Professional Documents
Culture Documents
of Lucknow”
Study Conducted At
SUBMITTED BY
Mohit Chandra
MBA (Marketing & Sales)
A7002209007
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
INDUSTRIAL GUIDE FACULTY GUIDE
Mr H.L. Rai Prof. Manoj Joshi
Divisional Engineer, ABS, Lucknow
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
Lucknow
A Project report
Submitted to Amity University In partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
2009-2011
Certified that this report is prepared based on the summer internship project undertaken by me in BHARAT
SANCHAR NIGAM LTD. from 31st May 2010 to 10th July 2010, under the able guidance of Professor
Manoj Joshi in partial fulfilment of the requirement for award of degree of Master of Business Administration
Date.______________
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Certificate by Faculty Guide
Forwarded here with a summer internship report on “Consumer preference for mobile phone services in
the city of Lucknow” of BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED submitted by MOHIT CHANDRA
Enrolment No. A7002209007, student of MBA (M & S) 3rd Semester (2009-2011). This project work is
partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master in Business Administration from Amity
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
i) Abstract 1
ii) Introduction Of Topic 2
iii) Consumer Buying Behaviour 3-4
iv) Consumer Buying Process 5-7
v) Marketing Research Process 8-24
II. Chapter – II
ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE OF THE COMPANY
i) Background of the Company 25-26
ii) Position of BSNL in Telecom sector 27
iii) SWOT Analysis 28
iv) Balance Sheet Of Telecom Industry- Service Providers 29-30
v) History of the BSNL 31-32
vi) Organisational Chart 33
vii) Products Offered 34-35
viii) Marketing Strategies 36-44
ix) Present & Future Of BSNL 44-46
x) Competitors 46-60
III. Chapter – III
i) Research Methodology 61-62
ii) Tools and techniques of analysis 63
iii) Limitations of the Study 63
iv) Data Analysis & Interpretation 64-78
IV. Chapter – IV
i) Findings 79
ii) Suggestions 80
iii) Conclusion 81
V. ANNEXURE
i) Questionnaire 1 82-83
ii) Questionnaire 2 84-86
iii) Bibliography 87
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LIST OF TABLES
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OBJECTIVE
provider.
In the modern world an individual tends to communicate anything to everything right from the place where
he/she stands. Even while riding a vehicle he / she wants to communicate within a fraction of second at
quick speed with clear voice, without any disturbance like line crossing, out of order, etc. ; most of which
Cellular service providers emerge as a boon quench such a thirst, thus by providing facilities, which a
common man cannot imagine. Though the telecom industry has its origin in the recent past and the growth
has been excellent. Day by day many new competitors enter the market with new attractive schemes,
provide additional facilities, add new features to existing ones, reduce the charges of incoming and outgoing
calls, introduce varieties of handsets, models a healthy competition that benefits the subscribers. Hence in
this context, it is important to study the various attributes or factors which shape the consumers mind during
In terms of value- addition to the organization, this study will definitely help the Company to grow in future.
As, we all are aware of the fact that a fierce competition is going on, in order to stay alive in the market
place. In this situation, one competitor tries to penetrate through the loop holes of the other competitor. This
project will visualize all sorts of loop holes which the BSNL possesses right now and will also give a
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complete insight to all types of problems such as, whether the products & services are competent enough to
Airtel, BSNL and other cell phone service rendered to the customers.
In Lucknow there are nine cellular services available - Airtel, Aircel, BSNL, Tata Indicom, Vodafone,
Reliance, Idea, Virgin and Uninor. The main objectives of this study is to analyse the customer behaviour
during taking new mobile connections and consumers of different cellular service providers of Lucknow city
Statement of problem:
In our country the growth of service marketing especially telecom industry is still in its infancy stage, as
compared to the industrially advanced countries. It is for the fact that the economy of our country has been
in the developing stage. There are various cellular service services providers in our country and they are
playing an essential role in fulfilling the needs of the customers. Now-a-days, the customers are more
dynamic. Their taste, needs and preference can be changing as per current scenario. Hence the development
of cellular industry mainly depends on the customer satisfaction. However the following questions may arise
2. What are the expectations by the customer‟s regarding service provided by the cell phone service
provider?
3. Whether the service provided by cell phone industry is satisfying the customers?
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CHAPTER – I
INTRODUCTION
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ABSTRACT
Consumer behaviour during taking new mobile connections is a vast topic to study. In order to analyse the
subject minutely the topic is being divided into three parts. First part of my project is all about designing a
suitable questionnaire so that the various variable factors that the consumer behaviour and their effectiveness
The next part is dedicated to selection a suitable sample size of consumers using mobile connections and
taking their feedback through the questionnaire. Well in the last part of my study is devoted on doing the
analysis and interpretation from the feedback collected from the respondents. Then application of suitable
statistical tool is decided on to arrive at some results. Based on these results, a conclusion will be drawn
thereafter which will stand as an ultimate result of my study in the concerned field so called
The services structure can be renewed based on the provide suggestions and recommendations which can
help to increase the client base and increase the market share in the concerned field as the findings will
basically revolve around the most favoured services by the investors and locate the core areas where the
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INTRODUCTION
As the title of my project is “Consumer Preference for the mobile phone services in the city of
Lucknow” first of all we need to understand that “What is consumer buying behaviour?”
Before business can develop marketing strategies, they must understand what factors influence buyer‟s
behaviour and how they make purchase decisions to satisfy their needs and wants. Buyers are moved by a
complex set of deep and subtle emotions. Their behaviour result from deeply held values and attitudes; their
perception of the world and their place in it, from common sense, impulse or just plain whimsy. There are
also several stages through which the consumer exhibit before deciding to purchase goods or services. These
include 5 steps which are: problem or need recognition, information search, alternative evaluation,
The needs to satisfy customer for success in any commercial enterprise is very obvious. The income of all
commercial enterprise is derived from the payments received for the products and services supplied to its
customers. If there is no customer there is no income and there is no business. Then the core activity of any
company is to attract and retain customers. It is therefore no surprise that Peter F Drucker the renowned
management Guru, has said “to satisfy the customers is the mission and purpose of every business”.
Satisfaction of customer is essential for retention of customer‟s and for continuous sales of the products and
services of the company to customers. This establishes the needs for and the importance of customer
satisfaction. The satisfaction of consumers is different from one to another. Became, each consumer has the
different behaviour in their life. So, the marketer satisfies the consumer, he must very well know the
behaviour of consumer.
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CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR
“Consumer behaviour refers to the mental and emotional process and the observable behaviour of
Consumer behaviour involves study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It
blends the elements from psychology, sociology, socio-psychology, anthropology and economics. It also
tries to assess the influence on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups and
society in general.
Buyer behaviour has two aspects: the final purchase activity visible to any observer and the detailed or
short decision process that may involve the interplay of a number of complex variables not visible to
anyone.
A. SOCIAL FACTORS
Social factors refer to forces that other people exert and which affect consumers‟ purchase behaviour. These
social factors can include culture and subculture, roles and family, social class and reference groups.
Example:
By taking into consideration Reference group, these can influence/ affect the consumer buying behaviour.
Reference group refers to a group with whom an individual identifies herself/ himself and the extent to
which that person assumes many values, attitudes or behaviour of group members. Reference groups can be
Reference groups serve as one of the primary agents of consumer socialization and learning and can be
influential enough to induce not only socially acceptable consumer behaviour but also socially unacceptable
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and even personal destructive behaviour. For example, if fresher student joins a college / university, he/she
will meet different people and form a group, in that group there can be behaviour patterns of values, for
example style of clothing, handsets which most of group member prefer or even destructive behaviour such
as excessive consumption of alcohol, use of harmful and addictive drugs etc. So, according to how an
individual references him / her to that particular reference group, this will influence and change his/her
buying behaviour.
B. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
These are internal to an individual and generate forces within that influence her/his purchase behaviour. The
Example:
Attitude is an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive processes with
respect to some aspect of our environment. Consumer form attitude towards a brand on the basis of their
For example, consumers of Sony products might have the belief that the products offered by Sony are
durable; this will influence those customers to buy Sony products due to this attitude towards the brand.
C. PERSONAL FACTORS
These include those aspects that are unique to a person and influence purchase behaviour. These factors
Example: Lifestyle is an indicator of how people live and express themselves on the basis of their activities,
interests, and opinions. Lifestyle dimension provide a broader view of people about how they spend their
time the importance of things in their surroundings and their beliefs on broad issues associated with life and
Example: A CEO or Manager is likely to buy more formal clothes, ties and shoes or PDAs and less
informal clothes like jeans as compared to a Mechanic or Civil engineer. So according to their lifestyle and
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CONSUMER BUYING DECISION PROCESS
Consumer buying decision process is the processes undertaken by consumer in regard to a potential
market transaction before, during and after the purchase of a product or service.
Problem Recognition
Purchase decision making process begins when a buyer becomes aware of an unsatisfied need or problem.
This is the vital stage in buying decision process, because without recognizing the need or want, an
There are several situations that can cause problem recognition, these include:
Depletion of stock
Environmental Changes
Example:
It‟s when a person recognizes that she cannot make a call from her mobile phone that‟s when she recognizes
that her phone has been damaged i.e. the phone has hardware problems and needs to be repaired or buying a
new piece.
Information Search
After the consumer has recognized the need, he / she will try to find the means to solve that need. First he
will recall how he used to solve such kind of a problem in the past, this is called nominal decision making.
Secondly, a consumer will try to solve the problem by asking a friend or goes to the market to seek advice
for which product will best serve his need, this is called limited decision making.
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Sources of information include:
Personal sources
Commercial Sources
Public sources
Personal experience
The user of the phone after recognizing that his phone is damaged, he will eventually try to find out how she
can repair her phone. If he cannot repair it himself he will ask a friend to help out, if the friend cannot solve
the problem he will go to mobile repair shop, if they also cannot repair it then he will try to find which
mobile phone is good and that can serve his need. In this process of information collection it will yield
Alternatives evaluation
Consumers‟ evaluates criteria refer to various dimension; features, characteristics and benefits that a
consumer desires to solve a certain problem. Product features and its benefit is what influence consumer
to prefer that particular product. The consumer will decide which product to buy from a set of alternative
products depending on each unique feature that the product offers and the benefit he / she can get out of that
feature.
When that user got enough information concerning the different brands of mobile connections available in
the market, she will decide which kind of a mobile phone and brand she‟s going to buy depending upon her
need for that particular mobile, either a mobile for multimedia and entertainment, Smartphone or classic
phone.
Purchase Action
This stage involves selection of brand and the retail outlet to purchase such a product. Retail outlet image
and its location are important. Consumer usually prefers a nearby retail outlet for minor shopping and they
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can willingly go to a far away store when they purchase items which are of higher values and which involve
higher sensitive purchase decision. After selecting where to buy and what to buy, the consumer completes
After selecting brand of the phone and model from different alternatives of mobile connections, she will
make a final decision of where to buying that phone and make the final transaction procedures.
Post-purchase Actions
Consumer favourable post-purchase evaluation leads to satisfaction. Satisfaction with the purchase is
basically a function of the initial performance level expectation and perceived performance relative to
those expectations. Consumer tends to evaluate their wisdom on the purchase of that particular product.
This can result to consumer experiencing post purchase dissatisfaction. If the consumer‟s perceived
performance level is below expectation and fail to meet satisfaction this will eventually cause
dissatisfaction, and so the brand and/ or the outlet will not be considered by the consumer in the future
purchases. This might cause the consumer to initiate complaint behaviour and spread negative word-of-
If she decided to buy a multimedia phone she will try to compare the quality of music it provides and
pictures taken if they meet her expectations. If she will find that her expectation are meeting she will be
satisfied, if she found that there are more additional features that she did not expect this mobile phone to
have, she will be delighted, otherwise, she will be dissatisfied. Since my title is “Consumer behaviour
during taking new mobile connections”, I need to do the survey of existing/new consumers of the service
of different cellular service providers. Hence, my project is totally based on comparative analysis of
different attributes shaping the consumer behaviour during taking new mobile connections. Till date I have
completed the survey of 150 consumers of different cellular service providers and I got many Suggestions &
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MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS
1. Define the problem
Problem Definition
The decision problem faced by management must be translated into a market research problem in the form
of questions that define the information that is required to make the decision and how this information can
be obtained. Thus, the decision problem is translated into a research problem. For example, a decision
problem may be whether to launch a new product. The corresponding research problem might be to assess
The objective of the research should be defined clearly. To ensure that the true decision problem is
addressed, it is useful for the researcher to outline possible scenarios of the research results and then for the
decision maker to formulate plans of action under each scenario. The use of such scenarios can ensure that
Research Design
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Exploratory research
Descriptive research
Causal research
These classifications are made according to the objective of the research. In some cases the research will fall
into one of these categories, but in other cases different phases of the same research project will fall into
different categories.
Exploratory research has the goal of formulating problems more precisely, clarifying concepts,
gathering explanations, gaining insight, eliminating impractical ideas, and forming hypotheses.
Exploratory research can be performed using a literature search, surveying certain people about their
experiences, focus groups, and case studies. When surveying people, exploratory research studies
would not try to acquire a representative sample, but rather, seek to interview those who are
knowledgeable and who might be able to provide insight concerning the relationship among
variables. Case studies can include contrasting situations or benchmarking against an organization
known for its excellence. Exploratory research may develop hypotheses, but it does not seek to test
Descriptive research is more rigid than exploratory research and seeks to describe users of a product,
determine the proportion of the population that uses a product, or predict future demand for a
product. As opposed to exploratory research, descriptive research should define questions, people
surveyed, and the method of analysis prior to beginning data collection. In other words, the who,
what, where, when, why, and how aspects of the research should be defined. Such preparation allows
one the opportunity to make any required changes before the costly process of data collection has
begun.
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There are two basic types of descriptive research: longitudinal studies and cross-sectional studies.
Longitudinal studies are time series analyses that make repeated measurements of the same
individuals, thus allowing one to monitor behaviour such as brand-switching. However, longitudinal
studies are not necessarily representative since many people may refuse to participate because of the
specific point in time. A special type of cross-sectional analysis is a cohort analysis, which tracks an
aggregate of individuals who experience the same event within the same time interval over time.
Causal research seeks to find cause and effect relationships between variables. It accomplishes this
Before going through the time and expense of collecting primary data, one should check for secondary data
that previously may have been collected for other purposes but that can be used in the immediate study.
Secondary data may be internal to the firm, such as sales invoices and warranty cards, or may be external to
the firm such as published data or commercially available data. The government census is a valuable source
of secondary data.
Secondary data has the advantage of saving time and reducing data gathering costs. The disadvantages are
that the data may not fit the problem perfectly and that the accuracy may be more difficult to verify for
secondary data than for primary data. Some secondary data is republished by organizations other than the
original source. Because errors can occur and important explanations may be missing in republished data,
one should obtain secondary data directly from its source. One also should consider who the source is and
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There are several criteria that one should use to evaluate secondary data.
How current the data is and whether it applies to time period of interest.
Errors and accuracy - whether the data is dependable and can be verified.
Specifications and methodologies used, including data collection method, response rate, quality and
analysis of the data, sample size and sampling technique, and questionnaire design.
Nature of the data, including definition of variables, units of measure, categories used, and
relationships examined.
Primary Data
Often, secondary data must be supplemented by primary data originated specifically for the study at hand.
Intentions - for example, purchase intentions. While useful, intentions are not a reliable indication of
Motivation - a person's motives are more stable than his/her behaviour, so motive is a better predictor
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Primary data can be obtained by communication or by observation. Communication involves
questioning respondents either verbally or in writing. This method is versatile, since one needs only
to ask for the information; however, the response may not be accurate. Communication usually is
quicker and cheaper than observation. Observation involves the recording of actions and is
performed by either a person or some mechanical or electronic device. Observation is less versatile
than communication since some attributes of a person may not be readily observable, such as
attitudes, awareness, knowledge, intentions, and motivation. Observation also might take longer
since observers may have to wait for appropriate events to occur, though observation using scanner
data might be quicker and more cost effective. Observation typically is more accurate than
communication.
Personal interviews have an interviewer bias that mail-in questionnaires do not have. For example, in
a personal interview the respondent's perception of the interviewer may affect the responses.
Questionnaire Design
The questionnaire is an important tool for gathering primary data. Poorly constructed questions can result in
large errors and invalidate the research data, so significant effort should be put into the questionnaire design.
Measurement Scales
Nominal numbers are simply identifiers, with the only permissible mathematical use being for
Ordinal scales are used for ranking. The interval between the numbers conveys no meaning. Median
and mode calculations can be performed on ordinal numbers. Example: class ranking
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Interval scales maintain an equal interval between numbers. These scales can be used for ranking
and for measuring the interval between two numbers. Since the zero point is arbitrary, ratios cannot
be taken between numbers on an interval scale; however, mean, median, and mode are all valid.
Ratio scales are referenced to an absolute zero value, so ratios between numbers on the scale are
meaningful. In addition to mean, median, and mode, geometric averages also are valid. Example:
weight
Proof of predictive validity is determined by the correlation between results and actual behaviour. Construct
validity is the extent to which a measuring instrument measures what it intends to measure.
Reliability is the extent to which a measurement is repeatable with the same results. A measurement may be
reliable and not valid. However, if a measurement is valid, then it also is reliable and if it is not reliable, then
it cannot be valid. One way to show reliability is to show stability by repeating the test with the same results.
Attitude Measurement
Many of the questions in a marketing research survey are designed to measure attitudes. Attitudes are a
person's general evaluation of something. Customer attitude is an important factor for the following reasons:
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Attitudes can be measured using the following procedures:
Self-reporting - subjects are asked directly about their attitudes. Self-reporting is the most common
Observation of behaviour - assuming that one's behaviour is a result of one's attitudes, attitudes can
be inferred by observing behaviour. For example, one's attitude about an issue can be inferred by
Performance of objective tasks - assumes that one's performance depends on attitude. For example,
the subject can be asked to memorize the arguments of both sides of an issue. He/she is more likely
means. While the intensity can be measured, it is difficult to know if the attitude is positive or
negative.
Multiple measures - a mixture of techniques can be used to validate the findings, especially
Equal-appearing interval scaling - a set of statements are assembled. These statements are selected
according to their position on an interval scale of favorableness. Statements are chosen that has a
small degree of dispersion. Respondents then are asked to indicate with which statements they agree.
Likert method of summated ratings - a statement is made and the respondents indicate their degree of
agreement or disagreement on a five point scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither Agree Nor
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Semantic differential scale - a scale is constructed using phrases describing attributes of the product
to anchor each end. For example, the left end may state, "Hours are inconvenient" and the right end
may state, "Hours are convenient". The respondent then marks one of the seven blanks between the
Stapel Scale - similar to the semantic differential scale except that 1) points on the scale are
identified by numbers, 2) only one statement is used and if the respondent disagrees a negative
number should marked, and 3) there are 10 positions instead of seven. This scale does not require
Q-sort technique - the respondent if forced to construct a normal distribution by placing a specified
number of cards in one of 11 stacks according to how desirable he/she finds the characteristics
Sampling Plan
The sampling frame is the pool from which the interviewees are chosen. The telephone book is often used as
a sampling frame, but has some shortcomings. Telephone books exclude those households that do not have
telephones and those households with unlisted numbers. Since a certain percentage of the numbers listed in a
phone book are out of service, there are many people who have just moved who are not sampled. Such
sampling biases can be overcome by using random digit dialling. Mall intercepts represent another sampling
frame, though there are many people who do not shop at malls and those who shop more often will be over-
represented unless their answers are weighted in inverse proportion to their frequency of mall shopping.
In designing the research study, one should consider the potential errors. Two sources of errors are random
sampling error and non-sampling error. Sampling errors are those due to the fact that there is a non-zero
confidence interval of the results because of the sample size being less than the population being studied.
Non-sampling errors are those caused by faulty coding, untruthful responses, respondent fatigue, etc.
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There is a trade off between sample size and cost. The larger the sample size, the smaller the sampling error
but the higher the cost. After a certain point the smaller sampling error cannot be justified by the additional
cost.
While a larger sample size may reduce sampling error, it actually may increase the total error. There are two
reasons for this effect. First, a larger sample size may reduce the ability to follow up on non-responses.
Second, even if there is a sufficient number of interviewers for follow-ups, a larger number of interviewers
Data Collection
In addition to the intrinsic sampling error, the actual data collection process will introduce additional errors.
These errors are called non-sampling errors. Some non-sampling errors may be intentional on the part of the
interviewer, who may introduce a bias by leading the respondent to provide a certain response. The
interviewer also may introduce unintentional errors, for example, due to not having a clear understanding of
Respondents also may introduce errors. A respondent may introduce intentional errors by lying or simply by
not responding to a question. A respondent may introduce unintentional errors by not understanding the
question, guessing, not paying close attention, and being fatigued or distracted.
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edited raw data into numbers or symbols. A codebook is created to document how the data was coded.
Finally, the data is tabulated to count the number of samples falling into various categories. Simple
tabulations count the occurrences of each variable independently of the other variables. Cross tabulations,
also known as contingency tables or cross tabs, treats two or more variables simultaneously. However, since
the variables are in a two-dimensional table, cross tabbing more than two variables is difficult to visualize
since more than two dimensions would be required. Cross tabulation can be performed for nominal and
ordinal variables.
Cross tabulation is the most commonly utilized data analysis method in marketing research. Many studies
take the analysis no further than cross tabulation. This technique divides the sample into sub-groups to show
how the dependent variable varies from one subgroup to another. A third variable can be introduced to
uncover a relationship that initially was not evident.
Conjoint Analysis
The conjoint analysis is a powerful technique for determining consumer preferences for product attributes.
Hypothesis testing
A basic fact about testing hypotheses is that a hypothesis may be rejected but that the hypothesis never can
be unconditionally accepted until all possible evidence is evaluated. In the case of sampled data, the
information set cannot be complete. So if a test using such data does not reject a hypothesis, the conclusion
The null hypothesis in an experiment is the hypothesis that the independent variable has no effect on the
dependent variable. The null hypothesis is expressed as H0. This hypothesis is assumed to be true unless
proven otherwise. The alternative to the null hypothesis is the hypothesis that the independent variable does
have an effect on the dependent variable. This hypothesis is known as the alternative, research, or
experimental hypothesis and is expressed as H1. This alternative hypothesis states that the relationship
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observed between the variables cannot be explained by chance alone.
Type I error: occurs when one rejects the null hypothesis and accepts the alternative, when in fact the
Type II error: occurs when one accepts the null hypothesis when in fact the null hypothesis is false.
Because their names are not very descriptive, these types of errors sometimes are confused. Some people
jokingly define a Type III error to occur when one confuses Type I and Type II. To illustrate the difference,
it is useful to consider a trial by jury in which the null hypothesis is that the defendant is innocent. If the jury
convicts a truly innocent defendant, a Type I error has occurred. If, on the other hand, the jury declares a
Determine the probability of the observed value of the test statistic under the null hypothesis given
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In order to analyse whether research results are statistically significant or simply by chance, a test of
The chi-square ( 2 ) goodness-of-fit test is used to determine whether a set of proportions have specified
numerical values. It often is used to analyze bivariate cross-tabulated data. Some examples of situations that
A manufacturer of packaged products test markets a new product and wants to know if sales of the
new product will be in the same relative proportion of package sizes as sales of existing products.
A company's sales revenue comes from Product A (50%), Product B (30%), and Product C (20%).
The firm wants to know whether recent fluctuations in these proportions are random or whether they
The chi-square test is performed by defining k categories and observing the number of cases falling into
each category. Knowing the expected number of cases falling in each category, one can define chi-squared
as:
2 = ( Oi - Ei )2 / Ei
Where,
Before calculating the chi-square value, one needs to determine the expected frequency for each cell. This is
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done by dividing the number of samples by the number of cells in the table.
To use the output of the chi-square function, one uses a chi-square table. To do so, one needs to know the
number of degrees of freedom (df). For chi-square applied to cross-tabulated data, the number of degrees of
freedom is equal to
This is equal to the number of categories minus one. The conventional critical level of 0.05 normally is used.
If the calculated output value from the function is greater than the chi-square look-up table value, the null
hypothesis is rejected.
ANOVA
Another test of significance is the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test. The primary purpose of ANOVA is
to test for differences between multiple means. Whereas the t-test can be used to compare two means,
ANOVA is needed to compare three or more means. If multiple t-tests were applied, the probability of a
TYPE I error (rejecting a true null hypothesis) increases as the number of comparisons increases. One-way
ANOVA examines whether multiple means differ. The test is called an F-test. ANOVA calculates the ratio
of the variation between groups to the variation within groups (the F ratio). While ANOVA was designed for
comparing several means, it also can be used to compare two means. Two-way ANOVA allows for a second
2. Describe the variation by breaking it into three parts - the total variation, the portion that is within
groups, and the portion that is between groups (or among groups for more than two groups). The
total variation (SStotal) is the sum of the squares of the differences between each value and the grand
mean of all the values in all the groups. The in-group variation (SSwithin) is the sum of the squares of
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the differences in each element's value and the group mean. The variation between group means
(SSbetween) is the total variation minus the in-group variation (SStotal - SSwithin).
3. Measure the difference between each group's mean and the grand mean.
This F-test assumes that the group variances are approximately equal and that the observations are
independent. It also assumes normally distributed data; however, since this is a test on means the Central
Limit Theorem holds as long as the sample size is not too small.
ANOVA is efficient for analysing data using relatively few observations and can be used with categorical
variables. Note that regression can perform a similar analysis to that of ANOVA.
Discriminant Analysis
Analysis of the difference in means between groups provides information about individual variables, it is not
useful for determine their individual impacts when the variables are used in combination. Since some
variables will not be independent from one another, one needs a test that can consider them simultaneously
in order to take into account their interrelationship. One such test is to construct a linear combination,
essentially a weighted sum of the variables. To determine which variables discriminate between two or more
naturally occurring groups, discriminant analysis is used. Discriminant analysis can determine which
variables are the best predictors of group membership. It determines which groups differ with respect to the
mean of a variable, and then uses that variable to predict new cases of group membership. Essentially, the
discriminant function problem is a one-way ANOVA problem in that one can determine whether multiple
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groups are significantly different from one another with respect to the mean of a particular variable.
2. Determine the discriminant function coefficients that result in the highest ratio of between-group
Discriminant analysis analyses the dependency relationship, whereas factor analysis and cluster analysis
Factor Analysis
Factor analysis is a very popular technique to analyse interdependence. Factor analysis studies the entire set
variables to create a smaller set of factors. Mathematically, a factor is a linear combination of variables. A
factor is not directly observable; it is inferred from the variables. The technique identifies underlying
structure among the variables, reducing the number of variables to a more manageable set. Factor analysis
The factor loading can be defined as the correlations between the factors and their underlying variables. A
factor loading matrix is a key output of the factor analysis. An example matrix is shown below.
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Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3
Variable 1
Variable 2
Variable 3
Each cell in the matrix represents correlation between the variable and the factor associated with that cell.
The square of this correlation represents the proportion of the variation in the variable explained by the
factor. The sum of the squares of the factor loadings in each column is called an eigenvalue. An eigenvalue
represents the amount of variance in the original variables that is associated with that factor. The
A rule of thumb for deciding on the number of factors is that each included factor must explain at least as
much variance as does an average variable. In other words, only factors for which the eigenvalue is greater
than one are used. Other criteria for determining the number of factors include the Scree plot criteria and the
To facilitate interpretation, the axis can be rotated. Rotation of the axis is equivalent to forming linear
combinations of the factors. A commonly used rotation strategy is the varimax rotation. Varimax attempts to
Cluster Analysis
Market segmentation usually is based not on one factor but on multiple factors. Initially, each variable
represents its own cluster. The challenge is to find a way to combine variables so that relatively homogenous
clusters can be formed. Such clusters should be internally homogenous and externally heterogeneous.
Cluster analysis is one way to accomplish this goal. Rather than being a statistical test, it is more of a
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Collection of algorithms for grouping objects, or in the case of marketing research, grouping people. Cluster
analysis is useful in the exploratory phase of research when there are no a-priori hypotheses.
1. Formulate the problem, collecting data and choosing the variables to analyse.
2. Choose a distance measure. The most common is the Euclidean distance. Other possibilities include
the squared Euclidean distance, city-block (Manhattan) distance, Chebychev distance, power
4. Determine the number of clusters. They should be well separated and ideally they should be distinct
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CHAPTER - II
ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE
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ABOUT BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. formed in October, 2000, is World's 7th largest Telecommunications Company
providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India: Wire line, CDMA mobile, GSM Mobile,
Internet, Broadband, Carrier service, MPLS-VPN, VSAT, VoIP services, IN Services etc. Presently it is one
of the largest & leading public sector units in India.
BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country and now focusing on improving it, expanding
the network, introducing new telecom services with ICT applications in villages and wining customer's
confidence. Today, it has about 46 million line basic telephone capacity, 8 million WLL capacity, 52
Million GSM Capacity, more than 38302 fixed exchanges, 46565 BTS, 3895 Node B ( 3G BTS), 287
Satellite Stations, 614755 Rkm of OFC Cable, 50430 Rkm of Microwave Network connecting 602
Districts, 7330 cities/towns and 5.6 Lakhs villages.
BSNL is the only service provider, making focused efforts and planned initiatives to bridge the Rural-Urban
Digital Divide 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 country and operates across India except Delhi &
Mumbai. Whether it is inaccessible areas of Siachen glacier and North-eastern region of the country. BSNL
serves its customers with its wide bouquet of telecom services.
BSNL is numero uno operator of India in all services in its license area. The company offers vide ranging &
most transparent tariff schemes designed to suite every customer.
BSNL cellular service, CellOne, has 55,140,282 2G cellular customers and 88,493 3G customers as on
30.11.2009. In basic services, BSNL is miles ahead of its rivals, with 35.1 million Basic Phone subscribers
i.e. 85 per cent share of the subscriber base and 92 percent share in revenue terms.
BSNL has more than 2.5 million WLL subscribers and 2.5 million Internet Customers who access Internet
through various modes viz. Dial-up, Leased Line, DIAS, and Account Less Internet (CLI). BSNL has been
adjudged as the NUMBER ONE ISP in the country.
BSNL has set up a world class multi-gigabit, multi-protocol convergent IP infrastructure that provides
convergent services like voice, data and video through the same Backbone and Broadband Access Network.
At present there are 0.6 million Data One broadband customers.
The company has vast experience in Planning, Installation, network integration and Maintenance of
Switching & Transmission Networks and also has a world class ISO 9000 certified Telecom Training
Institute.
Scaling new heights of success, the present turnover of BSNL is more than Rs.351, 820 million (US $ 8
billion) with net profit to the tune of Rs.99, 390 million (US $ 2.26 billion) for last financial year. The
infrastructure asset on telephone alone is worth about Rs.630, 000 million (US $ 14.37 billion).
The turnover, nationwide coverage, reach, comprehensive range of telecom services and the desire to excel
has made BSNL the No. 1 Telecom Company of India.
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Particulars of organisation
Date of incorporation: Incorporated on 15.9.2000, vide Registration No.55-107739, dated the 15th
September, 2000 and became entitled to commence business with effect from 19th September, 2000. The
Company (BSNL) took over the .business of providing telecom services and network management
throughout the country except the metro cities of Delhi and Mumbai of the erstwhile service providing
departments of the Govt. of India, i.e., the Departments of Telecom Services and Telecom Operations w.e.f.
1.10.2000 pursuant to a MoU signed between the BSNL and the Govt. of India.
Type of Company: - Government Company under Section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956.
Shareholding pattern: - Government of India is holding 100% of the share capital of the Company.
Listing with Stock Exchanges: - Not applicable, as the BSNL is an unlisted company.
Share Capital: -Authorised Capital – Rs.17, 500 crores, divided into 1, 000, 00, 00,000[One Thousand
Crores] Equity Shares of Rs.10/- each; and 750, 00, 00,000 [Seven Hundred and Fifty Crores]
Preference Shares of Rs.10/- each.
Paid Up Share Capital - Rs.5, 000/- crores of Equity Shares and Rs.7, 500/- crores of
Preference Share Capital
Objectives of the Company: - As set out in the objects clause of the Company‟s Memorandum of
Association.
VISION
MISSION
i. To provide world class State-of-art technology telecom services on demand at affordable price.
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BSNL’s POSITIONING IN TELECOM INDUSTRY
To understand and suggest – how strategic management can help BSNL – the first thing is to
understand the Telecom industry environment and the stakeholders involved. Apart from having to cope
with the change in structure and culture (government to corporate), BSNL has had to gear itself to meet
competition in various segments – basic services, long distance (LD), and International Long Distance
(ILD), and Internet Service Provision (ISP), and Mobile services. With the advent of competition the
private operators have been impacting the strategic matrix by influencing regulatory bodies, adopting
intelligent media strategies, and by targeting the creamy layer of customers. While, political control over
the public sector remains a contentious strategic issue in the country; with the formation of a company,
the internal strategy of the BSNL board will be of gaining considerable autonomy. Labour unions are
powerful internal stakeholders, as are the middle managers/ other staff that have the primary
responsibility for customer care. The following stakeholders diagram gives an insight about the changing
telecom industry environment for BSNL
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BSNL’s SWOT ANALYSIS
The changing external environment for BSNL can be well captured by the Potter‟s model diagram
which shows that the industry structure has become bit unfavourable.
In such an environment BSNL definitely requires to redefine its strategies. What is required is to identify the
potential opportunities and threats implied by this changing environment for the BSNL. In changing
trends, situations, and events gaining an accurate understanding of BSNL‟s strengths and limitations will
help in better strategic management of organization. The SWOT analysis for BSNL is as follows –
STRENTHS WEAKNESSES
Pan-India reach Non-optimization of network capabilities
Experienced telecom service provider Poor marketing strategy
Total telecom service provider Bureaucratic organizational set up
Huge Resources (financial & technical pool) Inflexibility in mind set (DOT period legacies)
Huge customer base Limited number of value added services
Most trusted telecom brand Poor franchisee network
Transparency in billing Legacy of poor service image
Easy deployment of new services Huge and aged manpower
Copper in last mile can be used for easy Procedural delays
broadband deployment Lack of strategic alliances
Huge Optical Fibre network and associated Problems associated with incumbency like out-
bandwidth dated technologies, unproductive rural assets,
social obligations, political interference,
Poor IT penetration within organization
Poor knowledge Management
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
Tremendous market growing at 20 lac customers Competition from private operators
per month Keeping pace with fast technological changes
Untapped broadband services Market maturity in basic telephone segment
Untouched international market Manpower churning
Can capitalize on public sector image to grab Multinational eyeing Indian telecom market
government‟s ICT initiatives Private operators demand for sharing last mile
ITEB service markets Decreasing per line revenues due to competitive
Diversification of business to turn-key projects pricing
Leveraging the brand image to source funds Private operators demand to do away with ADC
Almost un-invaded VSAT market can seriously effect revenues
Fuller utilization of slack resources Populist policies of government like “One India”
Can make a kill through deep penetration and low rates
cost advantage
Broaden market expected from convergence of
broadcasting, telecom and entertainment industry
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Telecommunications Industry - Service Provider
Year Latest 2004 2003 2002 2001
SOURCES OF FUNDS :
APPLICATION OF FUNDS :
Less : Accumulated
Depreciation 34,116.63 10,405.60 33,282.86 21,432.09 11,688.11
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Miscellaneous Expenses not
written off 1,437.77 366.69 1,134.39 2,367.83 1,936.63
After that, two telephone companies arose and they are: The Oriental Telephone Company Limited
and the Anglo-Indian Telephone Company. By 1881, Government of India granted original oriental
Telephone Company, the license to open Telephone exchanges at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Karachi and
Ahmedabad. The first telephone exchange with 17 connections was commissioned on 19/08/1881 at
Chennai. By the end of the year 1881 the telephone exchange expanded to 24 lines with 40 subscribers.
The direct exchange lines moved from 24 in 1882 to only 350 in 1910. At the time of renewal of
license in 1922, the Government laid three conditions:-
1. The business should pass in to local company.
2. The system should be modernized.
3. The rates have to be raised.
Under the first objective a “RUPEE” Company was formed in 1923 in the name of “MADRAS
TELEPHONE COMPANY LIMITED”.
Since then, the direct exchange line rose to 1244 lines, apart from 1224 subscribers, public call
offices were also opened at five places namely, Central station, Egmore station, Madras Harbor,
Salt Cotars.
To overcome the problem of overhead lines, underground cable network were laid up to Guindy in
1923 and extended to Perambur, Royapuram and Harbour in 1932 and the exchange lines also raised to
1832. Due to the automation of telephone services and its use for business promotion, the demand for
telephone connection spread over the South Madras area. In 1929, a satellite automatic exchange of 200
lines capacity was commissioned at Mount Road exchange In 1932 the exchange was further expanded
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Perceiving a galloping growth in future, the Madras Telephone Company conceived a “New Mount
Road” with 1500 lines in 1933 that was commissioned only in 1947.
Due to the increase in the demand for more telephones in South Madras area, the company decided
to open one satellite exchange in the Mambalam area. A Satellite exchange of 500 lines capacity was
commissioned during 1937. In 1944, a 100 lines satellite exchange was commissioned at St. Thomas
Mount. The Chennai Telephones organization consisting of 115 telephone exchanges with a total equipped
capacity of 9, 68,243 lines are spread over an area of 1,105 sq. km. The management responsibility is vested
with the Chief General Manager, Telephones. He is assisted by 6 General Managers: G.M. (Development,
GM (North), GM (South), G.M. (Central), G.M (Telephone Exchanges) and G.M. (Finance) 33 Deputy
General Managers in the common functions and 5 directors in the area of Financial Advice and Accounting.
The Exchanges and the external plants are maintained by specially trained Divisional Engineers, Sub
Divisional Engineers, Junior Telecom Officers and Technical Staff, who receive purpose oriented training in
Telecom training centers situated in different parts of the country. They are also given refresher training
from time to time to update their knowledge and skills in the changing technologies increasingly brought
into the Telecom Services.
Telephone systems in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay were taken over directly by the Indian Posts
and TeleCHARTs department. The exchange at Calcutta has been named as „Central Exchange‟. On
30.6.1882 it had 93 numbers of subscribers. In 1985, Indian P&T was bifurcated and the control of
telephone has been transferred to Department Of Telecom. Now recently in 1999, DOT was further
bifurcated into DOT and DTS service provider, which was incorporated as BSNL from 1.10.2000.
Role of these two departments:-
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOM (DOT)
BSNL (DTS)
DTS is the part of the old DOT, which is responsible for providing telecom services in India. The main
function include: - Planning, Engineering, Installation, Maintenance Management, and Operation of voice
and Non-voice Telecommunication Services all over the country.
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DOT‟S MISSION IS “BETTER COMMUNICATION”
DOT is committed to provide latest in telecommunication technology and the best of the services to its
esteemed customers.
Madras Telephones covers an extensive area of approximately 1,105 sq. kms. The total area is served by
115 telephone exchanges with a total equipped capacity of 9,68,243 lines of the capacity of EIOB, 15395
lines of EWSD, 133480 lines of AXE-10, 340484 lines of OBC, 25000 lines of FITEX and 78992 of 5ESS.
DOT/BSNL is the biggest telecom service provider of the country. It is having a vast telecom
network, spread throughout the country. All the cities (300) and Towns (4689) in the country as per 1991
census have access to the telephone network through telephone exchanges. STD connectivity is provided to
all the District Headquarters and it is planned to extend the same to cover all the Sub-Divisional
headquarters/Tehsil Head Quarters. About 19000 places in the country have STD codes/access. The
network is equipped with the state of the art technologies. Now all the exchange in urban and rural areas of
country is of Electronic Digital type. In rural area almost all telephone exchanges are of Electronics Digital
type.
The Network of BSNL can be segmented in to following networks:
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ORGANISATION CHART
The Organizational hierarchy with respect to the Department of Telecommunication BSNL is shown in
figure 1.2
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MAIN SERVICES OFFERED
BSNL is the leading service provider in the country in the Basic Telephone Services. As of now more than
35 million Direct Exchange Lines & more than 2.2.Million telephones in the Limited Mobile telephone
Services are existing. BSNL has provides a number of attractive tariff packages & Plans which shall further
strengthen its subscriber base.
BSNL‟s GSM Technology based Cellular Network reached a long way, covering 20,836 cities/towns with a
subscriber base of over 4.67 Crores as on 31st March 2009 out of which 4.31 crores cellular telephone are in
pre-paid segment
3. INTERNET SERVICES
BSNL offers Dialup Internet services to the customers by Post-paid service with the brand name „Netone‟,
and pre-paid service with the brand name „Sancharnet‟. The post-paid service is a CLI based access service,
currently operational in 100 cities. Sancharnet is available on local call basis throughout India to ISDN and
PSTN subscribers. The Internet Dhaba scheme of the Company aims to further promote Internet usage in
rural and semi urban areas. To keep pace with the latest and varied value added services to its customers,
BSNL uses IP/MPLS based core to offer world class IP VPN services. MPLS based VPNs is a very useful
service for Corporates, as it reduces the cost involved as well as the complexity in setting up VPNs for
customers networking. As on 31.03.2005, your Company‟s total Internet customer base was 17,98,089 and
total Internet Dhabas were 4143. A total of 708594 dial up Internet connections have been given during
2004-2005, against a target of 7 lakhs. BSNL plans to give 1215980 more dial up connections during the
year 2005-06. As on 31.1.2006, there were 2367404 internet subscribers working in BSNL net work.
4. Intelligent Network
Intelligent Network Services is a service that incorporates several value added facilities, thoroughly
designed to save time and money, and enhance productivity. At present, your company offers Free Phone
(FPH), Premium Rate Service (PRM), India Telephone Card (ITC), Account Card Calling (ACC), Virtual
Private Network (VPN), Universal Access Number (UAN) and Tele voting IN services. With the
commissioning of five numbers of new technology IN Platforms (Four General purpose and One Mass
Calling) at Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, the India Telephone Card facility and new
value added services are being provided throughout the country. Activation of these new IN platforms had
increased the sale of ITC Cards taking the figure to Rs.265 crores in 2004-05 alone.
5. BROADBAND SERVICES
BSNL has launched its broadband services under brand name “BSNL BROADBAND” on 14-01-05. This
offers High Speed Internet Access with speed ranging from 256 Kbps to 8 Mbps. Ever since its inception
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BSNL is continuously expanding its broadband network in response to ever growing demand of broadband
service throughout India Present customer base is 3.56 million, with equipped capacity of 6.1 million. BSNL
Broadband service is available in more than 3800 cities & 83000 villages.
Products
• BSNL LANDLINE
• BSNL MOBILE
_ POSTPAID
_ PREPAID
_ UNIFIED MESSAGING
_ GPRS/WAP/MMS
_ DEMOs
_ TARIFF
• BSNL WLL
• INTERNET SERVICES
_ NETWORK
_ BROADBAND
_ WI-FI
_ CO-LOCATION SERVICE
_ BSNL WEB HOSTING
_ DIAL UP INTERNET
_ SMS& BULK SMS
• BSNL BROADBAND
• BSNL MANAGED NETWORK SERVICES
• BSNL MPLS-VPN
• ISDN
• LEASED LINE
• INTELLIGENT NETWORK
_ FREE PHONE SERVICE
_ PREMIUM RATE SERVICE
_ INDIA TELEPHONE CARD
_ VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK (VPN)
_ VOICE VPN
_ UNIVERSAL NUMBER
_ UNIVERSAL PERSONAL NUMBER
_ TELE VOTING
• VIDEO CONFERENCING
• AUDIO CONFERENCING
• TELEX/ TELEGRAPH
• EPABX
_ EPABX
_ FREE EPABX
_ CENTREX
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Marketing strategies of BSNL
- Audre Lorde
We all have some visions of ourselves and our future, and that vision creates consequences. More than any
other factor, vision affects the choices we make and the way we spend our time.
- Stephen R Covey.
It is true for individuals as well as organizations. The strongest form of vision / motivation is to base vision
on “What Legacy we want to leave.” And to achieve it we must take a principled centered path. History is
full of examples that many organizations have vanished grown and vanished overnight as their path to
Vision of the organization can only be translated into reality, if it is shared by one and all. The best way to
implement is to involve them in formulation. But even if it is conceived by higher management then it has to
be explained to each and every individual of the organization, otherwise it may remain as a showpiece.
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Marketing vision of the BSNL has to be based on overall mission and vision of the organization. The
mission of BSNL is
i. To provide world class State-of-art technology telecom services on demand at affordable price.
In dynamic environment anything permanent is “CHANGE”. So we must revise and review so that focus is
never lost.
Marketing Objective
The ultimate objective of any marketing activity is to satisfy the customers and today even a step ahead i.e.
„delighting‟ the customers, for which customers are offered something beyond their expectations from the
service or the product. The objective being to acquire and retain the customers, who should continually feel
that they are getting more value of the money, they are departing with.
Marketing is the establishment, development, maintenance and optimization of long-term mutually valuable
relationships between consumers and organisation. Successful Marketing focuses on understanding the
needs and desires of the customers and is achieved by placing these needs at the heart of business by
integrating them with the organisation strategy, people, technology and business processes. At its most
basic, Marketing involves customers, organisations and relationships and the combination creates the need
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Marketing is about creating a competitive advantage by being the best at understanding, communicating, and
delivering and developing existing customer relationships in addition to creating and keeping new
customers. The concept of the product life cycle is giving way to customer life cycle, focusing on
developing products that anticipate the future needs of existing customers and creating services that extend
the existing customer relationship beyond the mere transaction. The customer life cycle will focus on
lengthening the life span of the customer with the organisation rather than the endurance of a particular
product. Customers have changing needs as their life styles alter- the development and provision of products
and/or services that continuously seek to satisfy those needs is good Marketing. The Marketing will focus
greater attention on how to deliver customer satisfaction and organisation will begin to structure itself
around customer segments and not product lines. A good Marketing Strategy will take the business vision
According to the Dictionary of Marketing Terms, 2nd edition, published by the American Marketing
Association, c1995,
“Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of
ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”
Once marketing is understood, we can define marketing management process as analysing marketing
opportunities, researching and selecting target markets, designing marketing strategies, planning marketing
In simple words it implies a buyer, a seller, bonded by the mutual need, satisfying offer and a
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Marketing Process
We often talk of marketing & Sales and often use it interchangeably without understanding the difference in
it. Marketing is everything we do to get and leverage a client relationship. Marketing process is broad and
Promoting the product; spreading the word about why customers should buy it.
Selling and delivering the product into the hands of the customer.
Selling is one activity of the entire marketing process. Selling is the act of persuading or influencing a
We Sell Confidence.
The concepts surrounding both selling and marketing also differ. There is a need for both selling and
marketing approaches in different situations. One approach is not always right and the other always wrong -
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In a marketing approach, more listening to and eventual accommodation of the target market occurs. Two-
A salesperson using the sales concept, on the other hand, sometimes has the ability to individualize
components of a sale, but the emphasis is ordinarily upon helping the customer determine if they want the
product, or a variation on it, that is already being offered by the company. In the sales approach, not much
time is spent learning what the customer's ideal product would be because the salesperson has little say in
seeing that their company's product is modified. Furthermore, they aren't rewarded for spending time
listening to the customer's desires unless they have a product to match their desires that will result in a sale.
The 7Ps for service marketing (Product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, people & process) are
the means to attain, nurture, & retain the customers and not the end.
Most of the big companies have a Vision & Mission statement so as to guide their all energy, efforts to
realize it. BSNL also has a vision „To become the largest Telecom Service provider in South East
Asia‟. Firstly we need to understand the parameter for being the largest. Is it revenue, ARPU, profit,
subscribers, Network (no of exchanges, BTS etc)? From monopoly to multi operator scenario, BSNL‟s
market share is bound to reduce. But how much down we will let it? There are lot of similarities
between British Telecom & us. One must keep watch on market share in monthly growth and take timely
action. To improve our share, we need to acquire more than 50% of new acquisitions while maintaining
earlier. This is quite challenging in this dynamic environment. Today landline base is reducing across globe,
but why? Europe defines an operator with 25% or more market share as Significant market Power
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(SMP), while they intend to increase it to 40%. BSNL has been the largest operator and we must strive
not only to maintain but enhance it. We need to act fast. Timely action is an essence.
What should be our marketing Vision, will it help us in inspiring to achieve higher. Can it be something
such as “To retain the highest market share, build highest brand equity and maximizing the profits?”
Brand Equity
We may think what is Brand equity? In simple words it is how far people are willing to pay if we increase
our prices i.e. premium for our services. We may feel happy to say there is lot of black marketing of our
SIM cards. Is it a healthy sign? We reduce prices when competitors launch new schemes. Does it imply
poor brand equity? Brand Equity can be built with good equity of quality of services at the affordable
price. Continuous innovation in product and delivery of services with the appropriate pricing is the
key strategy for developing the trust in customer so that he keeps his loyalty with BSNL. We have to be
first mover in our efforts for product and price differentiation. Presently the market is in growth phase and
price could be a differentiating factor, but how long? Is any scope left for further cuts? Ultimately it is the
quality, customer care, and timely availability apart from price, which will matter. Quality depends on
many parameters such as tangibles (like physical facilities, Appearance of personnel, Tools or equipment
used to provide service, Physical appearance of service, Other customers in the service facility), Reliability,
Responsiveness, Competence, Courtesy, Credibility, Security, Access, and Communications with customer,
Understanding etc. Quality definitely commands premium. Why are people willing to pay more for
Raymonds or Adidas or Sony when comparable offers exist in market? One may say that customer
perception of quality is not built overnight; it may require a brand and brand building investments apart from
a quality product. How many brands do we have? Our investments get diluted with more number of
brands. Even Airtel merged the Touchtel brand with more popular one. Can‟t we have just one brand i.e.
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BSNL? Have we ever tried to examine our revenue breakup? While majority of the revenue comes from
landline (DELs plus PCOs), how many people know of Bfone? CellOne happens to be more popular.
So where should our marketing & sales effort be more? Wholesale, retail or corporate! What means do we
need to use to promote our products and in what proportion? Advertising, PR, Franchisees, 24x7 customer
care, business development etc. What activities should be taken up by Corporate Office, Circles and SSAs?
In advertising there is need to synergize our activities at Corporate, Circle and SSA level. In this regard
Corporate office has issued division of work guidelines. There is also a need to have good relation with our
advertising agencies and simultaneously their performance need to be monitored for taking quality
What is USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for BSNL? A Government company which delivers. A
government company which gives service better than private could be a deadly combination, which no
Social Responsibility
We were the most trusted telecom brand in year 2003 & 2004. We have been given Golden Peacock
award for Best Corporate Social responsibility. How can we leverage these distinctions? These
achievements need to be highlighted through public relation exercise like press meet. This will help us in
building our marketing image. In sales and distribution front though we have over one-lakh retailers,
1000 franchisees, 3300 CSCs, 36000 exchanges why are we not visible like others? Why can‟t we utilize
all possible space? Can‟t we leverage our franchisee and STD-PCO strengths? Can we make these
outlets as our core strength? Why our recharge coupons, India Telephone Cards are in shortage when
there is no capacity constraint? Does it imply that our planning for printing, inventory management,
logistics, and supply chain and of course franchisee management is inefficient? Do we have targets for
these just like DELs & CellOne? Why can‟t we leverage this huge network for better customer care and
improve collection efficiency? We must realize that with waiver of security deposits, no OYT schemes,
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no advance rentals, adjustment of landline security for CellOne, we don‟t get fixed deposits to meet our
funds requirements. Everything has to be met from Operating revenues. We need to improve collections,
realize bills early, not on the last day of payment and reduce bad debts. We need to provide 24X7 culture
in our organization, though we have been providing operation and maintenance on 24X7 basis in the past
and we will continue to provide in future too, but what about provisioning customer care and marketing
on 24X7 basis?
Business Development
Business development units have been given the task to develop and nurture long-term relations with
corporate houses. Many MoUs have been signed. Bulk bills are being issued. One-point payments are being
realized for multiple service locations. Key Account Manager concept has been introduced. All this requires
change of mindset in addition to the skills of marketing & sales. Do we have skilled manpower? Is our
organization setup apt for better results? The staff expense to revenue ratio could be a good indicator.
No doubt our revenues are up. Profit has increased. But consider the marketing budget we have in
comparison to others. Even with this little budget many circles are unable to utilize it. We need to probe
ourselves. Corporate office has permitted delegation of upto 70% of Circle budget to SSAs. Does it mean
that our budget planning is wrong? How should we allocate marketing budget and which parameter to
weigh?
•Per DEL/Mobile
•Acquisition cost
•Competitor spend
•Growth targets
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Life Time Value
You can‟t give people pride, but you can provide the kind of understanding that makes people look to their
- Charleszetta Waddles.
Let us understand what is the lifetime value of our customers? Paying commission of Rs 100-200 to
franchisee is not a cost considering the future flow of revenue from the customer. How many of our
decisions are based on scientific analysis of the precious customer data we already have such as calling
pattern, payment habits, usage profile etc.? How many surveys we do how much customer research we carry
out? Net growth in mobile is high but what about churn? Can‟t we analyse & reduce it? Acquisition cost is
It is high time we learn fast, groom ourselves, improve our mind-set and act fast. Business perspective is
equally important as excellence in Telecom operations, maintenance, and installations & planning. Our core
competence should be telecom business acumen and not just traditional expertise developed over the years.
It is usually much easier to sell additional things to existing customers than to add new customer. Let us try
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
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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. However, the performance level is nowhere near the private
players. The corporation remains heavily unionised and is comparatively slow in decision making and
implementation. Management has been reactive to the schemes of private telecom players. Over the past five
years BSNL's management is not able to absorb Group A(ITS) officers, who are working in BSNL as
borrowed staff. This has considerably reduced the ability of management to take risks and get rewarded in
open telecom field. 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 (DataOne) targeted at homes and small businesses. At present
2007 has been declared as "Year of Broadband" in India and BSNL is in the process of providing 5 million
Broadband connectivity by the end of 2007. BSNL has upgraded existing Dataone (Broadband) connections
for a speed of up to 2 Mbit/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, BSNL is rolling out new broadband services such as triple
play.
BSNL is planning to increase its customer base to 108 million customers by 2010. With the frantic activity
BSNL is a pioneer of rural telephony in India. BSNL has recently bagged 80% of US$ 580 m (INR 2,500
in India. The corporation has also launched 3G services in select cities across the country. Presently, BSNL
and MTNL are the only players to provide 3G services, as the Government of India has completed auction
of 3G services for private players.BSNL shall get 3G bandwidth at lowest bidder prices of Rs 18,500
crore,which includes Rs 10,186 crore for 3G and Rs 8313crore for BWA.[One crore is 10 million.]BSNL
BSNL has also launched an Entertainment Portal called BSNL Hungama Portal from where subscribers
could download contents like music, music videos for free and also download or play various games online.
Only Tamil, Kannada, Telugu & Hindi are provided at present. Hopes are there that the database could be
expanded. BSNL charges a fixed monthly subscription fee for this function.
AIRTEL
Formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures LTD (BTVL) is an Indian company offering telecommunication
services in 18 countries. It the largest cellular service provider in India, with more than 135 million
subscriptions as of May 2010. Bharti Airtel is the world's third largest, single-country mobile operator and
fifth largest telecom operator in the world in terms of subscriber base. It also offers fixed line services and
broadband services. It offers its telecom services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti
Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and broadband Internet access (DSL) in over 89 cities
in India. 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
It is known for being the first mobile phone company in the world to outsource everything except marketing
and sales. Its network (base stations, microwave links, etc.) is maintained by Ericsson and Nokia Siemens
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Network, business support by IBM and transmission towers by another company 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. This enables the company to provide pan-India phone call rates of Rs. 1/minute (U$0.02/minute).
The company is structured into four strategic business units - Mobile, Telemedia, Enterprise and Digital TV.
The mobile business offers services in 18 countries across the Indian Subcontinent and Africa. The
Telemedia business provides broadband, IPTV and telephone services in 89 Indian cities. The Digital TV
business provides Direct-to-Home TV services across India. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end
telecom solutions to corporate customers and national and international long distance services to telcos.[6]
Globally, Bharti Airtel is the 3rd largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China
Mobile and China Unicom. In India, the company has a 24.6% share of the wireless services market,
followed by 17.7% for Reliance Communications and 17.4% for Vodafone Essar. In January 2010, company
anonced that Manoj Kohli, Joint Managing Director and current Chief Executive Officer of Indian and South
Asian operations, will become the Chief Executive Officer of the International Business Group from 1 April
2010. He will be overseeing Bharti's overseas business. Current Dy. CEO, Sanjay Kapoor, will replace
Manoj Kohli and will be the CEO, effective from 1 April 2010.
Worldwide presence
Airtel is the 5th largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscriber base and has a commercial
15 countries in Africa: - Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the
Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania,
Airtel owns 70 % of Warid Telecom in Bangladesh through a joint venture. Bharti Airtel Limited will take
management control of the company and its board, and will re-launch the company's services under its own
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Airtel brand. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission approved the deal on January 4,
2010.
Mobile Services
Airtel is the name of the company's mobile services brand. It operates in 18 countries providing. It is the 5th
largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscriber base. Airtel's network consists of 3G and 2G
In India, the company's mobile service is branded as Airtel. It has nationwide presence covers 71% of the
current population (as of Financial Year 2007). On 19 October 2004, Airtel announced the launch of a
BlackBerry Wireless Solution in India. The launch is a result of a tie-up between Bharti Tele-Ventures
Limited and Research In Motion (RIM). The Apple iPhone 3G was rolled out in India on 22 August 2008
via Airtel & [[Vodafone Essar]. Both the cellular service providers rolled out their Apple iPhone 3GS in the
first quarter of 2010. However, high price and contract boundation again made it nearly impossible for both
the service providers to make it a success as much as the iPhone is successful in other markets of the world.
As of May 18, 2010, 3G spectrum auction has ended and will pay the Indian government Rs. 12,295 crores
for spectrum in 13 circles, the most amount spent by an operator in this auction. Airtel won 3G licences in
13 telecom circles of India: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West),
Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir. It plans to
The Airtel subscriber base according to COAI - Cellular Operators Association of India as of January 2010
was:
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Chennai - 4,656,675
Delhi - 1,822,208
Mumbai - 3,003,201
Kolkata - 2,746,100
Gujarat - 5,112,601
Karnataka - 12,153,094
Kerala - 3,076,728
Punjab - 4,581,187
Maharashtra - 6,518,134
Rajasthan - 9,925,141
Bihar - 10,338,828
Orissa - 3,836,091
Assam - 2,194,310
The total is 131,714,243 or 32.86% of the total 404,349,733 GSM mobile connections in India till December
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VODAFONE
Vodafone, the world‟s leading international mobile communications company, has fully arrived in India
brand will be lunched in India from 21st September onwards. The popular and endearing brand, Hutch, will
be transitioned to Vodafone across India. This marks a significant chapter in the evolutic brand change over
the next few weeks will be unveiled nationally through a high profile campaign covering all important
media. Vodafone, the world‟s leading mobile telecommunication company, completed the acquisition of
Hutchison Essar in May 2007. Asim Ghosh, managing director, Vodafone Essar, said “We have had a great
innings as Hutch in India and today marks a new begin that created Hutch, but an acceleration into the future
with Vodafone‟s global expertise..” the Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an
increasingly connected world – enriching customers lives, helping increased by delivering their total
communication needs.
Vodafone Essar in India is a subsidiary of Vodafone Group plc and commenced operations in 1994 when its
predecessor Hutchison tele Vodafone Essar now has operations in 16 circles covering 86% of India‟s mobile
customer base, with over 34.1 million customers. Over the year, Vodafone Essar, under the hutch brand, has
been named the Most Respected Telecom Company, the Best Mobile sender effective advertiser of the year.
Vodafone is the world‟s leading international mobile communications company. It now has operation
network with over 200 million customers worldwide. Vodafone has partnered with the Essar Group as its
principal joint venture partner. The Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with interests spanning
the manufacturing and service sectors like steel, energy, construction. The group has an asset base of over
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IDEA CELLULAR
Idea Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in all the 22 telecom circles in India based in
Mumbai. It is the 3rd largest GSM company in India behind Airtel and Vodafone and ahead of state run
player BSNL.
The company has its retail outlets under the "My Idea" banner. The company has also been the first to offer
flexible tariff plans for prepaid customers. It also offers GPRS services in urban areas. Idea Cellular won the
GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer Care Solution" for 2 consecutive years. IDEA
Cellular has been recognized as the 'Most Customer Responsive Company' in the Telecom sector, at the
Holding
Initially the Birla‟s, the Tata‟s and AT&T Wireless each held one-third equity in the company. But
following AT&T Wireless' merger with Cingular Wireless in 2004, Cingular decided to sell its 32.9% stake
in Idea. This stake was bought by both the Tata‟s and Birla‟s 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 Tata‟s and the Birla‟s. This dual holding by the Tata‟s 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
The Birla‟s thus approached the DOT and sought its intervention, and the Tata‟s replied by saying that they
would exit Idea but only for a good price. On April 10, 2006, the Aditya Birla Group 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 Aditya Birla Nuvo, a company in-charge of the Birlas' new
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business initiatives, the remaining stake was acquired by Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd., an AV Birla
family owned company. Currently, Aditya Birla Group holds 49.1% of the total shares of the company.
Subscriber base
Idea's subscriber base as at the end of May 2010 according to this as follows
Kerala - 5,588,865
Kolkata - 604,650
Gujarat - 5,527,480
Delhi - 2,751,588
Haryana - 2,236,132
Rajasthan - 2,404,693
Mumbai - 1,562,675
Odisha - 604,876
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Rest of Bengal - 664,427
Assam - 96,542
Totaling to 66,726,802 or 15.02% (Approx.) of the total 444,295,711 mobile connections in India.
AIRCEL
Aircel is a mobile phone service provider in India. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone
coverage throughout India. Aircel is a joint venture between Maxis Communications of Malaysia and
Apollo Hospital Enterprise Ltd of India. UTSB has a 74% stake in Aircel and the remaining 26% is with
Apollo Hospitals. It is India‟s fifth largest GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 27.7
million, as of October 31, 2009. It has a market share of 12.8% among the GSM operators in the country. As
on date, Aircel is present in 18 of the total 23 telecom circles (including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar &
Jharkhand, Chennai, Delhi & NCR, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata,
Mumbai, North East, Orissa, Rest of Maharashtra & Goa, Rest of Tamil Nadu, Rest of West Bengal, Uttar
Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West) and with licences secured for the remaining 5 telecom circles, the
company plans to become a pan-India operator by 2010. Additionally, Aircel has also obtained permission
from Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide International Long Distance (ILD) and National
Long Distance (NLD) telephony services. It is also a category A ISP. It is also having the largest service in
Tamil Nadu.
Aircel Business Solutions (ABS), part of Aircel, is an ISO 9000 certified company. ABS is a registered
member of Wi-MAX forum – both in the Indian and International Chapters. ABS‟ product range includes
enterprise solutions such as Multiprotocol Label Switching Virtual Private Networks (MPLS VPNs), Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Managed Video Services on wireless platform including Wi-MAX.
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Aircel has won many awards for its services. Aircel was honored at the World Brand Congress 2009 with
three awards, Brand Leadership in Telecom, and Marketing Campaign & Marketing Professional of the
Year. Aircel was honored by CMAI INFOCOM National Telecom Award 2009 for, „Excellence in
Marketing of New Telecom Service‟. Aircel had been selected as the best regional operator in 2008 by
Tele.net. Aircel was rated as the top mid-size utility company in Business World‟s „List of Best Mid-Size
Companies‟ in 2007. Aircel got the highest rating for overall customer satisfaction and network quality in
Aircel is one of the sponsors of the Indian Premier League Cricket Team Chennai Super Kings, which is
captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It is also the major sponsors for Chennai Open (the only ATP tennis
Maxis, Aircel's majority stake holder at that time, raised RM11.2 billions (USD 3.36 billions)for its
Aircel boat. Aircel, placed an actual dinghy lifeboat to a downtown billboard. A rope with a sign reading,
“In case of emergency, cut rope”, held up the branded raft. July 15, 2009 the monsoon arrived and so did
Aircel customer service. The dinghy was cut down and pedestrians were safely transported. What Aircel
calls “Corporate Social Responsibility – A Solution”. The company was able to generate positive publicity
RELIANCE COMMUNICATION
Reliance Communications , formerly known as Reliance Infocomm., along with Reliance Telecom and
founded by the late Shri Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002) is the flagship company of the Reliance Anil
Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group currently has a net worth in excess
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of Rs. 64,000 crore (US$ 13.6 billion), cash flows of Rs. 13,000 crore (US$ 2.8 billion), net profit of Rs.
8,400 crore (US$ 1.8 billion).The Equity Shares of RCOM are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange Limited
and National Stock Exchange Limited. The Global Depository Receipts and Foreign Currency Convertible
Bonds are listed on Luxembourg Stock Exchange and Singapore Stock Exchange respectively. Reliance
Communications is India's truly integrated telecommunications service provider. The Company has a customer base of
105 million including over 2.5 million individual overseas retail customers. It ranks among the Top 5 Telecom
companies in the world by number of customers in a single country. Reliance Communications corporate clientele
includes 2,100 Indian and multinational corporations, and over 800 global, regional and domestic carriers. A pan-
India, next generation, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network that is
capable of supporting best-of-class services spanning the entire communications value chain, covering over 24,000
towns and 600,000 villages has been established by Reliance Communications. Reliance Communications owns and
operates the next generation IP enabled connectivity infrastructure "The world's largest next generation IP enabled
connectivity infrastructure". Retrieved 2010-04-14. comprising over 190,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable systems in
India, USA, Europe, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.
Main Subsidiaries
In July 2007, the company announced it is buying US-based managed ethernet and application delivery
services company Yipes Enterprise Services for a cash amount of Rs. 1200 crore rupees (equivalent of USD
300 million). The deal was announced of the overseas acquisition, the Reliance group has amalgamated the
United States-based Flag Telecom for $210 million [roughly Rs 950 crore (Rs 9.50 billion)].RTL operates in
Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Kolkata and Northeast offering
GSM services.
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Reliance Globalcom
RGL owns the worlds largest private undersea cable system spanning 65,000 kms seamlessly integrated with
Reliance Communications over 110,000 kms of domestic optic fiber provides a robust Global Service
Delivery Platform connecting 40 key business markets in India, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the U.S.
RCIL provide Internet Data Centre (IDC) services located in Mumbai and Bangalore. RCIL currently has
Reliance Big Tv launched in August 2008 and thereafter acquired 1 million subscribers within 90 days of
launch, the fastest ramp-up ever achieved by any DTH operator in the world. Reliance Big TV offers its 1.7
million customers DVD quality pictures across a bouquet of over 200 channels using the latest, state-of-the-
RITL‟s business is to build, own and operate telecommunication towers, optic fiber cable assets and related
assets at designated sites and to provide these passive telecommunication infrastructure assets on a shared
basis to wireless service providers and other communications service providers under long-term contracts.
On March 1, 2008, Virgin launched the Mobile brand in India through a franchise arrangement with Tata
Teleservices. This is Virgin‟s seventh launch globally and its largest. However on March 29, 2008, the
Department of Telecom (DoT) cleared the deal after clarification from Tata Teleservices indicated that
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Virgin Mobile India “Virgin Mobile” brand is India‟s „first‟ national youth-focused mobile service. “Virgin
Mobile” branded services are being offered to the Indian consumers by Tata Teleservices through a brand
franchise with Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile India will provide Tata Teleservices with experience and
expertise in designing, marketing and servicing of “Virgin Mobile” branded products for the youth segment.
The Virgin Mobile Revolution Evolution Virgin Mobile, a leading branded venture capital organization, is
one of the world's most recognized and respected brands. Conceived in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson, the
Virgin Mobile Group has gone on to grow very successful businesses in sectors ranging from mobile
telephony, to transportation, travel, financial services, leisure, music, holidays, publishing and retailing.
Virgin Mobile has created more than 200 branded companies worldwide, employing approximately 50,000
people, in 29 countries. Its revenues around the world in 2006 exceeded £10 billion (approx. US$20 billion).
Tata Teleservices Limited spearheads the Tata Group‟s presence in the telecom sector. The Tata Group had
revenues of around US $62.5 billion in Financial Year 2007-08, and includes over 90 companies, over
Tata Teleservices is the pioneer of the CDMA 1x technology platform in India. It has embarked on a growth
path since the acquisition of Hughes Tele.com (India) Ltd [renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra)
Limited] by the Tata Group in 2002. It launched mobile operations in January 2005 and today enjoys a pan-
India presence through existing operations in all of India‟s 22 telecom Circles. The company is also the
market leader in the fixed wireless telephony market. The company‟s network has been rated as the „Least
Congested‟ in India for last five consecutive quarters by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India through
independent surveys.
Tata Teleservices Limited now also has a presence in the GSM space, through its joint venture with NTT
DOCOMO of Japan, and offers differentiated products and services under the TATA DOCOMO brand
name. TATA DOCOMO arises out of the Tata Group‟s strategic alliance with Japanese telecom major NTT
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TATA TELESERVICES
Tata Teleservices is part of the Tata Group. Tata Teleservices spearheads the Group‟s presence in the
telecom sector. Incorporated in 1996, Tata Teleservices was the first to launch CDMA mobile services in
The company acquired Hughes Telecom (India) Limited [now renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra)
Limited] in December 2002. With a total Investment of Rs 19,924 Crore, Tata Teleservices has created a
Pan India presence spread across 20 circles that includes Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat, J & K,
Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, North East, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab,
Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar Pradesh (W), Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya
Having pioneered the CDMA 3G1x technology platform in India, Tata Teleservices has established 3G
ready telecom infrastructure. It partnered with Motorola, Ericsson, Lucent and ECI Telecom for the
The company is the market leader in the fixed wireless telephony market with a total customer base of over
3.8 million. Tata Teleservices‟ bouquet of telephony services includes Mobile services, Wireless Desktop
Phones, Public Booth Telephony and Wireline services. Other services include value added services like
voice portal, roaming, post-paid Internet services, 3-way conferencing, group calling, Wi-Fi Internet, USB
Modem, data cards, calling card services and enterprise services. Some of the other products launched by the
company include prepaid wireless desktop phones, public phone booths, new mobile handsets and new voice
& data services such as BREW games, Voice Portal, picture messaging, polyphonic ring tones, interactive
Tata Indicom "Non Stop Mobile" allows a pre-paid cellular customer to receive free incoming calls. Tata
Teleservices Limited along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited have a subscriber base of 36
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million customers (as of April 2009) in more than 5,000 towns. Tata Teleservices has also acquired GSM
Tata Telelservices is an unlisted entity. Tata Group and group firms own the majority of the company, NTT
UNINOR
The company Unitech Wireless was until 2009 a subsidiary of Unitech Group, holding a wireless services
licence for all 22 Indian telecom circles since 2008. In early 2009, Unitech Group and Telenor agreed on a
majority take-over by Telenor of Unitech's wireless business, including Unitech Wireless' national-wide
mobile licence. By March, May and November, Telenor acquired a 33%, 49% and 60% stake in Unitech
Wireless, respectively. In September, the mobile operation changed its name to Uninor. On October 19 the
Indian Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) announced that it has approved Telenor's acquisition
of up to 74% in Unitech Wireless, and the shareholder's agreement sets a 67.25% Telenor ownership in
Uninor.
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3. Bihar and Jharkhand
4. Karnataka
5. Andhra Pradesh
6. Tamil Nadu
7. Kerala
8. Orissa
9. Kolkata
11. Gujarat
12. Mumbai
regional mobile operators. The company is targeting an 8 % pan-Indian market share, and the opening of
one million retail points and breaking even on EBITDA within three years. It will provide mobile
In order to reduce time-to-market, Uninor will outsource infrastructure and back-end services to partner
organizations with established core competencies. The operational model is low-cost with a gradual
network-build up, infrastructure sharing, GSM equipment at competitive cost, full-scale IT-outsourcing and
To quickly launch mobile services only nine months after the foundation of the new company, Uninor has
entered into network and base station service agreements with partners. Tower sharing agreements are
concluded with Wireless-TT Info Service Limited and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Limited.
Technologies India, Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson. The company's IT services and infrastructure is
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CHAPTER – III
PRESENTATION OF DATA AND ANALYSIS
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY –
Research methods:
Those methods which are used by the researcher during the course of studying are research problem are
Research methodology:
The research methodology, not only the research methods are but also consider the logic behind the
methods. They are in the contest of our research studied. And explain why we are using a particular method
In includes surveys, and facts finding enquires of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research
is description of state of affairs as it exists at present. The main character of this method is that the
researcher has no control over the variables. He can report what has happened? Or what is happening?
Nature of data:
Collection of data:
The data were collected from the respondents through the distribution of questionnaire.
Sample size - The sample size covered for the purpose of this study is 180.
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DEVELOPING THE QUESTIONNAIRE:
The following four questions need to be answered in designing an effective set of questions or a
questionnaire:
1) Will the respondent have the information/knowledge needed to answer the questions?
2) Will the respondent understand the questions?
3) Will the respondent likely to give a true answer?
4) Will the formulation of the question bias the response
Basically in the beginning some sample questionnaires were developed and where administered directly on
the clients. This was the trail method included for pilot testing and the final questionnaires were prepared
thereafter assessing the feedback and result of the test.
In the initial phase of my survey I developed a questionnaire, but later I realized that a single
questionnaire is not sufficient to judge all the variable factors governing consumer behaviour during
taking new connections, so for this purpose I framed another questionnaire.
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Tools for analysis:
Tables
Percentages
Bar-charts
Though the detailed investigation is made in the present study, still there are following limitations.
This study is restricted only to Lucknow. So, the results may not be applicable to other areas.
This study is based on the prevailing customer‟s satisfaction. But the customer‟s satisfaction may
As per the population of the study is huge, a sample size of 180 sample respondents is only covered
till now.
Lack of awareness about the Company‟s products & services among the customers may hamper the
Data collection of exact data for the research is not possible because there is a gap between what
Information provided by the customers may not be accurate. They may hide some of the information
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ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
TABLE NO.-1
2. BSNL 34 18.89%
3. Vodafone 23 12.78%
4. Reliance 28 15.56%
5. Idea 16 8.89%
6. Aircel 12 6.67%
8. Uninor 6 3.33%
9. Virgin 5 2.78%
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TABLE NO: 2
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TABLE NO: 3
1. Undergraduate 42 23.33%
2. Graduate 77 42.78%
3. Post Graduate 33 18.33%
4. Professional 28 15.56%
Total 180 100
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TABLE NO: 4
COMPOSITION OF RESPONDENTS ON THE BASIS OF
OCCUPATION
1. PROFESSIONAL 42 23.33%
2. BUSINESS 25 13.88%
3. STUDENT 53 29.44%
4. EMPLOYEE 60 33.35%
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TABLE NO. 5
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TABLE NO. 6
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TABLE NO. 7
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TABLE NO. 8
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TABLE NO. 9
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TABLE NO. 10
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TABLE NO. 11
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TABLE NO. 12
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CHAPTER – IV
FINDINGS, CONCLUSION & SUGGESTIONS
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INTRODUCTION:
This chapter is allocated to express the findings and conclusions in this study. Statistical tools are applied to
analyze the data. It includes the result of each and every tables, charts and tests.
On the basis of consumer preference, majority of the consumers prefer Airtel (21.11%).
On the basis of marital status mostly unmarried respondents are using mobile connections than married
respondents.
On the basis of educational qualification, most of the graduates are using mobile connections.
On the basis of occupation, the employees are only who use mobile connections in more level. And
students are next in the list.
On the basis of family income, 13.89% of the respondents are using cell connections, which get the
income of less than Rs.5, 000. And on the income basis 30.56% of the respondents are using mobile, which
get the income of 15000-20000.
Majority of the peoples buy the cell connections by influencing their friends.
Majority of the respondents are using cell connections for personal usage.
Majority of the respondents are using cell connections for both incoming and outgoing.
Majority of the respondents are seeking brand image, for their service provider. And then service charges
are next in list.
On the basis of performance, only two and three people are highly satisfied with Aircel and Uninor
respectively.
Only 4 respondents are dissatisfied about the performance of Vodafone service provider.
On the basis of periodical offers, majority of the peoples highly satisfied in Airtel. And 18.87% of
customers are highly satisfied with BSNL
On the basis of consumer‟s attitude, majority of the people are states that mobile connections are
necessity to all.
5.00% of the respondents are only states that cell connections are luxury.
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SUGGESTIONS
Vodafone and BSNL should try to attract the young people. (Up to
25years)
All the service providers are made good advertisements for their service. Because, advertisements
are take little part for influencing the consumers.
75% of the peoples are unaware about the various services rendered by their service provider. So the
service providers should try to make awareness of their customer services to their customers.
BSNL customers are highly dissatisfied about the performance of the service provider.
So they should try to add some advanced features towards their services.
BSNL and Vodafone should give periodical offers to their customers. So that more customers are
attracted towards the service providers.
BSNL should improve their network and the connectivity problem with other service providers as
there is several number of competitors in the market.
The signal strength is weaker in interior places: service provider should increase the signal strength.
As the competitors are more in this town the company can formulate appropriate marketing strategy
to retrain existing customers and to attract new customers.
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CONCLUSION:
This is an information era significance of information cannot be over emphasized. This study attempts to
find out the factors effecting consumer behavior and the satisfaction of consumer regarding cell phone
service providers.
This decade, most of the peoples using cell connections. So, service providers are increasing in more level.
So service provider are should over come another one‟s competition. So, it leads to adding new features,
schemes, periodical offers to their service. So, the consumers get maximum benefit from their service
provider.
Now-a-days, cell connections are a necessity to all. Because, along with bridging the communication gap it
has given a sense of safety to the men and women also. And only few persons feel that cell connections are
luxury one. India is rapidly evolving on the lines of other developed countries in the sphere of telecom
service, so if BSNL wants to leverage this opportunity it should give due attention on increasing its customer
base rapidly. By introducing new plan at less cost and reduced call rates.
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ANNEXURE
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ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE: 1
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am conducting a survey on consumer (existing/new) behaviour during taking new mobile-
connections.
Kindly spare some of your valuable time to go through the questionnaire & give your view on this
topic.
The information provided by you would be kept confidential & only be used for improving customer
service.
2) What factors influenced you in purchasing the cellular brand you are currently using. Rate the
factors on a scale of 1-4.
a) Price/Tariff plan/ Offers
b) Brand name
c) Availability in store
d) Signal Strength
3) While purchasing your preferred brand of cellular connection what sort of features you look
forward in your cellular service brand?
a) Network coverage
b) Tariff
c) Price-Validity ratio
d) Value added services
6) How satisfied are you with the cellular service brand you own.
Please tick the appropriate option s given below.
a) Extremely satisfied
b) Somewhat satisfied
c) Somewhat dissatisfied
d) Dissatisfied
7) Did you experience any problem with your preferred cellular service brand?
a) Yes
b) No
If yes please specify ______________________________________
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8) If yes was the problem effectively taken care off immediately?
a) Yes
b) No
9) Did you switched over to any other network .if please specify the number of times.
a) 1 □ b) 2 □ c) 3 □ d) 4 □ e) more than 4 □
10) How likely you are to recommend your preferred cellular service brand to your friends and
relatives.
a) Very Likely
b) Somewhat Likely
c) Somewhat Unlikely
d) Very Unlikely
11) If you are a existing customer of BSNL then which type of value added services do you want to
incorporate in BSNL?
____________________________________________________________________
12) As per your opinion how can you improve the existing brand you are using? Any
recommendations for BSNL if any?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Date:
Thanking You
B.S.N.L
Signature:
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QUESTIONNAIRE: 2
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am conducting a survey on consumer (existing/new) behaviour during taking new mobile-
connections.
Kindly spare some of your valuable time to go through the questionnaire & give your view on this
topic.
The information provided by you would be kept confidential & only be used for improving customer
service.
a) Prepaid □ b) Post-paid □
5. If you have post-paid / prepaid connection mention Scheme, Name & Monthly rental charges.
____________________________________________________________________
6. For which purpose are you using your mobile connection (Service Provider) mainly for?
a) Incoming □ b) Outgoing □
c) Both □ d) SMS Messaging □
7. Are you aware of the following details relating in your mobile connection
(Pre / Post-paid connection)
S. No Aware Neutral Unaware
a) Scheme □ □ □
b) Balance of Talk charges □ □ □
c) Periodical offers □ □ □
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e) Incoming (in days) □ □ □
f) Number of outgoing calls □ □ □
g) Outgoings call charges □ □ □
a) Brand Image □
b) Availability □
c) Customer care service □
d) Service charges □
a) Price □ □ □
b) Performance □ □ □
c) Schemes □ □ □
d) Periodical Offers □ □ □
e) Out going call Charges □ □ □
a) Coverage □
b) Service □
c) Clarity □
d) Busy network □
e) Others □
a) Necessity □
b) Status □
c) Luxury □
d) Compulsion □
____________________________________________________________________
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Age □ 0-25yrs □ 25-35yrs □ 35-55yrs □ > 55yr.
Occupation: _____________________
Qualification:
Undergraduate □ Graduate □ Post-graduate □ Professional degree (Specify)
Date:
Thanking You
B.S.N.L
Signature:
Page | 99
BIBLOGRAPHY
INTERNET SOURCE-
www.google.com
www.wikipedia.org
www.yahoo.com
www.vodafone.in
www.bsnl.co.in
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