A

Project report
on
Marketing Strategies of AIRTEL

Submitted to the University of Rajasthan

for the partial fulfillement of the requirement of B.B.A Sem IV

Supervised by
Dr.NeelimaPareek
Assistant Professor

Submitted by
Anurodh Bhargava
B.B.A.Sem IV

2014-2015
Mahaveer College of Commerce, Jaipur

DECLARATION
I, the undersigned Anurodh Bhargava a student of BBA SEM IV of
Mahaveer College of Commerce declare that the project work presented in
this report is my own work.
This work has not been submitted to any other university for any other
examination.
Anurodh Bhargava
BBA Sem IV

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I owe my sincere thanks and gratitude to Dr.NeelimaPareek (Project

supervisor) who inspired me by her able guidance and was a constant
guiding light during the course of project study.
The support and knowledge provided by team of ,Marketing Stategies Of
AIRTEL has been a great value addition for me and will go a long way in
building a promising career.
Last but not least, I am also thankful to all the respondents of my
survey without whom the project would not have been completed
successfully.

Anurodh Bhargava
BBA Sem IV

PREFACE
In the present scenario marketing and sales is a major challenge for
seasoned professional. And it is no surprise that Marketing is a tough
concept to understand.Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and
processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging
offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at
large.

The

project

report

consists

of

detailed

Study

of

MARKETING

STRATEGIES OF AIRTEL A sincere effort has been made to analyze

working pattern of Mobile Services.

The report further provides information regarding Bharti Airtel, its

financial position, infrastructure with its product and services offered by
them, which facilitate the buyer effectively. It is very important that
trained marketing professionals who are able to communicate specific
features of the services should sell the products. In the millennium all
these activities would play a crucial role in the overall development and
maturity of the organization.

I hope that the research work made by me will be of great help to get the
comprehensive knowledge of the organization.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The present business scenario is totally customer oriented. Each
company faces stiff competition from its competitors, each provides the
best services at competitive rates. As a result customer has lot of choices
to get the best with least cost. To face this competition, it is very
important to know customers behavior towards different products and
services.
This project is aimed at understanding the Marketing strategies adopted
by Airtel and its impact on the perception of Airtel Customers.
Research has showed that it is far more costly to win a new customer
than it is to maintain an existing one, and there is no better way to
retain a customer than to exceed his expectations. For this purpose it is
essential to know the level of customer satisfaction. The focus of my

research was the measurement of customer satisfaction level for the

services provided by Bharti Airtel. Finally the results of the research
verify the fact that keeping the customer satisfied is the best strategy to
not only retains the existing customers but also to expand the business
to new horizons.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.

TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IN INDIA

2.

GSM MARKET IN INDIA

3.

INTRODUCTION

16

4.

TARIFF STRUCTURE

31

5.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

39

6.

MARKET SITUATION

41

7.

COMPETITIVE SITUATION

42

8.

MARKETING STRATEGY ADAPTED BY BHARTI

50

9.

OBJECTIVE

58

10.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

59

11.

LIMITATION

60

12.

SWOT ANALYSIS

68

13.

CONCLUSION

70

14.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

72

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objective behind this research project is to study about the
importance and development of telecommunication industry in todays
scenario.
To understand the Marketing strategies which are used by Bharti Airtel
to Survive in highly competitive cell phone market and different
serviceswhich are offered by Bharti Airtel. An overview of the Indian
telecommunication market is also given, along with the growing GSM
market and challenges before the CDMA market in India. A brief
introduction about Bharti Airtel has also been given, covering all the
services provided by Bharti Airtel.

It also includes Indian market study, Bharti Airtel Corporate Study.

Under this research project following points about Bharti Airtel are
covered:

Promotional Strategy
Market Situation
Competitive Situation
Market segmentation
Positioning
Pricing Policy

INTRODUCTION
The Indian telecommunications Network is the second largest in the
world860.9 million telephone connections based on the total number of
telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone).It has one of the lowest
call tariffsin the world enabled by the mega telephone networks and
hyper-competition among them. It has the worlds third-largest Internet
user-base with over 137 million as of June 2012. Major sectors of the
Indian

telecommunication

television broadcasting.

industry

are

telephone,

Internet,

and

Today it is the fastest growing market in the

world with 8.35 million monthly additions.

Telephone density in the country which is in an ongoing process of
transforming into next generation network, employs an extensive system
of modern network elements such as digital telephone exchanges, mobile
switching centres, media gateways and signaling gateways at the core,
interconnected by a wide variety of transmission system using fibreoptics or Microwave radio relay networks. The access network which
connects the subscriber to the core, is highly diversified with different
copper-pair, optic-fibre and wireless technologies.DTH, a relatively new

broadcasting technology has attained significant popularity in the

Television segment. The introduction of private FM has given a fillip to
the radio broadcasting in India. Telecommunication in India has greatly
been supported by the INSAT system of the country, one ofthe largest
domestic satellite systems in the world. India

possesses a diversified communications system, which links all parts of

the country by telephone, Internet, radio, television and satellite. Indian
telecom industry underwent a high pace of market liberalization and
growth since 1990s and now has become the world's most competitive
and one of the fastest growing telecom markets. The Industry has grown
over twenty times in just ten years, from under 37 million subscribers in
the year 2001 to over 846 million subscribers in the year 2011. India has
the world's second-largest mobile phone user base with over 929.37
million users as of May 2012.[6] It has the world's third-largest Internet
user-base with over 137 million as of June 2012. The total revenue of the
Indian telecom sector grew by 7% to 283207 crore (US$48 billion) for
201011 financial year, while revenues from telecom equipment segment

stood

at 117039 crore (US$20 billion).

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 programs for the rural folk of India. Indian Tele-density, which
was languishing at 2% in 1999, has shown an amazing jump to 47.89 in
2010 and is set to increase by 20% in the next five years. Accordingly,
India requires incremental investments of USD 20-25 billion for the next
five years.

Private operators have made mobile telephony the fastest growing (over
164% p.a.) in India. With more than 930 million users (both CDMA and
GSM), wireless is the principal growth engine of the Indian telecom
industry.

Intense competition between the four main private groups -

Bharti, Vodafone, Tata and Reliance and with the State sector

incumbents-BSNL and MTNL has brought about a significant drop in

tariffs. There has been almost 74% in cell phone charges, 70% in ILD
calls and 25% drop in NLD charges, resulting in a boom time for the
consumers.
The Government has played a key enabling role by deregulating and
liberalizing the industry, ushering in competition and paving the way for
growth. While there were regulatory irregularities earlier, resulting in
litigation, these have all been addressed now. Customs duties on
hardware and mobile handsets have been reduced from 14 percent to 5
percent.
The Indian government has merged the IT and Telecom Ministries to
speed up reforms and decision on the Communication Convergence Bill
to enable the common regulation of the Internet, broadcasting and
telecoms

will

be

taken

after

the

new

Government

assumes

responsibilities in may this year. An independent regulatory body (TRAI)

and dispute settlement body (TDSAT) is fully functional.

INDIAN CELLULAR MARKET

The Bharti Group, which operates in 23 circles, continues to be the
country's largest cellular operator with over 191 millionsubscribers.RIM,
which operates in 23 circles, is the second largest operator with a
subscriber base of 150 million. Vodafone, which operates in 23 circles,
has a subscriber base of 142 million subscribers. Thus VODAFONE
stands third largest cellular operator in terms of subscriber base at the
end of the fiscal ending March 31, 2011, displacing BSNL from the third

position. Unlike fellow public sector undertaking, MTNL, which operates

in Mumbai and Delhi, BSNL, has been a very aggressive player in the
market. "Cellular operators who expected BSNL to go the MTNL way, were
taken by surprise and did not take effective steps to counter it, till it was
too late in the day," said a telecom analyst.
Belying fears of a slowdown in cellular subscriber acquisitions, the cell
club has reported a8.92% growth, the highest growth in any month so
far, during March 2011. Year-on-year, the cellular subscriber base in the
country has almost doubled in March 2012, and is expanding at the rate
of 20% per year thereafter.
The cellular subscriber club expanded by 17.46 million last month. This
is much higher than 15 million subscribers added in June 2013 and.
Idea, which operates in 22 circles, is the fifth largest operator with a
subscriber base of 91 million, higher than BSNLS 98 million subscribers
across 22 circles. The

subscriber numbers per operator drop sharply with the sixth largest
operator, TataDocomo, having a subscriber base of 43 million, followed by

Uninor Communications with 26 million subscribers and Aircel.MTNL is

the ninth largest operator, with a base of 11 million subscribers.
While the subscriber base-jumped to 229 million in the metros,
subscriber base of category A circles of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu jumped by 30.18 %. Category B
circles of Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West), Uttar Pradesh
(East), Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal recorded a jump of
26 %. Circle C has reported 19.74% growth.
Among the metros, while Mumbai added 3million subscribers, higher
than the 1.9 million added by Delhi, the Capital's cellular subscriber
base is still higher than Mumbai. While the cellular industry has been on
roll for the first three quarters of the previous financial year with an
average of 30 lakh monthly additions in the third quarter, the first two
months of 20011 had seen the growth slowing down.

GSM MARKET IN INDIA

Regional Interest Groups - GSM India

With a population of around 1.3 billion growing at roughly 1.9 per cent a
year, India is potentially one of the most exciting GSM markets in the
world.
India's telecommunications have undergone a steady liberalisation since
1994 when the Indian government first sought private investment in the
sector. More significant liberalisation followed in 1996 with the licensing
of new local fixed line and mobile service providers. However, it has been
the government's New Telecom Policy (1999) that has had the most
radical impact on the development of GSM services. 'The policy's mission
statement is 'affordable communications
forall; There is a genuine commitment to creating a modern and efficient
communications infrastructure that takes account of the convergence of

telecom, IT and media. In addition, the policy places significant emphasis

on greater competition for both fixed and mobile services.'

Competition in the mobile sector has already had a visible impact on

prices with calls currently costing less than 9 cents per minute. This
means that service costs have fallen by 60 per cent since the first GSM
networks became live in 1995. It also helps explain why a recent Telecom
Asia survey revealed that more than 70 per cent of Indian mobile
subscribers felt that prices were now at a reasonable level.
One of the challenges facing GSM operators in India is the diversity of
the coverage regions -from remote rural regions to some of the most
densely populated metropolitan areas in the world. India has more than
40 networks, which cover the seven largest cities, over 7000 towns and
several Lacs villages. Such depth of coverage has required enormous
investment from India's operators. It is estimated that more than Rs200
billion had been invested in India's GSM industry by mid-2000, a figure
that is set to be supplemented by a further Rs. 300 billion over the next
five years.

The good news is that subscriber growth is beginning to look healthy.

With India's lowPC penetration and high average Internet usage -at 14-20
hours a
month per user it is comparable to the US -the market for mobile data
and m-commerce looks extremely promising. WAP services have already
been launched in the subcontinent and the first GPRS networks are in
the process of being rolled out. In the year ahead, GSM India will work
with its members to realise the potential of early packet services in
anticipation of the award of 3GSM licences.

India fastest growing GSM market

The Cellular Operators Association of India (which includes most of
Indias GSM telecom operators), has reported an addition of 3.50 million
GSM connections in April 2013, closing in at 664.4 million subscribers, a
0.53% increase from 660.9 million subscribers in the previous month.

Globally, the GSM market reached 3.9 billion users in February 2013,
adding GSM accounted for 80 per cent of the new subscriber growth in
2012."Almost every Latin American operator has chosen GSM. In North
America GSM growth is bigger than CDMA (code division multiple
access)," he said. Commenting on

the raging debate over GSM versus CDMA in mobile services arena,
Hadden said: "GSM is the world's most successful mobile standard with

over 2 billion users, and is an open mobile standard. It also supports

automatic international roaming, which is a major contributor to
business plans."

Indias GSM mobile firms revenue up 30 percent

Indias private telecoms firms offering GSM-based mobile services
reported a 21 percent rise in revenue in the year to March 2012but said
future growth rates could slow because of heavy taxes on the nascent
industry. Although Indias mobile sector is the worlds fastest growing
major wireless market, it is amongst the highest taxed industries in the
country. Mobile carriers pay as much as 25 percent of their revenue as
licence fee, spectrum charges and other taxes. The Cellular Operators
Association of India (COAI) said revenue for fiscal 2003/04 stood at 83.08
billion rupees ($1.86 billion) compared with 64 billion rupees a year
earlier. According to T.V. Ramachandran, director general at COAI, These
revenue growth rates cannot be maintained unless there is a concerted
effort by the government to cut excessive levies and allow sharing of
infrastructure

But the potential to do much better exists as there is still huge demand
in the sector. Ramachandran said the sector was still losing money but
declined to elaborate. Sales jumped because of a doubling of the GSM
(Global System of Mobile Communications) user base as more people
entered the flourishing

market thanks to one of the lowest call rates in the world. But the
monthly average revenue per user, a key measure of profitability, declined
17.4 percent to 432 rupees in the fourth quarter compared with 523
rupees in the first quarter due to a cut in tariffs and excessive
competition among companies. Growth slowing, demand untapped: The
association has not included the financial performance and the GSMuser base of state-run firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the secondranked player, and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, Ramachandran
said.There are 650 million GSM customers and more than 96 million
users of the rival CDMA-based mobile services in the country.
The pace of growth in monthly additions is increasing after just 8.25
million users took up the service in April compared with 6.9 million in
the previous month. Ramachandran blamed the slowdown on a majority

of small GSM operators being unable to expand networks into rural

swathes where demand remained largely untapped.
Our surpluses are not enough to cover costs of network expansion and
financing charges on loans. We are making money only to cover operating
expenses, he said. Carriers are now subsidising handset costs to woo
users into the underpenetrated industry forecast to have more than 750
million customers by 2014.

THE CDMA CHALLENGE

CDMA players had launched their services with CDMA 2000 1X-based
networks, which can give hi-speed, always-on connectivity to the
Internet, and other data services. GSM operators, on the other hand,
have had to migrate from the frustrating experience of WAP (wireless
application protocol) to GPRS, which has not significantly improved the
subscribers experience of surfing the Net on/from mobile.
The top brass of GSA, an organisation comprising Nokia, Siemens,
Ericsson, Alcatel and Lucent Technologies - met on Tuesday in the capital
to persuade the operators to adopt EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM
Evolution) and leave GPRS behind as a dream gone sour.
Only Airtel, Vodafone, BPL Mobile and Idea Cellular had launched GPRS,
but the data transfer speeds of GPRS have been abysmal. The field trials
gave a speed of around 54 kbps, but the actual speeds have not exceeded
14-18 kbps, a major reason why GPRS growth has been so slow. As
against the total GSM cellular base of 40 crore, the country has between
9 crore GPRS users only. In comparison, the two CDMA operators have
about 23 crore connections. All these sets are data compliant. Though no
figures are available as to how many use these for data services, the
figure is believed to be respectable as a percentage ratio for CDMA.

Will GSM maintain its headstart?

At the GSM Evolution Forum held in New Delhi, GSA president Alan
Hadden predicted that GSM growth will far outstrip CDMA as was
happening globally. He felt India could have as many as 600 million GSM
subscribers by 2012-2013. According to GSA, there are over 2.7 billion
GSM subscribers worldwide as against 1.3 billion CDMA customers. The
revenue of top 25 global operators from data averages 18 per cent and 22
of these operators run GSM networks. Overall, there are 76 operators in
50 countries that have committed to deploy EDGE.
Almost every country has a GSM-based network and even those US
operators, which operated on now-defunct TDMA technology, were
migrating gradually to GSM, not CDMA, pointed out Hadden at the GSM
Evolution Forum. The Forum is a global GSA program to assist the
operators for evolution to third generation (3G) technologies. People are
using their phones for much more than voice. Fifteen networks have
commercially launched EDGE as it can run 3G like services in the
existing spectrum for the operators without needing a 3G

license. Even the migration to a full-fledged 3G level of Wideband CDMA

(WCDMA) will be smooth with EDGE, said Hadden.
Besides, the automatic roaming provided by GSM networks in almost
200 countries is a power that CDMA doesnt give you. We know for sure
that almost 20-25 per cent of the revenue for some GSM operators comes
from roaming customers, he added. But CDMA is no pushover with
Korea and Philippines as the shining jewels in its crown. The first CDMA
2000 1X was commercially deployed in October 2000.
Already, 81 operators have launched 77 CDMA 2000 1X networks
whereas nine have launched services based on 1xEV-DO platform across
Asia, the Americas and Europe. At least, 16 new 1X and six 1xEV-DO
networks are scheduled to be deployed in 2004, according to CDMA
Development Group. EV-DO and EV-DV are the next level of evolution on
the CDMA 2000 1X platform, capable of delivering services comparable
to 3G WCDMA.

Where are the models?

What will matter a lot in this war will be the availability of EDGE
compliant handsets at affordable rates. While the two CDMA operators

have been giving out handsets that can give hi-speed data transfer, same
has not been the case with GSM. Even now, GPRS handsets have not
become commonplace and GPRS feature is found only in mid and highend segment handsets.

End sum game

When the networks deploy EDGE, subscribers can expect the delivery of
advanced mobile services such as easy downloading of video and music
clips, full multimedia messaging, besides high-speed Internet and e-mail
access, provided their handset supports all this.
But the real cruncher will be the migration at a later stage to 3G
technologies such as WCDMA, EV-DO or EV-DA as and when the
government decides what to do with the 3G licences. WCDMA for
example promises delivery of a phenomenal 2 megabytes per second
(mbps), equivalent to what a leased line in many middle level corporates
gives.

More importantly, WCDMA will spawn a whole new range of full motion
audio-video applications, including video telephony. GSM lobby may
continue to remain gung ho over the future of their technologies over that
boosted by the American firms Qualcomm and Motorola, but Indian
market could well throw an interesting scenario that industry experts will
do well to watch. In the coming months, Reliance plans to offer its CDMA
subscribers much more than what GSM players intend to deliver through
their EDGE for their subscribers.
Who succeeds in this battle for mobile customers eyeballs is most
difficult to predict. A Korea and Japan may not be waiting to happen in
India, but India will probably be more like the Chinese market with both
standards co-existing. For now, GSM rules!

Airtel (Bharti Airtel Ltd.)

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company

with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in
New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 4 mobile service
providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's
product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile
commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH,
enterprise services including national & international long distance
services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G

wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 269
million customers across its operations at the end of March 2013.
Airtel comes to us from Bharti Airtel Limited - a part of the biggest
private integrated telecom conglomerate, Bharti Enterprises. Bharti
provides a range of telecom services, which include Cellular, Basic,
Internet and recently introduced National Long Distance. Bharti also
manufactures and exports

telephone terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the largest
manufacturer of telephone instruments in India, it is also the first
company to export its products to the USA. Bharti has also put its
footsteps into Insurance and Retail segment in collaboration with MultiNational giants. Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with a
footprint in 23 states covering all four metros and more than 50 million
satisfied customers.

S E R V I C E S
Mobile Services
Airtel Prepaid, the Ready Cellular Card from Airtel comes to you from
Bharti Enterprises, India's leading integrated telecom service provider.
Going mobile with Airtel Prepaid is a new way of life. With a host of great
features, also simple to use, Airtel Prepaid makes everything that you
dreamt and believed, possible.
3G
Airtel 3G services are available in 200 cities through its network and in
500 cities through intra-circle roaming arrangements with other
operators. Airtel had about 5.4 million 3G customers of which 4 million
are 3G data customers as of September 2012

4G
Airtel

launched

4G

services

using TD-LTE technology

in

Kolkata,

becoming the first company in India to offer 4G services. Airtel had

20,000 4G subscribers as of March 2013.

WiFi
Airtel has plans to launch WiFi services in India. It intends to start
offering WiFi services in Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore in initial
phase. All plans will be on secure wireless broadband internet with
unlimited usage and will besession or time based. Users can use the
service by finding a hotspot, selecting airtelWiFi Zone', activating the
voucher and then login to start browsing.Airtel intends to partner with
establishments to set up hotspots which will be termed WiFi Hangout for
an establishment owner and WiFi Partner for the cafe and restaurant
owners. Airtel WiFi Partners can offer services at zero investments and
can earn commission on every WiFi session sold.
Airtel Money

Airtel has started a new mCommerce platform called Airtel Money in

collaboration with Infosys and SmartTrust (now Giesecke&Devrient). The
platform was launched on 5 April 2012, at Infosys' headquarters in
Bangalore. Using Airtel Money, users can transfer money, pay bills and
perform other financial transactions directly on the mobile phone.

Smart Drive
SmartDrive is navigation app exclusive to Airtel customers. The app
features voice-based turn by turn navigation, real time information
update on traffic, approximate time of the travel on the basis of the
traffic situation on the various routes and also lets uers see their
location on the map and plan the journey accordingly. It also suggests
the subscriber an alternate route in case of traffic congestion on the
normal route.
Network Experience Centre
Airtel has a Network Experience Centre (NEC) which observes end to end
customer experience, in near real time, along with the standard network
elements

on

Airtel's

operations.

The

NEC

is

located

in Manesar, Haryana and went live on 31 October 2012. It is the first

such facility in India and will be able to monitor Airtel's network
performance across mobile, fixed line, broadband, DTH, M-Commerce,
enterprise services, International Cable Systems and internet peering
points from a single location. It will monitor all Airtel and partner NOCs.
In case of an emergency, the NEC will enable the operator to prioritize
actions to restore normalcy and reduce resolution time.
iPhone
The iPhone 3G was rolled out in India in 2008 by Airtel. However, high
prices and contract bonds discouraged consumers and it was not as
successful as

the iPhone is in other markets of the world. Airtel introduced the iPhone
4 on 27 May 2011 and the iPhone 5 on 2 November 2012.
Strong Network Coverage
Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtels world-class technology
and unbreakable network coverage that spans over 23 circles across the
country.

Instant Balance and Validity Enquiry

Your account balance is updated on the screen of your handset at the
end of each chargeable call. You can also call 123 from your mobile
phone and listen to the voice announcement or simply dial *123#, press
'OK' or 'YES' button and your account balance will be displayed on the
screen of your handset.
Recharge your Airtel Prepaid
Recharging is Easy. The calling value on your card keeps reducing as you
make calls or use any other chargeable service. Choose the Airtel Prepaid
Recharge Coupon thats right for you, from a variety of tailor made
recharge coupons with different denominations, which are available at a
number of outlets across your city. Simply follow the procedure
mentioned below, to recharge your phone.
Prepaid Roaming
Airtel Prepaid comes preactivated with 'National Roaming', so you stay
connected no matter wherever you are. You can also send or receive
MMS,

check your email and access other GPRS services while roaming in India
as you would in your own city. While traveling abroad you can receive
calls & send or receive SMS.
Other ServicesAirtel brings you, a wide range of Services that will
change the way you communicate. Try them and discover a whole new
world of fun and excitement.
Call management Services
Call waiting, call hold, call divert and Caller Line Identification
Presentation all with your Airtel prepaid connection.
Voice Mail
When your handset is switched off, or youre too busy to answer the
phone, Airtel Voicemail will answer your calls and record a message. The
best part is that there's no extra monthly cost for setting up Voicemail you just pay for the phone call when you use the service.
SMS (Short Messaging Service)

Send messages quickly and easily using text, if it's too noisy to talk or
you don't have much time. It's the way to share those interesting oneliners, important reminders and rib-tickling jokes, with anyone, anytime,
anywhere in the world.

Subscription AlertsGet regular alerts on news, jokes, business, health

and films on your Airtel mobile phone with Subscription Services. SMS
<SUB NEWS> to 3333 for News, <SUB JOKE> for Jokes, <SUB BIZ> for
Business News, <SUB SPO> for Sports Alerts &<SUB VAASTU> for
Vaastu tips.
MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service):
Jazz up your messages with pictures, images and video clippings, with
MMS
from Airtel! To activate MMS on your phone, SMS 'MMS' to 56465 and
save service settings.
Airtel Live!

Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination with

Airtel Live! Airtel brings you the latest in entertainment and information
services, right on your phone!
Airtel Live! WAP Services: Download the latest ring tones, games,
wallpapers, videos and much more. You can also get news clips, watch
live TV and download full songs on you phone. To get Airtel Live! Settings
on your phone, SMS 'Live' to 56465 and save the settings that you receive
as your preferred connection. Airtel Live! Portal can be accessed from you
GPRS enabled phone, by sending a SMS 'FUN' to 56465.
Airtel Live! Voice Services: Just Dial 56465, and name the service. For
e.g. say ring tones to download your favorite ring tones. You can also
choose a

variety of content options like Live Cricket Commentary, latest National /

International News, Movie Reviews or Stock Market Updates.
Airtel Live! SIM Services: Access loads of fun content and exciting
services like cricket, stocks, on your phone at the touch of a few buttons

with Airtel Live! SIM based Services on your SIM card menu. To
download new services on
your Airtel SIM, choose the "What's new" option under the "Airtel
services".
Airtel Live! SMS Services
You can enjoy a host of services by sending a keyword as an SMS to
56465! Choose Astrology / Horoscope, Cricket, Bollywood / Hollywood /
Indi Pop Ring tones. In case you need assistance SMS, Help to 56465.
Hello Tunes
Tired of that boring old tringtring on your phone? Well now when a
friend calls, you can make them groove to the hottest new tracks burning
up the music charts with Hello Tunes from Airtel! You get a wide choice
of songs in the Popular & New Arrivals categories that are updated
regularly. What's more you can directly call the number for your kind of
music, e.g. call 678005 for English New and 678001 for Hindi New. This
would directly take you to your favorite artist's Hello Tunes listing.
Copy a Hello Tune

Get the tune you want, all you have to do is call 55055 and follow the
simple voice instructions to copy your favorite Hello Tunes. Once inside
the copy

feature, just key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile number you want to copy
the Hello Tune from and you get the same Hello Tune assigned to your
number.
Gift a Hello Tune
Forget gifting chocolates, flowers and greeting cards. Say it with a song
instead!
Gift a Hello Tune to that special someone. Just call 55055 and choose
the song that you want to gift. Follow the simple voice instructions and
key in the 10digit Airtel mobile number that you want to gift the Hello Tune to. You
will get an SMS notification upon successful receipt of that gift.
Buy Music - Airtel Music Shops
Buying your favorite Hello Tune or Ring tone is as simple as recharging
your phone with talk time. Simply walk into your nearest Airtel Shop and

walk out with your favorite song. Choose from Bollywood Hits to Indipop
Remixes, Hard Rock to GujratiGarba, Bhajans to Jazz, Bhangra Beats to
foot tapping Tamil Hits from a list of more than 18000 songs.
Reach us Anytime Anywhere
In case you need assistance, dial '121' - our toll-free number, accessible
from anywhere in the country, even while roaming. You can also send us
an SMS to 121 or mail us at 121@airtelindia.com. *In case of email,
mention your mobile no. like, 9810012345, in the subject of the mail for
a quicker response.

Airtel Postpaid
Airtel welcomes you to a vibrant world of unlimited opportunities. More
exciting, innovative yet simple new ways to communicate, just when you
want to, not just through words but ideas, emotions and feelings. To give
you the unlimited freedom to reach out to your special people in your
special way.

Easy Billing
Enjoy a host of rich features only with Airtel e-bill. Register free on My
Airtel section and view your monthly bill with call details for last three
months. Sort your calls between personal and official or analyze your
usage, at the click of a button. To change your tariff plan call our IVR at
121 and leave a request.
Easy Payment Options. Anytime Anywhere
You can choose from a host of convenient payment options only with
Airtel. Walk into any Airtel relationship centre and make your payments
by cash or credit card. Drop a cheque at any of the drop boxes for making
payments or simply log on to My Airtel section and pay instantly through
your credit card. You can also opt for easy payment options like:
Standing Instructions
You can give us standing instructions to debit your credit card account
for your monthly Airtel bills. All you have to do is fill the Standing
Instruction Form and mail, fax it to us or drop it any of our relationship
centres.

Electronic Clearing System

Fill an ECS form and mail, fax it to us or drop it any of our relationship
centres to directly debit your bank account for your monthly Airtel bill.
Pay while roaming
Airtel has introduced 'anywhere payment' that offers you the convenience
of making payments while you roam. Walk in to any Airtel Relationship
Centre inthe country, make payments by cash or credit card and enjoy
uninterrupted Airtel Services.
Credit limit
Your pre-set credit limit mentioned on your monthly bill helps you keep
your mobile charges in control, keeps track of your usage and ensures
that your mobile phone is not misused. Should you exceed your credit
limit, you will be informed via a voice or a non-voice message to make an
interim payment and reduce your account balance below your credit
limit. You may also choose to pay us an additional refundable deposit to
enhance your credit limit or opt for our convenient payment method of
Credit Card Standing instruction .You can also make use of ECS facility.

Long Distance Calling Facility

Call long distance calls in India and Overseas with STD / ISD facility on
your Airtel phone.

Widest Roaming - National and International

Airtel's roaming service allows you to stay connected and use your mobile
phone to make or receive calls from almost anywhere in India and also
over 160 countries, abroad.
GPRS - Roaming
Use Airtel Postpaid GPRS services, while roaming, to access the internet
and office mails (e.g. BlackBerry services), from almost anywhere in India
and abroad.
Say it. In more than just words, with Services from Airtel
Airtel brings you a wide range of Services that will change the way you
communicate. Try them and discover a whole new world of fun and
excitement.

Call management Services

Call waiting, call hold, call divert and Caller Line Identification
Presentation,help you do more with your Airtel Postpaid connection!
Conference call
You can hold a teleconference with 5 people simultaneously with Call
Conferencing service from Airtel. In fact, you can set up a conference
even when the other five are using a landline phone. To know more, call
customer service at 121.

Missed call alert

A missed call alert is a SMS that you will receive for all the calls that you
missed. The SMS will detail the CLI and the time when the call was
made. To
activate, dial *135*2# then press the call button and wait for the request
to be completed.
Voice Mail

When your handset is switched off, or youre too busy to answer the
phone, Airtel Voicemail will answer your calls and record a message. The
best part is that there's no extra monthly cost for setting up Voicemail you just pay for the phone call when you use the service.
SMS (Short Messaging Service)
Send messages quickly and easily, using text, if it's too noisy to talk or
you don't have much time. It's the way to Share those interesting oneliners, important reminders and rib-tickling jokes, with anyone, anytime,
anywhere in the world.
Subscription Alerts
Get regular alerts on news, jokes, business, health and films on your
Airtel mobile phone with Subscription Services. SMS <SUB NEWS> for
News, <SUB JOKE> for Jokes, <SUB BIZ> for Business News, <SUB
SPO> for Sports Alerts &<SUB VAASTU> for Vaastu tips to 3333.

MMS(Multi-media Messaging Service):

Jazz up your messages with pictures, images and video clippings, with
MMS from Airtel! To activate MMS on your phone, SMS 'MMS' to 56465
and save service settings.
Airtel Live!
Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination with
Airtel Live! Airtel brings you the latest in entertainment and information
services, right on your phone!
Airtel Live! WAP Services: Download the latest ringtones, games,
wallpapers, videos and much more. You can also get news clips, watch
live TV and download full songs on your phone! To get Airtel Live!
Settings on your phone SMS 'Live' to 56465 and save the settings that
you receive as your preferred connection. Airtel Live! Portal can be
accessed from you GPRS enabled phone, by sending a SMS 'FUN' to
56465.
Airtel Live! Voice Services: Just Dial 56465 and say the name of the
service. For e.g. say Ring tones to download your favorite ring tones. You
can also choose a variety of content options like Live Cricket

Commentary, latest National / International News, Movie Reviews or

Stock Market Updates.
Airtel Live! SIM Services: Access loads of fun content and exciting
services like cricket, stocks, on your phone at thetouch of a few buttons
with Airtel

Live! SIM based Services on your SIM card menu. To download new
services on your Airtel SIM, choose the "What's new" option under the
"Airtel services" menu.
Airtel Live! SMS Services: You can enjoy a host of services by sending a
keyword as an SMS to56465!Choose Astrology / Horoscope, Cricket,
Bollywood / Hollywood / Indi Pop Ring tones. In case you need
assistance SMS Help to 56465.
GPRS (General Packet Radio Services)Log on to the internet, with
GPRS that allows data transmission at a higher speed. Access e-mails
and internet across Airtel's pan-India presence using 'Mobile Office' with
your phone or a phone and laptop both.
Get the EDGE

Browse the internet on your mobile phone with Airtel's EDGE services.
Enjoy live TV, enhanced WAP experience and Airtel Data Cards on our
high speed network.
Hello Tunes
Tired of that boring old tringtring on your phone? Well now when a
friend calls, you can make them groove to the hottest new tracks burning
up the music charts with Hello Tunes from Airtel! You get a wide choice
of songs in the Popular & New Arrivals categories that are updated
regularly. What's more,

you can directly call the number for your kind of music, e.g. call 678005
for English New and 678001 for Hindi New. This would directly take
you to your favorite artist's Hello Tunes listing.
Copy a Hello Tunes
Like a tune you want, all you have to do is call 55055 and followthe
simple voice instructions to copy your favorite Hello Tunes. Once inside
the copy feature, just key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile number you want

to copy the Hello Tune from and you get the same Hello Tune assigned to
your number.
Gift a Hello Tunes
Forget gifting chocolates, flowers and greeting cards. Say it with a song
instead! Gift a Hello Tune to that special someone. Just call 55055 and
choose the song that you want to gift. Follow the simple voice
instructions and key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile number that you want
to gift the Hello Tune to. You will get an SMS notification upon successful
receipt of that gift.
Buy Music - Airtel Music Shops
Buying your favorite Hello Tune or Ringtone is as simple as recharging
your phone with talk time. Simply walk into your nearest Airtel Shop and
walk out with your favorite song. Choose from Bollywood Hits to Indi pop
Remixes, Hard Rock to GuajaratiGarba, Bhajans to Jazz, Bhangra Beats
to foot tapping Tamil Hits from a list of more than 18000 songs.

Reach us, Anytime Anywhere

In case you need assistance, dial '121' - our toll-free number,

accessible from anywhere in the country, even while roaming. *In case
of email, mention your mobile no. like 9810012345 in the subject of
the mail for a quicker response. TARIFF

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

Airtel to Touch Tomorrow with a new brand vision

The Bharti Mobile promoted AirTel cellular service will go in for
repositioning of its brand image. The new brand ethos is portrayed in two
distinct fashions - the tag line "Touch Tomorrow", which underscores the
leading theme for the new brand vision, followed by "The Good Life",
which underscores a more caring, more customer centric organization.
Aimed at re-engineering its image as just simply a cellular service
provider to an all out information communications services provider,
Touch Tomorrow is meant to embrace the new generation of mobile
communication services and the changing scope of customer needs and
aspirations that come along with it
The new communication is about a new dimension in the cellular
category that goes beyond the Internet, SMS, roaming, IVRS, etc but
which engulfs the whole gamut of wireless digital broadband services
that will constitute tomorrows cellular services. The new campaign is in
two phases - the first of which will communicate overall brand
philosophy and the second products and services. According to Mr.
JagdishKini, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Mobile Limited, Karnataka

"We are adopting a new brand- platform - Touch Tomorrow - not only to
reflect our corporate ethos but also business strategy".
The new identity will have the logo in Red color along with lower case
typography to convey warmth.AirTel will incorporate the latest branding
in all

of its communication and will soon be going in for an enhanced

promotional drive to establish the brand's presence.

MARKET SITUATION
At the time of launch
The first mover in the market was Airtel which launched its services in
Delhi in Aug 1995 (Informal launch). Essar Cell phone followed by
launching its services informally in Oct 95. At this point of time, the
market was at a nascent stage, awareness level was low and both
operators independently tried to spread awareness and educate the
people

Once the networks were commercially launched, it became a number

game with a multitude of schemes being offered to woo customers
Initially the cell phone was perceived as a status symbol and utility took
a back seat The target segment in Delhi were corporate and the high
income group.
subscribers.

The average capacity installed was for 1.5 lakh

This coupled with the steep license fee paid to DOT put

pressure on the operators to break-even by rapidly expanding their

markets. In the first two years, this led to a number of schemes being
offered and prices crashing.

COMPETITIVE SITUATION
Airtel launched its services before Essar and skimmed the market
picking up the bulk of the high usage premium clients. This isa very
competitive industry with the two companies differentiating either on
value-added services or price.

Airtel is perceived as the high quality

provider and has a premium image.

Essar, on the other hand,

isperceived as the lower end service provider. Airtel positions itself as the
market leader on the basis of the number of subscribers. Essar is trying
to counter this by emphasizing on the reach of its network and the
quality of its service.

However, Essar is somewhat not been very

successful largely due to the inconsistency in advertising

To promote themselves, both the players have been dependent on tactical
advertising However, they have restrained from using comparative
advertising Hoardings have been a very popular medium for carrying the
advertisements Airtel has also been advertising on television using the
Bharti Telecom name.

SALES DEPARTMENT AND STRATEGY

A.

Major Accounts (Direct Channel)

Handles corporate (named and famed) accounts
Forecasting of sales
Mapping the accounts
Providing after sales support to the subscribers.
Maintaining call reports for records.

 Providing Feedback to the marketing department regarding the

requirement of the market.
B. IDC (indirect Channel)
Handling distribution
Maintaining records and level check of the channel partner
Liaisoning between the channel partner and the company.
Target achievement
Training the executives of the channel
C.

Distribution Support
1.

Logistics
Monitor handset and SIM card requirements of channel
partners and co-ordinate with stores
Settle areas of concerns such as incentive claims of channel
partners

2.

Rental
Provide cellular services (SIM cards) on rent.
Provide cellular phones on rent

 Useful for people visiting Delhi for a short interval.

3

Telesales
Call customers and generate sales lead.
Follow up with the customers, if they need any assistance

Pass on the sales lead to the channel department.

4

Audit
Consultant to the AirTel showrooms.
Monitor the operations at the AirTel distribution outlets Organize
training.

5.

Retail
Locate shops to open retail counters.
Monitor the retail counters.

MARKET SEGMENTATION
Segmentation is beneficial because of better predictability of the target
consumer group, minimization of risk exposure, better ability to finetune a product / service to the requirement of target buyer and the
resultant ease in designing a proper designing marketing mix strategy In
this case segmentation ison the bade of income.
In evaluating different market segments the company looks at two factors
The overall attractiveness of the segments and the company's objectives
& resources The present market for Cellular phones, pagers and
conventional phones is as follows

Cellular Phones

Premium
Upper Lower
X
X

Middle
Upper Lower
X
-

Economy
Upper Lower
-

Pager
X
X
Conventional
X
X
Phones
X Market Segment Targeted

X
X

X
X

TARGET MARKET SEGMENT

Airtel has targeted the premium and upper middle class. The rationale
behind it is that only those segments should be targeted who value time
and have the paying capacity. It Is also planning to target the business
tourists during their stay in the capital

About 60% of the clientele are top executives of corporate houses. About
15% are foreign organisations and the rest are professionals and small
businessmen. During the introduction stage there was intense pressure
to get consumers across to hook up with their brand, because getting
them to switch brand loyalty later would be hard
So far Airtel marketers have been concentrating totally on the business
executive class but now that the basic viable volumes has beer) built up
and prices have declined to a certain extent they are planning to venture
further a field.

POSITIONING
The product is sought to be positioned as a business efficiency tool. a
lifestyle revolution and a status symbol The emphasis isto remove
misconception

that

the

cell

phone

is

an

expensive

means

of

communication and drive home the point that the cell phone is actually
a day-to-day utility

PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING

The product or service is the heart of the marketing mix.

Without a

product or a service customers' needs cannot be satisfied.

The basic product promise by Airtel is mobility. Airtel's main marketing
strategy is to be a first mover all the time.

It has recognized the

significance of

making the first move-- because in the field of Communication &

Information Technology changes occur at a tremendous pace.

Effective product segmentation has to be carried on continuously

because basic services can be and will be copied and in time become
expected component of the product. Airtel seeks to carry out this
segmentation through provision of new information services and making
new facilities available. The product policy and planning depends on the
stage of the product life cycle. At present the cellular phone market has
reached the maturity stage.

Since, the premium segment is nearing

saturation the company targeting the upper middle and middle-middle

class. In order to do so Airtel is trying to optimize the price performance
package by offering suitable "product bundling".
This involves the selection of the suitable hardware (handset) and its
software (its services.) with reasonable price in order to deliver maximum
price performance to its customers.

In addition, it offers free Airtime

services and other concessions to make the prices and thus the product
more attractive. It has also opened a 24 hours customer service.
Only price doesn't serve as an effective differentiator, value added
services become the effective differentiator.

The "Value Added Services" provided from Airtel are:1). Voice Mail service
This system is similar to the answering machine - if the user is not able
to answer a call for some reason the caller can leave messages in the
voice mail box which can be later retrieved by the user

ii) Short Message ServiceThe short message service is like a two-way

pager. It gives an option of sending and receiving text messages directly
from one mobile phone to another without the intervention of an
operator.

iii) Mobile Fax 1 Data Service

This service helps the subscriber to send and receive Faxes, access Email, download computer files from other systems and remotely log on to
another computer and surf the Internet.

iv) Cash Card

The cash card is a pre-paid and pre-activated card which allows the
buyers to buy air time in advance. All it requires is the payment of an
initial amount.

This is a useful service for people who travel to Delhi

often and those who want to control the expenses on their calls.

v) Caller ID
Displays calling person's number.

vi) Outgoing call restriction

To prevent or limit outgoing calls, for example, in peak hours.

Also

possible to exclude one or several countries or any geographical region,

to permit only local calls, or to limit the outgoing calls to a listed number.

viii) Call forward

Incoming calls can be forwarded to another fixed or mobile phone.
Besides these some other services provided by Airtel are - Call
conferencing, Call broadcast et cetera.
It is in the operators -Interest that they not only get many subscribers
but also get them to use the mobile facility frequently. In the early stages
getting increases to subscribe may be easier than getting them to talk
since they will find it costlier to use the mobile phone as compared to a
conventional phone [if is believed that initially cell phones would be used
by]

viii) Roaming Facility

Roaming facility is available while the subscriber is travelling. The billing
is done in the home network (Delhi).

Roaming facility is available

manually* as well as semi-automatically. Once a subscriber is In any

other city or country,

where a GSM network is available, simply insert the SIM card of the local
operator Into your handset and start talking.
*

Manual Roaming means a separate SIM card is provided for each

city

**

Semi automatic roaming means one card has the facility for
different cities.

AIRTEL'S MARKETING ORIENTATION.

Since this is a high-involvement expensive product, the service provider
has to fully take care of the customers.
a)

They take personal responsibility to "get" the answer for any problem
faced by the customer

b)

They anticipate customers' problems and take pro-active steps to

prevent them

c)

They give answers to the questions & requests, quickly & efficiently.

d)

They have a positive tone & manner while interacting with

customers.

e)

They end the interaction on a positive or a humorous note-making

the last 30 seconds count.

Airtel realizes that attracting people 'Is easy but converting them into
loyal customers is hard, hence emphasis is on maintaining a 'Smiling
and a Friendly Atmosphere' to please and retain the customer.

PRICE AND PRICING POLICY

AIRTEL has realized that the Indian market is price sensitive. Therefore
it care of the has come up with various innovative tariff schemes to take
needs of
different category of customers- Generally, the cellular services are more
expensive than the land line based telephone services.

MARKETING STRATEGY
ADOPTED BY BHARTI AIRTEL
Bharti has spent a considerable amount on advertising its mobile phone
service, Airtel. Besides print advertising, the company had put up large
no of hoardings and kiosks in and around Delhi.

The objective behind designing a promotion campaign for the Airtel

services is to promote the brand awareness and to build brand
preferences.
It is trying to set up a thematic campaign to build a stronger brand
equity for Airtel. Since the cellular phone category itself is too restricted,
also the fact that a Cellular phone is a high involvement product, price
doesn't qualify as an effective differentiator.
provider counts a great deal.

The image of the service

Given the Cell phone category, it is the

network efficiency and the quality of service that becomes important.

What now the buyer is looking at is to get the optimum priceperformance package. This also serves as an effective differentiator
Brand awareness isspread through the' campaigns and brand preference
through brand stature.

Airtel's campaign in the capital began with a

series of'teaser' hoardings across the city,' bearing just the company's
name and without explaining what Airtel was.

In the next phase the

campaign associated Airtel with Cellular only thereafter was the Bharti
Cellular connection brought up. Vans with Airtel logos roamed the city,
handing out brochures about

the company and its services to all

consumers. About 50,000 direct callers were

sent out. When the name was well entrenched in the Delhiitess mind,
the Airtel campaign began to focus on the utility of Cell phone. In the
first four months alone Airtel's advertisement spend exceeded Rs. 4
crores.
As of today the awareness level is 60% unaided.

This implies that if

potential or knowledgeable consumers are asked to name a Cellular

phone service provider that is on the top of his/her mind 60% of them
would name Airtel. As for aided it -is 100% (by giving clues and hints
etc.).
Brand strength of a product or the health of a brand is measured by the
percentage score of the brand on the above aided and the unaided tests.
The figures show that Airtel is a healthy and a thriving brand.
Every company has a goal, which might comprise a sales target and a
game plan with due regard to its competitor. Airtels campaign strategy is
designed keeping in mind its marketing strategy. The tone, tenor and the
stance of the visual ads are designed to convey the image of a market
leader in terms of its market share. It tries to portray the image of being
a "first mover every time" and that of a "market leader".

The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just reached the
maturity stage in India. It is still on the rising part of the product life
cycle curve in the maturity stage.
The diagram on the left hand side shows the percentage of the users
classified into heavy, medium and low categories. The right hand side
shows the revenue share earned from the three types of users.

Airtel, keeping in mind the importance of the customer retention, values

its heavy users the most and constantly indulges in service innovation.
But, since heavy users comprise only 15 - 20% of the population the
other segment cannot be neglected.
The population which has just realized the importance of cellular phones
has to be roped in. It is for this reason that the service provider offers a
plethora of incentives and discounts.

Concerts like the "Freedom

concert" are being organized by Airtel in order to promote sales.

The

media channel is chosen with economy in mind. The target segment is

not very concrete but, there is an attempt to focus on those who can
afford.

The print advertisements and hoarding are placed in those

strategic areas which most likely to catch the attention of those who need

a cellular phone.

The product promise (which might cost different 1

higher) is an important variable in determining the target audience.

Besides this, other promotional strategies that Airtel has adopted are .
(i)

People who have booked Airtel services have been treated to

exclusive premiers of blockbuster movies.

Airtel has tied up with

Lufthansa to offer customer bonus miles on the German airlines

frequent flier's programs.
(ii)

There have been educational campaigns, image campaigns, pre

launch advertisements, launch advertisements, congratulatory
advertisements,

promotional

advertise--ments,

advertisements and tactical advertisements.

DISTRIBUTION
Company

Franchisee

Dealer

Distributor

Dealers

Customer
Customer

attacking

The- company whose operations are concentrated in and around Delhi.

It 27 Franchisees and 15 Distributors- They also have 8 'instant access
cash card counters- Each franchises or distributor can have any number
of dealers under him as long as the person isapproved by the Airtel
authority. Each franchise has to invest Rupees Ten Lakhs. To obtain a
franchise and should employ an officer recruited by Airtel. This person
acts as a liaison between the company and the franchises.

The

franchises can it any number of dealers as long as their territories do not

overlap.

But unfortunately Airtel has not been very successful in

controlling territorial overlaps of dealers. The franchises can carry out

his/her own promotional strategy.

For this the. company contributes

75% of the money and the franchises contributes 25% of the money. The
dealers under the franchisee receive the same commission.

The

franchises and the dealer obtain the feedback from the customers and
they are sent through the liaison officer on a day-to-day basis to Airtel.
The dealer has to invest Rupees. One Lakh as an initial investment. The
dealer of Airtel are not allowed to provide any other operators' service.

Target set for distributors and the dealers is 100 -150 activations per
month.

Hence the dealers can also go for their own promotions like

banners and discounts on festivals etc.

promptly.

The dealer provides service

The consumer on providing the bill of purchase for the

handset and proof of residence has only to wait an hour before getting
connected. The staff of the dealers and the franchisees are provided
training by the Airtel personnel.
The complaints encountered by the franchisees and dealers are either
handset being non-functional or the SIM Card not getting activated.
Anything more complicated is referred to the main Airtel office in Delhi.

WHAT DOES AIRTEL OFFER?

With Airtel, the subscriber wouldn't just get a personal phone that lets
him/her be in touch, always, but also gets a host of benefits that let
him/her manage his/her time like never before.
An Airtel subscriber is provided with a Subscriber Identity Module Card
(SIM card) - that is the key to operating his/her cellular phone. His card
activates Airtel cellular services and contains a complete micro-computer
chip with memory to enable one to enjoy one's cellular phone thoroughly.
Each SIM card contains a PIN code (Personal Identity Number) which
may be entered by one.

Just plug your SIM card into your cellular

phone, enter the PIN code and it becomes 'your' personal phone'.
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
The pattern of cellophane subscriber growth observed elsewhere in the
world reveals that the growth in the market is initially slow followed by a
sharp acceleration, but so far that has not happened in India. As far as
the Product Life Cycle is concerned. Indians are at the beginning of the
maturity stage.

Introduction

Growth

Maturity

MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Create product

Maximize market

Maximize profits

awareness and trial

share

whole defending
market share

Strategies
Product

Offer a basic

Offer value

Increase in

product/

added services

number of

service.

value added
services.

Price

Distribution

Charge cost-

Price to

Price to match

plus

penetrate

or best

market

competitors

Build selective

Build Intensive Build more

distribution

distribution.

intensive
distribution.

Advertising

Build product

Build

Stress brand

awareness

awareness and

differences

among early

interest in the

and benefits.

adopters and

mass market

dealers.
Sales

Use heavy

Increase to

Increase to

Promotion

sales

build and

encourage

promotion to

maintain

brand-

entice people

relationships

switching.

to subscribe.

with
customers.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Objectives:
To study the importance and development of telecommunication
industry in todays scenario.
To understand the various Marketing Strategies which Airtel has
adopted to survive in highly competitive cell phone industry.
To make a comparative study of the major players in Indian Service
Provider.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The methodology adopted for this project is exploratory in nature since
there is no hypothesis that has to be tested. The conclusions have been
drawn by exploratory research work.
There have been two sources of information collected:
a) Primary Sources
I have met retailers of the Airtel of the company and have been able to get
first hand information regarding the product, its features and the buying
patterns of the product. Their input has been valuable.
b) Secondary Sources
Secondary source has played a vital role to play in this report. A good
amount of data has been collected from various published articles and
reports found in magazines and journals. Another vital source has been
the Internet and particularly the companies own website.

LIMITATIONS
Every attempt will be taken to obtain the error free and meaningful result
but as nothing in this world is 100% perfect I believe that there will still
the chance for error on account of following limitations(1)

Respondents unavailability.

(2)

Time pressure and fatigue on the part of respondents and

interviewer.

(3)

Courtesy bias.

FINDINGS
1. Do you believe that India is potentially one of the most exciting mobile
service providers in the world?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea

Yes
4
4
4

No
1
1
1

MTNL

As according to the above table 16 (80%) out of the total 20 interviewed people
in all the above four specified Indian mobile service providers are of belief that
India is potentially one of the most exciting mobile service providers in the
world, whereas some 4 (20%) of them do not agree to this view.

No 1

MTNL
Yes

Idea

Vodafone

10

AirTel
4

12

14

16

18

2.Do you find that the governments telecom policy has had the most
radical impact on the development of mobile service providers?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
4
3
3
5

No
1
2
2
3

As according to the above table 15 (75%) out of the total 20 interviewed

people in all the above four specified Indian mobile service providers find
that the governments telecom policy has had the most radical impact on
the development of mobile service providers, whereas some 5 (25%) of
them deny this.

Chart Title
No

AirTel
Vodafone
IDEA
MTNL

Yes

3. Do you believe that one of the challenges facing mobile operators in

India is the diversity of the coverage regions?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
2
3
3
2

No
3
2
2
3

As according to the above table 10 (50%) out of the total 20 interviewed

people in the mobile service providers are of belief that one of the
challenges facing mobile operations in India is the diversify of the
coverage regions, whereas interestingly another 10 (50%) of them deny
this.

No

AirTel

Vodafone

Idea

MTNL

Yes

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

4. To what extent, does you find that mobile service providers is a very
complex standard?
Company

To some extent

To great extent

Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

(1-5)
3
2
2
3

(6-10)
2
3
3
2

As according to the above table 10 (50%) out of the total 20 interviewed

people in all the above four major the mobile service providers in Indian
Cellular industry find only to some extent that GSM is a very complex
standard, whereas the another 10 (50%) respondents find to great extent
that mobile service providers is a very complex standard.

No

AirTel

Vodafone

Idea

MTNL

Yes

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

CONSUMER LEVEL
1. Do you believe that mobile service providers comes close to fulfilling
the requirements for a personal communication system?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
9
8
8
5

No
1
2
2
5

As the above shows 30 (75%) out of total 40 respondents are of the belief
that mobile service providers comes close to fulfilling the requirements
for a personal communication system, whereas 10 (25%) of them are in
no way to this belief.

2
AirTel

Vodafone

Yes

Idea

MTNL

No

2. Do you find that mobile service providers as the most exciting and
satisfying mobile standard?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
9
7
8
8

No
1
3
2
2

As the above shows 32 (80%) out of total 40 respondents find that mobile
service providers as the most exciting and satisfying mobile standard,
whereas the remaining 8 (10%) respondents deny this.

No 1

MTNL

Yes

Idea

Vodafone

10

AirTel

15

20

25

30

35

3. Do you believe that your service provider has a genuine commitment to

creating a modern and efficient communications?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
10
8
10
8

No
-2
-2

As the above shows 36 (90%) out of total 40 respondents are of the belief
that their service providers have a genuine commitment to creating a
modern and efficient communications whereas the remaining 4 (10%)
respondents deny this.

2
0
No

0
AirTel

Vodafone

Idea

MTNL
8

Yes

10
8
10

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS
Cost advantage
Current leaders in quality service
Largest distribution network
Ability to constantly innovate
Highly skilled workforce
Entrepreneurial zeal
Airtels increased equity and market cap.
WEAKNESSES
To prove credibility
Price pressures
Need for Government support
Awareness
Sales and Marketing

OPPORTUNITIES
To sustain passion and commitment
Airtels market share increasing at other service provider expense.
Thus opportunity to wipe it out.
Attain higher value services
Collaborative business needs to be explored
Vertical repeatable solutions.
Low penetration level in rural markets.

THREATS
Foreign investment
Global trends moving from GPS to WLL.
Lack of global parity in telecom tariff
Other competition

CONCLUSION
From above the details I conclude that 70% Airtel users preferred to
remain with Airtel. Also good no. of users who were willing to switch from
their respective subscribers showed interest in Airtel. Hence, these
statistics imply a bright future for the company. Also the company is now
providing more services like the door to door services which is you dial
the Airtel customer care and would like to send someone flowers the
Airtel Company delivers those flowers to the person concerned. Also
Airtel is providing free text messaging service and free voice mail service.
Call conferencing is also another feature Airtel provides.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Robert G. Winch. Telecommunication Transmission Systems. McGrawHill New York, 1993.
Bernard J. T. Mallinder. Specification Methodology Applied to the GSM
System. In EUROCON 88, June 2005.
Moe

Rahnema.

Overview

of

the

GSM

System

and

Protocol

Architecture. IEEE Communications Magazine. April 1993.

Seshadri Mohan and Ravi Jain. Two User Location Strategies for
Personal Communication Services. IEEE Personal Communications.
1(1), 1994.
C. Watson. Radio Equipment for GSM. In D.M. Balston and R.C.V
Macario, editors, Cellular Radio Systems, Artech House, Boston, 1993.
Vodafone
Airtel
Idea

 MTNL