A

RESEARCH PROJECT REPORT

ON
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
BETWEEN AIRTEL & VODAFONE MOBILE USERS IN
DELHI

TO BE SUBMITTED TO UTTAR PRADESH TECHNICAL,

UNIVERSITY, LUKCNOW. IN THE PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE
DEGREE
OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Batch 2013-15
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF:

SUBMITTED BY:

Mr. PRAVEEN MALIK

[H.O.D., Mgt. Deptt. GBIT]

Shiv Prince Shubham

Roll No. 1337770095
MBA IV Sem

GYAN BHARTI INSTITUTE OF

TECHNOLOGY,
MEERUT

DECLARATION

I am Shiv Prince Shubham Student of M.B.A. VI semester at GBIT, Meerut.

Affiliated to U.P. Technical University, Lucknow

hereby declare that

this Research project report title COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION BETWEEN AIRTEL & VODAFONE MOBILE USERS IN
DELHI, is submitted to Mr. Praveen Malik, H.O.D. of MBA Dept.,
GBIT , Meerut Affiliated

U.P.T.U, Lucknow, is result of original data

collection and my own effort with Industrial staff co-operation.

Shiv Prince Shubham

Roll No. 1337770095
MBA IV Sem

Acknowledgement
I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards Mr. Praveen
Malik, H.O.D. of MBA Dept., GBIT , Meerut

for providing me the

opportunity to work and learn through this end-term project.

am

extremely

grateful

to

my

esteemed

project

guide,

Mr. Praveen Malik, H.O.D. of MBA Dept., GBIT , Meerut for giving
me an opportunity to work with him and his indispensable help and guidance
throughout this project and for inspiring me to strive to achieve the best in
difficult situations.

While doing the project I visited many companies in Delhi region and
met many senior personnel. I would like to extend my special thanks to all of
them for sparing their time to patiently answer the questions and giving their
views.

Shiv Prince Shubham

Preface
This project had been undertaken for COMPARATIVE STUDY OF

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION BETWEEN AIRTEL & VODAFONE

MOBILE USERS IN DELHI.
In order to gather the most appropriate and accurate data survey was
conducted in various location and markets in Delhi. The data was assimilated
with the help of a questionnaire aimed and designed to extract the most
correct and conclusive information.
The consumers were requested to fill the questionnaire and were also asked
various other relevant questions revealing detailed information apart from
that in the questionnaire.
The survey was conducted successfully and its findings have been studied,
analyzed and have led to a conclusion, included in the report, which could
prove to be fruitful for the project.

Table of Contents

Introduction about Telecom Industry

Company Profile Of AIRTEL

Company Profile Of VODAFONE

16
57

Objective of the study

Research Methodology
Scope
Sample size
Data Sources
Finding and Analysis
Conclusion
Recommendations
Bibliography
Questionnaire
Customers Database

74
76

79
92
94
96
98
101

Introduction

Introduction
"TELECOMMUNICATIONS IS THE BACKBONE OF OUR FUTURE
ECONOMY. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS INCREASINGLY
DEPENDS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TELECOMMUNICATIONS
INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS COMPATIBLE WITH INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS. "
The cellular industry all over the world has been witnessing very high growth
rates in subscriber base in recent years. For developing countries in particular,
cellular services are becoming a very significant proportion of the overall
telecom infrastructure. The mechanics of competition within this market
involve complex feedback effects between individual service providers and
with their operating environment, and these forces play an important role in
governing the growth of this industry.
In a country like India which is not yet telephone-saturated and the ongoing
changes in related areas are resulting in a rapidly changing profile of users,
providers and their respective needs, continuous revision of the telecom
policy is imperative. Given the emerging new technologies and the integrating
economies there must be fairness among competitors.
The tele-density in India is about four per hundred people in respect of the
fixed telephones and a little less than one in respect of the mobile telephony.
The low densities are not because there is no need for a telephone but because
of its high cost that many cannot afford that one. The situation here is nothing
but holding true of the law of demand. Isnt it?
The cost for the companies can come down if the revenue share imposed on
them as a condition of license is abolished or drastically reduced. Today every
telephone company is bound to pay a share out of its revenue to the
exchequer. These costs are, however, not to be scheduled to take a step further
in the development of the telecom. In addition when we go through the
telephone bill there is a 5 to 8% service charge. This amount also does not go

for the telecom development. If these external cost are removed there can be
seen a spurt in demand of not less then 40% as expected.
While taking the side of suppliers a lot of new companies are coming into the
battlefield resulting in reduction of prices and hence a little less burdensome
on to the customer. The cost of interconnection with the incumbent is proving
to be contributory to the high cost of services provided by the competitors.
The delay in the interconnection disregards the quality of service and high
cost will detract from affordability. This is an area in which no consumer body
can knowledgeably contribute unless it has the assistant of experts or
economists who alone can discover all the relevant fact of all the contesting
companies. It indicates the pre-eminent domain of TRAI (Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India).
As the driven down of the prices for long distance including international
services reduces the amount available for subsidizing the local service, the
rental for local services are being increased. Considering that about 90% of the
long distance calls are made by less than 20% of customers, 80% of customer
are having to pay higher rental this depresses the demand for telephones and
affordability. The urban business subscribers will be bearing the bond of the
subsidies to be given to the rural private consumers.
History of Cellular Telephony in India:
The technology that gives a person the power to communicate anytime,
anywhere - has spawned an entire industry in mobile telecommunication.
Mobile telephones have become an integral part of the growth, success and
efficiency of any business / economy. The most prevalent wireless standard in
the world today, is GSM. The GSM Association (Global System for Mobile
Communications) was instituted in 1987 to promote and expedite the
adoption, development and deployment and evolution of the GSM standard
for digital wireless communications.
The GSM Association was formed as a result of a European Community
agreement on the need to adopt common standards suitable for cross border
European mobile communications. Starting off primarily as a European
9

standard, the Groupe Speciale Mobile as it was then called, soon came to
represent the Global System for Mobile Communications as it achieved the
status of a world-wide standard. GSM is today, the world's leading digital
standard accounting for 68.5% of the global digital wireless market. The
Indian Government when considering the introduction of cellular services
into the country, made a landmark decision to introduce the GSM standard,
leapfrogging obsolescent technologies / standards. Although cellular licenses
were made technology neutral in September 1999, all the private operators are
presently offering only GSM based mobile services. The new licensees for the
4th cellular licenses that were awarded in July 2001 too, have opted for GSM
technology to offer their mobile services.
Cellular Industry in India
The Government of India recognizes that the provision of a world-class
telecommunications infrastructure and information is the key to rapid
economic and social development of the country. It is critical not only for the
development of the Information Technology industry, but also has
widespread ramifications on the entire economy of the country. It is also
anticipated that going forward, a major part of the GDP of the country would
be contributed by this sector. Accordingly, it is of vital importance to the
country that there be a comprehensive and forward looking
telecommunications policy which creates an enabling framework for
development of this industry.

Cellular Market Structure in India

As in other countries, in India, the Cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSPs)
are licensed to operate in designated geographical operating areas. The
service areas include four metro areas and 18 circles categorized as A, B and
C. (The categorization is based on the revenue Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences).
The potential with category C circles in the lower end of the scale. For
example the metros account for 40% of the subscriber population, with
Category-A, B and C accounting for 33%, 23% and 4% respectively. The
CMSPs had to pay an entry fee and subsequently annual license fee as a
percentage of their revenue to the Department of Telecommunications.

10

The entry and license fees varied according to the service area, highest for
metros and lowest for Category-C circles. Some of the CMSPs could not fulfill
their licensing obligations and their licenses were revoked leading to a
monopoly situation in certain areas. Apart from these charges, each CMSP has
to share the revenue with the long distance operators for carrying interservice area calls. In profitable metros and circles, the competition is severe
and the market is split between the two operators. In a price-cap regulated
market, the operators use appropriate pricing strategy to win customers and
win market share.
In highly price-elastic markets, such as in India, as the service provider
reduces the price, the subscriber base increases considerably, and so is the
network traffic. The increased network traffic decreases the performance and
the quality of service, inviting customers to switch. Being a new entrant in a
metro area, the government operator reduced the airtime charges to such an
extent that the subscriber base increased suddenly leading to poor network
performance. The operator did not have enough network capacity to handle
calls leading to blocking of calls, with frustrated customers switching over
immediately to competitors.
The operators also have to resort to non-pricing competition strategies to win
customers. In India, CMSPs offer a variety of service plans as a means to
attract new customers. Different service plans include: pre-paid calling card
schemes, discounted airtime rates for evening and night time calls, discounted
roaming charges, no or minimum activation fees, and reduced mobile to
mobile long distance call rates.
The service providers incur additional advertising and infrastructure cost for
implementing these plans. Short Message Service (SMS) and Wireless
Application Protocol (WAP) service are fast catching up. For example, in
India, about 500,000 SMS messages are being carried by a service provider in
one metro area alone. When the sector moves over to an oligopoly market, the
operators have to provide improved quality of service and value added
services in order to survive and gain market share.

11

Larger operators who have experience and infrastructure may be able to

provide a higher quality of service and other value-added service at a lower
price. They also have access to larger project financing for enlarging their
networks and services. For example, a single large operator now has license to
operate in 14 service areas in the country with the largest footprint to cover
most of the areas of the country. Mergers and acquisitions are commonplace
as the operators are consolidating their revenues to survive in the market
places.
Cellular subscribers and those with a propensity to go mobile in Delhi have
never had it so good. They now have four service providers to choose from,
each offering an array of both pre- and post-paid schemes. More importantly,
average tariffs across plans have, by some reckoning, dropped by at least 50
per cent in the last six months. The entry of Vodafone saw a further drop in
tariffs and the operators have come out with new schemes to retain their
subscribers and attract fresh ones.
What does this mean for subscribers and for the cellular industry in Delhi? All
the four operators Vodafone Essar Mobile Services Ltd., Bharti Celluar Ltd,
MTNL and Idea Cellular services. are convinced that the market will only
expand and the subscribers will benefit even more. Their reasoning is that
cellular penetration in Delhi, which traditionally occupies the third position in
other areas, is less than fifty per cent. Therefore, entry of new players will only
increase awareness about the facility, the companies say.
Moreover, the state-owned MTNL has also been playing with its cellular
service for quite some time. that, with the imminent launch of limited
mobility using CDMA (code division multiple access) technology by
companies like Tata Tele Services will only add to the subscriber base,
probably result in further reduction of tariffs, and an even greater widening of
the cellular market, according to officials in four cellular companies now
servicing Delhi.
However, the companies also sound a note of caution any further drop in
tariffs will be harmful to the companies, points out one of the officials taking
care of the Sales & Marketing division of the, Vodafone Essar Mobile
Services Ltd, average tariffs in Delhi across different plans have fallen by 30
per cent since December with launching of the CDMA services.
Besides the fall in tariffs, what has really happened with the entry of CDMA is
12

a heightened awareness in the market. Mobile penetration in Delhi and its

suburbs is estimated to be less than twenty-five percent of the population and
the cellular operators believe that this number should definitely go up.
It is here that Vodafone decided to target the customers with what it believes
are unique products and features. Its emphasis has been on value proposition
and brand building. Mobility is not only about carrying voice, as per the
reports from the marketing department and adds that the unified messaging
system for the post-paid customers of Vodafone is one such unique product.
Accordingly, Vodafone signed in its subscribers in lakhs from the year
onwards it has been launched in Delhi. Industry analysts say that a majority of
them will be pre-paid customers, whose loyalty to a particular brand is always
in doubt. However, pre-paid for the cellular is nothing but the engine for
growth and there is always a possibility that most of them will shift to postpaid once they are convinced of the quality of service provided.
On the other hand the entry of a new operator lends more visibility to the
service and there is also increased trade activity that is the number of
dealers will increase and more people will be on the road trying to sell the
service and product. There is also greater consumer awareness of what
cellular service can deliver and expectations go up in terms of pricing or
service standards or network availability.
The Churn in the Cellular Industry:
As like the other products Cellular industry has not been left untouched from
the Churn (switching over). During the survey this fact comes to the fore.
According to the cellular operators, there is a normal seven to eight percent
churn in the customers, especially in the pre-paid category. Among the postpaid customers, the Churn is much lower about two-three percent.
They say that one significant change that has happened in the last few
months, more so since lowering of the tariffs, is that the bias in favour of
incoming calls as far as call charges are concerned incoming calls has been
set free while they are charging reasonably only for the outgoing ones has
changed. A tariff re-balancing has definitely taken place.

13

This means that the cellular operators are encouraging their subscribers to not
just receive calls, but also make calls increasing the usage of the service.
With falling tariffs, cellular operators are convinced that increasing usage is
one way to ensure that average revenue per user (ARPU) does not fall very
low. The industry figure for ARPU is believed to be about Rs.1,100 while it
may vary from operator to operator. The operators are also concentrating on
introducing more value added services to the customers. Value-added
services have not really taken off. Only the SMS (short messaging service) has
really caught on, but operators like Bharti are bringing in services like music
messaging and concierge facility for its subscribers.

14

15

Company Profile
AirTel
&
Vodafone

16

Company Profile Of Airtel

Important discoveries
1842:

Wireless by conduction

1843:

Early electromagnetic research, wireless by

induction

1865:

Induction and Dr. Loomis

Early radio discoveries

1879:

D.E. Hughes and the first radio-telephone

Reception

1880:

The photophone and the first voice radio-telephone

call

1880 - 1900:

Radio development begins in earnest

1910:

The first car-telephone

1924:

The first car-mounted radio-telephone

1937:

Early conventional radio-telephone development

17

The modern era begins

1999:

FDI inflow into telecom sector falls by almost 90% to Rs.

2126.7 million
1999:

Tariff rebalancing exercise gets initiated

1999:

National Telecom Policy is announced.

2000:

FDI inflow drops further down to Rs 918 million

coming

2000 :

Amendment of TRAI Act.

About Bharti
Bharti Tele-Ventures is a private sector telecommunications services
provider with an aggregate of over 17.53 million customers as of
December 2005, consisting of more than 16.33 million mobile
customers. The company is the only operator to provide mobile
services in all the 23 circles in India and also provides telephone
services and Internet access over DSL in 15 circles. The company also
has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects
the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore and is part of
the consortium, which jointly owns and has developed the next

18

generation undersea cable system SEA-ME-WE-4. The company

provides reliable end-to-end data and enterprise services to the
corporate customers by leveraging its nationwide fiber optic backbone,
last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and
international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing
station.
Bharti has redefined paradigms in the telecom industry through its
innovative managed services agreements in the area of mobile network
maintenance, management and deployment with Ericsson, Mavi and
Siemens and with IBM for the consolidation, transformation and
management of the comprehensive IT infrastructure and applications.
Bharti has a market capitalization of over USD14 billion and has
SingTel and Vodafone as international strategic partners.

Bharti Airtel Limited is one of Indias leading private sector providers

of telecommunications services with an aggregate of over 23.29 million
customers as of end of May 06, consisting of more than 21.86 million
mobile customers. The Company was the first private operator to
provide mobile services in all the 23 circles in India. The Company
also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 15
circles. The Company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone
19

services with national and international long distance services. The

Company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai,
which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and
Singapore. The Company is a part of the consortium, which jointly
owns and has developed the next generation undersea cable system
SEA-ME-WE-4. The Company provides reliable end-to-end data and
enterprise services to the corporate customers by leveraging its
nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line
and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access
through the gateways and landing station.

Bharti Enterprises has successfully focused its strategy on telecom

while straddling diverse fields of business. From the creation of
'Airtel', one of India's finest brands, to becoming the largest
manufacturer and exporter of world class telecom terminals under its
'Beetel' brand, Bharti has created a significant position for itself in the
global telecommunications sector. Bharti Airtel Limited is today
acknowledged as one of India's finest companies, and its flagship
brand 'Airtel', has over 23 million customers across the length and
breadth of India.

20

While a joint venture with TeleTech Inc., USA marked Bhartis

successful foray into the Customer Management Services business,
Bharti Enterprises dynamic diversification has continued with the
company venturing into telecom software development. Recently,
Bharti has successfully launched an international venture with EL
Rothschild Group owned ELRO Holdings India Ltd., to export fresh
Agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA.

Service Areas: Delhi (Metro), Mumbai (Metro), Kolkata (Metro),

Chennai (Metro), Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, North East, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar Pradesh (W), West Bengal.

Business Description
Provides mobile, broadband & telephone (fixed line) and enterprise
services (carriers & services to corporates)
Established
21

july 07, 1995 as a Public Limited Company

Proportionate Revenue
Rs. 117,255 million (year ended March 31, 2006 Un-audited)
Rs. 81,558 million (year ended March 31, 2005-Audited)
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises, and is India's leading
provider of telecommunications services. The businesses at Bharti
Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business
units (SBUs)
Mobile services,
Broadband & telephone services (B&T) &
Enterprise services.
The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India
in 23 telecom circles, while the B&T business group provides
broadband & telephone services in 90 cities. The Enterprise services
group has two sub-units - carriers (long distance services) and
services to corporate. All these services are provided under the Airtel
brand.

OPERATIONS

22

Bharti
Enterprises

Bharti Teletech

Bharti
Televentures

Bharti Global

Bharti
Infotrac

Bharti
Foundation

Infotel

Mobilit
y

Mobile
Services

Bharti
Healthcare

Broadband
and
Telephone
Services

Long Distance
Services

23

Enterprise
Services

OPERATIONS Contd..
BHARTI TELEVENTURES LIMITED
MOBILE
SERVICES
Delhi

Mumbai

BROADBAND AND

LONG DISTANCE

TELEPHONE SERVICES
Madhya Pradesh

SERVICES
National Long Distance

Tamil Nadu

All India
International
Distance

Long
Landing

Station Chennai
Maharashtra
Gujrat
T.N.
Kerala
Haryana
U.P. (West)
U.P. (East)
M.P.
W.B. & A&N
Bihar
Assam
N.E.
Jammu

Karnataka
Haryana
Delhi
Himachal Pradesh

Kashmir
Orissa
A.P
Karnataka
Punjab
Chennai
Kolkata
H.P.
Rajasthan

24

25

Bharti Group Overview

As we spread wings to expand our capabilities and explore new
horizons. The fundamental focus remains unchanged : seek out the
best technology in the world and put it at the service of our ultimate
user : our customer

Sunil Bharti Mittal

(Group Chairman and Managing Director)
Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and have
revolutionized telecommunications with its world0class products and
services.
Established in 1985, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom
sector with many first and innovations to its credit, ranging from being
the first mobile services in Delhi, first private basic telephone service
provider

in

the

country,

first

Indian

company

to

provide

comprehensive telecom service outside India in Seychelles and first

private sector service provider to launch National Long Distance
Services in India. As of 30-06-2004, Bharti had approximately 8.37
million total customers nearly 7.67 million mobile and 704,000 fixed
line customers.

26

Its services sector businesses include mobile operations in Andhra

Pradesh, Chennai, Delhi, Gujrat, Haryana , Himachal Pradesh,
Karnataka Kerala, Kolkata Madhya Pradesh circle, Maharashtra circle
, Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh (West)
circle. In addition it also has a fixed line operations in states of
Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu and nationwide Broadband and long distance networks.
Bharti has recently launched national long distance services by
offering data transmission services and voice transmissions services
for calls originating and terminating on most of Indias mobile
networks.
The company is also implementing a submarine cable project
connecting Chennai-Singapore for providing International Bandwidth.
Bharti Enterprises has also manufactures and exports telephone
terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the largest
manufacturer of telephone instruments, it is also the first telecom
company to export its products to the USA.

27

Bharti Teletech
Introduction

Bharti Teletech, the manufacturing arm of Bharti Enterprises, with an

installed capacity of 5 million telephone sets per annum, is Indias
leading manufacturer of high quality telephones.

Today Bharti Teletech is major PTT supplier in South Asia. It has also
ISO 9002 accreditation and also an OEM for Sprint Corporation and
Siemens. Its range of products marketed under the Brand name
Beetel constitute a 30% market share in India thereby making it the
market leader in the domestic market.
Bharti Teletech has also found a growing market in Russia, Singapore,
Sri Lanka, Romania, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Dubai, Yemen, Oman,
Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, South Africa and
USA.

28

Global Services
Making an entry into the International market, Bharti is the first
Indian company to get a license to provide comprehensive telecom
services outside India, in the island country of Seychelles and hence
develop the expertise to provide Telecom services overseas.

As we spread our wings further, Bharti Global would explore

opportunities in other countries around the world.

Bharti Healthcare
Healthy alliances to provide healthy solutions

The corporate ethos of providing the best to our customers carries

extra relevance when it comes to healthcare products.

29

One sector where quality implies the saving of lives and the promotion
of healthy living. Offering quality support to the pharmaceutical
industry. Bharti healthcare has been engaged in the manufacture of
empty hard Gelatine capsules since 1982.

Bhartis form commitment to quality and customer satisfaction is duly

acknowledged by the list of prestigious clients including Pfizer, Parke
Davis, Wockhardt, Ranbaxy and Glaxo amongst others. Bharti also
exports its capsules to overseas markets like USA, Hing Kong,
Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Iran, Bangladesh, Syria and
Cyprus.
The US FDA has recently assigned Drug Master file (DMF) number to
BHCL as an acknowledgement of its firm commitment to adhere to
globally recognized quality standards in the Pharmaceutical industry.
BHCL is also an ISO 9002 certified company

30

AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Cellular Limited - a part of the biggest private
integrated telecom conglomerate, Bharti Enterprises. Bharti provides a range
of telecom services, which include Cellular, Basic, Internet and recently
introduced National Long Distance. Bharti also manufactures and exports
telephone terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the largest
manufacturer of telephone instruments in India, it is also the first company to
export its products to the USA. Bharti is the leading cellular service provider,
with a footprint in 23 states covering all four metros and more than 8 million
satisfied customers.
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 consistent application of a carefully developed visual
identity, which helps Airtel distinguish itself in a cluttered market. Airtel's
visual identity helps create instant brand recall and strengthens the
relationships that its audiences have with it.
The Airtel visual identity has different elements that work together to create a
strong and consistent identity for the brand. The most important of these are:
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 a specially drawn world mark.

31

The Airtel Image style

It incorporates two solid, red rectangular forms whose counter form creates
an open doorway.
The Airtel Typographical style
The title case lettering with its capital 'A' was deliberately chosen to reinforce
the brand's leadership position. The red dot on the letterform 'I' cues Airtel's
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.

BHARTI TELE-VENTURES
Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting
investments in telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate telecom
services across India. Bharti Tele-Ventures is India's leading private sector
provider of telecommunications services based on a strong customer base
consisting of approximately 11.84 million total customers which constitute,
approximately 10.98 million mobile and approximately 857,000 fixed line
customers, as of March 31 , 2005

32

Corporate Structure

Mobile Division
Overview
Bharti Tele-Ventures vision for its mobile business is To make mobile
communications a way of life and be the customers first choice.
The mission is to meet the mobile communication needs of the customer
through 1) error free service 2) Innovative products and services and 3) cost
efficiency. The Companys strategic objective is to consolidate its leadership
position amongst the mobile service providers in India.
The Indian mobile market, according to the COAI, has increased from
approximately 1.2 million subscribers as of March 31, 1999 to approximately
41.03 million subscribers as of March 31, 2005.
Despite this rapid growth, the mobile penetration rate in India, at
approximately 3.9% as of March 31, 2005, is significantly lower than the
average mobile penetration rate in other Asian and international markets.
The number of mobile subscribers in India is expected to show rapid growth
over the next four years. By 2006 it is projected at 50 million by COAI and 44
million by Gartner.

33

Bharti Tele-Ventures believes that the demand for mobile services in India will
continue to grow rapidly as a result of the following factors:

Lower tariffs and handset prices over time;

Growth in pre-paid customer category;

Greater economic growth & continued development of India's

economy;

Higher quality mobile networks and services; and

Greater variety and usage of value added services.

Bharti Tele-Ventures, through its subsidiary has the licenses to provide GSM
services in all the twenty-three telecom circles in India. It proposes to
consolidate all its subsidiaries providing mobile services under Bharti
Cellular Limited.
As of March 31, 2005, 100% of India's total mobile subscriber market resided
in the Company's twenty three mobile circles, which collectively 100% of
India's land mass.

Accomplishments

The largest private sector integrated telecommunications services

group in India in terms of the number of customers.

Largest Mobile footprint in India, covering 23 circles of INDIA.

Proven track record of managing growth - both organic as well as by

way of acquisitions.

First and largest private telecommunications services company offering

fixed-line services in India.

Existing foreign shareholders have acquired direct and indirect equity

interests in the Company for a total consideration exceeding US$1
billion.

34

First private telecommunications company to launch long distance

services.

First off the block to launch fixed-line services in all the four circles of
Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Airtel Mobile Strategy

Capture maximum telecommunications revenue potential with

minimum geographical coverage to maximise its revenues and
margins.

Build high quality mobile networks by deploying state-of-the-art

technology to offer superior services.
Use the experience it has gained from operating its existing mobile
networks to develop and operate other mobile networks in India and to
share the expertise across all of its existing and new circles.

Attract and retain high revenue generating customers by providing

competitive tariffs, offering high quality customer support, proactive
retention programs and roaming packages across all of its mobile
circles.
Provide affordable tariff plans to suit each segment of the market with
a view to expand the reach, thereby increasing the mobile customer
base rapidly.

35

Vision
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers.

Mission
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight
customers through:

Customer Service Focus

Empowered Employees
Innovative Services
Cost Efficiency
Services
Airtel Prepaid
Airtel Prepaid, the Ready Cellular Card from Airtel comes to you from Bharti
Enterprises, India's leading integrated telecom service provider. Going mobile
with Airtel Prepaid is a new way of life. With a host of great features, also
simple to use, Airtel Prepaid makes everything that you dreamt and believed,
possible.
Airtel Postpaid
Airtel welcomes you to a vibrant world of unlimited opportunities. More
exciting, innovative yet simple new ways to communicate, just when you want
to, not just through words but ideas, emotions and feelings. To give you the
unlimited freedom to reach out to your special people in your special way.
Airtel Roaming
Airtel's Roaming service allows you to use your mobile phone to make or
receive calls from almost anywhere in India and abroad.
Airtel Roaming gives you two great options:

36

Airtel National - Enjoy roaming in India across 42 partners networks

and over 750 cities.

Airtel International - Roam across international destinations, in nearly

119 countries including USA, Canada, UK etc. with 284 partner
networks.

Long Distance
Now experience complete freedom like never before with Airtel! Our National
Long-Distance facility allows you to make long distance calls in India and
Overseas from your cellular phone. This service is applicable to both Postpaid
and Prepaid customers.

37

VALUE ADDED SERVICES

Caller Identification (CLIP)
Call Identification gives you the power to know the phone number of the
calling party even before you answer the call, thus giving you the choice to
either reject or take the call. It provides the added advantage of saving the
incoming number directly in the Handset Phone Book. So that the next time
you want to call the same person, you don't need to retype his number, simply
use your phone book.
Dial-a-service
With Airtel's information services you can get upto-the-minute cricket scores,
order flowers as well as send couriers or check your daily horoscope.
FAX & DATA
Airtel brings you Fax and Data Service where you can take your office
wherever you go. You can send and receive data/fax documents, access the
Internet, email accounts as well as corporate databases whenever you are on
the move.
GPRS / MOBILE OFFICE
Mobile Office provides you with access to e-mail and Internet any time and
anywhere, even while on the move. It is an indispensable asset for traveling
executives, as it enables you to be in touch when at airports, hotels etc. So
whether you're in Mumbai or not, you'll be never be short of Internet access.
Now you can access official mail, refer to sites for information and do
everything that you would, on the Internet. This new-age product is made
possible through Airtel's GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) technology.
GPRS Mobile Office service has the following features:
a) Access the Internet anytime, anywhere (across all Airtel circles in
India)
b) No airtime charges
c) Cheaper than connecting through land line
e) A minimal monthly subscription fee

38

VOICE MAIL SERVICES

Voice Mail allows you to receive messages even when your handset is
switched off or when you are outside coverage area. You can then retrieve
these messages at your own convenience.
CALL CONFERENCING
With Airtel call conferencing, teleconference with 6 people simultaneously.
You can also have the liberty of setting up a conference even when the other
five individuals are using a landline.
Airtel Presents... HELLO TUNES
With Hello Tunes when you dial an Airtel Subscribers mobile,
you will hear the song that he/she has selected for you!!
FEATURES
Song of the Day' at the top of the menu to make first time selection easy
Various language options : Select from English to Kannada (over 5
different languages)
Content represents all major languages
Everyone-tune: one song for all callers
Special tune: personalized song for specified caller

39

Easy Billing
Now enjoy the luxury of viewing details of your last 3 billing cycles and the
convenience of paying your Airtel bill online! Experience complete freedom
with Airtel!
Subscription Services
With Airtel's Subscription Services, you can subscribe for cool alerts at the
click of a button! What's better is that you can receive updates automatically
on your Airtel phone without requesting everyday.

Daily News Alerts

With Airtel News Alerts, be in touch with the latest happenings around the
world, all the time. Get 2 news bulletins sent to your Airtel phone, courtesy
AajTak, the 24-hour news channel from India Today Group.

Daily Astrology Alerts

Your future lies in your Airtel phone. Literally! Get daily forecasts of each sun
sign from renowned astrologer Ma Prem Usha.
Daily Joke Alerts
Crack up with laughter with Airtel's daily joke alert. Get the funniest jokes
that you can forward to your friends to brighten up their day too.
Daily Business Alerts
For the latest buzz on the business scenario, now you never have to look very
much further than the palm of your hand. Airtel brings you the daily business
news and stock alerts, courtesy Business Today, the leading publication on
business news & stories.

40

Daily Filmi Gossip

Want the latest khabar on Lara, Salman, Cameron and Toby? Tune into Airtel's
Filmi Gossip, with the latest buzz about your favourite Hollywood and
Bollywood stars.

41

THE BRAND
The Airtel visual identity has different elements that work together to create a strong
and consistent identity for the brand. The most important of these are:
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 a specially drawn wordmark.

THE AIRTEL IMAGE STYLE

It incorporates two solid, red rectangular forms whose counterform creates an open
doorway.

42

THE AIRTEL TYPOGRAPHICAL STYLE

The title case lettering with its capital 'A' was deliberately chosen to reinforce the
brand's leadership position. The red dot on the letterform 'I' cues Airtel's 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.

BUSINESS TOOLS

Mobile Office
Stay in touch when on the move with Mobile Office

Access official as well as personal e-mail on handsets or on

laptop/ PDA while on the move.

Secure connectivity to e-mail accounts without backend

configurations
43

Available across all Airtel circles and important countries.

Indispensible asset for traveling executives as it enables user to

be in touch anytime and anywhere while roaming.

All that a user needs is his/her GPRS Mobile / Laptop and an

Airtel connection.

National Coverage in all 23 Airtel circles

It also works in 15 networks internationally across 10 countries

Singtel, Singapore

Globe Telecom , Phillipines

AIS, Thailand

Star Hub, Singapore

Smartone, Hongkong

Smart Phillipines

T-mobile , UK

AT&T , USA

T-Mobile , USA

CSL, HongKong

O2, UK

Microcell , Canada

Vodafone, Italy
44

Era, Poland

Multi Media Messaging

Now send & receive multi media messaging on Airtel. Just like SMS
Service send and receive MMS on GPRS enabled phone from anyone
anywhere in the world. Customer can also receive Multi Media
Messages even if Customer do not have a GPRS/MMS enabled phone;
Subscriber can simply log on to airtelworld.com and check the mms.
Airtel Live
Customer

can

dial

Fun

Portal

646

and

download

ring-

tones/logos/games/wallpapers and much more just through a click of

a button charged only for the downloaded content.
AIRTEL MUSIC SHOP
In September 2005, Bharti Airtel Ltd has launched its 1lakh Music
Shops. The retailers are the companies Music Shops. They were
provided with a special sim called LAPU. By the use of the sim the
retailer can give the recharge to the customer by transferring the
45

amount of recharge on the customer number. Earlier the retailer can

give the recharge to the customer by the use of coupon but now it can
be given just by pressing some keys on the mobile.
In the LAPU, the Airtel Services contain all the information the retailer
has to just put the customer number, the amount to transfer and also
the MPIN (Mobile PIN).
MPIN-It is kind of password which every retailer gets when he/she
gets the LAPU. It is used for the security purpose that nobody other
then the retailer can be able to transfer the recharge. They can change
their MPIN as per there convenience.
In LAPU there is a special feature of gifting the Recharge. Just like a
gift given on any occasion to anyone a slip containing the details
about the person by whom the gift has been given is there. Just like
that the Recharge can be gifted and the Recipient will get a slip detail
of the person who has sent him the gift.
Earlier the Prepaid customer who was in roaming was not able to take
recharge so easily .He has to take special recharges which are not so

easily available. Now the customer has to just rush to

the near by

retailer where ever in India he/ she is and according the plan which is
prevailing in his/her zone can get the recharge.
46

Before the launch of Airtel Music shops the retailers were using the
ERC-1 Sim or LAPU 1.But as the music shops were launched. All the
LAPU 1 sim has been replaced by LAPU 2 sim with a Special feature of
Easy VAS (Value Added Services) added to it.
As the company was the first one to step into the world of Music. It
has provided the full opportunity to its retailers To Serve More and To
Earn More.

The company projected all its retailer outlets as the music shops that
interact with the customers directly at grass root level. Now the
retailer sells the music to customer as the hello tune and the ring
tone.
Why is Airtel Introducing this Product?
1. Customers demanding more and more new services.
2. Competition eager to provide every possible service to
Customers.
3. AIRTEL always ready to give customers what they
Want. Their aim is to Convert expression to reality.

47

Airtel world / 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 consistent 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 relationships that its audiences have
with it.

The Airtel visual identity has different elements that work together to
create a strong and consistent identity for the brand. The most
important of these are:

48

49

PROCESSES INVOLVED IN MOBILE CONVERSATION

SENDER

BTS

BSC

HLR

MSC
VLR

AVC
BSC

CDR

BTS
50

RECIVER
BTS - Base transceiver station

BSC Base station controller

MSC- Master station controller

HLR- Home location register

VLR- Visitor location register

AVC- Authentication code

CDR- Call Data Analysis

51

AIRTEL 2 AIRTEL LOCAL

CALLER (AIRTEL)

BTS

BSC (AIRTEL)

MSC(AIRTEL)

HLR

BSC

52

BTS

RECIVER (AIRTEL)

53

AIRTEL 2 OTHERS

CALLER (AIRTEL)

BTS

BSC (AIRTEL)

MSC(AIRTEL)

54

HLR

MSC (Others)

BTS

RECIVER (Others)

55

56

ROAMING

CALLER (AIRTEL)

BTS

BSC (AIRTEL)

MSC (AIRTEL)

HLR

57

VLR

MSC (AIRTEL DELHI)

MSC (REGIONAL)

BSC

BTS

58

RECIVER (Others)

59

Sunil Bharti Mittal

Chairman & Managing Director since October 2001

Board director since: July 1995
Age: 49 years

Sunil Bharti Mittal is the Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti

Airtel Limited (Bharti), Indias largest private integrated telecom
player. The company has nearly 21 million customers on its wellrespected brand AIRTEL.
Sunil was one of the first entrepreneurs to identify the mobile telecom
business as a major growth area and launched services in the city of
Delhi and the National Capital Region in the year 1995. Under his
inspiring leadership the company grew organically and inorganically,
covering the entire country by providing integrated telecom services.
In his personal capacity, Sunil has received several awards such as:

Best Asian Telecom CEO, Telecom Asia Awards 2005

60

Best CEO, India, Institutional Investor, 2005

Business Leader Of The Year, Economic Times, 2005

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2004, Ernst & Young

Sunil has always been a pioneer. A first generation entrepreneur, he

started his first business in 1976 with a capital investment of Rs
20,000. He initially founded a number of trading concerns, and
established the first company to manufacture push button telephones
in India. This company is now one of the largest manufacturers of
telephones in the world.
Apart from his role at Bharti, Sunil holds the position of the Honorary
Consul General of the Republic of Seychelles in New Delhi, India.
Some of his other roles include being a member of the Prime
Ministers Council on Trade and Industry; Co-Chairman of the IndoBritish Partnership and a Board Member of the Global GSM
Association.
Sunil is an alumnus of Punjab University and has completed the
Owner/President Management Program from Harvard Business
School.

61

Company Profile Of Vodafone

Hutchison established its presence in India in 1994, through a joint venture
with Max India Limited. In 1995, Hutchison Max Telecom became the first
operator in India to launch its cellular service.
Today, Hutchison is one of the largest providers of cellular services in India
with presence in all the major regions - Orange in Mumbai and Hutch in
Gujarat, Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and Chennai.
It is also the country's largest roaming operator, with a more extensive
network in India and around the world than any other operator.
They are known for their innovative approach and world class technology.
Their goal is to provide the subscriber the superior products and services,
anytime and anywhere. Hutchinson Telecom is accredited for being among

62

the first cellular operators in the world, having started its services way back in
1985.
It is part of the Hong Kong based multinational conglomerate Hutchison
Whampoa Limited, a Fortune 500 company, and one of the largest companies
listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Its operations span 36 countries
across the Asia Pacific region, Europe and the Americas.Hutchison affiliates
jointly account for the largest number of cellular subscribers in India
numbering over 2 million. Hutch is brought to us by Hutchison Telecom, one
of the worlds leading cellular service providers. But in Delhi, it is the follower
with 2.18 lakh subscribers to Air Tels 3.28 lakh subscribers (Businessworld,
May 7, 2001) .Today the total number of mobile subscribers to Hutch are 1.96
million. (Business Today, 5th Jan 2003)

Today, in India, Hutch becomes Vodafone. Now, the pink color logo of
Hutch will be replaced by Vodafone Essars corporate red colored one.

In 2005-06, the Orange brand in Mumbai was phased out to introduce Hutch.
The company also changed the colors of its logo from orange to pink last year.

After acquiring 67 per cent of stake (around Rs. 250 crores) in Hutchison Essar
from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, Vodafone Essar is expecting to

63

touch over 35 million customers across 400,000 shops and thousands of

Hutchs own employees along with employees of its business associates.

Asim Ghosh, MD, Vodafone Essar, said Weve had a good innings as Hutch
in India and today marks a new beginning for us, not as a departure from the
fundamentals that created Hutch, but an acceleration into the future with
Vodafones global expertise.

Vodafone CEO and Vice-Chairman Arun Sarin of the joint venture

Vodafone Essar will be landing in India for the meeting that would discuss
branding exercise, expansion plans, spectrum requirements for its expanding
subscriber base and future plans.

Vodafone offers a host of premier value added services (VAS) including

national and international roaming in over 70 countries in over 160 networks,
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), short message service, voice mail
service, auto roam, fax and data, cricket updates, M-banking, general
information, tarot line, etc. The company launched WAP in Delhi in October
2000, much before its rival Bharti. It has 5000 WAP customers, as in December
2000. The company has been a prime mover in introducing these value-added
services in the Delhi circle.

64

The values are stated simply. To be fair and transparent in what they do and
how they do it. To provide the quality services with more customer friendly
practices. To make ones communications experience simple, pleasurable and
fun. Where he doesn't simply get technology - but technology that is relevant.
Where solutions are not just promised in the future - but delivered in the
present.

Vodafone Logo

SERVICES
Staying connected becomes a lot easier with Vodafone. We have a wide range
of services you can access right from your Vodafone phone. From cell banking
to flight updates to call management services, get all that you want, instantly.
65

Dial 600 to activate

To activate these value added services on your Vodafone phone, simply dial
600 and access our Interactive Voice Response system.

SMS
Message your family and friends through Vodafone SMS Services. It's
convenient and affordable. Communicate with cell phone users in over 100
countries and anywhere in India - by sending and receiving text messages.
Pay just Rs. 1.50 per message for sending SMS anywhere across the country.

SMS Chat
Now, you can chat on your Vodafone phone with as many people as you want.
Its fun and as simple as sending an SMS. Your identity will remain
anonymous as your phone number is never displayed during the chat. You
can have your own profile and chat name.

You can also create your own chat rooms or chat in the different rooms that
already exist including: Teens, 20s, 30s, Office, Bollywood, Delhi.
66

All you have to do is type in your messages and send them to 2428. You will
be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Vodafone Online
Get all the useful information you need directly on your Vodafone phone with Vodafone Online. Including cricket, finance, entertainment, weather,
astrology and more.

Simply go to the Vodafone Online menu on your Vodafone phone.

If you do not see the Vodafone Online menu on your phone, send HELP
to 123. We will send you the list of keywords.

Scroll to the topic on which you need information.

Select the information and key input as requested on the screen.

You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

MTNL Directoy
67

With this facility you can get to know the address and telephone no. of MTNL
users.you will be charged Rs.2 per outgoing message.

STD / ISD Codes

You don't need to look up your diary or a phone directory to find out STD and
ISD codes. You can find it directly through your Vodafone phone.

Ringtones & Logos

Now you can change the ringtone on your Vodafone phone according to your
moods. You can download logos as well. With the Vodafone and Yahoo! tieup
you have hundreds of tunes and logos to choose from.

For every ringtone downloaded, you will charged Rs. 7.00 (including the cost
of SMS sent). For every logo/picture message downloaded, you will charged
Rs. 3.00 (including the cost of SMS sent).

68

Flash & Blink

Vodafone now offers you two exciting ways to send messages. You can make
your message flash directly on your recipients screen instead of the inbox.
You can also highlight the important parts of your message through blinks. So
your text messages become not only more visible, but more effective too.
You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Dial-in Services
Vodafone brings you more conveniences at your fingertips. Use our Dial-inServices to check cricket scores, horoscope, up-to-the minute news and other
relevant information on services that touch your everyday life.

All Dial-in-Services carry a flat charge of Rs 6 per minute (1 min pulse).

Here's a shortlist of services you can access

69

Service
NDTV Online

Number
123

Info Line

301

Dial-n-Deliver

306

Cricket Online

123

Tarot Line

314

Cell Rashi

315

Dial-a-Pizza

303

Dial-a-Cab

335

Voice Response Service

123

There are occasions when you may not want to take a call, or your Vodafone
phone maybe busy or simply unreachable. By paying a nominal monthly
access fee, you can now retrieve your messages at your convenience. Even if
you are roaming, you can retrieve your messages from your voice mailbox
through a fixed line, anywhere on earth.

Your Vodafone voicemail can

Hold up over 17 messages at a time.
Receive a message that lasts up to 90 seconds.
Store a message for as long as you want.
You can also record your voice signature and welcome message.

Calling Line Identification

70

You can check your caller's telephone name and number on your phone
screen whenever you receive a call. This gives you the flexibility to either
accept or reject an incoming call. This service is also helpful in identifying
your missed calls.

You can access this service by just paying Rs. 49 per month, if you are a
postpaid customer. This service is absolutely free if you are a Vodafone
Prepaid customer.

Itemized Billing
As a Vodafone Postpaid customer, you can choose to receive an itemized bill
at the end of each month. This is a detailed billing statement which helps you
keep track of all your calls. Your itemized bill includes:
Origin of the call
Destination of the call
Duration of the call
Toll charges
Airtime and total charge

Get your itemized bill.

71

 Via post: Pay a monthly rental of 49 only.

Via e-mail: Pay just Rs. 19 per itemized bill.

Fax & Data Services

This service enables you to constantly keep in touch with your office,
colleagues and information sources. You can send or receive faxes and
transmit data using your Vodafone phone anytime, anywhere. Whether you
are

operating

from

home,

hotels

or

airport

lobbies.

At speeds of up to 9600 bps within the network or while roaming. You can
even access the Internet.

All you need is a handset compatible data card (PC Card) or a GSM Software,
and a data chord cable with a PC to set up a mobile office.
You can also opt for either Vodafone Fax or Vodafone Data services
independently.

Your Vodafone fax number can help you differentiate between incoming voice
calls and fax transmissions. You can also send and receive faxes anywhere on
72

earth

with

your

Vodafone

phone.

By opting for the Vodafone Data Services you can access e-mail, databases and
the

Internet.

All

on

your

single

incoming

data

number.

Charges to activate the Vodafone Fax and Data service, you just need to pay a

one-time activation fee of Rs. 500. To access the Fax service, the fee is Rs. 250.
The usage charges are nominal at Re 1 per minute.

Call Management Services

There may be occasions when you need to conference with up to six people at
a time or talk to just two. Or you are speaking to someone and want to
forward an incoming call to another phone. With your Vodafone phone, you
can do this and more.Vodafone helps you manage your calls effortlessly so
that you stay in control of your conversations, always.

Voice Response

Get your Vodafone phone to respond directly to your commands. Custom

designed to recognize Indian voices and accents, the Voice Response service
73

makes your life more convenient. You can get the latest updates on news,
stocks, cricket and your horoscope. Airtime charges will be Rs.6 per minute (1
minute pulse).

Voice Messaging

Voice Messaging has become even more affordable. You can now send voice
messages to cellular phones as well as fixed telephone lines in USA or Canada
for just Rs.3.95 per min*

(as against Rs.4.95 per

min earlier).

Voice messages within India across select networks will cost you Rs. .95 per
min only. Also, recipients of the cellular Voice Messaging service have the
option of replying back to the messages, which get returned back as return
Voice Mail messages, facilitating two-way (though not simultaneous) voice
communication.

Yahoo! Messenger For SMS

You do not have to wait to get a PC to use the Yahoo! Messenger. With the
exclusive Vodafone-Yahoo! tie-up, you can easily get connected through your

74

Vodafone phone.This unique messenger comes with a lot of exciting features.

You can connect with all Yahoo! Messenger users, send, receive and reply to
instant messages, view and manage your friend list and also manage

authorization requests. All this and more just by using SMS. You will be
charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Cell Banking

Vodafone now puts the bank in your pocket with Cell Banking. Access your
bank account and transact directly on your Vodafone phone by sending text
messages.

The first of its kind in India, this service enables you to conduct your banking
without
You

can

having
do

Cell

to

visit

Banking

the

bank

from

over

or
90

making
countries

call.

worldwide.

You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Roaming

75

Now you can always stay connected, no matter where you are. With the
Vodafone Roaming facility, you can use your Vodafone phone in over 100
countries worldwide and over 1000 cities, towns and highways across India.
Vodafone

Roaming

makes

life

easy

and

convenient

for

you.

One number across the globe

Your Vodafone phone number and PIN number remains the same whether
you are in Delhi, Chandigarh, London, Paris or anywhere else in the world.

National and International Roaming on Vodafone Prepaid

Roaming on Vodafone Prepaid gives you the most extensive coverage in over
1000 cities, towns and highways across India, and in over 100 countries
around the world. Enjoy Roaming on your Vodafone Prepaid card and stay
in touch wherever you go.

Yahoo! Mail For SMS

You can now directly access your email account on Yahoo! Mail on your
Vodafone phone. Whats more, you do not need a WAP enabled handset for
76

this service as it is based on SMS. So gain freedom from your PC and access
your Yahoo! mails anytime, anywhere on your Vodafone phone.
You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

WAP
With WAP, you can have the Internet directly in your pocket. So if you are
looking for quick and easy delivery of information and services, your
Vodafone phone can show it all. Use it to check out news, finance, shopping,
entertainment, travel, entertainment and city service information etc.

To access this service all you need is a WAP enabled handset and WAP
services activated on your Vodafone phone.

This service comes to you at a nominal charge of Re. 1 per minute (1 min
pulse).

Group Messaging

77

Party invitations, movie outings, festive greetings... whatever be the occasion,

you

can

send

your

message

to

all

your

friends

at

one

go!

With Group Messaging from Vodafone, you can thus save yourself the bother
of painstakingly sending your message to one person at a time whether you
are on Vodafone Prepaid or Postpaid.

Vodafone4help
Vodafone4help now lets you take advantage of a lot more services than before.
You can connect to the nearest fire brigade or mechanic or florist or even order
a pizza. If you are stranded in the middle of the road, or if you you need
immediate medical attention or if you are looking for a police station close by,
Vodafone4help gives you instant access to your nearest source of help,
anywhere in Delhi or the NCR.

All the help services are charged@Rs.6/min. while for police and fire help
only local airtime charge is applicable.

78

Objective Of The Study

79

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The research is a cross sectional analysis between two cellular service
providers of delhi namely AIRTEL and VODAFONE. This research is done to
find the following objectives:
1) What is the consumer satisfaction level by the services
offered from the service provider.
2) What are the expectations of the consumers from the service
providers.

80

Research Methodology

81

Research Methodology
Scope
The given project is to analyze the overall satisfaction of subscribers
with their mobile service provider. The scope for the research is not
very big. The area or say the premises of the researcher was Delhi
region.

Research Design
A research design is purely and simply the framework or plan for a
study that guides the collection and analysis of data. The survey
research was used in this project, because consumers feedback was
necessary for obtaining the data.

Data Sources
Primary data was collected by the questionnaire based market survey.
In this survey 100 AIRTEL and 100 VODAFONE mobile users were
surveyed.
Secondary data was obtained from journals, magazines, newspapers,
books and of course the Internet.

Research Instrument
For doing the survey research, structured questionnaire with both
open-ended and closed-ended questions was used.

Mode of Survey
The mode of survey was personal interview with the respondents
during the filling up of the questionnaires.

Sample Size
A sample size of 200 respondents is used for the study.100 AIRTEL and
100 VODAFONE customers were contacted and interviewed.
82

Sample Unit
This study was basically an opinion survey of the residents of Delhi
who are cell-phone users regarding their views on the cellular service
providers.

Place of Study
Delhi region.

83

Findings & Analysis

84

Findings & Analysis

Spending Per Month By Subscribers

Spending per
Month
70%

68%
58%

60%
50%
40%
30%

31%
23%

20%
10%
0%

6%

8%
2% 1%

2% 1%

Airtel

Vodafone

Upto Rs.500

68%

58%

Rs.501-1000

23%

31%

Rs.1001-2000

6%

8%

Rs.2001-3000

2%

2%

Rs3000 and above

1%

1%

Upto Rs.500

Rs.1001-2000

Rs.501-1000

Rs.2001-3000

Rs3000 and above

This shows that majority of subscribers of Airtel and Vodafone subscribers

spends between Rs.500-1000 every month.

85

Time taken for activating sim

90%

83%
76%

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%

20%

20%

11%
6%

10%
0%

3%

0%

Same Day

Next Day

2-3 Days

Airtel

83%

11%

6%

0%

Vodafone

76%

20%

3%

1%

Airtel

1%

More than 3 days

Vodafone

This shows that 83% of Airtel and 76% of Vodafone subscribers got their sim
activated the same day of purchase while others had to wait for next day and
some for 3 days also. This is really a trouble for subscribers waiting for
activation.

86

Satisfaction from Current Tarif

Satisfaction from current Tarrif
70%
61%
60%

53%

50%
40%
30%
20%

13%

15%
11%

14%

15%

18%

10%
0%

Very Satisfied

Satisfied

Satisfied to an Extent

Dissatisfied

Airtel

61%

13%

11%

15%

Vodafone

53%

15%

14%

18%

This show that only 61% of Airtel users and 53% of Vodafone users are very
satisfied with tariff charges.15% of Airtel and 18% of Vodafone users are
dissatisfied with tariff which could lead them to shift to other cell operator
providing lower tariff.

87

Satisfaction from network quality

Satisfaction from Network Quality
80%

73%
67%

70%
60%
50%
40%
30%

15%

20%

18%
10%

10%
0%

8%

7%
2%

Very Satisfied

Satisfied

Satisfied to an Extent

Dissatisfied

Airtel

73%

15%

10%

2%

Vodafone

67%

18%

8%

7%

73% of Air Tel and 67% of Vodafone users are very satisfied with network.
Only 2% of Airtel users are dissatisfied which show that their network is best.
7% of Vodafone users reported dissatisfaction because of poor signals or no
signals in basement.

88

Satisfaction from SMS Service

89%
90%

81%

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%

8% 10%

10%
0%

3%
Very Satisfied

Satisfied

6%
0%

3%

Satisfied to an Extent Dissatisfied

Airtel

89%

8%

3%

0%

Vodafone

81%

10%

6%

3%

89% of Airtel and 81% of Vodafone users shown great satisfaction from SMS
service.3% of Vodafone users shown dissatisfaction because of late delivery of
messages and high charge.

89

Satisfaction from Roaming facility

70%

62%
58%

60%
50%
40%
30%

18%

20%

20%
10% 9%

10%

13%

10%
0%

Very Satisfied

Satisfied Satisfied to an Extent

Dissatisfied

Airtel

62%

18%

10%

10%

Vodafone

58%

20%

9%

13%

62% of Airtel and 58% of Vodafone users are very satisfied with roaming
facility. 10% of Airtel and 13% Vodafone users are dissatisfied with roaming
because of high charges and poor signal strength while on roaming.

90

Satisfaction from Value added Services(VAS)

60%
50%

53%
48%

40%
30%

24%
21%

20%

14%
11%

15%14%

10%
0%
Airtel
Vodafone

Very Satisfied

53%
48%

Satisfied Satisfied to an Extent

Dissatisfied
21%
11%
15%
24%
14%
14%

Only 53% of Airtel and 48% of Vodafone users are very satisfied from VAS.
15% of Air Tel and 14% Vodafone users are dissatisfied from VAS because
they are not using these due to high charges for these facilities.

91

Satisfaction from Voice mail service

60%
52%
50%

48%

40%

30%
23%

25%
21%
18%

20%

8%

10%

0%

Very Satisfied

Satisfied

Satisfied to an Extent

5%

Dissatisfied

Airtel

48%

23%

21%

8%

Vodafone

52%

25%

18%

5%

48% of Airtel and 52% of Vodafone users are very satisfied with this service.
8% of Airtel and 5% of Vodafone users are dissatisfied from service because of
high charge.

92

Satisfaction from Billing

35%

31%

30%

28%

30%
25%

23%

25%

24%

21%
18%

20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Airtel
Vodafone

Very Satisfied

Satisfied

Satisfied to an Extent

Dissatisfied

23%

24%

25%

28%

30%

31%

21%

18%

only 23% of Airtel and 30% of Vodafone users are very satisfied with billing.
28 % of Airtel and 18% Vodafone users are dissatisfied with billing because of
inflated bills and delay in resolving. In this case Vodafone is better in
comparison to Airtel with less billing problems.

93

Satisfaction from Customer care services

80%
70%

68%

60%
50%
42%
40%
30%
21%
20%

21%

19%

10%
0%
Airtel
Vodafone

6%
Very Satisfied

Satisfied

Satisfied to an Extent

18%

5%
Dissatisfied

68%

21%

6%

5%

42%

19%

21%

18%

68% of Airtel and 42% of Vodafone users are very satisfied with customer
care. In case of Vodafone 18% of users are dissatisfied with customer care
while in Airtel it is only 5% which shows that Airtel is winner in terms of
providing Customer Care services. Reason for this is waiting time to talk to
customer care and resolving time taken is very high in Vodafone.

94

Users planning to shift to other cell operators

Planning to Shift to other cell operator
84%
90%

77%

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%

23%
16%

20%
10%
0%

Airtel

Vodafone

Yes

16%

23%

No

84%

77%

16% of Airtel users are planning to shift to other cell operator because they
find call charges expensive. While 23% of Vodafone users are planning to shift
because of poor customer care and high call charges. This shows that users
have much more loyalty towards Airtel in comparison to Vodafone.

95

Users recommending their cell operator to others

Recommend their cell operators to others

84%
90%

77%

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%

23%

30%

16%

20%
10%
0%

Airtel

Vodafone

Yes

84%

77%

No

16%

23%

84% of Airtel and 77% of Vodafone users are ready to recommend others. This
shows high satisfaction level in Airtel users as compared to Vodafone.

96

Conclusion
With the steep fall in the cost of providing cellular services, and increasing
deregulation and competition, developing countries are witnessing rapid
growth in cellular subscriber base. Indian cellular industry has been
witnessing a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of about 105.2%. It is a $5
billion industry today, and the cellular subscriber base in the country has
increased to 6.4 million from a mere 28,550 in 1996. According to reports,
Indian mobile subscriber base is expected to grow to 19.48 million in the
current year, i.e.; 2004. However, the penetration rate of cellular services is
very poor in developing countries. In India, the cellular density is 0.56 per 100
population compared to 77.84 in Finland.
Economic conditions, market structure, policies regarding tariffs and
interconnect agreements, and customer characteristics are some of the
significant forces affecting the growth of cellular services. Since it takes about
3-4 years for cellular operators to attain financial payback on their projects,
estimates of market size can be useful for network and investment planning.
Qualitative narratives and descriptive
statistics of the cellular sector for many countries are available from a variety
of industry sources. However, rigorous empirically based studies of cellular
market growth are much more limited in number.
Moreover, these studies do not provide much insight into the mechanics of
growth in cellular markets. Such insights can inform policymakers about the
process by which growth occurs and help develop policies that can improve
cellular penetration in developing countries. They are also useful to service
providers in planning their network rollouts and services in the face of market
competition.
With the introduction of new providers, the incumbents face erosion of their
subscriber base. They can take preemptive measures to improve the quality of
their services offerings, reduce prices and increase the breadth of their service
offerings. The new operators have to battle against the advantages of the
incumbents such as existing subscriber base, economies of network
operations, network infrastructure and their financial strength.
97

There are other idiosyncrasies that may also need to be considered. In case of
India for instance, some of the entities that have received licenses to operate as
the fourth operator in metro areas, have prior cellular network provisioning
experience in selected parts of the country. They can reduce the roaming
charges when the subscriber roams in the operator's other areas. Further, the
government owned third operator, was erstwhile monopoly operator in basic
and domestic long distance services. This operator has extensive long distance
network and a sound financial base that will enable them to cross-subsidize
the cellular service and reduce prices.

98

Recommendations

Sim card activation should not take more than 24 hrs.

More talktime should be given on recharge coupon.

Rent should be brought down to minimum Rs.100 to attract students

who forms majority of mobile phone users.

Calling line(CLIP) charges should be abolished as this is the necessity

of mobile users to know the number of calling party.

Satisfaction levels of Vodafone customers are comparatively lower than

Airtel customers. They should introduce reward-based schemes for its
customers.

Network signal should reach underground basement with voice clarity.

Vodafone need to focus on it.

Local SMS charges should brought down to less than 50 paisa as

compared to Rs.1.50. SMS is the need of students and easy way to stay
in touch and have fun.

Roaming charges should be minimized.

Airtel must provide GPRS facility on prepaid as Vodafone does. This

service is now in very much demand as accessing e-mail, internet
becomes easier by GPRS. Vodafone is a winner in this.

MMS is now in demand having sound and video messages. This

should be provided at low cost.

99

Billing complaints should be resolved within 24 hrs. Airtel should look

into this matter as they have more billing related issues.

Customer care should not take so long to provide feedback to

customers.

Call pulse rate should be reduced to 15 seconds as most call end up less
than this time. This will save money of customers.

Customers should be given rewards or discounts for showing loyalty to

service.

Rewards to customers recommending others.

Free unlimited call to 1 or 2 nos. on same network without any charges.

(A tribute to LOVEBIRDS)

Free calling within the group at low monthly rental.

Internet access on PC/LAPTOP through mobile be made cheaper.

100

ANNEXURE

101

Bibliography
Boyd, Westfall, Stasch: Marketing Research.
( Seventh Edition)
Research Methodology: C.R.Kothari.
(Second Edition)
Philip Kotler: Marketing Management.( Eleventh Edition)
Voicendata magazine. ( Edition: December 2004)
Company brochure of Airtel and Vodafone.
www.airtelworld.com
www.Vodafoneworld.com
www.google.com
www.voicendata.com

102

Questionnaire
1.

NAME:

2.

AGE:

_________________________

( ) upto 25 Yrs.
3.

( ) 36-45 Yrs.

( ) 46 Yrs. & above

SEX:
( ) Male

4.

( ) 26-35 Yrs.

( ) Female

EDUCATION LEVEL:
( ) High School ( ) Undergraduate ( ) Graduate & above ( )
Others___________

5.

OCCUPATION:
( ) Student
( ) Service Man
( ) Other ____________

6.

Which cell phone service you are using:

( ) AIR TEL

7.

( ) VODAFONE

Which category of service you are using:

( ) Prepaid

8.

( ) Professional

( ) Postpaid

What is your spending per month:

103

( ) Businessman

( ) Upto 500
9.

( ) Rs.501-1000

( ) Rs.1001-2000 ( ) Above Rs.2000

How much time taken by your service provider to activate sim :

( ) Same day

( ) Next day

( ) 2-3 days

( ) More than 3 days

10.
To what extent you are satisfied with Current Tariff of your cell
operator:
( ) Very Satisfied
Dissatisfied

( ) Satisfied

( ) Satisfied to an extent

()

11.
To what extent you are satisfied with Network Quality of your cell
operator:
( ) Very Satisfied
Dissatisfied

( ) Satisfied

( ) Satisfied to an extent

()

12.
To what extent you are satisfied with SMS Facility of your cell
operator:
( ) Very Satisfied
Dissatisfied

( ) Satisfied

( ) Satisfied to an extent

()

13.
To what extent you are satisfied with Roaming Facility of your cell
operator:
( ) Very Satisfied
Dissatisfied

( ) Satisfied

( ) Satisfied to an extent

()

14.
To what extent you are satisfied with Voice Mail Service of your cell
operator:
( ) Very Satisfied
Dissatisfied

( ) Satisfied

( ) Satisfied to an extent

()

15.
To what extent you are satisfied with Mobile Banking of your cell
operator:
( ) Very Satisfied
Dissatisfied

( ) Satisfied

( ) Satisfied to an extent

104

()

16.

To what extent you are satisfied with Value Added Services like
GPRS, MMS, E-MAIL, Chatting, Fax etc. of your cell operator:

( ) Very Satisfied
Dissatisfied

17.

( ) Satisfied

( ) Satisfied to an extent

()

To what extent you are satisfied with Billing by your cell operator:

( ) Very Satisfied
Dissatisfied

( ) Satisfied

( ) Satisfied to an extent

()

18.
To what extent you are satisfied with Customer Care Service of cell
operator:
( ) Very Satisfied
Dissatisfied
19.

()

( ) No

Are you going to Recommend your cell operator to others:

( ) Yes

21.

( ) Satisfied to an extent

Are you planning to Shift to other cell operator in near future:

( ) Yes

20.

( ) Satisfied

( ) No

Any Suggestions to service provider:

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

105

NAME
Dheeraj Miglani
Anuj Sood
Anuj Gupta
Mofij Ahmed
Rakesh
Aman Singh
N Durga Rao
saurabh pandey
Mrs Bharti
Mrs Sheila
Mrs Jyoti Shah
Kiran Kumar
Charanjit Singh
Arpit
Sanjeev Mishra
Kartik Sharma
Prince Ahuja
Manoj Kumar Bhola
Devesh Arora
Vinay Prakash
Prabhat Kumar
Shweta Bakshi
Deepak Vij
Barnali Patgiri
Pradeep Sambyal
Deeraj Kumar Sharma
Gyanendra Dev
KJS Kochar
Sanjiv Khurana
Pooja Thapar
Anita Dhillon
Jyoti Lahiri
Kapil Dev Sharma
Sudeep Bhatt
Naveet Lomish

CUSTOMERS DATABASE
SEX
AGE
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
F
M
F
M
M
M
M
M
F
F
F
M
M
M

1
2
3
3
2
3
1
3
1
1
1
1
2
4
3
2
1
1
1
2
2
3
1
3
3
4
4
2
2
1
1
1
4
4
2
106

Saya Chopra
Sonaal Pandit
Ranjiv kapur
Vishal Dewan
Raj Malhotra
Vinay Kapoor
Reena Sethi
Sunil K Gambhir
Lukose K Joseph
Nidhi Arora
Harish Taneja
Sheetal
Shweta Paul
B N Jha
Mayank Sharma
Sachin Deshmukh
Rahul sethi
Abhishek Prashad
Shaji Kuruvilla
Rajesh Sadhu
Moitree Sinha
Shameen Rocha
Terry O Conner
Aruna Khan
Neela Bhowmik
Sudha Choudhry
Lynnette Nath
Ashish Kumar
Bhawna Makhnotra
Sunil Sharma
Rajit Mehta
I.S. Sandhu
PS Anantha Narayanan
Rajesh Sud
Vijay Gupta
Pramod Radhakrishnan
Vipin jain
Baishali Ghosh
I B Sahay

M
M
M
M
M
M
F
M
M
F
M
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
F
F
F
F
F
F
M
F
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M

2
3
3
4
4
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
4
4
2
2
4
4
3
2
4
2
1
4
1
1
2
3
4
2
3
4
2
3
4
2
107

Praneet Singh
Ritesh
Nitin Saini
Jyoti shahi
Rajesh Sadhu
Moitree Sinha
Shameen Rocha
Terry O Conner
Aruna Khan
Neela Bhowmik
Sudha Choudhry
Lynnette Nath
Bhawna Makhnotra
Sunil Sharma
Rajit Mehta
Mayank Sharma
Sachin Deshmukh
Rahul sethi
Abhishek Prashad
Shaji Kuruvilla
Moitree Sinha
Alok Nath
Eunice Stephen
Sabreena R Grimm
Ashish Kumar
Bhawna Makhnotra
Sunil Sharma
Rajit Mehta
I.S. Sandhu
PS Anantha Narayanan
Rajesh Sud
Vijay Gupta
Pramod Radhakrishnan
Vipin jain
Baishali Ghosh
I B Sahay
Praneet Singh
Ritesh
Nidhi Arora

M
M
M
M
M
M
F
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
F
F
F
M
F
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
F

3
4
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
4
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
2
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
3
3
4
4
2
2
4
4
1
4
1
1
1
1
108

Harish Taneja
Sheetal
B N Jha
RASHMI
RAJSHREE
Arjoo Chowdhary
Pooja
Shamli sharma
Renu gupta
Shilpa
Preetam
Jatin
Gaurav sharma
Aakash sinha
M Male
F- Female

M
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
AGE: 1- Upto 25 Years
3- 36-45 Years

109

4
4
3
3
4
2
3
4
2
4
1
2
1
3
2- 26-35 Years
4- 46 Years & above

110