l INDUSTRY PROFILE

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876.

The telephone is composed of two parts.

Telephone Transmitter: A telephone transmitter is a transducer that converts sound energy into electric energy. Telephone Receiver: A telephone receiver does the reverse function of a telephone transmitter.

It is a transducer, which converts electrical energy into sound energy. An exchange is a point where subscriber lines are terminated and calls are processed and established within the exchange for connecting one subscriber to another either manually or automatically depending on the type of exchange.

There are two types of exchanges:

Manual: In this type of exchange the calls are established with the help of the operator. Automatic: Here, the exchange equipment without any manual involvement establishes the calls.

Types of Switching
Space Division Switching (Analog) Time Division Switching (Digital)

Space Division Switching (Analog)

This kind of switching establishes a dedicated end-to-end physical path between calling and called parties. This part is held continuously for the whole duration of the call. This switching system transmits the voice signal without modification through the system of lines and mechanical switches till it reaches the destination telephone.

Time Division Switching (Digital)

In this kind of system each call is provided with a path only during this allotted time slot. The voice system is encoded to digital from by an analog digital converter and the digital signal is multiplexed with other digitals to the data highway In analog system processing is done mechanically whereas in digital system it is done by IC chips and large scale integrated technology.

Infrastructure of Basic Telecom

A Telecom network has three major systems.
Access Networks Switching System Transport Network

Parts of Basic Telephone Network

TRANSPOR T

SWITCH ACCESS

Access Network
It is that network which makes it possible for the subscriber to get connected to the Local Exchange.

Switching System
Switching System is the heart of any Telecom Network. Switch is a Telecom entity, which establishes call connections and releases the calls when required. It has the database of all the subscribers connected. This database is generally the subscriber, Number and the features associated with each subscription. e.g. STD, ISD etc. Its capacity is measured on the basis of maximum simultaneous calls and busy hours call attempts. It connects calls (or subscribers) physically connected to it. Connects subscribers connected to other switches within the same network as well as other networks. The switching path to connections outside the switches (within the limited and defined geographical area) is connected to Trunk Automatic Exchange (TAX). Several TAXs are then connected to each other.

Transport Network
It is established by copper cables, Optic fiber or Microwave signaling.

Product Offering:
Fixed Line Basic Telephony 1. Wired 2. Wireless on CDMA

Free Internet Service Provider (ISP)

1. Leased Line 2. ISDN 3. DSL

Fixed line Basic Telephony (Wired) Basic Telephony is the fixed line ordinary telephony.
Basic Telephony is defined as provision of switched telephony in the public domain viz. local exchange along with local loop facility. It has two main components: External Plants: Consisting of cables, wires, towers & subscriber premises installation. Internal Plants: Consisting of switches, power plant, wireless base stations, transmission systems etc.

Local Exchange Provider

Connection to the local Exchange is called local loop. Local loop is the most expensive part of telephony project.

COMPANY PROFILE
Bharti enterprise has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized telecommunications with its world-class products and services. Established in 1985, Bharti has been pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit, ranging from being the first Ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private basic telephone service provider in the company, first Indian Company to provide comprehensive telecom services outside India in Seychelles and the first private sector to launch National Long Distance Services in India. As of September 30.2005, Bharti has touched 12 million total customers- nearly 11 million mobile and 1 million fixed line customers. Its service sector businesses include mobile operations in Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerela, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh circle, Maharashtra circle, Mumbai, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh (East and West) Circle.In addition it has also has fixed line operations in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and nationwide broadband and long distance networks. Bharti has launched national long distance services by offering data transmission services for calls originating and terminating on most of Indias mobile networks. The Company has implemented a submarine cable project connecting Chennai-Singapore for providing international bandwidth.

Bharti Enterprises also manufactures and exports telephone terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the largest manufactures of telecom instruments, it is also the first telecom company to export its product to the USA.

Bharti Enterprises includes:Bharti Teletech Limited Bharti Telesoft Limited Telecom Seychelles Limited Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited Bharti Telecom Limited Field Fresh Foods Private Limited Teletech services(India Limited)

Vision, Mission and Values

AirTel Vision
By 2010 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India. Loved by more customers Targeted by top talent Benchmarked by more Businesses.

AirTel Brand Promise

We at Airtel always think in Fresh and innovative ways about the needs of our customer. We deliver what we promise and go out of our way to delight the customer with a little bit more. Because we do this, when people think of the Airtel brand they will think of it as Fresh, In Touch, on my Side, Can-do.

AirTel Brand Essence

The essence or soul of the brand is a guide to how we should present ourselves to the outside world. We think freshDeliver more.

AirTel Business Focus

Think Fresh And Deliver More to Customers by: -Ensuring a consistently delightful brand experience at every touch-point

Aligning internal as well as customer facing processes -Harnessing IT for both customer and internal benefit
-Leading industry innovation through user-friendly products and services -Extending our network while ensuring a world class customer experience -Building a best-in-class leadership team that nurtures talent at every level -Creating benefit through economies of scale.

AirTel Brand Scoreboard

-Maximizing revenue market share

-Increasing customers intention to stay -Increasing employees intention to stay -Ensuring partner satisfaction -Maximizing brand preference -Providing superior shareholder returns.

Bharti Airtel Limited: Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh

Formerly known as TouchTel, Bharti AirTel Limited olds the rights to establish maintain and operate fixed line telephone network in the Madhya Pradesh Circle, which consists of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh through a license valid for 20 years from February 28 th 1997. BSNL a public sector unit is the only competitor of AirTel in this Fixed Line Telephony Service within the same geographical area.

Bharti AirTel Limited Provides fixed line services to approximately 3,25,000 customers as of March 31at 2006 under the brand AirTel.

The licence regime has recently changed from a duopoly to multipoly and the government can issue additional license to others private operators who wish to offer fixed line services in this service area.
BTNL provides fixed line services to approximately 237,300 customers as of December 31, 2003 under the brand TouchTel. Located in central India, as Madhya Pradesh circle has a total area of approximately 443,000 square kilometers. The circle has substantial mineral resources, making it a center for the aluminum, chemical, iron and steel industries. In Madhya Pradesh circle, the company provides fixed-line service in 29 cities, including the five major cities of Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Raipur.

Some of its key achievements include:

First private sector fixed line service in India. First private basic telephony service provider in the country to cross the 100,000 mark in terms of the numbers of subscriber. Has built a fibre-optic network of over 3,648 km across the circle. First company t set up GIS a central monitoring system in Madhya Padesh.

The service offered include supply and installation of a telephone, and connectivity for local, national and international long distance calls in the Madhya Pradesh circle. In addition to voice and data telephony, the company offers a variety of value added services, including call waiting, daily alarm, abbreviated dialing, three party conferencing, call forwarding, caller line identification, remote telephone management and absentee services. The Company is in the process of installing an intelligent Network from Siemens in our Madhya Pradesh fixed line network. This will enable us to offer more advanced services, such as toll free numbers, pre paid calling cards, voice mail systems and virtual private automatic branch exchange networks. We also intend to provide high bandwidth data transmission services to our fixed line customers in the future.

AirTel - A History of Firsts

Established in 1985, Aitel has been pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovation to its credit.
Ranging from Being the first mobile Service in Delhi. First private basic telephone service provider in the country. First Indian company to provide comprehensive telecom services outside India in Seychelles. First private sector service provider to launch National Long Distance Service in India. First private basic telephone service in India and cross the mark of 10 lac customers. First Indian Telephone Company to receive an ISO-9002 Certification. Largest telephone manufacturer in India. First to establish a private International Internet Gateway. First company to provide free ISP Services in India. 10

Brand & Advertising

AirTel & Visual Identity
For a brand to be successful, it must build enduring relationships with its different audiences. Integral to this relationship is the visual image of the brand the consumer carries in his/her mind. The Airtel brand image is created through the consistence application of a carefully developed visual identity, which helps Airtel distinguish itself in a cluttered market. Airtels visual identity helps create instant brand recall and strengthens the relationship that its audience have with it.

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The AirTel Logo

The AirTel logo is a strong, contemporary and confident symbol for a brand that is always ahead of the rest. It is specially drawn word mark. The AirTel image style It incorporates two solid, red rectangular forms whose counterform creates an open doorway.

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The AirTel Typographical style

The title case lettering with its capital A was deliberately chosen to reinforce the brands leadership position. The red dot on the letterform I cues Airtel focus on innovation. The words Express Yourself are very much part of the brand identity. The Airtel Colour Palette The lettering is grey so that the pure black of Airtel is visually unharmed.

AirTel Outlets

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Organizational Structure
Bharti is managed by a group of highly efficient professionals, which includes:Chairman and Managing Director- Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal: A first generation entrepreneur, he is an able leader and leads his team from the front. He was this year winners of the best CEO award. Below mentioned is the Organizational structure of Bharti Airtel Limited, Bhopal, The current COO is Mr. Randeep Narang, Who joined office in the last week of May 2006.

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COO Randeep Narang

Soumitra Ghatak VP Sales & Marketing

Manish Bhatt DGM Head-Marketing

CTO

Rahul Nangia Manager Brand M GMT & COMM

Hemlata Sharma, DGM PR

Vijay Chaturvedi AM

Payal Sareen AM, Internet DSL & Data

Ankush Jain Executive Lead Generation

Bhuvneshwar Chauhan,SM Sales Coordination

Tarun Sareen AM, MS & Data Analysis

Piyush Maloo Executive Training

Girish Krishnani AM Rev Enhancement

Sanjeev Kumar Manager Rev Enhancement

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Bhanu Pratap Singh Manager Networking PLNG New Networks BTF

Anurag Maheshwari AM Acquisition.

PRODUCT PROFILE
VAS (Value Added Services)
VAS stands for Value Added Services and they add more value to our basic services. Is that the only reason why telecom companies are more leaning towards providing VAS? The answer is No. It is to improve revenues; the telephone operators are betting on giving Value Added Services (VAS) to generate revenues. It is basically the Falling Voice. ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit), which has been instrumental in pushing the operators to offer more and more value added service. Half of the Indian population is below 25 years and they are becoming addicted to a comfortable, stylish lifestyle.VAS/PRS gives them this comfort & convenience. VAS can also play a role in retaining old customers. With the Value Added Services offered by Airtel in its fixed line telephones, the subscribers are lured to continue with the connection. Features such as Roaming on Landline, Parallel Ringing gives the subscriber freedom of Mobility. Three Party Conferencing gives the subscribers to talk to two different numbers at the same time. Such additional service helps the company to retain their customers who plan to cancel the Fixed Line Services and go for a Mobile Services. So the bottom line is that VAS is important because: It offers convenience to our customers. Have the positive impact on the brand image. Contribute towards fixed usage and revenue per month. Good acquition tool-differentiates Airtel services from that of other service providers. Creates WORDS OF MOUTH publicity.

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PRS (Premium Rated Services)

We at AirTel think of the subscriber as a more or less passive message receiver in the communication process at least until Marketing Department has done something to stimulate attention, interest and desire. Thats one reason that targeting is so important so that the promotion effort and expense isnt wasted on someone who isnt at all interested. Moreover, the need for the blend of promotion methods is built on the idea that at any given moment you can get get a customers attention and interest for only a few seconds or a few minutes if youre really lucky. Even with highly targeted direct response promotion, AirTel typically takes the first step with promotion to get the interaction started. Less investment, huge dividends is what every customer expects. Company like AirTel is continuously thriving to fulfill that desire of each and every customer who seeks its services, as stated in its vision and mission statements. Endowing PRS is one such step in that direction. Premium Rated Services can be defined as services that have been rated as the elite services distinct from its counterpart in telecom sector. For availing these services customer has to pay a nominal charge based upon the service availed.

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OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Indian customers are quickly realizing the need of Value Added Services (VAS) and Premium Rated Services (PRS). But they are not aware how much these services can add value to their life. The main objectives of this project are: The essence of VAS/PRS in the lives Indian Customers. The worth of these services in day-to-day life and saving of valuable time. Key competencies required to deliver these services. The benefits that Indian Telecom Industries have gained through providing Value Added Services. The Key issues of concern those are critical for the successful promotion of Value Added Services. Studying the contribution of VAS/PRS towards revenue enhancement.

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LIMITATION

Basic services are not up to the mark: All the places I have visited, what I found was that the customer we were willing to take avail our services provided their complaints on faulty telephone lines are resolved on ASAP basis. Services Level Agreement (SLA) in case of CRBT is not resolved within the time specified. Demonstration drives are nearly negligible: During the promotion of VAS/PRS services, one of the major areas of concern was that the promoters were unable to demonstrate the services from the customers end as it would cost the customer more unwanted expenses.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Direct-response Promotion
The challenge of developing promotions that reach specific target customers has prompted many firms to turn to direct marketingdirect communication between a seller and an individual customer using a promotion method other than face-to-face personal selling. Most direct marketing communications are designed to prompt immediate feedbacka direct response by customers. Thats why this type of communication is often called direct response promotion. Early efforts in the direct-response area focused on direct-mail advertising. A carefully selected mailing listfrom the many availableallowed advertisers to reach a specific target audience with specific interests. And direct-mail advertising proved to be very effective when the objective was to get a direct response by the customer. Achieving a measurable, direct response from specific target customers is still the heart of direct promotion. But the promotion medium is evolving to include not just mail but telephone, print, e-mail, the internet, broadcast, and even interactive video. The customers response may be purchase (or donation), a subscription, a question, or a request for more information. More often than not, the customer responds by calling atoll free number, or in the case of business marketsby sending a fax or e-mail. A knowledgeable sales person talks with the customer on the phone and follows up. That might involve filling an order and having it shipped to the customer or putting an interested prospect in touch with a salesperson who makes a personal visit. There are, however, many variations on this approach. For example, some firms route incoming information-request calls to a computerized answering system. The caller indicates what information is required by pushing a few buttons on the telephone keypad. Then the computer instantly sends requested information to the callers telephone.

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For e.g. when I call up a customer and explain the Value Added Service, he either put down a request and I activate it from my end or I give him the short codes and the customer directly activates it from his side. Direct-response promotion is often an important component of integrated marketing communication programs and is closely tied to other elements of the marketing mix. However, what distinguishes this general approaches is that the marketer targets more of its promotion effort at specific individuals who respond directly. Direct-response promotion usually relies on a customer (or prospect) database to target specific individuals. The database includes customers name and addresses (or telephone numbers) as well as past purchases and other segmenting characteristics. Greenpeace and the Cousteau Society send mail advertisements to people interested in environmental issue. They ask for donations or other types of support. Individuals (or segments) who respond to direct promotion are the targets for additional promotion. In my short tenure in Airtel, Bhopal, I promoted the VAS/PRS services. I emphasized mainly on Direct-Response promotion. For example, a customer who subscribes for a Value Added Service such as Parallel Ringing once is a good candidate for as follow up. The follow up might extend to other services such as Roaming on Landline.

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Ethics and Direct-Response Methods

Direct-response promotion and database targeting have become an important part of many marketing mix--and more and customers find it very convenient. But not everyone is enthusiastic. Some critics argue that thousands of acres of trees are consumed each week--just to make the paper for direct response junk mail that consumers dont want. Other critics worry about privacy issues related to how a direct-response database might be used, especially if it includes detailed information about a consumers purchases. Similarly, many consumers dont like getting direct promotion telephone solicitations at anytime, but especially in the evening and at meal times when they seem to be particularly frequent. Most states have passed laws prohibiting automatic calling systems that use prerecorded messages rather than a live sales person. There is also a growing concern by computers users about receiving e-mail they dont want. Most firms who use direct response promotion are very sensitive to these concernsand take steps to address them. In AirTel too, I took heavy measures to overcome these problems, I never used to telecall or visit my residential customers from 1400 hrs to 1600 hrs, because most of the residential customers during this time of the day take a siesta.

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Data Analysis and Interpretation

Marketing Concept and Customer Value
An organization, which adopts the marketing concept, sees customer satisfaction as the path to profits. And to better understand what it takes to satisfy a customer, its useful to take the customers point of view. A customer may look at a market offering from two prospective. One deals with the potential benefits of that offering; the other concerns what the customer has to give up to get those benefits. The cost of getting the benefits would include the price of the services but there might be other non-monetary costs as well i.e. time spent, movement & motion incurred to obtain the services. Customer value reflects both benefits and costs. As the example above suggests, both benefits and costs can take many different forms, perhaps ranging from the economic to emotional. They also may vary depending on the situation. However, it is the customers view of the various benefits and cost that is important. And combining these two perspective leads us to the concept of customer value-the difference between the benefits of a customer a customer sees from a market offering and the cost of obtaining those benefits. A customer is likely to be more satisfied when the customer value is higher-when benefits exceed costs by a larger margin. On the other hand, a customer who sees the costs as greater than the benefits isnt likely to become a customer.

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Some people think that low price and high customer value are the same thing. But you can see that may not be the case at all. To the contrary, a good or service that doesnt meet a customers needs result in low customer value, even if the price is very low. Yet, a high price may be more than acceptable, when it obtains the desired benefits. Its useful for the management to evaluate ways to improve the benefits, or reduce the cost, of what the firms offer customers. However this doesnt mean that customer stop and compute some sort of customer value score before making each purchase. If they did they wouldnt be much time in life for anything else. So the managements objective and through analysis may not accurately reflect the customers impression. Yet, it is the customers view that matters-even when the customer has not through about it. How a customer sees the benefits and costs of a firms offering may be a relative matter--depending on what competitors are doing.

VAS & PRS offered by AirTel:

We at Airtel believe that whatever Value Added Service we provide it should have an upper edge than the rest of our competitors. So what is the competent factor that makes us stand tall amidst our competitors. It is the 23 Value Added Services & 14 Premium Rated Services that currently Airtel is providing. Our nearest competitor; BSNL does not even provide half of what we deliver. We can categorize The VAS & PRS offered into 3 major heads;

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A. Comfort
1. Parallel Ringing: With this service, the user can give one phone number to others, while receives calls on two phone numbers. The user can have incoming calls ringing simultaneously on another numbers. Ring stop on the other line as soon as the user receive call on one phone. There is no fixed monthly charge to avail this service.

2. Automatic Recall: Often we face the problem of running towards picking up the ringing phone; by the time we reach there, calls get disconnected. This service helps the subscriber to get connected to the last number from where the call is originating from or in simple words, automatic recall gives a comfort of calling the person whose call we just missed. There are no fixed monthly charges. Normal pulses will be charged for calls reverted.

3. Short Dialing (Abbreviated Dialing)

Any telephone handset has 10 digits and therefore this features save up to 10 of the most important numbers that one manually selects according to his/her needs and prioritize them through a simple procedure as follows: The service is free of monthly charges. Only normal usage charges apply on calls setup by this feature. One pulse is charged for storing each number.

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4. Telephone Remote Control (Remote Telephone Management)

Manage your phone from a distance

It allows subscriber to do key things such as lock STD or ISD, Call forwarding from anywhere in the world. To use the service the subscriber has to dial the access number of the subscribers town from any telephone followed by the subscribers telephone number. Now the subscriber has to dial to dial the function keys associated with the features that the subscriber wants to program followed by the subscribers password. The subscriber needs to contact Airtel Customer Care for the access number of his/her town. There are no fixed monthly charges applicable for this service. Normal call charges are applicable for this service. Normal call charges are applicable for using this service.

5. General Facility Reset

With this service the subscriber can reset different features at one instance. He/she has to dial 1709 to reset call waiting, any type of call forwarding, delayed hotline, do not disturb and parallel ringing, anonymous call rejection, rejection of forwarded calls. One pulse will be charged for resetting these features. The service is already on the subscribers phone, ready to use.

6. Absentee Service
It helps the customer to let his/her callers know why he/she cant receive a call. When an incoming call comes in, a recorded message is played out to the caller, without the telephone ringing at the subscriber end. The subscriber can choose from many different pre-recorded messages. Available messages can be heard upon dialing the designated Dial-Up numbers. Some Examples of messages that an AirTel subscriber can choose are: 26

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

The AirTel number you have dialed is not responding. Please dial after sometime. The Subscriber you have called is busy in a meeting. Please try again later. The person you are trying to reach is currently busy, please call back later. The AirTel number you have dialed is not responding, please dial after sometime. The subscriber you have called is out of station, please try again later. The subscriber you have called is not available; please call after 6:00 pm. The subscriber you have called is not available; please call after 10:00 pm. The subscriber you have called is not available; please call after 8:00 pm. The person you are trying to reach has left for home.

10. The person you have called is not available please call after a few hours. 11. We are sorry that we are unable to take your call right now, please call back later. 12. The person you are trying to reach is not on his seat at the moment. 13. The person you are trying to reach has not yet arrived. 14. The person you are trying to reach is in office currently, please call back later. There are no monthly fixed charges for this service. One pulse will be charged for activating this feature. Normal call charges apply when the subscriber call 1227.

7. Three Party Conference (TPC)

With this service the subscriber can talk simultaneously to two persons, or can call two different numbers, at the same time, and if the subscriber is already answering an incoming call, he can dial another person to join in.

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The service is available for a monthly nominal charge of Rs. 20. Normal call charges apply on calls dialed by the subscriber.

8. Selective Call Acceptance

With the help of this service, a subscriber can selectively receive calls from desired telephone numbers only. He will be able to receive calls from those numbers, which he have previously selected and set; all other incoming calls will be barred. This service is available for a monthly subscription of Rs. 20.

9. Call Waiting
This service enables a user to recognize an incoming call even when the user is already on another call. After recognition the user can select either of the calls and swap between one to another at any point of time during the call. It is a free service, and the customer need not to pay any penny to avail this service.

10. Call Forwarding

With the help of the service a subscriber can forward his/her calls to where he/she is. The subscriber can use this service under certain conditions, depending upon his/her convenience.

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Conditions No Reply

How to use? Activation: 126 + Telephone No. Deactivation: 127

What happens? Calls will be forwarded to another phone or mobile after ringing for 25 seconds. All incoming calls will be automatically & immediately be Forwarded to another number. Incoming calls are diverted to another number when line is busy.

Un-conditional

Activation: 114 + Telephone No. Deactivation: 115

Busy

Activation: 120 + Telephone No. Deactivation: 121

11. Call Back Busy

This service saves precious time of a subscriber on redialing a busy number; instead of redialing a busy number a subscriber can press (Flash) + 130 and disconnect. Now the subscribers phone will ring as soon as the busy becomes free and then automatically ring the other number. (This features works only for calls to Airtel numbers, if the other numbers has not activated call forwarding). This service is free of monthly charges. Normal Usage charges apply on calls dialed by the subscriber.

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12. Auto-dial (Delayed Hotline)

This service enables the subscriber to connect quickly to a frequently called number. In this service, if the handset is picked up and kept for 5 secs, it gets connected to another pre-designated local number without dialing. This service is free of monthly charges. Normal usage charges apply on calls setup by this feature.

B. Functions 13. Morning Alarm

Telephone and mobile services companies are trying hard to cater their customers need as soon as they emerge. Morning alarm is one such feature that gives additional value to the basic telephony services. Two pulses are charged for every alarm call. No monthly charges.

14. Daily alarm

Your phone can remind you of an important activity. Program your telephone to ring back at a present time for fixed number of days. The number of days can be from 1 to 99. The alarm will ring at intervals of 5 minutes. This service is free of monthly charges. Two pulse will be charged for every alarm call.

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15. Dynamic Locking

Secure your phone calls. It allow the subscriber to lock STD/ISD and local calls selectively with a password. To register, the dynamic lock password. In case of Airtel Dial 123 followed by 0000 and the new password.

The subscriber can change his/her password when he/she wants. Or can dynamic lock, when required. However emergency calls are allowed in all cases. This service is already on the phone, ready to use after first registration.

16. Do Not Disturb

It allows the subscriber to remain undisturbed from incoming calls when he/she is in the midst of some work. When the subscriber activates this features, the caller here the AirTel number you have dialed is not responding, please dial after sometime. There are no fixed monthly charges for this service. Two pulses are charged for activating this feature.

17. Selective Call Origination

It allows the subscriber to prevent misuse of his phone by controlling the calls made. It allows the subscriber to dial up to 50 numbers; calls to other numbers will be blocked. There is no monthly charge. Normal pulses will be charged for calls dialed.

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18. Calling Line identification

It helps the subscriber to identify the caller before he/she pick up the phone, with Calling Line identification (CLI) the subscriber can have the telephone number of the caller, including the STD code displayed on the screen. The Service along with CLI instrument is available for Rs. 600 for CLI a fee which is one time charge.

19. Selective Call Forwarding

The subscriber with the help of this service can choose telephone numbers for call forwarding. The Subscriber can choose up to 50 telephone numbers, which can be forwarded. Even this service is available for Rs. 20 per month. Usage charges apply on forwarded calls.

20. Selective Call Waiting

This service helps in identifying important calls during call waiting. The subscriber can define up to 50 telephone numbers (00 to 49). Incoming calls from these numbers will give a single long beep during a call waiting instead of the usual two shorts beeps, giving a choice to pick up important calls and discard unimportant calls. This service is free of Activation Charges, there is no usage charge, but a monthly subscription Charge of Rs. 20 s required.

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21. Multiple Subscriber Number

This service gives the subscriber the facility of having 1 to 3 secondary phone numbers on the same phone line in addition to the primary number allocated to the subscriber. For e.g. If the subscriber existing phone number is 4200531(primary number). With multiple subscriber number the subscriber can get 1,2 or 3 additional (secondary) numbers 4200532, 4200533, 4200534. With an incoming call, it can be recognized acoustically which number has been dialed (e.g. office or private).

Charges
Additional Phone Numbers Activation Charges Monthly Charges One Rs.50 Rs.50 Two 50 50 Three 50 50

The above pricing is based on allocation of DNs per connection.

22. Absolute Call Transfer

Gives the subscriber the facility of connecting two people and going on hook. He/She can continue with their work or make phone call, while the other two people will continue talking to each other. Activation Charge Rs. 50 Monthly Charge Rs. 50 Charges mentioned above are based on activation of absolute call transfer on each connection. Normal usage charges on calls dialed.

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C. Delight
All the Premium Rated Services fall under this category, lets take a look at the different PRS of Airtel fixed line Telephony. This list of PRS in this category is as follows. 1. CRBT (Colored Ring Back Tone) or Hello Tunes This service allows the caller to listen to a song, instead of boring TRING TRING. Segment targeted: We targeted mainly teens and young professionals, we even targeted the Aged group with this service by giving them some Devotional music.

Customer Value:
a. This service entertains the caller. b. Allows ample time to the receiver or subscriber to receive the call. c. A sense of distinction from the mass as only Airtel provides this service in Fixed-Line telephones. d. Creates a kind of status symbol. e. Creates an atmosphere of amusement.

Charges: To avail this service, a subscriber has to pay a monthly subscription of Rs. 30/month and Rs. 15 for changing the tone. A subscriber can also dial 1282 and subscribe as well as download a song. Call charges is Rs. 3/min.

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2. Astrology Online. (16094)

This service endows the customer with an opportunity to predict his/her future events that might take place and accordingly take actions. Segment targeted: This was a Mass targeted service. Customer Value: a. Astrology online caters toward customers optimistic view of life. b. It advices the user to plan for the future course of action. Charges: This portal is free of any monthly subscription. Its on the need-to-use basis. The user has to pay a charge of Rs. 3.60/min.

3. AirTel Live (1280)

AirTel portal has a bouquet of service. It consists of contest of job seekers paradise and various events occur time and again to keep the pulses ticking and involve maximum customers to be a part of this service. Target Market: Through this service, we are targeting Quizzers, job seekers etc. between the age group of 18-50. Although the mentioned age-bar is not the criteria to be of this happening portal. Customer Value: a. Endows the user with an opportunity to make quick money. b. The user gets to seek to an appropriate employment opportunity. c. Customer after using this portal has a sense of need-fulfillment. d. Gives an opportunity to chase his/her dream.

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Charges: For a portal like Airtel live, user has to pay Rs. 6/min. It is free of monthly subscription.

4. Cricket Online (16092)

For all cricket Fans out here, Airtel keeps them updated with latest happening on the ground. Its dedicated service meant exclusively for cricket lovers. Target Market: Cricket is one such game, which is literally worshipped around the country. There are numerous fans cutting across age, gender, religious beliefs, color or creed. But for generalization sake we have segmented our target audience between the age group of 16-45 years. Customer Value: a. It gives a first hand knowledge of he happening on the ground of a particular match. b. Saves time of the customer. c. Need-fulfillment d. Entertaining and gives the user the comfort. Charges: The user has to pay nominal amount of Rs. 2.40/min for availing this service.

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5. Jeevan Saathi (16081)

As the name suggests, its a matrimonial portal. Brides seeking Grooms, and vice versa. It is often said that matches are made in heaven, but we at Airtel in collaboration with JeevanSaathi.com are trying to bridge the gap between the heaven and nuptial ties. Target Market: Our target audiences included people who are in search of a perfect life partner. Customer Value: a. Opportunity to choose a life partner. b. Offers Convenience. Charges: User has to pay an amount of Rs. 7.20/min. to avail this service.

6. Music Messaging (16090)

Dedicate a melodious song to a person you love, with the help of this service. Target Market: This service is for masses. Airtel has targeted every person irrespective of the age they are in. However , younger generation is more inclined towards using this service.

Customer Value:
a. Sense of belongingness. b. Entertaining. Charges: User has to pay Rs. 4.80/min. to avail this service.

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7. Result Online (16096)

Portal dedicated to examination results be it CBSE, MP Board, etc. Target Market: Students.

Consumer Value:
a. b. c. Information Convenience Time Saving

Charges: To access this portal, user has to pay Rs. 4.00 per minute.

8. Jokes and Mimicry (16099)

With the help of this service a user can listen to jokes and mimicries. Target Market: Kids. Consumer Value: Entertainment. Charges: The customer has to pay Rs. 3.60 per minute to avail this service.

9. Railway Online (16095)

The customer can enquire about his/her requisite information regarding Train Arrival, Departure or Availability status etc. Target Market: Open for all.

Consumer Value:
a. b. c. d. e. Information. Guidance. Saves time. Need fulfillment. Convenience

Charges: For availing this service, customer has to pay Rs. 1.20 per minute.

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10. Commodity Online (16097)

With this service, Airtel gives market access to business fraternity. They can enquire about market price of the commodities they are interested in. Target Market: Business Class Consumer Value: a. Business opportunity. b. Time Saving. c. Information. d. Convenience. Charges: The user has to pay Rs. 7.20 per minute to avail this service. Airtel is also giving a few new services like Background Music, Recipe Online, and Bedtime stories for kids. Charges vary accordingly.

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Promotion of VAS/PRS Services

Companies to communicate the benefits or the customer value of their products to their target markets use promotion. Promotion consists of the integrated use of advertising, public relations, promotions, media advocacy, personal selling and entertainment vehicles. The focus is on creating and sustaining demand for the product. Public service announcements or paid ad are one way, but there are other methods such as coupons, media events, editorials, Tupperware- style parties or in store displays. The various components of promotion along with their scope, cost, merits and demerits are listed in the table below. Promotion Components Scope Cost Advantage Disadvantage

Advertising

Mass

Relatively inexpensive per contract

Allows exclusiveness & control over message

Hard to measure Result

Personal Selling

Personal

Expensive per Permits flexible Costs more than contract presentation & gains all other forms Immediate response per contract Can be costly Gains attention & has immediate effect Has high degree Of Credibility Easy for others to imitate. Not as easily controlled As Other forms.

Sales Promotion Publicity

Mass

Mass

Inexpensive

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Packing and Public Relations considerably help in promoting a product as packing gives a pick-me-up appeal to the product and Public Relations helps to create favorable image of the firm. For an effective promotion, promotional decisions have to be accurate. Promotional decisions to be taken include: What message to use? Which media? What timing for an advertisement campaign? How much to spend? How to evaluate his expenditure?

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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Q1. What is the main motive behind Airtel adopting VAS/PRS? How is the Company doing it?

Falling voice ARPU (Average Rate per Unit) in India has led telephone operators in the country to run helter-skeltor, and come with new ideas to make profits. Also, the burgeoning growth in the number of overall cellular subscriber has been one of the main contributory factors in pushing the Fixed line service provider in the country to offer Value Added Services. Airtel in MPCG was quick to grab the opportunity in providing VAS as they thought it a very noble way, as it was like hitting many targets with just one shot. For e.g. VAS/PRS offers convenience to customers. Have a positive impact on the Brand Image. Creates WORD-OF-MOUTH publicity.

And most importantly it contributes towards fixed usage and revenue per month. These were the simple reason why Airtel fixed-line telephony adopted VAS/PRS. Airtel is a very aggressive company, in terms of marketing or C-Sat (Custom Satisfaction). After its started providing VAS the company has come a long way, also it is doing well. The company has recently started its voracious promotion once again. The reason being:

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To convert the VAS users into VAS loyal customer. According to the management every landline customer, at any point of time should be a subscriber of at least one VAS by March 2007. And the focus will be on CRBT, the management has set itself a target to achieve a CRBT customer base of 1, 00,000 customer by March 2007.

The management has started this project on a war-footage, according to the management. Our Customer will have a dedicated VAS representative on their doorstep who will educate them and make experience delight through host of world-class Value Added service. The management has started everything with a renewed zeal and interest, and on a warfootage. Below mentioned are the tasks that were undertaken to take VAS to a new summit. Dedicated VAS sales force (including me) of 20 (4 in every region) shouldered the responsibility of taking VAS to every landline consumer. Door-to-Door visit were conducted to ensure no customer is left untouched and isnt aware of VAS. Aggressive Promotion were conducted at Airtel relationships centres in every region. Every customer walking in was, handed over with leaflets/collaterals and is made to experience his choice of VAS thereof. Telesales of VAS customers followed by subsequent filling of VAS activations forms. This is how the management and I (VAS sales force) took VAS into new heights.

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From my findings I can interpret that these move of the management and my efforts was not wasted. To prove my point let us take a look at the performance of VAS/PRS of the past three months.

VAS Subscriptions Month on Month Comparison

March-2006 Count of Subscription April-2006 May-2006 June-2006

2465

3012

3501

3993

If I take a look at the graph given below, we can clearly make out the increase in VAS subscription. Taking the count of Subscription in the y-axis and Month on the x-axis. I can plot the graph, which shows the MoM (month on month) comparison of VAS subscription.

4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06 Jun-06 2465 3012 3501 3846

Count of Subscription

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If I plot the data in a graph I can find out the increase in PRS pulses.

3800000 3700000 3600000 3500000 3400000 3300000 3200000 3100000 3000000 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06 Jun-06 Count of PRS pulses 3251016 3530960 3391053 3742310

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Count of PRS pulses 3600000 3535000 3500000 3400000 3300000 3200000 3100000 3000000 3200000 3385000 3570000

Mar-06

Apr-06

May-06

Jun-06

From my observation and findings I can interpret that VAS and PRS is truly benefiting the Company. If I multiply the number of PRS pulses with 0.92ps I get that the revenue that is generated. For e.g. in the month of May Rs. 3248483.2 was generated. So indeed VAS/PRS is a very lucrative and Benefitable service both from customers as well as Companys point of view.

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Q2. What was the motto behind the aggressive Promotion of VAS/PRS services? Products--like consumer--go through life cycles. So product planning and marketing mix planning are important. Competitors are always developing and copying new ideas and products out-of-date more quickly than ever. The product life cycle describes the stages a new-product idea goes through from beginning to end. It is divided into four major stages: Market introduction Market growth Market maturity Sales decline

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A particular firms marketing mix usually must change during the product life cycle. There are several reasons. Customers attitudes and needs may change over the product life cycle. The product may be aimed at entirely different target markets at different stages. And the nature of competition moves towards pure competition or oligopoly. Further, total sales of the product, by all competitors in the market introduction stage--to high at market maturityand then back to low in the sales decline stage. More importantly, the profit picture change too. Note that sales and profits do not move together over time. Industry profits decline while industry sales are still rising. From my observation I have found out that Airtels VAS/PRS services are now in the introduction Stage. Hence heavy promotion is required to make the customer aware of the product. Where a product is in its life cycle--and how fast its moving to the next stage--should affect marketing strategy planning. A marketing manager has to do a lot of work to introduce a really new product--and this should be reflected in the strategy planning. Money must be spent designing and developing the new product. Even if the product is unique, this doesnt mean that everyone will immediately come running to he producers door. The firm will have to build channels of distribution. Promotion is needed to build demand for the whole idea--not just to sell a specific brand. Because all this is expensive, it may lead the marketing manager to try to skim the market: charge a relatively high price to help pay for the introductory costs. The correct strategy, however, depends on how fast the product life cycle is likely to move--that is, how quickly customers will accept the new idea--and how quickly competitors will follow with their own versions of the product. When the early stages of the cycle will be fast, a low initial penetration price may make sense to help develop loyal customers early and keep competitors out.

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In this case I can site the example that from June 5th onwards the new connections are getting Hello Tunes & Three Party Conference free of subscription charges for three months. i.e. the company is trying to penetrate the unexplored market. Thus from our observation, we can interpret that, the main motive behind the aggressive promotion is that, the intangible product (VAS/PRS) is in the infancy stage and to take it to the growth stage the company is relying on heavy promotion. Not all new-product ideas catch on, but the success that eludes a firm at first can sometimes be achieved by modifying the strategy. And how quickly the firm can change its strategy as the life cycle moves on, may make the firm able to compete effectively with larger, less competitors by adjusting marketing strategies more frequently. Q3. How much aware were people in Bhopal, with respect to VAS? What was the outcome of the heavy promotion? Literacy rate of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh is on the lower side of the graph as indicated in 2001 census. People seldom practice their rights be it on the business side or elsewhere. Airtel, however, insists on providing maximum information with respect to its Value Added Services and Premium Rated Services.

What I observed in this three months time that they were moderately aware of the services that Airtel is providing them. The only thing is that they did not know the procedure to avail those services. This giving us an opportunity to capture the market of immense potentiality.
I can categorize my customer base on the basis of Adoption Curve.

Innovators
The innovators are the first consumers to adopt a new product. They are eager to try a new idea--and willing to take risks. Innovators tend to be young and well educated. They are likely to be mobile and have many contacts outside their local social group and community. Business firms in the innovators group usually are large and rather specialized.

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Early adopters
Early adopters are well respected by their peers--and often are opinion leaders. They tend to be younger, more mobile, and more creative than later adopters. But unlike innovators, they have fewer contacts outside their own social group or community. Business firms in this category also tend to be specialized. Of all the groups, this one tends to have the greatest contact with salespeople. Mass media are important information sources too. Marketers should be very concern with attracting and selling the early adopter group. Their acceptance is really important in reaching the next group because the early majority looks to the early adopters for guidance. The early adopters can help the promotion effort by spreading word-of-mouth information and advice among other consumers.

Early majority
The early majority avoids risk and waits to consider a new idea after many early adopters have tried it--and liked it. Average-sized business firms that are less specialized often fit in this category. If successful companies in their industry adopt the new idea, they will too. The early majority has a great deal of contact with mass media, salespeople, and early adopter opinion leaders. Members usually arent opinion leaders themselves.

Late majority
The late majority are cautious about new ideas. Often they are older than the early majority group--and more set in their ways. So they are less likely to follow option leaders and early adopters. In fact, strong social pressure from their own peer group may be needed before they adopt a new product. Business firms in this group tend to be conservative, smaller-sized firms with little specialization. The late majority make little use of marketing sources of information--mass media and salespeople. They tend to be oriented more to other late adopters rather than to outside sources they dont trust. 50

Laggards and non-adopters

Laggards or nonadopters prefer to do things the way theyve been done in the past and are very suspicious of new ideas. They tend to be older and less well educated. They may also be low in social status and income. The smallest businesses with the least specialization often fit this category. They cling to status quo and think its the safe way. The main source of information for laggards is other laggards. This certainly is bad news for marketers who are trying to reach a whole market quickly--or who want to use only one promotion method. In fact, the costs of trying to market to this group may exceed the potential returns. People of Bhopal are fond of Music and therefore the subscriber base for Hello Tunes is among the largest in the circle. Thus generating high amount of revenue for the company. Thus I can interpret that Putting on aggressive promotion strategy has given fruits to the company. Now the situation is that customers are walking in to avail VALUE Added Services/Premium Rated Services. It only strengthens our point that our hard work has been appreciated not only in Bhopal, but also in entire circles. Heavy promotion has changed Laggards to Early Majority and early majority to innovators. Now each time a new product is launched, the customers knows it in a matter of hours, and we on the other hand take a close look on the success rate of the product. In the figure below we can clearly find out the outcome of the heavy promotion.

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VAS Activation
Feature MSN ROL TPC Grand Total In March-June 2006 5 262 305 572 Till Date 29 2343 5026 7398 Percentage (%) 7% 9% 5% 6%

120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06 Jun-06 8% In March-June 2006 Till Date 100% 100% 100% 100%

6%

5%

7%

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Q4.Which VAS/PRS service is most successful? Why? What was my (Bhopal) contribution in the last three months towards revenue enhancement through VAS/PRS in MPCG circle? According to my observation in the CRBT (Colored Ring Back Tone) or Hello Tunes that is most successful service out of all VAS/PRS services that AirTel is currently providing. The fact that Airtel has 1million subscriber for its Hello Tunes download service can be treated as an indicator of what the future holds for te;lephone music in India. The most important fact is that Airtel is in a monopolistic condition when it comes to Hello Tunes in landline, because no other operator is currently giving this service in landline in MPCG. If I see the final figure or the VAS/PRS activations till date the CRBT clearly stands out.

Total VAS activation till Date Features MSN/ROL/TPC CRBT Total Activation 7398 9837

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9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0

8700

MSN/ROL/TPC CRBT

4500

CRBT MSN/ROL/TPC 2

Looking at this trend I have focused mainly on CRBT, also the subscriber-base have a vague idea of what Hello Tunes is, i.e. I have to put less effort in explaining the service to the customers. Also my main focus was in Hello Tunes because it is the most revenue enhancer. A single subscriber gives Airtel Rs. 30 as a monthly subscription Charge and Rs 15 for song Download; hence on an average a subscriber gives Rs. 45. So if I multiply 9837 with 45, it gives monthly revenue of Rs. 442665 (Approx) alone from Bhopal Region.

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My region Bhopals contribution in the last three months can be regarded as a major success; Bhopal contributed a major chunk towards the total revenue of VAS/PRS. Out of 9837 activations which Bhopal region has till date given, 1776 activations came in the last four months which is whooping 18% of what the total figure of CRBT is.

5%

7% 8% mar apr 10% may june rest

70%

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SWOT ANALYSIS
A useful aid for identifying relevant screening criteria and for zeroing in on a feasible strategy is S.W.O.T. analysis --which identifies and lists the firms strengths and weakness and its opportunity and threats. The name S.W.O.T is simply an abbreviation for the first letters of the word strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. A good S.W.O.T. analysis helps the manager focus on a strategy that takes advantage of the firms opportunities and strength while avoiding its weakness threats to its success. These can be compared with the pros and cons of different strategies that are considered. Taking Bhopal into consideration as our research area, we have done S.W.O.T. analysis based on the interactions I had with the customers.

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SWOT ANALYSIS
Strength Weakness Opportunity Threats Market Open for New competitor to pour in.

Airtel Brand Basic services are not Unexplored Market Name up to the mark. Only one Competitor (BSNL) Bouquet of Services Charges Nominal Strong Promotional Team Large Customer Base Vision to Delight the user Innovative NPD team Huge return On investment Pretty new Concept Word of mouth Publicity

SLA in case of CRBT People are willing to Competitors has to is not met on spend money on invest less on the pleasure. Promotional Front Demonstration drives are nearly Negligible Nascent stage of entertainment Industry User become quality Conscious. Price cuts & innovativ marketing can even pentrate rural market Defining market on own terms.

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Strengths
1. AirTel Brand Name: AirTel is the pioneer company of India, setting standards for

others too follow their actions. Name AirTel is an appealing brand, which has left undoubting mark on people mind. AirTel is next to Quality. 2. Duopoly: Apart from AirTel, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is The lone competitor in the circle, which is lagging behind in terms of VAS/PRS. Therefore, MPCG circle is the Milking Cow for AirTel. 3. Bouquet of services: AirTel is the company, which is providing numerous services, they are offering. 4. Nominal Charges: For any service availed; customer has to pay in one-way or the other. AirTel does not charge a nominal amount for each service it provides to its customers. Customers on the other hand do pay for their comfort. 5. Strong Promotional Team: As discussed earlier, Literacy rate in this reason is low, and therefore, company has employed a strong team of promoters that even reach customers residing in rural areas. Thus leaving no stone unturned. 6. Large Customer Base: The company has a subscriber base of around 3, 00,000 customer in the whole MPCG circle. Out of this, 57,600 (approax) customers are the subscribers from Bhopal alone. And till date AirTel has managed to provide VAS/PRS services to around 11,000 customers only. Giving ample opportunity create history for maximum number of VAS Subscriber base. 7. Vision to delight the user: AirTel following its path towards its corporate vision to delight customer is managing to stick to its vision statement. services

on a single Telephone connection. Making the consumer more delighted with the

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8. Innovative Marketing Team: every product had certain life span. Our marketing team is continuously engaged in New Product Development to give more value to the basic telephone services that the company is providing to its large subscriber base. 9. Huge Return on Investment: The most admired thing about VAS/PRS in the eyes of AirTel is that it gives huge amount of returns on less amount investment. 10. New Concept: Bharti is the only company, which is high on innovation and is thriving continuously towards making our life easier. Putting VAS/PRS features into the fixed line has broken the monopoly of Mobile Phones that were receiving VAS/PRS from a very long time. Thus giving access to masses. 11. Word-To-Mouth publicity: A delighted customer makes many more new customers. As delighted customer will speak about the quality of services he/she is endowing from the company. This also enhances the companys reputation and creates an atmosphere of trust between customer and the company.

Weakness
1. Basic services are not up to the mark: All the places we have visited, what we found was that the customers were willing to take avail our services provided their complaints on faulty telephone lines are resolved on ASAP basis.

2. Services Legal Agreement (SLA) in case of CRBT is not resolved within the time specified.

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3. Demonstration drives are nearly negligible: During the promotion of VAS/PRS services, one of the major areas of concern was that the promoters were unable to demonstrate the services from the customers end as it would cost the customer more unwanted expenses.

Opportunity
1. Unexplored Market: Many areas of Bhopal are still untouched giving enough ground to grow the companys revenue and penetrate every house and shops. 2. People are willing to spend on pleasure and amusement: Bhopalis as I call them are fun loving people and therefore they are willing to spend a decent amount on entertainment. Thus paving way of VAS/PRS services to flourish in the region. 3. Nascent Stage for entertainment industry: VAS/PRS service on fixed landline is a very new concept and was aired only few months ago. CRBT, MUSIC MESSAGING like services came at a very later stage. But today, they are the most widely used services giving huge revenue to both the company and the Entertainment industry as Royalties are paid to them. 4. Price cuts and aggressive marketing can penetrate rural market: Customers residing in rural market have less money power and therefore are restricted to few of the free services that AirTel offers. A slight change in the price of the services offered could lead to increase in the subscriber base of the company. 5. Defining market on their terms: With only one competitor (BSNL) in the market, AirTel is trendsetter. It has still not practiced price-skimming policy.

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Threats
1. Market open for competition competition: in the present scenario, Bhopal is

experiencing duopoly competition in fixed line telephone services, telecom companies like Tata, Reliance and other competitors. 2. Promotional infrastructures are already in place therefore any new company that introduces its services in the market will have to invest less on the promotional campaigns.

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SUMMERY OF SUGGESTIONS
[With due respect to AirTel (MPCG)] It has been our observation that AirTel have carried out almost every possible advertisements and promotional campaigns to promote its VAS/PRS services. So there is very little in terms of innovation or improvement in the fourth P of marketing mix, i.e. promotion that we can recommend. Still it has been our endeavor to do our best in trying to find chinks in advertising Armour of the AirTel brand a near impossible task. I have completely focused on this industry in the following report. I have suggested certain changes in its overall strategy suited for the future scenario that we have just discussed.

Entry into a new segment.

The rural consumer cannot usually afford to subscribe for these services or they dont feel the read of these services. Therefore it becomes imperative for AirTel to think of introducing varying other services at low cost, which is beneficia;l for the rural customers as well. By introducing features like Dynamic locking Airtel have initiated it, But a hawk eye should be kept in making the customers aware of the services as well.

Cost leadership
The industry is very price sensitive. The customer is not willing to pay more for these Services. In MPCG Fixed Line telephony is dominated by two companies, Airtel & BSNL. The market share and the sales volume of these companies are very high. In this market, cost leadership can be competitive advantage. The Airtel Management should try to curtail the cost at this stage by introducing more efficient services.

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Encouraging change in purchase habit:

The purchase habits of the Indian consumer have not changed much over the last few years. This has forced Service providers to change their advertising style making it more aggressive. According to my perception, Airtel should go in for changing the use habit of the Indian customers. They should follow the international approach in the sense that they should increase occasion of use & increased use per occasion. A major hurdle in achieving these objectives is to reduce the price.

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CONCLUSION

Thus from my observation, Findings & analysis I can come up to a conclusion that Value Added Services and Premium Rated Services are indeed a innovative & useful service. With this report I would like to bring to the notice of the management how effective and beneficial VAS/PRS can be. It will not only enhance the revenue of the Company but also it will contribute towards the brand image. The management should not ignore this, as it can be predicted, that in the near future, with the tremendous increase in Mobile users and Falling ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit), it will be none other than VAS (Value Added Services), which will keep the fixed line telephone services from becoming extinct.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY WEBS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

www.airtel.in www.airtelworld.com www.bharti.com www.trai.gov.in www.google.com

BOOKS 1. Marketing Principles - Philip Kotler

2. Basic Marketing A Global Managerial Approach - William D. Perreault Jr - E.Jerome.McCarthy

NEWSPAPER 1. 2. The Times of India The Hindustan Times

MAGAZINES 1. 2. 3.
4.

Business Today Voice & Data Analyst Induction Module Bharti Airtel Limited.

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