PHD Thesis-Shekhar Srivastava-Management-C-6 PDF

CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDTIONS
6.1 Introduction
This study was conducted to understand the impact of customer care services on
customer satisfaction, the relationship between satisfaction/dissatisfaction and
switching intention of the subscribers and what role MNP is playing in the highly
competitive mobile phone services in Uttar Pradesh (East) circle. This study
evaluated the performance of all the service providers in this telecom circle and
comparison of their services is helpful in understanding the nature of competition
and satisfaction level of subscribers.
On the basis of responses received from the respondents and the data
analysis, following are the major findings of the study:
In U.P (East) circle - Airtel is the market leader with marketshare

of 22.8%, followed by Vodafone (16.7%), Reliance (14.7%),
BSNL (14%), Idea (10.7%), Tata (8%), Aircel (5%), Uninor
(4.3%) and MTS (3.8%).
73.7% subscribers are using prepaid services and only 26.3% are
using postpaid services.
For mobile phone services, most of the subscribers prefer to have

their monthy expenses less than or equal to Rs.500.
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Two major network related problems faced by mobile phone
subscribers are Busy Network and call disconnect problem.
However Service providers are trying their best to fulfill the
minimum requirements/expectations of their respective subscribers.
More than sixty percent subscribers are of the opinion that call
charges of their service providers are economical in comparison to
other operators and around forty percent subscribers do not agree
with it. However, it is an area of serious concern for the market
leader Airtel.
Mobile phone subscribers are aware about the multimedia/value

added services but only few are using such services. Subscribers
who are using multimedia/Value added services, most of the them
are satisfied with their service providers .
The following points explain the preformance of service providers

with special reference to dimensions of customer care services.
Airtel is providing prompt customer services in terms of

accessibility of customer care centres and handling of customer
complaints however it an area of serious conern for Reliance,
BSNL, Uninor and MTS.
Airtel and Vodafone are rated as the top two service providers in
terms of ability of the customer care executives to understand the
specific needs of the customers however it an area of serious
concern for service providers like Reliance, Tata, Aircel and MTS.
Airtel and Vodafone are rated as the top two service providers in
terms of sincerity, patience and capability of the customer care
executives to solve customer problems and service providers like
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Reliance, BSNL, Aircel and MTS are not able to fulfill their
subscribers expectations.
Subscribers of Airtel and Vodafone are satisfied with the

responses they receive from the customer care executives but it is
an area of concern for Reliance, BSNL, Tata and MTS.
In emergency situations, customer care executives of Airtel and

Vodafone have the willingness to help their subscribers but
executives of Reliance, Tata, BSNL, MTS and Uninor are not
doing well on this parameter.
Executives of Airtel and Vodafone have customer centric approach

and their behaviour is helpful in establishing service confidence
but service providers like BSNL, Reliance, Uninor and MTS are
not able to fulfill the expectations of their subscribers.
From the factor analysis, it is identified that all dimensions related

to customer care services are focusing on single factor i.e
based on the performance of
service providers with special reference to dimensions of customer
care services, it is observed that Airtel and Vodafone are fulfilling
the expections of their subscribers and finally rated by subscribers
as the best two services provider in this circle however the other
service providers specially MTS, Uninor and BSNL should work
hard to adress the serious issue of customer care services to satisfy
their subscribers.
On the basis of performance of service providers with reference to

various quality dimensions such as network innovativeness, brand
image and reputation, loyalty programme and entertainment
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facilities, Airtel and Vodafone are the leading brands and factor
analysis shows that quality dimensions are referring to one single
factor i.e., Brand Image and reputation of service provider.
Most of subscribers of MTS Uninor, Aircel, and BSNL are

satisfied with the call charges however it is an area of serious
concern for Airtel, Vodafone and Idea.
Vodafone is the best service provider in this circle on the basis of

overall satisfaction level of mobile phone subscribers.
Most of the subscribers are of the opinion that their respective

service providers have few drawbacks.
In U.P. (East) circle, forty two percent subscribers have the

switching intention.
It an area of serious concern that except the Vodafone subscribers,

more than forty percent of the subscribers of all the other service
providers have the switching intention.
It is certainly a challenge for the service providers to retain their

existing customers in this competitive market after the introduction
of MNP.
Airtel and Vodafone are preferred service providers for the

subscribers who have the switching intention .
45.6 percent of the subscribers who have the switching intention

are switching to other service providers for better customer
services.
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24.4 percent of the subscribers who have the switching intention
are switching to other service providers for minimum call charges.
14.4 percent subscribers are switching for better network

connectivity and 15.6 percent are switching due to other factors i.e.
for better value added services, multimedia services, billing
services/tariff plans, network innovativeness, brand image etc.
The findings of the research were validated by testing of following

hypotheses-
H01: There is no impact of customer care services on overall satisfaction

of the mobile phone subscribers.
H02: There is no relationship between overall satisfaction and switching

intention of the subscribers.
H03: There is no relationship between satisfaction with effectiveness of

the network and switching intention of the subscribers.
H04: There is no relationship between the call charges and switching

intention of the mobile phone subscribers.
H05: There is no relationship between satisfaction with multimedia/

value added services and switching intention of the mobile phone
subscribers.
6.2 Conclusion
On the basis of data analysis and testing of hypotheses, the study has identified the
following factors affecting the satisfaction of mobile phone subscribers in U.P.
(East) circle:
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Customer Care Services
Call charges
Effectiveness of the Network
Other factors-Multimedia/Value added Services, Network

innovativeness etc.
All the investment that has been made in the last decade for creating
infrastructure has provided a forward momentum for growth. The right type and
amount of telecom infrastructure is necessary for providing a variety and quality
of telecommunication services required and expected by the customers.
Telecom service providers have always faced the challenge of matching

their technology and infrastructure Lack of
infrastructure can cripple all efforts towards providing a reliable, high quality
world-class telecom services to the citizens of U.P. (East) circle. Though this
circle has seen growth in all the constituents of the telecom infrastructure but
connectivity problem is very common problem and service providers should do
the needful to make their network effective to satisfy and retain the subscribers.
It is area of concern that leading players in this circle are not very
economical for their subscribers. To have a sustainable business, tariff/call
charges will need to be rationalized in the coming years, because call charges are
affecting the switching intention of the subscribers.
Nearly half of the subscribers who have the switching intention are ready
to leave their existing service provider basically for better customer service so
effective customer care services is the key to retain existing customers and attract
new customers.
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Other factors-multimedia/value added services, billing service/tariff plans,
network innovativeness, brand image/reputation etc., are also important for
service providers. Service providers have already started focusing on these factors.
By offering multimedia/value added services at the economical rates,service
providers can maximize their revenue since the users of such services are few.
All the above discussed factors certainly affects the overall satisfaction of
subscribers in U.P.(East) Circle and finally satisfaction/dissatisfaction affects the
switching intention of the subscribers as validated by hypotheses testing.
From subscribers point of view, the most important factor affecting their
satisfaction/dissatisfaction and their switching intention is effectiveness of
customer care services followed by call charges, value added services/quality
dimensions and network effectiveness/connectivity.
Due to the nature of competition in U.P. (East) circle, service providers

should evaluate their performance time to time for retention of their existing
subscribers because MNP has given freedom to subscribers to select the best
service provider while retaining their existing number.
After the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP), service

providers should focus not only on acquiring the new customers but also on
existing customers to retain them.MNP may affect the position of all service
providers as it is a highly competitive market. For subscribers, MNP, again
validates the fact that Customer is the King , as today they have the freedom or
flexibility to retain their mobile numbers, while moving from one service provider
to another, based on their customer satisfaction levels.
MNP may be game changer in this circle because existing market share is
not a guarantee for future market share because of nature of competition. The
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players should regularly evaluate their performance on various parameters for
formulation of strategy(s) to satisfy and retain the customers.
6.3 Recommendations
6.3.1 Service Provider-wise Recommendations
Mobile phone service providers are recommended to formulate strategies in

critical areas of their operations to achieve sustainable business growth in Uttar
Pradesh (East) circle.
Airtel is the market leader in U.P. (East) Circle with 22.8 percent market
share but in order to retain its existing customers, Airtel should try to make its
network more effective although most subscribers are getting the expected level of
network services i.e., it is fulfilling the minimum requirements of its subscribers.
Most of the Airtel subscribers are not satisfied with the existing call charges and it
is an area of serious concern .Most of the Airtel subscribers are satisfied with the
value added/multimedia services and by increasing the use of such services, Airtel
can increase its revenue. Around fifty percent Airtel subscribers have the
switching intention due to existing call charges so Airtel should formulate proper
strategy to address this issue to maintain its position in highly competitive
market.On various dimensions of customer care and its quality Airtel was rated
high, it shows customer care services offered by Airtel are very effective and it is
the main reason for its existing market share in this competitive market. It is first
preferred brand by the subscribers of other service providers in this circle who
have the switching intention.
Vodafone with 16.7 percent market share is the second largest player in
U.P. (East) circle. It is a fact that Vodafone subscribers are also facing the
connectivity related problem like in case of other service providers but existing
users are of the opinion that Vodafone is capable of fulfilling their expectations
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with reference to network services. Around thirty percent Vodafone subscribers
are of the opinion that call charges are not economical in comparison to other
operators. Vodafone subscribers are satisfied with the value added/multimedia
services and by increasing the use of such services, Vodafone can increase its
revenue. Most of the Vodafone subscribers are satisfied with customer care
services and on the basis of overall satisfaction, it is the best service provider in
U.P. (East) circle. Only twenty percent have the switching intention. Vodafone
can become the market leader by focusing on economical call charges and by
offering more effective customer services.
Reliance with 14.7 percent market share is the third largest player in this
circle. Around fifty percent Reliance subscribers are suffering from connectivity
related problem and are not satisfied with the performance of the network. Most of
the Reliance subscribers are of the opinion that call charges are economical in
comparison to other operators. Most of the Reliance subscribers are satisfied with
its value added services and by offering 3G services in this circle, Reliance can
increase its revenue. Around thirty percent subscribers are of the opinion that
customer care services are worse than their level of expectations. Around forty
percent subscribers are not satisfied and have the switching intention mainly for
better customer service and connectivity. Reliance should immediately address the
customer care and connectivity related issues to retain its market share in this
market.
BSNL with 14 percent market share is the fourth largest player in this
circle. Fifty percent BSNL subscribers are of the opinion that its network is worse
than their level of expectation. In case of call charges it has the competitive
advantage and is one of its strategies to retain its existing customers. Most of the
BSNL subscribers are satisfied with its value added services but there is need to
concentrate on 3G services for increasing the revenue. Around forty percent
subscribers are not satisfied with the BSNL services and have the switching
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intention mainly for better customer service. In this competitive market only
economical call charges will not serve the purpose so BSNL should immediately
focus on customer service and network effectiveness.
Idea with 10.7 percent market share is the fifth largest player in this circle.
With reference to the effectiveness of the network, most of its subscribers are
getting the expected level of services although call charges are not very
economical for its subscribers. Value added services offered by Idea are very
effective but it should concentrate on 3G services for increasing its revenue. By
focusing on customer service, connectivity and introducing better plans for the
customers, it can retain its existing subscribers and can easily acquire the better
position in this market. It entered late in this telecom circle but doing well on
various quality aspects.
Tata with 8 percent market share is the sixth largest player in this circle.
Tata should try to make its network more effective because more than fifty
percent subscribers are not satisfied with the effectiveness of the network. Tata is
offering mobile services at economical rates and most of its subscribers are
satisfied . Value added services offered by Tata are effective and by offering 3G
services it can increase its revenue.
the switching intention and the major factor affecting the switching intention is
customer service. It should immediately formulate its strategy to address this
serious issue in addition to other factors.
Aircel with 5 percent market share is the seventh largest player in this
circle. Most of the subscribers are of the opinion that its network is not effective
and they are suffering from connectivity problem. Its call charges are very
economical so it has the competitive edge over the other players. Around 40
percent Aircel subscribers have the switching intention for better value added
services, multimedia services, billing services/tariff plans in addition to other
factors like better connectivity and better customer care services. It entered late in
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the circle but by focusing on its network and other mentioned factors, it can
perform well.
Uninor a new player in this telecom circle has only 4.3 percent market
share in the circle but more than sixty percent subscribers are of the opinion the
subscribers are satisfied with existing call charges of Uninor.With reference to

value added services, most of the subscribers are of the opinion that such services
are effective. Around forty percent subscribers are not getting the expected level
of customer care services and expect that Uninor should do the needful. Nearly
half of the existing subscribers have switching intention and major factor affecting
it is customer care services so by focusing on customer care services and making
its network effective, it can retain and increase its market share.
MTS is the new service provider in U.P. (East) circle and has only 3.8
percent market share in the circle. Nearly sixty five percent of its subscribers have
the switching intention for better network connectivity, customer service and other
factors including multimedia, tariff plans, network innovativeness etc. By
formulating proper strategies to address such issues, it can satisfy and retain its
subscribers in this highly competitive market.
6.3.2 Recommendations for Regulator and Policy Makers
TRAI has laid down the standards of quality of service to be provided by the
service providers to create conditions for customer satisfaction and the user has a
right to expect the quality services. TRAI has notified the various
Directions/Regulations/Guidelines to the service providers to address the major
issues related to consumers. In this research, it has been found that there is
certainly gap between the expectations of the subscribers and performance of
service providers on various quality issues. Such factors certainly affect the
customer satisfaction. This imply that policy makers and industry regulators, need
to be awakened to this empirical fact and take pragmatic steps to ensure that
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service providers in U.P.(East) circle improve their efficiency and effectiveness in
the provision of telecommunications services that meet and exceed customer
needs, desires and expectations. TRAI should ensure that these operators are
protected by focusing more attention and resources on customer care services,

effectiveness of the network, making the services more economical and other
quality related issues.
6.4 Scope for Future Research

The findings of the study cannot be generalized for the whole population of
mobile phone users in India since research was conducted in U.P (East) circle.
Telecom circle wise, the results may be different so there is certainly scope for
similar researches in other circles of India.
towards the various quality dimensions. In this competitive environment it has

become a necessity for every service provider to satisfy and retain the subscribers
after the introduction of MNP in U.P. (East) circle. Therefore, similar research in
future in same geographical location may produce some different results.
The research of similar nature can be conducted with large sample size in
U.P (East) circle and other telecom circles.
U.P. (East) circle is very large and for this study, the researcher collected
the data from from four major cities of this circle. By adding the respondents from
the other cities of this circle, the research in future may be conducted.
Satisfaction of mobile phone subscribers is affected by several factors but

the researcher has taken only few factors for this research. In future, the research
may be conducted by considering the other factors also.
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Reports
o Department of Telecommunications Annual Report, 2010-11
o TRAI Report on Mobile Network, 2006
o Telecom Sector in India: Vision 2020
List of Referred Websites

http://www.dot.gov.in
http:/www.trai.gov.in
http:/www. planningcommission.nic.in
http://www.coai.com
http://www.auspi.in/
http://www.aircel.com/
http://www.ideacellular.com/
http://www.rcom.co.in
http://www.airtelworld.com/
http://www.bsnl.co.in/
http://www.vodafone.in
http://www.tatateleservices.com/
http://www.uninor.in/
http://www.mtsindia.in
http://www.google.com
http://www.rediff.com
265
Annexure - A
QUESTIONNAIRE
I (Shekhar Srivastava) am a research scholar in IFTM University, Moradabad. I

am doing a research work on
,
the same to be submitted to the university, under the supervision of Dr. Ashish
Bhatnagar, Professor, IILM Academy of Higher Learning, Lucknow.
I will be thankful, if you could spare some time to answer these questions. The
information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used for academic
purpose only.
SECTION-A
Mobile Subscriber Identification:
on the appropriate option)
Name of Respondent :
Place / Address :
1. Gender : (1) Male

: (2) Female
2. Age : (1) Below 20

(2) 20 - 25
(3) 25 - 35
(4) 35 - 45
(5) 45+ years
266
3. Profession : (1) Government Service
(2) Private Service
(3) Self Employed/Business
(4) Any Other- Housewife / Student
4. Monthly Income (Rs.)

(1) 5000
(2) 5001 - 15,000
(3) 15001 - 30,000
(4) > 30,001
5. Which one of the following is your service provider?

(1) Airtel (5) Tata
(2) Vodafone (6) Idea
(3) Reliance (7) Aircel
(4) BSNL (8) Uninor
(9) MTS
6. What type of mobile communication do you have?

(1) Prepaid
(2) Postpaid
7. How long have you been using this connection?

(1) Less than 1 year (2) 1 to 2 years
(3) 2 to 3 years (4) More than 3 years
8. How much do you spent per month on your mobile phone?

(1) Less than or equal to Rs. 300 (2) Rs. 301 - 500
(2) Rs. 501 1000 (4) More than Rs.1000
267
SECTION-B
Part I
Effectiveness of the Network:
1. Which one of the following is the main connectivity problem you are
facing with your service provider?
(1) Network busy (2) Out of network coverage area
(3) Call disconnect (4) Voice problem
(5) Any Other. Please specify
2. When did you face network connection problems?

(1) Inside the Circle (2) While Traveling (3) Outside the Circle
3. Do you face connectivity problem in specific hours of the day?

(1) 06:00 09:00 AM (2) 09:00AM 12:00 Noon
(3) 12:00 03:00 PM (4) 03:00 06:00 PM
(5) 06:00 -09:00 PM
4. Do you get the expected network services from your service provider?
(1) Yes (2) No
5. To what extent, your mobile services met your expectations?

(1) Much worse than expected (2) Worse than expected
(3) Equal to my expectations (4) Better than expected
(5) Much better than expected
6. Rate your satisfaction level with reference to effectiveness of the network

of your service provider?
(1) Highly Dissatisfied (2) Dissatisfied (3)Neutral
(4) Satisfied (5) Highly Satisfied
268
SECTION-B
Part II
Billing/Call Charges:
1. If you are a postpaid customer, are you aware about the billing system of
your service provider?
(1) Yes (2) No
2. If you are a postpaid customer, do you receive billing updates from your
service provider?
(1) Yes (2) No
3. If you are a postpaid customer, are you satisfied with the billing services of
(1) Highly Dissatisfied (2) Dissatisfied (3)Somewhat Satisfied
4. If you are a prepaid customer, are you aware about the tariff
plans/recharge coupons offered by your service provider?
(1)Yes (2) No
5. If you are a prepaid customer, do you receive updates to recharge your

prepaid card?
(1) Yes (2) No
6. If you are a prepaid customer, are you satisfied with the prepaid tariff
plans/recharge coupons offered by your service provider?
(1) Highly Dissatisfied (2) Dissatisfied (3) Somewhat Satisfied
7. Do you think call Charges of your service provider is economical in
comparison to other operators?
(1) Yes (2) No
8. Rate your satisfaction level with reference to call charges
(1) Highly Dissatisfied (2) Dissatisfied (3) Neutral

269
SECTION B
Part III
Multimedia/Value added Services:
1. Are you aware about 3G (3rd generation) technology?

(1) Yes (2) No
2. Are you using 3G technology services offered by your service provider?

(1) Yes (2) No
3. Are you using Internet/Broadband/E-mail facilities offered by your service

provider through mobile phone?
(1) Yes (2) No
If Yes, how often you use this facility?

(1) Occasionally (2) Frequently (3) Very rare
If No, please specify the reasons
4. Are you getting regular updates regarding various value added services
offered by your service provider?
(1) Yes (2) No
5. To what extent, value added services (access to Internet, SMS, MMS,

Voice message etc) offered by your service provider met your
expectations?
(1) Much worse than expected (2) Worse than expected
(3) Equal to my expectations (4) Better than expected
(5) Much better than expected
6. Rate your satisfaction level with reference to Multimedia/Value added

Services
270
SECTION C
Customer Satisfaction with Reference to

Customer Care Services and Quality Dimensions.
In your opinion, what is your level of satisfaction with reference to service quality
of your mobile service provider in the following dimensions? Please mark ( ) any
one option
1 - Much worse than expected

2 - Worse than expected
3 - Equal to my expectations
4 - Better than expected
5 - Much better than expected
Sl.
Dimensions of Customer Care Services Options
No
1 How the customer care centers are approachable? 1 2 3 4 5
How best is your service provider in attending
2 1 2 3 4 5
Customer complaints?
How best is your service provider to give prompt
3 1 2 3 4 5
customer services?
Ability of the customer care executive to
4 1 2 3 4 5
understand the specific needs of the customer.
Ability of the customer care executive to
5 1 2 3 4 5
communicate clearly with you.
Sincerity and patience in resolving customer
6 1 2 3 4 5
complaints.
Customer care executives have the capability to
7 1 2 3 4 5
solve customer problems.
To what extent, you are satisfied with the response
8 1 2 3 4 5
of customer care executive.
9 Are they willing to help in emergency situations? 1 2 3 4 5
The behaviour of customer care executive in
10 1 2 3 4 5
establishing service confidence in customers.
How do you rate the customer centric approach of
11 1 2 3 4 5
the executives?
12 How do you rate the customer care services of
1 2 3 4 5
your mobile operator?
Are they apologizing for inconvenience caused to
13 1 2 3 4 5
customers?
271
Sl.
Quality Dimensions Options
No.
Effectiveness of your service provider to offer
1 1 2 3 4 5
variety of entertainment facilities.
How truthful (keeping to promises) is your service

2 1 2 3 4 5
provider to you?
Having sound loyalty programme to recognize you

3 1 2 3 4 5
as a frequent customer.
How economical is the use of your telecom

4 1 2 3 4 5
network services?
5 Network Innovativeness- ability to use modern
1 2 3 4 5
technology to improve services.
How do you rate the brand image and reputation of
6 1 2 3 4 5
272
SECTION D
Customer Satisfaction and Switching Intention:
1. Rate your overall satisfaction level with your service provider:

2. Do you think that your mobile service provider has few drawbacks as
compared to other operators?
(1) Yes (2) No
3. Are you aware about the MNP (Mobile Number Portability)?

(1) Yes (2) No
4. Do you think MNP is helping operators to bring better choice to the

customers?
(1) Yes (2) No
5. Do you have the intention of switching to a better service provider?

(1) Yes (2) No
6. If Yes, Please tick the name of new service provider.

(1) Airtel (2) Vodafone (3) Reliance
(4) BSNL (5) Tata (6) Idea
(7) Aircel (8) Uninor (9) MTS
7. Why do you want to switch to new operator?

(1) Better Connectivity (2) Minimum Call Charges
(3) Better Customer Service (4) Better value added /Multimedia Services
(5) Any other, Please specify
8. Your valuable suggestions:
273
Annexure - B
RESEARCH PAPERS PUBLISHED
IJMRR/ Jan 2013/ Volume 3/Issue 1/Article No-9/2224-2242 ISSN: 2249-7196
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT

RESEARCH AND REVIEW
IMPACT OF CUSTOMER CARE SERVICES ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION-A

STUDY OF MOBILE PHONE SUBSCRIBERS OF U.P. (EAST) CIRCLE
1 2
Shekhar Srivastava* , Dr.Ashish Bhatnagar
1
Research Scholar- Ph.D (Management) Program, IFTM University, Moradabad, India.
2
Professor, IILM Academy of Higher Learning, Lucknow, India.
ABSTRACT
Customer service is the provision of service to customer, before, during and after a purchase.
Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) defined customer service as a series of activities designed to enhance
expectation. Competitive advantage is secured through intelligent identification and satisfaction of

customers needs
through better customer service tools. This research focuses on various issues related to customer
ention to switch to
other competitor networks. This study is helpful in recognizing the importance of customer care
services and its overall impact on customer satisfaction and finally the switching intention of the
mobile subscribers and what role MNP is going to play in this highly competitive market. To the
management of mobile phone service providers, the findings and results of this study will provide
a more reliable , scientific measure and perspective for describing and evaluating the level of
their customer satisfaction with the services they deliver. This will provide empirical support
for management strategic decisions in several critical areas of their operations, and above all,
provide a justifiably valid and reliable guide for designing workable service delivery improvement
strategies for creating and delivering customer value, achieving customer satisfaction and loyalty,
building long- term mutually beneficial relationship with profitable customers and achieve
sustainable business growth in Uttar Pradesh (East) circle. To policy makers such as the Ministry
of Communications and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the findings and results of this
study will provide invaluable insights and a more reliable guide to evaluate performance of service
providers with special reference to customer care services. It will also help the TRAI to ensure that
protected.
Keywords: Customer service, advantage, MNP, Switching
intention. *Corresponding Author
274
INTRODUCTION
Customer satisfaction is the primary determinant of customer loyalty and subsequent relation of
customer. This is true for goods as well as services. Continued success rests on reinventing oneself
in the eyes of ones customers and adaptation to their evolving needs, firms must anticipate where
customer preferences are headed. Customer satisfaction holds the potential for increasing an
stomer service.
Telecom services are recognized world-over as an important tool for the socio-economic
development of a nation. It is one of the prime support services essential for rapid growth and
modernization of various sectors of the economy. In India too, the telecommunication sector has
revolutionized the way we communicate and share information, thereby helping over 800 million
Indians stay connected, over the last two decades.
In the last ten years, the mobile revolution has truly changed the socio-economic landscape of
India and played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the economy. The Indian mobile
telecommunication industry has witnessed significant rise in competition in recent years largely
due to the deregulation policy of government and the advent of mobile telecommunication
companies. Another complex dimension to the competitive trend in the Indian telecommunication
industry is the ease and rate at which products and services are duplicated in the industry and multi
dimension nature of communication. This trend fosters a scenario of continuous fight for
customers share (Mendzela, 1999) and, an increasing the need to build loyal customers through
experience. Mobile operators that can achieve a high-level of service will be in a great position to
win market share away from low-cost competitors. Great customer service is the key to retain
existing customers.
Effective customer-oriented relationship marketing tactics may help marketers to acquire
customers, keep customers, and maximize customer profitability, and finally build up customer
loyalty. The competition is also becoming more and sharper. In order to obtain sustainable
competitive advantage, telecommunication firms are forced to make innovation and do the best for
customer satisfaction.
LITERATURE REVIEW
There is a general consensus in the marketing literature about the importance of customer
satisfaction in business success. Higher customer satisfaction leads to improved financial
performance by lowering customer switching, improving loyalty, reducing price elasticity and
transaction cost, promoting positive word of mouth and enhancing firm image and reputation
(Garvin, 1988; Anderson, 1988; Kandampully and Suhartanto, 2000; Homburg and Giering, 2001;
and Kim et al., 2004)
While the Indian mobile market is poised to grow at an increasing rate, the mobile service
providers have not been able to either maintain or increase customer satisfaction. According to
satisfaction of all major service providers against the benchmark set by Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI).
wn tremendous
growth in past few years in telecommunication sector. The change in technology has changed the
consumer mind. From fixed lines to wireless lines the number of subscribers has shown
remarkable growth.
275
Increasing customer satisfaction has been
leads to improved profits, positive recommendation, lower marketing expenditures (Reichheld,
1996; Heskett et al., 1997), and greatly impact the corporate image and survival (Pizam and Ellis,
1999).
Parker and Mathew (2001) expressed that there are two basic definitional approaches of the
concept of customer satisfaction. The first approach defines satisfaction as a process and the
second approach defines satisfaction as an outcome of a consumption experience. These two
approaches are complementary, as often one depends on the other. It was also noted that the
process of satisfaction definition concentrates on the antecedents to satisfaction rather than
satisfaction itself.
Levesque and McDougall (1996) in their case study on retail banking found out that if a service
problem or customer complaint is not properly handled, it has a substantial impact on the
that good customer complaint management leads to increased customer satisfaction. They reported
that at best, satisfactory problem recovery leads to the same level of customer satisfaction as if a
problem had not occurred.
Fornell (1992) investigated customer satisfaction with 100 corporations in over 30 industries in
Sweden and expressed that the benefits of customer satisfaction include the following; highly
satisfied customers -
Stay longer (i.e. prevent customer churn)
Purchase more as the company introduces new products and upgrades existing products
Talk favourably about the company and its products or services
Pay less attention to competing brands
Less sensitive to price
Offer product or service ideas to the company
Cost less to serve than new customers because transactions are routine
Enhances business reputation
These benefits make customer satisfaction and its measurement an important marketing construct,
which is especially essential to the industry in which the long-term links between operators and
customers are of greater importance to business performance.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1. To identify the various issues related to customer service and its quality.
2. To analyse and compare the services offered by the mobile phone service providers.
3. To study and analyse the impact of customer care services on the customer satisfaction.
4. To study the switching intention of mobile phone subscribers.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research is basically descriptive in nature and includes surveys and fact-finding inquiries of
different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is to describe the state of affairs as it
exists at present. Considering the objective of the research, a questionnaire was designed. Primary
Data was collected through designed questionnaire/ personal interviews with subscribers of mobile
phone services of U.P. (East) Circle. Secondary data used was provided by the various
276
telecommunications service providers, government agencies and regulatory body, published
material, data through websites in connection to mobile phone services. For sample selection, the
researcher used the combination of probability and non probability sampling. In this research, the
researcher collected the primary data from the four major cities of U.P. (East) Circle- i.e. Varanasi,
Kanpur, Lucknow and Allahabad. Total 600 respondents i.e. 150 mobile phone subscribers from
each city participated in the study.
Hypotheses
Considering the research objectives cited above and the review of literature, the following null
hypotheses were set:
H01: There is no impact of customer care services on overall satisfaction of the mobile Phone
subscribers.
H02: There is no relationship between overall satisfaction and switching intention of the
subscribers.
Tools used for Data Analysis

It includes the various statistical tools & techniques. Statistical tools help in analyzing the data and
the data analysis is helpful in drawing conclusions. Statistical tools are used mainly, to study the
relationship between the variables and to perform the hypothesis testing. For testing of the
hypothesis, the Chi Square test as a statistical tool is used and to show the major findings the cross
tabulation and bar charts are used. The research study uses: computer with software like SPSS 16.
SPSS is used for the cross tabulation, chi-square testing, to draw several bar graphs & frequency
distribution charts & tables.
DATA ANALYSIS
Table-1
Percentage Distribution
Gender 63% Male, 37%Female
Age Group(Yrs) Below 20 8.5%
20-25 17.5%
25-35 32.0%
35-45 17.5%
45+ 24.5%
Profession Government Service- 26.5%
Private Service 26.0%
Self employed/Business 14.0%
Any other-Housewife/Student 33.5%
Monthly Income (Rs.) <5000 34.5%
5001 - 15,000- 11.5%
15001 - 30,000- 13.5%
>30,000 40.5%
277
Table-2
Name of the service provider
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Airtel 137 22.8 22.8 22.8

Vodafone 100 16.7 16.7 39.5
Reliance 88 14.7 14.7 54.2
BSNL 84 14.0 14.0 68.2
Tata 48 8.0 8.0 76.2
Idea 64 10.7 10.7 86.8

Aircel 30 5.0 5.0 91.8
Uninor 26 4.3 4.3 96.2

MTS 23 3.8 3.8 100.0
Total 600 100.0 100.0
Table-3
Name of the service provider * Rating for customer care services Cross-tabulation
Rating for customer care services

Much worse Worse than Equal to my Better than Much better Total
than expected expectations expected than
expected expected
Name of Airtel
% within Name of the service
the service 46.0% 51.8% 2.2% 100.0%
provider
provider
% within Rating for customer
care services of your mobile 30.6% 31.6% 8.8% 22.8%
operator
Vodafone % within Name of the service
12.0% 20.0% 57.0% 11.0% 100.0%
provider
care services of your mobile 9.0% 9.7% 25.3% 32.4% 16.7%
operator
Reliance % within Name of the service
29.5% 38.6% 22.7% 9.1% 100.0%
provider
operator
BSNL % within Name of the service
40.5% 35.7% 22.6% 1.2% 100.0%
provider
operator
Tata % within Name of the service
33.3% 31.2% 33.3% 2.1% 100.0%
provider
operator
Idea % within Name of the service
21.9% 20.3% 57.8% 100.0%
provider
care services of your mobile 10.5% 6.3% 16.4% 10.7%
operator
Aircel % within Name of the service
33.3% 30.0% 6.7% 30.0% 100.0%
provider
care services of your mobile 7.5% 4.4% .9% 26.5% 5.0%
operator
Uninor % within Name of the service
3.8% 38.5% 46.2% 7.7% 3.8% 100.0%
provider
care services of your mobile 50.0% 7.5% 5.8% .9% 2.9% 4.3%
operator
MTS % within Name of the service
4.3% 47.8% 43.5% 4.3% 100.0%
provider
care your mobile operator 50.0% 8.3% 4.9% .4% 3.8%
services of
Total % within Name of the service
.3% 22.2% 34.3% 37.5% 5.7% 100.0%
provider
care services of your mobile 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
operator
278
279
Table-4
Rating for the customer care services? * Rate overall satisfaction level with the service provider: Crosstabulation
Rate overall satisfaction level with service provider
Highly Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Total
How do you rate the customer Much worse than

care services of your mobile expected Count 0 2 0 0 2
operator?
Expected Count .1 .6 .2 1.1 2.0
Worse than
Count 7 120 6 0 133
expected
Expected Count 4.9 37.0 16.4 74.7 133.0
Equal to my
Count 0 27 68 111 206
expectations
Expected Count 7.6 57.3 25.4 115.7 206.0
Better than
Count 0 18 0 207 225
expected
Expected Count 8.2 62.6 27.8 126.4 225.0
Much better than

Count 15 0 0 19 34
expected
Expected Count 1.2 9.5 4.2 19.1 34.0
Total Count 22 167 74 337 600
Expected Count 22.0 167.0 74.0 337.0 600.0
Chi-Square Tests
Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 6.532E2 12 .000
Likelihood Ratio 598.222 12 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 170.119 1 .000
N of Valid Cases 600
DATA INTERPRETATION
Since the value of Pearson Chi-square is 6.532E2 i.e. 653.2, which is greater than the tabulated
value (21.03) at 12 degrees of freedom and 5% level of significance therefore the Null
Hypothesis There is no impact of customer care services on overall satisfaction of the mobile
phone subscribers is rejected; the customer care services have an impact on the overall
satisfaction of the mobile phone subscribers.
280
Table-5
Name of the service provider * Rate overall satisfaction level with the service provider: Crosstabulation
Rate overall satisfaction level with your service provider
Highly
Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Total
Dissatisfied
Name of the Airtel % within Name of the service provider

21.9% 26.3% 51.8% 100.0%
service provider
% within Rate your overall satisfaction

18.0% 48.6% 21.1% 22.8%
level with your service provider
Vodafone % within Name of the service provider 15.0% 5.0% 80.0% 100.0%

9.0% 6.8% 23.7% 16.7%
Reliance % within Name of the service provider 6.8% 35.2% 6.8% 51.1% 100.0%

27.3% 18.6% 8.1% 13.4% 14.7%
BSNL % within Name of the service provider 40.5% 7.1% 52.4% 100.0%

20.4% 8.1% 13.1% 14.0%
level with your service provider:
Tata % within Name of the service provider 35.4% 8.3% 56.2% 100.0%

10.2% 5.4% 8.0% 8.0%
Idea % within Name of the service provider 29.7% 7.8% 62.5% 100.0%

11.4% 6.8% 11.9% 10.7%
Aircel % within Name of the service provider 40.0% 26.7% 3.3% 30.0% 100.0%

54.5% 4.8% 1.4% 2.7% 5.0%
Uninor % within Name of the service provider 11.5% 7.7% 34.6% 46.2% 100.0%

13.6% 1.2% 12.2% 3.6% 4.3%
MTS % within Name of the service provider 4.3% 47.8% 8.7% 39.1% 100.0%

4.5% 6.6% 2.7% 2.7% 3.8%
Total % within Name of the service provider 3.7% 27.8% 12.3% 56.2% 100.0%

100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
281
Table-6
Name of the service provider * Switching Intention of subscribers Crosstabulation
Do you have the intention of switching to

a better service provider?
Yes No Total
Name of the service Airtel % within Name of the service provider

48.2% 51.8% 100.0%
provider
% within Do you have the intention of

26.2% 20.4% 22.8%
switching to a better service provider?
Vodafone % within Name of the service provider 20.0% 80.0% 100.0%

7.9% 23.0% 16.7%
Reliance % within Name of the service provider 42.0% 58.0% 100.0%

14.7% 14.7% 14.7%
BSNL % within Name of the service provider 44.0% 56.0% 100.0%

14.7% 13.5% 14.0%
Tata % within Name of the service provider 43.8% 56.2% 100.0%

8.3% 7.8% 8.0%
Idea % within Name of the service provider 46.9% 53.1% 100.0%

11.9% 9.8% 10.7%
Aircel % within Name of the service provider 40.0% 60.0% 100.0%

4.8% 5.2% 5.0%
Uninor % within Name of the service provider 53.8% 46.2% 100.0%

5.6% 3.4% 4.3%
MTS % within Name of the service provider 65.2% 34.8% 100.0%

6.0% 2.3% 3.8%
Total % within Name of the service provider 42.0% 58.0% 100.0%

100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
282
Table-7
Rate overall satisfaction level with the service provider: * Do you have the intention of switching to a better service
provider? Crosstabulation
Do you have the

intention of switching
to a better service
provider?
Yes No Total
Highly Count 7 15 22
Dissatisfied 9.2 12.8 22.0

Expected Count
Rate your overall
satisfaction level 167 0 167
with your service Dissatisfied Count
provider:
Expected Count 70.1 96.9 167.0
Neutral Count 68 6 74
Satisfied Count 10 327 337
Total Count 252 348 600
252.0 348.0 600.0
Expected Count
Chi-Square Tests
Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 5.179E2 3 .000

Likelihood Ratio 657.131 3 .000
Linear-by-Linear 363.346 1 .000
Association
Symmetric Measures
Value
Interval by Pearson's R
.779
Interval
Ordinal by Spearman Correlation
.833
Ordinal
DATA INTERPRETATION
Since the value of Pearson Chi-square is 5.179E2 i.e. 517.9 is which is greater than the tabulated
value (7.82) at 3 degree of freedom and 5% level of significance so the Null Hypothesis- There is
no relationship between overall satisfaction and switching intention of the subscribers is rejected
and the above table shows that in case of satisfaction, subscribers do not prefer to have the
switching intention.
283
Table-8
Name of the service provider * In case of switching intention, Name of new service provider. Crosstabulation
Name of new service provider
Airtel Vodafone Reliance BSNL Tata Idea Uninor Total
Name of Airtel % within Name of
the service the service 12.5% 12.5% 50.0% 18.8% 6.2% 100.0%
provider provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
7.1% 22.2% 57.1% 50.0% 100.0% 17.8%
name of new
service provider
Vodafone % within Name of
the service 66.7% 33.3% 100.0%
provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
13.3% 14.3% 6.7%
name of new
service provider
Reliance % within Name of
the service 22.2% 44.4% 11.1% 22.2% 100.0%
provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
6.7% 14.3% 7.1% 33.3% 10.0%
name of new
service provider
BSNL % within Name of
the service 61.5% 23.1% 7.7% 7.7% 100.0%
provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
26.7% 10.7% 11.1% 16.7% 14.4%
name of new
service provider
Tata % within Name of
the service 18.2% 72.7% 9.1% 100.0%
provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
6.7% 28.6% 7.1% 12.2%
name of new
service provider
Idea % within Name of
the service 37.5% 25.0% 12.5% 25.0% 100.0%
provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
10.0% 7.1% 11.1% 14.3% 8.9%
name of new
service provider
Aircel % within Name of
the service 50.0% 50.0% 100.0%
provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
13.3% 44.4% 8.9%
name of new
service provider
Uninor % within Name of
the service 16.7% 50.0% 33.3% 100.0%
provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
3.3% 10.7% 100.0% 6.7%
name of new
service provider
MTS % within Name of
the service 46.2% 46.2% 7.7% 100.0%
provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
20.0% 21.4% 11.1% 14.4%
name of new
service provider
Total % within Name of
the service 33.3% 31.1% 10.0% 15.6% 6.7% 2.2% 1.1% 100.0%
provider
% within If Yes,
Please tick the
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
name of new
service provider
284
Table-9
Name of the service provider * Reason for switching to new operator Crosstabulation
Why do you want to switch to new operator?
Better Any other,

Better Minimum
Customer Please Total
Connectivity Call Charges
Service specify
Name of the Airtel % within Name of the service provider

100.0% 100.0%
service provider
% within Why do you want to switch to

72.7% 17.8%
new operator?
Vodafone % within Name of the service provider 33.3% 66.7% 100.0%

9.1% 9.8% 6.7%
new operator?
Reliance % within Name of the service provider 22.2% 11.1% 66.7% 100.0%

15.4% 4.5% 14.6% 10.0%
new operator?
BSNL % within Name of the service provider 7.7% 84.6% 7.7% 100.0%

7.7% 26.8% 7.1% 14.4%
new operator?
Tata % within Name of the service provider 18.2% 9.1% 54.5% 18.2% 100.0%

15.4% 4.5% 14.6% 14.3% 12.2%
new operator?
Idea % within Name of the service provider 25.0% 25.0% 50.0% 100.0%

15.4% 9.1% 9.8% 8.9%
new operator?
Aircel % within Name of the service provider 25.0% 25.0% 50.0% 100.0%

15.4% 4.9% 28.6% 8.9%
new operator?
Uninor % within Name of the service provider 16.7% 66.7% 16.7% 100.0%

7.7% 9.8% 7.1% 6.7%
new operator?
MTS % within Name of the service provider 23.1% 30.8% 46.2% 100.0%

23.1% 9.8% 42.9% 14.4%
new operator?
Total % within Name of the service provider 14.4% 24.4% 45.6% 15.6% 100.0%

100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
new operator?
DATA INTERPRETATION
The above table shows that 45.6% subscribers are switching to other service providers for better
customer service followed by 24.4% subscribers are switching for Minimum call charges, 14.4%
subscribers are switching for better Network Connectivity and 15.6% are switching due to other
factors i.e. for better value added services, multimedia services, billing services/tariff plans etc.
285
FINDINGS
Table 1 shows the identification of mobile phone subscribers in U.P. (East) Circle. The percentage
distribution of the respondents is done according to their gender, age, profession and monthly
income.
Table 2 shows that Airtel has maximum market share (22.8%) followed by Vodafone
(16.7%),Reliance(14.7%),BSNL(14%),Idea(10.7%),Tata(8%),Aircel(5%),Uninor(4.3%)and
MTS(3.8%)
Table 3 shows that Customer care executives of the service providers in U.P. (East) Circle are
trying their best to fulfill the expectations of the mobile phone subscribers but 22.5% subscribers
are of the opinion that customer care service offered by their respective service providers are much
worse than expected/ worse than expected and it is an area of serious concern for service providers
like Reliance, BSNL, Tata, Aircel, Uninor and MTS.
Table 4 shows that impact of the customer care services on overall satisfaction. The Null
Hypothesis There is no impact of customer care services on overall satisfaction of the mobile
phone subscribers is rejected; the customer care services have an impact on the overall
satisfaction of the mobile phone subscribers.
Table 5 shows that more than 40% subscribers of Reliance, BSNL, Aircel and MTS are
dissatisfied/highly dissatisfied. 80% of Vodafone and 62.5% of Idea subscribers are satisfied.
From analysis of table4 and5 it is clear that in addition to customer care services, some other
factors also affect the overall satisfaction of the mobile Phone Subscribers.
Table 6 shows overall 42% subscribers have the switching intention and it an area of serious
concern that except the Vodafone subscribers, more than 40% of the subscribers of all the other
service providers have the switching intention. It is certainly a challenge for the service provider to
retain their existing customers in this competitive market after the introduction of MNP.
Table 7 explains how the overall satisfaction and switching intention are related to each other.
Null Hypothesis- There is no relationship between overall satisfaction and switching intention of
the subscribers is rejected on the basis of Chi-Square test and the table shows that in case of
satisfaction, subscribers do not prefer to have the switching intention.
Table 8 & 9 explain the behavior of subscribers who have the switching intention - overall 45.6%
subscribers are switching to other service provider for better customer service followed by 24.4%
subscribers are switching for minimum call charges, 14.4% subscribers are switching for better
connectivity and 15.6% are switching due to other factors i.e. for better value added services,
multimedia services, billing services/tariff plans etc.
Service provider wise analysis of the customers with switching intention- 50% of those Airtel
subscribers who intend to switch will prefer BSNL, 18.8% will prefer Tata. All Airtel subscribers
are switching to new operator for minimum call charges.66.7% of those Vodafone subscribers who
intend to switch will prefer Airtel and 33.3% will prefer BSNL and the factors affecting their
intention are customer service and call charges. 44.4% of those Reliance subscribers who intend to
switch, will prefer Vodafone, 22.2% will prefer Airtel, 22.2% will prefer Tata and the major factor
affecting their intention is customer service.61.5% of those BSNL subscribers who intend to
switch are preferring Airtel ,23.1% to Vodafone and the major factor affecting the intention is
customer service.72.7% of those Tata subscribers who intend to switch are switching to the
Vodafone and factors affecting the intention are customer service, connectivity and other factors
including value added services, Multimedia services, billing services/tariff plans etc.37.5% of
those Idea subscribers who intend to switch are switching to Airtel, 25% to Vodafone, 25% to
BSNL and factors affecting the intention are customer service, connectivity and call charges.50%
of those Aircel subscribers who intend to switch are switching to Airtel and 50% to Reliance and
the major factors affecting the intention are value added services, multimedia services, billing
286
services/tariff plans etc.50% of those Uninor subscribers who intend to switch are switching to
Vodafone and 33.3% to Idea and the major factor affecting the intention is customer service.46.2%
of those MTS subscribers who intend to switch prefer Airtel and 46.2% to Vodafone and the major
factors affecting the intention are value added services, multimedia services, billing services/tariff
plans in addition to customer service.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1-Airtel has maximum subscribers in U.P. (East) Circle but 48.2% Airtel subscribers have the
switching intention due to existing call charges so Airtel should formulate proper strategy to
address this issue to maintain its position in highly competitive market.
2- 80% Vodafone subscribers are satisfied and only 20% have switching intention. Vodafone with
16.7% subscribers in this circle can retain all its existing customers and can become the market
leader by offering better customer service and minimum call charges.
3- Reliance has 14.7% subscribers in the circle. More than 40% subscribers of Reliance are not
satisfied and have the switching intention. Major factors affecting the switching intention are
customer service and connectivity. Reliance should focus on both the factors to maintain its market
share and position in this competitive market.
4- BSNL has 14% subscribers in the circle. More than 40% subscribers of BSNL are not satisfied
and have the switching intention. Major factor affecting the switching intention is customer
service. BSNL by focusing on customer service can retain and increase its market share because it
has the competitive advantage as far as call charges is concerned.
5-Idea with 10.7% subscribers in the circle is the fifth largest player in this circle and more than
60% subscribers are satisfied with Idea. By focusing on customer service, connectivity and
introducing better plans for the customers, it can acquire the better position in this market.
6- Tata has 8% subscribers in this circle. More than 56% subscribers are satisfied and do not have
switching intention. T
major factor affecting the switching intention is customer service. It should immediately formulate
its strategy to address this serious issue.
7-Aircel, Uninor and MTS are the new service providers in this circle and have 5%, 4.3% and
3.8% market share respectively in this circle. 40% subscribers of Aircel have the switching
intention largely for better value added services, multimedia services, billing services/tariff plans
etc so Aircel should work in this area to fulfill customer expectations. Around 53% Uninor
subscribers have the switching intention mainly for the for better customer service so it should
immediately address this serious issue. MTS may also retain its subscribers by offering better
customer service, value added services, multimedia services, billing services/tariff plans etc.
8-It is an area of concern that 33.3% of those subscribers who have the switching intention are
switching to Airtel and 31.1% switching to Vodafone, 15.6% to BSNL, 10% to Reliance, 6.7% to
Tata 2.2% to Idea and only 1.1% to Uninor. Therefore Airtel and Vodafone can be considered as
first two preferred operators in this circle as far as switching intention is concerned after the
introduction of MNP. So the other operators have to formulate their strategies to face this
challenge considering the factors responsible for switching intention as mentioned above but it is
an area of interest that 48.2% of Airtel subscribers have the switching intention while in case of
Vodafone it is only 20%.Airtel should work hard in the area of call charges to retain its position in
the market since Airtel subscribers have the switching intention for minimum call charges.
9-It is an area of concern for all the service providers that most of the subscribers(45.6%) are
switching to other operators for better customer service,24.4% for minimum call charges,14.4%
for better connectivity and 15.6% for other factors i.e. for better value added services, Multimedia
287
services, billing services/tariff plans etc. Considering the nature of competition, service providers
should focus on better customer service and call charges in addition to other factors for their long
term survival and growth. Such factors may affect the market share of the players.
10- After the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP), service providers should focus
not only on acquiring the new customers but also on existing customers to retain them.MNP may
affect the position of all service providers as it is a highly competitive market. For subscribers,
MNP, again validates the fact that 'Customer is the King', as today they have the freedom or
flexibility to retain their mobile numbers, while moving from one service provider to another,
based on their customer satisfaction levels. Mobile Number Portability or MNP is an offering that
allows you to switch your mobile network without changing your number.
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International Journal of Engineering and Management Research, Vol.-2,
Issue-6, December 2012 ISSN No.: 2250-0758
Pages: 37-39 www.ijemr.net
Customer Care Services: A tool for Competitive Advantage and Customer Satisfaction in
Mobile Telecommunication Services
Shekhar Srivastava1, Dr.Ashish Bhatnagar2

1
Research Scholar- Ph.D (Management) Program, IFTMUniversity, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA.
2
Professor, IILM Academy of Higher Learning, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA.
ABSTRACT
Mobile telecommunication companies are continuously competing for customers. The
design and deploy customer-centric strategies to
sustain in the market in the long-run i.e. there is an increasing need to build loyal customers
longer with the preferred providers, buy more and generate favourable word of mouth effect that
may further benefit the service provider but considering the competitive battle in the Mobile
telecommunications industry, there is a risk that customers may leave their service provider
irrespective of retention efforts.
Key Words: Customer service, Marketing Myopia, MNP, Self-care
I INTRODUCTION
The concept of having sustainable interactions with customers is not new. Companies, for
ages, have been trying to establish interface with customers. However, earlier the focus was
always on selling the product/service instead of retaining the customers. The current competitive
post-liberalisation scenario has compelled the marketers/organizations globally to adopt customer
orientation and leave behind the obsolete concept of product focus. No organization can afford to
Customer service varies by product, industry and customer. It however assume important
dimension in service delivery and sales of product. Telecommunications is one of the prime
support services needed for rapid growth of any developing country. Telecommunications is one of
the fastest developing sectors in India.
Customer service is central to the customer-centric paradigm shift, and has gained much
attention from scholars and practitioners as it has become one of the cardinal means for achieving
quality improvement programmes, and one of the crucial foci of strategic marketing management
in business organizations that have long-term perspective for growth.
II CUSTOMER-PROVIDER RELATIONSHIP
Since mobile services are continuously provided services, the customer provider
relationship and relational constructs such as trust become an important consequence of customer
satisfaction (Selnes, 1988). Ranaweera and Prabhu (2003) emphasized that customer satisfaction
and trust have strong association with repurchase intentions and loyalty.
Gronroos (1984) stated that in service environments, customer satisfaction will be built on
a combination of two kinds of quality aspects; technical and functional. While, technical quality is
related to what customer gets (transaction satisfaction); functional quality is related to how the
customer gets i.e. the result of the interaction (relationship satisfaction).
291
Several studies have shown that it costs about five times to gain a new customer as it does
to retain an existing customer (Naumann, 1995) and this result into more interest in customer
relationships. Thus, several companies are adopting customer satisfaction as their operational goal
with a carefully designed framework.
Customers who have complained to a company and had their complaints satisfactorily
resolved tell an average of five people about the good treatment they received., Moreover, when
the service provider accepts responsibility and resolves the problem when customers complain, the
- Hart et al., (1990).
III OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

India has been the role model for low-cost mobile services. Because of the fastest
subscriber growth rates in the world, operators have slashed prices in a race to acquire customers.
After the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP), few subscribers in India switched to
new operators offering lower rates. However, many have already discovered that price is not
everything poor customer service is a serious issue for telecom operators.
Timelines promised to Indian wireless customers are often not met and response to
inquiries can be poor. With increased competition in India, good customer service could be a
significant competitive advantage for operators.
For any organization, front-
experience. Customers everywhere in the world expect operators to resolve their issue then and
there. Mobile operators that can achieve a high-level of service will be in a great position to win
market share away from low-cost competitors. Great customer service is the key for the long term
survival in the competitive market of mobile telecommunications.
The telecom industry no longer talks only about customer service instead, it is
addressing the broader topic of the customer experience, which includes not just the conversations
between customer service representatives and customers when something goes wrong, but the full
range of customer contact from when a service is ordered to when it is delivered.
Service providers of all types are investing heavily in this customer experience. A recent
survey found that all the service providers are increasing their spending on customer service every
year. Increased investment will be required because customer service requirements increase
exponentially. It is easier for customers to get confused and it is difficult for customers to evaluate
the service providers.
Because of technological advancement, cost control initiatives are driving service
providers to create more self-care options to eliminate costly labor wherever possible. Throughout
the industry, there is a movement toward natural speech options for interactive voice response
systems.
Expectations for the performance of the customer service executives have changed
significantly. Now, in addition to attending to unhappy and even irate customers as well as new
service requests customer service
expectations when interacting with them. The customer determines the quality of the service
delivered
This shift in focus puts tremendous pressure on the underlying IT systems and CSEs of
mobile operators to succeed in their retention strategies.
IV CONCLUSION
It is critical for operators to understand their market positions relative to their local and
regional competitors and to develop a set of strategies. There are specific implications for each
operator as well as strategies they can employ depending on their market positions. These
strategies include supply chain management, customer experience innovation, and organizational
effectiveness.
292
Since Mobile Number Portability -MNP allows subscribers to retain their existing mobile
numbers when they switch from one mobile service provider to another. MNP gives the freedom to
the subscriber to choose a service provider based on their service offering (e.g. Quality of Service,
Price and Customer Service Support). So, MNP will be a good test for the mobile service providers
to check their customer loyalty factor.
If service providers are really taking care of their customers/subscribers, by understanding
their needs, promptly addressing their problems/grievances, offering them good quality of service
and are well backed by excellent customer service support, they really need not worry about
customer churn, as their customers will be loyal to them and will remain with them.
On the other hand, if the service providers, have been taking their customers for granted,
then MNP is a point of concern for them, as it can lead to customer churn, as it opens door for their
subscribers to switch over to other service providers, whose service offerings are good and have
loyal customer base, who would go out of the way to recommend them to their friends and family.
For subscribers, MNP, again validates the fact that 'Customer is the King', as today they
have the freedom or flexibility to retain their mobile numbers, while moving from one service
provider to another, based on their customer satisfaction levels.
REFERENCES
Books:
1-B.N.Dastoor, Customer Delight, the success mantra of the 21st Century, Excel Books,2008
2- N.K.Malhotra & S.Dash, Marketing Research-An Applied Orientation, Pearson, 2009
3-Rajan Saxena,Marketing Management, Tata McGraw-Hill,2009
4- Subash Das, Customer Relationship Management, Excel Books, 2008
5-Timothy R V Foster, er Care, Kogan Page,2000
6- Valarie Zeithaml, Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay Pandit, Services Marketing, Tata McGraw-
Hill ,2007
Websites:
www.dot.gov.in
www.trai.gov.in
www.customerservicemanager.com
www.customermanagementiq.com
www.ideamarketers.com
www.prtm.com
www.mnpindia.in
Journals:
Adomi, E.E, 2005- Mobile telephony in Nigeria. Library Hi Tech News, Number 4 2005,
pp. 18-21, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. The Electronic library.
Albrecht, K. and Zemke, R. (1985) - Service America, Homewood, IL. Dow Jones, Irwin.
Anderson, E.A. and Sullivan, M.W., 1993
125-43.
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Anderson, E.W., Fornell, C. and Lehmann, D.R. (1994), ``Customer satisfaction, market
share, and profitability: findings from Sweden'', Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, July, pp.
53-66.
Anderson, R.E. (1973) of disconfirmed
pp. 38-44.
Fornell, C. (1992) - A national customer satisfaction barometer: The Swedish experience.
Journal of Marketing, 56, 6-21.
American Customer Satisfaction Index: Nature, purpose, and findings. Journal of
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Gerpott, T.J., Rams, W., and Schindler, A., (2001)
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294

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CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDTIONS

In U.P (East) circle - Airtel is the market leader with marketshare

For mobile phone services, most of the subscribers prefer to have

Mobile phone subscribers are aware about the multimedia/value

The following points explain the preformance of service providers

Airtel is providing prompt customer services in terms of

Subscribers of Airtel and Vodafone are satisfied with the

In emergency situations, customer care executives of Airtel and

Executives of Airtel and Vodafone have customer centric approach

From the factor analysis, it is identified that all dimensions related

On the basis of performance of service providers with reference to

Most of subscribers of MTS Uninor, Aircel, and BSNL are

Vodafone is the best service provider in this circle on the basis of

Most of the subscribers are of the opinion that their respective

In U.P. (East) circle, forty two percent subscribers have the

It an area of serious concern that except the Vodafone subscribers,

It is certainly a challenge for the service providers to retain their

Airtel and Vodafone are preferred service providers for the

45.6 percent of the subscribers who have the switching intention

14.4 percent subscribers are switching for better network

The findings of the research were validated by testing of following

H01: There is no impact of customer care services on overall satisfaction

H02: There is no relationship between overall satisfaction and switching

H03: There is no relationship between satisfaction with effectiveness of

H04: There is no relationship between the call charges and switching

H05: There is no relationship between satisfaction with multimedia/

Effectiveness of the Network

Other factors-Multimedia/Value added Services, Network

Telecom service providers have always faced the challenge of matching

Due to the nature of competition in U.P. (East) circle, service providers

After the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP), service

Mobile phone service providers are recommended to formulate strategies in

subscribers are satisfied with existing call charges of Uninor.With reference to

6.3.2 Recommendations for Regulator and Policy Makers

protected by focusing more attention and resources on customer care services,

6.4 Scope for Future Research

towards the various quality dimensions. In this competitive environment it has

Satisfaction of mobile phone subscribers is affected by several factors but

C.R. Kothari, (2012). Research Methodology : Methods and Techniques, New

N.K.Malhotra & S.Dash, (2009). Marketing Research-An Applied Orientation,

Rajan Saxena, (2009). Marketing Management, Tata McGraw- Hill.

Ranjit Kumar, (2009). Research Methodology: A Step-By-Step Guide for

Subash Das, (2008). Customer Relationship Management, Excel Books.

Supriya Biswas, (2011) Relationship Marketing-Concepts, Theories and Cases,

Timothy R V Foster, (2000). How to be be , Kogan Page.

Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne Gremler, Ajay Pandit, (2007). Services

Albaum, G. (1997). The Likert scale revisited- an alternative version, Journal of

Anderson, E.W., Fornell, C. and Lehmann, D.R. (1994). Customer satisfaction,

Anderson, R.E. (1973). Consumer dissatisfaction: the effect of disconfirmed

Arora, Parvinder, Garg,Ajay and Singh,Amit (2007). Service Quality in Punjab

Bearden, W.O. and Teel, J.E. (1983). Selected determinants of consumer

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Bolton, R.N. (1998).

Braun, H. and Scope, A. (2003). Does it pay to invest in customer satisfaction?

Cadotte, E, R, R.B.Woodruff and Jenkins, R.L (1987). Expectations and norms in

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Churchill, G.A and Surprenant, C (1982). An investigation into the determinants

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