PROJECT REPORT

ON

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF AIRTEL

SUBMITTED UNDER PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENT FOR

TRAINING SUPERVISOR: PROJECT ADVISOR:

SUBMITTED BY:

SESSION:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I acknowledge the sincere assistance provided to me from

several rather unexpected quarters during the course of

execution of this study. It would be a mammoth task to place on

record my gratitude to each and every one of them but a whole

hearted attempt would be made nevertheless, least I be branded

ungrateful.

I am extremely thankful to Mr.Abhishek Yadav, (Unit

Advisor) for giving me an opportunity to undergo training in
BHARTI AIRTEL MARKETING and making my stay at AIRTEL
MARKETING a memorable learning experience.

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

deeply indebt to ---------------------- for her encouragement,

affections, valuable advice and guidance that helped me to

complete this project successfully.

2
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project aims at understanding the Marketing strategies at

Airtel and its impact on the perception of Airtel Cellular Services.

Research has demonstrated conclusively that it is far more costly

to win a new customer than it is to maintain an existing one. And

there is no better way to retain a customer than to exceed his

expectations. For this purpose it is essential to know the level of

customer satisfaction. The focus of my research was the

measurement of customer satisfaction level for the services

provided by Bharti Airtel. The research was done for the

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

represent the Corporate Sales Dept. and collect the feedback

from the clients but also to get the major complaints resolved

through internal counselling. There can be no better opportunity

to interact with the external as well as the internal customers of

an organization. Finally the results of the research verify the fact

that keeping the customer satisfied is the best strategy to not

only retain the existing customers but also to expand the

business to new horizons.

3
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IN INDIA 7

2. GSM MARKET IN INDIA 11

3. INTRODUCTION 23

4. TARIFF STRUCTURE 39

5. PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY 48

6. MARKET SITUATION 50

7. COMPETITIVE SITUATION 51

8. MARKETING STRATEGY ADAPTED BY BHARTI 60

9. OBJECTIVE 69

10. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 70

11. LIMITATION 71

12. SWOT ANALYSIS 79

13. CONCLUSION 81

14. BIBLIOGRAPHY 82

15. QUESTIONNAIRE 83

4
 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

5
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

6
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

7
Telecom's 8.9 lakh subscribers. MTNL is the ninth largest

operator, with a base of 8.32 lakh subscribers.

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

metros, subscriber base of category A circles of Maharashtra,

Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu jumped by

10.18 % to reach 43.64 lakh. Category B circles of Kerala,

Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West), Uttar Pradesh (East),

Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal recorded a jump of

10.69%, with a total base of 33.74 lakh subscribers. Circle C has

reported 12.74 % growth with subscriber numbers jumping to

5.08 lakh.

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

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

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

66.89 lakh. While the cellular industry has been on roll for the

first three quarters of the previous financial year with an average

of 16.75 lakh monthly additions in the third quarter, the first two

months of 2007 had seen the growth slowing down.

8
 GSM MARKET IN INDIA

Regional Interest Groups - GSM India

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

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

markets in the world. After two rather difficult years, the past 12

months have seen the region's promise beginning to come to

fruition. Much of this success can be attributed to the

stabilisation of the licensing and regulatory environment.

India's telecommunications have undergone a steady

liberalisation since 1994 when the Indian government first

sought private investment in the sector. More significant

liberalisation followed in 1996 with the licensing of new local

fixed line and mobile service providers. However, it has been the

9
government's New Telecom Policy (1999) that has had the most

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

mission statement is 'affordable communications for all', There

is a genuine commitment to creating a modern and efficient

communications infrastructure that takes account of the

convergence of telecom, IT and media. In addition, the policy

places significant emphasis on greater competition for both fixed

and mobile services.'

Competition in the mobile sector has already had a visible

impact on prices with calls currently costing less than 9 cents per

minute. This means that service costs have fallen by 60 per cent

since the first GSM networks became live in 1995. It also helps

explain why a recent Telecom Asia survey revealed that more

than 70 per cent of Indian mobile subscribers felt that prices

were now at a reasonable level.

One of the challenges facing GSM operators in India is the

diversity of the coverage regions -from remote rural regions to

some of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the

world. India has more than 40 networks, which cover the seven

largest cities, over 7000 towns and several Lacs villages. Such

depth of coverage has required enormous investment from

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

10
had been invested in India's GSM industry by mid-2000, a figure

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

the next five years.

The good news is that subscriber growth is beginning to look

healthy. With India's low PC penetration and high average

Internet usage -at 14-20 hours a month per user it is comparable

to the US -the market for mobile data and m-commerce looks

extremely promising. WAP services have already been launched

in the subcontinent and the first GPRS networks are in the

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

work with its members to realise the potential of early packet

services in anticipation of the award of 3GSM licences.

India fastest growing GSM mart

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

mobile communications) customers by 2007-08 compared to 26

million subscribers as on March 2005, according to the Global

Mobile Suppliers Association. "For GSM, India is a success story.

It is one of the fastest growing markets with its subscriber base

doubling in 2005. At this pace, the target of 150 million

subscribers by 2007-2008 is definitely achievable," Alan Hadden,

president of GSA, said at a news conference in New Delhi.

11
Globally, the GSM market reached 1 billion users in February

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

subscriber growth in 2005."Almost every Latin American operator

has chosen GSM. In North America GSM growth is bigger than

CDMA (code division multiple access)," he said. Commenting on

the raging debate over GSM versus CDMA in mobile services

arena, Hadden said: "GSM is the world's most successful mobile

standard with over 1 billion users, and is an open mobile

standard. It also supports automatic international roaming, which

is a major contributor to business plans."

India’s GSM mobile firms’ revenue up 30 pct

India’s private telecoms firms offering GSM-based mobile

services reported a 24 percent rise in revenue in the year to

March 2007 but said future growth rates could slow because of

heavy taxes on the nascent industry. Although India’s mobile

sector is the world’s fastest growing major wireless market, it is

amongst the highest taxed industries in the country. Mobile

carriers pay as much as 25 percent of their revenue as licence

fee, spectrum charges and other taxes. The Cellular Operators

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

at 83.08 billion rupees ($1.86 billion) compared with 64 billion

rupees a year earlier. According to T.V. Ramachandran, director

12
general at COAI, “These revenue growth rates cannot be

maintained unless there is a concerted effort by the government

to cut excessive levies and allow sharing of infrastructure”

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

demand in the sector.” Ramachandran said the sector was still

losing money but declined to elaborate. Sales jumped because

of a doubling of the GSM (Global System of Mobile

Communications) user base as more people entered the

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

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

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

quarter compared with 523 rupees in the first quarter due to a

cut in tariffs and excessive competition among companies.

Growth slowing, demand untapped: The association has not

included the financial performance and the GSM-user base of

state-run firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the second-ranked

player, and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, Ramachandran

said. There are 150 million GSM customers and more than 96

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

country.

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

million users took up the service in April compared with

13
1.9 million in the previous month and 1.63 million in February.

Ramachandran blamed the slowdown on a majority of small GSM

operators being unable to expand networks into rural swathes

where demand remained largely untapped.

“Our surpluses are not enough to cover costs of network

expansion and financing charges on loans. We are making

money only to cover operating expenses,” he said. Carriers are

now subsidising handset costs to woo users into the

underpenetrated industry forecast to have more than 250 million

customers by 2007. Roughly three percent of Indians own a

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

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

Singapore Telecommunications, Reliance Infocomm Ltd and the

Indian GSM-unit of Vodafone group battle in the hotly

competitive sector.

14
DOES GSM HAVE THE EDGE?

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

rapid strides made by CDMA mobile players Reliance Infocomm

and Tata Indicom in the Indian cellular market?

The GSM suppliers – both handset and equipment - who

incidentally also have their other foot firmly placed in the CDMA

pie, are beginning to lose some sleep over what was earlier

termed as `niche’ and `minuscule’ data carriage market by the

operators

Apart from the strong success of the two CDMA operators whose

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

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

15
based networks that launched general packet radio service

(GPRS) service for data connectivity in last three years, has the

vendors worried. Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) now

believes that even though India will primarily remain a voice

traffic-led market in next two-three years, the data traffic

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

trying to make GSM operators feel as well.

THE CDMA CHALLENGE

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

based networks, which can give hi-speed, always-on connectivity

to the Internet, and other data services. GSM operators, on the

other hand, have had to migrate from the frustrating experience

of WAP (wireless application protocol) to GPRS, which has not

16
significantly improved the subscriber’s experience of surfing the

Net on/from mobile.

The top brass of GSA, an organisation comprising Nokia,

Siemens, Ericsson, Alcatel and Lucent Technologies - met on

Tuesday in the capital to persuade the operators to adopt EDGE

(Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) and leave GPRS behind

as a dream gone sour.

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

GPRS, but the data transfer speeds of GPRS have been abysmal.

The field trials gave a speed of around 54 kbps, but the actual

speeds have not exceeded 14-18 kbps, a major reason why GPRS

growth has been so slow. As against the total GSM cellular base

of 5.61 crore, the country has between 2,80,000 lakh GPRS users

only. In comparison, the two CDMA operators have about 120

lakh connections. All these sets are data compliant. Though no

figures are available as to how many use these for data services,

the figure is believed to be respectable as a percentage ratio for

CDMA.

Bharti is almost there

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

launching its EDGE service in Delhi and Mumbai by end May or

early June, sources said. The company was the first to conduct

field trials in November with its equipment supplier Ericsson. Idea

17
too held EDGE field trials in February this year with its vendor

Nokia. Vodafone and BPL are yet to hold the trials. The two

companies would eventually migrate to EDGE, but perhaps after

seeing the response to Bharti’s service.

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

180 kbps (as against the theoretical speed of around 380 kbps)

which, if achieved, promises the launch of many data

applications. The scalable cost of migrating from GPRS to EDGE

is not too high and mainly comprises software upgrades in case

of a modern network such as Bharti and Hutch, claimed chairman

of GSA India chapter Rakesh Malik.

Will GSM maintain its headstart?

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

Alan Hadden predicted that GSM growth will far outstrip CDMA as

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

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

December 2004. According to GSA, there are over 1.1 billion

GSM subscribers worldwide as against 250 million CDMA

customers. The revenue of top 25 global operators from data

averages 18 per cent and 22 of these operators run GSM

18
networks. Overall, there are 76 operators in 50 countries that

have committed to deploy EDGE.

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

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

were migrating gradually to GSM, not CDMA, pointed out Hadden

at the GSM Evolution Forum. The Forum is a global GSA program

to assist the operators for evolution to third generation (3G)

technologies. “People are using their phones for much more than

voice. Fifteen networks have commercially launched EDGE as it

can run 3G like services in the existing spectrum for the

operators without needing a 3G license. Even the migration to a

full-fledged 3G level of Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) will be smooth

with EDGE,” said Hadden.

“Besides, the automatic roaming provided by GSM networks in

almost 200 countries is a power that CDMA doesn’t give you. We

know for sure that almost 20-25 per cent of the revenue for

some GSM operators comes from roaming customers,” he added.

But CDMA is no pushover with Korea and Philippines as the

shining jewels in its crown. The first CDMA 2000 1X was

commercially deployed in October 2000.

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

whereas nine have launched services based on 1xEV-DO

19
platform across Asia, the Americas and Europe. At least, 16 new

1X and six 1xEV-DO networks are scheduled to be deployed in

2004, according to CDMA Development Group. EV-DO and EV-DV

are the next level of evolution on the CDMA 2000 1X platform,

capable of delivering services comparable to 3G WCDMA.

Where are the models?

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

compliant handsets at affordable rates. While the two CDMA

operators have been giving out handsets that can give hi-speed

data transfer, same has not been the case with GSM. Even now,

GPRS handsets have not become commonplace and GPRS

feature is found only in mid and high-end segment handsets.

End sum game

When the networks deploy EDGE, subscribers can expect the

delivery of advanced mobile services such as easy downloading

of video and music clips, full multimedia messaging, besides

high-speed Internet and e-mail access, provided their handset

supports all this.

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

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

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

20
example promises delivery of a phenomenal 2 megabytes per

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

level corporates gives.

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

motion audio-video applications, including video telephony. GSM

lobby may continue to remain gung ho over the future of their

technologies over that boosted by the American firms Qualcomm

and Motorola, but Indian market could well throw an interesting

scenario that industry experts will do well to watch. In the

coming months, Reliance plans to offer its CDMA subscribers

much more than what GSM players intend to deliver through

their EDGE for their subscribers.

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

most difficult to predict. A Korea and Japan may not be waiting to

happen in India, but India will probably be more like the Chinese

market with both standards co-existing. For now, GSM rules!

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.

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

22
include Cellular, Basic, Internet and recently introduced National

Long Distance. Bharti also manufactures and exports telephone

terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the largest

manufacturer of telephone instruments in India, it is also the first

company to export its products to the USA. Bharti has also put its

footsteps into Insurance and Retail segment in collaboration with

Multi- National giants. Bharti is the leading cellular service

provider, with a footprint in 23 states covering all four metros

and more than 50 million satisfied customers.

SERVICES

Airtel Prepaid

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

from Bharti Enterprises, India's leading integrated telecom

service provider. 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.

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/-.

23
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 Airtel’s world-class

technology and unbreakable network coverage that spans over

23 circles across the country.

Instant Balance and Validity Enquiry

Your account balance is updated on the screen of your handset

at the end of each chargeable call. You can also call 123 from

your mobile phone and listen to the voice announcement or

simply dial *123#, press 'OK' or 'YES' button and your account

balance will be displayed on the screen of your handset.

Recharge your Airtel Prepaid

Recharging is Easy. The calling value on your card keeps

reducing as you make calls or use any other chargeable service.

Choose the Airtel Prepaid Recharge Coupon that’s right for you,

from a variety of tailor– made recharge coupons with different

24
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

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

25
When your handset is switched off, or you’re too busy to answer

the phone, Airtel Voicemail will answer your calls and record a

message. The best part is that there's no extra monthly cost for

setting up Voicemail - you just pay for the phone call when you

use the service.

SMS (Short Messaging Service)

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

talk or you don't have much time. It's the way to share those

interesting one-liners, important reminders and rib-tickling jokes,

with anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.

Subscription Alerts

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

your Airtel mobile phone with Subscription Services. SMS <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!

26
Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination

with Airtel Live! Airtel brings you the latest in entertainment and

information services, right on your phone!

Airtel Live! WAP Services: Download the latest ring tones,

games, wallpapers, videos and much more. You can also get

news clips, watch live TV and download full songs on you phone.

To get Airtel Live! settings on your phone, SMS 'Live' to 56465

and save the settings that you receive as your preferred

connection. Airtel Live! Portal can be accessed from you GPRS

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

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

service. For e.g. say ring tones to download your favorite ring

tones. You can also choose a variety of content options like Live

Cricket Commentary, latest National / International News, Movie

Reviews or Stock Market Updates.

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

exciting services like cricket, stocks, on your phone at the touch

of a few buttons with Airtel Live! SIM based Services on your SIM

card menu. To download new services on your Airtel SIM, choose

the "What's new" option under the "Airtel services" menu.

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

sending a keyword as an SMS to 56465! Choose Astrology /

27
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 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.

29
Buy Music - Airtel Music Shops

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

recharging your phone with talk time. Simply walk into your

nearest Airtel Shop and walk out with your favorite song. Choose

from Bollywood Hits to Indipop Remixes, Hard Rock to Gujrati

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

from a list of more than 18000 songs.

Reach us Anytime Anywhere

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

accessible from anywhere in the country, even while roaming.

You can also send us an SMS to 121 or mail us at

121@airtelindia.com.

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

the subject of the mail for a quicker response.

Airtel Postpaid

Airtel welcomes you to a vibrant world of unlimited opportunities.

More exciting, innovative yet simple new ways to communicate,

just when you want to, not just through words but ideas,

emotions and feelings. To give you the unlimited freedom to

reach out to your special people in your special way.

30
Easy Billing

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

on ‘My Airtel’ section and view your monthly bill with call details

for last three months. Sort your calls between personal and

official or analyze your usage, at the click of a button. To change

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

Easy Payment Options. Anytime Anywhere

You can choose from a host of convenient payment options only

with Airtel. Walk into any Airtel relationship centre and make

your payments by cash or credit card. Drop a cheque at any of

the drop boxes for making payments or simply log on to My Airtel

section and pay instantly through your credit card. You can also

opt for easy payment options like:

Standing Instructions

You can give us standing instructions to debit your credit card

account for your monthly Airtel bills. All you have to do is fill the

Standing Instruction Form and mail, fax it to us or drop it any of

our relationship centres.

31
Electronic Clearing System

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

relationship centres to directly debit your bank account for your

monthly Airtel bill.

Pay while roaming

Airtel has introduced 'Anywhere payment' that offers you the

convenience of making payments while you roam. Walk in to any

Airtel Relationship Centre in the country, make payments by

cash or credit card and enjoy uninterrupted Airtel Services.

Credit limit

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

you keep your mobile charges in control, keeps track of your

usage and ensures that your mobile phone is not misused.

Should you exceed your credit limit, you will be informed via a

voice or a non-voice message to make an interim payment and

reduce your account balance below your credit limit. You may

also choose to pay us an additional refundable deposit to

enhance your credit limit or opt for our convenient payment

method of Credit Card Standing instruction .You can also make

use of ECS facility.

32
Strong Network Coverage

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

class technology and unbreakable network coverage that spans

over 23 circles across the country.

Long Distance Calling Facility

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

facility on your Airtel phone.

Widest Roaming - National and International

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

your mobile phone to make or receive calls from almost

anywhere in India and also over 160 countries, abroad.

GPRS - Roaming

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

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

anywhere in India and abroad.

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

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

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

of fun and excitement.

33
Call management Services

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

Presentation, help you do more with your Airtel Postpaid

connection!

Conference call

You can hold a teleconference with 5 people simultaneously with

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

conference even when the other five are using a landline phone.

To know more, call customer service at 121.

Missed call alert

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

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

the call was made. To activate, dial *135*2# then press the call

button and wait for the request to be completed.

Voice Mail

When your handset is switched off, or you’re too busy to answer

the phone, Airtel Voicemail will answer your calls and record a

message. The best part is that there's no extra monthly cost for

setting up Voicemail - you just pay for the phone call when you

use the service.

34
SMS (Short Messaging Service)

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

talk or you don't have much time. It's the way to Share those

interesting one-liners, important reminders and rib-tickling jokes,

with anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.

Subscription Alerts

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

your Airtel mobile phone with Subscription Services. SMS

<SUB NEWS> for News, <SUB JOKE> for Jokes, <SUB BIZ> for

Business News, <SUB SPO> for Sports Alerts & <SUB VAASTU>

for Vaastu tips to 3333.

MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service):

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

with MMS from Airtel! To activate MMS on your phone, SMS

'MMS' to 56465 and save service settings.

Airtel Live!

Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination

with Airtel Live! Airtel brings you the latest in entertainment and

information services, right on your phone!

35
Airtel Live! WAP Services: Download the latest ringtones,

games, wallpapers, videos and much more. You can also get

news clips, watch live TV and download full songs on you phone!

To get Airtel Live! settings on your phone SMS 'Live' to 56465

and save the settings that you receive as your preferred

connection. Airtel Live! Portal can be accessed from you GPRS

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

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

of the service. For e.g. say ‘Ring tones’ to download your

favourite ring tones. You can also choose a variety of content

options like Live Cricket Commentary, latest National /

International News, Movie Reviews or Stock Market Updates.

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

exciting services like cricket, stocks, on your phone at the touch

of a few buttons with Airtel Live! SIM based Services on your SIM

card menu. To download new services on your Airtel SIM, choose

the "What's new" option under the "Airtel services" menu.

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

sending a keyword as an SMS to 56465 ! Choose Astrology /

Horoscope, Cricket, Bollywood / Hollywood / Indi Pop Ring tones.

In case you need assistance SMS ‘Help’ to 56465.

36
GPRS (General Packet Radio Services)

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

at a higher speed. Access e-mails and internet across Airtel's

pan-India presence using 'Mobile Office' with your phone or a

phone and laptop both.

Get the EDGE

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

services. Enjoy live TV, enhanced WAP experience and Airtel

Data Cards on our high speed network.

Hello Tunes

Tired of that boring old ‘tring tring’ on your phone? Well now

when a friend calls, you can make them groove to the hottest

new tracks burning up the music charts with Hello Tunes from

Airtel! You get a wide choice of songs in the Popular & New

Arrivals categories that are updated regularly. What's more, you

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

678005 for ‘English New’ and 678001 for ‘Hindi New’. This would

directly take you to your favourite artist's Hello Tunes listing.

37
Copy a Hello Tunes

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

the simple voice instructions to copy your favourite Hello Tunes.

Once inside the copy feature, just key in the 10-digit Airtel

mobile number you want to copy the Hello Tune from and you

get the same Hello Tune assigned to your number.

Gift a Hello Tunes

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

a song instead! Gift a Hello Tune to that special someone. Just

call 55055 and choose the song that you want to gift. Follow the

simple voice instructions and key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile

number that you want to gift the Hello Tune to. You will get an

SMS notification upon successful receipt of that gift.

Buy Music - Airtel Music Shops

Buying your favourite Hello Tune or Ringtone is as simple as

recharging your phone with talktime. Simply walk into your

nearest Airtel Shop and walk out with your favourite song.

Choose from Bollywood Hits to Indipop Remixes, Hard Rock to

Gujrati Garba, Bhajans to Jazz, Bhangra Beats to foot tapping

Tamil Hits from a list of more than 18000 songs.

38
Reach us, Anytime Anywhere

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

accessible from anywhere in the country, even while roaming. *In

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

subject of the mail for a quicker response. TARIFF

STRUCTURE

Prepaid Tariffs

Airtel Prepaid Ready Cellular Card and Recharge Cards are

available, all over the city at over retail outlets including 24-hour

outlets. Airtel Prepaid Ready Cellular Card and Recharge Cards

are available, all over the city at over retail outlets including 24-

hour outlets.

39
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 Landline / WLL

(10 Digit)

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 Rs.9.20

countries, Africa & Rest of the
world

Cuba, Sao Tome & Principe, Rs.40.00

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

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 eve
month)
*The SMS charge as applicable is per 160 characters
* Validity- 24 months.

40
POSTPAID

Airtel Postpaid allows you to choose from a variety of affordable

talk plans, convenient payment options and host of rich features.

So get set to enjoy a world of limitless possibilities!

Reference Tarif Packages (RTP)

ON TIME CHARGES
Activation Charges Rs. 250
Membership Fee Rs. 250
Security Deposit NA
MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED) Rs. 524
Bill plan Charge Rs. 444
Monthly Rental Rs. 150
Clip NA
MONTHLY CHARGES (OPTIONAL)
Clip Rs. 99
Airtel GSM / Landline /
CDMA (10 WLL
Digit)
Local Rates Rs. 1.99 Rs 1.99 Rs 1.99
STD RATES
50 – 200 Km
200 – 500 Km
500 + Km
ISD
USA, Canda, Europe (Fixed Line), 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, Sao tome & Principle, Rs. 40.00
Guinea Bissau, Diego Garcia,
Nauru, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu,

41
Cook Island, Tuvalu, Tokelau,
Norfolk Island, Sakhalin
SMS
Local Rs. 1.00
National Rs. 2.00
International Rs. 5.00
Value Added Services (Rs.) Rs. 3.00

Airtel One Standard 150

ONE TIME CHARGES
Activation Charges Rs 250
Membership Fee Rs 250 (Converts into security
after 24 months)
Security Deposit NA
MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED) Rs. 150
Bill Plan Charge Rs. 50
Monthly Rental Rs. 150
Clip NA
MONTHLY CHARGES (OPTIONAL)
Clip Rs. 50
Bissau, Diego Garcia, Nauru,
Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Cook
Islands, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Norfolk
Island, Sakhalin
SMS
Local Rs 1.00
National Rs 2.00
Intentional Rs. 5.00
VAS Rs. 3.00

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

for 2 years.

Local Pack

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

 Monthly rental Rs 25 per months/-

 STD Pack

42
Airtel to other mobiles (non Airtel) & fixed lines nos. at Rs 2 /

min.

 Monthly rental Rs 75 per month/-

 Special offer for Airtel Telephone service customers

for availing Airtel Mobile services

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

new Airtel Mobile connection under Airtel One Standard

150 Plan.

Benefits:

 Non security deposit.

 No membership / activation fee

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

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

fixed line has been waived off for 1 year.

For details, call us 516-12345

Advance Rental benefits (1year scheme)

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

150 plan at Zero monthly rental for one year.

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

every month for the next 2 months. All other options and

charges are as per the existing Airtel One Standard 150 Plan.

43
Airtel one Standard 299
ONE TIME CHARGES
Activation Charges Rs 250
Membership Fee Rs 250 (Converts into security
after 24 months)
Security Deposit NA
MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED) Rs 299
Bill Plan Charge Rs. 150
Monthly Rental Rs. 299
Clip NA
MONTHLY CHARGES (OPTIONAL)
Clip Rs. 50
Airtel GSM / Landline /
CDMA (10 WLL
Digit)
LOCAL RATES Re. 1.00 Rs. 1.00 Rs. 1.00
STD RATES
50-200Km Rs. 2.00 Rs. 2.40 Rs. 2.40
200 – 500 Km Rs. 2.00 Rs. 2.40 Rs. 2.40
500 + Km Rs. 2.00 Rs. 2.40 Rs. 2.40
ISD
USA, Canda, Europe (Fixed Line), 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, Sao tome & Principle, Rs. 40.00
Guinea Bissau, Diego Garcia,
Nauru, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu,
Cook Island, Tuvalu, Tokelau,
Norfolk Island, Sakhalin
SMS
Local Rs. 1.00
National Rs. 2.00

44
International Rs. 5.00
Value Added Services (Rs.) Rs. 3.00

You also enjoy 25 FREE local mobile to mobile SMS

45
Senior Citizen Plan

ONE TIME CHARGES

Activation Charges Rs. 250
Membership Fee Rs. 250 (Concerts into security
deposit after 24 months)
Security Deposit NA
MONTHLY CHARGES (FIXED) Rs. 150
Bill Plan Charge Rs. 51
Monthly Rental Rs. 99
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 Rs. 2.00
International Rs. 5.00
VAS Rs. 3.00

With Senior Citizen Plan

46
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.

47
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

Airtel to “Touch Tomorrow” with a new brand vision

The Bharti Mobile promoted AirTel cellular service will go in for

repositioning of its brand image. The new brand ethos is

portrayed in two distinct fashions - the tag line "Touch

Tomorrow", which underscores the leading theme for the new

brand vision, followed by "The Good Life", which underscores a

more caring, more customer centric organization. Aimed at re-

engineering its image as just simply a cellular service provider to

an all out information communications services provider, Touch

Tomorrow is meant to embrace the new generation of mobile

communication services and the changing scope of customer

needs and aspirations that come along with it

The new communication is about a new dimension in the cellular

category that goes beyond the Internet, SMS, roaming, IVRS, etc

but which engulfs the whole gamut of wireless digital broadband

services that will constitute tomorrows cellular services. The new

campaign is in two phases - the first of which will communicate

overall brand philosophy and the second products and services.

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

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

48
platform - Touch Tomorrow - not only to reflect our corporate

ethos but also business strategy".

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

colours along with lower case typography to convey warmth.

AirTel will incorporate the latest branding in all of its

communication and will soon be going in for an enhanced

promotional drive to establish the brand's presence.

LIFE TIME PLAN

PRE-PAID card users need not worry anymore about recharging

their coupons every month. Company has launched a plan that

allows users to take a pre-paid connection with lifetime validity

for a one time payment of Rs. 999. Subscribers availing

themselves of this scheme will also get full talk time for the

recharge coupon they purchase and also have the option to buy

Taiwanese manufactured Bird mobile handsets for as low as Rs.

1,399.

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

subscriber base. Once a subscriber takes this plan, he will always

be an Airtel subscriber whether the mobile is being used or not.

49
 MARKET SITUATION

At the time of launch

The first mover in the market was Airtel which launched its

services in Delhi in Aug 1995 (Informal launch). Essar Cellphone

followed by launching its services informally in Oct 95. At this

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

level was low and both operators independently tried to spread

awareness and educate the people

Once the networks were commercially launched, it became a

number game with a multitude of schemes being offered to woo

customers Initially the cellphone was perceived as a status

symbol and utility took a back seat The target segment in Delhi

were corporate and the high income group. The average

capacity installed was for 1.5 lakh subscribers. This coupled with

the steep license fee paid to DOT put pressure on the operators

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

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

prices crashing.

50
COMPETITIVE SITUATION

Airtel launched its services before Essar and skimmed the

market picking up the bulk of the high usage premium clients.

This is a very competitive industry with the two companies

differentiating either on value-added services or price. Airtel is

perceived as the high quality provider and has a premium image.

Essar, on the other hand, is perceived as the lower end service

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

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

emphasising on the reach of its network and the quality of its

service. However, Essar is somewhat not been very successful

largely due to the inconsistency in advertising

To promote themselves, both the players have been dependent

on tactical advertising However, they have restrained from using

comparative advertising Hoardings have been a very popular

medium for carrying the advertisements Airtel has also been

advertising on television using the Bharti Telecom name.

SALES DEPARTMENT AND STRATEGY

A. Major Accounts (Direct Channel)

• Handles corporate (named and famed) accounts

• Forecasting of sales

• Mapping the accounts

• Providing after sales support to the subscribers.

51
 • Maintaining call reports for records.

• Providing Feedback to the marketing department regarding

the requirement of the market.

B. IDC (indirect Channel)

• Handling distribution

• Maintaining records and level check of the channel partner

• Liaisoning between the channel partner and the company.

• Target achievement

• Training the executives of the channel

C. Distribution Support

1. Logistics

• Monitor handset and SIM card requirements of

channel partners and co-ordinate with stores

• Settle areas of concerns such as incentive claims of

channel partners

2. Rental

• Provide cellular services (SIM cards) on rent.

• Provide cellular phones on rent

• Useful for people visiting Delhi for a short interval.

3 Telesales

• Call customers and generate sales lead.

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

52
 • Pass on the sales lead to the channel department.

4 Audit

• Consultant to the AirTel showrooms.

• Monitor the operations at the AirTel distribution outlets

Organize training.

5. Retail

• Locate shops to open retail counters.

• Monitor the retail counters.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

Segmentation is beneficial because of better predictability of the

target consumer group, minimization of risk exposure, better

ability to fine-tune a product / service to the requirement of

target buyer and the resultant ease in designing a proper

designing marketing mix strategy In this case segmentation is on

the bade of income.

In evaluating different market segments the company looks at

two factors The overall attractiveness of the segments and the

company's objectives & resources The present market for

Cellular phones, pagers and conventional phones is as follows

Premium Middle Economy

Upper Lower Upper Lower Upper Lower
Cellular Phones X X X - - -
Pager X X X X - -
Conventional X X X X X -
Phones

53
X Market Segment Targeted

TARGET MARKET SEGMENT

Airtel has targeted the premium and upper middle class. The

rationale behind it is that only those segments should be

targeted who value time and have the paying capacity. It Is also

planning to target the business tourists during their stay in the

capital

About 60% of the clientele are top executives of corporate

houses. About 15% are foreign organisations and the rest are

professionals and small businessmen. During the introduction

stage there was intense pressure to get consumers across to

hook up with their brand, because getting them to switch brand

loyalty later would be hard

So far Airtel marketers have been concentrating totally on the

business executive class but now that the basic viable volumes

has beer) built up and prices have declined to a certain extent

they are planning to venture further a field.

POSITIONING

The product is sought to be positioned as a business efficiency

tool. a lifestyle revolution and a status symbol The emphasis is to

remove misconception that the cellphone is an expensive means

54
of communication and drive home the point that the cellphone is

actually a day-to-day utility

PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING

The product or service is the heart of the marketing mix.

Without a product or a service customers' needs cannot be

satisfied.

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

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

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

the field of Communication & Information Technology changes

occur at a tremendous pace.

Effective product segmentation has to be carried on continuously

because basic services can be and will be copied and in time

become expected component of the product. Airtel seeks to

carry out this segmentation through provision of new information

services and making new facilities available. The product policy

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

present the cellular phone market has reached the maturity

stage. Since, the premium segment is nearing saturation the

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

order to do so Airtel is trying to optimise the price performance

package by offering suitable "product bundling".

55
This involves the selection of the suitable hardware (handset)

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

deliver maximum price performance to its customers. In

addition, it offers free Airtime services and other concessions to

make the prices and thus the product more attractive. It has

also opened a 24 hours customer service.

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

added services become the effective differentiator.

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

1). Voice Mail service

This system is similar to the answering machine - if the user is

not able to answer a call for some reason the caller can leave

messages in the voice mail box which can be later retrieved by

the user

ii) Short Message Service

The short message service is like a two-way pager. It gives an

option of sending and receiving text messages directly from one

mobile phone to another without the intervention of an operator.

iii) Mobile Fax 1 Data Service

56
This service helps the subscriber to send and receive Faxes,

access E-mail, download computer files from other systems and

remotely log on to another computer and surf the Internet.

iv) Cash Card

The cash card is a pre-paid and pre-activated card which allows

the buyers to buy air time in advance. All it requires is the

payment of an initial amount. This is a useful service for people

who travel to Delhi often and those who want to control the

expenses on their calls.

v) Caller ID

Displays calling person's number.

vi) Outgoing call restriction

To prevent or limit outgoing calls, for example, in peak hours.

Also possible to exclude one or several countries, or any

geographical region, to permit only local calls, or to limit the

outgoing calls to a listed number.

viii) Call forward

Incoming calls can be forwarded to another fixed or mobile

phone.

Besides these some other services provided by Airtel are - Call

conferencing, Call Broadcast et cetera.

57
It is in the operators -Interest that they not only get many

subscribers but also get them to use the mobile facility

frequently. In the early stages getting increases to subscribe

may be easier than getting them to talk since they will find it

costlier to use the mobile phone as compared to a conventional

phone [if is believed that initially cellphones would be used buy]

viii) Roaming Facility

Roaming facility is available while the subscriber is travelling.

The billing is done in the home network (Delhi). Roaming facility

is available manually* as well as semi-automatically. Once a

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

is available, simply insert the SIM card of the local operator Into

your handset and start talking.

* Manual Roaming means a separate SIM card is provided for

each city

** Semi automatic roaming means one card has the facility

for different cities.

AIRTEL'S MARKETING ORIENTATION.

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

provider has to fully take care of the customers.

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

problem faced by the customer

58
b) They anticipate customers' problems and take pro-active

steps to prevent them

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

efficiently.

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

customers.

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

making the last 30 seconds count.

Airtel realises that attracting people 'Is easy but converting them

into loyal customers is hard, hence emphasis is on maintaining a

'Smiling and a Friendly Atmosphere' to please and retain the

customer.

PRICE AND PRICING POLICY

AIRTEL has realised that the Indian market is price sensitive.

Therefore it care of the has come up with various innovative

tariff schemes to take needs of different category of customers-

Generally, the cellular services are more expensive than the land

line based telephone services. This is due to the reason that the

operating companies are required to pay a fee to the

government for using airtime.

59
 MARKETING STRATEGY
ADOPTED BY BHARTI

Bharti has spent a considerable amount on advertising its mobile

phone service, Airtel. Besides print advertising, the company

had put up large no of hoardings and kiosks in and around Delhi.

The objective behind designing a promotion campaign for the

‘Airtel’ services is to promote the brand awareness and to build

brand preferences.

It is trying to set up a thematic campaign to build a stronger

brand equity for Airtel. Since the cellular phone category itself is

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

involvement product, price doesn't qualify as an effective

differentiator. The image of the service provider counts a great

deal. Given the Cell phone category, it is the network efficiency

and the quality of service that becomes important. What now

the buyer is looking at is to get the optimum price-performance

package. This also serves as an effective differentiator

Brand awareness is spread through the' campaigns and brand

preference through brand stature. Airtel's campaign in the

capital began with a series of 'teaser' hoardings across the city,'

bearing just the company's name and without explaining what

Airtel was. In the next phase the campaign associated Airtel with

Cellular only thereafter was the Bharti Cellular connection

60
brought up. Vans with Airtel logos roamed the city, handing out

brochures about the company and its services to all consumers.

About 50,000 direct callers were sent out. When the name was

well entrenched in the Delhiites’s mind, the Airtel campaign

began to focus on the utility of Cellphone. In the first four

months alone Airtei's advertisement spend exceeded Rs. 4

crores.

As of today the awareness level Is 60% unaided. This implies

that if potential or knowledgeable consumers are asked to name

a Cellular phone service provider that is on the top of his/her

mind 60% of them would name Airtel. As for aided it -is 100%

(by giving clues and hints etc.).

Brand strength of a product or the health of a brand is measured

by the percentage score of the brand on the above aided and the

unaided tests. The figures show that Airtel is a healthy and a

thriving brand.

Every company has a goal, which might comprise a sales target

and a game plan with due regard to Its competitor. Airtel 's

campaign strategy is designed keeping in mind its marketing

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

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

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

mover every time" and that of a "market leader".

61
The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just

reached the maturity stage in India. It is still on the rising part of

the product life cycle curve in the maturity stage.

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

users classified into heavy, medium and low categories. The

right hand side shows the revenue share earned from the three

types of users.

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

values its heavy users the most and constantly indulges in

service innovation. But, since heavy users comprise only 15 -

20% of the population the other segment cannot be neglected.

The population which has just realised the importance of cellular

phones has to be roped in. It is for this reason that the service

provider offers a plethora of incentives and discounts. Concerts

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

to promote sales. The media channel is chosen with economy in

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

attempt to focus on those who can afford. The print

advertisements and hoarding are placed in those strategic areas

which most likely to catch the attention of those who need a

cellular phone. The product promise (which might cost different

1 higher) is an important variable in determining the target

audience.

62
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.

63
 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

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

her own promotional strategy. For this the. company contributes

64
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.

65
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.

66
 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

service. value added

services.

Price Charge cost- Price to Price to match

plus penetrate or best

market competitors

Distribution Build selective Build Intensive Build more

distribution distribution. intensive

distribution.

Advertising Build product Build Stress brand

awareness awareness and differences and

among early interest in the benefits.

adopters and mass market

dealers.

Sales Use heavy sales Increase to Increase to

67
Promotion promotion to build and encourage

entice people maintain brand-

to subscribe. relationships switching.

with customers.

68
 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Objectives:

To study the importance and development of tele –

communication industry in today’s scenario.

To understand the various Marketing Strategies which Airtel has

adopted to survive in highly competitive cell phone industry.

To make a comparative study of the major players in Indian

Service Provider.

69
 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.

70
 LIMITATIONS

Every attempt will be taken to obtain the error free and

meaningful result but as nothing in this world is 100% perfect I

believe that there will still the chance for error on account of

following limitations-

(1) Respondent’s unavailability.

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

interviewer.

(3) Courtesy bias.

71
 FINDINGS

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

exciting mobile service providers in the world?

Company Yes No
Airtel 4 1
Vodafone 4 1
Idea 4 1
MTNL 4 1

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

interviewed people in all the above four specified Indian mobile

service providers are of belief that India is potentially one of the

most exciting mobile service providers in the world, whereas

some 4 (20%) of them do not agree to this view.

No
1

Yes
4

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

AirTel Vodafone Idea MTNL

72
2. Do you find that the government’s telecom policy has

had the most radical impact on the development of

mobile service providers?

Company Yes No
Airtel 4 1
Vodafone 3 2
Idea 3 2
MTNL 5 --

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 government’s telecom policy has

had the most radical impact on the development of mobile

service providers, whereas some 5 (25%) of them deny this.

5
4.5
4
3.5
AirTel
3
Vodafone
2.5 Idea
2 MTNL
1.5
1
0.5
0
Yes No

73
3. Do you believe that one of the challenges facing mobile

operators in India is the diversity of the coverage

regions?

Company Yes No
Airtel 2 3
Vodafone 3 2
Idea 3 2
MTNL 2 3

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

interviewed people in the mobile service providers are of belief

that one of the challenges facing mobile operations in India is the

diversify of the coverage regions, whereas interestingly another

10 (50%) of them deny this.

2.5

2 AirTel
Vodafone
1.5 Idea
MTNL
1

0.5

0
Yes No

74
4. To what extent, does you find that mobile service

providers is a very complex standard?

Company To some extent To great extent

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

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

interviewed people in all the above four major the mobile service

providers in Indian Cellular industry find only to some extent that

GSM is a very complex standard, whereas the another 10 (50%)

respondents find to great extent that mobile service providers is

a very complex standard.

2.5
AirTel
2
Vodafone
1.5 Idea
1 MTNL

0.5

0
To some extent To great extent

75
 CONSUMER LEVEL

1. Do you believe that mobile service providers comes

close to fulfilling the requirements for a personal

communication system?

Company Yes No
Airtel 9 1
Vodafone 8 2
Idea 8 2
MTNL 5 5

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

the belief that mobile service providers comes close to fulfilling

the requirements for a personal communication system, whereas

10 (25%) of them are in no way to this belief.

3
2
No
2
2 MTNL
Idea
Vodafone
2 AirTel
3
Yes
3

76
2. Do you find that mobile service providers as the most

exciting and satisfying mobile standard?

Company Yes No
Airtel 9 1
Vodafone 7 3
Idea 8 2
MTNL 8 2

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

that mobile service providers as the most exciting and satisfying

mobile standard, whereas the remaining 8 (10%) respondents

deny this.

No
1

Yes
9

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

AirTel Vodafone Idea MTNL

77
3. Do you believe that your service provider has a

genuine commitment to creating a modern and efficient

communications?

Company Yes No
Airtel 10 --
Vodafone 8 2
Idea 10 --
MTNL 8 2
As the above shows 36 (90%) out of total 40 respondents are of

the belief that their service providers have a genuine

commitment to creating a modern and efficient communications

whereas the remaining 4 (10%) respondents deny this.

0
No
2

0 MTNL
Idea
Vodafone
8 AirTel

10
Yes
8

10

SWOT ANALYSIS

78
STRENGTHS

• Cost advantage

• Current leaders in quality service

• Largest distribution network

• Ability to constantly innovate

• Highly skilled workforce

• Entrepreneurial zeal

• Airtel’s increased equity and market cap.

WEAKNESSES

• To prove credibility

• Price pressures

• Need for Government support

• Awareness

• Sales and Marketing

79
OPPORTUNITIES

• To sustain passion and commitment

• Airtel’s market share increasing at other service provider

expense. Thus opportunity to wipe it out.

• Attain higher value services

• Collaborative business needs to be explored

• Vertical repeatable solutions.

• Low penetration level in rural markets.

THREATS

• Foreign investment

• Global trends moving from GPS to WLL.

• Lack of global parity in telecom tariff

• Other competition

80
 CONCLUSION

From above the details I conclude that 70% Airtel users

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

willing to switch from their respective subscribers showed

interest in Airtel. Hence, these statistics imply a bright future for

the company. Also the company is now providing more services

like the door to door services which is you dial the Airtel

customer care and would like to send someone flowers the Airtel

company delivers those flowers to the person concerned. Also

Airtel is providing free text messaging service and free voice

mail service. Call conferencing is also another feature Airtel

provides.

81
 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

82
 QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME: ____________________________________

ADDRESS: ____________________________________

OCCUPATION: ____________________________________

1. Do you believe that India is potentially one of

the most exciting mobile service providers in the

world?

Company Yes No
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

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

had the most radical impact on the development of

mobile service providers?

Company Yes No
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

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

operators in India is the diversity of the coverage

regions?

Company Yes No
Airtel
Vodafone

83
Idea
MTNL

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

providers is a very complex standard?

Company To some extent To great extent

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

84
 CONSUMER LEVEL

1. Do you believe that mobile service providers comes

close to fulfilling the requirements for a personal

communication system?

Company Yes No
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

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

exciting and satisfying mobile standard?

Company Yes No
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

3. Do you believe that your service provider has a

genuine commitment to creating a modern and efficient

communications?

Company Yes No
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
MTNL

85