TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.

TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IN INDIA

2.

GSM MARKET IN INDIA

3.

INTRODUCTION

4.

TARIFF STRUCTURE

5.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

6.

MARKET SITUATION

7.

COMPETITIVE SITUATION

8.

MARKETING STRATEGY ADAPTED BY BHARTI

9.

OBJECTIVE

10. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

11. LIMITATION
12. SWOT ANALYSIS
13. CONCLUSION
14. BIBLIOGRAPHY
15. QUESTIONNAIRE

TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IN INDIA

The Indian telecommunications Network with 250m telephone

connections is the fifth largest in the world and is the second
largest among the emerging economies of Asia. Today it is the
fastest growing market in the world and represents unique
opportunities for UK companies in the stagnant global scenario.
Tele-density, which was languishing at 2% in 1999, has shown an
impressive jump to 9.5% in 2006 and 10.5% in 2007 and is set to
increase to 20% in the next five years beating the Govt. target by
three years. Accordingly, India requires incremental investments of
USD 20-25 bln for the next five years.
Private operators have made mobile telephony the fastest growing
(over 164% p.a.) in India. With more than 33 million users (both
CDMA and GSM), wireless is the principal growth engine of the
Indian telecom industry. Given the current growth trends, cellular
connections in India will surpass fixed line by late 2004/early
2005. Intense competition between the four main private groups Bharti, Vodafone, Tata and Reliance and with the State sector

incumbents-BSNL and MTNL has brought about a significant drop

in tariffs. There has been almost 74% in cell phone charges, 70%
in ILD calls and 25% drop in NLD charges, resulting in a boom
time for the consumers.
The Government has played a key enabling role by deregulating
and liberalising the industry, ushering in competition and paving
the way for growth. While there were regulatory irregularities
earlier, resulting in litigation, these have all been addressed now.
Customs duties on hardware and mobile handsets have been
reduced from 14 percent to 5 percent.
The Indian government has merged the IT and Telecom Ministries
to speed up reforms and decision on the Communication
Convergence Bill to enable the common regulation of the Internet,
broadcasting and telecoms will be taken after the new Government
assumes responsibilities in may this year. An independent
regulatory body (TRAI) and dispute settlement body (TDSAT) is
fully functional.

INDIAN CELLULAR MARKET

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

country's largest cellular operator, with 50 lakh subscribers. BSNL,
which operates in 22 circles, has a subscriber base of 37 lakh
subscribers. Thus BSNL stands second largest cellular operator in
terms of subscriber base at the end of the fiscal ending March 31,
2007, displacing Vodafone from the second position.
Vodafone, which operates in only eighteen circles, is the third
largest operator with a subscriber base of 32 lakh. Unlike fellow
public sector undertaking, MTNL, which operates in Mumbai and
Delhi, BSNL has been a very aggressive player in the market.
"Cellular operators who expected BSNL to go the MTNL way, were
taken by surprise and did not take effective steps to counter it, till
it was too late in the day," said a telecom analyst.
Belying fears of a slowdown in cellular subscriber acquisitions, the
cell club has reported a 7.92% growth, the highest growth in any
month so far, during March 2005. Year-on-year, the cellular
subscriber base in the country has almost doubled in March 2005,
and is expanding at the rate of 25% per year thereafter.

The cellular subscriber club expanded by 21.31 lakh last month.

This is much higher than 5.9 lakh subscribers added in February
2005 and 2.13 lakh in January 2005. Idea, which operates in
Seven circles, is the fourth largest operator with a subscriber base
of 17.80 lakh, higher than BPL's 11.31 lakh subscribers across
four circles. The subscriber numbers per operator drop sharply
with the sixth largest operator, Spice Communications, having a
subscriber base of 9.40 lakh, followed by Reliance Telecom's 8.9
lakh subscribers. MTNL is the ninth largest operator, with a base
of 8.32 lakh subscribers.
While the subscriber base-jumped by 3.38% to 44.39 lakh in the
metros, subscriber base of category A circles of Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu jumped by
10.18 % to reach 43.64 lakh. Category B circles of Kerala, Punjab,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West), Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal recorded a jump of 10.69%, with
a total base of 33.74 lakh subscribers. Circle C has reported 12.74
% growth with subscriber numbers jumping to 5.08 lakh.
Among the metros, while Mumbai added 1,63,180 subscribers,
higher than the 1,58,646 added by Delhi, the Capital's cellular
5

subscriber base of over 80 lakh is still higher than Mumbai's 66.89

lakh. While the cellular industry has been on roll for the first three
quarters of the previous financial year with an average of 16.75
lakh monthly additions in the third quarter, the first two months of
2007 had seen the growth slowing down.

GSM MARKET IN INDIA

Regional Interest Groups - GSM India

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

cent a year, India is potentially one of the most exciting GSM
markets in the world. After two rather difficult years, the past 12
months have seen the region's promise beginning to come to
fruition. Much of this success can be attributed to the stabilisation
of the licensing and regulatory environment.

India's telecommunications have undergone a steady liberalisation

since 1994 when the Indian government first sought private
investment in the sector. More significant liberalisation followed in
7

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

genuine

commitment to creating a modern and efficient communications

infrastructure that takes account of the convergence of telecom, IT
and media. In addition, the policy places significant emphasis on
greater competition for both fixed and mobile services.'

Competition in the mobile sector has already had a visible impact

on prices with calls currently costing less than 9 cents per minute.
This means that service costs have fallen by 60 per cent since the
first GSM networks became live in 1995. It also helps explain why
a recent Telecom Asia survey revealed that more than 70 per cent
of Indian mobile subscribers felt that prices were now at a
reasonable level.
One of the challenges facing GSM operators in India is the diversity
of the coverage regions -from remote rural regions to some of the
most densely populated metropolitan areas in the world. India has

more than 40 networks, which cover the seven largest cities, over
7000 towns and several Lacs villages. Such depth of coverage has
required enormous investment from India's operators. It is
estimated that more than Rs200 billion had been invested in
India's GSM industry by mid-2000, a figure that is set to be
supplemented by a further Rs. 300 billion over the next five years.

The good news is that subscriber growth is beginning to look

healthy. With India's low PC penetration and high average Internet
usage -at 14-20 hours a month per user it is comparable to the US
-the market for mobile data and m-commerce looks extremely
promising. WAP services have already been launched in the
subcontinent and the first GPRS networks are in the process of
being rolled out. In the year ahead, GSM India will work with its
members to realise the potential of early packet services in
anticipation of the award of 3GSM licences.

India fastest growing GSM mart

India is expected to have 145 million GSM (global system for mobile
communications) customers by 2007-08 compared to 26 million

subscribers as on March 2005, according to the Global Mobile

Suppliers Association. "For GSM, India is a success story. It is one
of the fastest growing markets with its subscriber base doubling in
2005. At this pace, the target of 150 million subscribers by 20072008 is definitely achievable," Alan Hadden, president of GSA, said
at a news conference in New Delhi. Globally, the GSM market
reached 1 billion users in February 2005, he said, adding GSM
accounted for 80 per cent of the new subscriber growth in
2005."Almost every Latin American operator has chosen GSM. In
North America GSM growth is bigger than CDMA (code division
multiple access)," he said. Commenting on the raging debate over
GSM versus CDMA in mobile services arena, Hadden said: "GSM is
the world's most successful mobile standard with over 1 billion
users, and is an open mobile standard. It also supports automatic
international roaming, which is a major contributor to business
plans."

Indias GSM mobile firms revenue up 30 pct

Indias private telecoms firms offering GSM-based mobile services
reported a 24 percent rise in revenue in the year to March 2007

10

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

11

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
untapped:

among
The

companies.

association

has

Growth
not

slowing,

included

the

demand
financial

performance and the GSM-user base of state-run firms Bharat

Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the second-ranked player, and Mahanagar
Telephone Nigam Ltd, Ramachandran said. There are 150 million
GSM customers and more than 96 million users of the rival
CDMA-based mobile services in the country.
The pace of growth in monthly additions is slowing after just 1.25
million users took up the service in April compared with
1.9 million in the previous month and 1.63 million in February.
Ramachandran blamed the slowdown on a majority of small GSM
operators being unable to expand networks into rural swathes
where demand remained largely untapped.
Our surpluses are not enough to cover costs of network expansion
and financing charges on loans. We are making money only to
cover operating expenses, he said. Carriers are now subsidising
handset costs to woo users into the underpenetrated industry
forecast to have more than 250 million customers by 2007.

12

Roughly three percent of Indians own a mobile phone compared

with about 20 percent in China. About a dozen firms such as
Bharti

Airtel

Ltd,

28

percent

owned

by

Singapore

Telecommunications, Reliance Infocomm Ltd and the Indian GSMunit of Vodafone group battle in the hotly competitive sector.

13

DOES GSM HAVE THE EDGE?

GSM operators are not the only ones who are worried about the
rapid strides made by CDMA mobile players Reliance Infocomm
and Tata Indicom in the Indian cellular market?
The GSM suppliers both handset and equipment - who
incidentally also have their other foot firmly placed in the CDMA
pie, are beginning to lose some sleep over what was earlier termed
as `niche and `minuscule data carriage market by the operators
Apart from the strong success of the two CDMA operators whose
networks are based on code division multiple access (CDMA), the

14

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

based networks that launched general packet radio service (GPRS)
service for data connectivity in last three years, has the vendors
worried. Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) now believes
that even though India will primarily remain a voice traffic-led
market in next two-three years, the data traffic component will
grow by 25-30 per cent, an optimism that its trying to make GSM
operators feel as well.

THE CDMA CHALLENGE

CDMA players had launched their services with CDMA 2000 1Xbased networks, which can give hi-speed, always-on connectivity to

15

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
5.61 crore, the country has between 2,80,000 lakh GPRS users
only. In comparison, the two CDMA operators have about 120 lakh
connections. All these sets are data compliant. Though no figures
are available as to how many use these for data services, the figure
is believed to be respectable as a percentage ratio for CDMA.

16

Bharti is almost there

But first, the EDGE! Bharti Cellular is close to commercially
launching its EDGE service in Delhi and Mumbai by end May or
early June, sources said. The company was the first to conduct
field trials in November with its equipment supplier Ericsson. Idea
too held EDGE field trials in February this year with its vendor
Nokia. Vodafone and BPL are yet to hold the trials. The two
companies would eventually migrate to EDGE, but perhaps after
seeing the response to Bhartis service.

EDGE holds the promise of delivering data speeds of around 170180 kbps (as against the theoretical speed of around 380 kbps)
which, if achieved, promises the launch of many data applications.
The scalable cost of migrating from GPRS to EDGE is not too high
and mainly comprises software upgrades in case of a modern
network such as Bharti and Hutch, claimed chairman of GSA India
chapter Rakesh Malik.

Will GSM maintain its headstart?

17

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

Alan Hadden predicted that GSM growth will far outstrip CDMA as
was happening globally. He felt India could have as many as 200
million GSM subscribers by 2007-2008, up from nine million in
December 2004. According to GSA, there are over 1.1 billion GSM
subscribers worldwide as against 250 million CDMA customers.
The revenue of top 25 global operators from data averages 18 per
cent and 22 of these operators run GSM networks. Overall, there
are 76 operators in 50 countries that have committed to deploy
EDGE.
Almost every country has a GSM-based network and even those US
operators, which operated on now-defunct TDMA technology, were
migrating gradually to GSM, not CDMA, pointed out Hadden at the
GSM Evolution Forum. The Forum is a global GSA program to
assist the operators for evolution to third generation (3G)
technologies. People are using their phones for much more than
voice. Fifteen networks have commercially launched EDGE as it
can run 3G like services in the existing spectrum for the operators
without needing a 3G license. Even the migration to a full-fledged

18

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?

19

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 highspeed 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.

20

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!

21

INTRODUCTION

Airtel (Bharti Airtel Ltd.)

Bharti Airtel Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for

promoting

investments

in

telecommunications

services.

Its

subsidiaries operate telecom services across India. Bharti Airtel is

India's leading private sector provider of telecommunications
services based on a strong customer base consisting of 50 million
total customers, which constitute, 44.6 million mobile and 5.4
million fixed line customers, as of March 31, 2007.

22

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 MultiNational giants. Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with
a footprint in 23 states covering all four metros and more than 50
million satisfied customers.
SERVICES
Airtel Prepaid
Airtel Prepaid, the Ready Cellular Card from Airtel comes to you
from Bharti Enterprises, India's leading integrated telecom service
provider. 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.

23

Total Cost Control

You can control your Airtel Prepaid like never before. No more
rentals or deposits simply recharge as much as you need to from
as low as Rs. 10, to as high as Rs. 10,000/-.
Pre activated STD/ISD without deposits or rentals
You can now enjoy a pre-activated STD/ISD on your Airtel Prepaid.
No more paying deposits or having a minimum balance in your
account to make an STD/ISD call. Hassle-free calls are here to
stay!
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.

24

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 preactivated 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

25

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
26

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.
27

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" 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.

28

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

29

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

30

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

31

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.

32

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

33

our

convenient

payment

method

of

Credit

instruction .You can also make use of ECS facility.

34

Card

Standing

Strong Network Coverage

Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtel .It offers you world
class technology and unbreakable network coverage that spans
over 23 circles across the country.
Long Distance Calling Facility
Call long distance calls in India and Overseas with STD / ISD
facility on your Airtel phone.
Widest Roaming - National and International
Airtel's roaming service allows you to stay connected and use your
mobile phone to make or receive calls from almost anywhere in
India and also over 160 countries, abroad.
GPRS - Roaming
Use Airtel Postpaid's GPRS services, while roaming, to access the
internet and office mails (eg. BlackBerry services), from almost
anywhere in India and abroad.
Say it. In more than just words, with Services from Airtel

35

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

36

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.

37

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!

38

Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination

with Airtel Live! Airtel brings you the latest in entertainment and
information services, right on your phone!
Airtel Live! WAP Services: Download the latest ringtones, games,
wallpapers, videos and much more. You can also get news clips,
watch live TV and download full songs on you phone! To get Airtel
Live! settings on your phone SMS 'Live' to 56465 and save the
settings that you receive as your preferred connection. Airtel Live!
Portal can be accessed from you GPRS enabled phone, by sending
a SMS 'FUN' to 56465.
Airtel Live! Voice Services: Just Dial 56465 and say the name of
the service. For e.g. say Ring tones to download your favourite ring
tones. You can also choose a variety of content options like Live
Cricket Commentary, latest National / International News, Movie
Reviews or Stock Market Updates.
Airtel Live! SIM Services: Access loads of fun content and
exciting services like cricket, stocks, on your phone at the touch of
a few buttons with Airtel Live! SIM based Services on your SIM

39

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.

40

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 panIndia presence using 'Mobile Office' with your phone or a phone
and laptop both.
Get the EDGE
Browse the internet on your mobile phone with Airtel's EDGE
services. Enjoy live TV, enhanced WAP experience and Airtel Data
Cards on our high speed network.
Hello Tunes
Tired of that boring old tring tring on your phone? Well now when
a friend calls, you can make them groove to the hottest new tracks
burning up the music charts with Hello Tunes from Airtel! You get
a wide choice of songs in the Popular & New Arrivals categories
that are updated regularly. What's more, you can directly call the
number for your kind of music, e.g. call 678005 for English New
and 678001 for Hindi New. This would directly take you to your
favourite artist's Hello Tunes listing.

41

Copy a Hello Tunes

Like a tune you want, all you have to do is call 55055 and follow
the simple voice instructions to copy your favourite Hello Tunes.
Once inside the copy feature, just key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile
number you want to copy the Hello Tune from and you get the
same Hello Tune assigned to your number.
Gift a Hello Tunes
Forget gifting chocolates, flowers and greeting cards. Say it with a
song instead! Gift a Hello Tune to that special someone. Just call
55055 and choose the song that you want to gift. Follow the simple
voice instructions and key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile number
that you want to gift the Hello Tune to. You will get an SMS
notification upon successful receipt of that gift.
Buy Music - Airtel Music Shops
Buying your favourite Hello Tune or Ringtone is as simple as
recharging your phone with talktime. Simply walk into your
nearest Airtel Shop and walk out with your favourite song. Choose
from Bollywood Hits to Indipop Remixes, Hard Rock to Gujrati

42

Garba, Bhajans to Jazz, Bhangra Beats to foot tapping Tamil Hits

from a list of more than 18000 songs.

43

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

quicker

response.

TARIFF

STRUCTURE
Prepaid Tariffs

Airtel Prepaid Ready Cellular Card and Recharge Cards are

available, all over the city at over retail outlets including 24-hour
outlets. Airtel Prepaid Ready Cellular Card and Recharge Cards are
available, all over the city at over retail outlets including 24-hour
outlets.

44

Airtel Prepaid Regular

449
SUK
Pulse Rate

60 sec

Price of Pack (Rs.)

Rs.449

Free Airtime on Pack (Rs.)

Nil

Incoming Calls (Rs.)

Free while in home network

Airtel

GSM / CDMA
(10 Digit)

Landline / WLL

LOCAL RATES (Rs./min)

Rs.1.20

Rs.2.00

Rs.2.40

STD RATES (Rs./min)

Rs.2.75

Rs.2.75

Rs.2.75

ISD (Rs./min)
USA, Canada, Europe (Fixed
Rs.6.40
Line), Australia, Singapore, Hong
Kong, Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, New Zealand.
Gulf, Europe (Mobile), SAARC
countries, Africa & Rest of the
world

Rs.9.20

Cuba, Sao Tome & Principe,

Guinea Bissau, Diego Garcia,
Nauru, Solomon Islands,
Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Tuvalu,
Tokelau, Norfolk Island,
Sakhalin

Rs.40.00

SMS (Rs.)
Local

Rs.1.20

National

Rs.2.00

International

Rs.5.00

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

45

* Validity- 24 months.

POSTPAID
Airtel Postpaid allows you to choose from a variety of affordable
talk plans, convenient payment options and host of rich features.
So get set to enjoy a world of limitless possibilities!
Reference Tarif Packages (RTP)
ON TIME CHARGES
Activation Charges
Membership Fee
Security Deposit
MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED)
Bill plan Charge
Monthly Rental
Clip
MONTHLY CHARGES (OPTIONAL)
Clip

Rs.
Rs.
NA
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
NA

250
250
524
444
150

Rs. 99
Airtel

GSM

/ Landline /

CDMA (10 WLL

Rs. 1.99
Local Rates
STD RATES
50 200 Km
200 500 Km
500 + Km
ISD
USA, Canda, Europe (Fixed Line), Rs. 7.20
Austalia, Singapore, Hong Kong,
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, new
Zealand

46

Digit)
Rs 1.99

Rs 1.99

Gulf,

Europe

(Mobile),

SAARC Rs 9.99

Countries, Africa & Rest of the

world
Cuba,
Guinea

Sao

tome

Bissau,

&

Principle, Rs. 40.00

Diego

Garcia,

Nauru, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu,

Cook

Island,

Tuvalu,

Tokelau,

Norfolk Island, Sakhalin

SMS
Local
National
International
Value Added Services (Rs.)

Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.

1.00
2.00
5.00
3.00

Airtel One Standard 150

ONE TIME CHARGES
Activation Charges
Membership Fee

Rs 250
Rs 250 (Converts into security after
24 months)
NA
Rs. 150
Rs. 50
Rs. 150
NA

Security Deposit
MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED)
Bill Plan Charge
Monthly Rental
Clip
MONTHLY CHARGES (OPTIONAL)
Clip
Rs. 50
Bissau, Diego Garcia, Nauru,
Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Cook
Islands, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Norfolk
Island, Sakhalin
SMS
Local
National

Rs 1.00
Rs 2.00

47

Intentional
VAS

Rs. 5.00
Rs. 3.00

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

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

Monthly rental Rs 25 per months/-

STD Pack

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

Monthly rental Rs 75 per month/-

Special offer for Airtel Telephone service customers for

availing Airtel Mobile services
If you already have Airtel Telephone service, you can buy a
new Airtel Mobile connection under Airtel One Standard 150
Plan.

Benefits:

Non security deposit.

No membership / activation fee

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

48

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

line has been waived off for 1 year.

For details, call us 516-12345

Advance Rental benefits (1year scheme)
Pay an advance rent of Rs 499 and enjoy Airtel One Standard 150
plan at Zero monthly rental for one year.
Advance rental of Rs 499 gives you a rental discount of Rs 150
every month for the next 2 months. All other options and charges
are as per the existing Airtel One Standard 150 Plan.

Airtel one Standard 299

ONE TIME CHARGES
Activation Charges
Membership Fee

Rs 250
Rs 250 (Converts into security after

Security Deposit
MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED)
Bill Plan Charge
Monthly Rental
Clip
MONTHLY CHARGES (OPTIONAL)
Clip

24 months)
NA
Rs 299
Rs. 150
Rs. 299
NA
Rs. 50
Airtel

GSM

/ Landline /

CDMA (10 WLL

Digit)

49

LOCAL RATES
STD RATES
50-200Km
200 500 Km
500 + Km
ISD
USA, Canda, Europe (Fixed Line),

Re. 1.00

Rs. 1.00

Rs. 1.00

Rs. 2.00
Rs. 2.00
Rs. 2.00

Rs. 2.40
Rs. 2.40
Rs. 2.40

Rs. 2.40
Rs. 2.40
Rs. 2.40

Rs. 7.20

Austalia, Singapore, Hong Kong,

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, new
Zealand
Gulf, Europe

(Mobile),

SAARC Rs 9.99

Countries, Africa & Rest of the

world
Cuba,
Guinea

Sao

tome

Bissau,

&

Principle, Rs. 40.00

Diego

Garcia,

Nauru, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu,

Cook

Island,

Tuvalu,

Tokelau,

Norfolk Island, Sakhalin

SMS
Local
National
International
Value Added Services (Rs.)

Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.

1.00
2.00
5.00
3.00

You also enjoy 25 FREE local mobile to mobile SMS

50

Senior Citizen Plan

ONE TIME CHARGES

Activation Charges
Membership Fee

Rs. 250
Rs. 250 (Concerts into security
deposit after 24 months)
NA
Rs. 150
Rs. 51
Rs. 99

Security Deposit
MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED)
Bill Plan Charge
Monthly Rental
Clip
NA
Cuba, Sao Tome & Principle,
Guinea

Bissau,

Diego

Garcia,

Nauru, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu,

Cook

Islands,

Tuvalu,

Tokelau,

Norfolk Island, Sakhalin

SMS
Local

Rs. 1.50

National
International
VAS

Rs. 2.00
Rs. 5.00
Rs. 3.00

With Senior Citizen Plan

51

You can take 3 Friends and Family numbers:

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

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

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

Zealand) Rs. 9.99 / min

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

months on:

News

Astrology

Health Tips

The SMS charges as applicable is per 160 Characters.

52

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.

53

According to Mr. Jagdish Kini, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti

Mobile Limited, Karnataka "We are adopting a new brand- platform
- Touch Tomorrow - not only to reflect our corporate ethos but also
business strategy".
The new identity will have the logo in Red, Black and White colours
along with lower case typography to convey warmth. AirTel will
incorporate the latest branding in all of its communication and will
soon be going in for an enhanced promotional drive to establish the
brand's presence.
LIFE TIME PLAN
PRE-PAID card users need not worry anymore about recharging
their coupons every month. Company has launched a plan that
allows users to take a pre-paid connection with lifetime validity for
a one time payment of Rs. 999. Subscribers availing themselves of
this scheme will also get full talk time for the recharge coupon they
purchase and also have the option to buy Taiwanese manufactured
Bird mobile handsets for as low as Rs. 1,399.

54

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

subscriber base. Once a subscriber takes this plan, he will always
be an Airtel subscriber whether the mobile is being used or not.

55

MARKET SITUATION

At the time of launch

The first mover in the market was Airtel which launched its
services in Delhi in Aug 1995 (Informal launch). Essar Cellphone
followed by launching its services informally in Oct 95.

At this

point of time, the market was at a nascent stage, awareness level

was low and both operators independently tried to spread
awareness and educate the people
Once the networks were commercially launched, it became a
number game with a multitude of schemes being offered to woo
customers Initially the cellphone was perceived as a status symbol
and utility took a back seat The target segment in Delhi were
corporate and the high income group.

The average capacity

installed was for 1.5 lakh subscribers. This coupled with the steep
license fee paid to DOT put pressure on the operators to breakeven by rapidly expanding their markets.

In the first two years,

this led to a number of schemes being offered and prices crashing.

56

COMPETITIVE SITUATION
Airtel launched its services before Essar and skimmed the market
picking up the bulk of the high usage premium clients. This is a
very competitive industry with the two companies differentiating
either on value-added services or price. Airtel is perceived as the
high quality provider and has a premium image.

Essar, on the

other hand, is perceived as the lower end service provider. Airtel

positions itself as the market leader on the basis of the number of
subscribers. Essar is trying to counter this by emphasising on the
reach of its network and the quality of its service. However, Essar
is somewhat not been very successful largely due to the
inconsistency in advertising
To promote themselves, both the players have been dependent on
tactical advertising However, they have restrained from using
comparative advertising Hoardings have been a very popular
medium for carrying the advertisements Airtel has also been
advertising on television using the Bharti Telecom name.
SALES DEPARTMENT AND STRATEGY
A.

Major Accounts (Direct Channel)

Handles corporate (named and famed) accounts

Forecasting of sales
57

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

58

Useful for people visiting Delhi for a short interval.

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.

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.

59

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
Upper Lower
X
X
X
X
X
X

Cellular Phones
Pager
Conventional
Phones
X Market Segment Targeted

Middle
Upper
X
X
X

Lower
X
X

Economy
Upper Lower
X
-

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

60

brand, because getting them to switch brand loyalty later would be

hard
So far Airtel marketers have been concentrating totally on the
business executive class but now that the basic viable volumes has
beer) built up and prices have declined to a certain extent they are
planning to venture further a field.

POSITIONING
The product is sought to be positioned as a business efficiency
tool. a lifestyle revolution and a status symbol The emphasis is to
remove misconception that the cellphone is an expensive means of
communication and drive home the point that the cellphone is
actually a day-to-day utility

PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING

The product or service is the heart of the marketing mix. Without
a product or a service customers' needs cannot be satisfied.
The basic product promise by Airtel is mobility.

Airtel's main

marketing strategy is to be a first mover all the time.

It has

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

61

the field of Communication & Information Technology changes

occur at a tremendous pace.
Effective product segmentation has to be carried on continuously
because basic services can be and will be copied and in time
become expected component of the product. Airtel seeks to carry
out this segmentation through provision of new information
services and making new facilities available.

The product policy

and planning depends on the stage of the product life cycle.

At

present the cellular phone market has reached the maturity stage.
Since, the premium segment is nearing saturation the company
targeting the upper middle and middle-middle class. In order to do
so Airtel is trying to optimise the price performance package by
offering suitable "product bundling".
This involves the selection of the suitable hardware (handset) and
its software (its services.) with reasonable price in order to deliver
maximum price performance to its customers. In addition, it offers
free Airtime services and other concessions to make the prices and
thus the product more attractive. It has also opened a 24 hours
customer service.

62

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

63

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

64

mobile phone as compared to a conventional phone [if is believed

that initially cellphones would be used buy]
viii) Roaming Facility
Roaming facility is available while the subscriber is travelling. The
billing is done in the home network (Delhi).

Roaming facility is

available manually* as well as semi-automatically.

Once a

subscriber is In any other city or country, where a GSM network is

available, simply insert the SIM card of the local operator Into your
handset and start talking.
*

Manual Roaming means a separate SIM card is provided for

each city

**

Semi automatic roaming means one card has the facility for
different cities.

AIRTEL'S MARKETING ORIENTATION.

Since this is a high-involvement expensive product, the service
provider has to fully take care of the customers.
a)

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

problem faced by the customer

65

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 notemaking the last 30 seconds count.

Airtel realises that attracting people 'Is easy but converting them
into loyal customers is hard, hence emphasis is on maintaining a
'Smiling and a Friendly Atmosphere' to please and retain the
customer.

PRICE AND PRICING POLICY

AIRTEL has realised that the Indian market is price sensitive.
Therefore it care of the has come up with various innovative tariff
schemes to take needs of different category of customersGenerally, the cellular services are more expensive than the land
line based telephone services. This is due to the reason that the

66

operating companies are required to pay a fee to the government

for using airtime.

67

MARKETING STRATEGY
ADOPTED BY BHARTI
Bharti has spent a considerable amount on advertising its mobile
phone service, Airtel. Besides print advertising, the company had
put up large no of hoardings and kiosks in and around Delhi.
The objective behind designing a promotion campaign for the
Airtel services is to promote the brand awareness and to build
brand preferences.
It is trying to set up a thematic campaign to build a stronger brand
equity for Airtel.

Since the cellular phone category itself is too

restricted, also the fact that a Cellular phone is a high involvement

product, price doesn't qualify as an effective differentiator.

The

image of the service provider counts a great deal. Given the Cell
phone category, it is the network efficiency and the quality of
service that becomes important. What now the buyer is looking at
is to get the optimum price-performance package. This also serves
as an effective differentiator
Brand awareness is spread through the' campaigns and brand
preference through brand stature. Airtel's campaign in the capital
began with a series of 'teaser' hoardings across the city,' bearing
68

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 Cellphone.

In the first four months alone Airtei's

advertisement spend exceeded Rs. 4 crores.

As of today the awareness level Is 60% unaided. This implies that
if potential or knowledgeable consumers are asked to name a
Cellular phone service provider that is on the top of his/her mind
60% of them would name Airtel. As for aided it -is 100% (by giving
clues and hints etc.).
Brand strength of a product or the health of a brand is measured
by the percentage score of the brand on the above aided and the
unaided tests.

The figures show that Airtel is a healthy and a

thriving brand.
Every company has a goal, which might comprise a sales target
and a game plan with due regard to Its competitor.

69

Airtel 's

campaign strategy is designed keeping in mind its marketing

strategy.

The tone, tenor and the stance of the visual ads are

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

market share. It tries to portray the image of being a "first mover
every time" and that of a "market leader".
The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just reached
the maturity stage in India.

It is still on the rising part of the

product life cycle curve in the maturity stage.

The diagram on the left hand side shows the percentage of the
users classified into heavy, medium and low categories. The right
hand side shows the revenue share earned from the three types of
users.
Airtel, keeping in mind the importance of the customer retention,
values its heavy users the most and constantly indulges in service
innovation. But, since heavy users comprise only 15 - 20% of the
population the other segment cannot be neglected.
The population which has just realised the importance of cellular
phones has to be roped in. It is for this reason that the service
provider offers a plethora of incentives and discounts.

Concerts

like the "Freedom concert" are being organised by Airtel in order to

70

promote sales.
mind.

The media channel is chosen with economy in

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.

71

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 franchises has to invest

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

officer recruited by Airtel. This person acts as an liaison between
the company and the franchises.

The franchises can it any

number of dealers as long as their territories do not overlap. But

unfortunately Airtel has not been very successful in controlling
72

territorial overlaps of dealers. The franchises can carry out his 1

her own promotional strategy. For this the. company contributes
75% of the money and the franchises contributes 25% of the
money.

The dealers under the franchisee receive the same

commission.

The franchises and the dealer obtain the feedback

from the customers and they are sent through the liaison officer on
a day-to-day basis to Airtel. The dealer has to invest Rupees. One
Lakh as an initial investment. The dealer of Airtel are not allowed
to provide any other operators' service.
Target set for distributors and the dealers is 100 -150 activations
per month. Hence the dealers can also go for their own promotions
like banners and discounts on festivals etc. The dealer provides
service promptly. The consumer on providing the bill of purchase
for the handset and proof of residence has only to wait an hour
before getting connected. The staff of the dealers and the
franchisees are provided training by the Airtel personnel.
The complaints encountered by the franchisees and dealers are
either handset being non-functional or the SIM Card not getting
activated. Anything more complicated is referred to the main Airtel
office in Delhi.

73

74

WHAT DOES AIRTEL OFFER?

With Airtel, the subscriber wouldn't just get a personal phone that
lets him/her be in touch, always, but also gets a host of benefits
that let him/her manage his/her time like never before.
An Airtel subscriber is provided with a Subscriber Identity Module
Card (SIM card) - that is the key to operating his/her cellular
phone. His card activates Airtel cellular services and contains a
complete micro-computer chip with memory to enable one to enjoy
one's cellular phone thoroughly. Each SIM card contains a PIN
code (Personal Identity Number) which may be entered by one.
Just plug your SIM card into your cellular phone, enter the PIN
code and it becomes 'your' personal phone'.
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
The pattern of cellphone subscriber growth observed elsewhere in
the world reveals that the growth in the market is Initially slow
followed by a sharp acceleration, but so far that has not happened
in India. As far as the Product Life Cycle is concerned. Indians are
at the beginning of the maturity stage.

75

Introduction

Growth

Maturity

MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Create product

Maximise market

Maximise 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.
Price

Distribution

added services.

Charge cost-

Price to

Price to match

plus

penetrate

or best

market

competitors

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

76

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.

77

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Objectives:

To

study

the

importance

and

development

of

tele

communication 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.

78

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.

79

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.

80

FINDINGS
1. Do you believe that India is potentially one of the most
exciting mobile service providers in the world?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
4
4
4
4

No
1
1
1
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.

6
AirTel

10

Vodafone

81

Idea

Yes

No

12
MTNL

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
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
4
3
3
5

No
1
2
2
--

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.

5
4.5
4
3.5

AirTel

Vodafone

2.5

Idea

MTNL

1.5
1
0.5
0
Yes

No

82

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

operators in India is the diversity of the coverage regions?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
2
3
3
2

No
3
2
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.

3
2.5
2

AirTel
Vodafone

1.5

Idea
MTNL

1
0.5
0
Yes

No

83

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

is a very complex standard?
Company

To some extent

To great extent

Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

(1-5)
3
2
2
3

(6-10)
2
3
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.

3
2.5
AirTel

Vodafone

1.5

Idea
MTNL

1
0.5
0
To some extent

To great extent

84

CONSUMER LEVEL
1. Do you believe that mobile service providers comes close to
fulfilling the requirements for a personal communication
system?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
9
8
8
5

No
1
2
2
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
2
No

2
2

MTNL
Idea
Vodafone

AirTel
3

Yes

3
3

85

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

exciting and satisfying mobile standard?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
9
7
8
8

No
1
3
2
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.

10
AirTel

15

20

Vodafone

Idea

86

Yes

No

25
MTNL

30

35

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

commitment

to

creating

modern

and

efficient

communications?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes
10
8
10
8

No
-2
-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.

2
0
No

2
0

MTNL
Idea
Vodafone
8

AirTel
10

Yes

8
10

SWOT ANALYSIS
87

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

88

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

89

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

conferencing is also another feature Airtel provides.

90

service.

Call

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bernard J. T. Mallinder. Specification Methodology Applied to

the GSM System. In EUROCON 88, June 2005.

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

Communication

Services.

IEEE

Personal

Communications. 1(1), 1994.

Moe Rahnema. Overview of the GSM System and Protocol

Architecture. IEEE Communications Magazine. April 1993.

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

R.C.V Macario, editors, Cellular Radio Systems, Artech House,
Boston, 1993.

Robert G. Winch. Telecommunication Transmission Systems.

McGrawHill New York, 1993.

Vodafone

Airtel

Idea

MTNL

91

QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME: ____________________________________
ADDRESS: ____________________________________
OCCUPATION: ____________________________________

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

exciting mobile service providers in the world?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes

No

2. Do you find that the governments telecom policy has had

the most radical impact on the development of mobile service
providers?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea

Yes

No

92

MTNL

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

operators in India is the diversity of the coverage regions?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes

No

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

93

CONSUMER LEVEL
1. Do you believe that mobile service providers comes close to
fulfilling the requirements for a personal communication
system?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone

Yes

No

Idea
MTNL

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

exciting and satisfying mobile standard?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

Yes

No

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

commitment

to

creating

modern

and

communications?
Company
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea

Yes

94

No

efficient

MTNL

95