A

Project Report
On

“MARKETING STRATEGIES OF BHARTI

AIRTEL AND COMPARISON WITH
RELIANCE INFOCOMM.”

Submitted for the partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the award
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED BY:-
SHIKHAR VERMA
BBA VI Sem
Roll No. 8240642

SUBMITTED TO
MISS. CHARU JOSHI
Lecturer
 INDERPRASTHA ENGINEERING
COLLEGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am sincerely thankful to all those people who have been

giving me any kind of assistance in the making of this project
report.

I express my gratitude to Miss. Charu Joshi, who has

through his vast experience and knowledge has been able to
guide me, both ably and successfully towards the completion
of the project. I express my gratitude, inderprastha
Engineering college, Sahibabad.

I would hereby, make most of the opportunity by expressing

my sincerest thanks to all my faculties whose teachings gave
me conceptual understanding and clarity of comprehension,
which ultimately made my job more easy. Credit also goes to
all my friends whose encouragement kept me in good stead.
Their continuous support has given me the strength and
confidence to complete the project without any difficulty.

Last of all but not the least I would like to acknowledge

my gratitude to the respondents without whom this survey
would have been incomplete.

I am also thankful to authority of Airtel for providing me the

information.

(SHIKHAR VERMA)
 CONTENT

1. Introduction

2. Research Methodology

3. Descriptive work on the sub topic of study

4. Data Analysis and Interpretation

4.1. comparison

4.2 swot analysis

4.3 Suggestion & Conclusion

4.4 recommendations

6. Bibliography

7. Appendix

8. Checklist


 INTRODUCTION

I, Shikhar Verma, being a student of BBA of Inderprastha

Engineering college.

The project title “ Marketing Strategies of Bharti AIRTEL and

comparison with Reliance Infocomm.” is the analysis of the

big scale sector of communication. This project involves the

big scale level provided by Airtel to its customers. The survey

was conducted so as to analyze the big scale sector

prevailing in the current industry and the improvement that

can be made upon it.

 NEED OF THE STUDY

1. To identify the difference between market performance of Airtel

industry and Reliance Infocomm.

2. To study the market of Airtel Industry and Reliance Infocomm. on

big scale sector.

3. To compare various parameters of marketing strategies,

manufacturing process, technology adopted, production

policy, advertising, collaboration, export scenario, future

prospect for the two companies and government policies.

4. To study the level of customer satisfaction in Airtel & Reliance

Info.

5. To study customer buying behavior and factors which influence

the purchase decision process.

6. To study consumer preferences.

7. To study the consumer trend in telecommunication sector.

8. To study competitive marketing strategies adopted by Airtel and

Reliance Infocomm.
 BACK GROUND

The project is an extensive report on how the Airtel Company

markets its strategies and how the company has been able in

tackling the present tough competition and how it is cooping

up by the allegations of the quality of its products. The report

begins with the history of the products and the introduction of

the Airtel Company. This report also contains the basic

marketing strategies that are used by the Airtel Company of

manufacturing process, technology, production policy,

advertising, collaboration, export scenario, future prospect

and government policies. The report includes some of the key

salient features of market trend issues.

In today’s world of cutthroat fierce competition, it is very

essential to not only exist but also to excel in the market.
Today’s market is enormously more complex. Hence forth, to
survive in the market, the company not only needs to
maximize its profit but also needs to satisfy its customers and
should try to build upon from there.
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Achieving accuracy in any research requires a deep study

regarding the subject. As the prime objective of the project is to

compare Airtel with the existing competitor(reliance infocomm.) in

the market and the impact of WLL on Airtel,

The research methodology adopted is basically based on

primary data via which the most recent and accurate piece of first

hand information could be collected. Secondary data has been

used to support primary data wherever needed.

Primary data was collected using the following techniques

Questionnaire Method

Direct Interview Method and

Observation Method

The main tool used was, the questionnaire method. Further direct
interview method, where a face-to-face formal interview was taken.
Lastly observation method has been continuous with the
questionnaire method, as one continuously observes the
surrounding environment he works in.
 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Every organization has to achieve its organization goals. For this it is very
essential for an organization to know about the view of consumers and
their competitive products. This survey research may be also aimed as to
estimate potential buyer for the product. The objective of the study is as
under:-

. To know about customer acceptance of the product

. To suggest the steps for the sales promotion of the product

. To study the requirement regarding to the future of the product

. To analysis the consumer perception about the quality of the services

. To find out solution of customers problems.

. To know how the company has been successful in encountering the

aggressive marketing strategies of competitors.
 TYPE OF RESEARCH METHODLOGY

EXPLORATORY:

TYPE OF RESEARCH CARRIED OUT WAS EXPLORATORY

IN NATURE; THE OBJECTIVE OF SUCH RESEARCH IS TO
DETERMINE THE APPROXIMATE AREA WHERE THE
DRAWBACK OF THE COMPANY LIES AND ALSO TO
IDENTIFY THE COURSE OF ACTION TO SOLVE IT. FOR
THIS PURPOSE THE INFORMATION PROVED USEFUL
FOR GIVING RIGHT SUGGESTION TO THE COMPANY.
 DATA COLLECTION METHOD

THERE TWO TYPE OF METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION.

• PRIMARY DATA
• SECONDARY DATA

DATA USED FOR THE RESEARCH WORK WAS PRIMARY

IN NATURE.

PRIMARY DATA:

PRIMARY DATA IS THAT WHICH IS THE

COLLECTED FOR THE FIST TIME AND THUS HAPPEN
TO BE ORIGINATED IN CHARACTER.

• QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY:

IN THE STUDIES A QUESTIONNAIRE IS PREPARED.

THE QUESTIONNAIRE CONSISTS OF 20 QUESTIONS.

SECONDARY DATA:

SECONDARY DATA REFER TO THE DATA

THAT HAS BEEN ALREADY COLLECTED .THE
 SECONDARY DATA, WHICH HAS BEEN USED TO
CARRY OUT THIS STUDY, ARE AS FOLLOW:

• BOOKS, JOURNALS, MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS

• INDUSTRY REPORTS
• COMPANY’S INTERNET SITE
• OTHER RELEVANT STUDIES MATERIAL AND
WEBSITES.

SAMPLE UNIT: - NEW DELHI

THE RESEARCH PROCESS WAS DONE BY INTERACTING

WITH NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS DURING THE
ACTIVITIES PERFORMED, WHICH INCLUDED,
MARKETS, COLD CALLING, CANOPIES, ETC. SAMPLE
DESIGN CONSISTS OF RANDOM SAMPLING.

SAMPLE SIZE: - 50 PEOPLE

METHOD OF COLLECTION: -

FIELD PROCEDURE FOR GATHERING PRIMARY DATA

INCLUDED OBSERVATION AND INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
IN WHICH THE QUESTIONNAIRES WERE FILED BY THE
INTERVIEWER.

PERSONAL INTERVIEWS THROUGH SELF

ADMINISTERED SURVEY WAS DONE TO COLLECT THE
DATA, MARKET RESEARCH WAS UNDERTAKEN, THAT
WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY PERFORMING VARIOUS
ACTIVITIES DESIGNED.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT:

QUESTIONNAIRE

THE QUESTIONNAIRE WAS FORMULATED BY KEEP

IN MIND THE FOLLOWING POINTS: -

• GIVING THE RESPONDENTS CLEAR

COMPREHENSION OF THE QUESTION.
• INDUCING THE RESPONDENTS TO CO-OPERATE.
• GIVING INSTRUCTIONS AS TO WHAT IS NEEDED.
IDENTIFYING THE NEEDS TO BE KNOWN.
Scope of the study

# To conduct this research the target population was the mobile

users, Who are using GSM technology.

# Target geographic area. Sample size of 50 was taken.

# To these 50 people a questionnaire was given, the questionnaire

was a combination of both open ended and closed ended

questions.

# The date during which questionnaires were filled.

# Some dealers were also interviewed to know their prospective.

Interviews with the managers of GSM service providers were also

conducted.

# Finally the collected data and information was analyzed and

compiled to arrive at the conclusion and recommendations given.

Sources of secondary data

Used to obtain information on, Bharti’s history, current issues,

policies, procedures etc, wherever required.

# Internet

# Magazines

# Newspapers
# Journals # Bharti Circulars # Bharti News Letters

LIMITATIONS:

The following were the limitations that were there during the course of the
study:
1. Limited time period.
2. Less number of respondents.

Biasness of the respondents.

Primary data was collected using the following techniques

Questionnaire Method

Direct Interview Method and

Observation Method

The main tool used was, the questionnaire method. Further direct

interview method, where a face-to-face formal interview was taken.

Lastly observation method has been continuous with the

questionnaire method, as one continuously observes the

surrounding environment he works in.

A brief history of tele sector in India

In the early 1990s, the Indian government adopted a new economic

policy aimed at improving India's competitiveness in the global

markets and the rapid growth of exports. Key to achieving these

goals was a world-class telecom infrastructure.

In India, the telecom service areas are divided into four metros

(New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkatta) and 20 circles, which

roughly correspond to the states in India. The circles are further

classified under "A," "B" and "C," with the "A" circle being the most

attractive and "C" being the least attractive. The regulatory body at

that time — the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) —

allocated two cellular licenses for each metro and circle. Thirty-four

licenses for GSM900 cellular services were auctioned to 22 firms in

1995. The first cellular service was provided by, Modi Telstra in

Kolkatta in August 1995. For the auction, it was stipulated that no

firm can win in more than one metro, three circles or both. The

circles of Jammu and Kashmir and Andaman and Nicobar had no

bidders, while West Bengal and Assam had only one bidder each.

In 1996, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) bill was

introduced in the Lok Sabha, and the president officially announced

the TRAI ordinance on 25 January 1997. The government decided

to set up TRAI to separate regulatory functions from policy

formulation, licensing and telecom operations. Prior to the creation

of TRAI, these functions were the sole responsibility of the DOT.

High license fees and excessive bids for the cellular licenses put

tremendous financial burden on the operators, diverting funds away

from network development and enhancements. As a result, by 1999

many operators failed to pay their license fees and were in danger

of having their licenses withdrawn. In March 1999, a new telecom

policy was put in place (New Telecom Policy [NTP] 1999). Under

this new policy, the old fixed-licensing regime was to be replaced by

a revenue-sharing scheme whereby between 8-12 percent of

cellular revenue were to be paid to the government.

1.1 INDIAN CELLULAR MARKET - EARLIER ROADBLOCKS

AND THEIR RESOLUTION

Indian Cellular market immediately after the first round of licensing

in 1994-96 was beset by several problems for 3 - 4 years till the

New Telecom Policy of 1999 was announced. Some of these

roadblocks / current position is tabulated below:

ROADBLOCKS

CURRENT POSITION

High license fees

Migration to revenue sharing mode in 1999 mitigates high initial

fund requirements for payment of license fees.

Inadequately funded businesses / weak and fragmented promoters

Businesses that have since been adequately funded growing at

over 60% per annum, while businesses with weak promoters

continuing to languish - spate of acquisitions / mergers, with 4/5

major groups emerging in the last one/two years.

Regulatory authority not in place

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) firmly in place, and its

role being accepted by all operators; Deptt of Telecommunications

(DOT) restructured, with operations and policy making roles vested

in different bodies.

Issues relating to unfavorable interconnect terms for private

operators, pass through income, intra circle long distance, spectrum

availability and allocation and the like remained unresolved for long

periods.
Interconnect terms since rationalized, risks on pass through income

to DOT / BHARTI (Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd.) resolved to the

satisfaction of all parties with changes in methodology / revenue

sharing, intra circle long distance allowed, spectrum availability

cleared with vacation of frequencies for usage by GSM operators.

Problems in Financial closures due to:

 Licensing tenure of 10 years

 Large up front cash requirements from promoters due to

heavy license fee burden in initial stages of deployment Asset

based financing approach by Indian Financial Institutions.

 Licensing tenure increased from 10 to 20 years

 Large up front cash requirements for license fee payments

mitigated with migration to revenue sharing mode allowing

promoters to deploy more capital for capital expenditure;

project financing being considered by most financial

institutions.
Foreign ownership / change of partner limitations

Foreign ownership norms clarified, and change of partners allowed

as a matter of routine allowing ease of entry / exit - paves the way

for full control of businesses by foreign companies.

Inadequate growth of market / subscribers

Roadblocks spelt out earlier resulted in low market / subscriber

growth, but with corrective measures taken, market / subscriber

base expected to zoom

1.2 DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CELLULAR INDUSTRY

The interconnection regime between cellular operators and fixed-

line operators is still biased against the former.

Despite the recent gains of the cellular industry, not everything is

rosy. The cellular penetration rate is still very low at 0.8 percent in a

nation of over one billion people.

In recent years, many foreign companies had pulled out from their

cellular joint ventures in India due to the difficult operating

environment and bureaucracy. In 1999 alone, Swisscom pulled out

from Sterling Cellular, Telstra from Modi Telstra and both the

Telecom Organization of Thailand and Jasmine International from

JT Mobile. In 2000, Telecom Malaysia sold its stake in Usha Martin

Telecom, and both Shinawatra of Thailand and Bezeq exited from

Fascel. In June 2001, British Telecom exited from Bharti Cellular.

Bell South International has also indicated its intention to pull out

from Skycell Communications, and Hong Kong-based Distacom is

seeking to sell its stake in Spice Communications. First Pacific's

(based in Hong Kong) continued commitment to Escotel is

uncertain, and the former is reviewing various options.

The string of sell-outs notwithstanding, there has been a merger

and acquisition wave sweeping across the Indian cellular industry in

recent years. Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, via

Hutchison Telecommunications (HK), acquired major stakes in

Sterling Cellular (December 1999), Usha Martin Telecom (mid-2000)

and Fascel (September 2000). Through a partnership with local

company, Kotak Mahindra Finance, Hutchison Whampoa practically

controls Fascel and Usha Martin Telecom, thus circumventing the

49 percent limit on foreign ownership in Indian cellular operators.

Hutchison Whampoa is also the controlling shareholder of

Hutchison Max Telecom. Not to be outdone, Bharti Enterprises —

another major cellular player — acquired control of JT Telecom,

which was later renamed Bharti Mobile (December 1999), and

Skycell Communications renamed Bharti Mobinet (August 2000).

Bharti also acquired the Punjab license of Essar and started

operations, giving competition to the lone operator there, Spice

Communications. Going forward, Bharti is likely to merge all its

cellular companies into one entity.

Five companies together bid Rs16.3 billion to bag the licenses for

the fourth operator slots in four metros and 13 circles. Bharti

emerged as the No. 1 bidder with eight new licenses, followed by

Escotel with four, Hutchison with three, and Reliance and Idea

cellular with one each. Bharti and Hutchison have already

commenced operations in all the circles while Idea is set to launch

in Delhi. Escotel and Reliance have not made any headway.

BHARTI, the third cellular operator for Delhi and Mumbai, started

services in March 2001. BSNL, as the third nationwide cellular

operator, launched services in Kolkatta and Bihar in January 2002.

This was followed by Tamil Nadu in July 2002. A nationwide launch

was scheduled for 2 October 2002. However, this has been

postponed until after mid October. Once BSNL rolls out its service,

most telecom circles will have four cellular operators. There will be

tremendous competitive pressure, which will result in lower tariffs.

Future rate cuts are expected, which will drive demand, together

with falling handset prices and the introduction of prepaid services.

In the midst of declining interest in technology stocks, Bharti came

out with its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) in January 2002.

Leveraging on the success of its cellular service, the company got a

very good response from the primary market. The total size of the

IPO was 185 million shares at a floor price of Rs10. The issue was

oversubscribed by more than 2.5 times, netting Rs8.3 billion. This

will be used to fuel its investment in long-distance, basic and

cellular services.

As of October 2002, only BPL Mobile has launched commercial

general packet radio service (GPRS) in Mumbai. However, large-

scale uptake remains elusive. While both Bharti and Idea have

GPRS-enabled networks, there is caution on their part to launch the

service. With hardly any applications, the success of GPRS remains

a question.

Building visibility and awareness

Deviating from competing on the price platform, cellular operators

are actively promoting their brand and service portfolio through

high-visibility advertising and promotional campaigns. Cellular

operators like Bharti, Orange and BPL Mobile have been advertising

aggressively on hoardings and kiosks. Public transport like the city

rail system and cabs are used widely to carry the message of

mobility.

Customer-focused activities are gaining traction among cellular

operators with the establishment of longstanding consumer benefit

programs. Orange in Mumbai offers "Orange Holidays" and "Orange

Monsoon Offers" at very attractive rates and added benefits like

discounts on airfare, food and beverages, among others. Others

offer special privileges in retail outlets, cinemas and music shops.

Enterprise mobile applications — promising revenue stream

All along, customer acquisition and the top line have been the

focus. Few operators have concentrated on offering differentiated

services for businesses. However, as operators realize that offering

basic voice and Short Message Service (SMS) will get them the

numbers but not the margins, some are now seriously looking at the

enterprise segment for provisioning superior services.

Cost-centered solutions like closed user group (CUG), value-adds

like unified messaging and instant alerts are being offered.

A variety of mobile applications are finding takers among the

enterprise segment. Bharti is in the process of introducing a facility

to fleet management companies so that they can improve the

efficiency of trucks or buses by tracking movement and ensuring

higher-use, accurate route planning. Premium automakers are also

installing a global system for mobile communications inside a

vehicle to help trace lost vehicles and track down stolen cars.

Corporations can choose enhanced services like user-defined call

routing to prevent misuse. Calls can be barred, limiting access to

select numbers and diverting calls to one single number.

Broadcasting services are also quite popular, especially among fast

food centers that have a central number. Group SMS is quite

popular, especially among enterprises both in the service as well as

the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment that have a

large field force and need to provide regular updates on inventory

status, discount schemes and movement of goods from warehouse

to the retail outlet. Banks too find bulk SMS service very useful to

forward transactional alerts to their customers.

1.3 FUTURE TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENT

There will be more competition, forcing operators to constantly

focus on differentiations to maintain their lead.

• The implementation of enhanced networks like 2.5G will

enable operators to offer data services. This is an opportunity

to customize and differentiate better.

 • The entry of state-run operators like BSNL and BHARTI

means that prices will no longer be controlled, thus there is

less chance of a cartel being formed.

• Network coverage in terms of geographic spread and quality

of coverage is crucial especially for the business subscriber.

• The bigger the service provider's national presence, the better

it is for businesses. On the roaming front, signing up with a

national operator is advantageous.

• Limited mobility wireless in local-loop services (by fixed

network service providers) will be a disadvantage for cellular

operators in the short term. Consequently, operators need to

streamline their customer relation activities and adopt

aggressive subscriber acquisition and retention strategies.

1.4 REGULATORY ISSUES

The operations of this sector are determined as under the Indian

Telegraph Act of 1885. A document buried in the sands of time. The

next major policy document, which was produced, was the National

Telecom Policy of 1994, a consequence of the on going process of

liberalization.

Year Event
1851 First telephones in India

1943 Nationalization of telephone companies

1985 DoT was created

1986 Creation of BHARTI and VSNL

1991 Telecom equipment liberalized

1994 Licenses for paging

1994 Telecom policy announced

September 1994 Guidelines for private sector participation in

basic services

November 1994 Cellular licenses issued for metros

December 1994 Tenders for cellular licenses in 19 cities apart

from 4 metros

January 1995 Tenders for 2nd operator in basic services apart

from DoT on circle basis.

August 1995 VSNL launches Internet services

January 1996 TRAI formed

November 1998 Internet policy announced

The National Telecom Policy of 1994 document, which laid out

broad policy guidelines rather than a series of action points. Like

other policies, it sought to achieve the impossible in finite time like

improve quality of service and its availability, wide coverage (a

phone in every village), at reasonable rates, etc. The targets in

quantifiable terms were installation of 9.5mn additional lines,

telephone on demand by 1997, and a PCO pop of 500. The Eighth

Plan had also allowed private operators in value added services. To

facilitate licensing, the nation was divided into 20 circles (akin to a

state) for basic and 21 circles for cellular telephony. Mumbai falls in

Maharashtra circle and Delhi in itself a circle.

The basic premise on which competition has been introduced is that

every circle will have one private operator apart from DoT/ BHARTI

for basic and two operators for cellular. DoT/ BHARTI have the

option to become the third cellular operator in future.

Government did not achieve most of its stated targets. The basic

theme, which was broadening the reach of telephony in India, has

not been met. Even liberalization policies were not implemented

properly. The regulator TRAI was set up after delays and confusion

and even after its creation, DoT continued to fight with it in courts. It

was also affected by the resource crunch, and financing options like

BOT, BOOT and BOLT was not used at all. The major policy

direction it showed was to allow private sector entry in both basic

and value added services. The intention, though noble failed to

achieve its goals because of improper implementation, the

economic costs are still borne by the end user.

The telecom sector has witnessed some fundamental structural and

institutional reforms in the past decade. telecom equipment

manufacturing was completely deregulated in 1991. Value-added

services (including cellular services) were thrown open to private

sector participation in 1992. Basic services were opened to private

participation in 1994 by dividing the country into 21 telecom Circles

and allowing one private operator per Circle to compete with DoT.

An independent telecom regulatory Authority of India was set up in

1997. A new Policy for Internet Service Policy Providers (ISPs) was

announced in 1998 allowing independent service providers to enter

the sector ending the earlier monopoly of VSNL. Reorganization of

DOT, separating policymaking function and service provision and

corporatization of DOT's operational network are two major

institutional reforms, which need to be implemented.

 COMPANY PROFILE OF BHARTI AIRTEL

Vision

"As we spread wings to expand our capabilities and explore new

horizons, the fundamental focus remains unchanged: seek out the

best technology in the world and put it at the service of our ultimate

user: our customer."

These are the premise on which Bharti Enterprises has based its

entire plan of action.

Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has

revolutionized telecommunications with its world-class products and

services.

Established in 1985, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the

telecom sector. With many firsts and innovations to its credit,

ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private

basic telephone service provider in the country, first Indian company

to provide comprehensive telecom services outside India in

Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch

National Long Distance Services in India. Bharti had approximately

3.21 million total customers – nearly 2.88 million mobile and

334,000 fixed line customers.

Its services sector businesses include mobile operations in Andhra

Pradesh, Chennai, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,

Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh circle, Maharashtra

circle, Mumbai, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh (West) circle.

In addition, it also has a fixed-line operations in the states of

Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, Karnataka and

Tamil Nadu and nationwide broadband and long distance networks.

Bharti has recently launched national long distance services by

offering data transmission services and voice transmission services

for calls originating and terminating on most of India's mobile

networks.

The Company is also implementing a submarine cable project

connecting Chennai-Singapore for providing international

bandwidth.

Bharti Enterprises also manufactures and exports telephone

terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the largest

manufacturer of telephone instruments, it is also the first telecom

company to export its products to the USA.

Bharti Tele-Ventures' strategic objective is

“to capitalise on the growth opportunities that the Company believes

are available in the Indian telecommunications market and

consolidate its position to be the leading integrated

telecommunications services provider in key markets in India, with a

focus on providing mobile services”.

The Company has developed the following strategies to achieve its

strategic objective:

• Focus on maximizing revenues and margins;

• Capture maximum telecommunications revenue potential with

minimum geographical coverage;

• Offer multiple telecommunications services to provide

customers with a "one-stop shop" solution;

• Position itself to tap data transmission opportunities and offer

advanced mobile data services;

• Focus on satisfying and retaining customers by ensuring high

level of customer satisfaction;

• Leverage strengths of its strategic and financial partners; and

• Emphasize on human resource development to achieve

operational efficiencies.
Businesses

Bharti Tele-Ventures current businesses include -

• Mobile services

• Fixed-line

• National and international long distance services

• VSAT, Internet services and network solutions

Competitive Strengths

Bharti Tele-Ventures believes that the following elements will

contribute to the Company's success as an integrated

telecommunication services provider in India and will provide the

Company with a solid foundation to execute its business strategy:

• Nationwide Footprint - approximately 92% of India's total

mobile subscribers resided in the Company's fifteen mobile

circles. These 15 circles collectively accounted for

approximately 56% of India's land mass;

• Focus on telecommunications to enable the Company to

better anticipate industry trends and capitalize on new

telecommunications-related business opportunities;

 • The strong brand name recognition and a reputation for

offering high quality service to its customers;

• Quality management team with vision and proven execution

skills; and

• The Company's strong relationships with international

strategic and financial investors such as SingTel, Warburg

Pincus, International Finance Corporation, Asian Infrastructure

Fund Group and New York Life Insurance.

Brand Architecture:

Bharti is working on a complex three-layered branding

architecture — to:

•Create specific brands for each service,

•Build sub-brands within each of these services and

•Use Bharti as the mother brand providing the group its

corporate identity as well as defining its goal to become a

national builder of telecoms infrastructure.

 BHARTI

AIRTEL TOUCHTEL INDIA ONE

(Cellular (Basic Service (National Long
Operations) Operations) Distance)

AirTel - The flagship brand for cellular operations all across

the country.

Touchtel - The brand earmarked for basic service operations.

India One - The brand for national long distance (NLD)

telephony

Though the costs of creating new brands are heavy but the

group wants to create “distinct independent brands to

address different customers and profiles”.

Brand Strategy:

To understand the brand strategy, let’s first look at the brand building

exercise associated with AirTel — a brand that had to be

repositioned recently to address new needs in the market.

When the brand was launched seven years ago, cellular telephony

wasn’t a mass market by any means. For the average consumer,

owning a cellular phone was expensive as tariff rates (at Rs 8 a

minute) as well as instrument prices were steep — sometimes as

much as buying a second-hand car.

Bharti could have addressed the customer by rationally explaining to

him the economic advantage of using a mobile phone. But Sachdev

says that such a strategy would not have worked for the simple

reason that the value from using the phone at the time was not

commensurate with the cost.

“Instead of the value-proposition model, we decided to address the

sensory benefit it gave to the customer as the main selling tack. The

idea was to become a badge value brand,” he explains.

So the AirTel “leadership series” campaign was launched showing

successful men with their laptops and in their deluxe cars using the

mobile phone. In simple terms, it meant Airtel was positioned as an

aspirational brand that was meant for leaders, for customers who

stood out in a crowd.

Did it work? Repeated surveys following the launch showed that

there were three core benefits that were clearly associated with the

brand — leadership, dynamism and performance.

These were valuable qualities, but they only took AirTel far enough

to establish its presence in the market. As tariffs started dropping, it

became necessary for AirTel to appeal to a wider audience. And the

various brand-tracking exercises showed that despite all these good

things, there was no emotional dimension to the brand — it was

perceived as cold, distant and efficient.

Sachdev and his team realized that in a business in which customer

relationships were the core this could be a major weakness. The

reason? With tariffs identical to competitor Reliance Infocomm. and

roughly the same level of service and schemes, it had now become

important for Bharti to “humanize” AirTel and use that relationship as

a major differentiation.

The brand had become something like Lufthansa — cold and

efficient. What they needed was to become Singapore Airlines,

efficient but also human. A change in tack was important because

this was a time when the cellular market was changing.

The leadership series was okay when you were wooing the crème

de la crème of society. Once you reached them you had to expand

the market so there was need to address to new customers.

By that time, Bharti was already the leading cellular subscriber in

Delhi with a base of 3.77 lakh (it now has 1.2 million customers).

And with tariffs becoming more affordable — as cell companies

started cutting prices — it was time to expand the market.

How could Bharti leverage this leadership position down the value

chain? Surveys showed that the concept of leadership in the

customer’s minds was also changing. Leadership did not mean

directing subordinates to execute orders but to work along with a

team to achieve common objectives — it was, again, a relationship

game that needed to be reflected in the AirTel brand.

Also, a survey showed that 50 per cent of the new customers

choose a mobile phone brand mostly through word-of-mouth

endorsements from friends, family or colleagues. Thus, existing

customers were an important tool for market expansion and Bharti

now focused on building closer relationships with them.

That is precisely what the brand tried to achieve through its new

positioning under the AirTel “Touch Tomorrow” brand campaign.

This set of campaigns portrayed mobile users surrounded by caring

family members. Says Sachdev: “The new campaign and

positioning was designed to highlight the relationship angle and

make the brand softer and more sensitive.”

As it looks to expand its cellular services nationwide —to eight new

circles apart from the seven in which it already operates — Bharti is

now realizing that there are new compulsions to rework the AirTel

brand, and a new exercise is being launched to this effect. Right

now, the company is unwilling to discuss the new positioning in

detail. But broadly, the focus is on positioning AirTel as a power

brand with numerous regional sub-brands reflecting customer needs

in various parts of the country.

If AirTel is becoming more humane and more sensitive as a brand,

Bharti has also understood that one common brand for all cellular

operations might not always work in urban markets that are now

getting increasingly saturated.

To bring in new customers, the company decided that it needed to

segment the market. One such experiment, launched last year, is

Youtopia, a brand aimed at the youth in the 14 to 19 age bracket

and for those who are “young at heart”. With its earlier positioning,

AirTel was perceived as a brand for the well-heeled older customer;

there was nothing for younger people. With Youtopia, AirTel hoped

to reverse that.

In order to deliver the concept, AirTel offered rock bottom tariff rates

(25 paise for 30 seconds) at night to Youtopia customers — a time

when they make the maximum number of calls. It also set up

merchandising exercises around the scheme — like a special portal

for young people to buy things or bid for goods.

The company is now looking at offering other services at affordable

prices to this segment which include music downloads on the mobile

and bundling SMS rates with normal calls to make it cheaper for

young people to use.

The other experiment that Bharti has worked on is to go in for

product segmentation through the Tango brand name. The brand

was created to offer mobile users Internet-interface services or what

is known as WAP (Wireless Application Protocol).

The idea was to bring Internet and mobile in perfect harmony. “The

name was chosen from the popular movie title It Takes Two To

Tango: basically, you need the two services to tango to offer

customers a new choice”, says Sachdev.

This, however, had less to do with the branding exercise as with

inefficiency of service (accusingly slow download speeds) and the

limited utility of WAP services.

Subsequently, the ads were withdrawn, but the company re-iterated

that the branding exercise could be revived because Tango will be

the brand to offer GPRS services — or permanent Internet

connectivity on the mobile phone — which AirTel is expected to

launch soon.
The Magic:

Perhaps the more ambitious experiment has been with Magic — the

pre-paid card. The idea was to make the brand affordable,

accessible and, most importantly, feasible as a means of expanding

the market even faster.

PHASE I –

Magic was aimed at bringing in infrequent users of a mobile phone

into the market and assure him that he would have to pay only if he

made a call. Such a customer used the phone sparingly — mostly

for emergencies — and was not willing to pick up a normal mobile

connection with its relatively high rentals (pre-paid cards do not

include rental charges).

To achieve its objectives Bharti did three things.

• One, the product was made available at prices ranging from

Rs 300 to Rs 3,000 with no strings attached and was simple to

operate.

• Two, the product was made accessible and distributed through

small stores, telephone booths and even kirana shops so that

the offering was well within arms reach.

 • Third, to make the product more “approachable” to the

customer, the company came with vernacular ad campaigns

like “Magic Daalo Se Hello” which appealed to local sensibilities.

This apart, the company roped in Karisma Kapoor and Shah Rukh

Khan for a major ad campaign all across Delhi, a ruse that saw the

number of subscribers go up from 5.47 lakh to 12 lakh today,

overtaking Essar’s branded pre-paid card Speed, which was

launched much ahead of Magic. The company is now re-working its

Magic strategy even further.

Earlier, the branding strategy was aimed at roping in only interested

customers — that is, customers who were already inclined to opt for

mobile services. But now, with basic service providers having been

allowed limited mobility at far cheaper rates, mobile service

providers could find themselves under threat again.

That is why the new exercise is aimed at co-opting non-adopters.

While the exact strategy is under wraps, insiders say the new

branding strategy would be aimed at offering them value which they

had not perceived would be available from using a pre-paid card.

PHASE II -

Bharti used AirTel Magic to build a strong value proposition and

accelerate market expansion through India’s first national pre-paid

card TV brand campaign

• First time ever in India - any pre-paid card brand goes on TV

• A combination of the film genre exposed through the TV medium

designed to connect with the masses of India

• Youth based - romance driven strategy platform makes the value

proposition of AirTel Magic - ‘Mumkin Hai’ come alive

• All elements - user imagery, context, tone & language created to

connect the category to the lives of the SEC B & SEC C segment

– the middle class non-mobile user.

• AirTel Magic positions itself on the platform of being excellent for

emergency situations - increasing productivity as a part of

everyday life.

• Sharukh Khan makes ‘everything in life possible’ while

romancing pretty Kareena Kapoor with AirTel Magic, India’s

leading pre-paid mobile card.

AirTel today unveiled its strategy for market expansion with the

launch of its new AirTel Magic pre-paid card brand campaign –

‘Magic hai to Mumkin hai’. The strategy is targeted at the non-user

segment defined as young adults, 15-30 years of age; in the Sec B

& C segment is aimed at accelerating market expansion. The value

proposition is centered around a person’s desire to make all his /

her dreams, ambitions & aspirations instantly possible. The new

campaign for AirTel Magic is all about empowering millions of

Indians to be on top of their lives.

The brand is positioned to be relevant to the mass-market who want

to make all their dreams, hopes & desires come alive… instantly.

(At just Rs.300/- per month AirTel Magic is so easy to buy.)

Improving productivity, letting you befriend the world and opening

up new horizons. It gives you the freedom to control your life in a

way never possible before. Indeed, anything that you think is

possible is possible with AirTel Magic. The new brand slogan

‘Magic hai to Mumkin hai’ has been specially created to capture this

effectively.

This strategy is designed to help us talk to this segment directly in

the tone, manner & language of the masses. The “Mumkin hai”
value proposition will help us expand the market and gain a higher

percentage of market shares in the process.

The brand ambassadors Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor

embody this ‘can do’ or “Mumkin Hai” spirit (infact that is the reason

they were selected as brand ambassadors). Sharukh rose from a

TV actor to become India’s top film star and national heartthrob.

Kareena’s success is due to her ‘attitude’, talent, hard work and the

sheer ability to make a mark in such a short time. Both these stars

have said ‘Mumkin hai’ and made it happen for themselves.

The genre of this new strategy & campaign is Hindi cinema led.

This genre connects millions across India. The spirit of romance,

dancing… the Indian cinema, well known to most as Bollywood,

holds millions of Indians together as one.

The new TV campaign of AirTel Magic crafted in the Hindi film

idiom, magnifies the empowering optimism of “Mumkin Hai”, in the

endearing situation of a boy-girl romance. Where Sharukh Khan,

sets his eyes on Kareena Kapoor and wins her love with the help of

AirTel Magic. (Poignantly conveying that special feeling we all get

when a dream is made possible and a victory of the heart is won).

The strategy & new brand campaign is targeted at the large

untapped base of intending mobile customers from Sec A, B & C.

The estimated addressable market of such customers in the next

two years is around 25 million in AirTel’s 16 states. The new

strategy aims at correcting the perception that the mobile category

is useful mainly for ‘business’ or ‘work’ related scenarios.

The new strategy, brand positioning & brand slogan is an outcome of an extensive

nationwide research and is an integral part of AirTel Magic’s new multi-media campaign. The

campaign has been created by Percept Advertising.

PHASE III -

Bharti used AirTel Magic to build a strong value proposition and

accelerate market expansion through India’s first national pre-paid

card TV brand campaign

• First time ever in India - any pre-paid card brand gives such

freedom to recharge any value

• A combination of the film genre exposed through the TV medium

designed to connect with the masses of India

• Youth based - romance driven strategy platform makes the value

proposition of AirTel Magic - ‘Aisi azaadi aur kahan?” come alive

• Sharukh Khan makes ‘everything in life possible’ AirTel today

unveiled its strategy for market expansion with the launch of it’s

new AirTel Magic pre-paid card brand campaign – ‘Magic hai to

 Mumkin hai’. . The value proposition is centered around a

person’s desire to make all his / her dreams, ambitions &

aspirations instantly possible. The new campaign for AirTel

Magic is all about empowering millions of Indians to be on top of

their lives.

The brand is positioned to be relevant to the mass-market who want

to make all their dreams, hopes & desires come alive… instantly .At

a amount of your choice you can recharge your account with

available validity time .Improving productivity, letting you befriend

the world and opening up new horizons. It gives you the freedom to

control your life in a way never possible before. Indeed, anything

that you think is possible is possible with AirTel Magic. The new

brand slogan ‘Aisi azadi aur kahanhas been specially created to

capture this effectively.

Other Brand Building Initiatives:-

The main idea is to stay ahead of competition for at least six

months. Working on the above game plan Bharti is constantly

coming up with newer product offerings for the customers.

The focus, of course, is to offer better quality of service.

• To make the service simpler for customers using roaming

facilities, Airtel has devised common numbers for subscribers

across the country for services like customer care, food

services and cinema amongst others.

• It will also launch a unified billing system across circles so,

customers moving from one place to another do not have to

close and then again open new accounts at another place.

• To assist customer care personnel to deal with subscriber

queries, a storehouse of 40,000 frequently asked questions

and their answers have been stored on the computers.

• Bharti expects that most of its new customers (one estimate is

that it would be 60 to 70 per cent of the total new subscriber

base) would come from the pre-paid card segment. So, they

must be given value-added products and services which

competitors don’t provide.

• Bharti, for the first time for a cellular operator, has decided to

offer roaming services even to its pre-paid customers, but the

facility would be limited to the region in which they buy the

card. To ensure that customers don’t migrate to other

competing services (which is known as churn and ranges from

 10 to 15 per cent of the customer base every month), the

company is also working on a loyalty program. This will offer

subscribers tangible cash benefits depending upon their

usage of the phone.

• The loyalty program will not be only for a ‘badge value’, it will

provide real benefits to customers. The idea is to create an

Airtel community.

• Another key area which Bharti is concentrating its attention

upon is a new roaming service launched in Delhi under which

calls of a roaming subscriber who is visiting the city will be

routed directly to his mobile instead of traveling via his home

network.

• The company also offers multi-media messaging systems

under which customers having a specialized phone with a in-

built camera can take pictures and e-mail it to friends or store

it in the phone. The cost per picture is between Rs 5 to Rs 7.

• Bharti is also aware that it has to make owning a ready-to-use

cellular service much easier than it is today. A key area is to

increase the number of activation centers. Earlier Bharti had

250 Airtel Connect stores which were exclusive outlets (for its
 services) and about 250 Airtel Points which were kiosks in

larger shops. Now activation can be done by all of them, and

not only by Connect outlets, all within 15 to 20 minutes. In

comparison, the competition takes two to four hours.

• Pre- paid cards are really catching up with the mobile phone

users and it is actually helping the market to increase. First,

they are easier to obtain and convenient to use. Unlike post-

paid, one need not pay security deposits for picking up a pre-

paid card. It is often available even with paanwalas. As befits a

fast-moving consumer service, the game is now moving

beyond price to expanding distribution reach and servicing a

well-spread-out clientele with technology and strategic

alliances. Bharti is focusing on two factors to make pre-paid

cards more attractive. Keeping the entry cost low for

consumers and making recharging more convenience.

• Bharti is in the process of launching a new system in alliance

with Mumbai-based company Venture Infotech which will

enable a pre-paid card user to renew his subscription by just

swiping a card. The system will not only save users the hassle

of going out and buying a card every time it expires but also
 enable mobile companies to reduce the cost of printing and

distributing cards.

• Bharti Televentures has tied up with 'Waiter on wheels,' a

company delivering food at home, to reach its Magic pre-paid

cards to subscribers' doorsteps. The company is also joining

hands with local grocery shops which will enable users to

recharge their cards by just making a phone call to the shop.

Apart from improving the convenience of recharging, mobile

operators are beefing up their distribution channels. The

company is constantly innovating to enhance the value

proposition for its pre-paid service. They are leveraging

technology to expand their distribution network and deliver

round-the-clock recharge options to its MOTS (Mobile On the

Spot) subscribers.

• Bharti Cellular has also launched a special service,

CareTouch, for high-value, corporate customers, providing

them with instant, single-point access for any assistance they

require. Customers can dial 777 and enjoy a slew of services,

which includes easier payment of bills, service on priority

basis, and value-added services without any additional paper

work. Bharti Cellular is offering a range of services without

 going through an interactive voice recorder ensuring that they

save time. Dedicated ‘CareTouch’ executives are expected to

assist customers with any service on priority basis. Besides

the regular proactive reminder calls for bill payment,

customers can also call CareTouch for bill payments at free of

cost.

• AirTel presented MTV Inbox; the first ‘on-air’ SMS based

interactive music dedication show exclusively for AirTel and

AirTel Magic customers. Highly interactive VJ based show with

real-time feedback mechanism. Both brands joined hands to

target the high growth youth segment.

Bharti’s View on its Branding strategy:-

First, brand building efforts in today’s context have to be seen in a

more holistic manner. Delivering value on a sustained basis is

perhaps the most potent key to build a brand that lasts.

Unflinching orientation to customer needs is the second key

success factor. Customers (be it for industrial products or consumer

goods and services) across the world are more informed and, at the

same time, becoming more individualistic in their needs and far

more demanding with the passage of time.

Pro-active tracking of shifts in consumer behavior, anticipating

redefined or emerging customer needs, and then reacting in “real-

time” are essential to attract and retain customer loyalty — a key

element of creating brand equity in the present situation.

Customizing the product (and communication of its benefit) to meet

the specific needs of various consumer/customer sub-segments is

the third element in creating brand appreciation.

As far as allocation of time and financial resources are concerned,

too many companies mistakenly allocate a disproportionate amount

on mere advertising and promotion. This is not to say that

advertising and promotion are less relevant. On the contrary, with

more choices and higher media clutter, businesses need to budget

for an increasingly higher spend on their brand promotion but this

has to be undertaken in tandem with enterprise-wide

“reengineering” of the business philosophy and core design,

production, and delivery operations for the product itself.

The positive spin to this argument is that by first addressing the

fundamentals, the enterprise itself becomes more competitive. This

can be the beginning of a virtuous cycle wherein brand equity

continues to increase as the enterprise sustains delivery of an

appropriate product or service at an ever increasing value.

It is, however, crucial to note that in the years to come, not only will

the cost of building a regional or a national (or an international)

brand will continue to rise but also the time taken to do so will be

longer and will need sustained and focused efforts.

Comparison of marketing strategies between
Bharti Airtel and Reliance Infocomm.
The sub main purpose of this report is to compare the marketing
Strategies adopted by Bharti Airtel and its rival Reliance
Infocomm.

The comparison shows how both of the companies have been

Challenging each other to gain market shares.

Why comparison with Reliance Infocomm?

■Bharti Airtel is the leader in telecommunication sector.

■Bharti Airtel holds the lion share of market of communication sector.

■However, Reliance has been giving tough competition to Bharti Airtel.

■Reliance Infocomm is the second largest player and share holder in

Communication sector.

■Since its launch Reliance info. has been adopting aggressive marketing

Strategies.

■The comparison shows how reliance info. Captured 22% market share in

One month of its first launch of postpaid subscription in 2002.AD.

■With a different technology cdma Reliance creates it own market.

■Reliance Info. today deals in every business of communication sector.

making and changing the strategies to capture the market shares

Brand positioning by Bharti Airtel
Market segmentation
Geographical segment (metropolitans & cities India)

Demographic segment - middle income groups

People age group of 20 to 28 year

Target marketing
People living cities and towns.

Poor and middle income groups.

Youngsters in big cities.

Businessmen

Positioning
Creating brands (Sharukh khan & Sachin Tendulker)

Ads and promotions

Marketing mix
Price : low price strategy

Place : maximum outlets and service centers

Product : verities available for various groups

Promotion: various schemes for pre-paid and post-paid

MAR KETING STRATEGIES OF RELIANCE INDIA
MOBILE.(RIM)

Rim target the rural India

The main targeted customers of Rim are from rural India.

By offering cheap and light mobile sets Rim attracts most of the customers
Of small villages and towns.

Offering cheap handsets

Rim offers cheap and free connections to all costumers.

The cost for Rs-700\set and onward.

Free support and services

In every district and big towns rim opens its service centers to provide
better support and services.

Strong logistics and supply chain

Rim has a strong logistict and supply all over India.

In every small town the potential costumers can easily purchase the rim
sets.

Targeting youngsters in metropolitans

Rim attracts youngsters by offering colorful handset at

very low prices.
Brand positioning by Rim

Market segmentation

Geographical segment (rural India)

Demographic segment - middle income groups

Target marketing
People living in small towns and villages.

Poor and middle income groups.

Youngsters in big cities.

Businessmen

Positioning
Creating brands

Ads and promotions

Marketing mix
Price : low price strategy

Place : maximum outlets and service centres

Product : varities available for various groups

Promotion:various schemes for pre-paid and post-paid

 Schemes started by RIM

Plan Plan Plan

Plan name
1000 1500 2000
Monthly Plan Charge (Rs.) 1000 1500 2000
Free Calls Worth (Rs.) 1000 1500 2000
Rate per Call Unit # (Rs./Pulse) 1.00 0.90 0.85
Refundable Deposit for ILD
1000 1000 1000
(Rs.)
-

Smart Office - Call charges

Effective Rate/Min - 24 hrs)
 Call unit Plan 1000 Plan 1500 Plan 2000 @
Length(Pulse @ Re. 1.00 / @ Rs. 0.90 / Rs. 0.85 /
)(Sec.) Pulse Pulse Pulse
Local
Calls
(including
180 0.33 0.30 0.28
Intra-
circle < 50
kms)
Calls to Fixed Intra-circle
lines 60 1.00 0.90 0.85
> 50 kms
0-
50 90 0.67 0.60 0.57
Inter- kms
circle
> 50
30 2.00 1.80 1.70
kms
Intra-circle 120 0.50 0.45 0.43
Calls to RIM
Inter-circle 60 1.00 0.90 0.85
Calls to other Intra-circle 60 1.00 0.90 0.85
mobiles Inter-circle 30 2.00 1.80 1.70

Effective Rate/Min is indicative. Charging would be done on the

basis of Call Unit Length (Pulse). Call Unit Length (Pulse) is the
duration of a call after the expiry of which, a new call starts. E.g. in
Plan 1000 , a call to a local fixed line will be charged at Re. 1.00 for
a 180 second call (or part thereof). Once you cross the 180 second
Call Unit Length (Pulse), you will be charged another Re.1.00 which
will allow you to talk for another 180 seconds.

Note: Calls between Mumbai-Maharashtra, Chennai-Tamilnadu,

Kolkata-West Bengal, UP(East) - UP (West) will be treated as Intra-
Circle calls.
Call Rates to Satellite Phones by RIM
INMARSAT CALL RATES:

Internet Usage Rates

Call Charges
ISP Call Effective Total
Depicted for Unit Rate /
Charges Charges
Plan 1000 length Call Unit Rate /
(Rs./Min.) Rs/ Hr.
(Pulse) (Rs.) Min
(Sec.) (Rs.)
Peak Hour
Rates on all
0.10 450 1.00 0.13 14
days
(06:30 - 22:30)
Off-Peak Hour
Rates on all
0.10 900 1.00 0.07 10
days
(22:30 - 06:30)

Call Unit
Region Rate (Rs.)
Length (Pulse) (Sec.)
Atlantic Ocean - East 1 5.83
Pacific Ocean 1 5.83
Indian Ocean 1 5.83

Schemes and plans by Bharti Airtel

 Servi Processin Talk Validi

Amount ce g Time ty
Tax Fees(Rs. (Day

(Rs.) (8%) ) (Rs.) s)

54 4 25 25 5
60 4.44 25 30.56 5
75 5.56 25 44.44 5
100 7.41 25 67.59 5
125 9.26 50 65.74 10
150 11.11 50 88.89 10
175 12.96 50 112.04 10
200 14.81 50 135.19 10
216 16 85 115 20
225 16.67 85 123.33 20
250 18.52 85 146.48 20
275 20.37 85 169.63 20
300 22.22 85 183.78 20
Servi Processin Talk Validi

Amount ce g Time ty
Tax Fees(Rs. (Day

(Rs.) (8%) ) (Rs.) s)

324 24 150 150 30
350 25.93 150 174.07 30
360 26.67 150 183.33 30
375 27.78 150 197.22 30
400 29.63 150 220.37 30
425 31.48 150 243.52 30
475 35.19 150 289.81 30
500 37.04 150 312.96 30
525 38.89 150 336.11 30
540 40 150 350 30
600 44.44 150 405.56 30
650 48.15 150 451.56 30
700 51.85 150 498.15 30
775 57.41 150 567.59 30
800 50.36 150 580.74 30
 Tax Fees(Rs. (Day

( Rs.) (8%) ) (Rs.) s)

850 62.96 150 637.04 60
900 66.67 150 683.33 60
1000 74.07 150 775.93 60
1080 80 150 850 60
1200 88.89 150 961.11 60
1300 96.3 150 1053.7 60
1400 103.7 150 1146.3 60
1500 111.11 150 1238.89 60
1800 133.33 150 1516.67 60
2000 148.15 150 1701.85 60
2160 160 150 1850 60
3000 222.22 150 2627.78 60
5000 370.37 300 4329.63 366
6000 444.44 300 5255.56 366
7000 518.52 300 6181.48 366
8000 592.59 300 7107.41 366
9000 666.67 300 8033.33 366
9999 740.67 300 8958.33 366
 Services provided by Bharti Airtel

• Mobile services with GSM technology

• Fixed-line connections

• National and international long distance services

• VSAT, Internet services and network solutions

• Broadband services

Services provided by Reliance Infocomm.

●mobile services with CDMA technology

●fixed-line telephone services

●Universal Internetworking

●VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

●Interactive Television

●Visual Communication

●Broadband Portal

●Telecommuting
Subscriber numbers in (mn) held by
Reliance and AIRTEL

Service June-03 sep-03 Dec-03 Mar-04 Mar-05 Mar-07

provider
Airtel 3.19 4.62 5.50 6.50 10.98 14.07
Reliance 1.82 4.20 6.24 7.26 10.45 12.99
Source.TRAI
 Operator Market share Market share
Mar''04 Mar''07
Bharti Airtel 19.06 22.49
Reliance 21.81 16.96
Infocom
Vodafone 17.03 16.01
Idea Cellular 10.45 8.49
MARKET PLAYERS IN TELE COMMUNICATION
MARKET SHARE

40
35
30
25 Reliance
20 Airtel
Tata
15
BSNL
10
5
0
Land line Broad band
 Time to provide service in days

40
35
30
25 Reliance Take more
Reliance time in comparison to
20
Airtel Airtel & Tata that’s
15 Tata why company
10 BSNL loosing their
5
customer, and
market position
0
RFS
Area

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Age Group Graph

As we can see from the above graph, the people who are in the age

group of 21-28 years are the ones who are the maximum users of

mobile phones. This segment is the one which gives maximum

business to the mobile operators. This segment constitutes the

young executives and other office going people. They are 65% of

the total people who were interviewed. The next age group are the

people who are 28-35 years old. They are 20% of the total. They

are those who are at home or have small business units etc. And
the next age group is the youngest generation who are 15-21 years

old. They are school and college going students and carry mobile

phones to flaunt. They are 15% of the total interviewed people.

Occupation Graph

OCCUPATION

10% 15%

20%

55%

STUDENTS EXECUTIVES HOUSEHOLDS OTHERS

As the above graph shows that 55% of the total people interviewed

are working. So, these people are the ones who are the maximum

users of mobile phones. They are the young executives, managers,

Tele - callers etc. who require mobile for their official purposes. The
next category is the households, who are either housewife, small

units which operate from their homes etc. They are 20% of the

whole. The next segment is the students. They are 15% of the

whole. And 10% of the whole is categories who are the

professionals.

Service Provider Graph

The above graph shows a slice of 50%. These are the total no. of

people who are using Airtel. It seems that people are more aware of

Airtel than any other brand. The next popular brand is Hutch. 305 of
the people interviewed had Hutch connections. The next popular

brand was Idea. 15% people had Idea connections. As it came very

late in the market when Airtel had established it self very well. So,

that could be one of the reasons of such a low percentage. The

remaining 5% had trump connections.

Customer Service At Airtel Graph

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION LEVEL

10% 20%

10%

60%

FULLY PARTIALLY
DISSATISFIED FULLY DISSATISFIED

As the above graph clearly shows that customer services at Airtel

seems poor. 60% of the people are dissatisfied with the customer

services provided by Airtel. They are the ones who have the

maximum share in the market but they are lagging behind in the

customer services. 10% of the people were fully dissatisfied with the
customer services of Airtel. This could leave an impact on the mind

of the consumer. He can even switch over his brand. 20% of the

people seemed partially satisfied with the customer services and

only 10% seem to be fully satisfied with Airtel’s customer services,

which is a very small amount.

Type Of Card Graph

Cash cards seemed quite popular among the people interviewed. 85% of the total

mobile users were having cash card connections. This means that the cash cards should

be easily and readily available in the local markets. Airtel should make sure that Magic
is available in each and every nook and corner of the market. 15% of the people were

having sim connections which is the regular bill.

Monthly expense graph

Monthly Expense

12%
24%

Rs 600
Rs 450
Rs 200

64%

People on an average spend RS 500 per month as their mobile

phone expense. 64% people spend this amount. 24% people spend

RS 300 per month as their monthly mobile expense. And the

remaining 12% had an expense more than RS 1000, they could the

ones having sim connections or having cash cards and having a lot

of business calls on their mobiles.

Awareness About WLL Graph

WLL seemed to be a new word for many of the people. 45% of the

people were not at all aware of such a technology. So, in order to

get the answer for this question they were first explained the

concept. Only, 55% people knew what WLL is all about.

Awareness of WLL Players Graph

AWARENESS OF WLL PLAYERS

TATA
INDICOM
15%

RELIANCE
85%

Reliance was the brand which was popular amongst the interviewed

people. As Reliance had done so much advertising and has it

banners and hoarding spread all over Delhi. So, this could be one

the reasons of its popularity. Tata was hardly a known brand in this

new field. Possibly, because of less promotions done by them as

compared to Reliance.
On the basis of analysis of the questionnaire I have found that the

maximum no. of people who use mobile phones is in the age group

of 20 to 28. Who are the young executives and other office goers?

They spend a maximum of RS. 500 as their mobile expense.

There is more no. of prepared cards than post paid cards. The

mobile users want to spend money side by side than to spend

money at the end of the month on a big bill.

Now when I compared Airtel with its competitor from the point of

view of the consumer I found that on the basis of Tariff plan, value

added services and billing accuracy Airtel is at par or ahead of its

competitor but in the case of customer care and availability they lag

behind there competitors. As, Airtel has a hold in the market

because it has the maximum no. of connections, so it must improve

upon it customer services. As far as WLL is concerned people are

aware about it but not many people are aware about Tata. They only

know more about Reliance. People at this point of time are not

interested to switch over from GSM to WLL.

 SUGGESTIONS

Following are the few suggestions to AIRTEL for improving

the market share and image of the products concerned.

1. PRODUCT
*Modification must be brought about in AIRTEL, in
terms of quality. Its demand should be increased.

2. PLACE
* The brands must be made available easily in, PCO &
general stores.

3. PROMOTION
*Company must undertake extensive promotional
activities like advertisements must be released in
different Medias to create brand awareness.
*Free samples should be distributed among the
prospects. Sales promotion tools like gifts, contests
and coupons must be given to retailers as well as
customers and prospects.
* Catalogues should be distributed among

customers.
 SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

• Being one of the largest companies in India the company

has achieved a degree of focus in its core business of its

products.

• It has a strong brand name, superior quality products and

an enviable distribution network.

• It has a clear and well-defined organization structure and

limits of financial authority.

• Increase in advertisement spends affect the company’s

margins.

• The company‘s bottom line falls victim to the bloated and

highly paid workforce, which affects its margins.

Weakness:

• Little efforts over the Advertising of products.

• Distribution channel is not accurately categorized.

• Premium priced products, hence can’t compete in low price

segment.

• No separate strategy for rural market.

Opportunities:

• The company's financial performance can receive a major

boost from its cost reduction efforts.

• There is a lot of scope of product and market

diversification.

• Exports of products will also have huge chances in the

coming years.

• Airtel’s business has ample scope for gaining market share

from the unorganized sector. Rural penetration too holds

vast potential to bring about growth.

Threats

• The slowdown in the economy has restricted topline growth

of most FMCG majors and for Airtel also it will be difficult to

maintain historical growth rates in such a depressed

scenario.

• Company’s major raw materials are influenced by

government policies / controls as well as vagaries of the

monsoons. Fluctuations in the prices of raw materials

would have significant impact on costs and margins of the

company.
Moreover, inordinate hike in Broad Band Internet products

would also increases company’s production and distribution

cost.
 RECOMMENDATIONS

I have made following recommendation to the company

after do ing the summer training there:

• The company should modify its credit policy as they

only target the cash paying customers who are not
easy to trace.
• The company should emphasis more on the quality of
Pharmaceuticals Products it was mostly claimed by
the exporters that their receipts from company doesn’t
matches with the sample’s quality shown before
giving orders.
• The company should makes its marketing strategy
flexible enough in order to face competition.
• The company should keep an eye on the proper
delivery of the goods to exporter on time, as it has
been recommended by exporters to make the delivery
on time.
• The company rate policy must be flexible enough to
catch new customers because if company offers lower
price to a new customer then he may continue buy the
goods and can be a permanent customer for the
company.
 • The company should offers such rate in the market so
that it may able to catch a biger market share and it
should be able to compete with the local traders and
commission agents while having a brand name.
The company should take the opinion of exporters from
time to time to know what problems they are facing from
the company’s side? And if any change they require in
present supplying condition?
 LIMITATIONS

No project is without limitations and it becomes essential to

figure out the various constraints that we underwent during

the study. The following points in this direction would add to

our total deliberations:-

1. During the study, on many occasions the respondent

groups gave us a cold shoulder.

2. The respondents from whom primary data was gathered

any times displayed complete ignorance about the

complete branded range, which was being studied.

3. Lack of time is the basic limitation in the project.

4. Some retailers/whole sellers refuses to cooperate with

the queries.

5. Some retailers/wholesellers gave biased or incomplete

information regarding the study.

6. Money played a vital factor in the whole project duration.

7. Lack of proper information and experience due to short

period of time.

8. Some retailers did not answer all the questions or do not

have time to answer.

 CONCLUSION

After analyzing the findings of the research, I can conclude that

Airtel lagged behind its competitors as far as customer service and

availability is concerned. The maximum no. of people who use the

mobile is in the age group of 20 to 28. Cash cards are the most

popular type of mobile connections, as they are consumer friendly

and recharging the connection is not a problem.

Maximum no. of people spends RS 500 on their connections. As

Airtel is the only company having the maximum no of mobile

connections so it must seriously look into the loop holes of the

existing customer service department.

As we know that now Airtel has already launched its product with

logo “’ Aisi azaadi aur kahan”’ has already became popular in

market. So we can say that in spite of so many competitor in the

market Airtel is having a good

position just because every time, it tries its best to understand the

need of its important customers.

From the comparison and deep analysis of every aspect of

business of both the companies we can conclude that bharti airtel

has to more work in every field of communication business.

It is the time not only to survive but to sustain in the market for a

long time.

For this Airtel has to work on its all marketing

strategies,marketing,promotion,brand image.etc.

Airtel has to take Reliance info. Very seriously and update its own

strategies from time to time and when the need arises.

With aggressive marketing strategies airtel has to target rural India

as 70% of population of India live in these areas.

The other segment may be costumers of all age groups.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

In this project report, while finalizing and for analyzing quality

problem in details the following Books, Magazines/Journals and

Web Sites have been referred. All the material detailed below

provides effective help and a guiding layout while designing this text

report.

Books :

Principles of Marketing –Philip Kotler & Kevin keller edi. 12

Market Research – D.D. Sharma

Research Methodology – C.R. Kothari

Websites:

www.airtelworld.com

www.google.com

www.india.com

http://www.blonnet.com/2004/06/26/stories/2004062602180700.htm, Mumbai, June

25, 2004.

com/companies/companies_r/reliance_infocom/20031104_stop-roaming.htm, 4
November 2003
DomainB, Missed Call, At http://www.domainb
Magazines:

Airtel (2 July to 10 July 2004)

Airtel India page of HT paper (Thursday 1December 2004)

Cowards India (26 December to 4 Jan. 2004)

 QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Sir/Madam,
I ,Mohd Jamil Qureshi, student of MBA of Academy of
Business and Engineering Science doing my summer training
project on consumer behavior from Airtel. Please give your
precious time for filling these details.

Q.1 For how long you have been using Airtel Product?

 0-2 Years
 2-5 Years
 5-10 Years
 More than 10 years

Q.2 Are you using other product instead of Airtel?

 Yes
 No

Q.3 Among them, which Brand you, prefer most?

 Reliance
 Hutch
 Airtel

Q. 4 How would you rate the experience with Brand?

Excellent Good Average Below

 Reliance Average
 Hutch
 Airtel

Q.5 Do you collect any information search before making purchase?

Yes
 No.
Q.6 If yes, which sources are used?

 Magazines
 Dealers
 Sales Executives
 Operators reference
 Pamphlets and catalogue
 Reference from friends and relatives
 Any other

Q.7 What are the features you look for in a product before making
purchase decision? Give preferences (1-Highest, 6- least)

 Brand credibility
 Price and Discount
 After sales services and parts, network
 Value for money
 Vehicle performance
 Add on features or ergonomics of design

Q.8. Which of these marketing / sales schemes attracts you while

purchasing any connection?

 Good Network
 Discount scheme
 Service package
 Any other

Q.9 If you have to purchase a new connection or product in near

future, which Brand will you go for and why?

_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Q.10 Are you aware of various promotional activities being run by
Airtel, if yes then how? Are you satisfied with these
promotional activities?
Very Satisfied Somewhat Not
Satisfied Satisfied satisfied
 Customer Care

 By Ad Films

 By Camp

 24 hrs call center

services

Q.11 How would you rate Airtel performance as your

expectation on 5 points scale (5 Highest)
1 2 3 45
 After Sale service
 Maintenance
 Product as per expectation

Q.12 What are you suggestions for improving the product quality,
service availability and parts availability?

_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that I have carried out Summer Training Project on

the topic entitled “Marketing strategies Bharti Airtel AND
comparison with Reliance Infocomm. from New Delhi”

I further declare that this project work is based on my original work

and no part of this project has been published or submitted to
anybody.

SHIKHAR VERMA