CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

The Telecommunication Industry is considered as having potential for investment in India. India
has witnessed rapid growth in Telecommunication services. This expected to soar in the next few
years. Since the Indian sky was open for the private sector in 1990, the industry has gone from
initial euphoria, to subsequent despair, and the hope in the wake of the move of the revenue
sharing. As in well known, worldwide the growth in telecommucation bears a close relationship
to GDP growth. The Indian market is still in the developing stage and the country can expect to
witness a robust rate of growth as India’s economy expands and continue to grow at a high rate
over a next few years. The major players in Indian Telecommunication Industry are Airtel,
Vodafone, Idea, Reliance jio and BSNL.

India's telecommunication network next generation network, employs an extensive system of

modern network elements is the second largest in the world based on the total number of
telephone users. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by the mega telephone
networks and hyper-competition among them. It has the world's third-largest Internet user-base.
According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, the Internet user base in the country
stood at 190 million at the end of June, 2013. Major sectors of the Indian telecommunication
industry are telephony, internet and television broadcast Industry in the country which is in an
ongoing process of transforming into such as digital telephone exchanges, mobile switching
centers, media gateways fibre-optics Microwave radio relay access network, which connects the
subscriber to the core, is highly diversified with different copper-pair, optic-fiber and wireless
technologies and gateways at the core, interconnected by a wide variety of transmission systems
using networks. Telecommunication has supported the socioeconomic development of India and
has played a significant role to narrow down the rural-urban digital divide to some extent. It also
has helped to increase the transparency of governance with the introduction of e-governance in
India. The government has pragmatically used modern telecommunication facilities to deliver
mass education programmes for the rural folk of India. The Indian Mobile subscriber base has
increased in size by a factor of more than one-hundred since 2001 when the number of
subscribers in the country was approximately 5 million to 617.53 million in May 2010. As the
fastest growing telecommunications industry in the world, it is projected that India will have
1.159 billion mobile subscribers by 2013. Furthermore, projections by several leading global
consultancies indicate that the total number of subscribers in India will exceed the total
subscriber count in the China by 2013. The demand for telephones was ever increasing and in the

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 1990s Indian government was under increasing pressure to open up the telecom sector for private
investment as a part of Liberalisation-Privatisation-Globalisation policies that the government
had to accept to overcome the severe fiscal crisis and resultant balance issue in 1991.
Consequently, private investment in the sector of Value Added Services (VAS) was allowed and
cellular telecom sector were opened up for competition from private investments.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was created in 1997. It was formed to act as a
regulator to facilitate the growth of the telecom sector. It was during this period that the
Narsimha Rao-led government introduced the National Telecommunications policy (NTP) in
1994 which brought changes in the following areas: Ownership, service and regulation of
telecommunications infrastructure. The policy introduced the concept of telecommunication for
all and its vision was to expand the telecommunication facilities to all the villages in India.
Liberalization in the basic telecom sector was also envisaged in this policy. They were also
successful in establishing joint ventures between state owned telecom companies and
international players. Foreign firms were eligible to 49% of the total stake. The multi-nationals
were just involved in technology transfer, and not policy making.

1.1 Profile of the organization

1.1.1Vodafone In
]
Vodafone Group multinational telecommunications London Newbury, Berkshire. world's 3rd-
largest mobile telecommunications company China Mobile SingTel), and had 434 million
subscribers as of 31 March 2014. is a British company headquartered in and with its registered
office in It is the measured by both subscribers and 2013 revenues (in each case behind and
Vodafone owns and operates networks in 21 countries and has partner networks in over 40
[4]
additional countries. Vodafone Global Enterprise telecommunications Its division provides and
IT services to corporate clients in over 65 countries.

Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange FTSE 100 Index. It had a market
[5]
capitalization NASDAQ. and is a constituent of the of approximately £89.1 billion as of 6 July
2012, the third-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange.It has a secondary
listing on

In 1980, Sir Ernest Harrison OBE, the then chairman of Racal Electronics plc. agreed to a deal
with Lord Weinstock of General Electric Company plc to allow Racal to access some of GEC's
tactical battle field radio technology. The head of Racal's military radio division – Gerry Whent
was briefed by Ernest Harrison to drive the company into commercial mobile radio. Whent
visited GE’s mobile radio factory in Virginia, USA the same year to understand the commercial
use of military radio technology. Previously in 1979, Jan Stenbeck, a head of a growing Swedish
conglomerate, set up an American company, Millicom, Inc., to pursue mobile communications
by applying for licences in the United States

2
In the summer of 1982, Stenbeck approached Racal’s Whent about bidding jointly for the UK’s
second cellular radio licence, soon to be awarded, the first going by prior arrangement to British
Telecom. The two struck a deal giving Racal 60% of the new company, Racal-Millicom, Ltd,
and Millicom 40%. Due to UK concerns about foreign ownership, the terms were revised, and in
December 1982, the Racal-Milicom partnership was awarded the second UK mobile phone.

Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 16 telecom
circles in India Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded
Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India
and is especially strong in the major metros.Vodafone Essar provides 3G services based on
900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology, offering voice and data services in 16 of the
country's 23 license areas.Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in
India that covers 16 telecom circles in India . Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its
products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone
coverage throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros.Vodafone Essar provides
3G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology, offering voice and data
services in 16 of the country's 23 license areas.The main targeted customers of Vodafone are
from rural India.By offering cheap and light mobile sets Vodafone attracts most of the customers
of small villages and towns.Vodafone offers cheap and free connections to all customers..In
every district and big towns Vodafone opens its service centers to provide better support and
services.Vodafone has a strong logistic and supply all over India.In every small town the
potential customers can easily purchase the Vodafone SIM & Sets.Vodafone attracts youngsters
by offering colorful handset at very low prices.

On 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone
Group,with Gerry Whent as its CEO. In July 1996, Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland
it did not already own for £30.6 million. Peoples Phone On 19 November 1996, in a defensive
move, Vodafone purchased for £77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were
overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of
Astec Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores. In January 1997,
Gerald Whent retired and Christopher Gent took over as the CEO. The same year, Vodafone
introduced its quotation mark Speechmark logo, composed of a in a circle, with the O's in the
Vodafone logotype representing opening and closing quotation marks and suggesting
conversation.

On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. E-Plus
Mobilfunk. Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network and changed its name to
Vodafone Airtouch . The merged company commenced trading on 30 June 1999. In order to gain
anti-trust approval for the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in The acquisition gave
Vodafone a 35% share of On 28 July 2000, the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone

3
Group plc.In 2001, the Company acquired Eircell, the largest wireless communications company
in Ireland, fromeircom. Eircell was subsequently rebranded as Vodafone Ireland. Vodafone 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.

In 2007, Vodafone entered into a title sponsorship deal with the McLaren Formula One team,
which traded as "Vodafone McLaren Mercedes" until the sponsorship ended at the end of the
2013 season.

In May 2011, Vodafone Group Plc bought the remaining shares of Vodafone Essar from Essar
Group Ltd for $5 billion. On 1 December 2011, it acquired the Reading based Bluefish
Communications Ltd – an ICT consultancy company. The acquired operations formed the
nucleus of a new Unified Communications and Collaboration practice within its subsidiary –
Vodafone Global Enterprise, which will focus on implementing strategies and solutions in cloud
computing, and strengthen its professional services offering.

On 24 June 2013, Vodafone announced it would be buying German cable company Kabel
Deutschland. The takeover is valued at €7.7 billion, and was recommended over the bid of rival
Liberty Global. Accordingly, Vodafone signed in its subscribers in lakhs from the
year onwards it has been launched in Delhi. Industry analysts say that a majority of
them will be pre-paid customers, whose loyalty to a particular brand is always in doubt.
However, pre-paid for the cellular is nothing but the engine for growth and there is
always a possibility that most of them will shift to post-paid once they are
convinced of the quality of service provided.On the other hand the entry of a new
operator lends more visibility to the service and there is also increased trade
activities that is the number of dealers will increase and m o r e p e o p l e w i l l b e o n
t h e r o a d t r yi n g t o s e l l t h e s e r v i c e a n d p r o d u c t . T h e r e i s a l s o greater
consumer awareness of what cellular service can deliver and expectations go up in
terms of pricing or service standards or network availability.

Vodafone is another emerging GSM provider in India with coverage in Kerala, Mumbai, Delhi,
Kolkata, Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab with a total
subscriber base of 27 million.

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(1)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
mobilecommunictions, u s i n g n e w t e c h n o l o g y f o r n e w s e r v i c e s , r e s e a r c h f o r i
m p r o v i n g operational efficiency and quality of our networks, and providing technology vision
and leadership that can contribute directly to business decisions.

(2)Vision:

Our 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.

On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those
of B e l l A t l a n t i c C o r p t o f o r m V e r i z o n W i r e l e s s . T h e m e r g e r w a s
c o m p l e t e d o n 4 A p r i l 2000.I n N o v e m b e r 1 9 9 9 V o d a f o n e m a d e a n u n s o l i c i t e d
b i d f o r M a n n e s m a n n , w h i c h w a s 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 "titanic struggle.

On 28 July 2000 the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc. In April2001
the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network.
In2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and
rebranded it as Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-largest
mobile operator J-Phone.

Japan.O n 1 7 D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 1 V o d a f o n e i n t r o d u c e d t h e c o n c e p t o f " P a r t n e r N
e t w o r k s " b ysigning 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. T h e c o n c e p t w o u l d b e u s e d t o e x t e n d t h e V o d a f o n e b r a n d a n d
s e r v i c e s i n t o m a r k e t s 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

5
3December 2002 the Vodafone brand was introduced in the Estonian market with signing of a
Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti). Radiolinja (Eesti) later change dits 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.
InA p r i l 2 0 0 3 O g V o d a f o n e w a s i n t r o d u c e d i n t h e I c e l a n d i c m a r k e t a n d i n
M a y 2 0 0 3 Vodafone Italy (Omnitel Pronto-Italia) was rebranded Vodafone Italy.
On 21 July 2003Lithuania was added to the community, with the signing of a Partner Network
agreement with Bitė.

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
renamei t s m o b i l e p h o n e o p e r a t i o n s t o C y t a m o b i l e . V o d a f o n e . I n A p r i l 2 0 0 4
the Company purchased Singlepoint airtime provider from John Caudwell
( C a u d w e l l G r o u p ) a n d approx 1.5million customers onto its base for £405million, adding
sites in Stoke on Trent(England) to existing sites in Newbury (HQ), Birmingham, Warrington
and Banbury. In November 2004 Vodafone introduced 3G services into Europe. In June 2005
the Company increased its participation in Romania's Connex to 99% and a l s o
bought the Czech mobile operator Oskar. On 1 July 2005 Oskar of the
CzechR e p u b l i c w a s r e b r a n d e d a s O s k a r V o d a f o n e . L a t e r t h a t y e a r o
n 1 7 O c t o b e r 2 0 0 5 Vodafone Portugal launched a revised logo, using new text
designed by Dalton Maag,and a 3D version of the Speech mark logo, but still retaining a red
background and white writing (or vice versa). Also, various operating companies
started to drop the use of the SIM card pattern in the company logo. (The rebranding of
Oskar-Vodafone and 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.

Single brand partnership with Og Vodafone which would operate under th

e n a m e Vodafone Iceland and on 19 December 2006 the Company announced the sale of its
25%s t a k e i n S w i t z e r l a n d ' s S w i s s c o m f o r C H F 4 . 2 5 b i l l i o n ( £ 1 . 8 b i l l i o n ) . A f
ter the deal,S w i s s c o m w o u l d s t i l l b e p a r t o f t h e c o m m u n i t y a s a P a r
tner Network.
F i n a l l y i n D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 6 t h e C o m p a n y c o m p l e t e d t h e a c q u i s i t i o n of
Aspective, E n t e r p r i s e a p p l i c a t i o n s s ys t e m s i n t e g r a t o r i n t h e U K , s i g n a l i n g V o
d a f o n e ' s i n t e n t t o g r o w a significant presence and revenues in the ICT marketplace
.E a r l y i n J a n u a r y 2 0 0 7 T e l s i m i n T u r k e y a d o p t e d V o d a f o n e d u a l b r a n d i n g
a s T e l s i m 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 June2007 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
WalledG a r d e n a n d V o d a f o n e b e c a m e t h e f i r s t m o b i l e n e t w o r k t o f o c
u s a n e n t i r e m e d i a campaign on its newly launched mobile Internet portal in the
UK .

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On1August2007Vodafone P o r t u g a l l a u n c h e d V o d a f o n e M e s s e n g e r , a s e r v i c e w i t
h W i n d o w s L i v e Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its
footprint to Serbia as VIP mobile was added to t h e c o m m u n i t y a s a P a r t n e r N e t w o r k
a n d o n 2 0 M a y 2 0 0 8 t h e C o m p a n y a d d e d V I P Operator as a Partner Network
thereby extending the global footprint to Macedonia. InMay 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.
Today, in India, becomes Vodafone. Now, the pink color logo of Hutch is replaced by Vodafone
Essar’s corporate red colored one.

On 28 October 2005 Connex in Romania was rebranded as Connex-Vodafone and on

31October 2005 the Company reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Sweden to
Telenor f o r a p p r o x i m a t e l y € 1 b i l l i o n . A f t e r t h e s a l e , V o d a f o n e S w e
d e n b e c a m e a P a r t n e r Network. In December 2005 Vodafone won an auction
to buy Turkey's second-largestmobile 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 centre of
expertise for the company dealing with Customer Care for its higher value customers,technical
support, sales and credit control. All cancellations and upgrades started to be dealt
with by this call centre. On 5 January 2006 Vodafone announced the completion of t h e s a l e
of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor. On February 2006 the Company closed
i t s Birmingham Call Centre. In 1 February 2006 Oskar Vodafone became V o d a f o n e C z e c h
R e p u b l i c , a d o p t i n g t h e r e v i s e d l o g o a n d o n 2 2 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 6 t h e Company
announced that it was extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the signing of Partner
Network Agreement with Mobiltel, which is part of mobilkom Austria group.On 12 March 2006
former chief, Sir Christopher Gent, who was appointed the honorary post Chairman for Life
in 2003, quits following rumours of boardroom rifts. In April2 0 0 6 t h e C o m p a n y
a n n o u n c e d t h a t i t h a s s i g n e d a n e x t e n s i o n t o i t s P a r t n e r N e t w o r k Agreement
with BITE Group, enabling its Latvian subsidiary "BITE Latvija" to becomethe latest member of
Vodafone's global partner community.

Sweden changed its name to Telenor Sverige AB and Connex-Vodafone becameVodafone

Romania, also adopting the new logo. On 30 May 2006 Vodafone announcedthe biggest loss in
British corporate history (£14.9 billion) and plans to cut 400 jobs; itreported one-
off costs of £23.5 billion due to the revaluation of its Mannesmannsubsidiary. On 24 July 2006
the respected head of Vodafone Europe, Bill Morrow, quit unexpectedly and on 25 August 2006
the Company announced the sale of its 25% stakein Belgium's Proximus for €2 billion. After the
deal, Proximus was still part of the community as a Partner Network.

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 HongK o n g -

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 based ison Whampoa, Vodafone Essar is expecting to touch over35 millioncustomers across 400,
000 shops and thousands of own employees along with employees of its business associates.
Vice chairman, Ravi Ruia, Vodafone Essar s a i d “ W e ’ v e h a d a g o o d i n n i n g s
a s i n 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. Vodafone CEO,
Marten Pieters of the Vodafone will be landing in India for them 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.

(3)Swot analysis of Vodafone

(a)Strength:

1. Massive market coverage – Vodafone is ranked 395th amongst the worlds top 2000 brands
by Forbes. It is known for its wide distribution and network cover. It has the second largest
subscriber base in India. It is the second highest ranked telecom operator and is behind
only China Mobile. Vodafone operates in more then 25 countries across the globe.
2. Revenues generated – Vodafone generates billions of dollar of revenue every year. The latest
figure of 2016 is it has generated a revenue of a whopping 87.3 billion dollars. Naturally, this
results in boosting the rankings and expectations from Vodafone even further. It is ranked 104 in
its sales figures across the global 2000 list and number 84 in market value.
3. Marketing – The Marketing by Vodafone is legendary. The Vodafone pug is known across the
globe to follow Vodafone users everywhere. Similarly, the Vodafone zoozoo’s was a brilliant
and endearing campaign which converted many users to die hard fans of Vodafone. Time and
time again, Vodafone comes out with brilliant campaigns at the right time.

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4. Premium cost – While other telecom operators are penetrating the market, Vodafone is
differentiating its services regularly. Due to its marketing and communications, users already
think that Vodafone is a notch above the rest and they are proud to be a user of Vodafone. As a
result, Vodafone is still able to get some premium out of their customers and float in margins
whereas other telecom operators are struggling to maintain positive margins.
5. Subscriber base – Vodafone has a massive subscriber base which they retain efficiently. As of
2016, the total subscribers of Vodafone across the world was close to 350 million people.
6. Brand recall and brand valuation – The brand valuation of Vodafone is 28 billion dollars as of
2016. Besides the brand valuation, the brand equity and the brand recall of the brand is very high
too. It is impossible that anyone will not refer to Vodafone when talking about the top telecom
players.

(b)Weakness

a) Dropping subscriber base – As can be seen from the subscriber base of Vodafone is dropping in
the last 4 years. This is a major problem for Vodafone looking at the global market scenario. The
brand needs to strengthen its core values and implement strategies to acquire more customers.
b) Dropping brand valuation – One of the possible reasons for the drop in subscriber base of
Vodafone can be the dropping brand valuation of the company. Both – subscriber base and brand
valuation of the company was very strong to begin with. But both have them have suffered in the
last 3-4 years. Brand valuation drop in the last 1 year was phenomenal.
c) Losing market share in USA – USA is a country where Vodafone could have demanded the
premium it needs to keep itself afloat. However, it is fast losing market share in the USA
to Verizonwireless and AT&T, both of whom are performing far above Vodafone if we consider
the US market only.
d) Poor performance in Europe – Due to brexit and other economical conditions in Europe,
Vodafones performance in its home market has been poor and it has not generated much revenue
from its home market. In fact, if we look at revenues, 40% of the revenue is coming from India
and not from US or UK.

(c)Opportunities

1. Rural markets – If a high percentage of subscriber base of Vodafone is in India, then rural market
penetration becomes a priority for the telecom operator. However, Vodafone seems to be
operating more only in urban markets whereas its top competitor such as Airtel and Reliance
communications have penetrated rural markets successfully. This naturally causes a loss of
future potential for Vodafone.
2. Emerging markets – Not only rural markets in developing countries, other emerging markets
such as those in Africa are also a great potential place for Vodafone. These new and emerging
markets have increasing disposable income and communication becomes important once a
network is growing. Thus, there are many roles a telecom company can play in an emerging
market. Hence, besides the rural markets, Vodafone should also concentrate on Emerging
markets across the globe.

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3. Dependency on Cellular networks – As people rely more and more on their smartphones,
paralelly their dependency on cellular networks is rising. This is a pretty good news for
Vodafone because customer retention is not much of a problem. It is a need based segment, so
the number of potential users will always be on the rise. The challenge is to acquire the potential
base of consumers.
4. 4G – The 4G spectrum has created disruption but at the same time has made people look at the
telecom operators once again to see which one they will side with. In india for example, the free
plans of Reliance jio have resulted in many people leaving Vodafone and joining Jio.
Nonetheless, in the long run, the 4G spectrum can result in higher revenues for the telecom
operator.
5. Improving the network coverage – A major problem which consumers of Vodafone sometimes
have from the brand is its network coverage. Vodafone is known to have poor network coverage
many a times. This is possible because of the number of towers the company owns or operates
out of. Keeping an eye on the network coverage and improving it as much as possible is a
good opportunity for Vodafone to increase customer acquisition as well as retain current
customers of the organization.

(d)Threats

1. Competition – A major threat for Vodafone is the competition it faces everywhere it goes. So if it
goes to the US, it will face competition from Verizon Wireless and AT&T. China has its
own China mobile. India has Airtel and Reliance Jio. There is cut throat competition in the
telecom sector and this is strongly affecting the brand Vodafone, which was trying to offer
differentiated services by keeping a bit of premium pricing.
2. Low margins – Vodafone’s differentiation initially worked, but in the last 3-4 years, the
competition has been so fierce, that the whole telecom market is operating in a
penetrative pricing mechanism. Competition is always good for consumers but too much
competition is bad for companies. As a result, the margins earned against the revenues generated
has been steadily dropping for all telecom brands (vodafone included) in the last 3-4 years.
3. Mobile number portability – MNP is a major threat to Vodafone because whenever a competitor
introduces a cheap plan or someone like Reliance Jio gives phone calls and internet for free, then
consumers dont think twice before switching brands. MNP has made it easier for consumers to
switch between multiple telecom operaters. As a result, this is a major threat to Vodafone which
is losing its brand equity already.
4. Saturation – Saturation of the market in terms of the noise created by the telecom operators as
well as the number of competitors present ultimately results in a waste of revenue spent on
customer acquisition campaigns or strategies. Saturation results in the brand spending more and
more on customer acquisition and getting lesser customers for the same amount spent.

10
1.1.2 Reliance jio

Indian telecom Industry, largest growing industry, has massive potential to serve people and
improving day by day. With awareness in young generation about this sector, the public demand
is all time high and still increasing. With upgradation in technology and demand all major
services providers from across the world entered in this sector. Government also makes liberal
policies to facilitate investors and also setup a fair and proactive regulatory framework. Telecom
sector is expected to generate 4 million direct and indirect jobs in next 5 years. The employment
opportunities to be created due to increases in market size in rural areas.

Net Neutrality: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) banned differential pricing in the
country,thereby ending zero-rated and free data services such as Facebook Free Basics. Thereby,
no company can offer or discriminatory tariffs for data.New Telecom Minister: Manoj Sinha
took charge as the telecom minister replacing Ravi Shankar Prasad.
GST Bill passed: In August, the GST bill was passed though there were many uncertainties
around the taxation rate, which would negatively influence its profitability. Through its revised
draft of GST on Nov 2016, the government provided additional tax credit for the telecom
companies. This is expected to go in tune with the Digital India initiative by the government and
a strong rural telecom infrastructure will play a critical role. Though GST is expected not to be
implemented before June 2017, we can expect to see some more changes.
Reliance Jio entry post the entry of Reliance Jio in to the mobile market, Jio has been focusing
on gaining quick subscribers. They have already made discounted plans (which have disrupted
the industry by making calling free) and easy access to SIMs by linking in to solely Aadhaar. It
has been quick to gain subscribers reaching quickly 50M by end of 2016 and expected to double
this by the end of Q1 2017.

Though the subscribers that Reliance Jio has gained initially are the low ARPU (average revenue
per user) customers and most of the customers are skewed to the low interest prepaid users, it has
made quite a name for itself in the country. Though complaints persist in terms of service quality
and internet speeds, Jio seems to be quickly fixing these issues and running towards the 100M
subscriber mark. Though this will make it the third biggest telecom player in the country within
the next 2-month, only time will tell about the profitability of this company. The industry has
definitely taken a big hit in profitability already and share prices of the big players have dropped
significantly; it seems that consolidation is a reality just waiting to unfold.

Spectrum auction: Government released 4G airwaves in the 700 MHz band among others for
auction and the government expected to raise about 5.6 lakh crore from the auction sales. 700
MHz lies at the spectrum sweet spot for 4G deployment (right balance between area covered and
penetration) thus making it very valuable to any telecom operator. The total auction proceeds to
the government was a mere 65K crore, when compared to the expectation of 4 lakh crore (from
700MHz alone at base price) and the main reason for the same was the huge debt that the
industry is already facing.

11
Telecom sector is witness lot of investments and developments due to daily increase subscriber
base. The industry has engrossed FDI worth US$ 23.92 billion from April 2000 to December
2016(Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, 2017).

Reliance Communications Limited (RCom) has signed a binding agreement with Brookfield
Infrastructure Partners to sell a 51 per cent stake in Reliance Infratel, RCom’s tower unit, for Rs
11,000 crore (US$ 1.65 billion). Private equity giant KKR & Co LP and pension giant Canada
Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) are in talks to acquire a significant stake in Bharti
Infratel, which is expected at around US$ 4 billion. Singapore Telecommunications Limited
(Singtel), the major shareholder in Bharti Airtel, announced that it has signed an agreement with
its majority owner Temasek Holdings Private Limited to purchase a 7.39 per cent stake in Bharti
Telecom Limited, the parent company of Bharti Airtel Limited, in a deal worth US$ 659.51
million.

Axiata Digital, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s largest telecom firm Axiata Group Berhad, has made
its entry into Indian e-commerce market by investing Rs 100 crores (US$ 15 million) in
Bengalurubased StoreKing. Government of India to make a windfall gain from sale of spectrum
in 2016-17 and achieve its fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent of GDP for the year.

Reliance Communications Ltd, India’s fourth largest mobile services provider, has agreed to
acquire Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL), the local unit of Russian company Sistema
JSFC, in a deal valued at Rs 4,500 crore (US$ 675 million), which includes payments to the
government for spectrum allotted to Sistema.

American Tower Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange-listed mobile infrastructure firm, has
acquired 51 per cent stake in telecom tower company Viom Networks in a deal worth Rs 7,635
crore (US$ 1.14 billion).

Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson has announced the introduction of a new radio
system in the Indian market, which will provide the necessary infrastructure required by mobile
companies in order to provide Fifth-Generation (5G) services in future.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited announced the launch of its digital services with JIO in Mumbai
on 1st September 2016 with Jio Welcome Offer. With the permission of Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India, users will have access to unlimited LTE data and national voice, video,
messaging services, Jio applications and content, free of cost up to 31 December 2016.

(1)Vision:

JIO intends to bring global harmony, peace & prosperity by way of contentment and mutual
respect for every living being and strive for a world free of violence, poverty & disease.

12
 (2)Mission:

JIO is committed to building a co-operative environment and social infrastructure for overall
growth, development and well-being of communities by improving health, wealth, knowledge
and spirituality. Our aim is to Provide fair & optimum opportunities for strong social
relationships amongst jains from all fields. Create a global awareness about jain ethos, values
and philosophy of our noble principles, which benefits humanity and our environment

(3)Reliance Jio Market strategy:

a) Digital solution for Education, Healthcare, Entertainment and Entrepreneurship.

b) Vo-LET technology with more features
c) Digital currency
d) Cloud Storage with Jio Drive

(4)SWOT Analysis

(a)Strengths

1) Reliance Industries is strong parent company backed up Mukesh Ambani.

2) Company has begun with 4G service with no tariff. It has strong financial capability to stand
with initial losses.
3) Strong brand image due to excellent marketing and advertising strategy
4) It has brand ambassadors like Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachan who has deep influence on
masses.
5) It has technological advantages i.e. 4G LTE services with VoLTE.
6) It has built strong national network with investment of around $20 billion.
7) Its network covers all the 22 circles across the India.
8) Jio apps are offering wide range of features like movies, shopping, chat, cloud, games etc. under
one umbrella.
9) Jio compact with affordable LYF smartphones would increase the brand.

(b)Weaknesses

1) Advertisement showing PM picture would raise new controversies.

2) Mobile number portability is not very smooth and jio is expected large number of customers.
3) would migrate from existing service providers.
4) Company has to depend upon data consumption for profitability due to making voice calling
free.
5) Jio made late entry would make difficult to increase market share.
6) Earlier company’s telecom venture CDMA was unsuccessful.
7) Company has inadequate fide optic capacity.

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 (c)Opportunities

1) The company can offer telecom services at competitive rates.

2) India has huge market for telecom services because of large scale availability of smart phones.
3) At international market company has huge opportunity in many developing countries.
4) Due to technological edge company can also promote exclusive services to consumers.
5) Company reliance communication has a huge infrastructure over the country.
6) Lower data tariff plans may further attract advertisement industry with option of e-marketing.

(d)Threats

1) People would not like to use jio after free services are over.
2) The initial phase of rapid increase it is very difficult to maintain a large consumer base to
cross breakeven point.
3) Existing strong competitors having broader and loyal consumer base would tough to compete
4) Indian telecom market is very competitive due to existing big players like Vodafone, Idea etc.
5) Changing government policies would also create uncertainty in market.
6) Fast upgrading technology from 2G to 3G, 3G to 4G and next generation 5G approaching
shortly, needs huge investment plan to remain in market.

Reliance Jio disturb the telecom industry with its free services, and kept the pressure on
competitors by announcing lower data plans and free voice calls and roaming starting on 1 April
2017. The share market also pays for its aggressive entry in telecom sector and RIL has jumped
13% in a week Reliance Jio has crossed 10 crore subscribers. Now question is that how many
subscribers will convert in to paying consumers? Many analysts say the number would be 50%.
Reliance Jio’s average revenue per user would be high than competitors around Rs150. Company
expecting average revenue per user is Rs227 in 2018-19 with more than 50% subscribers will opt
Rs303 plan, while other on Rs149 plan. At an average revenue per user Rs227 company will
need 11.1 crore consumer to reach breakeven point. But if company further reduces prices due to
competition, it will need more consumers to reach breakeven point.

If 50% of company’s subscribers remain stick to Jio, it will create serious repercussions for
competitors. On other hand jio consumers who has also attach to other companies would reduce
usage, as the result other companies would face decrees in average revenue per user.
Aggressive ad campaign of reliance Jio may also affect the industry’s scenario. It will difficult
for other player to grow their consumer base and it will lead to high promotional expenses.
Other important challenge is drop in pricing power of telecom companies. Because of aggressive
pricing of Jio, other companies have no choice to reduce their prices. If other players fail to
match the Jio’s offer, their market share will go down and if they reduce rates, revenue will
decree.

14
It is for the first time since 2008-09 that the annual revenue of Indian telecom companies turns
down to Rs 1.88 trillion in 2016-17 and will decline more to Rs 1.84 trillion in 2017-18. The
annual revenue is probable recover to Rs1.87 trillion in 2018-19.
Reliance Jio’s extreme capitalism strategy, reflected in large capital deployment, has a massive
effect on the industry. This is forcing number 2 player (Vodafone) and number 3 (Idea) to
consider a merger. Possibly company is trying an acute endgame to become a super- dominant
player in telecom industry.

Indian telecom sector is going through a change in completion, before there is competition
regarding cheaper rates of voice calls and rooming but now the struggle is shifted over data
packs, fastest speed, latest technology and cheaper rates.The telecom industry directly employed
2.2 million people. New circumstances could lead to 30% job losses in next 12 to18 months due
to automation of tele services to cut costs.
Reliance Jio’s mega entry generates lot of drastic and unanticipated changes in consumer’s
behaviors. The entrant impacts the equilibrium and jolt the telecom industry. It leads to a
uncertainty, the big services providers talks about mergers and acquisitions. Due to exiting
barriers, they will not get of the industry but it becomes too difficult to survive for small players.
The main objective of Reliance Jio is increasing their consumer base by providing high speed
internet at nominal rates. The company would have generated a significant market share in next
3-5 years. In end reliance Jio has successfully hit the target market and has deep pockets to invest
but has threat to competition and technology.

On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, North East, Jammu &
Kashmir. 4G in India ended. Reliance Communications paid 58642.9 million for spectrum in 13
circles. The circles it will provide 3G in are RCOM recently has started to offer 3G services
through network sharing in the states where it does not hold license for 3G operations. Reliance
provides 3G services in Uttar Pradesh East through Aircel's 3G network and in Uttar Pradesh
West through Tata Docomo's 3G network and it allows Tata Docomo customers to roam on
Reliance's network in Delhi, where Tata Docomo does not operate. On 11 June 2010, the
broadband wireless access (BWA) or spectrum auction in India ended. Infotel Broadband, a
subsidiary of Reliance Industries,won pan-India licence in the auction across 22 circles, the only
telecom operator other than state-owned BSNL/MTNL to do so.Infotel paid the government
128477.7 million for the licence.

According to Cellular Operators Association of India LTE (COAI) director-general Rajan S.

Mathews, Reliance Industries was expected to launch 4G services in December 2011 They were
expected to use technology. On 25 May 2012, RCom announced a price reduction of 61% on its
3G services .On 31 January 2013, Reliance announced its partnership with Lenovo Android
operating systemto market co-branded smartphones in India. The smartphones were said to use
the and have dual-core processors.

15
Subsidiary Reliance Telecommunication Limited (RTL) operates in Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh,West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Assam, and the northeast of India. It
first offered GSM services in January 2003 .Reliance Tech Services is the IT services wing of
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group. It provides IT consultancy, business process
outsourcing and software development for Reliance Communications and other ADA group
companies .In 2011 Reliance provided up to 28 Mbit/s data rate in India with its MIMO
technology.

1.1.3 Airtel

Airtel limited is an Indian multinational New Delhi, India. It operates in 20 countries across
South Asia, Africa, and the Channel Islands. Airtel has a GSM network 2G, 3G 4G world's third
largest largest cellular service provider China Mobile. telecommunications services company
headquartered in in all countries in which it operates, providing and services depending upon the
country of operation. Airtel is the mobile telecommunications company by subscribers, with over
275 million subscribers across 20 countries as of July 2013. It is the in India, with 192.22 million
subscribers as of August 2013. Airtel is the Second largest Asia-Pacific mobile operator by
subscriber base, behind
Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephony fixed telephony broadband subscription
television Cisco Chennai and second largest provider of in India, and is also a provider of and
services. It offers its telecom services under the "airtel" brand, and is headed by Sunil Bharti
Mittal. Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Gold Certification. It
also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The
company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable
connecting and Singapore. Bharti Airtel added 5.10 lakh subscribers to take its base to 20.97
crore at the end of July,2014. Its market share in India is highest with a value of 28.41%.
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 volumes. The strategy has since been adopted by several operators. Ericsson Nokia
Siemens Network IBM Its network—base stations, microwave links, etc.—is maintained by and
whereas IT support is provided by 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
Airtel to provide low call rates of 1/minute .
Sunil Bharti Mittal founded the Bharti Group. In 1983, Mittal was in an agreement with
Germany's Siemens to manufacture push-button telephone models for the Indian market. In
1986, Mittal incorporated Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL), and his company became the first in

16
India to offer push-button telephones, establishing the basis of Bharti Enterprises. By the early
1990s, Sunil Mittal had also launched the country's first fax machines and its first cordless
telephones. In 1992, Mittal won a bid to build a cellular phone network in Delhi. In 1995, Mittal
incorporated the cellular operations as Bharti Tele-Ventures and launched service in Delhi. In
1996, cellular service was extended to Himachal Pradesh
1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired control of JT Holdings, and extended cellular operations to
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 2000, Bharti acquired control of Skycell 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 rebranded under the single
Airtel brand. In 2004, Bharti acquired control 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. In 2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri
Lanka. In 2010, Airtel acquired the African operations of the Kuwait-based Zain Telecom. In
March 2012, Airtel launched a mobile operation in Rwanda. Airtel launched "Hello Tunes", a
Caller ring back tone service, 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 on that year.
During the 2009–10 financial year, Bharti negotiated for its strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to
manage the network infrastructure for the tele-media business. On 31 May 2012, Bharti Airtel
awarded the three-year contract to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up an Internet Protocol access
network (mobile backhaul) across the country. This would help consumers access internet at
faster speed and high quality internet browsing on mobile handsets. In May 2013, Bharti Infotel
paid Rs 50,000 as compensation to a customer "for unfair trade practices". The customer alleged
that the company continued to aggressively demand payment despite customer requests for
disconnection of service.
Airtel comes from Bharti Airtel Limited; Bharti Airtel is one of the leading alternative
providersof telecommunications services in India and the first private telecom services provider
with a footprint in all the 23 telecom circles. Bharti Airtel since its inception has been at the
forefront of technology and has steered the course of the telecom sector in the country with its
world class products and services. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three
individual strategic business units (SBU¶s) - Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services &
Enterprise Services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM
technology across 23 telecom circles while the Airtel Telemedia Services business offers
broadband &telephone services in 94 cities. The Enterprise services provide end-to-end telecom
solutions tocorporate customers and national & international long distance services to carriers.
All the seservices are provided under the Airtel brand

Airtel comes from Bharti Airtel Limited, one of Asia’s leading integrated telecom
services providers with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Bharti Airtel since its
inception has been at the forefront of technology and has pioneered several innovations in the
telecom sector.

17
Airtel was born free, a force unleashed into the market with a relentless and unwavering
determination to succeed. A spirit charged with energy, creativity and a team driven ³to seize the
day´ with an ambition to become the most globally admired telecom service. Airtel, in just ten
years of operations, rose to the pinnacle to achievement and continues to lead.As India's leading
telecommunications company Airtel brand has played the role as a major catalyst in India's
reforms, contributing to its economic resurgence

Bharti Airtel, incorporated on July7, 1995 is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises. The
Bharti Group has a diverse business portfolio and has created global brands in the
telecommunication sector. Bharti Airtel is Asia’s leading integrated telecom services
provider with operations in India and Sri Lanka. Bharti Airtel has been at the forefront of the
telecom revolution and has transformed the sector.

The enterprise services group includes units for both long-distance carriers and for corporate
clients. Bharti Airtel has nearly 2.9 million total customers -- approximately more than 27
million GSM mobile and 1.6 million fixed-line customers. The company was founded as Bharti
Tele-Ventures in 1995 and changed its name in early 2006 to Bharti Airtel Limited. It is a unit of
Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises) Sunil Bharti Mittal (Chairman and Group
Managing Director).

This highly innovative company created telecom history when it farmed out its
network management to experts Nokia and Ericsson, and set a trend in the global cellular
industry. Last year, Vodafone gave the company a vote of confidence by acquiring 10% mostly
from early Bharti investor Warburg Pincus. This year, Bharti will offer its second overseas
services after the Seychelles. It acquired a license for tax haven Jersey, in the Channel Islands,
and is looking for more. It also plans to spend $2billion this year to double the size of its network
and cover 50% of India's population, up from40% currently. 20 Bharti Airtel offers GSM mobile
services in all the 23 -telecom circles of India and is the larges tmobile service provider in the
country, based on the number of customers. The group offers high speed broadband internet with
a best in class network. With Landline services in 94 cities we help you stay in touch with your
friends & family and the world. Get world class entertainment with India’s best direct to home
(DTH) service digital TV in more than 150 cities Enterprise Services provides a broad portfolio
of services to large Enterprise and Carrier customers. This division comprises of the Carrier and
Corporate business unit. Enterprise Services is regarded as the trusted communications partner to
India's leading organizations helping them to meet the challenges of growth.

Discover the magical experience of digital entertainment with Airtel. From DVD quality picture
and sound, the best and widest variety of channels and programmes to the best on-demand
content on Airtel Live, your TV viewing experience change forever with digital TV from Airtel
Bharti Tele-Ventures was incorporated on July 7, 1995 as a company with limited liability
under the Companies Act, for promoting telecommunications services. Bharti Tele-Ventures
received certificate for commencement of business on 18th
jan. The Company was initiallyformed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Telecom
Limited.

18
 Bharti Tele-Ventures has struck a deal with Shyam Telecom to buy out the latter's
67.5 per cent stake in cellular services company Hexacom for Rs430 crore.
Bharti Tele garners 0 m via FCCBs.Samsung India Electronics Limited has tied up with cellular
operator Bharti for bundlingits mobile handsets with a connection.

The Bharti group finalized an Rs500-crore deal to share its national long-distance (STD)network
with VSNL in a first-of-its-kind accord between two top telecom service providers in a bid to
optimize capacities in the NLD segment.31.Internet gateway and services provider, Videsh
Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL) has signed aRight to Use (RoU) agreement to deploy mobile
telephony major, Bharti Tele-Ventures' existing National Long Distance (NLD) backbone.
Airtel offers talk time transfer service .Airtel has announced money-back guarantee offer in case
of call drop or poor network experience for its subscribers.Bharti launches2-in-1 card.Airtel
launched two-way international roaming and GPRS for prepaid customers in the Maharashtra
and Goa circles. India's leading cellular company Bharti Tele-Ventures has bagged the Asian
Mobile News operator of the year award in India and the subcontinent .Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
has awarded a million equipment contract to Swedish telecoms company Ericsson.Bharti
Televentures announced formation of a new strategic business unit to offer various telecom and
IT services through a single contact.

Bharti Televentures unveiled a mobile portal featuring sports, entertainment and new samong
others.Airtel ties up with Micro Tech to set up 'Mcops' vehicle security system.Bharti Tele-
Venture on July 19 launched ring back tone service which is a personalized mobile music service
where the caller hears songs and other sound clips instead of the traditional switchboard ring-ring
tone. Airtel, a private telecom services provider, has commissioned its first 24x7customer service
centre in Andhra Pradesh.Airtel unveils Rs 199 pre paid card.

AirTel join hands with NMIMS to offer executive MBA programme.AirTel introduces new
scheme for hearing impaired in Maharashtra & Goa. AirTel inks pact with JP Mobile.AirTel
unveils first virtual calling cards in India.BTVL rolls out EDGE services in Bangalore.Airtel
rolls out Full Talk time Advantage card.

(1)Swot analysis of airtel

(a)Strengths

1. Renowned Telecom company: With its 19+ years of rich experience in telecom industry this
MNC had travelled far to become world’s 3rd largest telecom operator overseas with operationsin
nearly 20 countries.

19
2. High Brand Equity: It is one of the pioneer brands in telecommunication having a high brand
recall and with a whopping subscriber base.
3. Extensive infrastructure: With the formation of Indus tower & due to its partnership with Idea
& Vodafone, the infrastructure of Airtel has extended in all parts of the country resulting into
nationwide penetration.
4. Strategic Alliances: The company has top notch stakeholders, namely Sony Ericsson, Nokiaand
singtel, and the recent one being Apple. Such strategic alliances boost the brand equity and the
bottom line of the company.
5. Torchbearer of the telecom Industry: With its number 1 spot due to its excellent services in
developing economies, Airtel has interconnected the life of people in an highly efficient way.
Thus, where Vodafone is an external entrant, Airtel is a leading nationwide player in India and
the torchbearer of the telecom industry in India.

(b)Weaknesses

1. Outsourced Operations: Outsourcing operations helped Airtel in lowering its cost. But on the
other hand, they are running the risk of being dependent on some other companies which may
affect its operations.
2. Venturing into African operations: Although it’s been 4 years that Airtel has acquired Zain’s
Africa business, but Airtel is still struggling to turn around the unit which was bought at a
whoppy 9 billion dollars.
3. High Debt: With its acquisitions turning out to bad investment, and credit being high and
margins being low, Airtel group is under high debt. Airtel does not have as deep pockets as
Vodafone.

(c)Opportunities

1. Strategic Partnership: Partnering with smart phone companies is going to be a smart strategies far
as MNP (mobile number portability in India) is concerned. This will ensure fixed cash flows in
the future and a higher customer base.
2. Market Development: With fierce competition in the telecom industry & shrinking margins,
venturing out in new markets/developing economies will prove fruitful for the company.
3. VAS: VAS (Value Added services) is going to future of the telecommunication industry & by
specializing itself in this vertical Airtel can differentiate itself in highly competitive market. With
introduction of unique services, Airtel can avail higher margins.
4. Untapped geography of the current market: Although it is currently providing 3G & 4G services,
but these services are limited to specific geographical locations. Expansion of these services to
most of its regions will help the company get more margins and customers.
5. LTE: The whole wireless world is moving towards LTE (long term evolution or 4G). LTE for
mobile broadband can be a good solution for India where fixed broadband penetration is
otherwise low. Airtel has taken the lead with this version of LTE in 4 cities, but
deployment needs to catch up pace. Despite a weak LTE ecosystem in India, Airtel should

20
 portray itself as the embracer of that technology. The company lacks nationwide 3G license with
spectrum in 13 out of 22 telecom service areas. Airtel’s LTE network for mobile broadband is
still confined to only 4 cities in India.

(d)Threats

1. Government Regulatory Framework: With the auction of spectrum & change in the government
policies on a regular basis, it is a potential threat to the stability & existence of this industry
thereby affecting the players.
2. Competition: Price war in the home market and declining margins due to this is adversely
affecting the overall business of the group.
3. MNP (Mobile number portability): MNP gives the customer independence to change the service
provider while retaining the number and as Airtel charges are premium over other service
providers, it can see slump in subscriber base in the next fiscal year with PAN India MNP
applicable from May 3rd 2015.

(2)Mission

(a)Hunger to win customers for life.

(3)Vision

(b)Our vision is to enrich the lives of our customers. Our obsession is to win customers for life
through an exceptional experience.

1.1.4 Idea:

Idea Cellular, commonly referred to as mobile network operator Mumbai, India. Idea is a pan-
India integrated GSM operator offering 2G and 3G services, and has its own NLD and ILD
operations, and ISP license. With revenue in excess of $4 billion; revenue market share of nearly
15%; and subscriber base of over 121 million in FY 2013, Idea is India’s third largest mobile
operator. Idea ranks among the top 10 country operators in the world with a traffic of over 1.5
billion minutes a day. Idea, is an Indian based in
Initially the Birlas, the Tatas and AT&T Wireless Cingular Wireless each held one-third equity
in the company. But following AT&T Wireless' merger with in 2004, Cingular decided to sell its
32.9% stake in Idea. This stake was bought by both the Tatas and Birlas at 16.45% each.
Tata's foray into the cellular market with its own subsidiary, Tata Indicom, a CDMA-based
mobile provider, cropped differences between the Tatas and the Birlas. This dual holding by the
Tatas also became a major reason for the delay in Idea being granted a license to operate in
Mumbai. This was because as per Department of Telecommunications (DOT) license norms, one
promoter could not have more than 10% stake in two companies operating in the same circle and
Tata Indicom was already operating in Mumbai when Idea filed for its licence.

21
The Birlas thus approached the DOT and sought its intervention, and the Tatas replied by saying
that they would exit Idea but only for a good price. On 10 April 2006, the Aditya Birla Group
Aditya Birla Nuvo, a company in-charge of the Birlas' new business initiatives, the remaining
stake was acquired by Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd., an AV Birla family-owned company.
Currently, Aditya Birla Group Axiata announced its acquisition of the 48.18% stake held by the
Tatas at Rs. 40.51 a share amounting to Rs. 44.06 billion. While 15% of the 48.14% stake was
acquired by holds 49.1% of the total shares of the company. Malaysia based controls a 14.99%
stake in the company.
On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction crore Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Tamilnadu,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra Goa, Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (West). in India ended. Idea paid 5,768.59 for spectrum in 11
circles.
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala,
Tamilnadu,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (West The
circles it will provide 3G in are& (East) .On 28 March 2011, Idea launched 3G services in
[5]
Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh Madhya Pradesh. Ahmedabad, Shimlaand Indore . This makes Idea
the sixth private operator (eighth overall) to launch its 3G services in the country following Tata
Docomo, Reliance Communications, Airtel, Aircel ,Vodafone.
Idea currently supports up to 21.1 Mbit/s over 2G speeds of 256 kbit/s. However, different
handsets support different speeds, from 384 kbit/s, 3.6 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s or 21.1 Mbit/s. Speeds
also depend on the 3G plan/recharge that users opt for. Idea cellular has announced a cut of 70%
in the tariff of its 3G services.
On 23 November 2011 Idea Cellular launched two affordable 3G handsets in India: Idea 3G
Smartphone Blade priced at Android 7,992 and Idea 3G Smartphone priced at 5,850. Both
handsets are based on 2.2 Froyo.
Idea has also launched a Dual-SIM Android smartphone in India on 15 June 2012 named as Idea
ID-918 at a price point of Rs. 5,994 ($108 approx.) It features Android v2.3 OS, 3.2-inch
capacitive touchscreen, 3G, Wi-Fi and 3.2 MP rear facing camera.On 5 March 2013, Idea
launched another 3G smartphone called Idea Zeal 3G which is a Dual SIM phone with 3
Megapixel camera.
Idea Cellular's history dates back to the year 1995, when it was incorporated as Birla
Communications Services The following year, the company entered into a joint venture with
Grasim Industries and the global telecom giant AT&T. The same year, its name was changed to
Birla AT&T Communications Limited. A merger with Tata Cellular Limited took place in 2000.
In 2002, the company created the brand „Idea' and changed its name to Idea Cellular Limited.
The same year it launched operations in Delhi and crossed the one million subscriber base; in
2005,it crossed the subscriber base of five million. In 2006, the Tata Group transferred all its
shares to the Aditya Birla Group and the group became the largest shareholder in the company.
In 2007, Idea came with an IPO and got listed on the bourses - the same year it reached the
subscriber base of 60 million.

22
Especially idea cellular provides many offers which attracts customer of all agegroups. For
example, sms offers can easily attract youngsters. And people who areusing idea sim-card, can
talk at very less call rate. So most of people use this productIdea cellular limited has many big
names and good brand image so bulk of the people use idea sim-cards.Good advertisement
always attracts people & idea cellular limited introducesnew and attractive advertisement
regularly and have celebrity as their brand ambassador like Abhishek Bachchan, so it is a big
factor.

In line with the Government’s vision of Digital India, Idea has accelerated its efforts of building
a digital economy. Backed with a pan-India wireless broadband coverage, Idea forayed into
Digital services with the launch of a suite of digital entertainment apps - Idea Music, Idea
Movies & TV and Idea Games. With this the company has begun its transformation from a pure
play mobile operator to an integrated digital services and solutions provider. Idea will also
expand its digital offerings into digital communication, digital payments, cloud & storage,
digital information and many more.

Idea’s pan-India network of over 2.7 lakh cell sites covers over 400,000 towns and villages. The
company is further expanding network infrastructure to make high speed mobile broadband
services reach out to a large population of the country. Idea has been rapidly rolling out 4G
network across the country, adding over 1 lakh broadband sites in the last 2 years, taking its
broadband coverage to over 1.2 lakh towns and villages across the country. Idea has also set up
a fibre network of over 1.50 lakh kms.

Using the latest in technology, Idea provides world-class service delivery through the most
extensive network of customer touch points, comprising of Idea outlets, call centre, Digital app
(My Idea App.) and social media. Idea’s commitment to providing superior customer experience
has been recognized at various forums. The leading market research firm Forrester in its
‘Customer Service Index 2016’ has ranked Idea at No. 1 position in customer service and rated
it as “good” - the only wireless service provider to achieve this feat!
Himanshu has been the Managing Director of Idea Cellular Ltd, an Aditya Birla Group company
since 2011. He also serves as Director with Aditya Birla Management Corporation Private
Limited, the strategic advisory unit of Aditya Birla Group.

A veteran of the Indian telecom industry, Himanshu has greatly contributed to its evolution over
two decades. He engineered Idea’s fast-paced growth making it one of the top players and the
fastest-growing mobile operators in India. He also led the company’s foray into the wireless
broadband business, readying it for the next wave of growth.

Himanshu is on the GSMA Board – the international body formulating and driving global GSM
eco-system; and the Chairman of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
He has been consistently recognized for his leadership skills. He was awarded the Voice & Data
‘Telecom Person of the Year Award’ in 2014 and the ‘Outstanding CEO Award’ by CEO India.
Business Today recognized him as the Best CEO (Telecom Category) in 2013 and 2015 for his
outstanding contribution to the telecom industry.

23
Himanshu is an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology (Mesra) and the Indian Institute of
Management, Bangalore. He is currently focusing on getting Idea ready for potential business
with specific emphasis on 3G and 4G services.
Idea Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, India's first truly multinational corporation.
Global in vision, rooted in Indian values, the Group is driven by a performance ethic pegged on
value creation for its multiple stakeholders.

The group operates in 25 countries, and is anchored by over 100,000 employees belonging to 25
nationalities. The Group has been adjudged 'The Best Employer in India and among the Top 20
in Asia' by the Hewitt-Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.
A premium conglomerate, the Aditya Birla Group is a leader in swathe of products - viscose
staple fibre, aluminium, cement, copper, carbon black, insulators, garments.

The Group has also made successful forays into financial services, telecom, software, BPO and
retail sectors. Today, the Group is India's most diversified business house
This telecom company has licenses to operate in all 22 service areas. Presently it is operating in
13 circles. Idea Cellular value–added services like GPRS, call conference, GSM, GPS and also
provides customized solutions according to business specific needs.
With a customer base of 98 million as on August 2011, it is among top 25 telecom companies.
Through merger and acquisitions, Idea Cellular has received established service areas for mobile
operations. In January 2001 it merged with Tata Cellular, which had service area in Andhra
Pradesh. In June 2001, through its acquisition of RPG Cellcom, it received Madhya Pradesh
service area. In January 2004 it received service areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala
through its acquisition of Escotel Mobile Communication (Escotel). In 2006 it became part of
Aditya Birla Group. Idea Cellular has acquired 40.8% stake in Spice Communication.
Idea has a network of over 70,000 cell sites covering the entire length and breadth of the country.
Idea has over 3,000 Service Centres servicing Idea subscribers across the country, including 450
special Experience Zones for 3G promotion. Idea’s service delivery platform is ISO 9001:2008
certified, making it the only operator in the country to have this standard certification for all 22
service areas and the corporate office.

Idea has received several national and international recognitions for its path-breaking
innovations in mobile telephony products and services. Idea won the prestigious Voice & Data
Telecom Leadership Awards 2017 under Internet & Broadband Services, Marketing, Network
Security, VAS & Apps and Business Process Innovation categories for various successful
initiatives and deployments in these areas. Idea won the prestigious ET Telecom Award in 2017
for Best Enterprise Mobility Solution. Idea was awarded the Golden Peacock Award for
Corporate Social Responsibility for being the best among the Indian Telecom Companies for
CSR. Idea was recognised as the Best Company of the Year 2015 at India Business Leader
Awards by CNBC and is listed among the Top 25 companies in the Business Today ‘Best
Companies to Work For’ Survey. Idea MD Himanshu Kapania was awarded the Best CEO of
the year 2015 by Business Today.

24
Idea’s footprint will cover nearly 70 percent of India’s telephony potential. Idea Cellular had
16.13 Million subscribers as on June30, 2007, and had a market share of 15.4 percent as
on June 30,2007 in its 11 service areas of operation Idea Cellular's history dates back to
the year 1995, when it was incorporated as Birla communications The
followingy e a r , t h e c o m p a n y e n t e r e d i n t o a j o i n t v e n t u r e w i t h G r a s i m
Industries and the global telecom giant AT&T. The same year, it’s name was changed to
Birla AT&T Communications Limited. A merger with Tata Cellular Limited took
place in 2000. In 2002,t h e c o m p a n y c r e a t e d t h e b r a n d ‘ I d e a ' a n d c h a n g e d i t s
n a m e t o Idea Cellular Limited. The same year it launched operations in D e l h i a n d
c r o s s e d t h e o n e m i l l i o n s u b s c r i b e r b a s e ; i n 2 0 0 5 , i t crossed the subscriber base
of five million.In 2006, the Tata Group transferred all its shares to the Aditya Birla
Group and the group became the largest shareholder in the company. In 2007, Idea
came with an IPO and got listed on the b o u r s e s - t h e s a m e y e a r i t r e a c h e d
t h e s u b s c r i b e r b a s e o f 2 0 million. D u r i n g construction, hardly anybody has
planned for towers on roof tops. It is unexpected that the structure feasibility of all
buildings is u n d e r t a k e n b e f o r e t o w e r s a r e i n s t a l l e d . T h e r e a r e c a s e s w h e r e
more than two or even three towers have been installed at a single location.
In the year 2002, the name of the company was further changed to Idea Cellular Ltd and also,
they launched the Idea brand name. They commenced commercial operation in Delhi circle.
In June 3, 2002, they acquired Swinder Singh Satara & Company Ltd through a share
purchase agreement. In the year 2004, the company acquired Escotel Mobile Communications
Ltd (subsequently renamed as Idea Mobile Communications Limited). They commercially
launched EDGE services 2005 and became the first operator in India to do so.
In the year 2005, the company won an Award for the Bill Flash service at GSM Association
Awards in Barcelona, Spain. They sponsored the International Indian Film Academy Awards.
In the year 2006, the company became a part of the Aditya Birla Group subsequent to the
TATA Group transferring their entire shareholding in the company to the Aditya Birla Group.
They received Letter of Intent from the DoT for a new UAS License for the Mumbai Circle.
Also, they received Letter of Intent from the DoT for a new UAS License for the Bihar Circle
through Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd.
During the year 2006-07, the company commenced National Long Distance service to carry
part of the Companys own traffic. They launched commercial mobile services in the service
areas of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East) and Himachal Pradesh. They made Initial Public
Offering and raised Rs 25,000 million. They won an award for the CARE service in the Best
Billing or Customer Care Solution at the GSM Association Awards in Barcelona, Spain.
During the year, the company entered into a ten years business transformation pact to
integrate, innovate, and transform its business processes and IT infrastructure with
International Business Machines (IBM). They signed USD 500 million contract with Nokia
Siemens Networks to expand and strengthen the Companys network. Also, they singed a USD
343 million contract for GSM expansion with Ericsson in the Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh service areas.

25
In June 2006, Escorts Telecommunications Ltd became the subsidiary of the company and
subsequently was renamed as Idea Telecommunications Ltd. In February 2007, they acquired
10,000,000 equity shares of Rs.10 each of Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd, a company holding
License to operate in the telecom service area of Bihar, for a purchase consideration of Rs 100
million.
During the year 2007-08, the company expanded their network from 4432 cities and towns to
13308 cities and towns. They formed three new subsidiaries namely, Idea Cellular Services
Ltd, Idea Cellular Infrastructure Services Ltd and Idea Cellular Tower Infrastructure Ltd. The
main purpose of Idea Cellular Services Ltd is to provide manpower services to Idea Cellular
and Idea Cellular Infrastructure Services Ltd & Idea Cellular Tower Infrastructure Ltd are
meant for hiving off Ideas passive infrastructure network.
In December 2007, the company in association with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar formed
a joint venture, namely Indus Tower to provide passive infrastructure services in India to all
operators on a non discretionary basis. In February 2008, the company received the Unified
Access Services Licences for the telecom service areas of Punjab, Karnataka, Tamilnadu
including Chennai, North East, West Bengal, Kolkatta, Jammu & Kashmir, Orissa and Assam.
During the year 2008-09, the company acquired 40.8% stake in Spice Communications Ltd
(Spice), having operations in Punjab and Karnataka service areas, from MCorp Global
Communications Pvt Ltd, the erstwhile promoters of Spice. They launched services in
Mumbai, Orissa, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Jammu & Kashmir, Kolkata and West
Bengal. In addition, Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, launched
operations in Bihar (including Jharkhand) service area.
During the year, the company made a tie-up with Indian Oil Corporation, the largest
petroleum company in India, to use their petrol pumps and gas agencies for branding and
distribution of Idea SIM Cards and Recharge Vouchers. They were the first operator in India
to launch Nokia Life Tools in association with Nokia. They launched International Airtime
Transfer, a unique VAS service, whereby NRI community can directly recharge the prepaid
mobiles of Idea subscribers in India through several international merchants and the web in
Gulf, the USA and UK.
During the year, the company launched NetSetter Data Cards and Blackberry solutions to
cater to their data-savy consumer segments. As per the scheme of arrangement, the company
de-merged their passive infrastructure assets in the service areas of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi,
Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (both East & West including Uttarakhand), Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan
and Mumbai to Idea Cellular Towers Infrastructure Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, with an
appointed date of January 1, 2009.
During the year 2009-10, the company expanded their pan-India presence through service
launches in Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Kolkata, West Bengal, Assam and North
East service areas, thereby making it a nationwide service provider. As one of Ideas new VAS
activities, the company launched Buddy Recharge - a unique peer-to-peer talk time transfer
product. They also launched Oongli Cricket during the IPL season.

26
During the year, the company launched a standardized self care portal CARE which gives
information to the customer on products / tariffs and information of their account such as
billed amount, last recharge, last calls, unbilled amount, etc. They were the first operator to
launch Pre Tones, which is an innovative VAS service which allows the user to listen to the
caller tones of his / her own choice while making an outgoing call instead of listening to the
respondents caller tone.
As per the scheme of arrangement, the company telecom operations of the Bihar service area
along with certain assets and liabilities of Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd, a wholly owned
subsidiary was de-merged and transferred to the company with effect from March 1, 2010.
Spice Communications Ltd which had operations in the Punjab and Karnataka service areas,
and licenses for National and International Long Distance operations was amalgamated with
the company with effect from March 1, 2010. Also, Carlos Towers Ltd became a subsidiary
company pursuant to the amalgamation of Spice Communications Ltd with the company.
In April 2010, the company received a License for providing pan India Internet Services (ISP
License). In the 3G Spectrum auction, the company emerged as a winner in 11 Service Areas
viz. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar
Pradesh (W), Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, at a total cost of Rs
5,768.59 crore.
During the year under review, the company became a pan India operator following the roll out
of services in the remaining service areas of Orissa, Tamilnadu (including Chennai), Jammu
& Kashmir, West Bengal, Kolkata, North East and Assam.
In January 20, 2011, the Company launched mobile number portability (MNP), an invite to all
Indian mobile customers to change their wireless operator, while retaining their mobile
number. In March, 2011 Company launched 3G services in 9 out of these 11 service areas.
The Company also entered into bilateral roaming arrangement for the service areas of
Mumbai, Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Kolkata and Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), with leading
quality operators, enabling it to offer 3G services in 15 service areas.
The company is in the process of launching 3G services in Jammu and Kashmir service area.
The 3G spectrum for Punjab service area has not been earmarked by DoT to the Company for
commercial usage as yet, and hence Company has not been able to launch 3G service there
until now. The company is now installing 3G cell sites to capture the future wireless
broadband data market.
In 2012, Department of Telecom (DoT) has said that the proposal of Malaysia based Axiata
group to raise 1 per cent stake in Idea cellular to 21 per cent would not create any fresh
security threat for the country. The company bagged the prestigious World Communication
Awards 2012 (WCA) under the Best Brand Campaign category at the recently held awards
ceremony in London. The company wins at the prestigious World Communication Awards
2012, second year consecutively. In 2013, the company Signs Unified License with the
Department of Telecommunications -Idea Cellular introduces buffet plans for post-paid
subscribers. In 2014, the company wins wins 900 MHz for Delhi, and 4G in 8 strategic
markets. In 2015, Microsoft has tied with Idea Cellular to launch operator billing on the

27
 Windows Store for Idea subscribers. The company has successfully retained the crucial 900
MHz spectrum and won 54 MHz of 900 MHz spectrum. Videocon Telecommunications sold
its spectrum in Gujarat and UP (West) circles to the company at a valuation of Rs 3,310 crore
during the year. The company launches world-class, high-speed 4G LTE services in all four
Telecom service areas of South India. The company launches 4G in all 5 states of South India,
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

(1)Swot analysis of Idea

(a)Strenghts
1) Idea provides flexible plans for prepaid, postpaid and enterprise customers.
2) Good advertising of Idea cellular using TVCs, print ads, online ads etc.
3) High brand visibility and high recall of the brand.
4) Celebrity brand ambassadors have promoted the brand ensuring a good connect with customers.
5) Idea has 200+million customers spread pan India.
6) Strong backing on parent company Aditya Birla ensure financial stability of the brand.
7) Merger of Idea with Vodafone in India would ensure larger customer base and more business.
8) Complete website which allows customers to recharge, pay bills etc.
9) Customer touch points like Idea stores, apps etc are fully developed.

(b)Weakness
1) Price competition from other competitors means limited market share growth for Idea cellular.
2) Limited market leadership in metros as compared to competitors.

(c)Opportunities
1) Idea can tap the fast expanding cellular market .
2) Latest and low cost technologies can boost the business and margins.
3) Targeting MNP of customers can be done by Idea to attract competitor customers.
(d)Threats
1) New entrant's low price offering can reduce profits of Idea cellular.
2) Strong guidelines and restrictions by TRAI can affect business operations.
3) MNP of customers to competitor network can lead to loss of Idea's customers.

(2)Mission
(a)We will Delight our Customers while meeting their individual communication needs anytime
anywhere.

28
(3)Vision
(a)To develop an integrated supply chain focusing on maximizing the return on our spend and
assets to efficient information systems supported processes, making its supply chain a
benchmark across country.

1.1.5 BSNL

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited state-owned New Delhi, India. It was incorporated on 15
September 2000 and took over the business of providing of telecom services and network
management from the erstwhile Central Government Departments of Telecom Services (DTS)
and Telecom Operations , with effect from 1 October 2000 on a going concern basis. It is the
largest provider of fixed telephony, largest broadband mobile telephony is an Indian
telecommunications company headquartered in services provider with more than 60% Market
share, and fourth largest provider in India. However, in recent years the company's revenues and
market share have plummeted into heavy losses due to intense competition in the Indian
telecommunications sector.
BSNL is India's oldest and largest communication service provider (CSP). It had a customer base
of 117 million as of January 2014 Mumbai New Delhi, which are managed byMahanagar
Telephone Nigam It has footprints throughout India except for the metropolitan cities of and
(MTNL).
BSNL, then known as the Department of Telecommunications, had been a near monopoly during
the socialist period of the Indian economy. During this period, BSNL was the only telecom
service provider in the country. MTNL was present only in Mumbai and New Delhi. During this
period BSNL operated as a typical state-run organization, inefficient, slow, bureaucratic, and
heavily unionised. As a result subscribers had to wait for as long as five years to get a telephone
connection. The corporation tasted competition for the first time after the liberalisation of Indian
economy in 1991. Faced with stiff competition from the private telecom service providers,
BSNL has subsequently tried to increase efficiencies itself. DoT veterans, however, put the onus
for the sorry state of affairs on the Government policies, where in all state-owned service
providers were required to function as mediums for achieving egalitarian growth across all
segments of the society
During the financial year 2008–09 (from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009) BSNL has added 8.1
million new customers in various telephone services taking its customer base to 75.9 million.
BSNL's nearest competitor Bharti Airtel is standing at a customer base of 62.3 million. However,
despite impressive growth shown by BSNL in recent times, the Fixed line customer base of
BSNL is declining. In order to woo back its fixed-line customers BSNL has brought down long
distance calling rate under OneIndia plan, however, the success of the scheme is not known and
BSNL faces bleak fiscal 2009-2010 as users flee. Presently there is an intense competition in
Indian Telecom sector and various Telcos are rolling out attractive schemes and are providing
good customer services. But situation as on 2012, BSNL will be third largest operator (Service)
and No 1 access operator in the country. As per the TRAI Report 2011-12, BSNL became the
most trustworthy brand due to its loyalty towards customers and its rule.

29
3G Services : BSNL has covered 4519 cities with 3G services across the country and all 2G
customer have been enabled for 3G facilities. Broadband services : The shift in demand
from voice to data has revolutionized the very nature of the network. BSNL is poised to cash on
this opportunity & has planned for extensive expansion of Broadband services. BSNL has
increased minimum download speed to 2 Mbps. BSNL has covered more than 1.73 lakh villages
with Broadband services. The Broadband customer base of BSNL has reached to 21.86 Million
customersinOctober,2016.

Value Added Services : BSNL is focussing on provision of value added services/features to

attract high end customers and to double its revenues from VAS
Fibre to Home(FTTH) : To meet demand for high bandwidth services, BSNL has rolled out
FTTH services (GPON & GE-PON) in 2010 for the first time in the country. As on 31.10.2016,
BSNL has provided over one lakh FTTH connections in the country.
Access Deficit Charges (ADC, a levy being paid by the private operators to BSNL for providing
service in non-lucrative areas, especially rural areas) has been slashed by 20% by TRAI, w.e.f. 1
April 2009. The reduction in ADC may hit the profits of BSNL. BSNL has started 3G services in
290 cities and acquired more than 600,000 customers. It has planned to roll out 3G services in
760 cities across the country in 2010-11. according to users and big sources BSNL's 3G data
speed is much higher than other operator and also it is competitively cheap.
Broadband services: The shift in demand from voice to data has revolutionized the very nature of
the network. BSNL is poised to cash on this opportunity and has planned for extensive expansion
of the Broadband services. The Broadband customer base of 3.56 Million customer in
March'2009 is planned to be increased to 16.00 million by March 2014. On 13 June 2012, BSNL
employees participated called off an earlier planned nationwide strike against discriminatory
policies of BSNL management upon promise by Management to resolve the Demands of the
protesting unions. In March 2013, BSNL was also (according to one study) a major transit point
for internet spam.
BSNL (then known as Department of Telecom) had been a near monopoly during the socialist
period of the Indian economy. During this period, BSNL was the only telecom service
provider in the country. As a result subscribers had to wait for as long as five years to get a
telephone connection. The corporation tasted competition for the first time after the liberalization
of Indian economy in 1991. Faced with stiff competition from the private telecom
service p r o v i d e r s .

BSNL has subsequently tried to increase efficiencies itself. DoTveterans, however, put the onus
for the sorry state of affairs on the Government policies, where in all state-owned service
providers were required to function as mediums for achieving egalitarian growth across all
segments of the society. The corporation (then DoT), however, failed miserably to achieve this
and India languished among the most poorly connected countries in the world. BSNL was born
in 2000 after the corporatisation of DoT. The efficiency of the company has since improved.

30
However, the performance level is nowhere near the private players. The corporation
remains heavily unionised and is comparatively slow indecision making and implementation.
Though it offers services at lowest tariffs, the private players continue to notch up better
numbers in all areas, years after year. BSNL has been providing connections in both
urban and rural areas. Pre-activated Mobile connections are available at many
places across India. BSNL has also unveiled cost-
effective broadband internet access plans targeted at homes and small businesses.

At present BSNL enjoy around 60% of market share of ISP services. 2 0 0 7 h a s b e e n d e c l a r e d

a s " Y e a r o f B r o a d b a n d " i n I n d i a a n d B S N L i s i n t h e process of providing 5
million Broadband connectivity by the end of 2007. BSNL has upgraded existing Data one
(Broadband) connections for a speed of up to 2Mbit/s without any extra cost. This 2
Mbit/s broadband service is being provided by BSNL at a cost of just US$ 11.7 per month (as of
21/07/2008 and at a limit of 2.5GB monthly limit with 0200-0800 hrs as no charge period).
Further, .B S N L i s p l a n n i n g t o i n c r e a s e i t s c u s t o m e r b a s e t o 1 0 8 m i l l i o n
c u s t o m e r s b y2010. With the frantic activity in the communication sector in India,
the target appears achievable. BSNL is a pioneer of rural telephony in India. BSNL has
recently bagged 80% of US$ 580 m (INR 2,500 crores) Rural Telephony project of Government of India.
On the 20th of March, 2009, BSNL advertised the launch of BlackBerry service across its
Telecom circles in India. The corporation has also launched 3G services.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. was incorporated on 15th september 2000 . It took over the business
of providing of telecom services and network management from the erstwhile Central
Government Departments of Telecom Services (DTS) and Telecom Operations (DTO), with
effect from 1st October‘ 2000 on going concern basis.It is one of the largest & leading public
sector units providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India.

BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country & now focusing on improving it,
expanding the network, introducing new telecom services with ICT applications in villages &
winning customer's confidence. Today, it has about 36.42 million line basic telephone capacity,
7.13 million WLL capacity, 95.96 million GSM capacity, 34,727 fixed exchanges, 1,17,090
GSM BTSs, 9,594 CDMA Towers, 102 Satellite Stations, 7,73,976 RKm. of OFC, 4751 RKm.
of microwave network connecting 646 districts, 4519cities/towns & 6.25 lakhs villages .

BSNL is the only service provider, making focused efforts & planned initiatives to bridge the
rural-urban digital divide in ICT sector. In fact there is no telecom operator in the country to beat
its reach with its wide network giving services in every nook & corner of the country & operates

31
 across India except New Delhi & Mumbai. Whether it is inaccessible areas of Siachen glacier or
North-Eastern regions of the country, BSNL serves its customers with a wide bouquet of telecom
services namely Wireline, CDMA mobile, GSM mobile, Internet, Broadband, Carrier service,
MPLS-VPN, VSAT, VoIP, IN Services, FTTH, etc.

BSNL is one of major service provider in its license area. The company offers wide ranging &
most transparent tariff schemes designed to suit every customer. BSNL has 94.36 million cellular
& 1.02 million WLL customers as on 31.10.2016. 3G Facility has been given to all 2G
connections of BSNL. In basic services, BSNL is miles ahead of its rivals, with 13.88 million
wireline phone subscribers i.e. 56.96% share of the wireline subscriber base.

BSNL has set up a world class multi-gigabit, multi-protocol convergent IP infrastructure that
provides convergent services like voice, data & video through the same Backbone & Broadband
Access Network. At present there are 21.86 million broadband customers including both wire
&wireless broadband.

The company has vast experience in planning, installation, network integration & maintenance of
switching & transmission networks & also has a world class ISO 9000 certified Telecom
Training Institute.During the 2015-16, turnover of BSNL is around Rs. 32,919 Crores.

(1)Objectives of BSNL

a) To increasing sales revenue with focus on subscriber retention & acquisition by way of
strengthening sales & marketing, quality of service and customer delivery.
b) Accelerate the pace of expansion of mobile & data services with up-gradation of technology.
c) Increasing BSNL visibility in urban, sub-urban and rural areas
d) Developing sales and marketing team with attitude towards customer care
e) To improve customer care by reducing fault rate, upgrading Customer service Centres (CSCs)
and introducing convergent billing
f) Providing a conducive work environment with strong focus on performance to enhance
customer delight towards BSNL services.
g) Leverage data services to increase BSNL’s customer’s base & revenues by providing higher
bandwidths capabilities for wire line and wireless broadband customers
h) To strengthen company’s finances by gainful utilization of its assets through sharing /
monetization of existing infrastructure like land, building and sharing of passive infrastructure
like towers etc.
i) Creating Wi-Fi Hot Spots and replacing Legacy wire line exchanges by Next Generation
Network.
j) Expanding the reach of fiber network near to the customer premises particularly in apartment
complexes through FTTH in order to meet the ever increasing bandwidth requirement for both
data & video applications.
k) To leverage the existing infrastructure of BSNL thereby contributing towards nation building by
facilitating the execution of government programmes and initiatives viz. National Optical Fiber
Network (NOFN), Network for Spectrum (NFS), and dwelling on Smart City concept.

32
l) Developing knowledge pool exposed to latest technological advancements.
m) To explore opportunities in international telecom in developing markets.
n) To become preferred service provider to the Government for reliable and secure service
Network and to serve National security interests.

(2) Vision

a) Be the leading telecom service provider in India with global presence.

b) Create a customer focused organization with excellence in customer care, sales and marketing.
c) Leverage technology to provide affordable and innovative telecom. Services/products across
customer segments.

(3)Mission

a) Becoming the most trusted, preferred and admired telecom brand.

b) Providing reliable telecom services that are value for money.
c) Generating value for all stakeholders – employees, shareholders, vendors & business associates.

(4)Swot analysis of BSNL

(a)Strength

1. Backed by Government of India: It was incorporated on 15 September 2000 and took over the
business of telecom services and network management from the erstwhile Central Government
Departments of Telecom Services (DTS) and Telecom Operations (DTO), with effect from
1 October 2000 in an ongoing concern basis. Ever since the formation of BSNL, the Indian
telecommunications scenario has been transforming itself into a multi-player, multi-
product market with varied market sizes and segments.
2. Extensive infrastructure in remote areas: BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the
country & now focusing on improving it, expanding the network, introducing new telecom
services with ICT applications in villages & winning customer’s confidence.
3. PAN India-reach: You name the place & BSNL is there. It has about 43.74 million line basic
telephone capacity, 8.83 million WLL capacity, 72.60 million GSM capacity, 37,885 fixed
exchanges, 68,162 GSM BTSs, 12,071 CDMA Towers, and 197 Satellite Stations.
4. Huge Optical-Fibre infrastructure: Fibre-based cable networks act as a backbone to transmit data
on wireless networks. BSNL has 6,86,644 RKm. of OFC, 50,430 RKm. of microwave network
connecting 623 districts, 7330 cities/towns & 5.8 lakhs villages.

33
5. Strategic alliances with IT & hardware companies: It got into many strategic alliances for IT &
hardware requirements like with Ericsson, Cisco , HP, Compaq , NFL , MTNL etc. in order to
run the business smoothly.
6. Vast Experience: The Company has vast experience in planning, installation, network integration
& maintenance of switching & transmission networks & also has a world class ISO 9000
certified Telecom Training Institute. It has 3 training institutions and 4 specialized telecom
units.

(b)Weakness

1. Working culture of government Institution: Despite having stiff competition in telecom sector
making private players to design their strategy cautiously BSNL is still running on Bureaucratic
type of setup.
2. Network capabilities: Although BSNL have 62000 tower & wireless networks stretched to
6,86,644 RKm. of OFC, 50,430 RKm. of microwave network connecting 623 districts, 7330
cities/towns & 5.8 lakhs villages, they are not able to optimize the network capabilities.
3. Unproductive rural assets: Problems associated with outdated technologies, low ROI form of
rural assets & Political interference is making the company handicapped.
4. Poor Service Image: With the advent of technologies & new players foraying in the telecom
sector serviceability & CRM is important aspect for the growth of the business but BSNL has
maintained its poor service image since its incorporation.
5. Unable to retain customers: Forget about acquiring new customers BSNL is not able to retain
their customers due to its poor service & outdated offerings.
6. Poor marketing: Poor franchisee networks, Lack of market research, confused segmentationare
some of the poor marketing strategies leading to the downfall of BSNL.
7. Decreasing market share: Although there is increase in tele-density (75.2%; 2014), BSNL’s
market share is on continual decrease. It is currently in 5th position having only 10.5% market
share.

(c)Opportunities

1. Strategic Partnership: Partnering with the smartphone companies is going to be smart strategy as
far as MNP (mobile number portability (India)) is concerned which will ensure fixed cash flows
in the future.

2. Partnering with other telecoms: Partnering with other telecoms to revamp their loss making,
poorly managed, extensively stretched infrastructure will help them in turning around the
company. Redeployment of unutilized capacities, Integrating IT infrastructure should be
considered.

34
3. Customer Retention: Customer retention through a combination of loyalty schemes, better Tariff,
service standards, low call drops better network availability & reach will result into low
switchers & low acquisition cost.

4. Improving upon Intangible capabilities: Company is well placed in tangible capabilities like
resources, infrastructure but they need to work on intangible capabilities like skill & motivation,
Knowledge & Aging workforce.

(d)Threats

1. Government Regulatory Framework: With the auction of spectrum & change in the policies on a
regular basis, there is a lot of instability in the telecom industry.
2. Competition: Price war in the home market, technologically advanced private players and
declining margins is adversely affecting the overall business of the co..
3. MNP (Mobile number portability): MNP gives the customer independence to change the service
provider while retaining the number and the number and due to high call drops, network issue &
worst CRM will result into slump in subscriber base in the next fiscal with PAN India MNP
implementation from May 3rd 2011.

1.2 Objectives of the study

1.21 To study the relationship between branding and selection of mobile services.

1.22 To study the impact of branding on selecting mobile services.

1.3 Scope of the study

1.3.1 The study is confined to mobile service industry. For this purpose the respondents from
Delhi are studied.

1.3.2 The focus of the study was limited to gain an insight into the impact of branding on
selecting mobile services. For reliable and valid results, sample size of 100-110 respondents will
be taken.With the help of response received, study of the impact of brand on customer decision
making for selecting mobile services will be done.

35
1.4 Methodology

Research Design Descriptive

Universe Delhi

Sample size 110

Sampling Technique Convenience

Project approach Survey method

Instrument used Self designed questionnare

Data type Primary and secondary

Statistical tool used Correlation & regression

Table no. 1 Research methodology Framework

36
1.5 Hypothesis

H01 : There is significant relationship between the brand and purchase decision of customer

in selecting mobile services.

HA1:There is no significant relationship between between the brand and purchase decision

of customer in selecting mobile services.

H02:There is a significant impact of brand on purchase decision of customer in selecting

mobile services.

HA2: There is no significant impact of brand over purchase decision of customer in selecting

mobile services.

37
 CHAPTER-2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Literature review

S.NO NAME YEAR TITLE

(1) Zohaib ahmad and Junaid 2014 Consumer purchase behavior in cellular
ahmad service sector.
(2) Dr.M. Ramesh 2013 Consumer behavior towards mobile
services
(3) Chintan shah 2012 Consumer preference for mobile service
providers
(4) Solomon A.Keelson 2012 Consumer choice of multiple mobile
services
(5) Dr.L.Leo Frankfin & 2015 A comparative study on consumer
S.Ambika preference of mobile service providers .

(6) Rajbinder Singh 2017 Impact of reliance jio on Indian telecom

industry
(7) P.vijay, Dr.V.Krishnaveni 2016 Customer preference towards the mobile
network services providers.

(8) Aruna A.Deoskar 2008 A study of mobile services from

customer’s perspective.

(9) Zhang yi 2014 The impact of brand image on consumer

behaviour

(10) Solomon kofi yeboah 2017 Effect of brand on consumer purchase

decision in mobile telecom industry

(11) S.Sabarinathan 2014 A Study on Customer Perception of

Mobile Phone Service

(12) Ramulu Bhukya, Dr.Sapna 2013 Brand preference of students towards

singh choosing cellular service providers.

38
(13) Abubakar Sani 2016 An assessment on brand preference for
mobile operator service

(14) Rajkumar paulrajan and 2011 Service quality and customer preference
Harsh rajkumar of cellular mobile service providers

(15) Dr. Ansir Launtu 2016 Effect of Brand Image Customer

Satisfaction in
Telecom Industry in South Sulawesi
Table no. 2 Literature review

2.2 Theoretical description

(a) Zohaib Ahmad and Junaid Ahmad(2014) conducted a study on “ Consumer Purchase
Behavior in Cellular Service Sector of Pakistan” This study reflects the latest buying behavior
of people residing in Islamabad and Rawalpindi in cellular service sector which has been
dominating the business world of Pakistan in today’s era. As the purchasing behavior in any part
of the world is reliant mainly on quality, price, promotions, and social factors, this study too
focuses on these factors so as to understand and comprehend the reasons behind the purchase.
The study results also reveal that the choice of cellular service provider depends on the type of
profession consumers adopt. People who have opted the fields of business, according to our
research, mostly use Mobilink and Warid. With respect to price, different age groups have
different opinions. The analysis shows that customers of Mobilink in the age of 18-25 are not
very satisfied with the call charges charged by Mobilink whereas the Ufone customers under the
same age group are highly satisfied with the call charges. Out of 38 total respondents who have
opted business as their source of income, 11 respondents had Mobilink as their mobile service
provider, 10 respondents had Warid, and 7 had Ufone while only 6 were Telenor users and 4
were Zong‟s. On the contrary, students mostly used Ufone; out of 146 total respondents who
were students, 77 had Ufone as their mobile service provider When we talk about promotions,
word of mouth is an imperative and dominating factor which leads to either a positive or
negative purchase decision. The results show that from the age group of 18-25, people do not
like to talk much about advertisements and marketing campaigns launched by Mobilink whereas
customers of Ufone, Telenor, Warid and Zong would like to talk positively about their
advertisements and marketing campaigns. However, this is not the case with the age group of 26-
30 who are basically business-oriented consumers of Mobilink. According to the results, they do
talk positively and spread positive word of mouth about Mobilink‟s advertisements.
Furthermore, the results of this study show that offers of free-minutes motivate female users‟
more than male users who have Mobilink as their mobile service provider. Whereas people
having Ufone connections, the ratio of male and female users is almost equal.

39
(b) Dr. M. RAMESH conducted a study on “CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS
MOBILE TELE SERVICES: A CASE STUDY AT VISAKHAPATNAM CITY’.This study
reflects consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes
they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs
and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. An attempt is made here
to elicit the views of the respondents on the consumer behavior towards mobile Tele services in
Visakhapatnam city under the study. On the basis of results, it is suggested that product quality
from the marketer’s perspective is associated with communication, price, feature, function, or
performance of a product. 65 percent of the respondents who use cell phone are male .24 percent
are engaged in business, 23 percent of the respondents belong to professional category, 22
percent of the respondents belongs to employed category.Three fifth of the respondents (60
percent) are motivated by their friends to avail the mobile services.82.5 percent of both the male
and female respondents are satisfied with their mobile services. The highest number of
employees (58 percent) belongs to up to 30 years age group .Majority of the respondents (30
Percent) opinion that billing pattern offered by the mobile services is fair.
Majority of the respondents (60 percent) are satisfied with the advertisement given by mobile
services.Price plays a significant role in the purchase decision of the telecommunications sector.
Price has significant positive impact on consumer perception choice in selecting
telecommunication service provider. Product quality from the marketer’s perspective is
associated with communication, price, feature, function, or performance of a product. Consumers
regularly face the task of estimating product quality under conditions of imperfect knowledge
about the underlying attributes of the various product offers with the aid of personal, self-
perceived quality criteria. Enormous facilities can be included in the cell phones. New model
hand set can be introduced exclusively for females. Various kinds of sales promotional activities
can be introduced by the cellular companies. A company that offers lower charges would be able
to attract more customers committing themselves to the telephone networks and significant
number of “call minutes” might be achieved. The telecommunication sector, especially the
mobile phone sector, in India is one of the fastest growing business segments of the country
which provide a lot of value addition to the society with its service and creation of employment
opportunities. The success of telecommunication industry depends on prudent efforts and
feasible investments. In a competitive market, service providers are expected to compete on both
price and quality of services and also it is necessary for the service providers to meet the
consumers’ requirements and expectations in price and service quality. Visakhapatnam offers a
big market and any service provider who offers good service at a reasonable cost will be able to
capture the market. Though by offering concessions and by extensive advertisement, a provider
may capture the market in the short run, the quality of service provided will only enable a player
to service in the highly competitive market in the long run.

(c) Mr. Chintan Shah conducted a study on “Consumer Preferences for Mobile Service
Providers: An Empirical Study in Bardoli”.This study reflects that huge competitions,
advancement in technology and reduced tariff have propelled the growth of mobile services in
India. In the last five years, the industry has made tremendous growth in terms of subscriber
base. Today, cell phones have become indispensable for people and moved beyond their
fundamental role of communication. They have become a major source for gaming, getting

40
information, shopping, banking, entertainment and much more. Since the Indian Mobile Service
Provider (MSP) market is overcrowded, customers have many choices of MSPs. Nowadays;
customers have become smarter and consider various factors before choosing an MSP.
Therefore, it is really important and beneficial for the marketers of MSPs to understand and
analyze the preferences of customers. By using factors analysis, this paper highlights the factor
considered by the customers to shape their preference for MSP. Further, the study evaluates the
impact of motivators on subscription decision for a particular service operator, and gives a
guideline to the marketers of MSPs to increase their subscriber base. In today‟s complex
business environment, it has become very crucial for companies to attract and retain customers
for long-term sustainable growth. Just like companies of other business domains, Mobile Service
Providers (MSPs) also consider their customers to be the most important asset.
Using factor analysis, it was found that customers are very keen on Service Quality & Brand
Image.Service Charge and Plan is the next most important factor in choice making toward
service provider. It was observed that Network Quality is the important factor which have been
consider by the customers before choosing an MSP. It was find that a large proportion of the
respondents have chosen an MSP because the operators recommended by family members,
friends and peers. The present study clearly points to the fact that the three factors, viz.., service
quality & brand image, service charges and plan and network quality, play a vital role in the
choice of an MSP. The second part of the study reveals the role of word-of-mouth in the
marketing of a service provider. Due to competitive pressure, the Indian MSP market is flooded
with verity of plans, service quality should be enhance by the mobile operators to increasing the
level of the customer and service providers need to develop such more good image in the mind
of the customer. Network related problems such as poor connectivity, low coverage force the
customer to choose according to his preference. Mobile service provider market is on booming
stage and come out with the different pan and scheme with low service charges, which forced
customer to thing about iinitial subscription cost, availability of plans as per requirement and
tariff. From the above discussion, it can be conclude that service operators should create an
emotional relationship with the customer through innovative plans and enhance their services
quality & brand image, better connectivity and goodwill with the customer because the customer
always want more from their operators. And ultimate, this emotional relationship influences a
customer‟s choice over an MSP.As the MSP market becomes more complex and more
competitive, it is essential that services providers know what their customers are experiencing.
Customers still want more from their operators. In this context, marketers of services providers
should adopt the following strategies to improve their base. Because of stiff competition and
fierce price war, every operator offers a virtually similar plan to their customers. So operators
should adopt service-centric approach to increase the loyalty and customer base. Operators
should focus on VAS because in India with lunching of 3g spectrum, VAS can reduce the
dependency of ARPUs on voice. Rural value assed services‟ like mandi rates, soil information
and weather forecasts help operators in the revival of revenues. Operators should focus on
investment to expand their network coverage and connectivity. Individual service quality can be
improved by immediate of customer complaints feedback and registration of Do Not Disturb
(DND). Operators should have specific and suitable plans for each segment of customer. Data
mining and CRM should be implemented to know the specific requirement of the customers.
Operators should measure customer loyalty regularly.

41
(d) Solomon A. Keelson conducted a study on “FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER
CHOICE OF MULTIPLE MOBILE SERVICES”. M obile phones have become a
fundamental communication tool in both developed and developing countries. Previous studies
have identified a number of reasons for owning or using a mobile phone as well as choice of
phone operator (Hamel and Prahalad, 1991; Kumar, 1997; Nagel, 2003; Gerstheimer and Lupp,
2004; Chakraborty, 2005; Donner, 2007; de Silva and Zainudeen, 2007). Apart from expanded
mobile phone usage, there has also been an increase in the number of network providers.
According to Hansen (2003), the mobile handset market has experienced between five percent
and ten percent growth and a substantial growth in operator subscribers. In response to the
increasing subscriber penetration rate, Ghana has six mobile phone companies licensed to do
business in the country. Five are currently in operation. These are MTN, which is the largest,
Tigo,the oldest mobile phone provider, Vodafone, Zain and Espresso. The sixth provider,
Globacom is yet to start operations. It is however, expected that when Globacom begins
operations the number of subscriberswill rise. One segment of the market that is affected by this
increase in mobile phone penetration rate isthe tertiary student in Ghana.Studies have tried to use
the wider concept of consumer behavior and its associated consumer decisionmaking process to
research factors affecting consumer choice of mobile phones. These studies have identified
different factors that influence the decision making process. Riquelme (2001) used 94 consumers
to investigate the amount of self-knowledge consumers have when choosing between mobile
phone brands. The study suggested six key attributes that affect consumer choice of a mobile
phone;connection fees; access cost; mobile-to-mobile phone rate; call rates; and free calls. This
study was carried out to examine the factors affecting choice of multiple mobile phone, their
implications and sources of funding among students in Ghana. The main source of funding
multiple mobile phone services among students was “self -financing”, or“pocket money”. This
means student would demand more from their guardians so they can finance their multiple
choices of phones. The primary reason affecting consumer behavior or choice of multiple mobile
phone services was the presence of poor service reliability. Thus, to address the undesirable but
phenomenal use of multiple phones, operators must improve services reliability. This would help
overcome the economic and noneconomic costs associated with the choice of multiple phones.
Consumer associations and regulators in the telephone industry should perform their respective
functions effectively so the country enjoys wider coverage from all mobile operators in the
country.

(e) Dr. L. Leo Franklin conducted a study on “A Comparative Study on Customer

Preference of Mobile Service Providers with Selected Service Providers”.
The telecommunication is the lifeblood for every business activity. Even in this industry there
prevails a stiff competition between the service providers. Since there is a marginal difference
between the services rendered by the Cellular service providers there is more possibility for the
subscriber to switch from one service provider to another based on his convenience. So it is very
essential for the Mobile service provider to understand the customer preferences and the
influence of various Demographic variables behind that influence. Mobile communication a
service sector is escalating drastically in Coimbatore and Tiruppur Town. There are a handful of
Private (AIRCEL, AIRTEL, VODAFONE, RELIANCE and TATA DOCOMO) and Public
(BSNL) players serving the market. In this study the customer preference on mobile

42
communication with reference to service provided by private and public sector are compared.
BSNL and OTHERS are selected due to their high competitive nature in providing 3 generation
technologies such as GPRS and MMS. The influence of Demographic variable in the level of
satisfaction yielded by the mobile user as well as the Behavioural pattern of the mobile user is
analysed in this study. It’s landed that Demographic variables do influence the level of
satisfaction as well as the Variable in which the Public and Private service provider should focus
for their enhancement is suggested. Further the customer expectations are comprehended from
their usage pattern. On the basis of this comprehension it’s suggested that OTHERS should
enhance it’s coverage. BSNL should focus on the service at customer desk and the promotional
measures.However,customers expect more facilities (add-on) and total signalCoverage.so to
say,service providers should concentrate on this aspect so that They will be in a position to give
their best.

(f) Rajbinder Singh conducted a study on “Impact of Reliance JIO on Indian Telecom
Industry”. Telecommunication industry is one of the most emergent industries which face
evolved very speedily in last decade. Currently India is the world’s second largest
telecommunication market and still growing.Mobile economy in India is increasing very fast and
will add significantly to India’s GDP. Indian telecommunication market is a excellent
opportunity for network providers from native and exogenous Players. Both Indian network
providers’ international providers receive considerable market share in the Indian mobile
industry. Recently Reliance Jio has gave a big jolt to Indian telecom industry, schemes like free
internet, free calling, 4g network provide a serious threat to others. Reliance Jio emerge a new
choice and other service providers face a new kind of challenge and find difficult to cope up with
new circumstances.This research paper discusses the features of the jio and also through some
light on the competitive edge over other service providers. Reliance Jio disturb the telecom
industry with its free services, and kept the pressure on competitors by announcing lower data
plans and free voice calls and roaming starting on 1 April 2017. The share market also pays for
its aggressive entry in telecom sector and RIL has jumped 13% in a week. Reliance Jio has
crossed 10 crore subscribers. Now question is that how many subscribers will convert in to
paying consumers? Many analysts say the number would be 50%. Reliance Jio’s average
revenue per user would be high than competitors around Rs150. Company expecting average
revenue per user is Rs227 in 2018-19 with more than 50% subscribers will opt Rs303 plan, while
other on Rs149 plan. At an average revenue per user Rs227 company will need 11.1 crore
consumer to reach breakeven point. But if company further reduces prices due to competition, it
will need more consumers to reach breakeven point Reliance Jio’s mega entry generates lot of
drastic and unanticipated changes in consumer’s behaviors. Th entrant impacts the equilibrium
and jolt the telecom industry. It leads to a uncertainty, the big services providers talks about
mergers and acquisitions. Due to exiting barriers, they will not get of the industry but it becomes
too difficult to survive for small players. The main objective of Reliance Jio is increasing their
consumer base by providing high speed internet at nominal rates. The company would have
generated a significant market share in next 3-5 years. In end reliance Jio has successfully hit the
target market and has deep pockets to invest but has threat to competition and technology.

(g) P. Vijay & Dr. V. Krishnaveni conducted a study on “CUSTOMER PREFERENCES

TOWARDS THE MOBILE NETWORK SERVICE PROVIDER- A STUDY WITH THE
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO COIMBATORE CITY”. Mobile services were introduced in
India in the year 1995. Licenses were issued in 20 circles which were roughly contiguous to the

43
states and for four metros. For the first few years, the mobile services sector saw a lot of turmoil
which ended with the new telecom policy of 1999.After that the mobile services took off, but not
without hiccups. However in a span of 15 years the number of customers has crossed 900 million
marks in 2015. The number of customers’ growth per year up to 2015 was exponential in both
the GSM and CDMA networks. The whooping growth was attributed not only in the government
policies and need of the people but also to the very aggressive marketing schemes and policies
adopted by the companies. The telephone services which were considered as a luxury, After few
years it has become accessible for all class of people. In the aspect the present study focuses on
the customer preferences towards the selected mobile service providers in Coimbatore district.
The study is unique in nature by covering the Coimbatore city in five different areas namely East
Coimbatore, West Coimbatore, Central Coimbatore, North Coimbatore and South Coimbatore
with 100 samples. From each resulted a total of 500 respondents. The Indian mobile telephony
market has grown at a rapid speed in the last decade. Declining the call tariffs and favourable
regulatory policies have led to a tremendous increase in the subscribers’ base. Proper
identification of the Customer preferences will facilitate the favourableness towards the various
mobile service providers. Continuous research on consumers will enhance the customer
satisfaction. The present research focuses on the study of customer preferences with the special
reference to the mobile network users in Coimbatore city. The study has been carried out to find
out the most preferred mobile network service provider and the factors influencing to use the
particular mobile network service. The results revealed that, Airtel, Idea and Reliance are the
most preferred mobile network service providers. Service quality, Value added services and
customer care service are the most influencing factors in the selection of a particular mobile
network service provider. If these suggestions are considered by the respective mobile network
service providers and it would certainly help to improve the service quality of the mobile
network service providers and also it improves the level of satisfaction of the mobile network
users.

(h) MRS. ARUNA A. DEOSKAR conducted a study on “A STUDY OF MOBILE

SERVICES FROM CUSTOMER’S PERSPECTIVE”. The booming revolution in
Information Technology sector has pushed the India’s telecom market significantly. India has
shown tremendous growth in past few years in terms of cellular services. Since past few years
consumers prefer wireless mode of telephone services to wire line services. As per the survey
report conducted by voice & Data by the end of Feb 2008 the mobile subscribers number has
reached to 246.6 mn compared to wire line services, which is only 40 mn. in number1. Cell
phones are a vast improvement over the telecommunications technology of the past, and now
become an important asset in today’s busy life. Cell phones have become the necessity in today’s
competitive environment to meet the emerging global economy. To meet the customer
perception & customer expectation this research findings will provide some base to raise the
customer satisfaction level by understanding the impact of basic service parameters. Service
providers have to put-up extra efforts to raise the satisfaction level of users.

(i)Zhang yi conducted a study on “The Impact of Brand Image on Consumer Behavior”.

The concept “brand image” has drawn significant attention from academics and practitioners
since it was put forward, because it played an important role in marketing activities. Although

44
brand image was recognized as the driving force of brand asset and brand performance, few
studies have elaborated on the relationship between brand image and brand equity. Based on the
brand image theories, this study reviewed extant studies about the impact of brand image on
consumer from perspective of customer equity. It also presented the shortcomings of current
research and pointed out the trends for future study The relationship between brand image and
customer satisfaction has been studied extensively. However, a majority of these researches were
conducted in service industry, such as hotel, supermarket and bank, etc. Whether the results
generated from the service industry can be applicable to other contexts (e.g., manufacturing
industry,finance industry, real estate industry, etc.) remains to be examined.Moreover, although
the positive impact of brand image on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has been
testified, there still exist minor disagreements between different researches. Specifically, some
studies prove that brand image not only influences customer loyalty directly, but also impacts on
it through other mediating factors. However, some research results demonstrate that brand image
exerts no direct influence on customer loyalty, but it can impact on customer loyalty via
customer satisfaction. Future studies should further discuss the interrelationships among brand
image, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and identify a more comprehensive indicator
for consumer behavior In the last decade, emotional branding has become a very influential
manner of brand management As suggested by Roberts (2004), brand emotion is the cultural
implication embodied in a brand, and emotional branding is a highly effective way to cause
customer reaction, sentiments and moods, ultimately forming connection and loyalty with the
brand .Even the traditional brand management pattern based on customer per ception now has
incorporated emotional branding into it. In the unprecedentedly competitive marketplace, brand
emotion is the bond between the brand and the customer, and the key to expanding the market.
Future studies could explore the relationship between brand image and consumer behavior from
a brand new perspective brand emotion.

(j) Solomon kofi yeboah conducted a study on “Effect of Brand on Consumer Purchase
Decision in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry”. The increased number of telecom
service providers coupled with the introduction of mobile number portability has brought about
increased competition for potential/prospective and existing telecom consumers. The objective of
this study is to examine the effect of brand on purchase intention in the mobile
telecommunications market or industry. The study adopted a quantitative approach. In all 100
respondents participated in the study. The study reveals that, although there are about six mobile

telecommunications service providers in operation, customers do not explicitly observe any

significant differences between them. The customers or respondents perceive all the mobile
telecommunications service providers to be same, as far as, quality of service and service
charges. Thus, the results of the study suggests that there are no unique brands in the mobile
telecommunications industry of Ghana. Following from the above, the study also revealed that
customers may not hesitate to switch if they feel that good quality services are being offered by
any other service provider with relatively superior service quality. So it is the role of corporate
brand to make minds of the customers about it especially in this industry to add new customers.

45
It is evident from the analysis of the results of the study that service quality was a significant
motivating factor for those consumers who switched between mobile telecommunications service
providers. First of all, from the analysis and discussion of the results of the study, it can be
concluded that, consumers of mobile telecommunications industry in Ghana are not sensitive to
service price differentials. Hence, companies within the mobile telecommunications service
industry cannot compete on price to “win” or increase their customer base. Secondly, it can also
be concluded from the analysis and discussion of the findings of the study that, the seeming
longer period of customer loyalty in the mobile telecommunications service industry are not due
to satisfaction with quality of service of network provider. However, the seeming longer
customer loyalty period are due to the perceived lack of significant differences between the
quality of services provided by the various mobile telecommunications service providers
operating in Ghana. This thus suggests that, customer loyalty in the mobile telecommunications
industry are not as a result of brand attachments. In addition to the above, it can also be
concluded service quality and network are the two most important factors or motivations for the
choice of a particular network provider in the mobile telecommunication service industry of
Ghana. Price and brand name are the least important factors considered in the choice of service
providers in the mobile telecommunications industry. Following from the above, it can be
inferred and/or concluded from the analysis and discussion of the findings of the study that
service quality as well as network coverage, and not brand influences the purchase intention of
mobile telecommunications services. Thus, contrary to the arguments of some authors in
literature, brand has insignificant, if not no, influence on consumers in either choosing or
switching between mobile telecommunications service providers. With regards to directions for
future studies, the study recommends that extending the scope of this study to include
respondents from other parts or regions of the country. It is believed this will help provide a
much broader perspective on the factors that influence the purchase intentions of consumers in
the mobile telecommunications industry.

(k) S.Sabarinathan conducted a study on “Customer Perception of Mobile Phone Service

Provider in Tirupur District”. A study on customer perception of mobile phone service
provider in tirupur district. To identify the satisfaction level of Customer perception on Mobile
phone service provider. To identify the customer opinion about Customer perception on Mobile
phone service provider. The source of data is collected from customer. The sample size is 100
and time constraint is the major problem in the study. The tool used for analysis and
interpretation is simple percentage analysis. Both open end and close end questions are used in
the questionnaire. Most of the customer using the mobile service provider group Aircel in
Prepaid Category. Most of respondents are belongs to Easy access to report complaints group of
Agree completely, neutral, is agree somewhat Category. Most of respondents are belongs to
overall mobile service provider group of neutral Category. Overall mobile service provider of
users like as neutral but next level to the dissatisfied of the perception. Most of the respondents
are use the product 2-4 years only so to improve the validation of usage. Most of the respondents
are using only prepaid to improve sale of postpaid. Most of the respondents are monthly income
is 5000-10000 because mobile service provider is provide more facility for the cheaper call rates.

46
From the study the influence of Demographic variable in the level of satisfaction yielded by the
user as well as the Behavioral pattern of the user is analyzed in this study. It is identified that the
customer perception of mobile phone service provided on User is at neutral level of the
respondent’s .But most of the respondents are not dissatisfied with the easy access report
complaints. Overall mobile service provider of users like as neutral but next level to the
dissatisfied of the perception.

(l) RAMULU BHUKYA & DR. SAPNA SINGH conducted a study on “BRAND
PREFERENCE OF STUDENTS TOWARDS CHOOSING CELLULAR SERVICE
PROVIDERS IN HYDERABAD CITY” The Indian telecommunication (here onwards
telecom) sector has plethora of Branded services providers. Though the services are
homogenous, the element of differentiation is introduced by branding them. With the advent of
liberalization in Indian telecom sector, drastic changes have taken place in the form of cut-throat
competition among telecom brands in retaining existing customer base besides acquiring new
ones. It is observed that after implementation of recent telecom policies in India, the overall
scenario of telecom sector has been changed. The marketers are anxious and curious to
understand and unravel the brand preference of subscribers in order to control brand switchers by
providing customized services. This study is undertaken with a view to know the brand
preference of students while choosing particular cellular service provider in Hyderabad city. The
reason behind selecting students as the focus of study is that the student market is homogeneous
and so reduces the impact of non-controllable confounding variables (Homburg and Koschate,
2004, and Matzler et al., 2006) and their consumption behaviours and perceptions resemble that
of the typical users (Lim and Quester, 2003; Grimm, 2005; Hayes et al., 2006; O‟Cass and
Grace, 2004). The findings of this study are; Network Coverage, tariff plans and customer
services are the prime attributes considered by students while choosing particular service
provider and Friends and Advertisement are the major factors which influence respondents to
choose particular service providers. The study of students Brand Preference of service providers
throws light on the various attributes considered important and crucial for selection of service
provider are Network Coverage, Tariff plans and Customer Services by both male and female
students. According to the students the important factors are friends followed by advertisement
and family members next only comes in Dealer and Relatives. It is noted that Brand Loyalty is
the least considered attributes among students. According this study, it can be concluded that
except age group of the respondents, the other demographic factors do not have significant
difference in considering various attributes and factors while choosing particular service
provider. Therefore Marketers should give due importance to Network Coverage and competitive
tariff plans along with good customer services apart from offering attractive promotional offers
to satisfy subscribers which will constitute brand loyalty and ultimately leads to Brand
preference.

47
(M) ABUBAKAR SANI conducted an assesment of “BRAND PREFERENCES FOR
MOBILE OPERATOR SERVICES IN KATSINA METROPOLIS, NIGERIA”.
Technology has contributed immensely in the improvement of telecom businesses around the
world. Telecommunication has totally changed the rate and manner of information dissemination
in the entire world. It is without an aota of doubt, the best facilitator and guarantor of worldwide
information flow. The Global system of Mobile Communications also known as GSM has shown
the impact of technology on Nigerians within the last 15 years (2001-2016). With the
introduction of GSM in Nigeria as a medium of communication, it has transformed both
Individual’s and societal communication values. Brand preference has quantified the impact of
marketing activities in the hearts and minds of potential customers. Higher brand preference
usually indicates more revenues (sales) and profit, also making it an indicator of company
financial performance. Therefore, the main objective of the paper was to examine brand
preference for mobile operator services in Katsina metropolis, Nigeria with respect to customer’s
sources of information search and factors that influence operator selection. The paper evaluated
the significance of brand image, brand communication, network coverage, accessibility to
recharge card, Customer services and Value added services, as it affect users’ perception in
selecting a mobile telecommunication service provider in the Nigerian telecommunication
market. The result revealed that Network coverage came first with 57.9%, followed by brand
image, which recorded 40.1% Accessibility to recharged card accounts for 35.2%, value added
services 28.0%, others 24.0% and lastly customer services with 22.4. It was recommended that
mobile operators should reduce their expenditure on promotional activities and brand building
but rather invest on network extensions, quality service delivery and product and services outlets
infrastructural development. The purpose of our research was to create a better understanding of
brand preference for mobile operator services, in order to draw conclusions of factors influencing
consumer attitudes towards this new marketing medium. The focus has been to highlight factors
driving user acceptance of brand preference of mobile operator’s services. The problems
statement for our research was to cellular service sector by comparing their studies with other
sectors.

(N) Rajkumar Paulrajan and Harish Rajkumar conducted a study on “Service Quality and
Customers Preference of Cellular Mobile Service Providers”. A research study was conducted
with an objective to understand the Indian consumers’ perception choice in selecting cellular
mobile telecommunication service providers. Consumers’ perception is widely varied in
accordance with the Communication quality, call service, facilities, price, customer care and
service provider’s attributes. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect the required
primary data from the consumers. Collected data were analysed, reliability and factor analysis
were carried out. The outcome of this research shows a comprehensively integrated framework
to understand the relationships among several dimensions. The study shows communication and
price were most influential and most preferential factors in selecting telecommunication service
provider. However, product quality and availability has a significant impact on consumer
perception choice in selecting cellular mobile service provider. This study was undertaken to

48
examine and understand the consumers’ perception choice in selecting cellular mobile
telecommunication service providers. Consumers’ perception is widely varied in accordance
with the Communication quality, call service, facilities, price, customer care and service
provider’s quality. Hence, from the result of our study, we can deliberately conclude that price
has significant positive impact on consumer perception choice in selecting telecommunication
service provider. Hence, product quality from the marketer’s perspective is associated with
communication, price, feature, function, or performance of a product. Price plays a significant
roll in the purchase decision of the telecommunications sector. However, our study shows that
product quality and availability has a significant impact on consumer perception choice in
selecting mobile telecommunication service provider and supported. The outcome of this
research shows a comprehensively integrated framework for us to understand the vibrant
relationships among several dimensions of service quality, price, product quality and availability,
and promotion to have handful ideas on the consumers’ perception. However, we still predict
that further research efforts are being needed to examine these factors with additional samples
before generalization can be made.

(O) Dr. Ansir Launtu conducted a study on “Effect of Brand Image Customer Satisfaction in
Telecom Industry in South Sulawesi”. The purpose of this research goals, test and analyze the
effect of brand image on customer satisfaction in the telecommunications industry in South
Sulawesi This research is a quantitative research with survey method is explanatif (explanatory
research) or research testing hypothesis. Finally, this study empirically proved that the brand
image direct and significant impact on customer satisfaction. However, the brand image is not
significant and direct effect on customer loyalty. This shows the importance of brand image in
enhancing customer satisfaction. This discussion focused on the decisions resulting from
hypothesis testing, as an attempt to answer the formulation of the researchproblem. Results of
analysis of hypothesis testing are described as follows: 1. Effect of Brand Image Customer
Satisfaction to answer the problem formulation and the first hypothesis can be observed from the
analysis path in Table 16. From Table shows that the brand image (X1) has a positive and
significant impact on customer satisfaction services (Y1). Results of this study showed that a
good brand image will make customers more satisfied. This finding agrees with the results of
research Pribanus Wantara (2009), by lifting the title influence brand image, reputation and
excellent service to the satisfaction and loyalty of students PTS in East Java that conclusion says
that the brand image, reputation, excellent service will increase student satisfaction but only
image brand and reputation have a significant influence on the loyalty of students, not including
excellent service and also the satisfaction of the students will be able to increase the loyalty of
the students. Statistical results descriptive indicate that modern as an indicator of the dominant
form variables brand image that is visible from the average value that is high compared with
other indicators, it proves that the use of mobile cards is because it has a brand that is well-
known and famous so always keep in mind, with his trademark so that consumers dianggapa be
easy to use so modern compared to other cellular products. The results of this study prove that
empirically brand image direct and significant impact on customer satisfaction. However, the
brand image is not significant and direct effect on customer loyalty. This shows the importance
of brand image in enhancing customer satisfaction. This is consistent with the hypothesis 1 and
proved that the brand image and significant positive effect on customer satisfaction in the
telecommunications industry in South Sulawesi.

49
 CHAPTER 3

Data presentation and analysis

3.1 Data presentation

In this chapter the aim is to present the data that has been collected from the various sources and

also analyze that data to draw some conclusions from them. This chapter covers the statistical

analysis on data collected using the research instruments. Analysis of the data was carried out

using both MS Excel and SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) to understand the Impact

of brand on consumer decision making for selecting mobile services in Delhi region.The data

collected through questionnaires that were administered to randomly selected people from Delhi

NCR .

3.1.1 Gender of respondents

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Male Female

Fig no.:3.1 Shows the gender distribution of respondent

50
Answer Choices Responses Percentage

Male 75 68%

Female 35 31%

Total 110 100%

Table no.3.1: Shows the gender respondents

Out of total responses collected, the male respondent were found out to be 68% and female

respondent were 31% . Thus the total respondent were 110 out of which 75 were males and 35

were females.

3.1.2 Marital status

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Married Unmarried

Fig no.:3.2 Shows the marital status distribution of respondent

51
Answer choices Responses Percentage

Married 20 18%

Unmarried 90 81%

Total 110 100%

Table no.3.2: Shows the marital status respondents

Out of total responses collected, the unmarried respondent were found out to be 81% and married

respondent were 18% . Thus the total respondent were 110 out of which 90 were unmarried and

18 were married.

3.1.3 Age

80

70

60

50
Series 1
40
Series 2

30 Series 3

20

10

0
18-25 26-33 34-41 Above42

Fig no.:3.3 Shows the age distribution of respondent

52
Answer choices Respondent Percentage

18-25 74 67%

26-33 21 19%

34-41 12 10%

Above42 3 2%

Total 110 100%

Table no.3.3: Shows the age respondents

Out of total responses collected, the 18-25 age people respondent were found out to be 67% , 26-

33 age of people respondent were 19% , 34-41 age of people respondent 10% and above 42

people respondent were 2%.

3.1.4 Occupation

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Business Service Student

Fig no.:3.4 Shows the Occupation distribution of respondent

53
Answer of choices Respondents Percentage

Student 50 45%

Service 45 40%

Business 15 13%

Total 110 100%

Table no.3.4: Shows the Occupation of respondents

The profession of the respondent of different was divided into three level in the table and the

figure. Out of 110 people 50 respondents were student , 45 respondents are doing service , 15

respondents have their business.

3.1.5 Income

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0-20000 21-40000 41-60000 above 61000

Fig no.:3.5 Shows the income distribution of respondent

54
 Answer choices Respondent Percentage

0-20000 49 44%

21000-40000 30 27%

41000-60000 25 22%

61000-above 6 5%

Total 110 100%

Table no.3.5: Shows the income respondents

Out of 110 respondents 44% had no income or less than 20000 includes students and servicemen.

27% had income between 21000-40000, 5% respondents had income between 41000-60000, 5%

had income above 61,000.

3.2 Data analysis

3.2.1 Reliability Testing

In statistics Cronbacha (alpha) is used to estimate the reliability of a psychometric test.It has been

proposed that can be viewed as the expected correlation of two tests that measure the same

construct. By using this definition, it is implicitly assumed that the average correlation of a set of

items is an accurate estimate of the average correlation of all items that pertain to a certain

construct. Cronbacha is a function of the number of items in a test, the average covariance

between item-pairs, and the variance of the total score. A commonly accepted rule for describing

internal consistency using Cronbacha alpha is as follows:

Coanbach,s alpha Internal consistency

α ≥ 0.9 Excellent

0.7 ≤ α < 0.9 Good

55
0.6 ≤ α < 0.7 Acceptable

0.5 ≤ α < 0.6 Poor

α ≤ 0.5 Unacceptable

Table no.3.6: Shows the acceptability criteria of reliability

Cronbach's Alpha Based on N of Items

Standardized Items

.680 29

Table no.3.7: Shows the reliability test of dependent variable

The value of Cronbach’s Alpha is 0.680 which is acceptable, therefore questionnaire used is self

designed and can be considered for further analysis.

3.2.2 Hypothesis testing

Hypothesis Testing is done to find out whether there is any relationship between brand and

purchase decision of customer or to find out the impact of brand over purchase decision of

customer in selecting mobile services .In order to find the relationship, Correlation and

Regression test has been implied. Correlation can be used to find out whether there is any

relationship between the dependent variable and independent variable where Regression

analysis is use to determine the percentage impact of independent variable over dependent

variable.

56
3.2.3 Elements of a regression equation

The regression equation is written as Y=a+bX

Where:
‘Y’ is the value of the Dependent variable(Y),what is being predicted or explained ‘a’

or Alpha,a constant,equals the value of (Y)when the value of X=0

‘B’or Beta,the coefficient of X;the slope of the regression line;how much Y changes for

each one-unit change in X

‘X’ is the value of the Independent Variable(X),what is predicting or explaining the value of

3.2.4 Hypothesis

H01 : There is significant relationship between the brand and purchase decision of customer

in selecting mobile services.

HA1:There is no significant relationship between between the brand and purchase decision

of customer in selecting mobile services.

H02:There is a significant impact of brand on purchase decision of customer in selecting

mobile services.

HA2: There is no significant impact of brand over purchase decision of customer in selecting

mobile services.

57
3.2.5 Correlation analysis:

Correlations
Brand PD
Pearson Correlation 1 .549**
Brand Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 109 109
Pearson Correlation .549** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
PD
N 109 109
Table no.3.8: Shows the correlation

ANALYSIS

Pearson Correlation - .549

Significant (p) value – 0.000

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that there is a moderate correlation between Impact of
brand and purchase decision. Interpretation: The value of correlation between the
two variables brand and purchase decision is .549 which is positive and is
significant.The table shows that the brand has moderate correlation with the
purchase decision of customer.The value of p is less than .005,which means
Alternate hypothesis is accepted and there is a impact of brand on purchase
decision of customer.

58
3.2.6 Regression analysis

Regression is a statistical process for estimating the relationships among variables. It includes

many techniques for modeling and analyzing several variables, when the focus is on the

relationship between a dependent and one or more independent variables. More specifically,

regression analysis helps one understand how the typical value of the dependent variable changes

when any one of the independent variables is varied, while the other independent variables are

held fixed.

Model Summaryb
Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error of Durbin-
Square the Estimate Watson
1 .549a .301 .295 8.19091 2.097
Table no.3.9: Shows the model summary

Analysis: From the regression analysis of data R Square is 0.301

Interpretation-The value of R2 is .301 which means that 30.1%. The regression analysis

percentage shows that there is an impact of one variable upon other variable

59
ANOVAa

Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.

Regression 3097.371 1 3097.371 46.167 .000b

1 Residual 7178.739 107 67.091
Total 10276.110 108
Table no.3.10: Shows the ANOVA

(A)Dependent variable: Brand

(B)Predictors: (constant),PD

ANALYSIS: Significant (p) value: 0.000

F value: 46.167

Interpretation:

From the above table it is shown that p- value is less than 0.05, the alternate hypothesis is

accepted. Hence, brand has an impact on Purchase decision.

Coefficientsa

Model Unstandardized Standardized T Sig.

Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) 23.518 4.217 5.577 .000
1
PD .574 .084 .549 6.795 .000

Table no.3.11: Shows the coefficient

60
Interpretation: Y = a + bX

Y = 23.518 + .574

Where,

Y= Purchase decision

X= Brand

Analysis: Pearson Correlation: .549

Significant (p) value: 0.000

Interpretation

From the above table it is shown that p - value is less than 0.05, the alternate hypothesis is

accepted. Hence, there is significant impact of brand on purchase decision. The Pearson

coefficient of correlation is 0.549; hence there is a moderate correlation between two variables.

61
 Chapter 4

Summary & Conclusions

4.1 Findings

The present chapter aims to recollect the various phases of the study. A summary of the research

with the main findings has also been presented. Revisiting of objectives is essential to understand

whether the purpose and aim of research has been achieved. Limitations of the study have been

pointed out. Recommendations based on the study have also been presented. Finally, the chapter

throws light on directions for future research.

a) From the responses received and by conducting Pearson correlation and regression on the

hypothesis, it was observed that there is a moderate relationship between Branding and purchase

decision.

b) This research shows that there is a positive relationship between Branding and purchase decision.

c) It has been proved by regression that brand has significant impact of 30% on purchase

decision of customer which means that customer get influenced by the brand and are willing

to buy.

62
.

4.2 Limitation

In spite of the best efforts there are always some problems or limitations associated with market

research that cannot be removed but can be minimized only. The methodology that has been

employed might have a few limitations:

(a) Due to limited available time, convenience sampling was used.

(b) The sample size for conducting research is 110 which are very small as compared to

total customer base that means our sample size is comparatively small in accordance

with the universe, which is large enough. So deduction drawn from the project can’t be

generalized.

(c) Though quantitative approach has been followed in this research, it is still questionable

whether the results are generalized among all types of customers each of who have

different intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics that affect consumer decision making.

(d) The responses given by the respondents were not accurate.

These limitations may have effect on findings of the work but not up to large extent and thus do

not affect the findings of the work very significantly.

63
4.3 Scope of the study

In view of the above mentioned limitations, there should be mentioned some future avenues for

investigations.

(a) Further research can also be conducted on a large scale considering some more variables

relevant to the topic.

(b) The sample size can be increased that will enhance the quality of result obtained.

(c) Study can be conducted in broader geographical area by including customers of other

states as well.

(d) Finally, it would be of great scientific value if the participants came from all over India

including both urban and rural areas.

64
 Chapter 5

RECOMMENDATION

The present chapter aims to make some suggestions based on the analysis and findings of the

study. These suggestions are aimed at improving some features and factors that must be adopted

by the organizations to understand the impacts of brand on consumer decision making for

selecting mobile services.

a) As seen from the primary research above, most of the customer consider brand as their major

weakness. The customers are more favorable towards the well-known brands. This explains

the love of the customers for the brands.

b) Service network in some areas is not good. So the big brands should focus on those area

so as to retain there cutomers.

c) More number of competition is being increased by the service providers,thus every

telecom company need to come up with certain plans which are more pocket friendly for

the consumers.

65
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

a) Statistical Methods for Practice & Research: A guide to data analysis using SPSS by
Gaur & Gaur.
b) Marketing Research: An applied orientation by K. Malhotra.
c) Basic Marketing Research: A decision making approach by Naresh K. Malhotra.

Websites

a) www.googlescholar.com,18.01.2017
b) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/consumer attitude,21.01.2017
c) https://www.slideshare.net/.../consumer-attitude -purchase intention,3.02.2017

Journals

1) Ian Phau, Min Teah, (2009) “Devil wears (counterfeit) Prada: a study of antecedents

and outcomes of attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands

2) Vigneron and Johnson,(2008) “Targeting buyers of counterfeits of luxury brands: A

study on attitudes of Singaporean consumers.

3) Singh, K. G. (2012, 06 22). Factors Influencing the Customer’s Purchase Decision for

Various Telecom Services-The Case of Select Districts of Punjab.

4) Dr. Abhinanda Gautam(2014), “The impact of above the line promotion tools used in

telecom sector-A Case Study of reliance communications in western uttar pradesh circle

India”Vol. 3, No. 4 , pp 29-38, July 2014

66
5) Debiprasad Mukherjee(August 2009), “Impact of Celebrity Endorsements on

Brand Image”

6) Prof. R.C.S. Rajpurohit, Dr. M.L. Vasita(2011), “Consumer preferences and satisfaction

towards vars mobile phone service providers - An exploratory study in Jodhpur City.”

7) Dobni, D. and Zinkhan, G.M. (1990) In Search of Brand Image: A Foundation Analysis.

Advances in Consumer Research,17, 110-119.

8) Herzog, H. (1963) Behavioral Science Concepts for Analyzing the Consumer. In: Bliss,

P., Ed., Marketing and the BehavioralSciences, Allyn and Bacon, Inc., Boston, 76-86.

9) Newman, S.L. (1985) Facies Interpretations and Lateral Relationships of the Blackhawk

Formation and Mancos Shale,East-Central Utah. Rocky Mountain Section SEPM, 10, 60-

69

67
 ANNEXURE A

Questionnaire

Dear Respondent,The following questionnaire aims to seek information for the purpose of
research work on the topic “Impact of branding on consumer decision making for selecting
mobile services”. In this endeavor, I need your kind help by the way of filling up this
questionnaire. You are requested to respond to each question after giving it a proper thought and
not in haste.

Thanking you

Varun Das

Please enter your personal details:-

Name :

Gender :M ( ) F ( )

Age : 18-25 ( ) 26-33 ( ) 34-41 ( ) Above 42 ( )

Income : 0-20,000 ( ) 20-40,000 ( ) 40-60,000 ( ) Above 60,000 ( )

Occupation: Business ( ) Service ( ) Student ( )

I request you to kindly fill the questionnaire and rate them on the scale of between 1 to 5 where:

1= Strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3= Neutral, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly agree

Branding

Questions 1 2 3 4 5

1.Selecting Cellular mobile service is brand to me

2. Use of this brand can express my personality

68
 3.Selecting current cellular service brand helps me show who I
am(businessman ,professional, youngster etc)
4.I believe in the brand I use
5.Celebrity endorsement effects in choosing a particular brand of
telecom service provider
6. Particular cellular brand comes to my mind at first when
mentions telecom industry
7.Family members are the source of brand information
8. You are brand loyal
9.I have clear understanding about the brand I use
10. The brand image is outstanding and gives me a good
impression
11. The values of particular brand gives me confidence to its
products.
12. Particular brand product attributes can fulfill my functional
needs
13. I use the leading cellular service brand in the market
14. I am satisfied with the brand I use but will try other brands
next time
15. I am pleased to repurchase this brand

Purchase decision

Questions 1 2 3 4 5

1.Advertising media puts more impact on my purchase decision

2.My peers have a significant influence on my purchase decision

3.The attractive adds and inspiring people in it influence my

purchase decision
4. If the prices of current cellular services increases I may switch
to other cellular service
5.Packages that are provided by telecom service influences me
6.Better advertisements attract me in availing telecom services
7.I will choose that telecom service which most of my friends use
8.My telecom operator is very good at handling complaints
9.Service quality influences in purchase decision
10.Because of no call drops I choose my current telecom operator
11.Price attribute attract me to purchase a particular telecom
service

69
12. I think the telecom service I use is not really expensive

13. Quality of connection coverage is reliable

14. Availability of reasonable offers motivate me to avail those

offers

70
 ANNEXURE B

GLOSSARY

Ability: The extent to which consumers have the resources knowledge, intelligence, and money
necessary to make an outcome happen.

Analysis: Detailed examination of the elements or structure of something.

Behavior: The way a person acts or behaves.

Bibliography: A list of the books referred to in a scholarly work, typically printed as an

appendix.

Brand: A name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or
service as distinct from those of other sellers.

Buyers: Those who carry out the formal arrangements for purchase, service, delivery, and
financial terms.

Consumer Attitude: Consumer attitude is a composite of three elements: cognitive information,

affective information, and information concerning a consumer's past behaviour and future
intentions.

Consumer Behavior: The totality of consumers' decisions with respect to the acquisition,
consumption, and disposition of goods, services, time, and ideas by human decision-making
units.

71
Consumer Buying Behavior: Consumer buying behaviour is the sum total of a consumer's
attitudes, preferences, intentions, and decisions regarding the consumer's behaviour in the
marketplace when purchasing a product or service.

Convenience: The state of being able to proceed with something without difficulty.

Correlation: Correlation is a statistical measure that indicates the extent to which two or more
variables fluctuate together.

Customer Satisfaction: The extent to which a product's perceived performance matches a

buyer's expectations. If the product's performance falls short of expectations, the buyer is
dissatisfied. If performance matches or exceeds expectations, the buyer is satisfied or delighted.

Demographics: Objective characteristics of consumers such as age, income, education, sex or

occupation.

Descriptive: A statistical study to identify patterns or trends in a situation, but not the causal
linkages among its different elements.

Endorsement: An endorsement is a legal term that refers to the signing of a document which
allows for the legal transfer of a negotiable from one party to another.

Expectations: Beliefs about how a product/service will perform.

Exploratory: Relating to or involving exploration or investigation.

Extrinsic: Not part of the essential nature of someone or something; coming or operating from
outside.

72
G

Gender: Biological state of male or female.

Hypothesis Generation: Forming expectations about the product or service.

Hypothesis Testing: Testing out expectations through experience.

Impact: A marked effect or influence.

Independent Variable: The treatment or the entity that researchers vary in a research project.

Innovation: An offering that is perceived as new by consumers within a market segment and
that has an effect on existing consumption patterns.

Interference: That which causes us not to remember which features go with which brand or
concept due to semantic networks being too closely aligned.

Interpretation: Interpretation is the act of explaining, reframing, or otherwise showing your

own understanding of something.

Intrinsic: Of or relating to the essential nature of a thing.

Journals: Business diary in which all financial data (taken usually from a journal voucher)
pertaining to the day to day business transactions of a firm is recorded using double-entry
bookkeeping system.

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L

Liberalization: Liberalization refers to a relaxation of government restrictions, usually in such

areas of social, political and economic policy. In some contexts, this process or concept is often,
but not always, referred to as deregulation.

Market Research: The systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data with respect to a
particular market, where market refers to a specific user group in a specific geographic area.

Market: An open place or a covered building where buyers and sellers convenefor the sale of
goods.

Marketing Management: The analysis, planning, implementation, and control of programs

designed to create, build, and maintain beneficial exchanges with target buyers for the purpose of
achieving organizational objectives.

Marketing Mix : The set of controllable tactical marketing tools—product, price, place, and
promotion—that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market .Marketing
programs including product conception (and development), pricing decisions, promotion of the
product, and distribution to consumers.

Marketing: A social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they
need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.

Methodology: Methodology is the systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied to a

field of study.

Needs: An internal state of tension caused by disequilibrium from an ideal/desired physical or

psychological state.

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P

Perception: The process by which incoming stimuli activate our sensory receptors eyes, ears,
taste buds, skin, and so on.

Performance: The measurement of whether the product/ service actually fulfills consumers'
needs.

Personality: An internal characteristic that determines how individuals behave in various

situations.

Presentation: A speech or talk in which a new product, idea, or piece of work is shown and
explained to an audience.

Primary Data: Data originating from a researcher and collected to provide information relevant
to a specific research project.

Privatization: The transfer of ownership, property or business from the government to the
private sector is termed privatization.

Product: Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption
that might satisfy a want or need. It includes physical objects, services, persons, places,
organizations, and ideas.

Promotion: The publicizing of a product, organization, or venture so as to increase sales or

public awareness.

Prospects: A person regarded as likely to succeed or as a potential customer, client, etc.

Quantitative Research: Quantitative research is a formal, objective, systematic process in

which numerical data are used to obtain information about the world.

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Questionnaire: A set of printed or written questions with a choice of answers, devised for the
purposes of a survey or statistical study.

Regression: A measure of the relation between the mean value of one variable (e.g. output) and
corresponding values of other variables.

Relationship Marketing: The process of creating, maintaining, and enhancing strong, value-
laden relationships with customers and other stakeholders.

Retention: The continued possession, use, or control of something.

Sampling Technique: A sampling technique is the name or other identification of the specific
process by which the entities of the sample have been selected.

Satisfaction: The feeling that results when consumers make a positive evaluation or feel happy
with their decision.

Scope: The extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is
relevant.

Selling: The idea that consumers will not buy enough of the organization's products unless the
organization undertakes a large-scale selling and promotion effort.

Service: Any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible
and does not result in the ownership of anything.

Strategy:A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.

Survey: A written instrument that asks consumers to respond to a predetermined set of research
questions.

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T

Transaction: An instance of buying or selling something.

Users: Persons within an organisation who actually put a purchased product to work.

Validate: To make something officially acceptable or approved, especially after examining it.

Variable: The entity that is studied or that varies in a research project. In a study on how humor
in ads influences attitudes toward a brand, one variable might be the level of humor in the ads.

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