure No. 11
Interpretation:

Acceptance or rejection of any service is largely depended on the service provided by the
customer care which is also known as after sales service or customer relationship
management. If a company provides better service to the customer by solving their queries,
it can be successful to retain them. Similarly in case of the telecom service providers play a
major role to retain customers by solving their problems.

As per the survey conducted and its findings, it was concluded that Airtel is the leader in
maintaining the good relations with its customers and it solves customers’ problems
efficiently and effectively than Vodafone. But still people fell that customer care
executives are not responding and lazy and slow.

56
Q9. What kind of expectations do you have from your service provider?

Ans.

Expectations No. of responds

Cheap roaming charges 24
Improved service 32
Good network 38
Cheap call rates 4
Cheap SMS 2
Table No. 9

Cheap call Expectations Cheap roaming

rates Cheap SMS
charges
4% 2%
24%

Good network
38%
Improved
service
32%

Figure No. 12
Interpretation:

As per the research the people of Delhi are more inclined towards good network of their
service providers. After that people expects improved service from their service provider.

57
Q10. Rate your satisfaction level with your service provider?

Ans.

Customer satisfaction Airtel Vodafone

Very good 20 15
Good 15 10
Satisfied 10 10
Bad 5 10
Very bad 2 3
Table No. 10

25

20
No. of responses

15

10 AIRTEL
VODAFONE
5

0
Very Good Satisfied Bad Very bad
good
Customer satisfaction level

Figure No. 13
Interpretation:

Customers’ satisfaction plays a crucial role for the service provider. It is found that more
number of people is satisfied with Airtel whereas same number of people thinks that
Vodafone and Airtel are satisfied. It shows that satisfaction level of Airtel and Vodafone is
near about same.

58
Q11. How much do you spend per month on your mobile connection?

Ans.

Per Month expenditure Airtel Vodafone

Rs.100 10 5
Rs.200 20 10
Rs.500 30 15
More than Rs. 500 5 5
Table No.11

35

30
No. of Responses

25

20

15
AIRTEL
10 VODAFONE
5

0
Rs.100 Rs.200 Rs.500 More than Rs.
500
Per Month Expenditure

Figure No. 14
Interpretation:

Spending patter is also another criterion which is crucial for any telecom service providers.
Customers’ spending habits ultimately helps in deciding their loyalty towards the product.
For example, if a customer frequently spends money on the same product them it shows
that he prefers to buy that product than other product than other products which ultimately
leads to his loyalty towards that brand.

59
Q12. How long do you have to wait in customer care?

Ans.

Time Airtel Vodafone

Up to 1 minute 2 3
2 minute 6 4
3-5 minute 5 5
6-10 minute 10 20
11 minutes or more 20 25
Table No. 12

30
No. of Responses

25

20

15

10 AIRTEL
5 VODAFONE
0
Up to 1 2 minute 3-5 6-10 11
minute minute minute minutes
or more
Time

Figure No. 15
Interpretation:

The customer’s liking about a particular service provider is also depended on how the
customer care executive solves his problem and how much time he takes to reach the
customer. So, here the data is collected on the basis of how much a customer has to wait
while calling the customer care.

60
CHAPTER-4
FINDINGS
&
CONCULSION

61
 FINDINGS

 On the basis of consumer preference, majority of the peoples are preferred Airtel.
 On the basis of age group, most of the respondents are using Airtel, who are in the
category of up to 20 years.
 3.8% of respondents are only influenced by advertisements.
 Majority of the peoples are using prepaid scheme.
 Less than 20% of the peoples are only less aware about services provided by the
service provider.
 On the bases of after sales service, the majority of the respondents are highly
satisfied by Airtel services.
 No person is highly satisfied about the after sale service by Vodafone.
 On the basis of schemes at the time of the service, 55% of the people are highly
satisfied by Airtel.
 On the basis of periodical offers, majority of the people is highly satisfied by
Airtel.
 On the basis of outgoing call charges, majority of the people is highly satisfied by
Airtel.

62
 CONCULSION

India has one of the world’s largest telecommunication networks. The telecom story
continues to be the best evidence of the efficacy of the reforms process. In just six years,
the number of mobile subscriber base that only four other countries. China, 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 phone and of its usage.

This research report is conducted to compare the two biggest competitors in all time in the
telecom sector. In this research I can conclude that Airtel is the leader in customer service
and availability. The maximum no. of people who use the mobile is in the age group of 18
to 30. Prepaid is popular type of mobile connections, as they are consumer friendly and
recharging the connection is not a problem. People do not prefer postpaid because of
billing problems and their recharge plan.

Maximum no. of people spends more than Rs. 160 per month on their prepaid connections
and Rs.600 per month on postpaid connections. As Airtel is the only company having the
maximum no of mobile connections in India. So it must seriously look into the loop holes
of the existing customer service department.

We can say that in spite of so many competitors in the market Airtel is having a good
position just because every time, it tries its best to understand the need of its important
customers.

Airtel is the more popular then Vodafone. Airtel is preferred by the every class and it
established itself as a better quality and better service provider than its competitors.

But Vodafone is no fear of it’s because the young customers are more attracted by it, now
the Vodafone is trying to take over Airtel and Vodafone is giving new schemes in the
market.

I can say that the both Airtel and the Vodafone are going equally to the customer and they
choose and at the time of purchasing the result is that the Airtel is better than the Vodafone
in the Delhi region. The customers in Delhi thinks that connectivity and network of Airtel
is good then the Vodafone.

63
Vodafone is owned jointly by Vodafone and Essar whereas Airtel is owned by Bharti
Airtel.

Airtel has presence in all 23 telecom sectors whereas Vodafone has presence in 16 circles
only.

Airtel has a much bigger customer base than Vodafone.

Airtel relies on celebrities to promote its services whereas Vodafone has a smaller budget
and makes use of animated characters.

Airtel offers a number of products and services while Vodafone is mainly involved with
mobile telephony.

While Airtel is far ahead of Vodafone in terms of number of customer, presence in circles,
and variety of service offered, it is Vodafone that is ahead of Airtel when it comes to
luring customers with aggressive marketing ploys.

Airtel provides GSM, broadband internet, IPTV, DTH and telecommunications solutions
to large corporations whereas Vodafone is mainly involved with mobile telephony.

Whereas Vodafone has a stronger presence in the metros only, Airtel has penetrated deep
across the length and breadth of the country and is no longer confined to some pockets of
the nation.

As a brand, Airtel commands more respect and love from the customers than Vodafone
that is fast catching up with reliable services.

Network- Airtel has better network quality and better coverage. When you're travelling in
trains or bus, Vodafone signal fluctuates. But Airtel signal is always constant.

Internet- Now let's talk about their internet. Airtel has more spectrums. It means Airtel
Internet services be better than Vodafone. Airtel 4G is available in most parts of India,
while Vodafone is just planning to have it in six or so circles only.

Cost- Although both of them have high Calling and Data prices, but Airtel is somewhat
cheaper than Vodafone. Vodafone also have better 'Special Plans'.

64
 RECOMMEDATIONS

 The services available in Airtel and Vodafone is comparatively normal each other.
It is recommended to provide better customer care and value added services so that
customers will get more attracted towards the schemes.
 Vodafone should concentrate on bandwidth issues since it is getting more network
issues and Airtel is comparatively clear in such cases and require less view on
technical part.
 The types of plan those company’s having real well relation each other and since
should concentrate on continuing with providing similar kind of plans.
 The telecom operators should take less time for solving customer’s quires.
 Customer care executives should concentrate more on pre-paid connections for
price sensitive customer and post-paid connections for business class people or
higher class people. They should use their media tools accordingly.
 They should also focus on new technologies like 5G.
 Companies should also start promotional schemes for the customer.
 The Vodafone Company should try to increase their capacity to solve the
connectivity problem.

65
BIBLOGRAPHY

66
 BIBLOGRAPHY

Book
 Bernard J. T. Mallinder. Specification Methodology Applied to the GSM System.
In Eurocon 88, June 2016.
 Moe Rahnema. Overview of the GSM System and Protocol Architecture. IEEE
Communications Magazine. April 1993.
 Robert G. Winch. Telecommunication Transmission Systems. McGrawHill New
York, 1993.
WEB REFERENCES:
 www.trai.gov.in/articles/2002
 www.Vodafone.in/profie/history
 www.Airtel.in/profile/history
 www.tatateleservice.com/customersatisfaction/servicerelated
 www.ideacellular.com/services/comparison
 www.bookrags.edu.in/whatiscustomersatisfactio
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharti_Airtel
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone_India

67
 ANNEXURE

Name:

AGE:

Occupation:

Q1. Which operator service do you use?

 Airtel
 Vodafone
 Idea
 BSNL
 Jio

Q2. Which company service is good after selling product?

 Airtel
 Vodafone
 Idea
 Jio

Q3. Which company Internet Service is good in Delhi?

 Airtel
 Vodafone
 Other

Q4. How long you have been using this Service?

 0-2 years
 2-5 years
 5-10 years
 More than 10 years

Q5. Which type of connection do you prefer?

 Pre-paid
 Post-paid

68
Q6. Whose services are you rendering now?

 Airtel
 Vodafone

Q7. What are the key factors/reasons for your association with current cellular service
provider?

 Awareness of the service provider

 Friends recommended
 Retailer Influenced
 Advertisement Recommended
 Other Reasons

Q8. How do you find the behavior of customer care executives of your service provider?

 Behavior
 Professional and prompt
 Warm and helpful
 Not responding
 Lazy and slow

Q9. What kind of expectations do you have from your service provider?

 Cheap roaming charges

 Improved service
 Good network
 Cheap call rates
 Cheap SMS

Q10. Rate your satisfaction level with your service provider?

 Very good
 Good
 Satisfied
 Bad
 Very bad

69
Q11. How much do you spend per month on your mobile connection?

 Rs.100
 Rs.200
 Rs.500
 More than Rs. 500

Q12. How long do you have to wait in customer care?

 Up to 1 minute
 2 minute
 3-5 minute
 6-10 minute
 11 minutes or more

70