SYNOPSIS

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE MARKETING

STRATEGIES AND SERVICES BY GSM AND CDMA

OPERATORS IN TUTICORIN DISTRICT

1. Introduction

The telecom service has made its mark as an important tool for the

rapid development of the nation. The Indian telecom industry is on the path

of structuring as well as restructuring to keep up with the pace of

development. It is one of the largest sectors in the world and the second

largest in the developing countries. India has an installed base of about

43mm of basic phone lines. The National telecom policy 1999 aims at

making available telephone on demand by the year end 2002 and increase

the penetration levels to 7 per cent by 2005 and 15 per cent in 2010.1

The telecom sector is mainly divided into two parts as Basic Service

Operators (BSOs) Fixed and Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) and cellular mobile

1. Daxa C. Gohil (2005), “Customer Preferences in Telecom Industry”, Management

Trends, 2 (1), October-March, p.61.

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service provider. There are around seven players operating in the basic

service providers segment – Tata Teleservices, Reliance, Bharati, HFCLs as

well as BSNL and MTNL. WLL service providers are Reliance infocomm and

Tata Indicom. There is more than ten cellular mobile services providers in

the market like Bharati, BSNL, Hutch(Vodafone), MTNL, Idea, Reliance, Spice

and Airtel and the like. There are two types of mobile service networks–

Global System for Mobile (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).

The service industry supports the national economy with more than 55 per

cent growth rate. Its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product is less than

20 per cent.2

In India cellular services were made available to the public after

liberalization of telecom policy way back in 1994 since then every operator

in the cellular services sector has been vying to offer a range of new

services. Each operator offers a variety of calling plans both pre-paid as well

as post-paid to suit the varying needs and requirements. Various service

levels as well as coverage areas, quality of network coverage pertaining to

2. Selvarasu, A., Gomathishankar, K. and M.G. Loganathan (2006), “GSM Mobile

Service in Telecom Sector: An Ontology of Quality of Service”, The ICFAI Journal
of Services Marketing, 4 (4), December, p.24.

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three factors namely network access, call retention and call quality make the

job of service provider very challenging.3 In addition to this, various charges

in the form of activation fees, monthly access charges, number of included

minutes, surcharge for extra minutes, contract periods and the like have

almost miraculously transformed cellular service industry from a slovenly

run state owned monopoly into an increasingly competitive industry. An

intense cut throat competition is being witnessed between private

operators on various parameters like peak and off peak calling times, per

minute charges (pulse duration), roaming charges, SMS facility and the like.4

2. Statement of the Problem

The customers’ tastes and preferences are consistently changing

because of the fast and vast development of information technology in

India. The challenges to the service providers in the GSM and CDMA market

increase the customer base. It is possible only by creating new circles, new-

generation pricing strategy, glitzy and eye catching advertising, developing

3. Agarwal and Pradeep (1999), “Comparison of Customer Satisfaction Level of RPG

and Reliance Telecom Customers”, Unpublished Major Project Report, PIMR,
Indore.
4. Alok Mittal and Prena Sirohi (2006), “Factors affecting Selection of Cellular
Services:A Cross–Segmental Study”, Synergy, 4 (1), January, pp.74-75.

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positive perception about the brand and customer retention and loyalty

programme. The customer base has been extended with the provision of

better technology, price and services. Apart from that the market in Indian

society is classified into very rich, upper middle class, middle class, lower

middle class and very poor, the scope for increasing the customer base is

very high in the upper middle, middle and lower middle class. The required

marketing strategy for the above said customer segments is totally different

from one another. Hence, the marketer has to evaluate the customers’

perception and expectation in GSM and CDMA operators with regular

interval to formulate suitable marketing strategy. Otherwise, the marketing

strategy itself can lead to many problems. By nature, the core service

offered by GSM and CDMA operators are the same, but may differ in the

supplementary services offered to their customers. Hence, the marketers

are often facing many problems in formulating their marketing strategy

appropriate to the existing environment.

3. Significance of the Study

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 The telecommunication services have made a rapid stride both in

quality and quantity. However the users at large are found dissatisfied with

the quality of services made available to them. The process of technological

sophistication has gained momentum but the users are yet to get the quality

service. The managerial proficiency is felt essential at different stages of

operation. The professional and technocrats have to pave the way to make

possible quantitative improvements in the services the domestic,

commercial, institutional sectors except world-class services. The

managerial experts feel that the service providers in telecommunication

need a conceptualised marketing which would improve the quality of

services and make way for the generation of profits. The various players in

GSM and CDMA aim at market applied innovation-driven, sales-driven,

customer-driven and product-driven strategies to capture the market. They

are investing more in customer centres and CRM platforms to expand their

customer base. But because of cut-throat competition, the marketing

strategies followed by the various service providers require a consistent

modification in the mobile phone service market. Hence, the present study

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focuses on the marketing strategies and practices implemented by the

service providers in GSM and CDMA market.

4. Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is limited to Tuticorin district alone. The study

is based on the staff and customers’ perception on the marketing strategies

of various service providers in GSM and CDMA market at Tuticorin district.

The important service providers in GSM market at Tuticorin are Airtel, Aircel,

Vodafone and BSNL whereas in CDMA market, these are Tata and Reliance.

It limits its scope of studying marketing strategies to the perception of the

staff and consumers on various services and marketing strategies in the

market. The period of the study is confined to 2005-06.

5. Objectives of the Study

The present study focuses on the following objectives

i) To exhibit the profile of the staff in various GSM and CDMA operators in

Tuticorin district.

ii) To identify the staffs’ perception on their marketing logic followed and

services offered to their customers.

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iii) To reveal the important marketing strategy adopted in the market.

iv) To show the customers’ profile in GSM and CDMA market.

v) To examine the customers’ perception on services offered by various

service providers in GSM and CDMA market.

vi) To analyze the customers’ perception on service quality of GSM and

CDMA operators and

vii) To evaluate the customers’ perception of marketing strategies adopted

by GSM and CDMA operators and its correlates.

viii) To present findings of the study and offer valuable suggestions to

improve the performance.

6. Hypotheses

On the basis of the foregoing research objectives, the following null

hypotheses were developed. They are

i) There is no significant difference among the GSM and CDMA operators

regarding the importance given on customer groups, customer

segmentation focused and aim of the marketing organization.

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ii) There is no significant difference among the GSM and CDMA operators

regarding the marketing logic followed, marketing services and

marketing strategies.

iii) There is no association between the profile of the staff in GSM and

CDMA operators and their view on marketing logic, marketing services

and marketing strategies.

iv) There is no significant difference among the customers in GSM and

CDMA operators regarding their source of information about their

service providers, variables influencing to choose their service providers

and factors leading to the choice of their service providers.

v) There is no significant difference among the customers in GSM and

CDMA operators regarding their perception on variables and factors

leading to their switching behaviours and intention.

vi) There is no significant difference among the customers of various

service providers regarding their perception on factors leading to

switching, service quality gap and their overall attitude towards the

service offered in the market.

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vii) There is no association between the profile of the customers and their

perception on the factors leading to switching, service quality gap and

their perception on marketing strategies.

viii) There is no significant impact of perception on service quality factors in

GSM and CDMA operators on the overall attitude towards their service

among the customers in both GSM and CDMA market.

7. Methodology and Data Collection

The research methodology is the way of systematically solving the

research problem. It is a science of studying how research is conducted

scientifically. Under it, the researcher acquaints the various steps generally

adopted to study a research problem, along with the underlying logic behind

them. In order to proceed and present the research report in a scientific

manner, the research techniques and methods and a scientific approach are

essential. In simple words, it is called research methodology.

A research design helps to decide upon issues like what, when, where,

how much, by what mean and the like with regard to an enquiry or a

research study. It is the arrangement of conditions for collection and

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analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research

purpose with economy in procedure. The research design provides an

outline of what the researcher is going to do in terms of framing the

hypothesis, its operational implications, and the final data analysis. The

research design highlights decisions which include the nature of the study,

purpose of the study, location of the study, nature of data required, data

collection forms, time period of the study, sample design, method of data

collection, analysis of data and report format.

The present study is concerned with describing the characteristics of

staff and customers in GSM and CDMA market, their perception on various

services offered in mobile phone service market and the marketing

strategies adopted by various service providers in the market. It is highly

descriptive in nature. At the same time, by examining the relationship

between the profile of the staff and customers and their perception on

marketing strategies in GSM and CDMA market, it is highly diagnostic

oriented. Since the study has its own objectives, proper designing of the

methods of data collection, sample selection, data collection, process and

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analysis of data and reporting the findings, the research design of the

present study is descriptive and diagnostic

The present study depends upon both primary and secondary data.

The secondary data are required to write the conceptual framework,

reviews and theoretical framework of the study. The needed secondary data

were collected from the records and annual reports of various service

providers in the market and also from the Department of

Telecommunication. Further information was gathered from various

journals, books, magazines, newspapers and the internet. The required

primary data were collected from the staff and customers in GSM and CDMA

market. The primary data were collected with the help of pre-structured

interview schedule. The schedule had been prepared with the help of

reviews, the views of the experts in the relevant field, and a few customers.

It is subjected with pre-test. The necessary modification and additions had

been made as per the advice of the experts in various fields. The final draft

of interview schedule was used to collect the data from the sample staff and

customers.

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8. Sampling Design

The sampling framework consists of sample size and sampling

procedure. Since the study is based on the staff and customers’ perception

on marketing strategies of GSM and CDMA operators, the sample size is

determined on the basis of their population in the district. Initially, 20 per

cent of the staff working in various service providing agencies are

purposively included for the present study. After that sample size of 97 staff

is proportionately distributed on the basis of their designation and the name

of their service providers. The samples are selected at random in each

category. Hence, the applied sampling procedure in selecting the staff is

stratified proportionate random sampling.

The sample size of customers in GSM and CDMA market has been

purposively determined as 0.5 per cent of the population of 1,75,640. The

total sample size came to 878. The sample size of customers are

proportionately distributed on the basis of their service providers and taluk,

in Tuticorin district. The customers are selected at random in each category.

Hence, the total response rate from the customers was only 58.43 per cent

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which consists of 513 respondents. That 513 customers have been included

as the sample of the present study. Table 1.3 explains the details of sample

size of the customers.

Table 1.1

Sample Size of the Customers.

Sl.No. Taluk Name Total 0.5 % of Sample

Customer Customer Size
Base Base

1. Ottapidaram 14800 74 43

2. Kovilpatti 16067 80 47

3. Tuticorin 85409 427 249

4. Sattankulam 11114 56 32

5. Tiruchendur 19473 97 57

6. Vilathikulam 8388 42 24

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 7. Srivaikundam 11278 56 33

8. Ettayapuram 9111 46 28

Total 175640 878 513

From the above Table 1.3 it is inferred that the sample size of customers are

proportionately distributed on the basis of their service providers and taluk,

in Tuticorin district.

9. Framework of Analysis

The statistical analysis has been selected and used to process the

collected data according to the requirements of the study. The analysis is

selected according to the scale of data and the objectives of the study. The

included statistical analysis and its application are presented below:

9.1 T-test

The ‘t’ test is one of parametric tests to analyze the significant

difference among the two group of samples. It is applied when the criterion

variable is in interval scale. The ‘t’ statistics are calculated by

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 x1  x 2
t  2 2
( n 1 - 1)  s1
 (n 2
- 1)  s2 1 1
 
n1  n 2
-2 n1 n 2

which is compared with the degree of freedom of (n1 + n2 – 2).

Whereas t = ‘t’ statistics
x1  mean of the first group of sample
x 2  mean of the second group of sample
n1 – number of samples in the first group
n2 – number of samples in the second group
 s1
2
– variance in the first sample
 s2
2
– variance in the second sample

The ‘t’ test has been applied to test the significant difference among

the customers in GSM and CDMA market regarding

i) Their source of information about the service provider,

ii) The variables influencing to choose the service provider,

iii) The factors influencing to choose the service provider,

iv) The variables leading to their switching behavior,

v) The factors leading to their switching behavior,

vi) Their perception on service quality variables in GSM and CDMA

operators service

vii) Their perception on service quality factors.

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 It is also administered to find out the significant difference among the

staff in GSM and CDMA operators regarding their

viii) Importance given to customers, customer focused, aim of the

organization, marketing logic, marketing services and marketing

strategies.

9.2 One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

The one way analysis of variance is applied when the criterion variable

is in interval scale and the number of group of samples included for the

study is more that two. The ‘F’ statistics are calculated by

Trss/dF Greater va riance

F  
Ess/dF Small variance

Compared with the F (k-1;N-k) degree of freedom

Whereas F – ‘F’ statistics

N – Number of sample size

K – Number of groups included

Trss/df – Variance between groups and

Ess/df – Variance within groups.

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 The one way ANOVA has been administered to examine the

association between the profile of customers and their perception on

factors leading to choose the service provider, factors leading to switching,

their perception on service quality factors, service quality gaps and the

overall attitude towards the service offered in the market.

It is also used to find out the association between the profile of the

staff and their perception on marketing logic followed, marketing services

and marketing strategies. The significant difference among the various GSM

and CDMA operators regarding the marketing logic, followed marketing

services and later marketing strategies.

9.3 Factor Analysis

The factor analysis is used when the researcher wants to narrate the

variable into handsome factors and also find the relationship between the

variables and narrated factors. It is also called the narration analysis.

Whenever the variables related to a particular event are unmanageable or

plenty and also in interval scale, the factor analysis has to be executed to

narrate these variables into factors. Before applying the factor analysis, the

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validity of data for factor analysis , the validity of data for factor analysis

have to be executed with the help of Kaiser-mayer-ohlin (KMO) measure of

sampling adequacy and Bartletts test of sphericity. The acceptable KMO

measure of sampling adequacy is 0.5, whereas the acceptable level of

significance of chi-square value is up to 0.05 per cent level. In the present

study, the factor analysis has been executed to identify the

a) factors influencing the choice of their service provider,

b) factors leading to their switching behaviours,

c) service quality factors in mobile phone service,

d) important aspects in marketing strategies of GSM and CDMA

operators

e) important marketing logics followed in GSM and CDMA operation

f) important marketing services offered by GSM and CDMA operators

and

g) important marketing strategies followed by GSM and CDMA

operators.

9.4 Discriminate Analysis (Two group model)

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 The discriminate analysis is used when the dependent variable is in

nominal scale and the independent variable are in interval scale. It is used to

identify the important discriminate variable among the two groups

formulated in the study. The unstandardized canon discriminate function

was estimated by

Z = a + b1X1 + b2X2 + b3X3 + b4X4 +………….+ bnXn

Whereas Z = Discriminant enterion

X1, X2,…Xn = Discriminant variables

b1, b2,…bn = Discriminant coefficients

The wilks lambda was calculated as a multi-variant measure of group

difference over discriminating variables. The relative discriminating power of

the variables was calculated by

I j  K j (X j1  X j2 )

Whereas
Ij = the important value of the jth variable

Kj = unstandardized discriminant co-efficient for the jth variable

Xjk = mean of the jth variable for kth group

The relative importance of a variable Rj is given by

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 Ij
R j
 n

 Ij
j1

In the present study, the two group discriminant analysis has been

administered to identify the important marketing strategies of GSM and

CDMA operators.

9.5 Multiple Regression Analysis

The multiple regression analysis is applied to analyse the impact, of

independent variables on dependent variable when both the variables are in

interval scale. The linear regression model is fitted by

y = a + b1X1 + b2X2 +…………… bnXn + 3

Whereas y = dependent variable

X1, X2,…Xn = Independent variables

b1, b2… bn = regression coefficient of independent variables

a = intercept and

b = error term

In the present study, the multiple regression analysis has been

administered to find out the impact of customers perception in various

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service quality factors on the overall attitude towards the mobile phone

service offered by the service providers.

10. Limitations of the Study

The study is subjected with the following limitations

i) The marketing strategy among the GSM and CDMA operator has been

examined with the perception on marketing strategy among the staff

and customers in the both GSM and CDMA market.

ii) The variables related to the marketing logic, service, marketing strategy,

service quality of the operators and the variables influencing the choice

of the service providers are derived from the reviews and the experts

from the relevant field.

iii) Though the researcher has approached 0.5 % of the total customer base

(878) only, 513 respondents were positively responded (58.43 %)

iv) The linear relationship between the dependent and independent

variables has been assumed.

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11.Scheme of the Report

The present thesis consists of six chapters.

The first chapter “Introduction and Design of the Study” deals with

the methodological aspects of the study. It includes introduction, statement

of the problem, significance of the study, scope of the study, objectives of

the study, hypothesis, operational definition of the concepts, profile of the

study area, methodology, sampling design, framework of analysis,

limitations, and the scheme of the report.

The second chapter “Concepts and Reviews” covers the conceptual

framework of the study and the review of previous studies related to various

aspects of mobile phone service.

The third chapter “Cellular Telephone Industry in India” presents the

overall picture of Cellular Telephone Industry. It includes the world mobile

cellular subscribers, mobile telecommunication services, telecom industry in

India, performance of telecom sector, milestones in telecom sector of

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India,telecom statistics, mobile subscribers, circlewise market share and

customer base of various service providers and their marketing strategies.

The fourth chapter “Marketing Strategies in GSM and CDMA

Market” deals with the marketing strategies adopted by GSM and CDMA

Market. It includes Marketing Strategies among the Service Providers, Profile

of the Staff, Age among the Staff, Level of Education among the Staffs,

Years of Experience in the Field, Number of working Departments, Years of

Experience in the Existing Service Providers, Monthly Income among the

Staffs, Customers Focused by the Service Provider, Focused Customers

Segment in the Market, Staff‟s Opinion on their Organisation, Marketing

Logic followed in the GSM and CDMA Market, Important Marketing Logic

In The GSM and CDMA Market, Variables in the Customers Driven Logic,

Variables in Distribution-Driven Logic Variables in Product Driven Logic,

Marketing Logics in GSM and CDMA Market Marketing Logic among the

Various Service Providers Association between Profile of Staffs and their

importance given on Marketing Logics, Importance given on Marketing

Variables, Important Marketing Services in the GSM and CDMA Market,

Important Marketing Services Focused in GSM and CDMA Market,

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Marketing Strategies adopted in GSM and CDMA Market, the marketing

logic, services offered and marketing strategies followed by various service

providers in the GSM and CDMA market as per their staff perception on the

above said aspects.

The fifth chapter “Customer’s Perception on the Service Quality of

the Service Providers in GSM and CDMA Market” exhibits Customer’s

Perception on the Service Quality of the Service Providers, Distribution of

Customers on the Basis of the Service Providers, Profile of the Customers,

Variables Influencing the Choice of the Service Providers, Variables Leading

to the Switching Intension Among the Customers, Service Quality of the

Service Provider, Customer’s Perception on Marketing Strategies, Switching

Intention Among the Customers,

The sixth chapter “Summary of Findings, Policy Implications and

Conclusion” deals with the conclusion aspects of study. It consists of

summary of findings, suggestions and conclusion.

******

Dr.V. CHINNIAH, M.Com., M.B.A., M.Phil., B.L., Ph.D.,

Professor,

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