SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT REPORT

ON

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF AIRTEL

AT BHARTI AIRTEL, LUCKNOW

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

THE MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
OF

DR. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY,

LUCKNOW

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Aditi Gangwar MAHAVEER
Asst. Prof. MBA-III SEM
Lakshya Institute Roll No. 1558370035
Shahjahanpur

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 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 Mr. PAVEL RAJ, for giving me an opportunity to

undergo training in MARKETING STRATEGIES OF AIRTEL and making my

stay at bharti airtel a memorable learning experience.

I am deeply thankful to Miss. Aditi Gangwar for his encouragement, affections,

valuable advice and guidance that helped me to complete this project

successfully.

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 MAHAVEER

MBA-III SEM

Roll No. 1558370035

3
 PREFACE
In the present scenario marketing and sales is a major challenge for seasoned

professional. And it is no surprise that Marketing is a tough concept to

understand. Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for

creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value

for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

The project report consists of detailed Study of MARKETING STRATEGIES

OF AIRTEL A sincere effort has been made to analyze working pattern of

Mobile Services.

The report further provides information regarding Bharti Airtel, its financial

position, infrastructure with its product and services offered by them, which

facilitate the buyer effectively. It is very important that trained marketing

professionals who are able to communicate specific features of the services

should sell the products. In the millennium all these activities would play a

crucial role in the overall development and maturity of the organization.

I hope that the research work made by me will be of great help to get the

comprehensive knowledge of the organization.

MAHAVEER

4
 MBA-III SEM

Roll No. 1558370035

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The present business scenario is totally customer oriented. Each company

faces stiff competition from its competitors, each provides the best services at

competitive rates. As a result customer has lot of choices to get the best with

least cost. To face this competition, it is very important to know customers

behavior towards different products and services.

This project is aimed at understanding the Marketing strategies adopted by

Airtel and its impact on the perception of Airtel Customers.

Research has showed 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

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of customer satisfaction level for the services provided by Bharti Airtel. My job

was to collect the feedback from the distributors and also to get their

suggestions about the other products. 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 retains the existing customers but also

to expand the business to new horizons.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IN INDIA 1

2. GSM MARKET IN INDIA 5

3. INTRODUCTION 16

4. TARIFF STRUCTURE 31

5. PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY 39

6. MARKET SITUATION 41

7. COMPETITIVE SITUATION 42

8. MARKETING STRATEGY ADAPTED BY BHARTI 50

9. OBJECTIVE 58

10. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 59

11. LIMITATION 60

12. SWOT ANALYSIS 68

13. CONCLUSION 70

14. BIBLIOGRAPHY 71

15. QUESTIONNAIRE 72

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 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objective behind this research project is to study about the importance and

development of telecommunication industry in todays scenario.

To understand the Marketing strategies which are used by Bharti Airtel to

Survive in highly competitive cell phone market and different services which

are offered by Bharti Airtel. An overview of the Indian telecommunication

market is also given, along with the growing GSM market and challenges before

the CDMA market in India. A brief introduction about Bharti Airtel has also

been given, covering all the services provided by Bharti Airtel.

It also includes Indian market study, Bharti Airtel Corporate Study. Under this

research project following points about Bharti Airtel are covered:

Promotional Strategy
Market Situation
Competitive Situation
Market segmentation
Positioning
Pricing Policy

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 INTRODUCTION

The Indian telecommunications Network is the second largest in the world

860.9 million telephone connections based on the total number of telephone

users (both fixed and mobile phone).It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the

world enabled by the mega telephone networks and hyper-competition among

them. It has the worlds third-largest Internet user-base with over 137 million

as of June 2012. Major sectors of the Indian telecommunication industry are

telephone, Internet, and television broadcasting. Today it is the fastest growing

market in the world with 8.35 million monthly additions.

Telephone density in the country which is in an ongoing process of

transforming into next generation network, employs an extensive system of

modern network elements such as digital telephone exchanges, mobile

switching centres, media gateways and signaling gateways at the core,

interconnected by a wide variety of transmission system using fibre-optics or

Microwave radio relay networks. The access network which connects the

subscriber to the core, is highly diversified with different copper-pair, optic-

fibre and wireless technologies. DTH, a relatively new broadcasting technology

has attained significant popularity in the Television segment. The introduction

of private FM has given a fillip to the radio broadcasting in India.

Telecommunication in India has greatly been supported by the INSAT system of

the country, one of the largest domestic satellite systems in the world. India

possesses a diversified communications system, which links all parts of the

country by telephone, Internet, radio, television and satellite. Indian telecom

industry underwent a high pace of market liberalization and growth since

1990s and now has become the world's most competitive and one of the fastest

growing telecom markets. The Industry has grown over twenty times in just ten

years, from under 37 million subscribers in the year 2001 to over 846 million

subscribers in the year 2011. India has the world's second-largest mobile

phone user base with over 929.37 million users as of May 2012. [6] It has

the world's third-largest Internet user-base with over 137 million as of June

2012. The total revenue of the Indian telecom sector grew by 7% to

283207 crore (US$48 billion) for 201011 financial year, while revenues from

telecom equipment segment stood at 117039 crore (US$20 billion).

Telecommunication has supported the socioeconomic development of India and

has played a significant role to narrow down the rural-urban digital divide to

some extent. It also has helped to increase the transparency of governance with

the introduction of e-governance in India. The government has pragmatically

used modern telecommunication facilities to deliver mass education programs

for the rural folk of India. Indian Tele-density, which was languishing at 2% in

1999, has shown an amazing jump to 47.89 in 2010 and is set to increase by

20% in the next five years. Accordingly, India requires incremental investments

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

Private operators have made mobile telephony the fastest growing (over 164%

p.a.) in India. With more than 930 million users (both CDMA and GSM),

wireless is the principal growth engine of the Indian telecom industry. 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 liberalizing

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 over 191 million subscribers. RIM, which operates

in 23 circles, is the second largest operator with a subscriber base of 150

million. Vodafone, which operates in 23 circles, has a subscriber base of 142

million subscribers. Thus VODAFONE stands third largest cellular operator in

terms of subscriber base at the end of the fiscal ending March 31, 2011,

displacing BSNL from the third position. 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 8.92% growth, the highest growth in any month so far, during

March 2011. Year-on-year, the cellular subscriber base in the country has

almost doubled in March 2012, and is expanding at the rate of 20% per year

thereafter.

The cellular subscriber club expanded by 17.46 million last month. This is

much higher than 15 million subscribers added in June 2013 and. Idea, which

operates in 22 circles, is the fifth largest operator with a subscriber base of 91

million, higher than BSNLS 98 million subscribers across 22 circles. The

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

TataDocomo, having a subscriber base of 43 million, followed by Uninor

Communications with 26 million subscribers and Aircel. MTNL is the ninth

largest operator, with a base of 11 million subscribers.

While the subscriber base-jumped to 229 million in the metros, subscriber

base of category A circles of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka

and Tamil Nadu jumped by 30.18 %. Category B circles of Kerala, Punjab,

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

Pradesh and West Bengal recorded a jump of 26 %. Circle C has reported

19.74% growth.

Among the metros, while Mumbai added 3 million subscribers, higher than the

1.9 million added by Delhi, the Capital's cellular subscriber base is still higher

than Mumbai. While the cellular industry has been on roll for the first three

quarters of the previous financial year with an average of 30 lakh monthly

additions in the third quarter, the first two months of 20011 had seen the

growth slowing down.

 GSM MARKET IN INDIA

Regional Interest Groups - GSM India

With a population of around 1.3 billion growing at roughly 1.9 per cent a year,

India is potentially one of the most exciting GSM markets in the world.

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 market

The Cellular Operators Association of India (which includes most of Indias

GSM telecom operators), has reported an addition of 3.50 million GSM

connections in April 2013, closing in at 664.4 million subscribers, a 0.53%

increase from 660.9 million subscribers in the previous month.

Globally, the GSM market reached 3.9 billion users in February 2013, adding

GSM accounted for 80 per cent of the new subscriber growth in 2012."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 2 billion

users, and is an open mobile standard. It also supports automatic

international roaming, which is a major contributor to business plans."

Indias GSM mobile firms revenue up 30 percent

Indias private telecoms firms offering GSM-based mobile services reported a

21 percent rise in revenue in the year to March 2012 but said future growth

rates could slow because of heavy taxes on the nascent industry. Although

Indias mobile sector is the worlds 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 650 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 increasing after just 8.25 million

users took up the service in April compared with 6.9 million in the previous

month. 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 750 million

customers by 2014.
 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 subscribers 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 40 crore, the country has between 9 crore GPRS users only. In

comparison, the two CDMA operators have about 23 crore 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.

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 600 million GSM subscribers by 2012-

2013 . According to GSA, there are over 2.7 billion GSM subscribers worldwide

as against 1.3 billion 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 doesnt 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 customers 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!

Airtel (Bharti Airtel Ltd.)

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with

operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi,

India, the company ranks amongst the top 4 mobile service providers globally

in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G,

3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed

DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national &

international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it

offers 2G, 3G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over

269 million customers across its operations at the end of March 2013.

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.

S E R V I C E S

Mobile Services

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

Enterprises, India's leading integrated telecom service provider. Going mobile

with Airtel Prepaid is a new way of life. With a host of great features, also

simple to use, Airtel Prepaid makes everything that you dreamt and believed,

possible.

3G

Airtel 3G services are available in 200 cities through its network and in 500

cities through intra-circle roaming arrangements with other operators. Airtel

had about 5.4 million 3G customers of which 4 million are 3G data customers

as of September 2012

4G

Airtel launched 4G services using TD-LTE technology in Kolkata, becoming the

first company in India to offer 4G services. Airtel had 20,000 4G subscribers as

of March 2013.
WiFi

Airtel has plans to launch WiFi services in India. It intends to start offering

WiFi services in Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore in initial phase. All plans

will be on secure wireless broadband internet with unlimited usage and will be

session or time based. Users can use the service by finding a hotspot,

selecting airtel WiFi Zone', activating the voucher and then login to start

browsing. Airtel intends to partner with establishments to set up hotspots

which will be termed WiFi Hangout for an establishment owner and WiFi

Partner for the cafe and restaurant owners. Airtel WiFi Partners can offer

services at zero investments and can earn commission on every WiFi session

sold.

Airtel Money

Airtel has started a new mCommerce platform called Airtel Money in

collaboration with Infosys and SmartTrust (now Giesecke & Devrient). The

platform was launched on 5 April 2012, at Infosys' headquarters in Bangalore.

Using Airtel Money, users can transfer money, pay bills and perform other

financial transactions directly on the mobile phone.

Smart Drive

SmartDrive is navigation app exclusive to Airtel customers. The app features

voice-based turn by turn navigation, real time information update on traffic,

approximate time of the travel on the basis of the traffic situation on the

various routes and also lets uers see their location on the map and plan the

journey accordingly. It also suggests the subscriber an alternate route in case

of traffic congestion on the normal route.

Network Experience Centre

Airtel has a Network Experience Centre (NEC) which observes end to end

customer experience, in near real time, along with the standard network

elements on Airtel's operations. The NEC is located in Manesar, Haryana and

went live on 31 October 2012. It is the first such facility in India and will be

able to monitor Airtel's network performance across mobile, fixed line,

broadband, DTH, M-Commerce, enterprise services, International Cable

Systems and internet peering points from a single location. It will monitor all

Airtel and partner NOCs. In case of an emergency, the NEC will enable the

operator to prioritize actions to restore normalcy and reduce resolution time.

iPhone
The iPhone 3G was rolled out in India in 2008 by Airtel. However, high prices

and contract bonds discouraged consumers and it was not as successful as

the iPhone is in other markets of the world. Airtel introduced the iPhone 4 on

27 May 2011 and the iPhone 5 on 2 November 2012.

Strong Network Coverage

Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtels world-class technology and

unbreakable network coverage that spans over 23 circles across the country.

Instant Balance and Validity Enquiry

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

each chargeable call. You can also call 123 from your mobile phone and listen

to the voice announcement or simply dial *123#, press 'OK' or 'YES' button and

your account balance will be displayed on the screen of your handset.

Recharge your Airtel Prepaid

Recharging is Easy. The calling value on your card keeps reducing as you make

calls or use any other chargeable service. Choose the Airtel Prepaid Recharge

Coupon thats right for you, from a variety of tailor made recharge coupons

with different denominations, which are available at a number of outlets across

your city. Simply follow the procedure mentioned below, to recharge your

phone.

Prepaid Roaming

Airtel Prepaid comes pre activated with 'National Roaming', so you stay

connected no matter wherever you are. You can also send or receive MMS,

check your email and access other GPRS services while roaming in India as you

would in your own city. While traveling abroad you can receive calls & send or

receive SMS.

Other Services Airtel brings you, a wide range of Services that will change the

way you communicate. Try them and discover a whole new world of fun and

excitement.

Call management Services

Call waiting, call hold, call divert and Caller Line Identification Presentation

all with your Airtel prepaid connection.

Voice Mail

When your handset is switched off, or youre too busy to answer the phone,

Airtel Voicemail will answer your calls and record a message. The best part is
that there's no extra monthly cost for setting up 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 <SUB

NEWS> to 3333 for News, <SUB JOKE> for Jokes, <SUB BIZ> for Business

News, <SUB SPO> for Sports Alerts & <SUB VAASTU> for Vaastu tips.

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 ring tones, 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 name the service. For e.g.

say ring tones to download your favorite 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".

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.

Hello Tunes

Tired of that boring old tring tring on your phone? Well now when a friend

calls, you can make them groove to the hottest new tracks burning up the

music charts with Hello Tunes from Airtel! You get a wide choice of songs in the

Popular & New Arrivals categories that are updated regularly. What's more you

can directly call the number for your kind of music, e.g. call 678005 for English

New and 678001 for Hindi New. This would directly take you to your favorite

artist's Hello Tunes listing.

Copy a Hello Tune

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

voice instructions to copy your favorite Hello Tunes. Once inside the copy

feature, just key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile number you want to copy the

Hello Tune from and you get the same Hello Tune assigned to your number.

Gift a Hello Tune

Forget gifting chocolates, flowers and greeting cards. Say it with a song instead!
Gift a Hello Tune to that special someone. Just call 55055 and choose the song

that you want to gift. Follow the simple voice instructions and key in the 10-

digit Airtel mobile number that you want to gift the Hello Tune to. You will get

an SMS notification upon successful receipt of that gift.

Buy Music - Airtel Music Shops

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

phone with talk time. Simply walk into your nearest Airtel Shop and walk out

with your favorite 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. You can also send us an SMS to

121 or mail us at 121@airtelindia.com. *In case of email, mention your mobile

no. like, 9810012345, in the subject of the mail for a quicker response.

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

exciting, innovative yet simple new ways to communicate, just when you want

to, not just through words but ideas, emotions and feelings. To give you the

unlimited freedom to reach out to your special people in your special way.

Easy Billing

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

section and view your monthly bill with call details for last three months. Sort

your calls between personal and official or analyze your usage, at the click of a

button. To change your tariff plan call our IVR at 121 and leave a request.

Easy Payment Options. Anytime Anywhere

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

Walk into any Airtel relationship centre and make your payments by cash or

credit card. Drop a cheque at any of the drop boxes for making payments or

simply log on to My Airtel section and pay instantly through your credit card.

You can also opt for easy payment options like:

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.

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 GPRS services, while roaming, to access the internet and

office mails (e.g. 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 youre too busy to answer the phone,

Airtel Voicemail will answer your calls and record a message. The best part is

that there's no extra monthly cost for setting up 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 <SUB NEWS> for News, <SUB

JOKE> for Jokes, <SUB BIZ> for Business News, <SUB SPO> for Sports Alerts

& <SUB VAASTU> 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 your 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 favorite 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

favorite 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 favorite Hello Tunes. Once inside the copy
feature, just key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile number you want to copy the

Hello Tune from and you get the same Hello Tune assigned to your number.

Gift a Hello 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 favorite Hello Tune or Ringtone is as simple as recharging your

phone with talk time. Simply walk into your nearest Airtel Shop and walk out

with your favorite song. Choose from Bollywood Hits to Indi pop Remixes, Hard

Rock to Guajarati 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

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 color 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.

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 Cell phone 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 cell

phone 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 emphasizing 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 Economy

Upper Lower Upper Lower Upper Lower
Cellular Phones X X X - - -
Pager X X X X - -
Conventional X X X X X -
Phones
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 cell phone is an expensive means of communication and drive home the

point that the cell phone 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 recognized 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 optimize

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 cell phones would be used by]

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 realizes 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 realized that the Indian market is price sensitive. Therefore it care

of the has come up with various innovative tariff schemes to take needs of

different category of customers- Generally, the cellular services are more

expensive than the land line based telephone services.

 MARKETING STRATEGY
ADOPTED BY BHARTI AIRTEL

Bharti has spent a considerable amount on advertising its mobile phone

service, Airtel. Besides print advertising, the company had put up large no of

hoardings and kiosks in and around Delhi.

The objective behind designing a promotion campaign for the 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 Delhiitess mind, the

Airtel campaign began to focus on the utility of Cell phone. In the first four

months alone Airtel'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. Airtels campaign strategy is designed

keeping in mind its marketing strategy. The tone, tenor and the stance of the

visual ads are designed to convey the image of a market leader in terms of its

market share. It tries to portray the image of being a "first mover every time"

and that of a "market leader".

The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just reached the maturity

stage in India. It is still on the rising part of the product life cycle curve in the

maturity stage.

The diagram on the left hand side shows the percentage of the users classified

into heavy, medium and low categories. The right hand side shows the revenue

share earned from the three types of users.

Airtel, keeping in mind the importance of the customer retention, values its

heavy users the most and constantly indulges in service innovation. But, since

heavy users comprise only 15 - 20% of the population the other segment

cannot be neglected.

The population which has just realized the importance of cellular phones has

to be roped in. It is for this reason that the service provider offers a plethora of

incentives and discounts. Concerts like the "Freedom concert" are being

organized by Airtel in order to promote sales. The media channel is chosen

with economy in mind. The target segment is not very concrete but, there is an

attempt to focus on those who can afford. The print advertisements and

hoarding are placed in those strategic areas which most likely to catch the

attention of those who need a cellular phone. The product promise (which
might cost different 1 higher) is an important variable in determining the target

audience.

Besides this, other promotional strategies that Airtel has adopted are .

(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

Company

Franchisee Distributor

Dealers
Dealer

Customer
Customer
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 franchise

has to invest Rupees Ten Lakhs. To obtain a franchise and should employ an

officer recruited by Airtel. This person acts as a 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 controlling territorial overlaps of dealers. The franchises can

carry out his/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 cellophane 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 Maximize market Maximize profits

awareness and trial share whole defending

market share
Strategies

Product Offer a basic Offer value Increase in

product/ added services number of value

service. added services.

Price Charge cost- Price to Price to match

plus penetrate or best

market competitors

Distribution Build selective Build Intensive Build more

distribution distribution. intensive

distribution.

Advertising Build product Build awareness Stress brand

awareness and interest in differences and

among early the mass benefits.

adopters and market

dealers.

Sales Promotion Use heavy sales Increase to Increase to

promotion to build and encourage

entice people to maintain brand-

subscribe. relationships switching.

with customers.
 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Objectives:

To study the importance and development of telecommunication industry in

todays 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) Respondents 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.

No 1 1 1 1

MTNL Idea Vodafone AirTel

Yes 4 4 4 4

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
2. Do you find that the governments 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 3

As according to the above table 15 (75%) out of the total 20 interviewed people

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

governments telecom policy has had the most radical impact on the

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

this.

Chart Title

No AirTel
Vodafone
IDEA
MTNL

Yes

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
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

As according to the above table 10 (50%) out of the total 20 interviewed 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.

No

AirTel Vodafone Idea MTNL

Yes

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

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

complex standard?

Company To some extent To great extent

(1-5) (6-10)
Airtel 3 2
Vodafone 2 3
Idea 2 3
MTNL 3 2

As according to the above table 10 (50%) out of the total 20 interviewed 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.

No

AirTel Vodafone Idea MTNL

Yes

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

 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.

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

AirTel Vodafone Idea MTNL

Yes No
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.

No 1 3 2 2

MTNL Idea Vodafone AirTel

Yes 9 7 8 8

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
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.

0
No
2

AirTel Vodafone Idea MTNL

10
Yes
8

10
 SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

Cost advantage

Current leaders in quality service

Largest distribution network

Ability to constantly innovate

Highly skilled workforce

Entrepreneurial zeal

Airtels 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

Airtels 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

Robert G. Winch. Telecommunication Transmission Systems. McGraw-Hill

New York, 1993.

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

System. In EUROCON 88, June 2005.

Moe Rahnema. Overview of the GSM System and Protocol Architecture.

IEEE Communications Magazine. April 1993.

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

Communication Services. IEEE Personal Communications. 1(1), 1994.

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

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

Vodafone

Airtel

Idea

MTNL
 QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME: ____________________________________

ADDRESS: ____________________________________

OCCUPATION: ____________________________________

1. Which Among The Following 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 governments 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 To great extent

(1-5) (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 No
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

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

satisfying mobile standard?

Company Yes No
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

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

creating a modern and efficient communications?

Company Yes No
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL