on " marketing strategies of airtel "

ON “Marketing strategies of Airtel” Submitted to

U.P. TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF

MBA

SESSION 2008-2010DEPTT. OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

COLLEGE NAME

Under the guidance of: Submitted by:

Supervisor Name Your Name Lecturer (college name) Roll: - XXXX

College Address

1

College Logo

STUDENT DECLARATION

I, YOUR NAME, student of MBA here by declared that the research

report entitled “MARKETING STRATEGIES OF AIRTEL” is

completed and submitted under the guidance of

GUIDANCE NAME is my original work. The imperial finding in

this report is based on the data collected by me. I have not submitted

this project report to U.P. Technical University Lucknow or any other

University for the purpose of compliance of any requirement of any

examination or degree.

DATE: YOUR NAME

MBA III SEM

ROLL NO. XXYYXYX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I acknowledge the sincere assistance provided to me from several rather

unexpected quarters during the course of execution of this study. It would

be a mammoth task to place on record my gratitude to each and every

one of them but a whole hearted attempt would be made nevertheless,

least I be branded ungrateful.

I am extremely thankful to GUIDANCE AT COMPANY NAME , (Unit

Advisor) for giving me an opportunity to undergo training in BHARTI

AIRTEL MARKETING and making my stay at AIRTEL MARKETING a

memorable learning experience.

Where the emotions are involved words cease to work. I am deeply indebt

to ---------------------- for her encouragement, affections, valuable advice

and guidance that helped me to complete this project successfully.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project aims at understanding the Marketing strategies at Airtel and its

impact on the perception of Airtel Cellular Services.

Research has demonstrated conclusively that it is far more costly to win

a new customer than it is to maintain an existing one. And there is no

better way to retain a customer than to exceed his expectations. For this

purpose it is essential to know the level of customer satisfaction. The

focus of my research was the measurement of customer satisfaction level

for the services provided by Bharti Airtel. The research was done for the

corporate clients of Bharti Airtel. My job was not only to represent the

Corporate Sales Dept. and collect the feedback from the clients but also

to get the major complaints resolved through internal counselling. There

can be no better opportunity to interact with the external as well as the

internal customers of an organization. Finally the results of the research

verify the fact that keeping the customer satisfied is the best strategy to

not only retain the existing customers but also to expand the business to

new horizons.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IN INDIA 7

2. GSM MARKET IN INDIA 11

3. INTRODUCTION 23

4. TARIFF STRUCTURE 39

5. PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY 48

6. MARKET SITUATION 50

7. COMPETITIVE SITUATION 51

8. MARKETING STRATEGY ADAPTED BY BHARTI 60

9. OBJECTIVE 69

10. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 70

11. LIMITATION 71

12. SWOT ANALYSIS 79

13. CONCLUSION 81

14. BIBLIOGRAPHY 82

15. QUESTIONNAIRE 83

ACKOWLEDGEMENT

Achievement is finding out what you would be then doing, what

you have to do. The higher the summit, the harder is the climb. The

goal was fixed and we began with a determined resolved and put in

ceaseless sustained hard work. Greater challenge, greater was our

effort to overcome it.

This project work, which is my first step in the field of

professionalization, has been successfully accomplished only because

of my timely support of well-wishers. I would like to pay my sincere

regards and thanks to those, who directed me at every step in my

project work.

I would also like to thank the faculty members and the staff members

of “R . S DISTRIBUTORS MORADABAD” for their kind support

and help during the project.

INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IN INDIA

The Indian telecommunications Network with 250m telephone connections

is the fifth largest in the world and is the second largest among the

emerging economies of Asia. Today it is the fastest growing market in

the world and represents unique opportunities for UK companies in the

stagnant global scenario. Tele-density, which was languishing at 2% in

1999, has shown an impressive jump to 9.5% in 2006 and 10.5% in 2007

and is set to increase to 20% in the next five years beating the Govt.

target by three years. Accordingly, India requires incremental investments

of USD 20-25 bln for the next five years.

Private operators have made mobile telephony the fastest growing (over

164% p.a.) in India. With more than 33 million users (both CDMA and

GSM), wireless is the principal growth engine of the Indian telecom

industry. Given the current growth trends, cellular connections in India will

surpass fixed line by late 2004/early 2005. Intense competition between

the four main private groups - Bharti, Vodafone, Tata and Reliance and

with the State sector incumbents-BSNL and MTNL has brought about

a significant drop in tariffs. There has been almost 74% in cell phone

charges, 70% in ILD calls and 25% drop in NLD charges, resulting in a

boom time for the consumers.

The Government has played a key enabling role by deregulating and

liberalising the industry, ushering in competition and paving the way

for growth. While there were regulatory irregularities earlier, resulting

in litigation, these have all been addressed now. Customs duties on

hardware and mobile handsets have been reduced from 14 percent to 5

percent.

The Indian government has merged the IT and Telecom Ministries to

speed up reforms and decision on the Communication Convergence Bill to

enable the common regulation of the Internet, broadcasting and telecoms

will be taken after the new Government assumes responsibilities in may

this year. An independent regulatory body (TRAI) and dispute settlement

body (TDSAT) is fully functional.

INDIAN CELLULAR MARKET

The Bharti Group, which operates in 23 circles, continues to be the

country's largest cellular operator, with 50 lakh subscribers. BSNL, which

operates in 22 circles, has a subscriber base of 37 lakh subscribers. Thus

BSNL stands second largest cellular operator in terms of subscriber base

at the end of the fiscal ending March 31, 2007, displacing Vodafone from

the second position.

Vodafone, which operates in only eighteen circles, is the third largest

operator with a subscriber base of 32 lakh. Unlike fellow public sector

undertaking, MTNL, which operates in Mumbai and Delhi, BSNL has been

a very aggressive player in the market. "Cellular operators who expected

BSNL to go the MTNL way, were taken by surprise and did not take

effective steps to counter it, till it was too late in the day," said a telecom

analyst.

Belying fears of a slowdown in cellular subscriber acquisitions, the cell

club has reported a 7.92% growth, the highest growth in any month so

far, during March 2005. Year-on-year, the cellular subscriber base in the

country has almost doubled in March 2005, and is expanding at the rate of

25% per year thereafter.

The cellular subscriber club expanded by 21.31 lakh last month. This

is much higher than 5.9 lakh subscribers added in February 2005 and

2.13 lakh in January 2005. Idea, which operates in Seven circles, is

the fourth largest operator with a subscriber base of 17.80 lakh, higher

than BPL's 11.31 lakh subscribers across four circles. The subscriber

numbers per operator drop sharply with the sixth largest operator, Spice

Communications, having a subscriber base of 9.40 lakh, followed by

Reliance Telecom's 8.9 lakh subscribers. MTNL is the ninth largest

operator, with a base of 8.32 lakh subscribers.

While the subscriber base-jumped by 3.38% to 44.39 lakh in the metros,

subscriber base of category A circles of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra

Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu jumped by 10.18 % to reach 43.64

lakh. Category B circles of Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh

(West), Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West

Bengal recorded a jump of 10.69%, with a total base of 33.74 lakh

subscribers. Circle C has reported 12.74 % growth with subscriber

numbers jumping to 5.08 lakh.

Among the metros, while Mumbai added 1,63,180 subscribers, higher

than the 1,58,646 added by Delhi, the Capital's cellular subscriber base

of over 80 lakh is still higher than Mumbai's 66.89 lakh. While the cellular

industry has been on roll for the first three quarters of the previous

financial year with an average of 16.75 lakh monthly additions in the third

quarter, the first two months of 2007 had seen the growth slowing down.

GSM MARKET IN INDIA

Regional Interest Groups - GSM India

With a population of around 1.1 billion growing at roughly 1.7 per cent

a year, India is potentially one of the most exciting GSM markets in the

world. After two rather difficult years, the past 12 months have seen the

region's promise beginning to come to fruition. Much of this success

can be attributed to the stabilisation of the licensing and regulatory

environment.

India's telecommunications have undergone a steady liberalisation since

1994 when the Indian government first sought private investment in the

sector. More significant liberalisation followed in 1996 with the licensing

of new local fixed line and mobile service providers. However, it has

been the government's New Telecom Policy (1999) that has had the

most radical impact on the development of GSM services. 'The policy's

mission statement is 'affordable communications for all', There is a

genuine commitment to creating a modern and efficient communications

infrastructure that takes account of the convergence of telecom, IT and

media. In addition, the policy places significant emphasis on greater

competition for both fixed and mobile services.'

Competition in the mobile sector has already had a visible impact on

prices with calls currently costing less than 9 cents per minute. This

means that service costs have fallen by 60 per cent since the first

GSM networks became live in 1995. It also helps explain why a recent

Telecom Asia survey revealed that more than 70 per cent of Indian mobile

subscribers felt that prices were now at a reasonable level.

One of the challenges facing GSM operators in India is the diversity of

the coverage regions -from remote rural regions to some of the most

densely populated metropolitan areas in the world. India has more than

40 networks, which cover the seven largest cities, over 7000 towns and

several Lacs villages. Such depth of coverage has required enormous

investment from India's operators. It is estimated that more than Rs200

billion had been invested in India's GSM industry by mid-2000, a figure

that is set to be supplemented by a further Rs. 300 billion over the next

five years.

The good news is that subscriber growth is beginning to look healthy.

With India's low PC penetration and high average Internet usage -at 14-20

hours a month per user it is comparable to the US -the market for mobile

data and m-commerce looks extremely promising. WAP services have

already been launched in the subcontinent and the first GPRS networks

are in the process of being rolled out. In the year ahead, GSM India will

work with its members to realise the potential of early packet services in

anticipation of the award of 3GSM licences.

India fastest growing GSM mart

India is expected to have 145 million GSM (global system for mobile

communications) customers by 2007-08 compared to 26 million

subscribers as on March 2005, according to the Global Mobile Suppliers

Association. "For GSM, India is a success story. It is one of the fastest

growing markets with its subscriber base doubling in 2005. At this

pace, the target of 150 million subscribers by 2007-2008 is definitely

achievable," Alan Hadden, president of GSA, said at a news conference

in New Delhi. Globally, the GSM market reached 1 billion users in

February 2005, he said, adding GSM accounted for 80 per cent of the

new subscriber growth in 2005."Almost every Latin American operator has

chosen GSM. In North America GSM growth is bigger than CDMA (code

division multiple access)," he said. Commenting on the raging debate over

GSM versus CDMA in mobile services arena, Hadden said: "GSM is the

world's most successful mobile standard with over 1 billion users, and is

an open mobile standard. It also supports automatic international roaming,

which is a major contributor to business plans."

India’s GSM mobile firms’ revenue up 30 pct

India’s private telecoms firms offering GSM-based mobile services

reported a 24 percent rise in revenue in the year to March 2007 but said

future growth rates could slow because of heavy taxes on the nascent

industry. Although India’s mobile sector is the world’s fastest growing

major wireless market, it is amongst the highest taxed industries in the

country. Mobile carriers pay as much as 25 percent of their revenue as

licence fee, spectrum charges and other taxes. The Cellular Operators

Association of India (COAI) said revenue for fiscal 2003/04 stood at 83.08

billion rupees ($1.86 billion) compared with 64 billion rupees a year earlier.

According to T.V. Ramachandran, director general at COAI, “These

revenue growth rates cannot be maintained unless there is a concerted

effort by the government to cut excessive levies and allow sharing of

infrastructure”

“But the potential to do much better exists as there is still huge demand

in the sector.” Ramachandran said the sector was still losing money but

declined to elaborate. Sales jumped because of a doubling of the GSM

(Global System of Mobile Communications) user base as more people

entered the flourishing market thanks to one of the lowest call rates in

the world. But the monthly average revenue per user, a key measure

of profitability, declined 17.4 percent to 432 rupees in the fourth quarter

compared with 523 rupees in the first quarter due to a cut in tariffs and

excessive competition among companies. Growth slowing, demand

untapped: The association has not included the financial performance

and the GSM-user base of state-run firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd,

the second-ranked player, and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd,

Ramachandran said. There are 150 million GSM customers and more

than 96 million users of the rival CDMA-based mobile services in the

country.

The pace of growth in monthly additions is slowing after just 1.25 million

users took up the service in April compared with

1.9 million in the previous month and 1.63 million in February.

Ramachandran blamed the slowdown on a majority of small GSM

operators being unable to expand networks into rural swathes where

demand remained largely untapped.

“Our surpluses are not enough to cover costs of network expansion

and financing charges on loans. We are making money only to cover

operating expenses,” he said. Carriers are now subsidising handset costs

to woo users into the underpenetrated industry forecast to have more

than 250 million customers by 2007. Roughly three percent of Indians

own a mobile phone compared with about 20 percent in China. About a

dozen firms such as Bharti Airtel Ltd, 28 percent owned by Singapore

Telecommunications, Reliance Infocomm Ltd and the Indian GSM-unit of

Vodafone group battle in the hotly competitive sector.

DOES GSM HAVE THE EDGE?

GSM operators are not the only ones who are worried about the rapid

strides made by CDMA mobile players Reliance Infocomm and Tata

Indicom in the Indian cellular market?

The GSM suppliers – both handset and equipment - who incidentally also

have their other foot firmly placed in the CDMA pie, are beginning to lose

some sleep over what was earlier termed as `niche’ and `minuscule’ data

carriage market by the operators

Apart from the strong success of the two CDMA operators whose

networks are based on code division multiple access (CDMA), the

miserable showing of the four global standard for mobile (GSM) based

networks that launched general packet radio service (GPRS) service for

data connectivity in last three years, has the vendors worried. Global

mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) now believes that even though India

will primarily remain a voice traffic-led market in next two-three years, the

data traffic component will grow by 25-30 per cent, an optimism that it’s

trying to make GSM operators feel as well.

THE CDMA CHALLENGE

CDMA players had launched their services with CDMA 2000 1X-based

networks, which can give hi-speed, always-on connectivity to the Internet,

and other data services. GSM operators, on the other hand, have had

to migrate from the frustrating experience of WAP (wireless application

protocol) to GPRS, which has not significantly improved the subscriber’s

experience of surfing the Net on/from mobile.

The top brass of GSA, an organisation comprising Nokia, Siemens,

Ericsson, Alcatel and Lucent Technologies - met on Tuesday in the capital

to persuade the operators to adopt EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM

Evolution) and leave GPRS behind as a dream gone sour.

Only Airtel, Vodafone, BPL Mobile and Idea Cellular had launched GPRS,

but the data transfer speeds of GPRS have been abysmal. The field

trials gave a speed of around 54 kbps, but the actual speeds have not

exceeded 14-18 kbps, a major reason why GPRS growth has been so

slow. As against the total GSM cellular base of 5.61 crore, the country

has between 2,80,000 lakh GPRS users only. In comparison, the two

CDMA operators have about 120 lakh connections. All these sets are data

compliant. Though no figures are available as to how many use these for

data services, the figure is believed to be respectable as a percentage

ratio for CDMA.

Bharti is almost there

But first, the EDGE! Bharti Cellular is close to commercially launching its

EDGE service in Delhi and Mumbai by end May or early June, sources

said. The company was the first to conduct field trials in November with its

equipment supplier Ericsson. Idea too held EDGE field trials in February

this year with its vendor Nokia. Vodafone and BPL are yet to hold the

trials. The two companies would eventually migrate to EDGE, but perhaps

after seeing the response to Bharti’s service.

EDGE holds the promise of delivering data speeds of around 170-180

kbps (as against the theoretical speed of around 380 kbps) which, if

achieved, promises the launch of many data applications. The scalable

cost of migrating from GPRS to EDGE is not too high and mainly

comprises software upgrades in case of a modern network such as Bharti

and Hutch, claimed chairman of GSA India chapter Rakesh Malik.

Will GSM maintain its headstart?

At the GSM Evolution Forum held in New Delhi, GSA president Alan

Hadden predicted that GSM growth will far outstrip CDMA as was

happening globally. He felt India could have as many as 200 million

GSM subscribers by 2007-2008, up from nine million in December 2004.

According to GSA, there are over 1.1 billion GSM subscribers worldwide

as against 250 million CDMA customers. The revenue of top 25 global

operators from data averages 18 per cent and 22 of these operators run

GSM networks. Overall, there are 76 operators in 50 countries that have

committed to deploy EDGE.

Almost every country has a GSM-based network and even those US

operators, which operated on now-defunct TDMA technology, were

migrating gradually to GSM, not CDMA, pointed out Hadden at the GSM

Evolution Forum. The Forum is a global GSA program to assist the

operators for evolution to third generation (3G) technologies. “People

are using their phones for much more than voice. Fifteen networks have

commercially launched EDGE as it can run 3G like services in the existing

spectrum for the operators without needing a 3G license. Even the

migration to a full-fledged 3G level of Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) will be

smooth with EDGE,” said Hadden.

“Besides, the automatic roaming provided by GSM networks in almost

200 countries is a power that CDMA doesn’t give you. We know for sure

that almost 20-25 per cent of the revenue for some GSM operators comes

from roaming customers,” he added. But CDMA is no pushover with Korea

and Philippines as the shining jewels in its crown. The first CDMA 2000 1X

was commercially deployed in October 2000.

Already, 81 operators have launched 77 CDMA 2000 1X networks

whereas nine have launched services based on 1xEV-DO platform across

Asia, the Americas and Europe. At least, 16 new 1X and six 1xEV-DO

networks are scheduled to be deployed in 2004, according to CDMA

Development Group. EV-DO and EV-DV are the next level of evolution on

the CDMA 2000 1X platform, capable of delivering services comparable to

3G WCDMA.

Where are the models?

What will matter a lot in this war will be the availability of EDGE compliant

handsets at affordable rates. While the two CDMA operators have been

giving out handsets that can give hi-speed data transfer, same has not

been the case with GSM. Even now, GPRS handsets have not become

commonplace and GPRS feature is found only in mid and high-end

segment handsets.

End sum game

When the networks deploy EDGE, subscribers can expect the delivery of

advanced mobile services such as easy downloading of video and music

clips, full multimedia messaging, besides high-speed Internet and e-mail

access, provided their handset supports all this.

But the real cruncher will be the migration at a later stage to 3G

technologies such as WCDMA, EV-DO or EV-DA as and when the

government decides what to do with the 3G licences. WCDMA for

example promises delivery of a phenomenal 2 megabytes per second

(mbps), equivalent to what a leased line in many middle level corporates

gives.

More importantly, WCDMA will spawn a whole new range of full motion

audio-video applications, including video telephony. GSM lobby may

continue to remain gung ho over the future of their technologies over

that boosted by the American firms Qualcomm and Motorola, but Indian

market could well throw an interesting scenario that industry experts will

do well to watch. In the coming months, Reliance plans to offer its CDMA

subscribers much more than what GSM players intend to deliver through

their EDGE for their subscribers.

Who succeeds in this battle for mobile customer’s eyeballs is most difficult

to predict. A Korea and Japan may not be waiting to happen in India, but

India will probably be more like the Chinese market with both standards

co-existing. For now, GSM rules!

INTRODUCTION

Airtel (Bharti Airtel Ltd.)

Bharti Airtel Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting

investments in telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate

telecom services across India. Bharti Airtel is India's leading private sector

provider of telecommunications services based on a strong customer

base consisting of 50 million total customers, which constitute, 44.6 million

mobile and 5.4 million fixed line customers, as of March 31, 2007.

Airtel comes to us from Bharti Airtel 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 has also put its

footsteps into Insurance and Retail segment in collaboration with Multi-

National giants. Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with a

footprint in 23 states covering all four metros and more than 50 million

satisfied customers.

SERVICES

Airtel Prepaid

Airtel Prepaid, the Ready Cellular Card from Airtel comes to you from

Bharti Enterprises, India's leading integrated telecom service provider.

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Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtel’s world-class technology

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Your account balance is updated on the screen of your handset at the end

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Airtel Prepaid comes preactivated with 'National Roaming', so you stay

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Send messages quickly and easily using text, if it's too noisy to talk or

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Get regular alerts on news, jokes, business, health and films on your Airtel

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Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination with

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Copy a Hello Tune

Get the tune you want, all you have to do is call 55055 and follow the

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Forget gifting chocolates, flowers and greeting cards. Say it with a song

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Buying your favorite Hello Tune or Ring tone is as simple as recharging

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Reach us Anytime Anywhere

In case you need assistance, dial '121' - our toll-free number, accessible

from anywhere in the country, even while roaming. You can also send us

an SMS to 121 or mail us at [email protected].

*In case of email, mention your mobile no. like, 9810012345, in the subject

of the mail for a quicker response.

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Airtel welcomes you to a vibrant world of unlimited opportunities. More

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mailto:[email protected]

special way.

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Enjoy a host of rich features only with Airtel e-bill. Register free on ‘My

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You can choose from a host of convenient payment options only with

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Standing Instructions

You can give us standing instructions to debit your credit card account for

your monthly Airtel bills. All you have to do is fill the Standing Instruction

Form and mail, fax it to us or drop it any of our relationship centres.

Electronic Clearing System

Fill an ECS form and mail, fax it to us or drop it any of our relationship

centres to directly debit your bank account for your monthly Airtel bill.

Pay while roaming

Airtel has introduced 'Anywhere payment' that offers you the convenience

of making payments while you roam. Walk in to any Airtel Relationship

Centre in the country, make payments by cash or credit card and enjoy

uninterrupted Airtel Services.

Credit limit

Your pre-set credit limit mentioned on your monthly bill helps you keep

your mobile charges in control, keeps track of your usage and ensures

that your mobile phone is not misused. Should you exceed your credit

limit, you will be informed via a voice or a non-voice message to make

an interim payment and reduce your account balance below your credit

limit. You may also choose to pay us an additional refundable deposit to

enhance your credit limit or opt for our convenient payment method of

Credit Card Standing instruction .You can also make use of ECS facility.

Strong Network Coverage

Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtel .It offers you world class

technology and unbreakable network coverage that spans over 23 circles

across the country.

Long Distance Calling Facility

Call long distance calls in India and Overseas with STD / ISD facility on

your Airtel phone.

Widest Roaming - National and International

Airtel's roaming service allows you to stay connected and use your mobile

phone to make or receive calls from almost anywhere in India and also

over 160 countries, abroad.

GPRS - Roaming

Use Airtel Postpaid's GPRS services, while roaming, to access the

internet and office mails (eg. BlackBerry services), from almost anywhere

in India and abroad.

Say it. In more than just words, with Services from Airtel

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, help you do more with your Airtel Postpaid connection!

Conference call

You can hold a teleconference with 5 people simultaneously with Call

Conferencing service from Airtel. In fact, you can set up a conference

even when the other five are using a landline phone. To know more, call

customer service at 121.

Missed call alert

A missed call alert is a SMS that you will receive for all the calls that

you missed. The SMS will detail the CLI and the time when the call was

made. To activate, dial *135*2# then press the call button and wait for the

request to be completed.

Voice Mail

When your handset is switched off, or you’re 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 Voicemail -

you just pay for the phone call when you use the service.

SMS (Short Messaging Service)

Send messages quickly and easily, using text, if it's too noisy to talk or

you don't have much time. It's the way to Share those interesting one-

liners, important reminders and rib-tickling jokes, with anyone, anytime,

anywhere in the world.

Subscription Alerts

Get regular alerts on news, jokes, business, health and films on your Airtel

mobile phone with Subscription Services. SMS for News,

 for Jokes, for Business News, for

Sports Alerts & for Vaastu tips to 3333.

MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service):

Jazz up your messages with pictures, images and video clippings, with

MMS from Airtel! To activate MMS on your phone, SMS 'MMS' to 56465

and save service settings.

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!

Airtel Live! WAP Services: Download the latest ringtones, games,

wallpapers, videos and much more. You can also get news clips, watch

live TV and download full songs on you phone! To get Airtel Live! settings

on your phone SMS 'Live' to 56465 and save the settings that you receive

as your preferred connection. Airtel Live! Portal can be accessed from you

GPRS enabled phone, by sending a SMS 'FUN' to 56465.

Airtel Live! Voice Services: Just Dial 56465 and say the name of the

service. For e.g. say ‘Ring tones’ to download your favourite ring tones.

You can also choose a variety of content options like Live Cricket

Commentary, latest National / International News, Movie Reviews or Stock

Market Updates.

Airtel Live! SIM Services: Access loads of fun content and exciting

services like cricket, stocks, on your phone at the touch of a few buttons

with Airtel Live! SIM based Services on your SIM card menu. To download

new services on your Airtel SIM, choose the "What's new" option under

the "Airtel services" menu.

Airtel Live! SMS Services: You can enjoy a host of services by sending a

keyword as an SMS to 56465 ! Choose Astrology / Horoscope, Cricket,

Bollywood / Hollywood / Indi Pop Ring tones. In case you need assistance

SMS ‘Help’ to 56465.

GPRS (General Packet Radio Services)

Log on to the internet, with GPRS that allows data transmission at a

higher speed. Access e-mails and internet across Airtel's pan-India

presence using 'Mobile Office' with your phone or a phone and laptop

both.

Get the EDGE

Browse the internet on your mobile phone with Airtel's EDGE services.

Enjoy live TV, enhanced WAP experience and Airtel Data Cards on our

high speed network.

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 favourite artist's Hello Tunes listing.

Copy a Hello Tunes

Like a tune you want, all you have to do is call 55055 and follow the

simple voice instructions to copy your favourite 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 Tunes

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.

Buy Music - Airtel Music Shops

Buying your favourite Hello Tune or Ringtone is as simple as recharging

your phone with talktime. Simply walk into your nearest Airtel Shop and

walk out with your favourite song. Choose from Bollywood Hits to Indipop

Remixes, Hard Rock to Gujrati Garba, Bhajans to Jazz, Bhangra Beats to

foot tapping Tamil Hits from a list of more than 18000 songs.

Reach us, Anytime Anywhere

In case you need assistance, dial '121' - our toll-free number, accessible

from anywhere in the country, even while roaming. *In case of email,

mention your mobile no. like 9810012345 in the subject of the mail for a

quicker response. TARIFF STRUCTURE

Prepaid Tariffs

Airtel Prepaid Ready Cellular Card and Recharge Cards are available, all

over the city at over retail outlets including 24-hour outlets. Airtel Prepaid

Ready Cellular Card and Recharge Cards are available, all over the city at

over retail outlets including 24-hour outlets.

http://www.airtelworld.com/5/prepaid_tariff.jsp

Airtel Prepaid Regular

449 SUK

Pulse Rate 60 sec

Price of Pack (Rs.) Rs.449

Free Airtime on Pack (Rs.) Nil

Incoming Calls (Rs.) Free while in home network

Airtel GSM / CDMA (10 Digit)

Landline / WLL

LOCAL RATES (Rs./min) Rs.1.20 Rs.2.00 Rs.2.40

STD RATES (Rs./min) Rs.2.75 Rs.2.75 Rs.2.75

ISD (Rs./min)

USA, Canada, Europe (Fixed Line), Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand.

Rs.6.40

Gulf, Europe (Mobile), SAARC countries, Africa & Rest of the world

Rs.9.20

Cuba, Sao Tome & Principe, Guinea Bissau, Diego Garcia, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Norfolk Island, Sakhalin

Rs.40.00

SMS (Rs.)

Local Rs.1.20

National Rs.2.00

International Rs.5.00

Other Details

*Rs 50 Local Airtel-Airtel Mobile talktime per month for 6 months * First month Airtel-Airtel credit within 72hrs of activation & balance credit by 1st week of every month)*The SMS charge as applicable is per 160 characters* Validity- 24 months.

POSTPAID

Airtel Postpaid allows you to choose from a variety of affordable talk plans,

convenient payment options and host of rich features. So get set to enjoy

a world of limitless possibilities!

Reference Tarif Packages (RTP)

ON TIME CHARGES

Activation Charges Rs. 250

Membership Fee Rs. 250

Security Deposit NA

MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED) Rs. 524

Bill plan Charge Rs. 444

Monthly Rental Rs. 150

Clip NA

MONTHLY CHARGES (OPTIONAL)

Clip Rs. 99

Airtel GSM /

CDMA (10

Digit)

Landline /

WLL

Local Rates Rs. 1.99 Rs 1.99 Rs 1.99

STD RATES

50 – 200 Km

200 – 500 Km

500 + Km

ISD

USA, Canda, Europe (Fixed Line),

Austalia, Singapore, Hong Kong,

Rs. 7.20

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, new

Zealand

Gulf, Europe (Mobile), SAARC

Countries, Africa & Rest of the world

Rs 9.99

Cuba, Sao tome & Principle, Guinea

Bissau, Diego Garcia, Nauru, Solomon

Islands, Vanuatu, Cook Island, Tuvalu,

Tokelau, Norfolk Island, Sakhalin

Rs. 40.00

SMS

Local Rs. 1.00

National Rs. 2.00

International Rs. 5.00

Value Added Services (Rs.) Rs. 3.00

Airtel One Standard 150

ONE TIME CHARGES

Activation Charges Rs 250

Membership Fee Rs 250 (Converts into security after 24

months)

Security Deposit NA


Bill Plan Charge Rs. 50


Clip NA


Clip Rs. 50


Islands, Vanuatu, Cook Islands,

Tuvalu, Tokelau, Norfolk Island,

Sakhalin

SMS

Local Rs 1.00

National Rs 2.00

Intentional Rs. 5.00

VAS Rs. 3.00

This Bill Plan is also available under Advance Rental of Rs. 799 for 2

years.

Local Pack

Airtel to other local mobiles (non Airtel) At Rs 1 / min

Monthly rental Rs 25 per months/-

STD Pack

Airtel to other mobiles (non Airtel) & fixed lines nos. at Rs 2 / min.

Monthly rental Rs 75 per month/-

Special offer for Airtel Telephone service customers for availing

Airtel Mobile services

If you already have Airtel Telephone service, you can buy a new

Airtel Mobile connection under Airtel One Standard 150 Plan.

Benefits:

Non security deposit.

No membership / activation fee

Enjoy calls to your Airtel fixed line no. at just 50 P / min.

Monthly rent of Rs 25 for reduced call rates to your Airtel fixed line

has been waived off for 1 year.

For details, call us 516-12345

Advance Rental benefits (1year scheme)

Pay an advance rent of Rs 499 and enjoy Airtel One Standard 150 plan at

Zero monthly rental for one year.

Advance rental of Rs 499 gives you a rental discount of Rs 150 every

month for the next 2 months. All other options and charges are as per the

existing Airtel One Standard 150 Plan.

Airtel one Standard 299

ONE TIME CHARGES

Activation Charges Rs 250

Membership Fee Rs 250 (Converts into security after 24

months)

Security Deposit NA

MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED) Rs 299



Clip NA


Clip Rs. 50

Airtel GSM /

CDMA (10

Digit)

Landline /

WLL

LOCAL RATES Re. 1.00 Rs. 1.00 Rs. 1.00

STD RATES

50-200Km Rs. 2.00 Rs. 2.40 Rs. 2.40

200 – 500 Km Rs. 2.00 Rs. 2.40 Rs. 2.40

500 + Km Rs. 2.00 Rs. 2.40 Rs. 2.40

ISD

USA, Canda, Europe (Fixed Line),

Austalia, Singapore, Hong Kong,

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, new

Zealand

Rs. 7.20

Gulf, Europe (Mobile), SAARC

Countries, Africa & Rest of the world

Rs 9.99

Cuba, Sao tome & Principle, Guinea


Islands, Vanuatu, Cook Island, Tuvalu,

Tokelau, Norfolk Island, Sakhalin

Rs. 40.00

SMS

Local Rs. 1.00

National Rs. 2.00


Value Added Services (Rs.) Rs. 3.00

You also enjoy 25 FREE local mobile to mobile SMS

Senior Citizen Plan

ONE TIME CHARGES

Activation Charges Rs. 250

Membership Fee Rs. 250 (Concerts into security deposit

after 24 months)

Security Deposit NA




Clip NA

Cuba, Sao Tome & Principle, Guinea


Islands, Vanuatu, Cook Islands,

Tuvalu, Tokelau, Norfolk Island,

Sakhalin

SMS

Local Rs. 1.50

National Rs. 2.00


VAS Rs. 3.00

With Senior Citizen Plan

You can take 3 Friends and Family numbers:

Airtel to Airtel (1local no.) – Rs. 0.5 / min.

Airtel to Airtel (1 STD no.) – Rs 1.5 / min

ISD calls to US / Canada / South East Asia / Australia / New

Zealand) – Rs. 9.99 / min

You also get FREE alert subscription worth Rs 30 / alert or 3 months on:

News

Astrology

Health Tips

The SMS charges as applicable is per 160 Characters.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

Airtel to “Touch Tomorrow” with a new brand vision

The Bharti Mobile promoted AirTel cellular service will go in for

repositioning of its brand image. The new brand ethos is portrayed in

two distinct fashions - the tag line "Touch Tomorrow", which underscores

the leading theme for the new brand vision, followed by "The Good Life",

which underscores a more caring, more customer centric organization.

Aimed at re-engineering its image as just simply a cellular service

provider to an all out information communications services provider,

Touch Tomorrow is meant to embrace the new generation of mobile

communication services and the changing scope of customer needs and

aspirations that come along with it

The new communication is about a new dimension in the cellular category

that goes beyond the Internet, SMS, roaming, IVRS, etc but which engulfs

the whole gamut of wireless digital broadband services that will constitute

tomorrows cellular services. The new campaign is in two phases - the

first of which will communicate overall brand philosophy and the second

products and services. According to Mr. Jagdish Kini, Chief Operating

Officer, Bharti Mobile Limited, Karnataka "We are adopting a new brand-

platform - Touch Tomorrow - not only to reflect our corporate ethos but

also business strategy".

The new identity will have the logo in Red, Black and White colours along

with lower case typography to convey warmth. AirTel will incorporate the

latest branding in all of its communication and will soon be going in for an

enhanced promotional drive to establish the brand's presence.

LIFE TIME PLAN

PRE-PAID card users need not worry anymore about recharging their

coupons every month. Company has launched a plan that allows users to

take a pre-paid connection with lifetime validity for a one time payment of

Rs. 999. Subscribers availing themselves of this scheme will also get full

talk time for the recharge coupon they purchase and also have the option

to buy Taiwanese manufactured Bird mobile handsets for as low as Rs.

1,399.

The move is aimed at stopping the churn in the pre-paid subscriber base.

Once a subscriber takes this plan, he will always be an Airtel subscriber

whether the mobile is being used or not.

MARKET SITUATION

At the time of launch

The first mover in the market was Airtel which launched its services

in Delhi in Aug 1995 (Informal launch). Essar Cellphone followed by

launching its services informally in Oct 95. At this point of time, the market

was at a nascent stage, awareness level was low and both operators

independently tried to spread awareness and educate the people

Once the networks were commercially launched, it became a number

game with a multitude of schemes being offered to woo customers Initially

the cellphone was perceived as a status symbol and utility took a back

seat The target segment in Delhi were corporate and the high income

group. The average capacity installed was for 1.5 lakh subscribers.

This coupled with the steep license fee paid to DOT put pressure on

the operators to break-even by rapidly expanding their markets. In the

first two years, this led to a number of schemes being offered and prices

crashing.

COMPETITIVE SITUATION

Airtel launched its services before Essar and skimmed the market picking

up the bulk of the high usage premium clients. This is a very competitive

industry with the two companies differentiating either on value-added

services or price. Airtel is perceived as the high quality provider and has a

premium image. Essar, on the other hand, is perceived as the lower end

service provider. Airtel positions itself as the market leader on the basis of

the number of subscribers. Essar is trying to counter this by emphasising

on the reach of its network and the quality of its service. However, Essar

is somewhat not been very successful largely due to the inconsistency in

advertising

To promote themselves, both the players have been dependent on

tactical advertising However, they have restrained from using comparative

advertising Hoardings have been a very popular medium for carrying the

advertisements Airtel has also been advertising on television using the

Bharti Telecom name.

SALES DEPARTMENT AND STRATEGY

A. Major Accounts (Direct Channel)

• Handles corporate (named and famed) accounts

• Forecasting of sales

• Mapping the accounts

• Providing after sales support to the subscribers.

• Maintaining call reports for records.

• Providing Feedback to the marketing department regarding the

requirement of the market.

B. IDC (indirect Channel)

• Handling distribution

• Maintaining records and level check of the channel partner

• Liaisoning between the channel partner and the company.

• Target achievement

• Training the executives of the channel

C. Distribution Support

1. Logistics

• Monitor handset and SIM card requirements of channel

partners and co-ordinate with stores

• Settle areas of concerns such as incentive claims of channel

partners

2. Rental

• Provide cellular services (SIM cards) on rent.

• Provide cellular phones on rent

• Useful for people visiting Delhi for a short interval.

3 Telesales

• Call customers and generate sales lead.

• Follow up with the customers, if they need any assistance

• Pass on the sales lead to the channel department.

4 Audit

• Consultant to the AirTel showrooms.

• Monitor the operations at the AirTel distribution outlets Organize

training.

5. Retail

• Locate shops to open retail counters.

• Monitor the retail counters.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

Segmentation is beneficial because of better predictability of the target

consumer group, minimization of risk exposure, better ability to fine-tune

a product / service to the requirement of target buyer and the resultant

ease in designing a proper designing marketing mix strategy In this case

segmentation is on the bade of income.

In evaluating different market segments the company looks at two

factors The overall attractiveness of the segments and the company's

objectives & resources The present market for Cellular phones, pagers

and conventional phones is as follows

Premium Middle EconomyUpper Lower Upper Lower Upper Lower

Cellular Phones X X X - - -Pager X X X X - -Conventional Phones

X X X X X -

X Market Segment Targeted

TARGET MARKET SEGMENT

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. About

15% are foreign organisations and the rest are professionals and small

businessmen. During the introduction stage there was intense pressure to

get consumers across to hook up with their brand, because getting them

to switch brand loyalty later would be hard

So far Airtel marketers have been concentrating totally on the business

executive class but now that the basic viable volumes has beer) built up

and prices have declined to a certain extent they are planning to venture

further a field.

POSITIONING

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 cellphone is an expensive means of

communication and drive home the point that the cellphone is actually a

day-to-day utility

PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING

The product or service is the heart of the marketing mix. Without a

product or a service customers' needs cannot be satisfied.

The basic product promise by Airtel is mobility. Airtel's main marketing

strategy is to be a first mover all the time. It has recognised the

significance of making the first move-- because in the field of

Communication & Information Technology changes occur at a tremendous

pace.

Effective product segmentation has to be carried on continuously because

basic services can be and will be copied and in time become expected

component of the product. Airtel seeks to carry out this segmentation

through provision of new information services and making new facilities

available. The product policy and planning depends on the stage of the

product life cycle. At present the cellular phone market has reached the

maturity stage. Since, the premium segment is nearing saturation the

company targeting the upper middle and middle-middle class. In order to

do so Airtel is trying to optimise the price performance package by offering

suitable "product bundling".

This involves the selection of the suitable hardware (handset) and its

software (its services.) with reasonable price in order to deliver maximum

price performance to its customers. In addition, it offers free Airtime

services and other concessions to make the prices and thus the product

more attractive. It has also opened a 24 hours customer service.

Only price doesn't serve as an effective differentiator, value added

services become the effective differentiator.

The "Value Added Services" provided from Airtel are:-

1). Voice Mail service

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

ii) Short Message Service

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.

iii) Mobile Fax 1 Data Service

This service helps the subscriber to send and receive Faxes, access E-

mail, download computer files from other systems and remotely log on to

another computer and surf the Internet.

iv) Cash Card

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.

v) Caller ID

Displays calling person's number.

vi) Outgoing call restriction

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.

viii) Call forward

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 cellphones would be used

buy]

viii) Roaming Facility

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.

* Manual Roaming means a separate SIM card is provided for each

city

** Semi automatic roaming means one card has the facility for

different cities.

AIRTEL'S MARKETING ORIENTATION.

Since this is a high-involvement expensive product, the service provider

has to fully take care of the customers.

a) They take personal responsibility to "get" the answer for any

problem faced by the customer

b) They anticipate customers' problems and take pro-active steps to

prevent them

c) They give answers to the questions & requests, quickly & efficiently.

d) They have a positive tone & manner while interacting with

customers.

e) They end the interaction on a positive or a humorous note-making

the last 30 seconds count.

Airtel realises that attracting people 'Is easy but converting them into loyal

customers is hard, hence emphasis is on maintaining a 'Smiling and a

Friendly Atmosphere' to please and retain the customer.

PRICE AND PRICING POLICY

AIRTEL has realised 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.

MARKETING STRATEGY ADOPTED BY BHARTI

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 ‘Airtel’

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 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 Delhiites’s mind, the Airtel campaign began to focus on

the utility of Cellphone. In the first four months alone Airtei's

advertisement spend 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. As for aided it -is 100% (by giving clues and hints

etc.).

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 realised 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 organised 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 .

(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 advertise-ments, attacking

advertisements and tactical advertisements.

DISTRIBUTION

The- company whose operations are concentrated in and around

Delhi. It 27 Franchisees and 15 Distributors- They also have 8 'instant

access cash card counters- Each franchises or distributor can have any

number of dealers under him as long as the person is approved by the

Airtel authority. Each franchises has to invest Rupees Ten Lakhs. to

obtain a franchise and should employ an officer recruited by Airtel. This

person acts as an liaison between the company and the franchises. The

franchises can it any number of dealers as long as their territories do

not overlap. But unfortunately Airtel has not been very successful in

Company

Franchisee Distributor

Dealers Dealer

Customer Customer

controlling territorial overlaps of dealers. The franchises can carry out his

1 her own promotional strategy. For this the. company contributes 75% of

the money and the franchises contributes 25% of the money. The dealers

under the franchisee receive the same commission. The franchises and

the dealer obtain the feedback from the customers and they are sent

through the liaison officer on a day-to-day basis to Airtel. The dealer has

to invest Rupees. One Lakh as an initial investment. The dealer of Airtel

are not allowed to provide any other operators' service.

Target set for distributors and the dealers is 100 -150 activations per

month. Hence the dealers can also go for their own promotions like

banners and discounts on festivals etc. The dealer provides service

promptly. The consumer on providing the bill of purchase for the handset

and proof of residence has only to wait an hour before getting connected.

The staff of the dealers and the franchisees are provided training by the

Airtel personnel.

The complaints encountered by the franchisees and dealers are either

handset being non-functional or the SIM Card not getting activated.

Anything more complicated is referred to the main Airtel office in Delhi.

WHAT DOES AIRTEL OFFER?

With Airtel, the subscriber wouldn't just get a personal phone that lets him/

her be in touch, always, but also gets a host of benefits that let him/her

manage his/her time like never before.

An Airtel subscriber is provided with a Subscriber Identity Module Card

(SIM card) - that is the key to operating his/her cellular phone. His card

activates Airtel cellular services and contains a complete micro-computer

chip with memory to enable one to enjoy one's cellular phone thoroughly.

Each SIM card contains a PIN code (Personal Identity Number) which

may be entered by one. Just plug your SIM card into your cellular phone,

enter the PIN code and it becomes 'your' personal phone'.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The pattern of cellphone subscriber growth observed elsewhere in the

world reveals that the growth in the market is Initially slow followed by a

sharp acceleration, but so far that has not happened in India. As far as

the Product Life Cycle is concerned. Indians are at the beginning of the

maturity stage.

Introduction Growth Maturity

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

Create product

awareness and trial

Maximise market share Maximise profits whole

defending market share

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

Build awareness

and interest in the

mass market

Stress brand

differences and

benefits.

dealers.

Sales Promotion Use heavy sales

promotion to

entice people to

subscribe.

Increase to build

and maintain

relationships with

customers.

Increase to

encourage brand-

switching.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Objectives:

• To study the importance and development of tele – communication

industry in today’s scenario.

• To understand the various Marketing Strategies which Airtel has

adopted to survive in highly competitive cell phone industry.

• To make a comparative study of the major players in Indian Service

Provider.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The methodology adopted for this project is exploratory in nature since

there is no hypothesis that has to be tested. The conclusions have been

drawn by exploratory research work.

There have been two sources of information collected:

a) Primary Sources

I have met retailers of the Airtel of the company and have been able to get

first hand information regarding the product, its features and the buying

patterns of the product. Their input has been valuable.

b) Secondary Sources

Secondary source has played a vital role to play in this report. A good

amount of data has been collected from various published articles and

reports found in magazines and journals. Another vital source has been

the Internet and particularly the companies own website.

LIMITATIONS

Every attempt will be taken to obtain the error free and meaningful result

but as nothing in this world is 100% perfect I believe that there will still the

chance for error on account of following limitations-

(1) Respondent’s unavailability.

(2) Time pressure and fatigue on the part of respondents and

interviewer.

(3) Courtesy bias.

FINDINGS

1. Do you believe that India is potentially one of the most exciting mobile

service providers in the world?

Company Yes No

Airtel 4 1

Vodafone 4 1

Idea 4 1

MTNL 4 1

As according to the above table 16 (80%) out of the total 20 interviewed

people in all the above four specified Indian mobile service providers are

of belief that India is potentially one of the most exciting mobile service

providers in the world, whereas some 4 (20%) of them do not agree to this

view.

2. Do you find that the government’s telecom policy has had the most

radical impact on the development of mobile service providers?

Company Yes No

Airtel 4 1

Vodafone 3 2

Idea 3 2

MTNL 5 --


people in all the above four specified Indian mobile service providers find

that the government’s telecom policy has had the most radical impact on

the development of mobile service providers, whereas some 5 (25%) of

them deny this.

3. Do you believe that one of the challenges facing mobile operators in

India is the diversity of the coverage regions?

Company Yes No

Airtel 2 3

Vodafone 3 2

Idea 3 2

MTNL 2 3


people in the mobile service providers are of belief that one of the

challenges facing mobile operations in India is the diversify of the

coverage regions, whereas interestingly another 10 (50%) of them deny

this.

4. To what extent, does you find that mobile service providers is a very

complex standard?

Company To some extent

(1-5)

To great extent

(6-10)

Airtel 3 2

Vodafone 2 3

Idea 2 3

MTNL 3 2


people in all the above four major the mobile service providers in Indian

Cellular industry find only to some extent that GSM is a very complex

standard, whereas the another 10 (50%) respondents find to great extent

that mobile service providers is a very complex standard.

CONSUMER LEVEL

1. Do you believe that mobile service providers comes close to fulfilling the

requirements for a personal communication system?

Company Yes No

Airtel 9 1

Vodafone 8 2

Idea 8 2

MTNL 5 5

As the above shows 30 (75%) out of total 40 respondents are of the belief

that mobile service providers comes close to fulfilling the requirements for

a personal communication system, whereas 10 (25%) of them are in no

way to this belief.

2. Do you find that mobile service providers as the most exciting and

satisfying mobile standard?

Company Yes No

Airtel 9 1

Vodafone 7 3

Idea 8 2

MTNL 8 2

As the above shows 32 (80%) out of total 40 respondents find that mobile

service providers as the most exciting and satisfying mobile standard,

whereas the remaining 8 (10%) respondents deny this.

3. Do you believe that your service provider has a genuine commitment to

creating a modern and efficient communications?

Company Yes No

Airtel 10 --

Vodafone 8 2

Idea 10 --

MTNL 8 2

As the above shows 36 (90%) out of total 40 respondents are of the belief

that their service providers have a genuine commitment to creating a

modern and efficient communications whereas the remaining 4 (10%)

respondents deny this.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

• Cost advantage

• Current leaders in quality service

• Largest distribution network

• Ability to constantly innovate

• Highly skilled workforce

• Entrepreneurial zeal

• Airtel’s increased equity and market cap.

WEAKNESSES

• To prove credibility

• Price pressures

• Need for Government support

• Awareness

• Sales and Marketing

OPPORTUNITIES

• To sustain passion and commitment

• Airtel’s market share increasing at other service provider expense.

Thus opportunity to wipe it out.

• Attain higher value services

• Collaborative business needs to be explored

• Vertical repeatable solutions.

• Low penetration level in rural markets.

THREATS

• Foreign investment

• Global trends moving from GPS to WLL.

• Lack of global parity in telecom tariff

• Other competition

CONCLUSION

From above the details I conclude that 70% Airtel users preferred

to remain with Airtel. Also good no. of users who were willing to switch

from their respective subscribers showed interest in Airtel. Hence, these

statistics imply a bright future for the company. Also the company is now

providing more services like the door to door services which is you dial

the Airtel customer care and would like to send someone flowers the Airtel

company delivers those flowers to the person concerned. Also Airtel is

providing free text messaging service and free voice mail service. Call

conferencing is also another feature Airtel provides.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Bernard J. T. Mallinder. Specification Methodology Applied to the GSM

System. In EUROCON 88, June 2005.

• Seshadri Mohan and Ravi Jain. Two User Location Strategies for

Personal Communication Services. IEEE Personal Communications.

1(1), 1994.

• Moe Rahnema. Overview of the GSM System and Protocol

Architecture. IEEE Communications Magazine. April 1993.

• C. Watson. Radio Equipment for GSM. In D.M. Balston and R.C.V

Macario, editors, Cellular Radio Systems, Artech House, Boston, 1993.

• Robert G. Winch. Telecommunication Transmission Systems.

McGrawHill New York, 1993.

• Vodafone

• Airtel

• Idea

• MTNL

QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME: ____________________________________

ADDRESS: ____________________________________

OCCUPATION: ____________________________________

1. Do you believe that India is potentially one of the most exciting mobile

service providers in the world?

Company Yes No

Airtel

Vodafone

Idea

MTNL

2. Do you find that the government’s telecom policy has had the most

radical impact on the development of mobile service providers?

Company Yes No

Airtel

Vodafone

Idea

MTNL

3. Do you believe that one of the challenges facing mobile operators in

India is the diversity of the coverage regions?

Company Yes No

Airtel

Vodafone

Idea

MTNL

4. To what extent, does you find that mobile service providers is a very

complex standard?

Company To some extent

(1-5)

To great extent

(6-10)

Airtel

Vodafone

Idea

MTNL

CONSUMER LEVEL

1. Do you believe that mobile service providers comes close to fulfilling the

requirements for a personal communication system?

Company Yes NoAirtelVodafoneIdeaMTNL

2. Do you find that mobile service providers as the most exciting and

satisfying mobile standard?


3. Do you believe that your service provider has a genuine commitment to

creating a modern and efficient communications?


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