SERVICE DELIVERY || GROUP 3

Study of Competition including Channel and Customer of Postpaid in Ranchi

and recommendations on Idea Sales & Service Strategy inclusive of My Idea
Channel for the market

TEAM MEMBERS
IIM RANCHI PGDM 2015-17
Anagha S Jadhav
Gaurav Singh
Nitish Bokolia
Preetham Sandra
Shruti Vinyas

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are sincerely grateful to Idea for giving us this opportunity to work for a live
project under their Guidance. We are thankful to our allotted SPOC
Mr. Sandeep Tiwary for providing us guidance. Also we are indebted to our
college IIM Ranchi and our imminent faculty for giving us this platform to
work on a live project.

ABSTRACT

Ranchi is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand, and its third most populous city of the
state. Our study revolves around the region of Jharkhand to study the usage and the demand
among the different telecom providers available. Through this our main focus is on the Idea
post paid network and provide suggestions to the current network model utilized in the
region.

INTRODUCTION

The Indian telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing in the world.
Government policies and regulatory framework implemented by Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) have provided a conducive environment for service providers.
This has made the sector more competitive, while enhancing the accessibility of
telecommunication services at affordable tariffs to the consumers.
Telecommunication services are globally recognized as one of the driving forces for overall
economic development in a nation. They are also one of the prime support services needed
for rapid growth and modernization of various sectors of the economy. The Government of
India recognizes this fact and hence, has taken several major initiatives to provide a business
friendly environment for companies in this sector.
Current Scenario
In Indian telecom sector the number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 957.61
million at the end of September, 2014 to 962.63 million at the end of October, 2014, thereby
showing a monthly growth rate of 0.52%. The urban subscription increased from 569.56
million at the end of September, 2014 to 570.58 million at the end of October, 2014 and the
rural subscription increased from 388.05 million to 392.05 million during the same period.
The monthly growth rates of urban and rural subscription were 0.18% and 1.03%
respectively.
The overall Tele-density in India increased from 76.75 at the end of September, 2014 to 77.07
at the end of October, 2014. The Urban Tele-density increased from 148.07 to 148.10 and
Rural Tele-density increased from 44.96 to 45.39 in the month of October 2014. The shares of
urban subscribers and rural subscribers at the end of October, 2014 were 59.27% and 40.73%
respectively.

SALES & DISTRIBUTION COMPARATIVE STUDY

A multi-regional marketing and sales team builds both direct and indirect sales channels.
Regional organizations are responsible for the definition of the sales & marketing strategies,
and plans for their respective territories. Each region also provides significant inputs and
reviews of the corporate strategic sales, marketing, and product direction.
Airtel (Purulia, Hinoo, Main road)
There are a total of 4 airtel showrooms also called as relationship centers available in Ranchi
for customers to view them as touch points for issues, grievances etc. In order to capitalize on
the opportunities in each geographic region, Bharti Airtel has put into place a network of onthe-ground, experienced and incentivized sales and marketing personnel. The teams there
build both direct customer relationships as well as indirect channels (through handset
manufacturer, Network Solutions Provider, etc.). These experienced personnel cater to the
distribution networks and focus on ways specific to improving sales. The presence of these
groups in Ranchi has thus helped Airtel to incentivize among the consumer market here. Also
most of its services are leased to other providers and has a competitive edge here. Many
promotions including stalls, booths are found in colleges, offices offering CUG plans for
students and is one of its major promotional schemes.

Idea
Idea has recently launched a touch point in Ranchi in September 2015 which is its first Idea
relationship center in the region. Till this point not having a touch point caused a major
drawback since consumers associate better when they have showrooms to get better touch
and feel of the service being offered.
Idea network in Ranchi works closely with global partners and has many corporate plans
where its sales are pretty satisfactory.
Sales & Distribution is mainly concerned with the help of the territory manager assigned to
the area. There are no specific sales & marketing personnel channelized towards the
promotion facilities. Most distributors do not focus towards Idea and consider Airtel,
Vodafone, Telenor to be the major players among customers hence they drive the customers
towards Airtel for a reliable network and Telenor if one needs something easy on the pocket.
It thus lacks a sophisticated infrastructure compared to Airtel and needs to improvise through
this recent touch point.

Vodafone

The company launched its operations in Bihar and Jharkhand in 2008 and "in this
relatively short span of time, Vodafone has become one of the preferred brands in the
region. It has become one of the top two telecom players in the circle by revenue
market share. Ever since Vodafone entered the Bihar and Jharkhand circle it has
revolutionalised the voice and data market by introducing several unique offerings.
The latest offerings are the recently launched "every recharge wins" for its pre-paid
customers and "Vodafone Red" for post-paid customers.
Vodafone is M-Pesa, a mobile money transfers and payment service was launched in
Bihar and Jharkhand in April 2013. Currently Vodafone has over 4500 M-Pesa agents
and more than 1.5 lakh subscribers in the circle.
Telenor
The company will be adding 950 new sites covering
over 3380 rural areas in the circle. This expansion is in
addition to the network swap and up gradation
happening at the existing 3235 sites in B&J
as part of the modernization plan.
With this the number of Telenor sites will go up to 4185 in
the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. The new network will
help Telenor deliver better voice quality and enhanced data
speed to its customers.

CALL RATE ANALYSIS & PLANS

Network
MP
Airtel
199
Plan
Idea
149
Plan
BSNL
99
RT
Reliance 149
Plan
Vodafone 150

MP
299
Plan
199
Plan
149
RT
199
Plan
200

MP
399
Plan
249
Plan
225
RT
239
Plan
250

MP
599
Plan
249
Plan
325
Plan
399
Plan
299

MP
799
Plan
299
Plan
525
Plan
445
Plan
425

Postpaid Plans
MP
MP
SP
999
1599
349
Plan Plan
Plan
399
499
599
Plan Plan
725
1500
Plan RT
599
1299
VF
VF
VF
499
699
899

SP
399
Plan
999

Plan
1299

VF
1299

VF
1599

Plan
1599

Comparative Analysis
Idea cellular is offering plans uniformly across all circles and doesnt not
distinguish between any circles.
Airtel is providing plan benefits to users depending on the value of respective
circles.
Airtel and Idea cellular are offering same data (2G & 3G) benefits irrespective of
the circles.
Idea cellular and Airtel are offering unique roaming benefit of 40 roaming
outgoing minutes.
SMS packs of Airtel are giving more benefits across all circles when compared to
Idea cellular.
Airtel is providing 400 SMS in B&J circles, this number varies across circles.
Idea cellular is not providing any SMS pack for B&J circle and 150 is the
maximum in other circles.
Idea cellular is offering uniform base charges across all the circles.
BSNL has a fixed number of plans for B&J circle and does not provide many
options.
Airtel myPlan
Airtel myPlan offer is a unique offer compared to other networks.
It allows customers to customize their bill plans according to their unique preferences.
Customers can customize their postpaid plans in just 3 steps.
This offers unparalleled flexibility, value-for-money, freedom and convenience.

Plan
2400

COMPETITVE STRENGTHS & WEAKNESS

Competitive Analysis
Airtel
There unique selling point is Network Quality and Network Availability
Network available in rural areas too
Most number of towers within the city
Now concentrating on 4G marketing
Other network providers latch from Airtel
Document verification is the fastest (As told by retailers)
Premium Charges
Good perception in the minds of people

Vodafone
3g speed is their unique selling point
Network Quality is good
Network Availability in rural area is not as good as Airtel
Their rates are almost in same range compared to other networks
Variety of options in 2G & 3G data packs are available
Wide range of special tariff plans

Idea

Innovative ads and campaigning strategy to attract customers

Offers wide range of 3G services
Network quality is good
Initially benefits the customers by Idea to Idea Scheme (which can be levered)

BSNL and SMART

Out performs in the age group of 25-35
However, Idea outperforms them in age group above 35

Reliance
Reliance had some network issue in this circle recently
Overall it offers are cheaper

SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTH
Brand Reputation
High Quality Network Infrastructure
Corporate Plans
Few loyal customers
WEAKNESS
Customer Gaps (Listening Gaps & attempts to close these gaps)
Marketing & Sales Opportunities are to be touched
Low Coverage in Rural Areas
OPPORTUNITIES
Low penetration. more particularly in rural India
New 3G Launch
Telecommunication industry is growing at a faster rate
THREATS
Intense Competition
Customer loyalty
Increased network cost
Increasing cost of promotion

RECOMMENDATIONS

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Our study limited to the area of Ranchi has widened our scope about the Idea Postpaid
usage and we would like to chart out the following recommendations:
Need to improve its marketing and sales strategy in terms of promotional
schemes and assigning personnel dedicated to the same
Concentrate more on rural areas and targeting the market
Is a large competitor in North India and try to focus the same aspect towards its
merchandising capabilities
Pricing strategy since it is termed as a little expensive when comes to the
service quality it provides as per the charges incurred
Postpaid Tariff to be restructured as per needs

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