Front Pg Customer Satisfaction on Telecom Services

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DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

C.K.B COMMERCE COLLEGE, JORHAT

This is to certify that the project report entitledCUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON BSNL

TELECOM SERVICES (A Comparative Case Study With Other Network Operators In Reference

To Jorhat) written and submitted by Mr. SAURAV KARMAKAR a student of B.com part- III

specialty in Marketing bearing Roll no. 14430094 of C.K.B. COMMERCE COLLEGE, Under

Dibrugarh University towards partial fulfillment of academic programme for the award of

Bachelor Degree in Commerce is a genuine analysis and original record of research work under

my supervision. The project report or a part there of has not been analyzed, interpreted or

published earlier for the award of Bachelor Degree in Commerce or for any other purpose.

Countersigned by: Signature

Dr.P.C.Borah (RUPAK DUTTA)

(Principal) Designation: Sl.Gr.Lecturer

C.K.B. Commerce College Dept. Of Business Management

Jorhat785001 C.K.B.Commerce College, Jorhat

CERTIFICATE


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Acknowledgement

At the very best, I am thankful to the Authorities of the Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh

for giving me the privilege and opportunity to prepare a Project Report for the partial fulfillment of

Bachelor Degree of Commerce with Marketing as Speciality from this Dibrugarh University. In

the process of preparation of this report, I feel great pleasure because it gave me extensive practical

knowledge in my career. I got knowledge about the present telecom market by this project. It was a

truly wonderful learning experience.

I must express my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. P.C.Borah, Principal of C.K.B. Commerce

College, Jorhat, and M.R. Lahon, Head of Dept. of Business Management and other faculty

members for their valuable suggestions.

Finally, I m greatly thankful and also express my indebtedness and gratitude to my project

guide Mr. RUPAK DUTTA, Selection Grade Lecturer, Dept. of Business Management for his

constant support and encouragement throughout the execution of the project, without him this

project would not have been possible.

Date : __________ Sign:

Place : C.K.B.Commerce College (Saurav Karmakar)

Jorhat 785001 Roll no. -14430094

Reg. no. 08000742

Session : 2011-2012


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Executive Summary

The telecom service industry is the fastest growing industry of India today. This sector has

helped a lot in bringing numerous developments in country. The project is based on the telecom

services that are being offered by various cellular service providers in Jorhat and the level of

satisfaction that the customers experience, particularly in case of BSNL telecom services.

The government launched the mobile phone services and opened it for the private operators

nearly a decade ago. With this move of the government many big and small companies ventured

into the business. The number of subscribers increased from just few thousand to millions to

millions of subscribers today. Mobile service providers serve more than 820 million customers

adding nearly 3 million subscribers per month. But the rate of addition of new subscribers is

equalized or balance with the number churn rate of the companies.

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Mobile telephony service

providers have failed to meet the set customer satisfaction benchmarks. An attempt to meet churn

rate problem companies are constantly trying to come up with new ideas and plans to retain their

original customer and attract new customer. Customer satisfaction has become an important factor

that influences a customer while selecting a mobile service operator.

Overall satisfaction, network availability, billing problems and customer care services,

usage, etc are some of the key areas which we aimed to measure in our research. For the easy

determination of the project BSNL telecom services of Jorhat are taken as the base with reference

to other telecom networks available in Jorhat.


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TABLES OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS PAGE NO.

CERTIFICATE 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

TABLE CONTENTS 4

CHAPTER1: INTRODUCTION 5-8Customers Satisfaction 5

Telecommunication Services 6

Scope 8

Objective 8

CHAPTER2: LITERATURE REVIEW 9-10

History of Indian Telecommunications 9

Cellone In Jorhat 10

CHAPTER3: METHODOLOGY 11

CHAPTER4: ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 12-22

CHAPTER5: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 23-25

LIMITATIONS 26

CONCLUSION 27BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 29

APPENDICES (Questionnaire)


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INTRODUCTION

CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION: -

In the words of Prof. Philip Kotler, satisfaction is a persons performing in relation

to his/her expectations. Customers satisfaction is the level of a person felt state

resulting from comparing a products perceived expectation.

Customers satisfaction is a wide term which is frequently used by the marketers

used by the marketers. It is used as a key performance indicator by the business firms

to measure customer attitude. The competition in marketing a single product or

service has increasing along with the increase in vast customers and marketers.

Customers satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a

key element of business strategy.

Every marketer wants to satisfy there customers, the satisfaction level depends on

the difference between the marketers performance and customers expectations. If the

products/services performance is more than the customers expectation then the

customers are highly satisfied. While on the other hand if the performance just

matches the expectation the customers is only satisfied. If the product performancefall shorts the customer is dissatisfied.

In measuring satisfaction firms generally ask customers whether their product or

service has met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind

customers satisfaction.

Many companies are aiming for high satisfaction because customers who are just

satisfied still find it easy to switch when a better offer comes along. High satisfactionalso creates an emotional touch with the brand.


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TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES:-

The telecommunication services have been recognized as important sectors in

socio-economic development of a nation. It is one of the important services needed for

rapid growth and modernization of various sectors of the economy. Today, it is the fastest

growing market in the world.

The Indian Telecommunications is the third largest communications network in the

world and the second largest among the emerging network of Asia in terms of

subscription. The telecommunication sector continued to register significant success

during the last few years and has emerged as one of the key sectors responsible for

Indias economic growth. The Indian telecom sector is one of the fastest growing sectors

in the Indian economy during the past 6 years and has witnessed strong competition as aresult of which tariffs have decreased by significant margins.

BSNL was the first and largest telecom network of India. It is also the 7 th largest

telecom company in the world in terms of its number of subscribers. BSNL is a statutory

corporation. It was formed by a special act of the parliament. This rapid growth has been

possible due to various active and positive decisions taken by the Government. The

contribution of public and the private sector is also worth mentioning. The rapid strides in

the telecom sector have been facilitated by liberal policies of the Government. They have

helped a lot in providing the telecom equipments at an easy access to the market. This

has also helped in developing a fair regulatory framework for offering telecom services to

the Indian consumers at affordable prices.

It has undergone a major transformation through significant policy reforms,

particularly beginning with the announcement of NTP (National Telecom Policy) 1994 and

was subsequently re-emphasized and carried forward under NTP (National Telecom

Policy) 1999. Subsequently, after the new telecommunication policies private operators

are allowed in providing the services. Companies such as Bharti Airtel, TATA Indicom,

Vodafone, Idea, Reliance, Aircel have entered the Indian market. Today it has been able

to reach such a position where people consider it to be essential in their daily life. The

competition in this sector has undoubtedly helped the customers with new offers, quality


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services and various other opportunities. Although the urban areas are nearly explored

but the rural India is still not been explored properly and also lacks in strong

infrastructure.

Telecommunication sector in India is primarily subdivided into two segments, which

are Fixed Service Provider (FSPs) and Cellular Services. Telecom industry in India

constitutes of some essential telecom services like telephone, radio, television and

Internet. Telecom industry in India is specifically emphasizing on latest technologies like

GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple

Access), PMRTS (Public Mobile Radio Trunking Services), Fixed Line and WLL (Wireless

Local Loop). India has a prospering market specifically in GSM mobile service and the

numbers of subscribers are growing very fast.

The Assam telecom circle was formed on January 20, 1987. The government of

Assam has been able to increase rural tele density from a mere 2 percent in the past to

43 percent till 2011; rural telephony of Assam requires major investments and road

developments. This segment will boost the demand for telecom services, equipment,

Internet services and other value-added services; thereby, offering great market

opportunities for telecom companies. The major benefit of this tele companies is the vast

unexplored areas of Assam. This has also helped in generating a large number of

employment opportunities to the local peoples of the state.


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SCOPE:-

The telecom industry is heavily growing at a great speed in Assam as well as in

Jorhat and the growth rate as expected by the local telecom authorities of Jorhat is

expected to grow by 50% with every passing year. There are many new developments

that have taken place in the telecom sector. This includes the new 3G technology that has

recently been launched in the Indian markets. Due to the competition among the various

telecom companies and there effort, the customers of Jorhat are also able to use this

services at present within a short period of nation wide launch of 3G services. Thus the

scope of Indian telecom industry is vast and unlimited.

OBJECTIVE:-

The objectives of this project are:-

1) The first objective of the study is to find the factors or problems that influence the

customer satisfaction provided by BSNL.

2) The second objective is to compare the services offered by BSNL and others

telecom services in the township of Jorhat.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

History of Indian Telecommunications

In 1851, the first operational land lines were laid by the government near Calcutta

(seat of British power). Telephone services were introduced in India in 1881. In 1883

telephone services were emerged with the postal system. Indian Radio Telegraph

Company (IRT) was formed in 1923. After independence in 1947, all the foreign

telecommunication companies were nationalized to form the Posts, Telephone and

Telegraph (PTT), a monopoly run by the government's Ministry. Telecom sector was

considered as a strategic service and the government considered it best to bring

under state's control.

The first revolution in telecommunications sector began to flow in 1980s when the

private sector was allowed in telecommunications equipment manufacturing. In 1985,

Department of Telecommunications (DOT) was established. It was an exclusive

provider of domestic and long distance service that would be its own regulator

(separate from the postal system). In 1986, two wholly government-owned companies

were created: the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international

telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in

metropolitan areas.

In 1990s, telecommunications sector benefited from the general opening up of the

economy. Also, examples of telecom revolution in many other countries, which

resulted in better quality of service and lower tariffs, led Indian policy makers to initiate

a change process finally resulting in opening up of telecom services sector for the

private sector. National Telecom Policy (NTP) 1994 was the first attempt to give a

comprehensive roadmap for the Indian telecommunications sector.

In 1997, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was created. TRAI was

formed to act as a regulator to facilitate the growth of the telecom sector.

Telecommunication sector in India can be divided into two segments: Fixed Service

Provider (FSPs), and Cellular Services. Fixed line services consist of basic services,


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national or domestic long distance and international long distance services. The state

operators (BSNL and MTNL), account for almost 90 per cent of revenues from basic

services. Private sector services are presently available in selective urban areas, and

collectively account .Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code

Division Multiple Access (CDMA). The GSM sector is dominated by Airtel, Vodfone-Essar, and Idea Cellular, while the CDMA sector is dominated by Reliance and Tata

Indicom. Opening up of international and domestic long distance telephony services

are the major growth drivers for cellular industry. Cellular he tariffs on airtime, which

along with rental was the main source of revenue. The reduction in tariffs for airtime,

national long distance, international long distance, and handset prices has driven

demand.

CELLONE IN JORHAT

On 19th March of 2004 the first cellular SIM CARDS (Cellone) WERE distributed by

BSNL in Jorhat. Altogether 500 SIM cards were issued to the local customers in the first

phase. While 2,600 more customers were given SIM cards over next five days in Jorhat

Township.

At that time the SIM cards were activated within two days after they weredistributed to the customers. But now days the time is reduced to only 6-10 hours. The

demand for mobile connections in this district was so high during that time that a lottery

was conducted to select the customers. The lottery was conducted by the BSNL

authorities in the presence of some senior citizens and vice-chancellor of the Assam

Agricultural University, Jorhat.

Thus, it was the beginning of cellular services in Jorhat by BSNL. At that time BSNL was

the only wire less service provider in this town. There after private telecom companies

were also allowed to enter the market. The first private operator to enter the Jorhat

telecom circle was Reliance. After that Bharti Airtel was the next private sector company

to offer its services to the peoples of Jorhat.

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METHODOLOGY

Research methodology deals with the procedure adopted to carry out the study.

1) Sample Size:

All together, 100 persons of different gender, age and occupation of Jorhat areselected for the detail analysis.

2) Sample universe:

The sample universe includes all the existing and potential users of different mobile

services, within Jorhat.

3) Sampling method:

Simple random sampling method was used to collect the data.

4) Collection of data: Collection of data is a technique through which data can be

collected within minimum cost, time and with greater reliability. For conducting the

study, both primary as well as secondary methods of data collection were used.

Primary data:

Primary data collection method was used for observing customers satisfaction on

telecommunication services directly talking to them and collecting their views and

references. Through questionnaire datas were collected which was very logically framed

basically aimed at achieving the objectives of the study.

Secondary data:

Secondary data collection method was also used, by referring to newspapers, articles,

reference books, magazines, annual reports of some tele companies.

5) Analysis of data:

The collected data is tabulated and presented by using simple statistical techniques

like percentage, bar diagram and Pie diagram etc.

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ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1) Which mobile network do you have?

a) BSNL b) Airtel c) Aircel d) Vodafone

e) Reliance f) Idea g) Tata IndicomOption No. of respondent Percentage

BSNL 14 14%

Airtel 23 23%

Aircel 19 19%

Vodafone 20 20%

Reliance 11 11%

Idea 5 5%

Tata Indicom 8 8%

INTERPRETATION:

Out of 100 respondents 14 % were using BSNL, 19% were using Aircel, 20% of

Vodafone, Reliance, Idea, and Tata indicom with 11%, 5%, 8% respectively. In the survey

it is found that Airtel is leading in the Jorhat telecom market with over all 23% of customer

satisfaction. One of important point which is reveled by the in the customers is that many

of the past BSNL subscribers have left the BSNL because of its poor network problems.

BSNL

14%

AIRTEL

23%

Aircel

19%

Vodafone

20%

Reliance

11%

Idea

5%

Tata Indicom

8%


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2) What kind of service do you have?

a) Pre-paid b) Post-paid

Option No. of respondent Percentage

Pre-paid 77 77%

Post-paid 23 23

INTERPRETATION:

Out of 100 respondents 77% were using prepaid connections. The pre-paid

customers are almost all the students, house wives, and those who make limited calls.

While only 23% of respondents were using postpaid connections. The subscribers

of post-paid are mostly service holders and business persons.

Pre-paid

77%

Post-paid

23%


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3) How would you rate your service provider?a) Excellent b) Good c) Averaged) Below Average


Excellent 35 35%

Good 40 40%

Average 15 15%

Below Average 10 12%

INTERPRETATION:

Among the total of 100 respondents of the survey, 35 % people terms their

services to be excellent, which includes the services of Airtel and Vodafone. While 40%

peoples termed their service providers (mostly Aircel and Vodafone) to be good. On the

other hand 15% and 10% peoples rated their service providers to be average and below

average respectively, which includes BSNL, Reliance, Idea and Tata indicom. From this

question its seen that BSNL service users are not very happy with the services provided

by BSNL in this city.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Excellent Good Average Below Average


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4) What factors influenced you to use this service?

a) Price(Tariffs) b) Quality services

c) Brand name d) Others


Price(Tariffs) 12 12%

Quality services 53 53%

Brand name 28 28%

Others 7 7%

INTERPRETATION:

From the above diagram it is seen that 12%people give preference to the pricing factors

of the operators. 28% people, BSNL and Airtel service users are mostly brand conscious.While about 53% respondents termed the quality service to be their factor of influence.

The rest 12% preferred some other factors like calling to a fixed number or home network

to be their reason of influence.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Price(Tariffs) Quality services Brand name Others


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5) Which facility attracts you most?a) Coverage b) Calling charges c) Roamingd) G.P.R.S e) Others


For calling Coverage 28 28%

Calling charges 20 20%

Roaming 14 14%

G.P.R.S 27 27%

Others 11 11%

INTERPRETATION:

The above diagram shows that out of the 100 respondents, 28% peoples opted

their services for better network coverage, 20% people only use for calling services. 14%

of the peoples are attracted to the better roaming facilities offered by their operators.

These types of customers are mostly BSNL post-paid users. Around 27% of people are

using GPRS, these is only because of the better GPRS facilities offer by Aircel, Airtel,

Vodafone and other operators.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Coverage

Calling charges

Roaming

G.P.R.S

Others


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6) For what purpose do you more often use the service?

a) For calling b) For SMS c) For GPRS services

d) For both calls and SMS e) For all of them


For calling 17 17%

For SMS 12 12%

For GPRS services 18 18%

For both calls and

SMS

28 28%

For all of them 25 25%

INTERPRETATION:

From the above diagram it is clear that out of all the respondents 17% people use

cellular services for only calling purpose, 12% for SMS services, 18% for GPRS services,

28% customers use their operator for both calling and SMS purposes. While the rest 25%

peoples said that they are using all the services offered by their operators.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

For calling

For SMS

For GPRS services

For both calls and SMS

For all of them


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7) For how long are you using the services?

a) Below 1 year b) 1-3 years c) 3-6 years

d) 6 years and above


Below 1 year 20 20%

1-3 years 33 33%

3-6 years 29 29%

6 years and above 18 18%

INTERPRETATION:

Out of 100 respondents, 20% are using the service for less then 1year. In the

survey it is found that with the development in telecom services more number of

subscribers, around 33% and 29% peoples are holding their services for more than 1-3

years and 3-6 years respectively.

But only 18% peoples are using the same operator for more than 6 years with faith

in there operators.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Below 1 year 1-3 years 3-6 years 6 years and above


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8) How satisfied are you with your network service?

a) Highly satisfied b) Just Satisfied c) Average Satisfied

d) Below average


Highly satisfied 15 15%

Just Satisfied 38 38%

Average Satisfied 35 35%

Below average 12 12%

INTERPRETATION:

Among the 100 respondents only 15% of the peoples are highly satisfied with there

service providers and are not interested to change their operators.

While 38% peoples are just satisfied and 35% people are average satisfied with

their operators respectively

But around 12% peoples are not at all satisfied with their operators and are

planning to switch over to other networks.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Highly satisfied Just Satisfied Average satisfied Below average


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9) Did you face any problem with your network?

a) Yes b) No


YES 39 39%

NO 61 61%

INTERPRETATION:

From the above diagram we can conclude that 39% peoples have faced problems

with their networks. These category peoples are using the services of BSNL and Reliance

telecom services. During the survey it is found that the customers are facing problems like

unavailability of signals, call failure, call drop downs, late bill delivery and problems in bill

payment.

While the other 61% people of Jorhat dont find much problems with their network

operators. The responses of BSNL customers were not so good. Most of the BSNL pre-

paid as well as post-paid users are willing to change their network, without changing their

present numbers, through MNPS (Mobile Number Portability System).

Yes39%

No

61%


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10)Have you ever called up to the customer service center?

a) Yes b) No


YES 44 44%

NO 56 56%

INTERPRETATION:

Among the over all 100 respondents it can be inferred that 44% peoples those who

found problems or had queries on various issues like sim lock, GPRS connectivity, false

balance deductions etc. have called up the customer care centers for getting their queries

solved. While the majority of 56% peoples responded that they have never called any

customer care center.

Yes

44%

No

56%


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11) Would you suggest your network for your friends, family or some one else?

a) Yes b) No


YES 47 47%

NO 53 53%

INTERPRETATION:

From the above chart it can be concluded that 53% i.e. majority of the respondents

are not willing to suggest their own network for their friends, family, or anyone else. On

the other hand 47% respondents want to suggest their friends and family members to use

the same operators.

Among all the 100 respondents it found that some of the users are willing to

change their own operators in search of low tariffs and other value added services like

free talk time that are offered on new connections by the operators to attract new

customers.

Yes, 47

No, 53


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attractive offers and free of cost connections for new customers. This will not only

increase the BSNL customers but will also help retaining the old users.

6) It is also found that the post-paid customers of BSNL are very unsatisfied with the

customer care services at the BSNL offices. They have to wait for many hours in

BSNL payment counters to pay their monthly bills, which are mostly deliveredbefore a few days of last payment date.

So here it is suggested that the BSNL telecom authorities should come up

with suitable steps to solve this type of problems immediately before the valuable

customers move to other operators for better customer services.

7) While most of the BSNL pre-paid customers are dissatisfied with the poor

marketing of BSNL recharge cards as compared to the recharge cards of other

telecom companies. Because of this negative marketing system of BSNL vouchers

its pre-paid customers have decreased sharply. Therefore, the marketing officers

should make necessary efforts to make the cards available at every retail recharge

card counters.

8) During the project work it was found that private telecom companies like Vodafone,

Airtel, Reliance, etc frequently keep on upgrading there services according to the

needs of there valuable customers. All this are done to retain the old ones and

attract new customers. BSNL should also work on upgrading there services to

attract customers.

9) The customer care services of BSNL are also not so active and helpful for the

customers. Better and effective customer care executives should be adopted for

providing better customer services.

10) Most of the customers are using prepaid connections than postpaid connections.

Initiatives should be made not only by BSNL but also by all other telecom

operators to attract customers to post paid connections.

11) Most of the BSNL customers are using post-paid services. For internet facilitiesbroadband connections and data card from BSNL are preferred by all most all the

offices, internet cafes, and other institutions. Now-a-days due to portability and

very fast speed TATA PHOTON PLUS has become very popular among individual

users.


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12) Among students BSNL is not as popular as the services offered by other tele-

companies. New plans must be under taken to attract students to BSNL operators.

13) It has been observed that due to various schemes offered to the valuable

customers, good network services, billing facilities and various other customer

friendly services AIRTEL has become the most preferred service of the peoplesJorhat.

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LIMITATIONS

1) This study is conducted only within the township of Jorhat. So, the results may not

be applicable to other areas.

2) The study is based on prevailing customers choose. But these may change along

with passing time, technology, development, competition, telecom policies etc.

3) Sample Size is very small i.e. 100 only. A better analysis can be carried out with a

larger sample size.

4) The accuracy of the project and conclusion is totally dependent on the data

collected and analyzed.

5) Due to short time period and individual preparation of this report, it was not

possible to focus on all the mobile service providers. So the service offered by

BSNL was taken as the base of the survey.

6) It was difficult to cover the entire market and know the behavior of all the

respondents. This was mainly because of huge number of subscribers of various

networks.

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At last after conducting the survey we came to the conclusion that around a

decade ago, mobile connections were not found among the common peoples. But

with the huge marketing efforts of mobile companies, telecom revolution, cheap

call rates, decreasing prices of handsets, etc now we can find almost every person

enjoying the benefit of telecom services in their daily life.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books: -

1. Sontakki C. N., Marketing management, Kalyani Publishers, 2008

2. Kotler Philip, Marketing management, PHI Publishers, 2009

3. Research methodology (Methods and techniques) by C.R. Kothari

4. Marketing Research by N.K. Malhotra

Websites:-

www.trai.com

www.google.com

Journals and reports:-

Cellular statisticscellular operator association of india

IBEF report 2007-08: telecommunication - market & opportunities.

Business India : telecom takeover.

The telecom services performance report of northeast by trai, january 2011.

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http://www.trai.com/http://www.trai.com/

Front Pg Customer Satisfaction on Telecom Services

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