Project On Voda and Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel
OVERVIEW OF INDUSRTY AS WHOLE

Telecom Sector in India
Than 125 million telephones network is one of the largest communication networks in world, which continues to grow at a blistering pace. The rapid growth in the telecom sector can be attributed to the various pro-active and positive policy measures taken by the government as well as the dynamic and entrepreneurial spirit of the various telecom service providers both in private and public sector. The telecom sector has shown impressive growth during the past decade. Today, more Two striking features of this growth viz. increasing preference for mobile phones and higher contribution of private sector in the incremental growth have predominated the telecom sector. The share of mobile phones (including WLL mobile) has overtaken the share of landlines with 62% in the total number of phones. The private sector's contribution is also increasing rapidly. Currently more than 30 lakh phones are being added each month and it is targeted that by the end of 2008 the total number of phones may reach a level of 350 million taking the tele-density to more than 30% which is currently at 24.63%. Network Expansion: The total number of telephone subscribers has reached 281.62 million at the end of January 2008 as compared to 232.87 million in July 2007. The overall Tele density has increased to 23.63% in January 2008 as compared to 21.20% in August 2007. Wireless Service: The wireless segment saw a surge of 8.77 million subscribers last month compared to 8.17 million in December2007. This pushed the total wireless subscribers base to 242.40 million by Jan 31 2008. Wire line Subscribers: The wire line segment subscriber base stood at 39.73 million with a decrease of 0.16 million at the end of January 2008. Tele density: The gross subscriber base reached 206.83 million at the end of March 2007. The Tele density is 24.63%at the end of January 2008 as compared to 18.31% at the end of March 2007, registering an increase of 6%.
Increasing Role of Private Sector: The private sector has played a significant role in the growth of telecom sector. The share of private sector has risen to 85 per cent in December 2007 from 64.14 per cent in November 2006. Tariff Rebalancing Measures: There has been a dramatic fall in the tariffs due to increased competition. The minimum effective charges for local calls have fallen considerably in recent months especially for cellular service. The long distance domestic as well as international charges have also fallen considerably. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): TRAI was established under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 enacted on March 28,1997. The goals and objectives of TRAI are focused towards providing a regulatory framework that facilitates achievement of the objectives of New Technology Policy (NTP) 1999. TRAI has endeavored to encourage greater corporation in the telecom sector together with better quality and affordable prices. The Indian Telecom Analysis (2008-2012) report by RNCOS Industry Research Solutions shows that mobile telecom segment has surpassed all other segments in the Indian telecom sector. (The mobile telecom market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 15 per cent between 2009-10 and 2013-14.) The report also indicates that the advance of services such as Internet Protocol television (IPTV) and 3G are fuelling the growth of the Indian telecom sector. Additionally, with 3G auctions scheduled for February 13, 2010 is expected to set in motion the quick adoption of 3G. Meanwhile, Bangladesh's telecom regulator granted approval to Indian telecom operator, Bharti Airtels US$ 300 million proposed investment for a 70 per cent stake in the Abu Dhabi Group's Warid Telecom of Bangladesh. This approval makes the company the first Indian operator from the Indian telecom sector to foray into Bangladesh.
Indian telecom companies are following the trend of global telecom companies such as France Telecom, AT&T and Vodafone to capitalize on the excitement in the mobile applications spacemobile service provider Aircel has partnered Infosys Technologies to launch the first mobile application sector in the Indian telecom sector. Also, Airtel is considering partnering software company IBM to launch app stores in 2010. This signals the increasing recognition among operators in the Indian telecom sector that the way ahead for mobile technology
ii
lies
with
independent
developers.
In another development in the Indian telecom sector, Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) has
partnered Novatium Solutions Ltd to launch what is said to be the countrys first cloud computing service over wireless broadband , Nova Navigator'. The Navigator is being described as a zero maintenance' access device with features such as 3G support . In a development that will provide fundamental benefits to services offered by the Indian telecom sector, Tata Communications and China Telecom Corp are to jointly build a 500-km optical fiber cable network between the two countries in 2010. Along with the investments of Tata Communications in other subsea cable investments, the India-China Terrestrial Cable will provide high-speed connectivity between Asia and Europe. This project report is aimed at analyzing the Marketing strategies of the Indian Telecom Sector.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TELE SECTOR IN INDIA

In the early 1990s, the Indian government adopted a new economic policy aimed at improving India's competitiveness in the global markets and the rapid growth of exports. Key to achieving these goals was a world-class telecom infrastructure. In India, the telecom service areas are divided into four metros (New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata) and 20 circles, which roughly correspond to the states in India. The circles are further classified under "A," "B" and "C," with the "A" circle being the most attractive and "C" being the least attractive. The regulatory body at that time the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) allocated two cellular licenses for each metro and circle. Thirty-four licenses for GSM900 cellular services were auctioned to 22 firms in 1995. The first cellular service was provided by, Modi Telstra in Kolkata in August 1995. For the auction, it was stipulated that no firm can win in more than one metro, three circles or both. The circles of Jammu and Kashmir and Andaman and Nicobar had no bidders, while West Bengal and Assam had only one bidder each. In 1996, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, and the president officially announced the TRAI ordinance on 25 January 1997. The government decided to set up TRAI to separate regulatory functions from policy formulation, licensing and telecom operations. Prior to the creation of TRAI, these functions were the sole responsibility of the DOT. High license fees and excessive bids for the cellular licenses put tremendous financial burden on the operators, diverting funds away from network development and enhancements. As a result, by 1999 many operators failed to pay their license fees and
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were in danger of having their licenses withdrawn. In March 1999, a new telecom policy was put in place (New Telecom Policy [NTP] 1999). Under this new policy, the old fixed-licensing regime was to be replaced by a revenue-sharing scheme whereby between 8-12 percent of cellular revenue were to be paid to the government.
INDIAN CELLULAR MARKET - EARLIER ROADBLOCKS AND THEIR RESOLUTION

Indian Cellular market immediately after the first round of licensing in 1994-96 was beset by several problems for 3 - 4 years till the New Telecom Policy of 1999 was announced. Some of these roadblocks / current position is tabulated below:
ROADBLOCKS CURRENT POSITION

High license fees Migration to revenue sharing mode in 1999 mitigates high initial fund requirements for payment of license fees. Inadequately funded businesses / weak and fragmented promoters Businesses that have since been adequately funded growing at over 60% per annum, while businesses with weak promoters continuing to languish - spate of acquisitions / mergers, with 4/5 major groups emerging in the last one/two years.
REGULATORY AUTHORITY NOT IN PLACE

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) firmly in place, and its role being accepted by all operators; Deptt of Telecommunications (DOT) restructured, with operations and policy making roles vested in different bodies. Issues relating to unfavorable interconnect terms for private operators, pass through income, intra circle long distance, spectrum availability and allocation and the like remained unresolved for long periods. Interconnect terms since rationalized, risks on pass through income to DOT / BHARTI (Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd.) resolved to the satisfaction of all parties with changes
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in methodology / revenue sharing, intra circle long distance allowed, spectrum availability cleared with vacation of frequencies for usage by GSM operators.
REASONS OF PROBLEMS IN FINANCIAL CLOSURES

Licensing tenure of 10 years Large upfront cash requirements from promoters due to heavy license fee burden in initial stages of deployment Asset based financing approach by Indian Financial Institutions. Licensing tenure increased from 10 to 20 years
Large upfront cash requirements for license fee payments mitigated with migration to revenue sharing mode allowing promoters to deploy more capital for capital expenditure; project financing being considered by most financial institutions.
FOREIGN OWNERSHIP / CHANGE OF PARTNER LIMITATIONS

Foreign ownership norms clarified, and change of partners allowed as a matter of routine allowing ease of entry / exit - paves the way for full control of businesses by foreign companies. Inadequate growth of market / subscribers Roadblocks spelt out earlier resulted in low market / subscriber growth, but with corrective measures taken, market / subscriber base expected to zoom.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CELLULAR INDUSTRY

The interconnection regime between cellular operators and fixed-line operators is still biased against the former. Despite the recent gains of the cellular industry, not everything is rosy. The cellular penetration rate is still very low at 0.8 percent in a nation of over one billion people. In recent years, many foreign companies had pulled out from their cellular joint ventures in India due to the difficult operating environment and bureaucracy. In 1999 alone, Swisscom pulled out from Sterling Cellular, Telstra from Modi Telstra and both the
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Telecom Organization of Thailand and Jasmine International from JT Mobile. In 2000, Telecom Malaysia sold its stake in Usha Martin Telecom, and both Shinawatra of Thailand and Bezeq exited from Fascel. In June 2001, British Telecom exited from Bharti Cellular. Bell South International has also indicated its intention to pull out from Skycell Communications, and Hong Kong-based Distacom is seeking to sell its stake in Spice Communications. First Pacific's (based in Hong Kong) continued commitment to Escotel is uncertain, and the former is reviewing various options. The string of sell-outs notwithstanding, there has been a merger and acquisition wave sweeping across the Indian cellular industry in recent years. Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, via Hutchison Telecommunications (HK), acquired major stakes in Sterling Cellular (December 1999), Usha Martin Telecom (mid-2000) and Fascel (September 2000). Through a partnership with local company, Kotak Mahindra Finance, Hutchison Whampoa practically controls Fascel and Usha Martin Telecom, thus circumventing the 49 percent limit on foreign ownership in Indian cellular operators. Hutchison Whampoa is also the controlling shareholder of Hutchison Max Telecom. Not to be outdone, Bharti Enterprises another major cellular player acquired control of JT Telecom, which was later renamed Bharti Mobile (December 1999), and Skycell Communications renamed Bharti Mobinet (August 2000). Bharti also acquired the Punjab license of Essar and started operations, giving competition to the lone operator there, Spice Communications. Going forward, Bharti is likely to merge all its cellular companies into one entity. Five companies together bid Rs16.3 billion to bag the licenses for the fourth operator slots in four metros and 13 circles. Bharti emerged as the No. 1 bidder with eight new licenses, followed by Escotel with four, Hutchison with three, and Vodafone and Idea cellular with one each. Bharti and Hutchison have already commenced operations in all the circles while Idea is set to launch in Delhi. Escotel and Vodafone have not made any headway. BHARTI, the third cellular operator for Delhi and Mumbai, started services in March 2001. BSNL, as the third nationwide cellular operator, launched services in Kolkatta and Bihar in January 2002. This was followed by Tamil Nadu in July 2002. A nationwide launch was scheduled for 2 October 2002. However, this has been postponed until after mid October. Once BSNL rolls out its service, most telecom circles will have four cellular operators. There will be tremendous competitive pressure, which will result in
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lower tariffs. Future rate cuts are expected, which will drive demand, together with falling handset prices and the introduction of prepaid services. In the midst of declining interest in technology stocks, Bharti came out with its longawaited initial public offering (IPO) in January 2002. Leveraging on the success of its cellular service, the company got a very good response from the primary market. The total size of the IPO was 185 million shares at a floor price of Rs10. The issue was oversubscribed by more than 2.5 times, netting Rs8.3 billion. This will be used to fuel its investment in long-distance, basic and cellular services. As of October 2002, only BPL Mobile has launched commercial general packet radio service (GPRS) in Mumbai. However, large-scale uptake remains elusive. While both Bharti and Idea have GPRS-enabled networks, there is caution on their part to launch the service. With hardly any applications, the success of GPRS remains a question. In 2005 Hutchison Essar an Indian and hong kong telecommunication alliance was taken over by the United Kingdom based telecommunication company name Vodafone telecomm services and comes with the name of Vodafone essar. Virgin mobile comes in Indian Territory with the alliance of TATA telecommunication Maharashtra in 2008. Mitsubishi a Japanese telecomm services (MTS) company comes in India in 2009 and take over first rainbow in Rajasthan with CDMA network criteria.
BUILDING VISIBILITY AND AWARENESS

Deviating from competing on the price platform, cellular operators are actively promoting their brand and service portfolio through high-visibility advertising and promotional campaigns. Cellular operators like Bharti, Orange and BPL Mobile have been advertising aggressively on hoardings and kiosks. Public transport like the city rail system and cabs are used widely to carry the message of mobility. Customer-focused activities are gaining traction among cellular operators with the establishment of longstanding consumer benefit programs. Orange in Mumbai offers "Orange Holidays" and "Orange Monsoon Offers" at very attractive rates and added benefits like discounts on airfare, food and beverages, among others. Others offer special privileges in retail outlets, cinemas and music shops.
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ENTERPRISE
MOBILE
APPLICATIONS
PROMISING
REVENUE STREAM
All along, customer acquisition and the top line have been the focus. Few operators have concentrated on offering differentiated services for businesses. However, as operators realize that offering basic voice and Short Message Service (SMS) will get them the numbers but not the margins, some are now seriously looking at the enterprise segment for provisioning superior services. Cost-centered solutions like closed user group (CUG), value-adds like unified messaging and instant alerts are being offered. A variety of mobile applications are finding takers among the enterprise segment. Bharti is in the process of introducing a facility to fleet management companies so that they can improve the efficiency of trucks or buses by tracking movement and ensuring higheruse, accurate route planning. Premium automakers are also installing a global system for mobile communications inside a vehicle to help trace lost vehicles and track down stolen cars. Corporations can choose enhanced services like user-defined call routing to prevent misuse. Calls can be barred, limiting access to select numbers and diverting calls to one single number. Broadcasting services are also quite popular, especially among fast food centers that have a central number. Group SMS is quite popular, especially among enterprises both in the service as well as the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment that have a large field force and need to provide regular updates on inventory status, discount schemes and movement of goods from warehouse to the retail outlet. Banks too find bulk SMS service very useful to forward transactional alerts to their customers.
FUTURE TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENT

There will be more competition, forcing operators to constantly focus on differentiations to maintain their lead. The implementation of enhanced networks like 2.5G will enable operators to offer data services. This is an opportunity to customize and differentiate better.
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The entry of state-run operators like BSNL and BHARTI means that prices will no longer be controlled, thus there is less chance of a cartel being formed. Network coverage in terms of geographic spread and quality of coverage is crucial especially for the business subscriber. The bigger the service provider's national presence, the better it is for businesses. On the roaming front, signing up with a national operator is advantageous. Limited mobility wireless in local-loop services (by fixed network service providers) will be a disadvantage for cellular operators in the short term. Consequently, operators need to streamline their customer relation activities and adopt aggressive subscriber acquisition and retention strategies.
REGULATORY ISSUES
The operations of this sector are determined as under the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885. A document buried in the sands of time. The next major policy document, which was produced, was the National Telecom Policy of 1994, a consequence of the on going process of liberalization. Year 1851 1943 1985 1986 1991 1994 1994 Event First telephones in India Nationalization of telephone companies DOT was created Creation of BHARTI and VSNL Telecom equipment liberalized Licenses for paging Telecom policy announced
September 1994 Guidelines for private sector participation in basic services November 1994 Cellular licenses issued for metros December 1994 Tenders for cellular licenses in 19 cities apart from 4 metros January 1995 Tenders for 2nd operator in basic services apart from DOT on circle Basis. August 1995 VSNL launches Internet services
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MOBILE TELEPHONES
With a subscriber base of more than 680 million, the Mobile telecommunications system in India is the second largest in the world and it was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. The country is divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along state boundaries). Government and several private players run local and long distance telephone services. Competition has caused prices to drop and calls across India are one of the cheapest in the world. The rates are supposed to go down further with new measures to be taken by the Information Ministry. In September 2004, the number of
mobile phone connections crossed the number of fixed-line connections and presently dwarfs the wire line segment by a ratio of around 20:1. The mobile subscriber base has grown by a factor of over a hundred and thirty, from 5 million subscribers in 2001 to over 680 million subscribers as of Sep 2010 (a period of less than 9 years) . India primarily follows the GSM mobile system, in the 900 MHz band. Recent operators also operate in the 1800 MHz band. The dominant players are Airtel, Reliance Info comm, Vodafone, Idea cellular and BSNL/MTNL. There are many smaller players, with operations in only a few states. International roaming agreements exist between most operators and many foreign carriers.
PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
The telecom industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India. India has nearly 200 million telephone lines making it the third largest network in the world after China and USA. With a growth rate of 45%, Indian telecom industry has the highest growth. History of Indian Telecommunications started in 1851 when the first operational land lines were laid by the government near Calcutta (seat of British power). Telephone services were introduced in India in 1881. In 1883 telephone services were merged with the postal system. Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT) was formed in 1923. After independence in 1947, all the foreign telecommunication companies were nationalized to form the Posts, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT), a monopoly run by the government's Ministry of Communications. Telecom sector was considered as a strategic service and the government considered it best to bring under state's control.
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The first wind of reforms in telecommunications sector began to flow in 1980s when the private sector was allowed in telecommunications equipment manufacturing. In 1985, Department of Telecommunications (DOT) was established. It was an exclusive provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own regulator (separate from the postal system). In 1986, two wholly government-owned companies were created: the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in metropolitan areas.
In 1990s, telecommunications sector benefited from the general opening up of the economy. Also, examples of telecom revolution in many other countries, which resulted in better quality of service and lower tariffs, led Indian policy makers to initiate a change process finally resulting in opening up of telecom services sector for the private sector. National Telecom Policy (NTP) 1994 was the first attempt to give a comprehensive roadmap for the Indian telecommunications sector. In 1997, Telecom Regulatory. Authority of India (TRAI) was created. TRAI was formed to act as a regulator to facilitate the growth of the telecom sector. New National Telecom Policy was adopted in 1999 and cellular services were also launched in the same year.
MOBILE TELEPHONES IN INDIA

With a subscriber base of more than 680 million, the Mobile telecommunications system in India is the second largest in the world and it was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. The country is divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along state boundaries). Government and several private players run local and long distance telephone services. Competition has caused prices to drop and calls across India are one of the cheapest in the world. The rates are supposed to go down further with new measures to be taken by the Information Ministry. In September 2004, the number of mobile phone connections crossed the number of fixed-line connections and presently dwarfs the wire line segment by a ratio of around 20:1. The mobile subscriber base has grown by a factor of over a hundred and thirty, from 5 million subscribers in 2001 to over 680 million subscribers as of Sep 2010 (a period of less than 9 years). India primarily follows the GSM mobile system, in the 900 MHz band. Recent operators also operate in the 1800 MHz band.
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The
dominant
players
are Airtel, Reliance
Infocomm.
, Vodafone, Idea
cellular and BSNL/MTNL. There are many smaller players, with operations in only a few states. International roaming agreements exist between most operators and many foreign carriers.
MAJOR PLAYERS
Operator Subscriber base 146,293,078 5,342,039 80,739,935 Market Share 21.34% 0.81% 11.31%
Bharti Airtel MTNL BSNL Reliance Communications Aircel Sistema Loop Unitech Idea Videocon Tata Teleservices HFCL Infotel Vodafone All India
119,351,438
17.37%
47,519,629 7,121,765 3,009,445 13,748,300 76,023,551 5,616,152
6.64% 0.86% 0.45% 1.05% 10.84% 0.43%
80,817,298
11.47%
1,132,477 118,038,438 706,691,164
0.13% 17.08% 100%
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PRICING STRATEGIES
There are essentially three generic strategies, viz. differentiation, cost leadership and niche, for competing in any industry. This basic concept is applicable in telecom sector too, though pursuing the niche strategy may not be viable, given the fact that the boundaries within and across various segments are increasingly getting blurred, possibility of substitute completion is high (for example Internet telephony can eat into national and international long distance market and vice versa), bulk of the backbone infrastructure to serve basic, national long distance and international long distance are common and scale intensive, benefits of network externalities and positive feedback are real and opportunities for cross subsidising any niche segment with a view to achieving dominance through predatory pricing is feasible.
Given the scale-intensive nature of investments in infrastructure and diversity of information and communication needs of various customer groups - both corporates and individuals - in a variety of data, text, video, audio and animation format, it is reasonable to expect that a strategy comprising economies of scale in operations and offering customised and innovative products and services will be key to future success. Whether a firm is an integrated or focused player in telecom sector, this basic reality can not be ignored. Hutchison and Bharti, which together account for 75% of Indian cellular market, know this too well as can be seen from their frantic effort to grow the number of subscribers and introduce newer products and services based on unique value propositions. Reliance Infocom, which is investing US $5 billion in backbone infrastructure to connect 115 towns and cities and achieve economies scale, has also put in major investments for setting up as many as eight knowledge centres to provide total solution on data services to both corporate and individuals. They have built teams of software professionals who are working in groups to develop innovative products and services in killer applications in such areas as streaming videos, films, news, sports, cartoons etc.
PRODUCT STRATEGIES
1. Product innovation at regular basis. 2. Providing Value added services.
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3. Keeping price according to market level. 4. Pressurizing government to make the policies Unfavourable to the substitute product. 5. Providing the facility of substitute product in the Current product or service range. For example: To tackle the threat the GSM mobile service the CDMA mobile Service provider have started to provide the additional GSM service in the same set. 6. Negotiation with suppliers for high quality service or Raw materials. 7 Indian telecom companies have invested more in self Research & Development activity rather than depending upon foreign suppliers to tackling the threats of Substitute.
PRODUCTS ARE
POST PAID SIM & PREPAID SIM
MODE OF ENTRY
In India, different telecom operators followed different entry strategies for entering different segments of the industry, based on their respective assessment of how the chosen route would provide specific advantages like lowering the cost of and time of entry and access to markets being targeted. Both Hutchison and Bharti entered the Calcutta cellular market through acquiring existing operators, who originally entered the industry through green field project using technical knowhow from overseas collaborators but could not run the business as they did not have the deep pockets. In wireline business, Reliance Infocom, Bharti and Tata Teleservices mainly adopted the organic route, the reason being non-availability of acquisition candidates (the incumbent players viz. BSNL and MTNL belong to the public sector) and green field projects. Based on state-of-the-art technology and optical fibre having high bandwidth, the organic route will enable the companies to offer a large number of value-added services and also help them operate the network efficiently. However deviations are also there, as can be seen from Tata Teleservices' decision to merge its operations with Hughes Tele.Com to enter the Maharashtra market, Reliance Infocom's proposal to acquire the Mumbai-Delhi wire line link owned by Fiber Link Across the Globe (FLAG) as a step to
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complete the network with an international gateway and Tatas entering the international long distance business through acquiring Government of India's share in public sector VSNL. Reliance is also reported to be considering purchase of Sify, an Internet company, which will give the company access to a large base of corporate customers, besides the Internet gateway license for 15 cities and Net telephony.
BASIS
Two important factors that seemed to have influenced the decisions made by Indian telcoms along the strategic dimensions discussed above were their (a) point of view on future industry evolution and strategic intent, and (b) perception on capabilities they possessed. The main players, referred in this article, were driven by their respective perceptions in the just mentioned two areas and the differences in such
perceptions can be clearly seen in the way initial moves have been rolled out. While it is too early to predict the outcome of the strategies being pursued by the new entrants, identification of the ten strategic dimensions and the two factors that influence specific choices along these ten dimensions should help both academicians and practicing managers in developing a framework for conceptualizing the entry strategy to Indian telecom sector.
PROMOTION STRATEGIES
In 1995, the Indian cellular industry looked very promising. With ever increasing globalization and expanding business activities, cell phones became a necessity for business on the move. The younger generation also began to flaunt the cell phone as a status symbol. Soon cell phones were being used not only as a tool for communication but also as a source of entertainment.
Year 2000-02
In the year 2000, AirTel formulated an advertising campaign which was arguably the first of its kinds from the cellular service sector. AirTel roped in famous movie actors Shahrukh Khan and Karishma Kapoor as brand ambassadors for its prepaid service Magic. The company felt that celebrity endorsement was a suitable way to promote the brand.
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On February 16, 2001, Airtel launched a massive Rs.25 million launch campaign -You Can Do Magic featuring the two Bollywood actors.
Year 2003 (Cricket, Bollywood and Celebration)

By 2003, the cellular service market had ten major players and the situation demanded that service providers come up with novel ideas to attract the consumer. Festivals and special occasions were times when cellular service providers offered a range of schemes. In February 2003, AirTel launched a Valentine's Day Promotion Contest, which was targeted primarily at youth celebrating Valentine's Day.
Year
2004
(Special
Plans
and
Loyalty
Schemes)
With a view to reaping the benefits of the pre-paid segment, RIM launched its prepaid service in 2004. The launch campaign involved a rally of motorbikes and cars bearing the RIM prepaid flags along with the RIM catch line Mujhme Hai Wo Baat (It's There Within Me). The first cavalcade was flagged off by famous model Katrina Kaif. Commenting on the positioning of the RIM prepaid service, Kaushik Roy, marketing head, Reliance Infocomm, said, The RIM pre paid is primarily targeted at the youth, and we hope that by these on ground promotional activities, the youth becomes more aware of our fantastic value proposition
Telecom Market Summary

At the end of 2003, India had a total of 70.5 million phones of which 42 million were landline and 28.2 million were mobiles. During 2003, 17.5 million mobile subscribers were added. While GSM operators added 11 million subscribers, the two main CDMA operators added 6.2 million subscribers. With the recent expansion, India has reached the tele-density target of 7 per hundred in 2003, 15 months ahead of the March 2005 target set by the New Telecom Policy 1999. As of March 2004 the total mobile market has reached 31.4 million, of which 24.65 million subscribers are GSM and 6.75 million are CDMA (excluding BSNL and MTNL). Of these totals, Reliance Infocomm has 6.822 million (6.065 CDMA and 0.757 GSM), Bharti is 6.199 million (GSM), BSNL is 4.954 million, (GSM) Hutch is 4.826 million (GSM), and Idea Cellular is 2.584 million (GSM). Mobile connections are expected to reach 56 million by the end of 2004,
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representing a 96 per cent increase over 2003, according to Gartner. The pace of growth will accelerate with the introduction of full mobility CDMA loop services and the adoption of unified licenses. The market for telecom services in 2002-03 has been estimated to be Rs 503.58 billion ($11.5 billion), as compared to Rs 479.08 billion ($10.9 billion) in 2001-02. The equipment market is estimated to have reached a turnover of Rs 282.37 billion ($6.47 billion) in 2002-03, up from Rs 257.06 billion ($5.89 billion) in 2001-02. The telecom industry comprising services and equipment is expected to increase to $24.29 billion by 2006. Private players are steadily acquiring an increasing share of the telecom services market. Ten years after the sector was opened to private participation, they account for more than a third of the total subscriber base in India. Private players play the largest role in cellular mobile services, where the 6-7 companies that own 75 licenses operate in 23 service areas (there are six operators of mobile services in each circle). BSNLs existing market position -- particularly its dominance in remote and rural areas -- has made it harder for private players to operate. BSNLs nationwide presence is also allowing it to catch up with private players in the mobile market, where the state operator provides the most comprehensive coverage. Initially, as noted earlier, the government permitted only two operators in each circle. But the government has now moved to unrestricted entry and unlimited completion in all types of services. As a result, there are now multiple operators in each service and in each license area. The entry of additional operators (typically BSNL or MTNL) had led to drastic tariff reductions. Indeed, the competition was so intense that TRAI stopped setting the price for mobile services and allowed the market to set prices. As the battle between the GSM and CDMA operators shifted from the courtroom to the marketplace, consumers reaped the benefit of lower prices. Reliance has already signalled its aggressive intentions by announcing nationwide roaming at no extra cost. This has prompted Hutch and Bharti to reduce their high roaming rates. The recent lowering of license fees should also result in lower tariffs for the consumer. International and domestic long distance services are still not competitive despite all the reforms in the Indian telecom sector.
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COMPANY PROFILE OF AIRTEL
Vision
"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." These are the premise on which Bharti Enterprises has based its entire plan of action. Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized telecommunications with its world-class products and services. Established in 1985, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector. With many firsts and innovations to its credit, ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private basic telephone service provider in the country, first Indian company to provide comprehensive telecom services outside India in Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch National Long Distance Services in India. Bharti had approximately 3.21 million total customers nearly 2.88 million mobile and 334,000 fixed line customers. Its services sector businesses include mobile operations in Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh circle, Maharashtra circle, Mumbai, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh (West) circle. In addition, it also has fixed-line operations in the states of Madhya
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Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, 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 transmission services for calls originating and terminating on most of India's mobile networks. The Company is also implementing a submarine cable project connecting ChennaiSingapore for providing international bandwidth. Bharti Enterprises 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. Bharti Tele-Ventures' strategic objective is to capitalize on the growth opportunities that the Company believes are available in the Indian telecommunications market and consolidate its position to be the leading integrated telecommunications services provider in key markets in India, with a focus on providing mobile services. The Company has developed the following strategies to achieve its strategic objective:

Focus on maximizing revenues and margins; Capture maximum telecommunications revenue potential with minimum geographical coverage;
Offer multiple telecommunications services to provide customers with a "one-stop shop" solution;
Position itself to tap data transmission opportunities and offer advanced mobile data services.
Focus on satisfying and retaining customers by ensuring high level of customer satisfaction;
Leverage strengths of its strategic and financial partners; and Emphasize on human resource development to achieve operational efficiencies.
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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. Total Cost Control You can control your Airtel Prepaid like never before. No more rentals or deposits simply recharge as much as you need to from as low as Rs. 10, to as high as Rs. 10,000/-. Pre activated STD/ISD without deposits or rentals You can now enjoy a pre-activated STD/ISD on your Airtel Prepaid. No more paying deposits or having a minimum balance in your account to make an STD/ISD call. Hassle-free calls are here to stay! Strong Network Coverage Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtels world-class technology and unbreakable network coverage that spans over 23 circles across the country. Instant Balance and Validity Enquiry Your account balance is updated on the screen of your handset at the end of each chargeable call. You can also call 123 from your mobile phone and listen to the voice announcement or simply dial *123#, press 'OK' or 'YES' button and your account balance will be displayed on the screen of your handset. Recharge your Airtel Prepaid Recharging is Easy. The calling value on your card keeps reducing as you make calls or use any other chargeable service. Choose the Airtel Prepaid Recharge Coupon thats right for
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you, from a variety of tailor made recharge coupons with different denominations, which are available at a number of outlets across your city. Simply follow the procedure mentioned below, to recharge your phone. Prepaid Roaming Airtel Prepaid comes pre activated with 'National Roaming', so you stay connected no matter wherever you are. You can also send or receive MMS, check your email and access other GPRS services while roaming in India as you would in your own city. While traveling abroad you can receive calls & send or receive SMS. Other Services Airtel brings you, a wide range of Services that will change the way you communicate. Try them and discover a whole new world of fun and excitement. Call management Services Call waiting, call hold, call divert and Caller Line Identification Presentation all with your Airtel prepaid connection. Voice Mail When your handset is switched off, or youre too busy to answer the phone, Airtel Voicemail will answer your calls and record a message. The best part is that there's no extra monthly cost for setting up voice mail. Subscription Alerts Get regular alerts on news, jokes, business, health and films on your Airtel mobile phone with Subscription Services. SMS to 3333 for News, for Jokes, for Business News, for Sports Alerts & for Vaastu tips.
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Airtel Live Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination with Airtel Live! Airtel brings you the latest in entertainment and information services, right on your phone! Hello Tunes Tired of that boring old tring tring on your phone? Well now when a friend calls, you can make them groove to the hottest new tracks burning up the music charts with Hello Tunes from Airtel! You get a wide choice of songs in the Popular & New Arrivals categories that are updated regularly. What's more you can directly call the number for your kind of music, e.g. call 678005 for English New and 678001 for Hindi New. This would directly take you to your favorite artist's Hello Tunes listing. Copy a Hello Tune Get the tune you want, all you have to do is call 55055 and follow the simple voice instructions to copy your favorite Hello Tunes. Once inside the copy feature, just key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile number you want to copy the Hello Tune from and you get the same Hello Tune assigned to your number. Gift a Hello Tune Forget gifting chocolates, flowers and greeting cards. Say it with a song instead! Gift a Hello Tune to that special someone. Just call 55055 and choose the song that you want to gift. Follow the simple voice instructions and key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile number that you want to gift the Hello Tune to. You will get an SMS notification upon successful receipt of that gift.
BUSINESSES
Bharti Tele-Ventures current businesses include
Mobile services Fixed-line

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National and international long distance services VSAT, Internet services and network solutions
COMPETITIVE STRENGTHS
Bharti Tele-Ventures believes that the following elements will contribute to the Company's success as an integrated telecommunication services provider in India and will provide the Company with a solid foundation to execute its business strategy:
Nationwide Footprint - approximately 92% of India's total mobile subscribers resided in the Company's fifteen mobile circles. These 15 circles collectively accounted for approximately 56% of India's land mass;
Focus on telecommunications to enable the Company to better anticipate industry trends and capitalize on new telecommunications-related business opportunities.
The strong brand name recognition and a reputation for offering high quality service to its customers;
Quality management team with vision and proven execution skills; and The Company's strong relationships with international strategic and financial investors such as SingTel, Warburg Pincus, International Finance Corporation, Asian Infrastructure Fund Group and New York Life Insurance.
BRAND ARCHITECTURE
Bharti is working on a complex three-layered branding architecture to: Create specific brands for each service, Build sub-brands within each of these services Use Bharti as the mother brand providing the group its corporate identity as
well as defining its goal to become a national builder of telecoms infrastructure.
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BHARTI
AIRTEL (CELLULAR OPERATIONS)
TOUCHTEL (BASIC SERVICE OPERATIONS)
INDIA ONE (NATIONAL LONG DISTANCE)
Airtel - The flagship brand for cellular operations all across the Indian country. Touchtel - The brand earmarked for basic service operations. India One - The brand for national long distance (NLD) telephony Though the costs of creating new brands are heavy but the group wants to create distinct independent brands to address different customers and profiles.
BRAND STRATEGY
To understand the brand strategy, lets first look at the brand building exercise associated with Airtel a brand that had to be repositioned recently to address new needs in the market. When the brand was launched seven years ago, cellular telephony wasnt a mass market by any means. For the average consumer, owning a cellular phone was expensive as tariff rates (at Rs 8 a minute) as well as instrument prices were steep sometimes as much as buying a second-hand car. Bharti could have addressed the customer by rationally explaining to him the economic advantage of using a mobile phone. But Sachdev says that such a strategy would not
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have worked for the simple reason that the value from using the phone at the time was not commensurate with the cost. Instead of the value-proposition model, we decided to address the sensory benefit it gave to the customer as the main selling tack. The idea was to become a badge value brand, he explains. So the Airtel Leadership Series campaign was launched showing successful men with their laptops and in their deluxe cars using the mobile phone. In simple terms, it meant Airtel was positioned as an inspirational brand that was meant for leaders, for customers who stood out in a crowd. Did it work? Repeated surveys following the launch showed that there were three core benefits that were clearly associated with the brand leadership, dynamism and performance. These were valuable qualities, but they only took Airtel far enough to establish its presence in the market. As tariffs started dropping, it became necessary for Airtel to appeal to a wider audience. And the various brand-tracking exercises showed that despite all these good things, there was no emotional dimension to the brand it was perceived as cold, distant and efficient. Sachdev and his team realized that in a business in which customer relationships were the core this could be a major weakness. The reason with tariffs identical to competitor Vodafone telecomm and roughly the same level of service and schemes, it had now become important for Bharti to humanize Airtel and use that relationship as a major differentiation. The brand had become something like Lufthansa cold and efficient. What they needed was to become Singapore Airlines, efficient but also human. A change in tack was important because this was a time when the cellular market was changing. The leadership series was okay when you were wooing the crme de la crme of society. Once you reached them you had to expand the market so there was need to address to new customers. By that time, Bharti was already the leading cellular subscriber in Delhi with a base of 3.77 lakh (it now has 1.8 million customers). And with tariffs becoming more affordable as cell companies started cutting prices it was time to expand the market.
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How could Bharti leverage this leadership position down the value chain? Surveys showed that the concept of leadership in the customers minds was also changing. Leadership did not mean directing subordinates to execute orders but to work along with a team to achieve common objectives it was, again, a relationship game that needed to be reflected in the Airtel brand. Also, a survey showed that 50 per cent of the new customers choose a mobile phone brand mostly through word-of-mouth endorsements from friends, family or colleagues. Thus, existing Customers were an important tool for market expansion and Bharti now focused on building closer relationships with them. That is precisely what the brand tried to achieve through its new positioning under the Airtel Touch Tomorrow brand campaign. This set of campaigns portrayed mobile users surrounded by caring family members. Says Sachdev: The new campaign and positioning was designed to highlight the relationship angle and make the brand softer and more sensitive. As it looks to expand its cellular services nationwide to eight new circles apart from the seven in which it already operates Bharti is now realizing that there are new compulsions to rework the Airtel brand, and a new exercise is being launched to this effect. Right now, the company is unwilling to discuss the new positioning in detail. But broadly, the focus is on positioning Airtel as a power brand with numerous regional subbrands reflecting customer needs in various parts of the country. If Airtel is becoming more humane and more sensitive as a brand, Bharti has also understood that one common brand for all cellular operations might not always work in urban markets that are now getting increasingly saturated. To bring in new customers, the company decided that it needed to segment the market. One such experiment, launched last year, is Youtopia, a brand aimed at the youth in the 14 to 19 age bracket and for those who are young at heart. With its earlier positioning, Airtel was perceived as a brand for the well-heeled older customer; there was nothing for younger people. With Youtopia, Airtel hoped to reverse that. In order to deliver the concept, Airtel offered rock bottom tariff rates (25 paise for 30 seconds) at night to Youtopia customers a time when they make the maximum
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number of calls. It also set up merchandising exercises around the scheme like a special portal for young people to buy things or bid for goods. The company is now looking at offering other services at affordable prices to this segment which include music downloads on the mobile and bundling SMS rates with normal calls to make it cheaper for young people to use. The other experiment that Bharti has worked on is to go in for product segmentation through the Tango brand name. The brand was created to offer mobile users Internetinterface services or what is known as WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). The idea was to bring Internet and mobile in perfect harmony. The name was chosen from the popular movie title It Takes Two to Tango: basically, you need the two services to tango to offer customers a new choice, says Sachdev. This, however, had less to do with the branding exercise as with inefficiency of service (accusingly slow download speeds) and the limited utility of WAP services. Subsequently, the ads were withdrawn, but the company re-iterated that the branding exercise could be revived because Tango will be the brand to offer GPRS services or permanent Internet connectivity on the mobile phone which Airtel is expected to launch soon.
THE MAGIC
Perhaps the more ambitious experiment has been with Magic the pre-paid card. The idea was to make the brand affordable, accessible and, most importantly, feasible as a means of expanding the market even faster.
PHASE I
Magic was aimed at bringing in infrequent users of a mobile phone into the market and assure him that he would have to pay only if he made a call. Such a customer used the phone sparingly mostly for emergencies and was not willing to pick up a normal mobile connection with its relatively high rentals (pre-paid cards do not include rental charges). To achieve its objectives Bharti did three things.
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One, the product was made available at prices ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 3,000 with no strings attached and was simple to operate.
Two, the product was made accessible and distributed through small stores, telephone booths and even kirana shops so that the offering was well within arms reach.
Third, to make the product more approachable to the customer, the company came with vernacular ad campaigns Like Magic Daalo Say Hello which appealed to local sensibilities. This apart, the company roped in Karisma Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan for a major ad campaign all across Delhi, a ruse that saw the number of subscribers go up from 5.47 lakh to 1.2 million today, overtaking Essars branded pre-paid card Speed, which was launched much ahead of Magic. The company is now re-working its Magic strategy even further. Earlier, the branding strategy was aimed at roping in only interested customers that is, customers who were already inclined to opt for mobile services. But now, with basic service providers having been allowed limited mobility at far cheaper rates, mobile service providers could find themselves under threat again. That is why the new exercise is aimed at co-opting non-adopters. While the exact strategy is under wraps, insiders say the new branding strategy would be aimed at offering them value which they had not perceived would be available from using a prepaid card.
PHASE II Bharti used Airtel Magic to build a strong value proposition and accelerate market expansion through Indias first national pre-paid card TV brand campaign .

First time ever in India - any pre-paid card brand goes on TV A combination of the film genre exposed through the TV medium designed to connect with the masses of India
Youth based - romance driven strategy platform makes the value proposition of Airtel Magic - Mumkin Hai come alive.
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All elements - user imagery, context, tone & language created to connect the category to the lives of the SEC B & SEC C segment the middle class non-mobile user.
Airtel Magic positions itself on the platform of being excellent for emergency situations - increasing productivity as a part of everyday life.
Sharukh Khan makes everything in life possible while romancing pretty Kareena Kapoor with Airtel Magic, Indias leading pre-paid mobile card. Airtel today unveiled its strategy for market expansion with the launch of its new Airtel Magic pre-paid card brand campaign Magic hai to Mumkin hai. The strategy is targeted at the non-user segment defined as young adults, 15-30 years of age; in the Sec B & C segment is aimed at accelerating market expansion. The value proposition is centered around a persons desire to make all his / her dreams, ambitions & aspirations instantly possible. The new campaign for Airtel Magic is all about empowering millions of Indians to be on top of their lives. The brand is positioned to be relevant to the mass-market who want to make all their dreams, hopes & desires come alive instantly. (At just Rs.300/- per month Airtel Magic is so easy to buy.) Improving productivity, letting you befriend the world and opening up new horizons. It gives you the freedom to control your life in a way never possible before. Indeed, anything that you think is possible is possible with Airtel Magic. The new brand slogan Magic hai to Mumkin hai has been specially created to capture this effectively. This strategy is designed to help us talk to this segment directly in the tone, manner & language of the masses. The Mumkin hai value proposition will help us expand the market and gain a higher percentage of market shares in the process. The brand ambassadors Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor embody this can do or Mumkin Hai spirit (infact that is the reason they were selected as brand ambassadors). Sharukh rose from a TV actor to become Indias top film star and national heartthrob. Kareenas success is due to her attitude, talent, hard work and the sheer ability to make a mark in such a short time. Both these stars have said Mumkin hai and made it happen for themselves.
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The genre of this new strategy & campaign is Hindi cinema led. This genre connects millions across India. The spirit of romance, dancing the Indian cinema, well known to most as Bollywood, holds millions of Indians together as one. The new TV campaign of Airtel Magic crafted in the Hindi film idiom, magnifies the empowering optimism of Mumkin Hai, in the endearing situation of a boy-girl romance. Where Sharukh Khan, sets his eyes on Kareena Kapoor and wins her love with the help of Airtel Magic. (Poignantly conveying that special feeling we all get when a dream is made possible and a victory of the heart is won). The strategy & new brand campaign is targeted at the large untapped base of intending mobile customers from Sec A, B & C. The estimated addressable market of such customers in the next two years is around 25 million in Airtels 16 states. The new strategy aims at correcting the perception that the mobile category is useful mainly for business or work related scenarios. The new strategy, brand positioning & brand slogan is an outcome of an extensive nationwide research and is an integral part of Airtel Magics new multi-media campaign. The campaign has been created by Percept Advertising.
PHASE III Bharti used Airtel Magic to build a strong value proposition and accelerate market expansion through Indias first national pre-paid card TV brand campaign .
First time ever in India - any pre-paid card brand gives such freedom to recharge any value
A combination of the film genre exposed through the TV medium designed to connect with the masses of India
Youth based - romance driven strategy platform makes the value proposition of Airtel Magic - Aisi azaadi aur kahan? come alive
Sharukh Khan Makes everything in life possible Airtel today unveiled its strategy for market expansion with the launch of its new Airtel Magic pre-paid card brand campaign.
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Magic Hai to Mumkin Hai. - The value proposition is centered on a persons desire to make all his / her dreams, ambitions & aspirations instantly possible. The new campaign for Airtel Magic is all about empowering millions of Indians to be on top of their lives. The brand is positioned to be relevant to the mass-market who want to make all their dreams, hopes & desires come alive instantly .At a amount of your choice you can recharge your account with available validity time .Improving productivity, letting you befriend the world and opening up new horizons. It gives you the freedom to control your life in a way never possible before. Indeed, anything that you think is possible is possible with Airtel Magic. The new brand slogan Aisi azadi aur kahan has been specially created to capture this effectively.
JO TERA HAI WHO MERA HAI CAMPAIGN

A friend in need in the new campaign, Airtel shifts focus from the mobile handset to the internet in other words, from mobility to sharing. Friends came to its rescue when the pug, the Zoozoos and sirjis what an idea began to eclipse its visibility. Friends, each of whom is unique, and went viral to give Airtel the much needed leg-up, are back this year with a new story. While last year the attempt was to show how one could stay connected with all the friends one couldnt do without, the idea this year is to focus on sharing. Which means from an accent on mobile connectivity last year, the focus has shifted to the internet as the delivery platform in 2012. And the earlier youthful rendition of Har friend zaroori hai has evolved to Jo mera hai woh tera hai. The new television commercial (TVC) emphasizes the importance of internet in strengthening the bond of friendship. The tempo in the ad picks up as an energetic bunch of young adult gets rocking on an open-top, double-decker bus, celebrating the way they can share their lives via the internet. The jingle is catchy, which, say its makers, is one the youth can relate to. The idea is to associate Airtel with friendship and all that the idea of friendship stands for. The double-decker bus brings out the idea of mobility very strongly and the jingle helps the environment come alive, says Bharat Bambawale, global brand director, Bharti Airtel.
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OTHER BRAND BUILDING INITIATIVES

The main idea is to stay ahead of competition for at least six months. Working on the above game plan Bharti is constantly coming up with newer product offerings for the customers. The focus, of course, is to offer better quality of service. To make the service simpler for customers using roaming facilities, Airtel has devised common numbers for subscribers across the country for services like customer care, food services and cinema amongst others. It will also launch a unified billing system across circles so, customers moving from one place to another do not have to close and then again open new accounts at another place. To assist customer care personnel to deal with subscriber queries, a storehouse of 40,000 frequently asked questions and their answers have been stored on the computers. Bharti expects that most of its new customers (one estimate is that it would be 60 to 70 per cent of the total new subscriber base) would come from the pre-paid card segment. So, they must be given value-added products and services which competitors dont provide. Bharti, for the first time for a cellular operator, has decided to offer roaming services even to its pre-paid customers, but the facility would be limited to the region in which they buy the card. To ensure that customers dont migrate to other competing services (which is known as churn and ranges from 10 to 15 per cent of the customer base every month), the company is also working on a loyalty program. This will offer subscribers tangible cash benefits depending upon their usage of the phone. The loyalty program will not be only for a badge value, it will provide real benefits to customers. The idea is to create an Airtel community. Another key area which Bharti is concentrating its attention upon is a new roaming service launched in Delhi under which calls of a roaming subscriber who is visiting the city will be routed directly to his mobile instead of traveling via his home network. The company also offers multi-media messaging systems under which customers having a specialized phone with a in-built camera can take pictures and e-mail it to friends or store it in the phone. The cost per picture is between Rs 5 to Rs 7.
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Bharti is also aware that it has to make owning a ready-to-use cellular service much easier than it is today. A key area is to increase the number of activation centers. Earlier Bharti had 250 Airtel Connect stores which were exclusive outlets (for its services) and about 250 Airtel Points which were kiosks in larger shops. Now activation can be done by all of them, and not only by Connect outlets, all within 15 to 20 minutes. In comparison, the competition takes two to four hours.
Pre- paid cards are really catching up with the mobile phone users and it is actually helping the market to increase. First, they are easier to obtain and convenient to use. Unlike post-paid, one need not pay security deposits for picking up a pre-paid card. It is often available even with paanwalas. As befits a fast-moving consumer service, the game is now moving beyond price to expanding distribution reach and servicing a well-spreadout clientele with technology and strategic alliances. Bharti is focusing on two factors to make pre-paid cards more attractive. Keeping the entry cost low for consumers and making recharging more convenience.
Bharti is in the process of launching a new system in alliance with Mumbai-based Company Venture InfoTech which will enable a pre-paid card user to renew his subscription by just swiping a card. The system will not only save users the hassle of going out and buying a card every time it expires but also enable mobile companies to reduce the cost of printing and distributing cards.
Bharti Televentures has tied up with 'Waiter on wheels,' a company delivering food at home, to reach its Magic pre-paid cards to subscribers' doorsteps. The company is also joining hands with local grocery shops which will enable users to recharge their cards by just making a phone call to the shop. Apart from improving the convenience of recharging, mobile operators are beefing up their distribution channels. The company is constantly innovating to enhance the value proposition for its pre-paid service. They are leveraging technology to expand their distribution network and deliver round-the-clock recharge options to its MOTS (Mobile on the Spot) subscribers.
Bharti Cellular has also launched a special service, CareTouch, for high-value, corporate customers, providing them with instant, single-point access for any assistance they require. Customers can dial 777 and enjoy a slew of services, which includes easier payment of bills, service on priority basis, and value-added services without any additional paper work. Bharti Cellular is offering a range of services without going
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through an interactive voice recorder ensuring that they save time. Dedicated CareTouch executives are expected to assist customers with any service on priority basis. Besides the regular proactive reminder calls for bill payment, customers can also call CareTouch for bill payments at free of cost. Airtel presented MTV Inbox; the first on-air SMS based interactive music dedication show exclusively for Airtel and Airtel Magic customers. Highly interactive VJ based show with real-time feedback mechanism. Both brands joined hands to target the high growth youth segment.
VODAFONE ESSAR
Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 16 telecom circles in India . Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros. Vodafone Essar provides 2G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology, offering voice and data services in 16 of the country's 23 license areas.
OWNERSHIP
Vodafone Essar is owned by Vodafone 52%, Essar Group 33%, and other Indian nationals, 15%.On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, piping Reliance Communications, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner of the Remaining 33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8 billion. The transaction closed on May 8, 2007.
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VISION
Our Vision is to be the worlds mobile communication leader enriching customers lives, helping individuals, businesses and Communities be more connected in a mobile world.
ZOOZOO
Zoozoo are advertisement characters promoted by Vodafone since the Indian Premier League season 2. ZooZoos are white creatures with ballooned bodies and egg heads who are used to promote various value added services of Vodafone. Although these characters look animated, they are actually humans in Zoozoo costumes. The ads were created by Ogilvy & Mather, the agency handling Vodafone advertisements. The ads were shot by Bangalore based Nirvana Films in Cape Town, South Africa.
MADE FOR YOU OFFERS

Vodafones Made For you offers that allow you to choose an offer that has been made especially for you. MADE FOR YOU: offers are designed on the basis of your current mobile phone usage. You can get your customized offers across the following product vertical s local calls, STD, sms, VAS and data.
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VODAFONE TARGET THE RURAL INDIA

The main targeted customers of Vodafone are from rural India. By offering cheap and light mobile sets Vodafone attracts most of the customers of small villages and towns.
OFFERING CHEAP HANDSETS

Vodafone offers cheap and free connections to all customers. The cost for these sets was Rs-799-849-1099\set and onward.
FREE SUPPORT AND SERVICES

In every district and big towns Vodafone opens its service centres to provide better support and services.
STRONG LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN

Vodafone has a strong logistic and supply all over India. In every small town the potential customers can easily purchase the Vodafone SIM & Sets.
TARGETING YOUNGSTERS IN METROPOLITANS

Vodafone attracts youngsters by offering colourful handset at very low prices.
PROBLEMS
Total Telecommunication not nearly as strong as Telecom. Wholesaling the lines through Telecom thereby gaining less profit. Lack of systems and tools to backup the new processes. Lack of skilled employee (Technicians, engineers, accountants) availability in New Zealand Market.
VODAFONE LIVE!
Vodafone live! Was the brand name for the multimedia portal service of mobile phone operator Vodafone, which was initially developed by Japan's J-Phone under the J-Sky
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brand. Vodafone acquired J-Phone including J-Sky in 20012002. In October 24 2002 the service was officially launched as Vodafone Live The service was marketed extensively, using stars such as footballer David Beckham and singer Robbie Williams. While the service itself can be looked at with any WAP browser, Vodafone live! Handsets marketed by the company integrate the service with each handset's core functions. All handsets include a color screen, a digital camera and the capability to send and receive email, SMS and MMS messages. The service and its content are modeled largely on NTT DoCoMo's successful i-Mode service and Vodafone Japan's (formerly J-Phone) J-Sky service. Vodafone Live! Works by way of a system of version releases. Each mobile operator upgrades their Vodafone Live! Implementation to the latest version. What makes this particularly effective is that the amount of research and development undertaken by Vodafone Live! Globally, is much more than a single operator could undertake - and yet the benefit is shared amongst all the operators. Vodafone Live! Concludes global content deals through their Paddington office in London. These global deals offer benefits to the local operators who would not ordinarily be in a position to conclude such a deal on their own.
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 charge Rs. 7.00 (including the cost of SMS sent). For every logo/picture message downloaded, you will charge Rs. 3.00 (including the cost of SMS sent). .
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COMPARISON
OF
MARKETING
STRATEGIES
BETWEEN BHARTI AIRTEL AND VODAFONE

PURPOSE OF COMPARISON
The sub main purpose of this report is to compare the marketing Strategies adopted by Bharti Airtel and its rival Vodafone The comparison shows how both of the companies have been challenging each other to gain market shares.
WHY COMPARISION WITH VODAFONE

Bharti Airtel is the leader in telecommunication sector. Bharti Airtel holds the lion share of market of communication sector. However, Vodafone has been giving tough competition to Bharti Airtel. Vodafone is the second largest player and share holder in Communication sector. Since its launch Vodafone has been adopting aggressive marketing strategies. The comparison shows how Hutchison Essar Telecom. Captured 22% market share in one month of its first launch of postpaid subscription in 2002.AD. With a different technology Vodafone creates its own market. Vodafone today deals in every business of communication sector Vodafone making and changing the strategies to capture the market shares
BRAND POSITIONING BY BHARTI AIRTEL

MARKET SEGMENTATION
Geographical segment (metropolitans & cities India Demographic segment - middle income groups People age group of 20 to 28 years
TARGET MARKETING
People who living in cities and towns.
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Poor or middle income group people. Youngsters in big cities. Businessmen
POSITIONING
Creating brands (Sharukh khan & Sachin Tendulker) Ads and promotions Promotion for study of poor children.
MARKETING STRATEGIES OF VODAFONE

VODAFONE TARGET THE RURAL INDIA
The main targeted customers of Vodafone are from rural India. By offering cheap and light mobile sets Vodafone attracts most of the customers of small villages and towns.
OFFERING CHEAP HANDSETS

Vodafone offers cheap and free connections to all customers. The cost for these sets was Rs-799-849-1099\set and onward.
FREE SUPPORT AND SERVICES

In every district and big towns Vodafone opens its service centres to provide better support and services.
STRONG LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN

Vodafone has a strong logistic and supply all over India. In every small town the potential customers can easily purchase the Vodafone SIM & Sets.
TARGETING YOUNGSTERS IN METROPOLITANS

Vodafone attracts youngsters by offering colourful handset at very low prices.
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MARKETING MIX
Price : low price strategy
Place:
: maximum outlets and service centres
Product:
: verities available for various groups
Promotion
: various schemes for pre-paid and post-paid
BRAND POSITIONING OF VODAFONE

Market segmentation
Geographical segment (rural India)
Demographic segment - middle income groups
TARGET MARKETING
People living in small towns and villages. Poor and middle income groups. Youngsters in big cities. Businessmen
POSITIONING
Creating brands
MARKETING MIX
Price : low price strategy Place : maximum outlets and service centres Product : verities available for various groups
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Promotion: various schemes for pre-paid and post-paid
SERVICES PROVIDED BY BHARTI AIRTEL

Mobile services with GSM technology Fixed-line connections National and international long distance services VSAT, Internet services and network solutions Broadband services
SERVICES PROVIDED BY VODAFONE

Mobile services with GSM technology
fixed-line telephone services Universal Internetworking VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Interactive Television
Visual Communication
Broadband Portal
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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Every organization has to achieve its organization goals. For this it is very essential for an organization to know about the view of consumers and their competitive products. This survey research may be also aimed as to estimate potential buyer for the product. The objective of the study is as under:
PRIMARY OBEJCTIVES
To identify the difference between market performance of Airtel industry and Vodafone. To study the market of Airtel Industry and Vodafone on big scale telecommunication sector. To compare various parameters of marketing strategies, manufacturing process, technology adopted production policy, advertising, collaboration, export scenario, future prospect for the two companies and government policies.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES
To study the telecommunication industry. To study customer buying behavior and factors which influence the purchase decision process. To know how the company has been successful in encountering the aggressive marketing strategies of competitors. To study the various activities provided by Vodafone and Airtel. To know the various services provided by the Vodafone and Airtel. To know the expectations of the consumers.
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FOCUS OF THE STUDY

To study competitive marketing strategies adopted by Airtel and Vodafone. To study the level of customer satisfaction in Airtel & Vodafone. To study customer buying behavior and factors which influence the purch ase decision process. To study the consumer trend in telecommunication sector. To study consumer preferences.
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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

By analyzing this information, the company would be able to better design schemes & services & target right prospects needs & wants. More people will get aware about Vodafone and Airtel that will increase profit level of Vodafone and Airtel. This study helps to identify the behavior of consumer when there are no offers and schemes from Vodafone and Airtel. To study the market of Airtel Industry and Vodafone on big scale telecommunication sector. To compare various parameters of marketing strategies, manufacturing process, technology adopted production policy, advertising, collaboration, export scenario, future prospect for the two companies and government policies . To study the level of customer satisfaction in Airtel & Vodafone. To study consumer preferences. To study the consumer trend in telecommunication sector. To study competitive marketing strategies adopted by Airtel and Vodafone.
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CONCEPTUALIZATION
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"
Telecommunication is an important part of modern society. Mobile subscribers worldwide will cross 6 Billion in 2011. The mobile technology has become blood veins for economic development in developing countries because it has emerged as the cheapest and fastest way of communication for small businesses and enterprises. It has become an inevitable component for economic progress of population as whole.
The concept involves the big scale services involved in telecommunication sector provided by Airtel and Vodafone to its customers. The survey was conducted so as to analyze the big scale sector prevailing in the current industry and the improvement that can be made upon it.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
SOURCE: 1
08 Nov 2012, 18:03 IST, TOI Vodafone India, one of India's largest telecom service providers and ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, today announced a strategic alliance to launch a unique mobile money transfer and payment service called ' m-pesa '.
SOURCE: 2 01 Oct 2012, 16:12, TOI

Vodafone India today launched a service on SMS that allows customers to find blood donors or become a blood donor through easy search on their fingertips. All the user needs to do is, send an SMS 'BLOOD' to 55444 and find a donor or become a donor by replying as per the instructions in 2-3 easy steps.
SOURCE: 3 9 Nov, 2012, 02.59PM IST, HT Vodafone, Telenor's gain of spectrum "credit Positive": Moody's
NEW DELHI: Vodafone and Telenor's successful bid in the recenly held wireless spectrum auction is "credit positive" for both the firms as it will help the former improve coverage and latter to increase market share, says a report by Moody's. "The auction's outcome is credit positive for Telenor because it will add to its market share in India, which was just under 10 per cent at the end of September. "The auction is also credit positive for Vodafone because the additional spectrum will help enhance its coverage in India, including rural areas, at a relatively low cost," according to the Moody's research note. The report said Telenor's revenue from Indian market is likely to double in the next three years. At present India accounts for about 5 per cent of Telenor's revenues, which is likely to rise to to about 10 per cent by 2015, it said.
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Moreover, "critical to the positive credit implications of the purchase is our expectation that the Indian business (of Telenor) will turn EBITDA break-even in 2013 or 2014 at the latest and will become a self-funding operation," the report added. With a population of about 600 million in the awarded areas and mobile phone penetration of just 40 per cent, the spectrum presents a strong growth opportunity for Telenor, Moody's added. India is the world's second-largest wireless market after China, and for Vodafone, the country is one of the biggest markets with nearly 153 million subscribers. Moody's, however, said the regulatory risk for both companies in India is substantial, saying the regulators have been "unpredictable and volatile" in the past. Last week's spectrum auction followed the cancellation of 122 telecom licences by Supreme Court in February this year.
SOURCE: 4 2011 at 01:23pm IST, TOI Airtel customers face network outage in Mumbai
Customers of Bharti Airtel in the western part of Maharashtra are experiencing a service outage due to a technical glitch in the service provider's systems that cropped up on Tuesday. "A technical outage has affected our network in the western region, resulting in disruption of some services. We are working toward rectifying the outage at the earliest. We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to our customers," an Airtel spokesperson told PTI. Services are also affected in adjoining areas, including Pune, according to people close to the development.
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SOURCE: 5 23rd Oct 2011, TOI Vodafone Fined for Not Blocking Marketing Calls
Vodafone's Indian subsidiary has been fined Rs 25,000 (US$490) after a customer continued to receive marketing phone calls from other companies, despite registering with Vodafone's "do not call" register. Marketing companies are supposed to consult the database before contacting someone to check that they have not opted out of receiving calls or text messages. Dr Ashesh Gala filed the complaint in Mubai was awarded Rs 20,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 towards cost of the complaint. He had sought compensation of Rs 50,000. The doctor said that he subscribed to the Do Not Call service in December 2007, but continued to receive calls and text messages. He eventually filed the complaint with a dispute resolution forum in Mumbai in October 2009.
SOURCE: 6 19th Nov 2012, TOI Airtel Completes African Network Transformation
Bharti Airtel says that it has completed an end-to-end network transformation program across its mobile operations in 16 African countries. The program, which is the largest of its kind on the African continent, in partnership with Ericsson involved the upgrade and expansion of network elements on all of Airtel's African operations, including switching, radio, network management, data, charging, and consumer-services platforms and systems. In addition, a full upgrade of the charging platforms across all operations was implemented introducing the latest version of Ericsson's Charging System, enabling
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Airtel to offer subscribers new and innovative value-added services such as mobile wallets. Eben Albertyn, Chief Technical Officer, Airtel Africa said "Customer is at the core of everything we do at Airtel. The implementation of this transformation program will enable us to further enrich our customer experience across the region. It allows us to provide Airtel subscribers with the best network possible while meeting the growing usage of mobile data. Our long-standing relationship with Ericsson gave us confidence in their ability to manage and deliver such a large and complex project." Over 100 staff worked onsite to ensure the delivery of this project. Ericsson's systems integration organization delivers more than 1500 systems integration projects per year in multi-vendor and multiple-technology environments. Projects range from single-solution integrations to end-to-end solution transformation projects such as this one. This transformation program follows the 2011 announcement of an ongoing five year multi-country managed services agreement, wherein Ericsson would manage and optimise Airtel's mobile networks.
SOURCE: 7
New Delhi, January 15, 2013, Hindustan Times Bharti CEO resigns amid profit slump Sanjay Kapoor, CEO (India and South Asia) of Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom service provider both in revenue and subscriber base terms, has resigned from the company in the backdrop of a decline in profits for 12 quarters in a row. The company in a statement that Kapoor will continue in his current role until February 28 and will be available to assist on key matters until March 31 ensuring a smooth transition.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Marketing research means the systematic gathering, recording, analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services Achieving accuracy in any research requires a deep study regarding the subject. The prime objective of the project is to compare Airtel with the existing competitor (Vodafone) in the market and the impact of WLL on Airtel. The research methodology adopted is basically based on primary data via which the most recent and accurate piece of first hand information could be collected. Secondary data has been used to support primary data wherever needed.
Primary data was collected using the following techniques

Questionnaire Method Direct Interview Method and Observation Method The main tool used was, the questionnaire method.
RESEARCH DESIGN
A Research Design is the framework or plan for a study which is used as a guide in collecting and analyzing the data collected. It is the blue print that is followed in completing the study. The basic objective of research cannot be attained without a proper research design. It specifies the methods and procedures for acquiring the information needed to conduct the research effectively. It is the overall operational pattern of the project that stipulates what information needs to be collected from which sources and by what methods. A research design is an arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. The Descriptive or Diagnostic Research Design is used here it is that research which has not been done earlier in-fact it is based on the new generalizations of the facts.
l
It includes the finding of new enquires. The research design implemented in this research is Descriptive and Diagnostic. The descriptive research studies are those studies which are concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular individual, or of a group, whereas diagnostic research studies determine the frequency with which something occur or its association with something else.
TYPE OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

EXPLORATORY
Exploratory research focuses on the discovery of new ideas and is generally based on secondary data.
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH:
Descriptive research is undertaken when the researcher want to know the characteristics of certain groups.
CAUSAL OR EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES:

An experimental research is undertaken to identify causes and effect relationship between two variables. Type of research carried out was EXPLORATORY AND DESCRIPTIVE in nature; the objective of such research is to determine the approximate area where the drawback of the company lies and also to identify the course of action to solve it. For this purpose the information proved useful for giving right suggestion to the company.
DATA COLLECTION METHOD

There two type of method of data collection: Primary Data Secondary data Data used for the research work was primary in nature Primary Data . Primary data is that which is the collected for the first time and thus happen to be originated in character.
li
QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY
In the studies a questionnaire is prepared .The questionnaire consists of 15 questions. THE QUESTIONNAIRE WAS FORMULATED BY KEEP IN MIND THE FOLLOWING POINTS: Giving the respondents clear comprehension of the question. Inducing the respondents to Co-Operate. Giving Instructions as to what is needed.
SECONDARY DATA
Secondary data refer to the data that has been already collected. The secondary data, which has been used to carry out this study, are follows: Internet Newspapers Airtel Store Vodafone Ministore
Research design
Exploratory and descriptive
Collection of data
Primary data and secondary data
Sample size
50
Sampling unit Sampling type
Sonepat Convenient sampling
Analysis pattern Method of data collection
Bar diagrams and pie-chart Questionnaire
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Subscriber numbers in (mn) held by Vodafone and Airtel

June07 Sep08 Dec09 Mar10 Dec11 Mar12
Airtel Vodafone
3.19 1.82
4.62 4.19
5.50 6.24
6.54 7.26
10.98 10.45
14.07 12.99
Mar-12 Dec-11 Mar-10 Vodafone Dec-09 Sep-08 Jun-07 0 5 10 15 Airtel
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MARKET PLAYERS IN TELE COMMUNICATION
Operator
Market share Aug''08
Market share Aug''12 22.49
Bharti Airtel Vodafone Vodafone comm Idea Cellular
19.06
21.81 17.03
16.96 16.01
10.45
8.49
Market share Aug''08 22.49 19.06 16.96 21.81
Market share Aug''12
17.03
16.01 10.45 8.49
Bharti Airtel
Vodafone
Vodafone comm
Idea Cellular
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MONTHLY EXPENSE GRAPH
Monthly Expense
Rs 200 24%
Rs 600 12%
Rs 450 64%
People on an average spend RS 500 per month as their mobile phone expense. 64% people spend
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SERVICE PROVIDER GRAPH
Market Share
Airtel vodafone Reliance Idea cellular Others
20% 36%
17%
13%
14%
These are the total market share of mobile user or people captured by the mobile provider company. There two major company in mobile phone service sector Vodafone and Airtel who respectively hold the market share with other company as 17% and 20% of total market user segment of mobile customer.
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Q1. Which mobile company services you are using now a days? 1. Airtel 2. Vodafone 3. Idea 4. Reliance 5. Tata Responses Airtel Vodafone Idea Reliance Tata total Respondents 17 22 6 4 1 50 Percentage 34 44 12 8 2 100
44
34
12 8 2 Airtel Vodafone Idea Reliance Tata
Here the customer response about which company service they use we found that 44% people are using Vodafone after that 34% are using Airtel, 12% using Idea, 8% are using reliance and very less 2% people are using Tata.
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Q2. Which brand you prefer the most? 1. Vodafone 2. Airtel 3. Idea 4. Reliance 5. Tata Responses Vodafone Airtel Idea Reliance Tata Total Respondents 21 14 7 5 3 50 Percentage 42 28 14 10 6 100
Vodafone
Airtel
Idea
Reliance
Tata
6% 10% 42% 14%
28%
Here the customer response about which brand they like to prefer the most instead what they are using in this 42% people said they prefer Vodafone,28% prefer Airtel,48% Idea, 6% Tata and 10% Reliance.
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Q3. How long you have been using this product? 1. 6 months- 1 year 2. 1-2 year 3. 2-3 year 4. 3-5 year
Responses 6 months1 year 1-2 year 2-3 year 3-5 year Total
Respondents 20
Percentage 40
15 10 5 50
30 20 10 100
40
30
20
10
6 months- 1 year
1-2 year
2-3 year
3-5 year
Here 20% of the people said that they are using the product from 6 months to 1 year, 15% 1 to 2 year, 10% 2- 3 year and 5 % 3to 5 years.
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Q4. Are you using other connection with your brand? 1. Yes 2. No
Responses Yes No Total
Respondents 20 30 50
Percentage 40 60 100
Yes
No
32%
68%
60% of the people said that they dont use any other connection with their brand while 40% said yes in this regard.
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Q5. Do you collect any information before making purchase? 1. Yes 2. No
68
32
Yes
No
Here the customer response about they collect information before making purchase 68% said yes and 32% said no they did not collect.
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Q6. If yes, which sources are used while purchasing the SIM? 1. Magazines 2. Dealers 3. Sales executives 4. Operators reference 5. Pamphlets and catalogue 6. Reference from friends and relatives 7. Any other Responses Magazines Dealers Sales Executives Operators Reference Pamphlets And Catalogues Reference From Friends And Relatives Any Other Total Respondents 6 8 7 6 16 Percentage 12 16 14 12 32
3 50
6 100
Reference From Friends And
Any Other 6%
Magazines 12% Dealers 16% Sales Executives 14%
Pamphlets And Catalogues 32%
Operators Reference 12%
Here customer response about what source they choose while purchasing SIM we found 32% by catalogue and pamphlets, 16% use dealers, 14% sales executive.
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Q7. What are the features you look for in connection before making the purchase? 1. Brand credibility 2. Price and discount 3. After sales services 4. Reliable network 5. Add on features Responses Brand credibility Price and discount Reliable network After sales services Add on features Total Respondents 12 18 10 3 Percentage 24 36 20 6
7 50
14 100
Add on features
14
After sales services
Reliable network
20
Price and discount
36
Brand credibility
24
Here 36 % people said they look for price and discount, 24% brand credibility, 20% reliable network, 14% add on features and 6 % after sales services.
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Q8. Which of these marketing / sales schemes attracts you while purchasing any connection? 1. Good Network 2. Discount scheme 3. Service package 4. Any other
Responses Good network Discount scheme Service Package Any other Total
Respondents 17
Percentage 34
14
28
11
22
8 50
16 100
34 28 22 16
Good network
Discount scheme
Service Package
Any other
In this we asked customers that what market scheme they see while purchasing SIM 34% people said that they see good network, 28% see discount scheme, 22% service package and 16% go for any other.
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Q9. Which brands connection is very good? 1. Vodafone 2. Airtel 3. Any other
Responses Vodafone Airtel Any other Total
Respondents 32 14 4 50
Percentage 64 28 8 100
Vodafone
Airtel
Any other
8%
28%
64%
68% of the people said Vodafones connection is very good, 28% said Airtel while 8% go with any other.
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Q10. Which brands call rate is very good? 1. Vodafone 2. Airtel 3. Any other
Responses Vodafone Airtel Any other Total
Vodafone
Airtel
Any other
20%
50% 30%
50% of the people said that Vodafones call rate is very good, 30% said that Airtel is good in call rate while 20% go with any other.
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Q11. Which brand provides better customer care service? 1. Vodafone 2. Airtel 3. Any other
Response Vodafone Airtel Any other Total
Respondents 34 10 6
Percentage 68 20 12
50
100
Vodafone
Airtel
Any other
12%
20%
68%
68% customers said that Vodafone provides better customer care services, 20% said Airtel while 12% said any other connection.
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Q12. Are you aware of various promotional activities being run by Vodafone and Airtel? 1. Yes 2. No
56 44
Yes
No
Here are the customer responses about the promotional activities done by their connection 44% of people are not aware and rest 56% aware.
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Q.13.Are you satisfied with the promotional activities? 1. Yes 2. No
Yes
No
24%
76%
Here are the customer responses about the promotional activities done by their connection 24% of people are not satisfied and rest 76% are satisfied.
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Q14. How you rate the experience with brand? 1. Excellent 2. Good 3. Average 4. Below Average
Response Excellent Good Average Below average Total
50
100
38
30
22
10
Excellent
Good
Average
Below average
Here the customer rate the experience by their brand 38 % of customer said the experience is excellent, 10% thinks the experience is below average, 30% think the experience is good and 22% said the experience with their brand is average.
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Q.15 Are you satisfied with your service provider? 1. Very satisfied 2. Satisfied 3. Somewhat satisfied 4. Not satisfied
Response Very satisfied Satisfied Somewhat satisfied Not satisfied Total
Respondents 14
Percentage 28
18 10
36 20
16
50
100
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Not satisfied
16%
28%
20%
36%
Here the customer responses about the service provide by their brand 28 % of customer said they are very satisfied, 36% are satisfied, 20% are somewhat satisfied and 16% said that they are not satisfied with the service provided by their connection.
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INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Vodafone was the brand which was popular amongst the interviewed people. As Vodafone had done so much advertising and has it banners and hoarding spread all over sonepat. So, this could be one the reasons of its popularity. Tata was hardly a known brand in this new field possibly, because of fewer promotions done by them as compared to Vodafone. On the basis of analysis of the questionnaire I have found that the maximum no. of people spends maximum of RS 500 as their mobile expense. Now when I compared Airtel with its competitor from the point of view of the consumer I found that on the basis of Tariff plan, value added services and billing accuracy Airtel is at par or ahead of its competitor but in the case of customer care a and availability they lag behind its e competitors. As, Airtel has a hold in the market because of maximum no. of connections, so it must improve its customer services.
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FINDINGS
1. Customer response about which company service they use we found that 44% people are using Vodafone after that 34% are using Airtel, 12% using Idea, 8% are using reliance and very less 2% people are using Tata. 2. Customer response about which brand they like to prefer the most instead what they are using in this 42% people said they prefer Vodafone,28% prefer Airtel,48% Idea, 6% Tata and 10% Reliance 3. 20% of the people said that they are using the product from 6 months to 1 year, 15% 1 to 2 year, 10% 2- 3 year and 5 % 3to 5 years. 4. 60% of the people said that they dont use any other connection with their brand while 40% said yes in this regard. 5. The customer response about they collect information before making purchase 68% said yes and 32% said no they did not collect 6. Customer response about what source they choose while purchasing SIM we found 32% by catalogue and pamphlets, 16% use dealers, 14% sales executive, 12% Operator reference, 12% magazines, reference from 8% friends and relatives and 6 % use any other source. 7. 36 % people said they look for price and discount, 24% brand credibility, 20% reliable network, 14% add on features and 6 % after sales services 8. 34% people said that they see good network, 28% see discount scheme, 22% service package and 16% go for any other. 9. 68% of the people said Vodafones connection is very good, 28% said Airtel while 8% go with any other. 10. 50% of the people said that Vodafones call rate is very good, 30% said that Airtel is good in call rate while 20% go with any other. 11. 68% customers said that Vodafone provides better customer care services, 20% said Airtel while 12% said any other connection. 12. The customer responses about the promotional activities done by their connection 44% of people are not aware and rest 56% aware. 13. The customer responses about the promotional activites done by their connection 24% of people are not satisfied and rest 76% are satisfied.
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14. The customer rate the experience by their brand 38 % of customer said the experience is excellent, 10% thinks the experience is below average, 30% think the experience is good and 22% said the experience with their brand is average 15. The customer responses about the service provide by their brand 28 % of customer said they are very satisfied, 36% are satisfied, 20% are somewhat satisfied and 16% said that they are not satisfied with the service provided by their connection.
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SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION

AIRTEL Strengths Being one of the largest companies in India the company has achieved a
degree of focus in its core business of its products. It has a strong brand name, superior quality products and an enviable distribution network. It has a clear and well-defined organization structure and limits of financial authority. Increase in advertisement spends affect the companys margins. The companys bottom line falls victim to the bloated and highly paid workforce, which affects its margins.
Weakness
Little efforts over the Advertising of products. Distribution channel is not accurately categorized. Premium priced products, hence cant compete in low price segment. No separate strategy for rural market.
Opportunities
The company's financial performance can receive a major boost from its cost reduction efforts.
lxxv
There is a lot of scope of product and market diversification. Exports of products will also have huge chances in the coming years. Airtels business has ample scope for gaining market share from the unorganized sector. Rural penetration too holds vast potential to bring about growth.
Threats
The slowdown in the economy has restricted top line growth of most FMCG
majors and for Airtel also it will be difficult to maintain historical growth rates in such a depressed scenario. Companys major raw materials are influenced by government policies /
controls as well as vagaries of the monsoons. Fluctuations in the prices of raw materials would have significant impact on costs and margins of Moreover, inordinate hike in Broad Band Internet products would also increases companys production and distribution cost.
VODAFONE
Strengths
Determine an organisations strong points. This should be from both internal and external customers. Strength is a resource advantage relative to competitors and the needs of the markets a firm serves or expects to serve . It is a distinctive competence when it gives the firm a comparative advantage in the marketplace. Strengths arise from the resources and competencies available to the firm.
lxxvi
Weaknesses
Determine an organisations weaknesses, not only from its point of view, but also more importantly, from customers. Although it may be difficult for an organisation to acknowledge its weaknesses it is best to handle the bitter reality without p rocrastination. A weakness is a limitation or deficiency in one or more resources or competencies relative to competitors that impedes a firms effective performance .
Opportunities
Another major factor is to determine how organisations can continue to grow within the marketplace. After all, opportunities are everywhere, such as the changes in technology, government policy, social patterns, and so on. An opportunity is a major situat ion in a firms environment. Key trends are one source of opportunities. Identification of a previously overlooked market segment, changes in competitive or regulatory circumstances, technological changes, and improved buyer or supplier relationships c ould represent opportunities for the firm.
Threats
No one likes to think about threats, but we still have to face them, despite the fact that they are external factors that are out of our control, for example, the recent economic slump in Asia. It is vital to be prepared and face threats even during turbulent times. A threat is a major unfavourable situation in a firms environment. Threats are key impediments to the firms current or desired position. The entrance of new competitors, slow market growth, incr eased bargaining power of key buyers or suppliers, technological changes, and new or revised regulations could represent threats to a firms success.
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LIMITATIONS
No project is without limitations and it becomes essential to figure out the various constraints that we underwent during the study. The following points in this direction would add to our total deliberations:1. During the study, on many occasions the respondent groups gave us a cold shoulder. 2. The respondents from whom primary data was gathered any times displayed complete ignorance about the complete branded range, which was being studied. 3. Lack of time is the basic limitation in the project. 4. Some retailers/whole sellers refuse to cooperate with the queries. 5. Some retailers/wholesalers gave biased or incomplete information regarding the study. 6. Lack of proper information and experience due to short period of time. .
lxxviii
RECOMMENDATIONS
Following are the few recommendations to AIRTEL for improving the market share and image of the products concerned. 1. PRODUCT Modification must be brought about in AIRTEL, in terms of quality. Its demand should be increased. 2. PLACE The brands must be made available easily in, PCO & general stores. 3. PROMOTION Company must undertake extensive promotional activities like advertisements must be released in different Medias to create brand awareness. Free samples should be distributed among the prospects. Sales promotion tools like gifts, contests and coupons must be given to retailers as well as customers and prospects. Catalogues should be distributed among customers. 4. PRICE Price should be as competitive as other company maintains Distribution of new connection should be in reach of customer pocket.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR VODAFONE

Following are some of the suggestions given by the researcher so that Vodafone can serve people and its customers in an improved way: Vodafone should decrease call rates for local users. Vodafone should provide more offers to Post-Paid customers so that the number of Post-Paid customers increases. Vodafone should bring introduce some new SMS schemes for the youngsters. Vodafone should introduce more schemes and offers. Vodafone should provide more schemes and offers to its old customers.
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IMPLICATIONS
The implications of the research work are as follows: Vodafone is consistently maintaining the standards of telecomm industry and providing a base for satisfying the customer needs. Airtel is coming in line with Vodafone but lacks on various factors like poor customer care services, high call rate charges, high internet recharge etc. Airtel should work strategically in serving the customer needs. Vodafone creates a better impact in terms of services and call rates for providing the necessary services to the customers.
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CONCLUSION
After analyzing the findings of the research, I can conclude that Airtel lagged behind its competitors as far as customer service and availability is concernedMaximum no. of people spends RS 500 on their connections. As Airtel is the only company having the maximum no of mobile connections so it must seriously look into the loop holes of the existing customer service department. As Airtel is the only company having the maximum no of mobile connections so it must seriously look into the loop holes of the existing customer service department. As we know that now Airtel has already launched its product with logo JO TERA HAI WHO MERA HAI has already became popular in market. So we can say that in spite of so many competitors in the market Airtel is having a good position just because every time, it tries its best to understand the need of its important customers. From the comparison and deep analysis of every aspect of business of both the companies we can conclude that Bharti Airtel has to more work in every field of communication business. It is the time not only to survive but to sustain in the market for a long time. For this Airtel has to work on its all marketing strategies, marketing, promotion, brand image etc. Airtel has to take Vodafone, very seriously and update its own strategies from time to time and when the need arises. With aggressive marketing strategies Airtel has to target rural India as 70% of population of India lives in these areas. The other segment may be costumers of all age groups.
lxxxi

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Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

OVERVIEW OF INDUSRTY AS WHOLE

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF TELE SECTOR IN INDIA

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INDIAN CELLULAR MARKET - EARLIER ROADBLOCKS AND THEIR RESOLUTION

ROADBLOCKS CURRENT POSITION

REGULATORY AUTHORITY NOT IN PLACE

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REASONS OF PROBLEMS IN FINANCIAL CLOSURES

FOREIGN OWNERSHIP / CHANGE OF PARTNER LIMITATIONS

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CELLULAR INDUSTRY

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

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BUILDING VISIBILITY AND AWARENESS

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FUTURE TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENT

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Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

MOBILE TELEPHONES IN INDIA

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

are Airtel, Reliance

47,519,629 7,121,765 3,009,445 13,748,300 76,023,551 5,616,152

6.64% 0.86% 0.45% 1.05% 10.84% 0.43%

1,132,477 118,038,438 706,691,164

0.13% 17.08% 100%

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

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Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Year 2003 (Cricket, Bollywood and Celebration)

Telecom Market Summary

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

COMPANY PROFILE OF AIRTEL

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Mobile services Fixed-line

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

well as defining its goal to become a national builder of telecoms infrastructure.

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

AIRTEL (CELLULAR OPERATIONS)

TOUCHTEL (BASIC SERVICE OPERATIONS)

INDIA ONE (NATIONAL LONG DISTANCE)

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

JO TERA HAI WHO MERA HAI CAMPAIGN

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

OTHER BRAND BUILDING INITIATIVES

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel

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Comparative analysis Of Marketing Strategies Of Vodafone & Airtel