A

Dissertation Report On

“CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS AIRCEL”

Submitted By

Mr. Vaibhav Sopan Nehul

(MBA-Marketing)

Under The Guidance Of

Dr. Yogesh Bhowte

Submitted To

Savitribai Phule Pune University

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement

For the Award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration

Through

R. M. Dhariwal Sinhgad Management School

Kondhapuri, Pune

Batch (2014-2016)
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project titled “CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

TOWARDS AIRCEL” is an original piece of research work carried out by me under
the guidance and supervision of DR. YOGESH BHOWTE. The information has
been collected from genuine and authentic sources. The work has been submitted in
partial of the fulfillment of the requirement of MASTER OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION (M.B.A) to Savitribai Phule Pune University.

PLACE: Signature

DATE: VAIBHAV NEHUL

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am glad to express my profound sentiments of gratitude to all who rendered their

valuable help for the successful completion of this project report titled
“CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS AIRCEL” A big contribution from
all of them during weeks is very great indeed. My project during the program would
me nothing without their help. Beside this internship program makes me realize the
value of working together as a team and as a new experience in working environment.

Great appreciation goes to my college DR. YOGESH BHOWTE for encouraging,

supporting and helping me for the completion of the project successfully.

I would like to thanks all those companies and their Marketing Department for the
completion my project.

Last but not least; I would like to thank all of them who were involved and shared
their valuable information for successful completion of the project.
 CONTENTS
Sr. No. Particulars Page No.
I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
INTRODUCTION
II 2.1 Introduction of Topic 2
2.2 Objective of the Study 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
III 3.1 Sources of Data 4
ORGANISATION PROFILE
4.1About organization 5
IV 4.2 Historical background 5
4.3 Vision, Mission 7
4.4 Awards and Achievement 7
4.5 Any other relevant information of the organization 8
4.6 Product Profile 9
DATA ANALYSIS
V 5.1 Data analysis 12
CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORGANISATION
VI 6.1 Conclusion 15
RECOMMENDATION
VII 7.1 Recommendation 16
ANNEXURE
VIII 8.1 Bibliography 17
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

India is experiencing a communication revolution. It has changed the way business

is done and we are really heading towards being citizens of a global village.
Mobile telephony is leading the revolution and is expanding by leaps and bound. It
can be gauged from the fact that, our country is having 20 crores of mobile
population within 12 years of introduction of mobiles in India. The momentum is
expected to continue for long.

Now days, telecom companies are flooding Market with number of new and
innovative products. 'Survival of the Fittest' is a nature's law. Thus every company
is striving hard to acquire more Market share along with retaining the existing
Customer.

Thus I took the opportunity of summer project to have some insight in the
mobile telephony market and to study the market share of different telecom
companies.

The project involved studying the telephony market, segmenting the market, deciding
the sample size, preparing questionnaire, Field work, and analysis of collected
Data and drawing inference from the collected information etc.

In order to decide the market strategy every company is expected to study its
market share, customer feedback on its services. In mobile telephony market there
are many instances of customer leaves one service provider and avail the services of
other service provided. This is termed as "Switching". Day by days the "Switching"
is on rise. Thus I have tried to include the same also in my project.

After undergoing the project-it is understood that AIRCEL has highest market
share in the market where I did survey but extent of customer use services from
AIRCEL is also high due to good Network & Fast Connectivity
 INTRODUCTION
The breathtaking growth of the telecommunication companies in India over the last
twenty years has made a history. The economic resurgence affected in the early 1990s
brought around a paradigm shift on the overall business scenario of India. With the
arrival of private telecommunication companies in India, the industry observed
introduction of mobile phones into the Indian market and it became extremely popular
amongst the Indian masses. India's telecom sector has shown huge expansion in the
recent years in all respects of industrial growth due to liberalization in Government
policies after 1991. Removal of restrictions on foreign capital investment and
industrial de-licensing has allowed various private players to enter into the Indian
telecommunication market. The Indian telecom market is regulated by
Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which acts as an
independent regulator was set up in 1997 by the Indian Government. Despite several
controversies, the TRAI has earned a reputation for transparency and competency.
Today two types of mobile phone service providers operates in the Indian market,
they are -
• Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)

• Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Presently India has nearly 200 million telephone lines making it the third largest
network in the world after China and USA. With a growth rate of 45%, Indian
telecom industry has the highest growth rate in the world. Three types of service
providers exist in the Indian telecommunication sector, like the following -
• State owned companies like - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Videsh Sanchar Nigam
Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.

• Private Indian owned companies like - Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices.

• Foreign invested companies like - Vodafone, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Idea Cellular,

BPL Mobile, Spice Communications etc.
This project has been carried out to study the scope of Aircel with an aim to
popularize & meet the expectation level of the consumer. Research activities with the
help of well-structured questionnaire have been carried out to interact with the
customers for their feedback and also concentrated on a comparative study of Aircel
with its competitors through direct interview method. The project also covered the
opinion of the distributors and dealers among with different types of customers of
different industrial sectors and households. Due to increasing competition among
various players allowed the prices drastically down by making the mobile facility
accessible to the urban middle class population, and to a great extends in the rural
areas.

OBJECTIVES
The key objectives of the study are:
• To determine the consumer of cellular services.

• To determine the influencers who are mainly influencing the consumers to buy a
particular service provider.

• To determine the usage of various service providers in the Kolkata market.

• To findCompetitor analysis in Kolkata market with the help of consumer preference.

• To find Feedback from the consumers about the services provided by AIRCEL.

• To find Overall response from the consumers about the company to judge the
satisfaction level of the consumers of AIRCEL.
 DATA COLLECTION

 Secondary data collection:

All methods of data collection can supply quantitative data (numbers, statistics or
financial) or qualitative data (usually words or text). Quantitative data may often be
presented in tabular or graphical form. Secondary data is data that has already been
collected by someone else for a different purpose to yours.

 Manual
 Company Handbook
 Company Websites
 4.1 ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Type Joint venture

Industry Telecommunications
Founded In 1999
Founder Chinnakannan Sivasankaran
Headquarters Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Key people Kaizad Heerjee, CEO
Products Mobile telephony, wireless
broadband services
Revenue US$ 1.159 billion (2012)
Members 83.05 million (June 2015)
Parent Maxis Communications(74%)
Sindya Securities and Investments (26%)
Slogan The joy of a little extra
Website aircel.com

AIRCEL 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 volumes. The strategy has since been copied by
several operators. Its network base stations, microwave links, etc. is maintained by
Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Network whereas IT support is provided by IBM, and
transmission towers are maintained by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. 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
AIRCEL to provide low call rates of 1/minute (US$0.02/minute).

4.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Aircel is India‟s fifth largest and fastest growing GSM mobile service provider with
a subscriber base of 65.1 million. Aircel is a pan India operator with a presence across
23 circles. The company offers voice & data services ranging from postpaid and
prepaid plans, 2G and 3G services, Broadband Wireless Access (BWA), Long Term
Evolution (LTE) to Value-Added-Services (VAS). In addition to providing premium
internet access solutions to facilitate data intensive live streaming applications, the
company has also paved the way to be amongst the first to offer 3G and 4G LTE
services to customers.

Aircel successfully bid for 3G licenses/ spectrum in 13 states, (Andhra Pradesh,

Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, Kerala, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal,
Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Orissa, Assam and North East), with BWA licenses/
spectrum also obtained in 8 of these states. Aircel‟s 3G rollout has been the fastest roll
out ever in the Indian Telecom Space. Aircel Is optimistic about the data bundling in
its key markets. Tamil Nadu, being the strongest circle with spectrum in 900MHz, 3G
and BWA and in incumbent circles where the company is strong in voice, will now
start adding data bundles.

In 2006, Aircel was acquired by Malaysia‟s biggest integrated communications

service provider Maxis (Maxis Communication Berhard) and is a joint venture
with Sindya Securities & Investments Pvt Ltd - Maxis holds 74% equity in the
company.

Aircel has positioned itself as a data led telecom player with a focus on young
Indians and has addressed the multi-functionality of a mobile phone in many
innovative ways which are Industry firsts, be it the Aircel Pocket Internet, the first
social networking mobile INQ on Aircel, Aircel Apollo Mobile Health Care, Blyk on
Aircel, an enriching engagement for the Youth and very recently the first telecom
player to introduce Facebook Voice Updates on Aircel.

The vision of preparing for the future has led to Aircel being recognized as
the leading player in providing overall mobile satisfaction as well as the leading
regional mobile operator by institutions such as Voice and Data, IDC andtele.net .

Aircel was also adjudged the “Best Employers” by Aon Hewitt in 2011. The
company‟s continuous focus is on acquiring, nurturing and retaining highly talented
people by providing them with an inclusive and dynamic working environment. It has
also set up the Aircel Academy, a 25,000 square foot facility in Gurgaon (HQ) to
providelearning and specialized development for employees.
 4.3 VISION & MISSION:

VISION
To provide global telecom services and delight customers.

MISSON
We will meet the mobile communication needs of our customers through: Error – free
service delivery Innovative products & services Cost –efficiency Unified messaging
solutions.

SPONSORSHIP AND BRAND AMBASSADORS

Aircel is the main shirt sponsor of Indian Premier League cricket team Chennai Super
Kings and I-League football team Shillong Lajong FC. Aircel is also the principal
sponsor for Atlético de Kolkata FC who play in the Indian Super League football
competition. It is also a major sponsor of the Chennai Open ATP tennis tournament
and the Professional Golf Tour of India. Aircel also sponsors the Save the Tiger
campaign for protecting India's tigers. The brand ambassadors of Aircel include the
Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Tamil actor Suriya. Aircel
also engaged with boxer Mary Kom, Tamil actors Dhanush and Sameera Reddy.

4.4 AWARDS

1) Voice and data award (2006)

2) IDC award (2007)

3) Cmai infocom award (2009)

4) Globle mobile award (2010)

5) Award Business Delivery Innovation Award (2010)

6) 5th National Telecom Award(2011)

 4.5 ANY OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION OF THE
ORGANIZATION

Corporate Social Responsibility

Education: The digital divide in India is prominent. To bridge this digital divide we
conceptualized Aircel a+. In this project, we run computer learning centers for
children from underprivileged backgrounds, who would otherwise have no access to
basic computer literacy. The project is run in partnership with various NGOs in
government schools for the underprivileged or in NGO shelters. Children and youth
are taught the Microsoft ULIP curriculum that encompasses both basic as well as an
intermediate curriculum. This empowers them with a good knowledge in computer
operations that helps not only instilling confidence in the children but also goes a long
way in preparing them for the journey ahead.

Employability: India today has a notable skill gap in the white collared bracket. We
are witnessing ever swelling population growth in our cities coupled with large scale
migrations from small towns and rural India. A majority of these people are youth and
their aspirations are not met due to the lack of skill sets required. As a result, most of
these youth get marginalized early and end up leading a life of exploitation, acute
poverty and hopelessness.

Environment: The Tiger is our national animal and one that has been a part of our
folklore and history for millennia. Yet this magnificent beast is on the brink of
extinction. The Tiger can easily be called as the metaphor for nature, as it is a top
predator and its existence ensures a healthy and a sustainable ecological balance. The
year 2008 revealed the shocking number that there were just „1411' tigers left in India.
„Save Our Tigers' is a cause related campaign started by Aircel during the latter part
of 2008 with an aim to create mass awareness on the plight of this magnificent beast
and rally efforts to save it.
 4.6 PRODUCT PROFILE

SERVICES OF AIRCEL

 ENTERTANMENT & LIFESTYLE

 GAMES, DOWNLOADS & APPLICATION

 SOCIAL NETWORKING
AIRCEL NIGHT PACK
 5.1 ANALYSIS

1. Age wise Usage of Service Provider

Age Group No. of Respondents Percentage

<20 Years 15 6
20-25 Years 55 22
26-30 Years 52 21
31-35 Years 48 19
36-40 Years 30 12
41-45 Years 15 6
46-50 Years 13 5
51-55 Years 11 4
56-60 Years 7 3
>60 Years 4 2
Total 250 100

Analysis: The main users of cellular services are falling in the age group of 20-35
years. But I have felt that there is lot of scope in below 20 segment and 35-50 segment
which need to be explored properly with appropriate marketing strategies.

2. Who Influences Consumer for Buying Service Provider

Factors influencing No. of Respondents Percentage

consumers for buying
service provider
Self 108 43.2
Family Members 57 22.8
Friends 47 18.8
Sales Persons 28 11.2
Others 10 4
Total 250 100

Analysis: Consumer himself and their family members are mostly taking the decision
at the time of buying the products.
3. Usage of Various Service Providers in the Market

Service Providers No. of Respondents Percentage

Bsnl 32 12.8%
Reliance 20 8%
Tata Teleservice 18 7.2%
Airtel 72 28.8%
Vodafone 68 27.2%
Aircel 40 16%
Total 250 100%

Analysis: According to the survey the most popular brands are Airtel &
Vodafone.

4. Consumers Feedback on Brand Name & Services Provided By the Aircel.

Consumer Preference No. of Respondents Percentage

Brand Name 31 12.4%
Connectivity 42 16.8%
Coverage 54 21.6%
Voice Clarity 45 18%
Call Rate 63 25.2%
Value Added Service 12 4.8%
Value for Money 3 1.2%
Total 250 100%

Analysis: It was seen that consumers are not happy with the connectivity and
voice quality. But they are happy with the call rate. But to satisfy the
consumers the AIRCEL need to improve the connectivity, coverage, and voice
quality immediately.
 5. Aircel’s Overall Response from the Market & Ratings (Consumers Pole)

Response No. of Respondents Percentage Ratings Total Rating

from Market
Very Good 40 16 10 (40*10)=400
Good 62 24.8 8 (62*8)=496
Average 83 33.2 5 (83*5)=415
Bad 48 19.2 3 (48*3)=144
Very Bad 17 6.8 0 (17*0)=0
Total 250 100 1455

Analysis: Then, Total Rating/Total No. of Respondents= 1455/250=Weighted

Average = 5.82. This implies AIRCEL have an average consumer rating which means
the satisfaction levels of consumers are average.

6. Expectation of the Consumers from a Particular Service Provider

Consumer Preference No. of Respondents Percentage

Brand Name 21 8.4%
Connectivity 70 28%
Coverage 67 26.8%
Voice Clarity 48 19.2%
Call Rate 37 14.8%
Value Added Service 3 1.2%
Value for Money 4 1.6%
Total 250 100%

Analysis: Consumers are largely voted on connectivity, coverage, voice

clarity and call rate. So, the consumers‟ expectations from the companies are
to improve these services as soon as possible.
 6.1 CONCLUSION

It was a great opportunity for me to watch and analyze the market directly and cope
up with the challenges. It is also at the same time not an easy job to do. However the
information gathered from the survey is authentic. India has one of the world‟s largest
telecommunication networks. In just six years, the number of mobile subscribers has
gone up from just about one million to 100 million. There is a further lot of scope for
the growth of telecom market because in the above 50 age group the demand is
increasing day by day. Through this study we understood the various perceptions of
different respondents towards Aircel. We also found out how much they were
satisfied with the overall quality & service of the product. The customer‟s expectation
from the various segments and the problems faced by them were identified. Today
Aircel is facing severe challenges from the other telecommunication companies like
Airtel, Vodafone etc but still there is a big scope of further penetrating into the current
market scenario by more innovative marketing strategies. Connectivity, coverage, call
rate and network quality is the most important parameters nowadays. Without proper
coverage and network quality the companies cannot survive in the market. They need
to again fully organize the distribution system also. What is most needed is the
advertising and promotion of the particular service. As we surveyed we found out that
most of the people are not aware about the latest actions of the company. If the above
suggestions are implemented, the brand named Aircel can find better prospect in the
future.
 7.1 SUGGESTIONS

• From the above data I can see that the AIRTEL & VODAFONE has capitulates
most of the market share, but still there is a big scope of further penetrating into the
current market scenario by more innovative marketing strategies.

• Having worked in the above market I have felt that there is lot of improvement
needed in promotional strategies and making the people aware of the usefulness of
VAS, WAP etc. Unless nothing is done in that respect, awareness will remain a
problem for advanced services providing by the companies.

• Also I have felt that that people are less aware of IVR which will be the next big
thing. In areas of low literacy rate, IVR will see large scale adoption due to ease of
use and local language support.

• Rural applications initiatives have launched in pilots, and are likely to grow quickly
in less developed geographies because of the willingness to spend on services which
enhance livelihood. Users are also confused about tariff structures for premium SMS,
IVR and data usage.
• So in a nutshell, most of the telecom companies must focus on those areas where
other competitors are lagging.
 8.1 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books:
1. Mobile Communications by Jochen Schiller-Second Edition

2. Kotler, Philip (1999); Marketing Management, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.
3. Saxena, Rajan (2003); Marketing Management, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited,
New Delhi.
4. Kothari (2001); Research Methodology, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.
5. Kazmi & Batra(2008); Consumer Behaviour, Excel Books, New Delhi.

6. Beri, G.C., Marketing Research, 3rd Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publication.

7. Ravi Shanker (2007) "Services Marketing: The Indian Perspective", Excel Books, New Delhi.

Articles:
1. Business & Economy
2. Business Standard

3. The Economic Times

4. Innovative Marketing
5. Leonard L. Berry and Parasuraman A. (1991), Marketing Services-Competing Through Quality, The
Free Press.

6. Pratibha B. Munot (2002), „Study Of Telecommunications Structure In India‟, Oklahoma State

University, M.S. in Telecommunication Management Program.
7. Shanthi N.M. (2005), „Effectiveness of Predictive Churn Models for sustaining market share in
telecom industry – An Appraisal‟, ICFAI Journal of Services Marketing, September 2005.

Websites:
1. www.aircel.com
2. www.bsnl.co.in
3. www.dot.gov.in
4. www.trai.gov.in