2. INTRODUCTION
The telecommunications sector is one of the fastest growing sectors of our country. It is also
the fastest growing telecom market in the world. Indian tele-density is very low compared to
other nations. Its rural tele-density is about 2%. This presents an excellent opportunity for the
telecom companies to expand their business and reap benefits. The entry of foreign giants
like Vodafone into the market is a testimony for the attractiveness of Indian telecom sector.
In the initial stages, Indian telecom sector was a monopoly of the Department of Telecom.
But with the government allowing private participation in the sector the growth has been
phenomenal.
Over the past 10 years, India has registered the fastest growth among major democracies,
having grown at over 7 per cent in four years during the 1990s. It represents the fourth largest
economy in terms of Purchasing Power Parity. According to a recent Goldman Sachs report,
over the next fifty years, Brazil, Russia, India and China - the BRIC economies- could
become a much larger force in the world economy. It reports, âIndia could emerge as the
worldâs third largest economy and of these four countries; India has the potential to show the
fastest growth over the next 30 to 50 yearsâ. The report also states that, âRising incomes may
also see these economies move through the âsweet spotâ of growth for different kinds of
products, as local spending patterns change. This could be an important determinant of
demand and pricing patterns for a range of commoditiesâ. The share of the services sector as
a percentage of total GDP is also predicted to rise from the current 46 per cent to about 60 per
cent by 2020. The boom in the services sector is slated to come from India, emerging as a
chosen destination for software and other IT enabled services, tourism etc. According to a
Nasscom- McKinsey & Co. Study, by 2008, the Indian IT software and services sector will
account for US$ 70-80 billion in revenues; itâll employ 4 million people, and account for 7
per cent of Indiaâs GDP and 30 per cent of Indiaâs foreign exchange inflows.
India's tele-density fell a shade short of the half-century mark, at 49.50 for the end of January
2010 according to information provided by the Ministry of Communications and IT. The total
number of telephone subscribers in India was at 581.81 million at the end of January 2010, up
3.49 per cent over 562.21 million at the end of December 2009. Wireless tele-density in India
stood at 46.37 in January 2010, with the addition of 19.9 million new connections in the
month. The total number of wireless or mobile phone subscribers in India was at 545.05
million by the end of January 2010 compared to 525.15 million by the end of December
2009, posting a 3.79 per cent increase.
Bharti Airtel remained the leader in wireless segment with 22.3 per cent market share,
followed by Reliance and Vodafone with 17.72 per cent and 17.27 per cent respectively.
3. YEARS
1851 First operational landlines introduce
1881 Merger with postal system
1947 Merger of ETC and IRT into IRCC
1985 DOT established
1986 Conversion of DOT into VSNL and MTNL
1992 Private players were allowed in VAS
1994 National Telecom Policy (NTP) was formulated
1997 Independent regulator, TRAI, was established
1999 NTP-99 led to migration from high-cost fixed license fee to low-cost revenue
sharing regime
2000 BSNL was established by DoT
2002 ILD services was opened to competition, Go-ahead to the CDMA technology,
Internet telephony initiated, Reduction of licence fees
2003 Unified Access Licensing (UASL) regime was introduced
2004 Broadband policy 2004 was formulatedâtargeting 20 million subscribers by 2010
2005 FDI limit was increased from 49 to 74 percent
2006 Number portability was proposed
2007 Decision on 3G services
4. 1. ABOUT THE COMPANY
Bharti Airtel formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures LTD (BTVL) is the largest cellular
service provider in India, with more than 124 million subscribers as of February
2010[update]. With this, Bharti is now the worlds third-largest, single-country mobile
operator and sixth-largest integrated telecom operator. It also offers fixed line services and
broadband services. It offers its Telecom services under the Airtel brand and is headed by
Sunil Bharti Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and broadband Internet
access (DSL) in top 95 cities in India. It also acts as a carrier for national and international
long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at
Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore.
The businesses at Bharti Airtel have always been structured into three individual strategic
business units (SBU's) - Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services.
The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across
23 telecom circles while the Airtel Telemedia Services business offers broadband &
telephone services in 95 cities and has recently launched a Direct-to-Home (DTH) service,
Airtel Digital TV. Shahrukh Khan is the brand ambassador of the mobile company and
Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are the brand ambassadors of the DTH company. The
company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers through
its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles,
VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station.
Globally, Bharti Airtel is the 3rd largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base,
behind China Mobile and China Unicom. In India, the company has a 24.6% share of the
wireless services market, followed by 17.7% for Reliance Communications and 17.4% for
Vodafone Essar. In January 2010, company announced that Manoj Kohli, Joint Managing
Director and current Chief Executive Officer of Indian and South Asian operations, will
become the Chief Executive Officer of the International Business Group from 1st April 2010.
He will be overseeing Bharti's overseas business. Current Dy. CEO, Sanjay Kapoor, will
replace Manoj Kohli and will be the CEO with effective from 1st April, 2010.
VISION and MISSION
VISION 2010
By 2010 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India:
Loved by more customers
Targeted by top talent
Benchmarked by more businesses
VISION 2020
To build India's finest business conglomerate by 2020
5. Supporting education of underprivileged children through Bharti Foundation
Strategic Intent:
To create a conglomerate of the future by bringing about âBig Transformations through
Brave Actions.â
MISSION
âWe at Airtel always think in fresh and innovative ways about the needs of our customers and
how we want them to feel. We deliver what we promise and go out of our way to delight the
customer with a little bit moreâ
OBJECTIVE / GOALS
To undertake transformational projects that have a positive impact on the society and
contribute to the nation building process.
To Diversify into new businesses in agriculture, financial services and retail business with
world-class partners.
To lay the foundation for building a âconglomerateâ of future.
6. 2. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
The "Value Added Services" provided from Airtel are
1. VoiceMailservice
This system is similar to the answering machine - if the user is not able to answer a call for
some reason the caller can leave messages in the voice mail box which can be later retrieved
by the user
2. ShortMessageService
The short message service is like a two-way pager. It gives an option of sending and
receiving text messages directly from one mobile phone to another without the intervention
of an operator
3. MobileFax1DataService
This service helps the subscriber to send and receive Faxes, access E-mail, download files
from other systems and remotely log on to another computer and surf the Internet.
4. CashCard
The cash card is a pre-paid and pre-activated card which allows the buyers to buy air time in
advance. All it requires is the payment of an initial amount. This is a useful service for people
who travel to Delhi often and those who want to control the expenses on their calls
5. CallerID
Displays calling person's number.
6. Outgoingcallrestriction
To prevent or limit outgoing calls, for example, in peak hours. Also possible to exclude one
or several countries or any geographical region, to permit only local calls, or to limit the
outgoing calls to a listed number.
7. 7. Callforward
Incoming calls can be forwarded to another fixed or mobile phone. Besides these some other
services provided by Airtel are - Call conferencing, Call Broadcast ET cetera. It is in the
operators -Interest that they not only get many subscribers but also get them to use the mobile
facility frequently. In the early stages getting increases to subscribe may be easier than
getting them to talk since they will find it costlier to use the mobile phone as compared to a
conventional phone [if is believed that initially cell phones would be used buy
8. RoamingFacility
Roaming facility is available while the subscriber is travelling. The billing is done in the home
network (Delhi). Roaming facility is available manually as well as semi-automatically. Once a
subscriber is in any other city or country, where a GSM network is available, simply insert the SIM
card of the local operator into your handset and start talking.
9. Total Cost Control
You can control your Airtel Prepaid like never before. No more rentals or deposits â simply
recharge as much as you need to from as low as Rs. 10, to as high as Rs. 10,000/-.
10. 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!
11. Strong Network Coverage
Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtelâs world-class technology and unbreakable
network coverage that spans over 23 circles across the country.
12. 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
9. 4. MARKET SEGMENTATION
1. Demographic segmentation:
Airtel has divided its market on the basis of following variables
Age: 18 to 40 years
Gender: Male and Female
Income: More than 60000 per annum
2. Geographic Segmentation:
Country: India
State: Delhi, Maharshtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab,etc
District: Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedebad, Chennai, etc.
3) Behavioral Segmentation:
Occasions: Birthday, Marriage, Anniversary, etc.
Festivals: Rakshabandhan, Diwali, Christmas, etc.
4) Psycological Segmentation
Lifestyle: Based on peopleâs way of living.
Values: According to the values of an individual.
MARKET TARGETING
Airtel has targeted the premium and upper middle class. The rationale behind it is that only
those segments should be targeted who value time and have the paying capacity. It is also
planning to target the business tourists during their stay in the capital about 60% of the
clientele are top executives of corporate houses. 121.63 million Subscriber by 2010 elite class
up market professionals women & senior citizen by postpaid connection
ï¶ PAN-INDIA targeting
10. ï¶ High corporate clients
ï¶ Low income group people
ï¶ Youth with youth club
POSITIONING
TAGLINE: âExpress Yourselfâ
The product is sought to be positioned as a business efficiency tool. A lifestyle revolution and
a status symbol the emphasis is to remove misconception that the cell phone is an expensive
means of communication and drive home the point that the cell phone is actually a day-to-day
utility.
Airtel has been successful in positioned itself as an efficient and good service provider. This
can be clearly seen as Airtel is the market leader in Mobile services in India.
BRANDING
Airtel is a brand of telecommunication services in India and Sri Lanka operated by Bharti
Airtel.
Bharti Airtel Indiaâs largest integrated and the first private telecom services provider in all the
23 telecom circles. With its world class products and services, Bharti Airtel since its
inception, has been at the forefront of technology and has steered the course of the telecom
sector in the country. The businesses at Bharti Airtel are structured into three strategic
business units (SBUâs) - Mobile Services, Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. The
Mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23
telecom circles, Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone services in 94
cities. The Enterprise services provide end-to-end telecom solution to corporate customers
and additionally provides national & international long distance services to carriers. We have
recently forayed into Media Business by launching our DTH Services in October 2008. All
these services are rendered under a unified brand âAirtelâ.
11. 5. MARKETING MIX:
1. PRODUCT:
AIRTEL has realized that the Indian market is price sensitive. Therefore it care of the has
come up with various innovative tariff schemes to take needs of different category of
customers- Generally, the cellular services are more expensive than the land line based
telephone services. This is due to the reason that the operating companies are required to pay
a fee to the government for using airtime
a) Mobile Services:
Bharti Airtel offers GSM mobile services in all the 23-telecom circles of India and is the
largest mobile service provider in the country, based on the number of customers.
b) Airtel Telemedia Services:
The group offers high speed broadband internet with a best in class network. With Landline
services in 94 cities we help you stay in touch with your friends & family and the world. Get
world class entertainment with Indiaâs best direct to home (DTH) service digital TV in more
than 150 cities
c) Enterprise Services:
Enterprise Services provides a broad portfolio of services to large Enterprise and Carrier
customers. This division comprises of the Carrier and Corporate business unit. Enterprise
Services is regarded as the trusted communications partner to India's leading organizations,
helping them to meet the challenges of growth.
d) Digital TV Services:
Discover the magical experience of digital entertainment with Airtel. From DVD quality
picture and sound, the best and widest variety of channels and programmers to the best on-
demand content on Airtel Live, your TV viewing experience change forever with digital TV
from Airtel!
e) Prepaid
f) Postpaid
g) Blackberry
h) Smart Phones
i) Calling Card
j) Broadband
k) Fixed Line
l) Digital TV
12. m) Digital TV Interactive
2) PLACE
Distribution channel
3) PRICE DECISION:
Airtel has customer base pricing strategies.
ï¶ Prepaid Tariff:
ï¶ One Time Charges
Pulse Rate Per Minute
Price of Pack (Rs.) 31
Free Airtime on Pack
(Rs.)
0
Incoming Calls (Rs.) Free
13. ï¶ Call Charges
Airtel GSM/CDMA Landline
Local
Rates
.50 .60 .60
STD
Rates
.50 .60 .60
ï¶ SMS
Local 0.5
National 1.5
International 5
ï¶ Postpaid Tariff:
ï¶ One Time Charges
Activation Charges 500
Membership Fee 0
Security Deposit 0
ï¶ Monthly Charges (Fixed) (Rs.)
Bill Plan Charge 233
ï¶ Call Charges
CLIP 00
14. AirtelGSM/CDMALandline
Local Rates 0.5 0.5 0.5
ï¶ STD Rates
STD Rates 1.51.5 1.5
ï¶ SMS
Local 0.5
CDMA 0.5
National 1.5
International 5
VAS 3
4. PROMOTION
ï¶ Large scale print and video advertising.
ï¶ In 2002 Airtel got its Signature tune from A.R. Rehman, this signature tune is
perhaps the most downloaded tune in India.
ï¶ Provides innovations such as Bollywood movie premiers, music services such as ring
back tones & many more.
ï¶ Special discounts in calling rates & SMS services.
ï¶ Providing wallpapers and screensavers on website.
15. 6. MARKETING STRATEGY ADOPTED BY BHARTI AIRTEL
Bharti has spent a considerable amount on advertising its mobile phone service, Airtel.
Besides print advertising, the company had put up large no of hoardings and kiosks in and
around Delhi.
The objective behind designing a promotion campaign for the âAirtelâ services is to promote
the brand awareness and to build brand preferences.
It is trying to set up a thematic campaign to build a stronger brand equity for Airtel. Since the
cellular phone category itself is too restricted, also the fact that a Cellular phone is a high
involvement product, price doesn't qualify as an effective differentiator. The image of the
16. service provider counts a great deal. Given the Cell phone category, it is the network
efficiency and the quality of service that becomes important. What now the buyer is looking
at is to get the optimum price-performance package. This also serves as an effective
differentiator
Brand awareness is spread through the' campaigns and brand preference through brand
stature. Airtel's campaign in the capital began with a series of 'teaser' hoardings across the
city,' bearing just the company's name and without explaining what Airtel was. In the next
phase the campaign associated Airtel with Cellular only thereafter was the Bharti Cellular
connection brought up. Vans with Airtel logos roamed the city, handing out brochures about
the company and its services to all consumers. About 50,000 direct callers were sent
out. When the name was well entrenched in the Delhiitesâs mind, the Airtel campaign began
to focus on the utility of Cell phone. In the first four months alone Airtei's advertisement
spends exceeded Rs. 4 Crores.
As of today the awareness level is 60% unaided. This implies that if potential or
knowledgeable consumers are asked to name a Cellular phone service provider that is on the
top of his/her mind 60% of them would name Airtel.
Brand strength of a product or the health of a brand is measured by the percentage score of
the brand on the above aided and the unaided tests. The figures show that Airtel is a healthy
and a thriving brand.
Every company has a goal, which might comprise a sales target and a game plan with due
regard to its competitor. Airtel's campaign strategy is designed keeping in mind its marketing
strategy. The tone, tenor and the stance of the visual ads are designed to convey the image of
a market leader in terms of its market share. It tries to portray the image of being a "first
mover every time" and that of a "market leader".
The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just reached the maturity stage in India.
It is still on the rising part of the product life cycle curve in the maturity stage.
The diagram on the left hand side shows the percentage of the users classified into heavy,
medium and low categories. The right hand side shows the revenue share earned from the
three types of users.
Airtel, keeping in mind the importance of the customer retention, values its heavy users the
most and constantly indulges in service innovation. But, since heavy users comprise only 15
- 20% of the population the other segment cannot be neglected.
The population which has just realized the importance of cellular phones has to be roped in.
It is for this reason that the service provider offers a plethora of incentives and discounts.
Concerts like the "Freedom concert" are being organized by Airtel in order to promote sales.
The media channel is chosen with economy in mind. The target segment is not very concrete
but, there is an attempt to focus on those who can afford. The print advertisements and
hoarding are placed in those strategic areas which most likely to catch the attention of those
who need a cellular phone. The product promise (which might cost different 1 higher) is an
important variable in determining the target audience.
Besides this, other promotional strategies that Airtel has adopted are.
17. (i) People who have booked Airtel services have been treated to exclusive premiers of
blockbuster movies. Airtel has tied up with Lufthansa to offer customer bonus miles on the
German airlines frequent flier's programs.
(ii) There have been educational campaigns, image campaigns, pre launch
advertisements, launch advertisements, congratulatory advertisements, promotional
advertisements, attacking advertisements and tactical advertisements.
Strategies
Product Offer a basic
product/ service.
Offer value added
services
Increase in number
of value added
services.
Price Charge cost- plus Price to penetrate
market
Price to match or
best competitors
Distribution Build selective
distribution
Build Intensive
distribution.
Build more
intensive
distribution.
Advertising Build product
awareness among
early adopters and
dealers.
Build awareness
and interest in the
mass market
Stress brand
differences and
benefits.
Sales Promotion Use heavy sales
promotion to entice
people to subscribe.
Increase to build
and maintain
relationships with
customers.
Increase to
encourage brand-
switching.
18. 7. SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTH WEAKNESS
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
ï Very focused on telecom.
ï Leadership in fast growing
cellular segment.
ï Pan-India footprint.
ï The only Indian operator,
other than VSNL, that has
an international submarine
cable.
Price Competition from
Vodafone and Reliance
Untapped Rural market
ï The fast-expanding IPLC
market.
ï Latest technology and low
cost advantage.
ï Huge market.
ï Competition from other
cellular and mobile
operators.
ï Saturation point in Basic
telephony service
19. 8. PERFORMANCE TILL DATE:
Bharti Airtel has enjoyed an excellent run ever since the telecom sector opened.
It has managed to hold on to its leadership position in spite of the presence of other players
with deep pockets â Ambaniâs, Tataâs, Birlaâs and Vodafone.
ï¶ Has coped well with regulatory changes.
ï¶ Continues to attract and delight customers.
9. CURRENT HAPPENINGS:
ï¶ Dow Jones and Bharti Airtel Partner for Launch of The Wall Street Journal India
Mobile
ï¶ Airtel Broadband - official Broadband Sponsor of Cricket on YouTube
ï¶ Bharti Airtel makes its Media & Entertainment debut â launches Digital Media
Business
ï¶ Bharti Airtel Completes Deployment of the Bangalore Traffic Police Enforcement
Automation System on BlackBerry Smartphone's.
ï¶ Bharti enters into exclusive discussions with Zain for the acquisition of Zain Africa
BV.
ï¶ Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Thursday said a global consortium of
which it is a part has launched an undersea cable between Japan and the west coast of
the US, providing high-capacity bandwidth access across the Pacific.
20. 10. FINDING AND CONCLUSION:
ï¶ Market leader among Mobile service providers in India.
ï¶ Most successful brand in India with largest market share.
ï¶ Success is based on three pillars- connectivity, affordability and innovation. The core
is connectivity, i.e. the network
ï¶ Doesnât promote its product always by celebrities.
ï¶ Pre paid services are more expensive than post paid service.
ï¶ Airtel is providing free text messaging service and free voice mail service
ï¶ Call conferencing is also another feature Airtel provides