1. COMPANY PROFILE
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Cellular Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated
telecom conglomerate, Bharti Enterprises. Bharti provides a range of telecom services, which
include Cellular, Basic, Internet and recently introduced National Long Distance. Bharti also
manufactures and exports telephone terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the
largest manufacturer of telephone instruments in India, it is also the first company to export
its products to the USA. Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with a footprint in 15
states covering all four metros and more than 7 million satisfied customers.
VISION:
To make mobile communications a way of life and be the customers' first choice.
MISSION:
We will meet the mobile communication needs of our customers through:
•Error-free service delivery
•Innovative products and services
• Cost efficiency
• Unified Messaging Solutions
CORE VALUE:
We will delight our customer with our simplicity, speed & innovation.
We will honour our commitment.
We will follow the highest standard of professional integrity & behaviour.
We will respect individual, build winning teams and lead by example.
We will create a fun filled and friendly workplace.
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2. AIRTEL MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED:
Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting investments in
telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate telecom services across India. Bharti
Tele-Ventures is India's leading private sector provider of telecommunications services based
on a strong customer base consisting of 7.42 million total customers, which constitute, 6.76
million mobile and 657,000 fixed line customers, as of April 30, 2004.
Bharti Tele-Ventures vision for its mobile business is “To make mobile communications a
way of life and be the customers first choice”.
The mission is to meet the mobile communication needs of the customer through 1) error free
service 2) Innovative products and services and 3) cost efficiency. The Company’s strategic
objective is to consolidate its leadership position amongst the mobile service providers in
India.
The Indian mobile market, according to the COAI, has increased from approximately 1.2
million subscribers as of March 31, 1999 to approximately 29.21 million subscribers as of
June 30, 2004.
Despite this rapid growth, the mobile penetration rate in India, at approximately 2.8% as of
June 30, 2004, is significantly lower than the average mobile penetration rate in other Asian
and international markets.
The number of mobile subscribers in India is expected to show rapid growth over the next
four years. By 2006 it is projected at 50 million by COAI and 44 million by Gartner.
Bharti Tele-Ventures believes that the demand for mobile services in India will continue to
grow rapidly as a result of the following factors:
⇏ Lower tariffs and handset prices over time;
⇏ Growth in pre-paid customer category;
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3. ⇏ Greater economic growth and continued development of India's economy;
⇏ Higher quality mobile networks and services; and
⇏ Greater variety and usage of value added services.
Bharti Tele-Ventures, through its subsidiary has the licenses to provide GSM services in all
the twenty-two telecom circles in India. It proposes to consolidate all its subsidiaries
providing mobile services under Bharti Cellular Limited.
Type Public, Listed on BSE
Founded 1985
Headquarters New Delhi, India
Key people Sunil Mittal
Industry Telecom
Products Mobile and Fixed-Line Telecommunication operator
Revenue $60 Billion
Slogan Express Yourself
History of Pre-Paid :
1986 Main GSM radio transmission techniques were chosen.
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4. 1987 September - 13 operators and administrators from 12 areas in the CEPT GSM advisory
group signed the charter GSM (Grouped Spéciale Mobile) MoU "Club" agreement, with a
launch date of 1 July 1991.
The original French name Groupe Spéciale Mobile was changed to Global System for
Mobile communications; but the original GSM acronym remains.
In 1989, GSM responsibility was transferred to the European Telecommunication Standards
Institute (ETSI), and phase I of the GSM specifications was published in 1990. Commercial
services started in mid 1991, and by 1993 there were 36 GSM networks in 22 countries, with
25 additional countries like South Africa, Australia and many Middle and Far East countries
opting for GSM. By the beginning of 1994, there were 1.3 million subscribers worldwide.
The developers of GSM chose an unproven (at that time) digital system, as opposed to the
then standard analog cellular systems like AMPS in the United States and TACS in the
United Kingdom. They had faith in the advancements in compression algorithms and digital
signal processors to allow the fulfillment of the original criteria and the continual
improvement of the system in terms of quality and cost.
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) defined GSM as the
internationally accepted digital cellular telephony standard.
GSM MOU was formally registered as an association registered in Switzerland with 156
members from 86 areas.
Pre-Paid Users:
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5. Airtel Pre-Paid service
Airtel 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 in India in Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch
National Long Distance Services in India.
In a scenario where Telco ARPUs have been squeezed down to rock bottom and most users
prefer to go prepaid, MVAS could be the way out.
Mobile value-added services (MVAS) have led to the emergence of a fresh business
ecosystem giving rise to supporting industries such as content development and aggregation.
The evolution of the MVAS market has come in parallel with the changes and advances that
have taken place in the telecom industry. A well demarcated value chain of MVAS seem to
have evolved.
MVAS is now considered as a major tool for additional revenue, service differentiation and
customer retention. One of the majors, Bharti Airtel, has been looking to MVAS to provide
its next wave of growth.
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6. According to industry estimates, Mobile VAS in India would account for 18% of the total
revenues generated by operators from mobile services by end 2010, For Bharti Airtel, VAS
accounted for 11.8% of its total revenues as on March 31, 2010. SMS revenues had risen
from 4.1% in the previous fiscal to 6%. Non-voice revenues, which are considered to be the
core MVAS category, had increased from 9.5% to 11.8%.
Airtel pre –paid mobile customers in smaller cities like Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram,
Surat, Pune and Udaipur with basic phones priced at less than Rs. 5,000 have taken the lead.
Social networking and utility apps ranked highest on the popularity charts. Other popular
categories included books, entertainment and games.
The downloads from Airtel App Central have indicated that the Indian mobile applications
model will be different from the global one. Occupying an average of not more than 2% of
available space on the customer’s handset per app, downloads from Airtel App Central are
being led by feature phones and not smart phones. While 25% of the apps are free to
download, the top five are subscription-based. Airtel recently launched its own movie library,
Airtel Talkies, and followed it up with another product with pre-release audio promos of
films, starting with My Name Is Khan. “Then came The Japanese Wife and the initiative has
been extremely successful,” commented Shireesh Mukund Joshi, Director of Marketing and
Communications at Airtel.
Venkatesh V., CEO, Mobile Services, Karnataka Circle, Bharti Airtel, said, “Today, a pre-
paid mobile phone is not used solely for communication; it is a cost-effective option that is
available for entertainment, for news and for any other information that one may require.
This shift in consumer behavior, where subscribers expect more than just connectivity, has
ensured that service providers are actively announcing various value-added services that will
help retain customers.”
This year, customers have been making a big shift away from two-year contracts toward
"prepaid" cell phone service, which often costs less and does not require contracts.
This is happening even though contracts are needed to get popular phones such as the
iPhone and the Droid.
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7. Now prepaid service looks like it will get even more attractive, with further price cuts.
That's because wireless carriers have hit a wall when it comes to finding new customers
who will sign contracts.
Unlike contract plans that bill subscribers each month for the services they used the
previous month, prepaid services traditionally let subscribers buy minutes in advance for
around 10 to 20 cents each. When the minutes are used up, people "refill" their accounts as
needed. For years, such plans were marketed primarily to people who did not have the
credit to qualify for plans with contracts. About one-fifth of Americans with cell phones
are on prepaid, according to the New Millennium Research Council, a Washington-based
think tank. But as the recession forced more people to cut costs, prepaid service appealed to
a broader slice of the market, and prepaid services responded by offering better deals. Now
it's possible to make unlimited calls and text messages on a prepaid plan for Rs.45 a month
- half of what it costs a customer with a contract on Verizon Wireless. At Tracfone, the
largest independent provider of prepaid service, customers pay an average of $11 per
month.
The popularity of text messaging is also making some people move away from contract
plans that provide a big bucket of monthly minutes that may not get used. Finlay uses
prepaid service from Airtel Mobile, because he talks no more than 15 to 20 minutes on the
phone each month. That costs him $5 per month. He sends and receives up to 2,000 text
messages, so he tacks on an unlimited-texting option for $20 per month.. Together, the
seven largest U.S. wireless carriers expanded their contract subscribers by just 230,000
people in the first quarter. Prepaid service, meanwhile, attracted about 3.1 million new
subscribers to the seven largest carriers in the quarter.
Airtel Pre-paid :
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8. Are you wary of committing yourself to a date for making your bill payments? Is it too much
of a bother for you to remember dates for bill payments? Do you often end up paying late
fees against your monthly utility services bills? Do you end up spending too much if you
have the option to pay the bill later?
Think over for if one of these represents you, we have a solution for you. Start thinking
prepaid is our advice!
So what exactly is this prepaid! It is simply a way of going cellular by paying for the talk
time in advance. For e.g. if you feel that you need Rs. 300 worth of talk time for a month,
you can buy a recharge coupon which gives you that much talk time on your cell phone.
Once that money gets exhausted you can buy another recharge coupon for the same or
different denomination depending on your future need.
Prepaid allows you to be in control of your cellular expenses even while you are spending.
You will be surprised that today In India, Prepaid connections account for almost 60 to 70
percent of the total new entrants into cellular telephony. That’s because almost every one of
us wants to be in control of our cellular expense.
Advantages of Pre-Paid:
Some of the many advantages that you enjoy with Airtel Pre-Paid...
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9.  Total Cost Control
Enjoy the liberty of total cost control with your Airtel Pre-paid! Re-charge as much as you
feel the need to! Now that's what we call complete freedom!
 No Rentals
Buy an Airtel prepaid card without having to pay any rentals!
 No deposits
Your Airtel prepaid card comes without you having to pay hefty deposits.
 STD/ISD facility till the last rupee
Now experience complete freedom like never before with Airtel! Our STD/ISD facility
allows you to make long distance calls in India and Overseas from your cellular phone!
 Instant Balance Inquiry
Check your talk-time instantly by calling our toll-free number!
 60 second pulse
Airtel provides you with a 60-second pulse rate! Freedom for you to experience like never
before!
 Instant Recharge
Avail of instant recharge on your Airtel prepaid card with just a few simple steps!
 24-hour recharge facility
With our round-the-clock recharge facility, recharge you Airtel prepaid card anytime,
anywhere!
 Caller Line Identification: Call Line Identification gives you the power to know the
phone number of the calling party even before you answer the call, thus giving you
the choice to either reject or take the call. It provides the added advantage of saving
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10. the incoming number directly in the Handset Phone Book. So that the next time you
want to call the same person, you don't need to retype his number, simply use your
phone book.
 Call Divert, Call Hold and Call Wait
Avail of special services like call waiting, call hold and call divert – all with your
Airtel prepaid card!
 Short Messaging Service (SMS)
With Airtel’s Short Messaging Service (SMS), send messages and jokes to your
friends and colleagues, anytime anywhere!
 SMS based Information Services
With Airtel's SMS based information services; you can get up to-the-minute cricket
scores, order flowers as well as send couriers or check your daily horoscope!
 Voice Mail service
Voice Mail lets you receive messages even when your handset is switched off or
when you are outside the coverage area. You can listen to your messages whenever
you feel like, from anywhere in the world. Voice Mail can store up to 75 messages,
with each message of two-minute duration.
Airtel Out of Home Circle Service:
We have established one of the most extensive roaming tie-ups - both national and
international- with the best service providers in the respective regions to ensure that you get
uninterrupted coverage throughout. We currently provide roaming coverage in more than
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11. 1000 cities and major highways across India. We also provide international roaming in 56
countries across 101 networks.
National Roaming:
Our national roaming coverage currently spans across more than a 1000 cities across India.
Airtel Pre-Paid User
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preferen…
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When the preferences for mobile phone connections were asked, results drawn that 40%
of persons prefer to take BSNL because they believe in BSNL’s better coverage & cheaper
rates after BSNL, 20% of people opt Reliance services because of its cheaper rate and
flexible schemes, then Airtel is only 25% but there is very high recommendation for its
better connectivity. Airtel is rich in attractive schemes and plans for business persons and
persons related to corporate world.
Survay of Airtel Pre-Paid market –Noida
Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's Airtel Lapu Competitor's
Outlet Name
market % market% market% Market% % Lapu %
Careter’s meeting Pt. 40% 60% 45% 55% 41% 59%
Final Touch 67% 33% 45% 55% 45% 55%
Naaz photo comm. 36% 64% 42% 58% 43% 57%
Tone & melodies 45% 55% 43% 57% 40% 60%
Milan comm. 38% 63% 43% 57% 38% 63%
Aalamcomm. 45% 55% 57% 43% 29% 71%
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12. Vijay electronics 38% 62% 38% 63% 38% 62%
Aman comm. 42% 58% 40% 60% 38% 62%
Rose comm. 43% 57% 29% 71% 29% 71%
TOTAL 45% 55% 43% 57% 37% 63%
Airtel market Competitor's Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's
Outlet name
% market% market% market% Lapu % Lapu %
A 2 Z communication 43% 57% 40% 60% 33% 67%
B.K.Marketing 64% 36% 50% 50% 40% 60%
Santacruz mart 61% 39% 9% 91% 41% 59%
Mobile villa 68% 32% 27% 73% 44% 56%
Vakola Mall 80% 20% 40% 60% 44% 56%
Matrix telecom 37% 63% 50% 50% 30% 70%
Gupta Telecom 58% 42% 38% 62% 45% 55%
Moon contacts 74% 26% 42% 58% 53% 47%
Mobile city 44% 56% 33% 67% 45% 55%
Konkan electronics 58% 42% 38% 62% 43% 57%
TOTAL 61% 39% 24% 76% 43% 57%
Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's
Outlet Name
market % market% market% market% Lapu % Lapu %
Gala & sons 75.00% 25% 53% 47% 60% 40%
Bharat telecom 75.00% 25% 45% 55% 45% 55%
Praveen & sons 70.97% 29% 56% 44% 56% 44%
Zarina general store 64.52% 35% 57% 43% 48% 52%
Ravi communication 72.73% 27% 55% 45% 48% 52%
Sai communication 75.00% 25% 45% 55% 44% 56%
Quality inn 62.50% 38% 52% 48% 56% 44%
Nirmals shop 76.47% 24% 48% 52% 60% 40%
Andheri Shop 66.67% 33% 50% 50% 43% 57%
Total 72.27% 28% 49% 51% 54% 46%
Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's Airtel Competitor's
Outlet Name
market % market% market% market% Lapu % Lapu %
Nair Gallery 55% 45% 45% 55% 33% 67%
Poonam Art Gallery 50% 50% 44% 56% 43% 57%
Aman comm. 63% 38% 42% 58% 42% 58%
Khar Internationals 44% 56% 33% 67% 31% 69%
Saif business 26% 74% 47% 53% 40% 60%
Unique telecomm. 43% 57% 36% 64% 67% 33%
Antique 54% 46% 54% 46% 43% 57%
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13. Communications
Harmain Entp.. 56% 44% 42% 58% 43% 57%
Orpat watches 56% 44% 56% 44% 29% 71%
Sindhi Mobiles 45% 55% 40% 60% 38% 62%
TOTAL 50% 50% 43% 57% 40% 60%
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION LEVEL:
The above graph shows a slice of 50%. These are the total no. of People who are using
Airtel. It seems that people are more aware of Airtel than any other brand.
As the above graph clearly shows that customer services at Airtel Seems poor. 35% of the
people are dissatisfied with the customer services provided by Airtel. They are the ones who
have the maximum share in the market but they are lagging behind in the customer services.
10% of the people were fully dissatisfied with the customer services of Airtel. This could
leave an impact on the mind of the consumer. He can even switch over his brand. 10% of the
people seemed partially satisfied with the customer services and only 45% seem to be fully
satisfied with Airtel’s customer services, which is a very small amount.
Airtel Pre-Paid-GSM Growth In India
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14. MILESTONE OF COMPANY
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15. 1 Mobile phone operator, Bharti Airtel, became the first Indian telecom company to serve
2 50 million customers last month, and is now the world’s tenth largest wireless carrier.
3 Bharti has doubled its user base in the past 14 months alone, and hopes to reach 100
million subscribers by 2010, according to company executives.
4 “Our next 50 million will largely come from rural India as our plan is to reach 5,200
census towns and over five lakh villages, covering 96 per cent of the Indian population,”
said Bharti Airtel president and CEO, Manoj Kohli, at a news conference this week.
5 Bharti Airtel, India’s leading telecommunication services provider, today announced
that it had crossed the 50 million customer mark. With this, Bharti Airtel has achieved
the distinction of becoming the fastest private telecom company in world to achieve this
landmark in a single country - within 143 months of start of operations. The 50 million
customer base covers mobile as well as broadband & telephone customers.
6 Commenting on this major global landmark, Mr. Akhil Gupta, Joint Managing Director,
Bharti Airtel said, “We are delighted to have achieved this major landmark, which puts
Bharti Airtel amongst the top telecom companies in the world. It underlines the strength
of our unique business model and our vision to provide affordable services like lifetime
prepaid to customers across the length and breadth of the country. I would like to thank
our partners for having shared our vision. This milestone highlights the emergence of
India as one of the top telecom markets in the world and we are proud to have been at
the forefront of this growth. Going forward, we believe this growth momentum will
remain intact and we are gearing towards the 100 million customers mark.”
7 Bharti Airtel crossed the 10 million customer mark in November 2004. In July last year,
it crossed the 25 million customer mark.
8 The company added the next 25 million customers in just 14 months. This is amongst
the fastest rate of customer additions by any telecom company in the world.
9 Mr. Manoj Kohli, President & CEO, Bharti Airtel added, “This is a very proud moment
for us and I would like to thank our 50 million customers for believing in Airtel. It is a
tribute to our commitment to provide best-in-class services to our customers and lead
the market with exciting innovations. We are committed to create a world-class
organization and benchmark it with the best in the world. As the market gets ready for
the next wave of growth, we are committed to expanding our telecom networks wider
and deeper across the country and partner India’s growth story.”
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16. 10 In the mobile business, Bharti Airtel plans to make considerable investments in Network
expansion to establish presence in all census towns and over 500,000 villages across
India by 2010, thereby covering 95% of the country’s total population. The company’s
strategic focus will be on further strengthening the Airtel brand through best-in-class
customer service, which is backed by wide national distribution.
11 In the Enterprise business, Bharti Airtel will invest substantially in the long distance
business to achieve the scale of a global carrier within next 2-3 years. It is also
strengthening the corporate business towards becoming a preferred managed services
partner for the top 2000 corporations. In Broadband & Telephone SBU, Bharti Airtel
will initiate large-scale deployments of broadband network infrastructure in 94 towns,
with a sharp focus on the home and SME segments. It is readying to offer triple play to
its customers with the launch of its IPTV service.
Airtel has taken the lead on many occasions. It has been the first:
• To launch Cellular service in Delhi on November, 1995.
• Operator to revolutionalize the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel
Connect (exclusive showrooms)in 1995.
• To expand it's network with the installation for second mobile switching centre in
April, 1997 and the first in Delhi to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First
to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1
Network.
• First to provide roaming facility in USA. AirTel has the largest automatic roaming
service "SMART ROAM"- National in 400 cities in India and "SMART ROAM" -
International in over 60 countries and 95 networks all over the world.
• It is also the first company to export its products to the US.
Awards:
 Bharti airtel draws top honours at the miss Asia It excellence awards 2006.
 Bharti airtel among the top 10 best performing Companies in the world according to
Business week it 100 lists.
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
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17. Partners
The company has a strategic alliance with SingTel. The investment made by SingTel is one
of the largest investments made in the world outside Singapore, in the company. The
company’s mobile network equipment partners include Ericsson and Nokia. In the case of the
broadband and telephone services and enterprise services (carriers), equipment suppliers
include Siemens, Nortel, Corning, among others. The Company also has an information
technology alliance with IBM for its group-wide information technology requirements and
with Nortel for call centre technology requirements. The call centre operations for the mobile
services have been outsourced to IBM Daksh, Hinduja TMT, and Teletech & Mphasis.
Corporate Governance
Bharti Airtel Limited firmly believes in the principles of Corporate Governance and is
committed to conduct its business in a manner, which will ensure sustainable, capital-
efficient and long-term growth thereby maximising value for its shareholders, customers,
employees and society at large. Company’s policies are in line with Corporate Governance
guidelines prescribed under Listing Agreement/s with Stock Exchanges and the Company
ensures that various disclosures requirements are complied in ‘letter and spirit’ for effective
Corporate Governance. During the financial year 2003-04, your Company was assigned
highest Governance and Value Creation (GVC) rating viz. ‘Level 1’ rating by CRISIL, which
indicates that the company’s capability with respect to creating wealth for all its stakeholders
is the highest, while adopting sound Corporate Governance practices. This rating was re-
affirmed by CRISIL on April 20, 2006.
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
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18. After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994, the Indian cellular market
witnessed a surge in cellular services. By 2005, there were a total of 12 players in the market
with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti), Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Limited (BSNL), Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch), Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and
Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I).
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM)
technology. As competition in the telecom arena intensified, service providers took new
initiatives to woo customers. Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements, loyalty
rewards, discount coupons, business solutions and talk time schemes. The most important
consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class
segment. The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore
targeted most heavily by cellular service providers.
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy. By
2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the
cellular service market. (Refer Exhibit II). Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement
strategy partially, relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand.
BSNL, on the other hand, attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes. Being a state
owned player, BSNL could cover rural areas, and this helped it increase its subscriber base.
Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies, which
included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes. Idea relied heavily on its
creative media advertising sans celebrities.
Over the last couple of years, the market has grown considerably, with deeper penetration
and wider usage of voice and data services, accompanied by much higher competitive
intensity," Atul Bindal, chief marketing officer, Bharti TeleVentures, expands on this. "In
this context, differentiating merely on network, coverage and SMS is just not enough. You
need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any, case - and
connect at a deeper level. We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized
and crowded market. We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our
category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point, when you
need to be heard. Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions.
AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way, anytime, anywhere. The
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19. campaign is towards owning this through 'Express yourself.' We believe 'Express yourself'
allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand."
For AirTel, the challenge also lay in presenting a unified 'face' to the consumer. This assumes
significance when viewed in the light of the company's pre- and post-paid communication,
which, in the past, had been treated very differently. Brand image, as a result, was being
driven in two different dimensions. "Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely
different market segments such as consumer, business and corporate, as well as different
voice, data and payment platforms," says Bindal. "'Express yourself' enables the brand to
unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customers."
One of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as 'candid expression' (and
'Express yourself') is the expansive nature of the thought. "The moment you have as broad a
canvas as 'Express yourself', it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up
with new ideas and executions. That's what makes a good campaign idea," observes Rediff's
Prashant Godbole, who, along with creative partner Zarvan Patel, conceived the campaign.
This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg, Patel adds. "We will be taking the idea forward
in many different ways in the forthcoming work," he informs. "
In October 2002, Magic led the market, with 30% of the market share. Bharti claimed that its
strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular
telephony market. However, given the increasing competitive pressure, doubts were being
expressed regarding the ability of Bharti's marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its
'Magic' in the future
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata. VQE is a
revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise. It eliminates acoustic
echo, adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so
that every word of your's can be heard clearly, wherever you may be speaking from.
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA, world leaders in Voice Quality
technology.
AIRTEL NEWS :
• Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA.
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20. • Bharti Airtel limited: Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs. 1,600 crores, PBT crosses Rs. 1,000
crores.
• Bharti Airtel is amongst India’s Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006.
• Sunil Bharti Mittal receives ‘The Honorary Fellowship’ from IETE.
• Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of
amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband
Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited.
• Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1, 2006.
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial
starring musician A R Rahman. The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which
also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users. But the
interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by
customers of rival service providers like BPL, Orange and Dolphin as well!
“We did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectations,” admits
Bharti Cellular’s chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota. Overall, he explains, it
is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a “walking, talking brand
ambassador.”
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTel’s TV commercial, is proving to be a potent
advertising tool for the company. It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular
operators. Cellular users have been “forwarding” the tune to one another, which according to
Mr Pota, has given AirTel a chance to enter the “mind of the user” irrespective of which
service he opts for.
“It gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder
medium,” he explains. Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultants’
managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an “audio celebrity” as something
that is significant.
“The normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personality”
he says.
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21. Rivals, though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon, seem to be doing their own
homework on this brand of advertising. While none of them commented on AirTel’s strategy
and its impact on their own subscriber base, one advertising professional working with a rival
service provider opines that the tune is “transient” and not likely to have any long term
impact as a brand building tool.
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle, AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through
the clutter. Says Mr. Kapoor,” AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and
convert the existing ones.” Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more
“strategic than tactical”, he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel “brand
experience” in spite of not using the service.
While Mr. Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means “free
advertising” for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product, the
nature of reaction from competition remains unclear.
“Competition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with
advertising that is well thought out” explains Mr. Kapoor. He anticipates a situation where
the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive.
LITERATURE REVIEW:
Airtel 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
21

22. services outside in India in Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch
National Long Distance Services in India.
In a scenario where Telco ARPUs have been squeezed down to rock bottom and most users
prefer to go prepaid, MVAS could be the way out.
Mobile value-added services (MVAS) have led to the emergence of a fresh business
ecosystem giving rise to supporting industries such as content development and aggregation.
The evolution of the MVAS market has come in parallel with the changes and advances that
have taken place in the telecom industry. A well demarcated value chain of MVAS seem to
have evolved.
MVAS is now considered as a major tool for additional revenue, service differentiation and
customer retention. One of the majors, Bharti Airtel, has been looking to MVAS to provide
its next wave of growth.
According to industry estimates, Mobile VAS in India would account for 18% of the total
revenues generated by operators from mobile services by end 2010. For Bharti Airtel, VAS
accounted for 11.8% of its total revenues as on March 31, 2010. SMS revenues had risen
from 4.1% in the previous fiscal to 6%. Non-voice revenues, which are considered to be the
core MVAS category, had increased from 9.5% to 11.8%.
Airtel pre –paid mobile customers in smaller cities like Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram,
Surat, Pune and Udaipur with basic phones priced at less than Rs. 5,000 have taken the lead.
Social networking and utility apps ranked highest on the popularity charts. Other popular
categories included books, entertainment and games.
The downloads from Airtel App Central have indicated that the Indian mobile applications
model will be different from the global one. Occupying an average of not more than 2% of
available space on the customer’s handset per app, downloads from Airtel App Central are
being led by feature phones and not Smartphone’s. While 25% of the apps are free to
download, the top five are subscription-based. Airtel recently launched its own movie library,
Airtel Talkies, and followed it up with another product with pre-release audio promos of
films, starting with My Name Is Khan. “Then came The Japanese Wife and the initiative has
been extremely successful,” commented Shireesh Mukund Joshi, Director of Marketing and
Communications at Airtel.
22

23. Venkatesh V., CEO, Mobile Services, Karnataka Circle, Bharti Airtel, said, “Today, a pre-
paid mobile phone is not used solely for communication; it is a cost-effective option that is
available for entertainment, for news and for any other information that one may require.
This shift in consumer behavior, where subscribers expect more than just connectivity, has
ensured that service providers are actively announcing various value-added services that will
help retain customers.” (daily express, by subhankar kundu).
This year, customers have been making a big shift away from two-year contracts toward
"prepaid" cell phone service, which often costs less and does not require contracts. This is
happening even though contracts are needed to get popular phones such as the iPhone and
the Droid.
Now prepaid service looks like it will get even more attractive, with further price cuts.
That's because wireless carriers have hit a wall when it comes to finding new customers
who will sign contracts.
"I would love to have an iPhone. I just can't swallow the $70 or more bill that would come
with it," said Jeff Finlay, a 45-year-old stay-at-home dad in San Antonio who uses a
prepaid plan.
Unlike contract plans that bill subscribers each month for the services they used the
previous month, prepaid services traditionally let subscribers buy minutes in advance for
around 10 to 20 cents each. When the minutes are used up, people "refill" their accounts as
needed.
For years, such plans were marketed primarily to people who did not have the credit to
qualify for plans with contracts. About one-fifth of Americans with cell phones are on
prepaid, according to the New Millennium Research Council, a Washington-based think
tank.
But as the recession forced more people to cut costs, prepaid service appealed to a
broader slice of the market, and prepaid services responded by offering better deals.
Now it's possible to make unlimited calls and text messages on a prepaid plan for $45 a
month - half of what it costs a customer with a contract on Verizon Wireless. At
Trachoma, the largest independent provider of prepaid service, customers pay an average
of $11 per month.
23

24. The popularity of text messaging is also making some people move away from contract
plans that provide a big bucket of monthly minutes that may not get used.
Finlay uses prepaid service from Airtel Mobile, , because he talks no more than 15 to 20
minutes on the phone each month. That costs him $5 per month. He sends and receives
up to 2,000 text messages, so he tacks on an unlimited-texting option for $20 per month..
Together, the seven largest U.S. wireless carriers expanded their contract subscribers by
just 230,000 people in the first quarter.
Prepaid service, meanwhile, attracted about 3.1 million new subscribers to the
seven largest carriers in the quarter.( Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, by Peter Svensson, 15
may 2010)
Customer satisfaction:
Customer satisfaction refers to how satisfied customers are with the products or services they
receive from a particular agency. The level of satisfaction is determined not only by the
quality and type of customer experience but also by the customer’s expectations.
Customer satisfaction is one of the main objectives of any organization. Every organization
tries to know the customer satisfaction about their products. So a study on customer
24

25. satisfaction helps the organization as well as me to gain a vast knowledge over the real world
tastes and preferences of customer.
Whether the buyer is satisfied after purchase depends on the offers performance in relation to
the buyer’s expectations. In general satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure or
disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance in relation to his
or her expectations.
As this definition makes clear, satisfaction is a function of perceived performance and
expectations. If the performance falls short of expectations, the customer is dissatisfied. If the
performance matches the expectations, the customer is satisfied. If the performance exceeds
expectations, the customer is highly satisfied or delighted.
Many companies are aiming for high satisfaction because customers who are just satisfied
still find it easy to switch when a better offer comes along. Those who are highly satisfied are
much less ready to switch. High satisfaction or delight creates an emotional bond with the
brand, not just a rational preference. The result is high customer loyalty.
Why is it important?
There are a number of reasons why customer satisfaction is important in
Airtel:
• Meeting the needs of the customer is the underlying rationale for the existence of
community service organizations. Customers have a right to quality services that
deliver outcomes.
• Organizations that strive beyond minimum standards and exceed the expectations of
their customers are likely to be leaders in their sector.
• Customers are recognized as key partners in shaping service.
Objective of the study
1. To study and understand the consumer behavior of Airtel pre- paid mobile
users in noida and their satisfaction level.
2. What factors influence the consumer for opting airtel pre-paid mobile.
25

26. 3. What are various motivation factors involved?
4. What is the perception and learning of those customers towards airtel pre-paid
mobile which are not using this service.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understand as
a science of studying how research is done scientifically. Research Methodology is a step by
step study of a problem. Physical activities involved in the study are:
26

27.  Optimum respondents as a sample size are chosen for the activity to resemble the
entire population.
 Get the questionnaire filled by the customers in the place through personal
interaction.
In this research questionnaire is framed in such a way management wants to know how the
customers are taking things that they had done to them and to find out the expectation of the
customers thus it will impact in policy making of the firm in the current fiscal year.
The questionnaire designed had closed question to find the respondents actual feeling as well
as their opinion rating about the satisfaction regarding the product.
The methodology followed for conducting the study includes the specification of research
design, sample design, questionnaire design, data collection and statistical tools used for
analyzing the collected data.
The Research exercise has been accomplished with the sample size of 100 customers. The
questionnaire method was applied for this exercise. The Research design was a blend of
descriptive and exploratory research design. The respondents have been selected through
Random sampling method.
Chi-square test
The Chi-Square test has been taken up as the selection criteria for the above mentioned data.
The Chi-Square test which shows the magnitude of discrepancy between observed and
expected frequency can be expressed symbolically as,
Where,
O= Observed set of frequencies
E= Expected set of frequencies
27

28. RESEARCH DESIGN:
The research design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted. It
constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data.
Descriptive research
This study is descriptive in nature where the data is collected through well structured
questionnaire and from the information taken from the customers.
Sampling Design/Techniques:
Sampling is the process of selecting a sufficient number of elements from the population, so
that a study of the sample and an understanding of its properties or characteristics would
make it possible for us to generalize such properties or characteristics to the population
elements.
Sampling design is to clearly define set of objects, technically called the universe to be
studied. The sampling design used in this study is probability sampling. Sampling technique
used is Simple Random sampling.
Population:
Population for this research is set as costumers who are using AIRTEL pre paid mobile.
Sample size:
The research was conducted in noida with 100 respondents.
Data Collection Methods:
Collection of data includes both primary and secondary data. The researcher has collected
both of the above data. The data collected constitutes both primary and secondary data.
Primary data:
28

29. Primary datum are collected through observation, direct communication with respondent, and
finally by distributing questionnaire to the employees using Random sampling technique the
employees are selected to fill the questionnaire.
Secondary Data:
Secondary datum is collected from the official record to obtain information’s regarding the
rate of absenteeism and the various reasons for absenteeism.
Data Analysis and Interpretation:
29

30. Table showing the satisfaction level of consumer towards service of airtel
pre paid mobile
Satisfaction level Yes No Total
Number of 87 13 100
Respondents
100%
80%
60%
Num of
ber
40% R pondents
es
20%
0%
Yes No total
Interpretation : From this I interpret that 87% customers of airtel pre paid
mobile are satisfied with their service and 13% customers are not satisfied. So
customer’s satisfaction level is more than dissatisfaction level.
Table showing the view on airtel pre paid connection
30

31. Ranking No. of respondents Percentage
Poor 3 3
Fair 25 25
Good 45 45
Very good 19 19
Excellent 8 8
Total 100 100
Excellent Poor
8% 3% fair
Very good Poor
19% 25% fair
Good
Very good
Excellent
Good
45%
Interpretation :The interpretation is that 45 % of the customer has ranked
Airtel pre paid connection as good. Some 19 % has ranked it as very good. Only
3% has ranked it as poor. 25% of the customers have ranked it as fair. So we
can say that most of the customers are in positive view.
Table showing how Promotional schemes affect the consumers
Ranking No. of respondents (%)
Strongly agree 55
31

32. Agree 21
neither 6
Partially agree 16
Don’t agree at all. 2
Total 100
100 Strong ag
ly ree
80 agree
60 neither
40 Partially agree
20 D on’t ag at
ree
all.
0 Total
No. of respondents
Interpretation: This analysis shows that the promotional schemes are very
good tool to attract the customer. 55% customers are strongly agreed on this
statement. 21% agree.
Partially agree 16%, neither 6% and those who are not agreed at all are 2%.
So we can see that the customers give the importance to promotional schemes.
Table showing about those consumers who collect information before
purchase
Information Yes No Total
Number of 74 26 100
Respondents
32

33. 100
90
80
70
60
50 Num of
ber
40 Respondents
30
20
10
0
Yes No Total
Interpretation: In this graph we can see that 74% of the customer
always collects the information about the airtel pre paid mobile
before their purchase decision. So the information about the product
is important factor in consumer buying decision. Some of customers
are not giving the importance of information about the product. 26%
customer neglecting it.
Hypothesis testing:
Procedure in hypothesis testing:-
 Formulation of a hypothesis.
 Set up a suitable significance level.
 Selection of criterion
 Computation
 Decision making
33

34. Formulation of hypothesis: The conventional approach to hypothesis testing is not to
construct a single hypothesis about the population, but rather to set up two different
hypotheses. These hypotheses must be so constructed that if one hypothesis is accepted, the
other is rejected and vice-versa these two hypotheses are:
Assuming a null hypothesis to be H (o) and the alternative hypothesis as H (a). We
formulate the hypothesis as following:
H(o) Null Hypothesis: : Factors which are not significantly influencing the customers for
opting airtel pre paid mobile are brand image, value added services, low entry cost and strong
connectivity.
H (a) Alternative Hypothesis: - : These are the factors which significantly influencing the
customers for opting airtel pre paid mobile.
At 5% level of significance we test the above mentioned hypothesis as per the results
obtained.
Set up a suitable significance level:
The confidence with which a null hypothesis is rejected or accepted depends upon the
significance level used for the purpose. A significance level of, say 5 per cent, means that in
the long run, the risk of making the wrong decision is about 5 out of every 100 occasions. A
significance level of, say 1 per cent, implies that researcher is running the risk of being
wrong in accepting or rejecting the hypothesis is 1 out of every 100 occasions. Thus, a 1 per
cent, significance level provides greater confidence to the decision than a 5 per cent
significance level.
Selection of test criterion: We can easily test our hypothesis through Chi-square test.
34

35. For our calculations, we take the significance level of: 5 per cent.
Chi Square =
Where,
= Chi-square
O = Observed value
E = Expected value
:
35

36. COMPUTATION:
Summary of Observed Data:
Factors Agree Disagree total
Connectivity 87 13 100
Cost 90 10 100
Brand image 72 28 100
Service package 90 10 100
Discount schemes 89 11 100
Value added services 92 8 100
Total 520 80 600
Degree of Freedom= (c-1) (r-1)= (2-1) (6-1)= 5
Expected value (agreed) = 520*100/600= 69.3
Expected value (disagree)= 80*100/600= 13.3
36

37. Summary of Expected Data:
Factors Agree Disagree total
Connectivity 69.3 13.3 82.6
Cost 69.3 13.3 82.6
Brand image 69.3 13.3 82.6
Service package 69.3 13.3 82.6
Discount schemes 69.3 13.3 82.6
Value added services 69.3 13.3 82.6
Total 415.8 79.8 495.6
37

38. Calculation of chi square value:
O E (O-E) (O-E)^2 (O-E)^2/E
87 69.3 17.7 313.2 4.51
90 69.3 20.7 428.4 6.18
72 69.3 2.7 7.29 0.10
90 69.3 20.7 428.4 6.18
81 69.3 11.7 136.8 1.97
92 69.3 22.7 515.2 7.43
13 13.3 -0.3 .09 .001
10 13.3 -3.3 10.8 0.15
28 13.3 14.7 216.0 3.11
10 13.3 -3.3 10.8 0.15
11 13.3 -2.3 52.9 0.76
8 13.3 -5.3 28.0 0.40
34.20
38

39. = 34.20
The table chi-square value with5 [(2-1)(6-1)] degree of freedom at the significance level of
0.05 is 11.070 .
Since the calculated chi-square value 34.20 is more than the table chi-square value 11.070. It
falls in the rejection region.
Hence H(o) was rejected and H(a) was accepted.
Decision making
Thus it is clear from test of hypothesis with the help of chi-square test that “: Factors which
influencing the customers for purchasing the airtel pre paid mobile are brand image, value
added services, low entry cost and strong connectivity.
39

40. FINDINGS
• Consumer research deals with consumer and their problems and solution to
the problems. In this I came to know about the consumers need and
expectation levels regarding airtel pre paid mobile and ascertainable levels of
consumer satisfaction.
• Most of the people are satisfied with the services of airtel pre paid mobile.
• In this I have tried to find out consumer’s cost association with the product.
• I came to know about the how much they give the importance of brand image.
• Promotional schemes affect the consumer in purchasing decision.
• The perception of consumers towards the airtel pre paid mobile is very good.
40

41. SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
 Company should concentrate more on promotional schemes, because mostly people
get attracted through promotional schemes.
 People are unsatisfied with the cost and service packages of airtel pre paid mobile so
companies should concentrate in this regard also.
 They should focus on their value added services to retain most of the customers.
 Focus on discount schemes because consumer always attracted through discount
schemes.
41

42. Limitations
 The study is restricted only to Airtel pre paid mobile, noida respondents. The
view of their other areas is not taken
 Respondents concentrated where the customers of Airtel pre paid mobile only.
 Since the researcher selected 100 sample sizes it is not sufficient to cover opinion
of entire population.
 Time duration in conducting the research is very low.
42

43. Conclusion
The main objective of my analysis was to find whether the customers are satisfied with the
airtel pre paid services or not. How the promotional schemes affect the consumer buying
behaviour. So I find out here that the consumers of airtel pre paid mobile are highly satisfied
with their services and promotional schemes are very attractive to retain the customers. There
are various factors involved which influence the consumer for opting the airtel pre paid
mobile. The consumers are highly associated with brand image, strong connectivity, cost and
service packages. So the consumer perception and learning towards the airtel pre paid mobile
is in positive view.
43

44. Bibliography
Books:
► Kotler Philip, marketing management, (Pearson education, 12th edition),
► Louden D.L. & bitta delia consumer behavior ( tata Mc. Graw hill, 4th edition )
► Satish K Batra And S.H.H Kazmi.
Web sites:
www.wikipedia.com
http://managementhelp.org/customer/satisfy.htm
http://airtelprepaid.in/wps/wcm/connect/airtel.in/airtel.in/Home
http://www.customersatisfaction.com/
Magazines:
44

45. • Business world
• Business today
45

46. 46