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Wi-Tribe Broadband Internet Service

A Marketing Plan for the fiscal Year 2012

4/6/2012

Group Members:

Ammar Hameed

Arsalan Aziz

Mahin Amjad

Mujtaba Khan

Muqtadir Kazi

Raza Khan

Zain Malik

Zohaib H. Shah

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Company.............................................................................................................3

Industry Overview..............................................................................................................................5

Broadband Growth..................................................................................................................................6

Broadband Technologies in Pakistan.......................................................................................................7

Broadband Tariffs....................................................................................................................................7

Market Check.....................................................................................................................................9

Retailers’ Experience Survey Analysis....................................................................................................9

Customers’ Focus Group Analysis..........................................................................................................9

Questionnaire Results’ Analysis............................................................................................................10

Perceptual Mapping...............................................................................................................................20

SWOT Analysis.................................................................................................................................22

Target Market..................................................................................................................................25

Positioning........................................................................................................................................27

Product.............................................................................................................................................30

Objectives..............................................................................................................................................30

Strategies...............................................................................................................................................31

Price..................................................................................................................................................32

Objectives..............................................................................................................................................32

Strategies...............................................................................................................................................32

Promotion.........................................................................................................................................34

Objectives..............................................................................................................................................34

Strategies...............................................................................................................................................34

Print advertisement................................................................................................................................35

Place..................................................................................................................................................36

Objectives..............................................................................................................................................36

1

Strategies...............................................................................................................................................36

Sales Objectives................................................................................................................................37

Sales Forecast....................................................................................................................................39

Implementation.................................................................................................................................40

Quarter 1................................................................................................................................................40

Quarter 2................................................................................................................................................41

Quarter 3................................................................................................................................................42

Quarter 4................................................................................................................................................42

Appendix...........................................................................................................................................44

Experience Surveys...............................................................................................................................44

Focus Groups.........................................................................................................................................47

Structure:...........................................................................................................................................47

Results:..............................................................................................................................................48

Broadband Technologies.......................................................................................................................50

PTCL Availability.................................................................................................................................53

Survey Questionnaire............................................................................................................................55

2

Introduction to the Company

Wi-tribe is a fully integrated multimedia service provider, using the latest in wireless technology

to provide hassle free and affordable internet connectivity in pent-up markets. The journey began

in 2007 when Wi-tribe was officially established by the Qtel Group of Companies bringing

together some of the greatest minds under one tribe. Through extensive research, testing and the

knowledge shared with their partners, wi-tribe has become a major player in the global arena.

With a firm commitment to bridging the digital divide wi-tribe targets emerging markets to

deploy their efficient, affordable and hassle-free services.

The exceptionally personalized customer care program wi-tribe follows has helped them gain

the confidence of their customers and the reliable services they provide ensures their satisfaction.

Believing in nurturing local talent and relying on an indigenous workforce made wi-tribe more

appealing to emerging markets around the globe. Serving the community has always been the

number one goal of the tribe and this is done by providing only the best technology available and

tailoring it too efficiently and cost effectively provides the best internet service. wi-tribe's tech

team is constantly researching and testing new technologies and ways to enhance what is

currently being used.

Tailor made packages are provided by wi-tribe to suit everyone's needs and make sure that

satisfaction is guaranteed. The wi-tribe group believes in bridging the digital gap that exists

between those who have access to electronic and information technology and those who don't.

This "digital divide" is a problem not just in underdeveloped countries, but also in developing

nations where the current providers are not satisfying the demand. That is why wi-tribe targets

emerging markets and believes that every person deserves the best quality services at affordable

rates. A firm commitment to education is another weapon in the fight to bridge the gap, with wi-

tribe's main CSR program dedicated to educating the world and allowing people to enjoy the

3

freedoms and ease of life on the internet. Sponsoring local talent and supporting local causes are

deeply rooted into the culture of each tribe.

Wi-tribe looked into the Pakistani market as an untapped region with an enormous potential. The

population was vast and the penetration was low. A decision was made to acquire 100% of

Burraq Telecom, an existing telecommunications company based in Islamabad. An intensive re-

branding exercise was put into play and then wi-tribe was brought to life. In July 2009, Pakistan

came online as a part of the tribe by launching simultaneously in four major regions: Karachi,

Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. In 2010, it extended operations to Faisalabad, as part of its

plans to spread coverage to other areas of the country. Pakistan is wi-tribe second operation and

biggest to date.

4

Industry Overview

Internet had been available in Pakistan for over a decade now mainly through dial up

connections. With better awareness of keeping one's self “informed” of the happenings around

the world, demand for speed and bandwidth kept on increasing day by day. Broadband made its

entry in Pakistan during early 2000, followed by National Broadband Policy in 2004. PTA under

its role of a regulator has been facilitating broadband entrant by devising 'lenient' license terms

and conditions giving freedom to the operator in terms of selecting appropriate business model,

technological choices and easy roll out plans. As a result, one could observe a rich market place

both in terms of wired and wireless broadband technologies in Pakistan. These technologies are

competing hard with each other to attain better market share.

Though in parallel with global trends, DSL and Cable modem capture a prevailing market share,

however, the recent growing trend of shifting to wireless solutions is paving way for a new

dimension which will help in declining the dependency on wire line infrastructure. Analysts and

telecom experts foresee that this healthy competition not only provides the operators with

freedom of choice in terms of technology dependence but will also ultimately benefit the end

users by bringing down the tariffs and improving the quality of broadband services in Pakistan.

Cost of service has been the biggest barrier to the growth of broadband service in Pakistan. With

only a few broadband service providers in the country, competition level was low and tariffs

were high. As PTA opened the arena for new entrants, market focus suddenly shifted to new

technologies and lower tariffs. Once a forgotten entity, Pakistan suddenly rose to top 5 countries

in the world in terms of subscriber growth during 2007-081. PTA as a regulator is ensuring that

this upward trend of growth continues by injecting positive reforms into the industry on periodic

basis. Formation of Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) and active involvement in broadband

policy review has strengthened the market. PTA also being a member of Universal Service Fund

5

(USF) board is working closely with USF authorities to devise revolutionary projects for

broadband development especially in rural areas.

Billions of rupees have been allocated for this particular programme which shall cover 6 telecom

regions divided into two phases. Telecom regions of Faisalabad (pilot project), Hazara, Multan,

Gujranwala, Central and Southern areas shall be provided with broadband connectivity for which

PTCL, Wateen and Worldcall have been awarded contracts for provision of broadband in these

remote areas. USF projects also include establishment of Educational and Community broadband

centers in the project areas.

Broadband Growth

Pakistan has been experiencing astounding proliferation of broadband in the past two years.

There are currently 1,140,781 broadband subscribers in Pakistan as compared to 643,892 at the

end of December, 2009 showing a 77% growth over the last calendar year. Despite the fact that

growth rate lowered in year 2010 as compared to previous year, still, it must be noted that the

number of net additions this year (496,889) are more than that of last year (376,712). Currently,

broadband penetration of the country stands at 0.66% at the end of December, 2010 which was

0.39% in December 2009, depicting almost 69% growth in just one year. It is also a fact that

Broadband is still an emerging phenomenon with inherent constraints associated with it like lack

of connectivity to rural areas, low literacy rate, lack of local content and applications etc.,

therefore, it will take some time for the penetration level to reach the high mark. PTCL, Wateen,

WorldCall and wi-tribe are the biggest broadband operators of Pakistan having a combined share

of over 90 percent.

PTCL holds 55% market share having 626,748 subscribers with both its DSL and EvDO

services topping in their respective broadband technology charts. PTCL has added the highest

number of new broadband subscribers as well i.e. 294,481 showing 89% growth rate in the

previous year. Wateen, out of the 232,541 subscribers, added 81,526 subscribers in the previous

6

year with a 54% growth rate which is much lesser than its direct competitor PTCL. With 125%

growth rate during calendar year 2010 and 122,813 subscribers, World Call has been the

standout operator in terms of growth rate whereas it added 68,128 new subscribers as well. Wi-

Tribe follows World Call closely in terms of growth rate as it added 40,064 new subscribers

depicting 118% growth during the last calendar year.  Link Dot Net stays at the fifth spot with

36,391 subscribers up 28% from December 2009.

Broadband Technologies in PakistanPakistan has been a lucrative market for broadband service providers owing to the huge potential

it offers especially in the wireless broadband market. Figure – 35 shows a profound view of

broadband technology evolution of Pakistan over the years. DSL ruled the broadband market of

Pakistan since 2007 due to an established fixed line infrastructure by incumbent, PTCL. HFC

and WiMAX broke the monopoly of DSL by getting a combined chunk of almost 37% in the

market in 2007- 08. The scenario changed again this year when WiMAX truly established itself

as a viable wireless broadband solution and EvDO made a promising start in the market

however, HFC has declined sharply due to introduction of new technologies.

Broadband Tariffs Cost of service has been considered as a huge factor in the growth and success of any

technological service. Broadband has not been an exception here and if we look into the past,

primary reason behind a slothful growth in terms of broadband subscribers between 2002 – 2007

have been high tariffs. Adding more dilemmas to this situation was low-competition which left

the subscribers with no choice but to pay extra if they wanted to enjoy broadband at home or

business. There had been substantial reduction in Broadband cost of service since 2007 onwards,

after the incumbent jumped into the market followed by commencement of wireless broadband

services by different operators. Therefore, with the introduction of new players in the market and

7

growing demand of broadband connectivity, tariffs have been declining significantly over the

past two years. DSL operators have been more inclined towards increasing the bandwidth rather

than coming out with low price data limited packages. Although data volumes are unlimited in

most of the packages, price still remains on the higher side which restricts a novice to broadband

technology from “trying it out”. If operators could come up with volume based-low cost

packages, it would serve as an appetizer for new customers. Once they get addicted to the flavor

of an “always on high speed broadband connection”, they will yearn for more and automatically

switch over to relatively high priced packages. Most companies segregate the DSL packages on

basis of connectivity speed and vary the prices accordingly to cater for a more diverse range of

customers. Most popular package of DSL i.e. 1 MB connection with unlimited data volume is

being offered at almost the same price by main competitors like PTCL, Link dot Net, Micronet

and Comsats.

8

Market Check

The market check has been performed by conducting exploratory discussions with Wi-tribe,

Wateen and World call retailers as well as conducting a focus group to understand what people

think about broadband in general and Wi tribe as a service.

Retailers’ Experience Survey Analysis

[In depth results of both experience surveys can be found in the appendix]

Two experience surveys were conducted; one was an interview with the Wi tribe franchise

manager Y block defence and the other was with Wateen franchise manager defence. A number

of key findings were extracted with regards to different topics from each interview, the overall

analysis of these experience surveys is written below:

The findings of the two experience surveys were such that it was clear Wi-tribe was considered

the most consistent in terms of speed and reliability (breakdowns) while Wateen is generally

considered to be consistent in terms of speed but not in reliability.

Overall it was concluded however, that the most important aspect for internet users is price as

well as the download limit per month, which are both reasons why users choose to stay away

from Wi-tribe. It is noted that Worldcall provides the cheapest internet connection with no

download limits.

Customers’ Focus Group Analysis

[The structure upon which the focus group was based and the results of each focus group have

been included in the appendix]

9

It was learned through the focus groups that users felt internet today was a necessity with

broadband services needing rapid expansion and need for upgrade in terms of speed. The focus

groups were able to name quite a few of the local internet service providers and Wi-tribe was

consistently mentioned, however few who were users were satisfied with it. It was felt that

although the fact that it was wireless was a major advantage, the overall price was too high

especially keeping in mind that there was a download cap which users felt was used up very

quickly.

Questionnaire Results’ Analysis

[The actual questionnaire has been included in the appendix]

The questionnaire results showed that the consumers wanted a high speed internet service, with maximum

download limit while most of them were of the view that the download limit should be unlimited. Young

people aged between 18 to 26 were mostly concerned with the internet and their main concern was the

download limit and expected a lot more from the broadband service providers while the middle age did

really cared much regarding the download limit because their internet usage was limited as they didn’t

have much time to spent on internet.

Most of them responded that they really didn’t care whose services they are using as long as it fulfills the

need of high speed and download. But most of the respondent wanted portable devices for the internet use

and also preferred WIFI. Many were unhappy with the services of their current providers. The main thing

that Wi-tribe consumers were facing was regarding their customer service and also that they had no

service in certain areas such as phase V DHA. Consumer wanted Wi-tribe to provide their services to

those areas as well.

There were other issues as well, such as the fact that it is one of the few providers that still adheres to

limiting the download capacity of users (known as a download cap) in a given month and many felt that

the price being charged was high given that a cap is present.

10

Competitor Analysis

Internet usage has been growing all over the world, with it being one of the easiest cheapest and

time saving method of collecting data, connecting to people, providing entertainment, news,

carrying out business and all. Internet has taken all dimensions and is being enriched as a tool

thus growing in importance immensely. As its growing importance has been acknowledged

worldwide and its becoming a need in every house, office, resteraunts, airports all over internet

service providers have spotted huge markets for broadband internet USB’s. All you need is a

USB to get your hands on anything and everything no matter where you are. Thus such services

have gained a lot of popularity and have attracted a lot of competition. WI tribe therefore has a

lot of competitors like PTCL broadband, Wateen Wi max and now Quebee as an emerging one.

Market for this is huge, as the advent of this technology creates a market for all the internet

users.

PTCL

Product: Since they are the service providers hence the product itself plays a huge role in its

success. The more the efficient the service is, the wider the broad band width it has, the better the

internet services would be.

11

The biggest competitor is Ptcl, since they have a strong coverage; it covers all the areas where

the PTCL land line services are offered which means almost all the far flung areas.

Placement:

PTCL EVO has unmatched distribution and is available throughout the country. The placement is PTCL’s greatest advantage as in some places consumers do not have the option of any other internet connection.

[For a full list of cities where EVO is available, please refer to the appendix]

 Price:

Being a government organization, PTCL is not authorized to determine the prices of

its products itself, the Telecom Regulator Authority viz. Pakistan TelecommunicationAuthority

(PTA) fixes the prices of telecom services. The process is such that whenever PTCL intends to

increase or reduce the rates of its services, it submits its Proposal to PTA for approval. PTA

then calls consumers’ representatives, journalists and other interested groups for discussion on

the proposal. After listening to the viewpoints of all the interested parties, PTA gives its decision.

If PTA approves PTCL’s proposal, the new rates are enforced. It may be mentioned here that

telecom technology is only technology whose rates are on the decline with the passage of time.

PTCL also rationalizes its tariff with the passage of time. Tariff rationalization process started in

1997 as part of GOP

12

Telecom Sector policy for privatization of this sector. It was mainly focused onrebalancing the d

omestic process like NWD, international, local call, line rent etc.Rebalancing is completed by the

end of 2008 (as per Tariff rates) with the objective to position PTCL for competition.

Promotion:

Promotion takes place in the form of an array of packages which are listed below in the form of

pre-paid and post-paid packages:

Post Paid Packages

Billing Options  Monthly

Option 1 PTCL Landline Billing Rs. 2000 Bill in PTCL Landline

Option 2 Advance Line Rent Rs. 2000 Advance payment at PTCL OSS or Designated Bank

Pre-paid Packages

 Time Based Packages

Packages Monthly Charges Time Additional Usage / Hour

Day Pass Rs. 100/Day 24 Consecutive Hours -

LITE Rs. 1199 50 Hours / 30 Days Validity Rs.21

MAX Rs. 1999 Unlimited / 30 Days Validity  Rs. 0

 

13

PTCL uses its strong brand name to promote all over, through billboards, newspapers, tv

commercials and offers exciting packages to the customers to entice them.

Wateen

Wateen also offers a usb device to connect anywhere and everywhere. Wateen Telecom has been

ranked the number one wireless broadband service provider by PTA in a survey for quality of

service for all broadband service providers, says a press release.

It offers services according to the rates:

Internet Tariff

Data Limit 0.5 Mbps 1.0 Mbps 1.5 Mbps 2.0 Mbps

7 GB Rs. 599 Rs. 799

12 GB Rs. 1,299

Unlimited** Rs. 1,399 Rs. 2,999

Wateen is currently providing mainly outdoor and limited coverage in the following cities:

Abbottabad

Jhelum

R.Y. Khan

Bahawalpur

D.I. Khan

Lahore

Sargodha

Faisalabad

Gujranwala

Okara

Sialkot

Gujrat

14

Karachi

Sahiwal

Multan

Sheikhupura

Peshāwar

Sukkur

Their marketing is done through billboards, newspaper ads, tv commercials and most importantly the promotional offers.

Wateen offers many promotional offers to encourage the users to use their service:

Wateen - Internet Offer - 10 hours of unlimited downloads, from 1am to 11am. Now available in speeds up to 2 Mbps.

Wateen - Just Talk offer - Get 500 minutes absolutely FREE to Canada, USA and UK

Wateen Telecom announced the winners of its ‘Recharge and Reconnect’ campaign through

which it is incentivizing subscribers to recharge their accounts within time.

The ‘Recharge and Reconnect’ lucky draw campaign is aimed at building a connection with

Wateen customers, while encouraging them to recharge their accounts before the recharge date

for each month. Entrants need only ensure that they recharge their Wateen broadband accounts

before the due date in order to automatically qualify for the lucky draw of that month.

Thus they keep coming with such promotional offers to keep attracting their current clients and

more.

Since there’s a lot of competition customers have a wide variety of options to choose from. The

basic competition lies between the competitors on the basis of rates and service as aesthetics

don’t really count in such a product. Now the major advantage that ptcl has in terms of customers

perception is that it is recognized as a strong brand, and its broadband width is huge, covers a lot

15

of areas, however what witribe has done is, they have very smartly segmented their market

instead of trying to capture the wider market. They are the first one to offer the monitoring

service hence they are able to capture that part of the market well. They keep their strength their

differentiating services. Wateen witribe and ptcl all three are perceived as cheap and good

quality users the only differences are some users find better coverage in their area with certain

brands and hence they like to go with it, or on the basis of promotional offers thus promotions

need to be strong to keep penetrating in the market.

16

Consumer Analysis

Consumer analysis is an integral aspect of marketing research that helps to identify and collect

information with regard to target market's needs, profiles, and consumer behavior, in order to

establish market segmentation and profiling. Consumer analysis is considered to be the prime

step in marketing research, providing in depth the analysis of customers in different aspects.

[The survey questionnaire upon which the analysis is based has been included in the appendix]

Lifestyles & Psychographics

Analyzing consumer lifestyles and psychographics means examining the way people live rather

than where they live (geography) or their age, income, or occupation (demography). This

analysis is based upon a person's activities, interests and opinions.

People of the same age, income, and occupation, who live in the same area, purchase a wide

variety of goods and services. Lifestyle differences are used to help explain why one 40 year old

married, white, male attorney with two children buys a Honda Civic car while another attorney

of the same age, income, and family situation purchases a Toyota Corolla.

Analyzing consumer’s lifestyle and psychographics we gathered detailed snapshots of the unique

behaviours, attitudes and spending patterns of the consumers. Majority of the consumer’s went to

see movie or spend time on surfing internet while in their free time. They like to hang out with

friends and family and also fast food is preferred by them. They are willing to spend money on

17

the things that are best quality. They like participating in the activities which makes them happy

and entertains them; the most common is playing games that also include computer games.

Consumers are educated and sophisticated now days, they are demanding and they value

products and services on the basis of quality.

Buying patterns

Analyzing buying pattern means to examine in depth the purchase decision of consumers and

how often they buy the product. It is focused upon the needs of individuals, groups and

organizations.

We gathered data regarding buying patterns of consumers and we came to know that consumers

buy often when certain need arises. Consumers consider computer as the best source of

communication with friends and family. They believe that internet has now become the integral

part of their life as it makes them feel closer to their friends and family and also it helps them in

their buying decisions. Friends and immediate family has the most influence in the buying

decisions, the consumers are willing to buy brands that have strong recognition and loyalty and

the brands which are most spoken by the other users of that brand.

Opinion about brands

Analyzing opinion about brands examine in depth the consumers preferences over brands and

their certain attitude about particular brands.

We gathered data regarding opinion about brands and we can conclude that consumer’s opinion

about brands is a progressive and it changes with the time. A product or service brand is very

important along with the origin of the country. Consumers feel happy to buy products and

services that are originated from the countries they like. Opinion leaders have strong influence

18

on the consumers. Majority of the consumers are brand conscious and brand loyal in terms of

service rather than products.

Media Habits

The media habits are a representation of the lifestyles of the consumers from the perspective of

their interests in media. The consumers of broadband internet are mostly young people. They

have a much defined media liking and disliking. Among the media, the most favourite is the

internet. The consumers of broadband usually use the internet to socialize through sites such as

facebook. The next best use of internet is for surfing, music and movies, reading various articles

and email service. Some of the consumers use it for playing online games too. With the

introduction of smart phones and tablets use of internet for basic things is fast developing. On

average this set of consumers spend about 5 hours on the internet.

The second most favorite media is the television. This segment uses TV for mostly entertainment

purposes. Sports channels, series, movies and music channels are the most watched channels.

News and other informative channels are lowest in popularity. People prefer TV over internet for

these purpose is because its readily available, you do not need to download and wait plus it’s

more relaxing to watch programs on bigger TV screens than on smaller computer screens. An

average consumer spends about 4 hours watching TV.

Among other popular media channels is the radio. It is used for listening to music mainly and

mostly while driving. Magazines are also one media that this segment likes to read. The

broadband consumers read weekly magazines mostly and spend few hours in a week reading

magazines. The newspaper however is least popular and almost negligible amount of users read

newspaper.

19

Perceptual Mapping

Exhibit 1

20

Download cap: The restriction on the download limit on the internet

21

Exhibit 2

Consistency: The ability of the internet to work smoothly without breakdowns

22

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Quality of Service. 

Excellent customer support  

Tremendous organizational structure

Very high employee morale

Skilled Human Resource.

 Partnership with Norton by Symantec.

Smart pay solutions.

Weaknesses

Available in few cities

Give limited downloading capability to customer

Broadband penetration is mostly concentrated in urban areas.

Customer retention.

No clear strategic direction.

Poor organizational structure.

No research and development programs.

Employee skill inconsistency.

Opportunities

Increase Population

Changing social trend

Expansion of distribution net work

23

Capturing new segments

Introduce new packages

Users of internet are increasing in Pakistan

Huge market 

Potential for further growth exists due to a very low penetration level at present (0.55%)

Local handset manufacturing.

Making technology accessible to all (e.g. broadband).

Adopt latest technologies.

Removal of international trade barriers.

Adopting MVNO.

Threats

Bad economic situation in Pakistan

Political instability 

Security issue

New entrants

With the increase in number of market players, prices of broadband services will also

come down

Inconsistent and adhoc decisions from regulatory authorities.

24

Marketing Plan

25

Target Market

Primary

As with any successful business, a target market should be created towards which the brand must

focus its efforts on in order to remain competitive and maximize its potential. This target market

is chosen based on a number of factors, the most important of which is the idea that the product

should satisfy a particular need for a particular audience. The key is to identify which segments

are particularly served by the usage of internet service providers.

In terms of age, the 15-35 segment, specifically targeting young adults. The reason is that these

are generally spendthrifts and form a large part of the overall population. They are the ones who

primarily decide which internet connection to use and which are the best in the market.

This segment is further divided by gender and only the males within the 15-35 segment are

targeted as our research shows that over 70% of the decisions in terms of which internet

connection to avail is done by males.

In the income bracket range, we chose those households that have an income greater than Rs.50,

000 as these households are deemed to have enough money to spend on internet services.

In terms of geographical regions, the emphasis is placed on urban cities, namely Karachi, Lahore

and Islamabad.

Further segmentation through psychographics has been done on the basis of usage, where by

three categories of users have been identified (light, medium and heavy) and as such the medium

and heavy users are targeted.

*Categorization is based on the number of hours spent on the internet per day and the amount of data (in Mb)

downloaded per day.

26

Consumer Profile: 15-35 year old urban males that belong to households with an income of

over Rs.50, 000 and are medium to heavy users of the internet.

Secondary

For our secondary market we will target corporate sector. Research shows us that the corporate

sector is among the top in terms of availing internet service thus targeting this sector is important

and significant.

In the corporate sector we will further target the companies which are new in the market and

needs best internet service to let them connect with the world all the time. It may consist of small

as well as large companies. The reason behind targeting them is that they are penetrating into the

market and are willing to pay slightly high price for the best quality service because of the fact

that today everything is getting global and companies need something to connect them with the

global world thus our internet service will best satisfy them and we will be able to achieve higher

sales and high profit margins through this segment.

Thus we come to our Primary target market which consists of university going, urban young

adults between 18 and 29 who need internet service, with an household income of over Rs.50,

000 and for the secondary market it consist companies that are penetrating and entering into the

markets.

27

Positioning

A marketing strategy that aims to make a brand occupy a distinct position, relative to competing

brands, in the mind of the customer is called positioning. Positioning is the perception of the

product or service in consumers mind. Positioning in the internet industry is very important as

there is high competition and very low cost of substitution. The product differentiation among

the competitors is low. If a firm effectively wants to position its product, then differentiation is

the key.

Wi tribe is the fourth biggest internet service provider in Pakistan. Its target market is the SEC A

and upper middle income group. The quality of the service that company provides is unparallel.

It is perhaps the best in providing consistent speed and quality after sales service. Due to this

high quality it charges a high price too. Consumers consider it to be a little expensive as

compared to its competitors. So the basic perception of Wi tribe in consumers mind is that it is a

high quality service provider and an expensive one as compared to the rest substitutes.

For the repositioning of wi tribe, we will use the seven step positioning process. The first step in

this process is to identify a relevant set of competitive products. The relevant set of competitive

products for wi tribe contains three major competitors; Wateen, PTCL and world call. These are

the three dominant service providers. The other small competitors include brain net, Qubee, link

dot net and Dancom. These are considered relevant set because customer thinks of them as

providing the same benefit and can satisfy their need through them.

The second step is to identify determinant attitudes. The determinant attitudes in case of internet

service provider are physical features, packages, price, quality, consistency and service. The

physical features include the kind of modems like wireless, broadband, usb and pocket modem.

The packages are the benefits that a customer will have by using the service. It includes the

speed of the connection, its price, discounts and download cap. In case of wi tribe, the company

offers all varieties of modems which its competitors provide but the packages that other

28

companies provide are better. This is because they offer same speed at lower rates and with more

or no download limits. Wi tribe’s packages are expensive but again the reason is the superior

quality and service.

The third step involves collecting data about customer’s perceptions. In the previous parts of our

study we have conducted focus groups and experience surveys to get an insight of consumer

perception. According to the findings we have come to know that consumers think perceive wi

tribe to be of superior quality and find it expensive compared to its competitors. It is perceived as

the most reliable and consistent. It also has an edge over its competitors in browsing speeds.

Whereas companies like wateen, world call and PTCL are considered to be good quality internet

at very affordable rates.

Step four of the process is about analysing the current positions of the products in the set. In the

current market PTCL is positioned as the cheap and fast internet. It is the choice of price

sensitive ci\consumer and thus is market leader. Wateen and world call enjoy a reputation of

being quality service providers with reasonable and competitive rates. They are more suited to

people who are more into downloading. In case of wi tribe, its considered as more expensive and

highest quality internet. It is more consistent and reliable.

The fifth step is to determine the customer’s most favourable combination of attributes.

According to our research, the internet consumer’s most preferred combination is of price, speed

and downloads limits. Consumers want high speed for as low rate as possible with preference of

no limits on downloading.

In the sixth step we consider fit of possible positions with customer segments. here we reposition

our product according to the ideal fit. We want wi tribe to be the primary choice of our

consumers. The markets we are targeting are male belonging to SEC A and upper middle class.

This segment of consumers prefer high speed internet at low price with no limits on

downloading. Wi tribe currently does not match these criteria. So by lowering are prices, giving

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high speed packages with no download cap at competitive prices, we are repositioning are

product as the best choice, best value for your money, specifically keeping in mind the particular

consumer segment.

The last step involves writing a positioning statement. The positioning statement of wi tribe after

all the analysis and research should show its goal, target market, should reflect its USP and

represent the new positioning of the service. So our new positioning statement for Wi-tribe is:

Wi-tribe: The biggest bang for your buck!

Perceptual Maps as per repositioning:

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Product

The first element of the 4 Ps of marketing focuses on the product. It is seen as an item that

satisfies what a consumer needs or wants. It is a tangible good or an intangible service

Objectives

Being an internet service provider, the objectives for the product will revolve around the

following five dimensions features, benefits, installation, service, and branding.

In our case it is a service thus focusing on the service aspect in 4ps, the major features of the

service is that it will provide uninterrupted internet service 24/7. Only an hour in a month

services will be down for any up gradation, maintenance required by the company. It is being a

proactive approach to minimize any service loss.

In terms of benefits we will provide our customers the internet service without any cap. We will

offer no brandwith cap thus providing the best to the customers.

In terms of installation, the device is simple plug and play, yet we will provide installation

services at homes and offices. The company salesman will himself ensure the proper installation

of the device and the best quality internet service to the customer.

In terms of service, we will be offering the best possible service to our customers through our

24/7 helpline and also by the salesman who will fix the problem if any occurs in our internet

service.

In case of Branding, it will be make sure that the brand “Wi tribe” will be recognized as the best

internet service provider in Pakistan. The company will put all its efforts to make it value for

money.

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Strategies

Wi tribe will achieve all the objectives through providing the best dimensions of service quality.

Tangibles: Wi tribe will make sure that the appearance of physical facilities, personnel and

communication materials will be above the par. Retail outlets will be well decorated and proper

training of communication will be given to the sales staff so that a smooth flow of information

between the sales personnel and customer takes place. This will add value to the company’s

name.

Reliability: Wi tribe will make its service reliable by increasing the brandwith size by 50% so

that the service can never break down and as mentioned earlier an hour will be allocated in a

mont for all the maintenance and up gradation so that the services will be always up to the mark.

Responsiveness: Wi tribe will achieve responsiveness by training the sales staff to have the

ability to promptly solve the problems of the customers and will always be willing to help

customers.

Assurance: Wi tribe will make sure that the sales staff should always try to make the customers

comfortable and to make a sense of confidence between them. For this the staff will be given

autonomy to some extent.

Empathy: Wi tribe being a internet service provider will put all its efforts to make sure that the

customers should be taken best care of and to assign individualized attention to the customers so

that they have a sense of confidence and a better relationship from our side.

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Price

Price is an extremely important part in marketing a product because it is essential in conveying

the positioning of a product to the consumers. The price is an exchange of goods or services

which are valued in monetary terms. Price is one determinant of the success of a company

because the price determines how much profit to be gained from the sale of company products

both in the form of goods or services. Setting the price too high will cause sales to decline, but if

the price is too low will reduce the profits that can be obtained from the company’s organization.

Objectives

1. Getting the maximum profit. By setting a competitive price so Wi tribe will gain optimal

profit.

2. Maintain company. From the company earned a profit margin will be used for operational

costs of the company. Examples: for salaries / wages of employees, to pay the electric bill, water

bill under the ground, the purchase of raw materials, transportation costs, and so forth.

3. Achieving ROI (Return on Investment). The company would want a turnover of investment

companies that invested in the appropriate pricing will accelerate the achievement of capital

return / ROI.

Strategies

After selecting a pricing objective we need to determine a pricing strategy. This will assist you

when it comes time to actually price your products. As with the pricing objectives, numerous

pricing strategies are available from which to choose. Certain strategies work well with certain

objectives, so we as Wi tribe have to make sure to select best strategies that cope with the

objectives.

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Careful selection of a pricing objective should lead us to the appropriate strategies. If the pricing

strategy we choose seems to contradict our chosen pricing objective, then we should revisit the

whole scenario

Additionally, different pricing strategies can be used at different times to fit with changes in

marketing strategies, market conditions, and product life cycles.

Penetration pricing— As proposed pricing strategy, we will be using Pricing strategy to gain

entry into a new market. The objective for employing penetration pricing is to attract and grow

market share. Once desired levels for these objectives are reached, product prices are typically

increased. Penetration prices will not garner the profit that we may want; therefore, this pricing

strategy will must be used strategically. The strategy of penetration pricing will be used to

increase revenue or quantity maximization.

We will price our internet services slightly above the current prevailing price of our competitors

in the market but the most important feature which we will be offering as mentioned earlier

would be no bandwidth cap, which means it will be unlimited downloading. For this feature we

can charge much high prices but since we are penetrating into the new market and desire to

increase our market share so we will be charging in accordance with this.

1mb for Rs 1200

2mb for Rs 1700

4mb for Rs 2200

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Promotion

The promotional or communications mix consists of various forms of advertisements that range

from direct selling to indirect selling, mass communication to public relations. The idea is to

create objectives for major promotional channels and then come up with effective ways to

achieve those objectives through advertisement.

Objectives

1. Reposition Wi-tribe as the highest value for money internet service provider:

1a. communicate to the customer the new pricing

1b. communicate to the customer the removal of download caps

2. Increase sales revenue

2a. capture greater market share

2b. attract new adopters

2c. upgrade current customers to more expensive packages

Strategies

1. The first strategy would be to launch an advertisement campaign which exemplifies the

characteristics of the revamped Wi-tribe services packages whereby different channels of

promotion would be used to convey the message that Wi-tribe provides the highest value

for money.

2. After 6 months, another campaign would replace the previous one in which the focus

would be to increase the amount of sales revenue generated from the existing install base.

TV advertisement

TV advertisement would be heavily used for both campaigns, the advertisements themselves

would be informational in nature, where the first campaign would focus on the fact that Wi-tribe

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has now significantly reduced rates without any download cap, the second campaign would focus

on informing the customer that they can upgrade their internet connections and would get a 10%

discount on prices for the next 3 months. Both these awareness campaigns would extend

themselves to SMS marketing as well, spreading knowledge about the product via SMS.

Print advertisement

The idea of creating a specific image, especially that of having the highest value for money,

would be created during the first 6 months via print ads which would also be posted online as

well on Facebook. In addition, the website would be redesigned to convey the idea of simplicity

and ease of use and as an additional tool would also display both print and video ads along with

the latest promotions.

Outdoor advertisement

The second campaign would focus more on billboards and posters while television would be

used sparingly to reinforce the message.

Billboard advertisement would be used to direct traffic to the official website where more in

depth communication is possible.

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Place

Place, also referred to as the distribution network of a product is the last component in the

marketing mix but is as important as the other three.

Distribution of Wi-tribe internet services is currently done through their outlets throughout the

urban cities where you can purchase a ‘slider’ or ‘dongle’ and start using the internet almost

immediately. Alternately, one can call their helpline and have someone deliver and install the

service at a specified time.

Objectives

1. Provide customers with easy channels to purchase service

2. Have as wide a coverage area as possible within urban cities

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55%30%

15%

First Campaign ex-posure

Tv

Print

Outdoor

20%

25%

55%

Second Campaign ex-posure

Tv

Print

Outdoor

Strategies

1. Keep the current distribution network unchanged

It is deemed that the current distribution network is wide enough to cover the urban areas

sufficiently and is capable enough to handle the surge in demand that is expected due to changes

in the other three aspects of the marketing mix.

Since the target market is present in areas where distribution is already being provided (all major

cities) and there are enough personnel to be able to arrive 24 hours after an installation request

has been made that there is no need to change, expand or contract any aspect of the ‘place’

aspect of the marketing mix and essentially that is the plan for the next 12 months: more of the

same.

Sales ObjectivesIn a nut shell, Wi-tribe’s sales objectives are to reach as many business and household users throughout the urban cities (Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad) as possible, efficiently and for the least amount of capital outlay. The sales department will grow and manage as many capable independent contractors as possible, while maintaining the high level of quality service and the good reputation of the company in the marketplace. Dedicated management and oversight of these contractors is critical to the success of the company as a whole. Outlined below are some explicit targets that will help us achieve these objectives.

Each sales representative has been allotted an achievable sales target of 2 contracts/sales per day. This would allow the representative adequate time to focus on their client’s individual requirements and provide them with customized services suited to their particular needs.

The monthly sales target for each representative is 60 and the representatives are required to follow up with their clients to ensure satisfaction for repeat business in the future.

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Decrease the number of back orders and complaint by 5%. Achieving this target will help us to strengthen our client relationships and develop niche expertise in our client servicing department.

Increase the number of sales to the existing customers as well as to first time buyers through referrals and recommendations.

Increase market penetration by 5% over six months and exploitation of new territory by sales representative where there is potential.

Turning repeat customers into champions for the brand.

Increase brand awareness through extensive marketing campaign with special focus on the younger population segment.

The demand for internet usage is growing not only in the urban metropolis but also in the smaller cities of the province. One important goal is to expand the market coverage over the next two years and include new cities in the market share.

Development of new customers through this market expansion will be possible. And based on our demand forecast, our staff has been assigned the target of increasing the overall customer base by 15% over the next year.

Increase the number of corporate client by 20% by next year with special focus on the SME sector which accounts for 90% of business entities in Pakistan.

Increasing the average total amount of sales through up selling.

The overall target is to increase sales by 20%.

Regional Distribution of sales target in Lahore:

For increased focus and efficiency, Lahore has been divided into various regions and individual sales teams will handle their respective areas. Most of these territories are densely populated and depicts an increasing demand from both household and business users. Allocating specific teams will allow the sales representatives to develop expertise regarding the issues in their geographical territories. Moreover customers will be comfortable having a point person they are personally

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familiar with handling their accounts. This strategy will help cultivate long term relationships and increase customer loyalty. Outlined below are the regional targets for Lahore.

A target of 165 sales per month in the DHA area has been assigned to the sales team.

200 sales per month in the Gulberg area.

150 sales per month in model town.

150 sales per month in garden town per month.

150 sales per month in Johar town.

200 sales per month in Bahria town.

*Sales growth targets are based on solid industry data discovered in the Market Analysis.

Sales Forecast

The sales forecast for the fiscal year 2012 has been calculated by taking into account a number of

factors; initially the 2011 sales figures are taken and compared with previous years’ data to

calculate the average growth rate (using the moving averages technique) and then compare it to

the industry average growth for that year to find out the deviation from the average in terms of

percentage.

Once the average deviation from the industry average is established (negative or positive), that

figure is multiplied by the growth rate of the industry. The resultant figure is the estimated

growth in sales if there is no change to the marketing mix.

Taking into account the new pricing which is expected to generate (2%) additional sales and the

new promotional mix (the two ad campaigns) is likely to generate a further 2% additional sales;

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an overall 4% is added to the figure calculated earlier and then multiplied with the sales of the

fiscal year 2011 to get the estimated sales for 2012. This is calculated as: Rs.1,791,456,960.

Since the promotional expense is being taken as 1% of sales, the advertisement budget becomes:

Rs.17,914,570

Implementation

Quarter 1

Product

In the first quarter, Wi Tribe’s major product will be the wireless internet of 1 mb, 2 mb and 3 mb. All the activities will revolve around this product. The pricing, promotion will be done for this particular product.

Pricing

Pricing plan for wireless internet is as follow:

1 mb connection Rs. 12002 mb connection Rs. 17003 mb connection Rs. 2200* no download limit

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Placement

The product will be available on all Wi Tribe outlets throughout the cities.

Promotion

The product will be advertised using billboards, television commercials and magazine. In the first quarter, billboard will be heavily used as compared to the other two mediums.

The total promotional budget available for the entire year is Rs. 17914570 out of this the budget

allocated to the first quarter is Rs. 4836934. This budget is for the promotional activities carried

out in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. Around 40 % of this budget will be spend on billboards,

30 % on television commercial, 30 % on magazine ads.

Quarter 1:

Advertising Expenditure JAN FEB MAR QUARTER

TOTAL

Billboards Rs. 644924 Rs. 644924 Rs.644924 Rs. 1934772

Television commercials Rs. 483693 Rs. 483693 Rs.483693 Rs. 1451080

Magazines Rs. 483693 Rs. 483693 Rs. 483693 Rs. 1451080

Advertising exp. Total Rs. 1612310 Rs. 1612310 Rs.1612310 Rs. 4836930

Highest percentage of the promotional budget has been allocated to outdoor advertisement; this

is because most of Wi tribe target market leads a very active live. They go to work, to go

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colleges and universities, go out with friends hence a solid budget was required for the billboard

advertisement. Similarly equal amounts have been allocated to TVC and magazine ads, this is

because again the target market is educated and read newspapers and magazine. They watch

news and prime time TV as well.

Quarter 2

Product, pricing and placement will remain the same as quarter one, but there will be little variation in the promotional activities. Less emphasis will be given on billboards in this quarter and more on magazine advertisement.

Advertising Expenditure APR MAY JUN TOTAL

Billboard Rs. 412035 Rs. 412035 Rs. 412035 Rs. 1236105

TVC Rs. 412035 Rs. 412035 Rs. 412035 Rs. 1236105

Magazine Rs. 549380 Rs. 549380 Rs. 549380 Rs. 1648140

Advertising exp. Total Rs. 1373450 Rs. 1373450 Rs. 1373450 Rs. 4120350

For the second quarter, less focus will be given to billboards, 30 % of the budget will be for

billboard advertisement, 30 % for the TVC and 40 % for the magazine.

Quarter 3

Again product, pricing and placement will remain but promotions will be different in this quarter, discounts will be introduced. All those users who will upgrade their connection will be given 10 % discount for 3 months and for those users who are already using max connections they will be given 5 % discount for 3 months.

Quarter 3:

Advertising Expenditure July August September Total

Billboard Rs. 716583 Rs. 716583 Rs. 716583 Rs. 2149748

TVC Rs. 716583 Rs. 716583 Rs. 716583 Rs. 2149748

Magazine Rs. 358291 Rs. 358291 Rs. 358291 Rs. 1074874

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Advertising exp. Total Rs. 1791457 Rs. 1791457 Rs. 1791457 Rs. 5374371

For the third quarter, more focus will be given to billboards, 40 % of the budget will be for

billboard advertisement, 40 % for the TVC and 20 % for the magazine.

Quarter 4

Product, pricing, placement and promotion will be same as quarter 3.

Advertising Expenditure July August September Total

Billboard Rs. 477722 Rs. 477722 Rs. 477722 Rs. 1433166

TVC Rs. 358291 Rs. 358291 Rs. 358291 Rs. 1074874

Magazine Rs. 358291 Rs. 358291 Rs. 358291 Rs. 1074874

Advertising exp. Total Rs. 1791457 Rs. 1791457 Rs. 1791457 Rs. 3582914

For the fourth quarter, more focus will be given to billboards, 40 % of the budget will be for

billboard advertisement, 30 % for the TVC and 30 % for the magazine.

Action Plan Summary for 2012

QUARTER 1 QUARTER 2 QUARTER 3 QUARTER 4PRODUCT Wireless connection Wireless connection Wireless connection Wireless connectionPRICING Rs.1200, 1700, 2200 Rs.1200, 1700, 2200 Rs.1200, 1700, 2200 Rs.1200, 1700, 2200PLACEMENT Wi tribe outlets Wi tribe outlets Wi tribe outlets Wi tribe outletsPROMOTION Billboards, TVC, mag Billboards, TVC, mag Discount packages Billboard, TVC, mag

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Appendix

Experience Surveys

Wi-tribe franchise manager

Wi-tribe currently is Pakistan’s fourth biggest broadband service provider. It is relatively young

company as compared to its competitors and one of the fastest growing companies in Pakistan. In

2010, the company had an annual growth rate of 118% as it added 40,064 customers. Wi tribe

was also named the best quality broadband service provider in 2010.

The perception of wi tribe among consumers is that the company is quality service provider.

Internet users find it a little expensive than other competitors but that is the price that reflects

consistent quality and speed. The primary objective of wi tribe is to maintain quality and

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maximize consumer satisfaction. This is the reason behind having download limits and higher

price One key issue that usually internet consumer have with wi tribe is the limitation on

downloads. The company offers unlimited packages too but at a higher price. The demand of

broadband users of Pakistan is continuous connectivity and consistent speed. Wi tribes more than

fulfil it. As far as competition is concerned, wi tribe considers wateen, ptcl and worldcall their

major competition. These companies are well established and have greater customer base and

coverage. Wi tribe is not much concerned about this situation as they are confident of our ability

and know that in coming years wi tribe will be better than them.

The broadband consumers are not brand conscious. They seek good internet at the lowest price

possible. As the cost of substitution is low, customers often change their internet connections.

The reason may be that they are not heavy with service or found a cheaper connection. Attracting

consumer therefore is a challenge in this industry. The basic marketing strategy wi tribe uses is

advertisements in print media, Television, radio, sponsorships and billboards. One key marketing

tool in broadband industry is word of mouth. Consumers are more influenced by the experiences

of others and there is greater chance that they will try the service based on word of mouth

advertisement.

To differentiate wi tribe from all other broadband service providers, the company sticks to its

mission and that is to provide the best quality. When it comes to speed and connectivity, wi tribe

is the most consistent service provider. The company further differentiate by introducing new

easy to access technologies such as wireless modems and the latest inclusion of pocket modem.

All these offerings are to make customer experience better and maximize their satisfaction. The

packages are also one of the major part. These packages are made keeping the demands of the

various customers in mind. Emphasis is on having packages that suit all types of customers and

that compete with the rest.

Wateen franchise manager

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Wateen is the second biggest broadband service provider in Pakistan. It is known for its quality

and user friendly packages. The customers of wateen include both corporate and home users,

corporate customer being the major revenue generators.

Perception of wateen as a broadband service provider is quite positive as consumers rate it as

high quality service with competitive prices. This is also reflected in the market share that

wateen has. Compared to some other service providers in the industry, consumers find wateen’s

packages a little expensive but the consistency in speed and the service overall is better too.

Wateen also offers great customer support to enhance customer’s experience of the service.

Wateen has a network that is wide spread. Along with its quality and new price competitive

packages, it proves to be the differentiating factor amongst all the competition.

The internet consumers in Pakistan demand services which are of good consistent quality, are

cheap and provide good customer support. The needs are now evolving too. Now consumers also

demand portable internet service such as usb internet or portable easy to carry modems. Wateen

is fully equipped and constantly working to cater to these changing needs of the consumer. The

brand loyalty in internet industry is low. Primary reason being the overall standard of the

industry which is good and competitiveness of the quality of service.

Wateen, to attract uses media channels such as Television, radio, sponsorships, billboards and

print media. People recommendations count a lot too as internet service is one thing that is used

on recommendations of close ones. The things that differentiate Wateen from its competition are

its level of quality, price, wide coverage and a strong customer support system.

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Focus Groups

Structure:Research Population: broadband internet users in Lahore

Sampling frame: Two focus groups will be conducted with participants belonging to different

demographics. The first group will consist of people belonging to the age bracket of 18 to 26

years both male and female with the household income of Rs.50, 000 and above. These are

primarily the students who use internet on daily basis for assignments, projects as well as

entertainment purposes. The reason for choosing such participants is to find out their

perceptions, usage about broadband internet.

The second focus group will be conducted with people belonging to the age bracket of 27 to 36

years both male and female with the household income of Rs.50, 000 and above. This is the

working class and internet usage is a major part of their routine at work. The reason for choosing

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them is to find out how important broadband internet is for their work, what brands do they

prefer and their perceptions in general.

Sampling technique: due to time and cost constraints, convenience sampling will be used.

Sample size: each focus group will have approximately 8 respondents.

Procedure: the focus group with be conducted by all the members, everybody will be present at

both times, proper guideline will be followed. The findings will be recorded and analyzed later.

Results:

The results of the focus groups have been divided into three broad categories and are

summarized below:

Broadband internet

The participants in the focus groups felt that in today’s age internet an absolute necessity hence

the introduction and extensive spread of broadband internet is like a cherry on top of the cake.

Students have appreciated it more than anyone else. In order to gather information for their

assignments and projects, students tend to use internet a lot. Internet is also in use for

entertainment purposes and the social media. The working class has acknowledged the

advantages of the broadband internet as well and considers it extremely useful. “A strong

internet connection is a must in an office, all our communication is done via exchange of emails,

and hence a strong internet connection is a requirement.” The previously used dial up internet

connection is now a thing of the past; it is remembered as something that was extremely

inconvenient. “The connection used to drop very often which was annoying especially when you

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were doing something important.” The 24/7 connectivity of the broadband internet is seen as a

huge positive by the participants. They liked the fact that one doesn’t have to dial up every time

one has to use the internet; “this had made life so much easier”. The unlimited connection and

high speed access are the most talked about features.

Broadband Internet Service Providers

When asked about the various service providers in Lahore, participants were able to name quite a

few, Wateen, World call, PTCL, WI tribe and Qubee are the names that they were able to recall.

When asked about their preferences, the participants were of the view that in essence all of the

providers are more or less the same, they advertise like they are best of the best but when tried all

of them have problems with speed and connectivity. “ I previously used World call, then

switched to PTCL and now I am using Wateen, I have experienced so many issues with these

providers, low speed, bad connectivity , poor service, it is really hard who say which one is

superior to the other, they are all the same.” Few of the participants like Wateen the best.

“Wateen has a great coverage in Lahore. They were among the first few who came to phase V

Defence.” Few of the participants felt stuck with their service providers, for them the thought of

switching from one to another was frightening, as it is time taking. “ my friends have suggested

few service providers that I should try, but I just can’t bring myself to change my provider, not

that there is an emotional attachment, I think I am just being too lazy!” some of the participants

preferred World call over others while few of them felt that that Wi tribe has variety of products

and services to choose from. Hence there were varied responses about the preferences of the

service providers

About the pricing, majority of the respondents were of the view that as long as it is providing

value for money, they don’t mind paying a little extra but if they feel that the service provided is

poor and not up to the expectation then they feel like they are wasting their money.

Wi Tribe

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The respondents were aware of Wi tribe however only few had tried it and were satisfied with

their services, as mentioned above their vast variety of product and services is much liked and

appreciated. Quite few have wanted to switch to Wi tribe a well but as mentioned earlier they

just don’t want to go through the procedure of switching their service providers. However

respondents had few complaints about their customer care department, they were of the view that

the customer service that Wi tribe offers is not very efficient.

Broadband Technologies

Digital subscriber line (DSL)

DSL is a family of technologies that provide digital data transmission over the wires of a local

telephone network. It is a powerful tool for fast information transmission; however, its popularity

is highly dependent on the quality of wire line infrastructure in the country. Poor QoS standards

and customer services are hampering the growth of DSL and clearing the way for other

technologies. In accordance with the global trend, DSL leads the market share of Pakistan as

well. Out of 413,809 total subscribers, DSL has a colossal 64% market share with 262,661

subscribers. The main reason for this enormous success rate is due to PTCL's domination in

fixed line service. DSL technology has been offered by PTCL for a long time and more than 76%

of DSL subscribers belong to PTCL. Link dot net and Worldcall are catching up by offering

affordable tariffs and attractive packages.

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wimax)

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WiMAX is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless transmission of data using a

variety of transmission modes, from point-to-multipoint links to portable and fully mobile

internet access. The technology provides up to 3 Mbit/s broadband speeds without the need for

cables. Pakistan holds the unique honor of having the first commercial roll out of WiMAX based

network in the world by Wateen Telecom (Pvt) Ltd in December, 2007. Since its arrival,

WiMAX technology has taken over the Pakistan market by storm and attracted almost 90,000

subscribers in a short span of time. The nowire broadband solution is a huge incentive for

customers as they can enjoy triple play services (CableTV, Voice and Data) without having to

deal with three different companies. Mobilink Infinity has also started its service in Karachi

using WiMAX offering voice and broadband solution in October 2008 and already established a

19,349 subscriber base. Most recently, Wi- Tribe has also commenced its services in

Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi promoting its product via extensive media campaign

and free trial periods.

Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC)

HFC is a telecommunication technology being utilized mostly by CableTV providers. It allows

optical fiber cable and coaxial cable to be used in different portions of a network to carry

broadband content, such as video, data and voice. HFC share has been declining over the past

years due to introduction of better technologies like WiMAX, EvDO, FTTx and no significant

competition in the market. HFC holds a 9% share in the broadband market as compared to 25%

in the 2007-08. Worldcall has been major the player in CableTV with almost 30,000 subscribers

while Wateen also jumped in with its own HFC network and added 6,562 subscribers till June

2009.

Evolution-Data Optimized (Evdo)

EvDO is a telecommunication standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio

signals, typically for broadband Internet access. EvDO is a relatively new technology which is

showing a potential for becoming an instant hit as it has already gained a 5% share in the

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broadband market of Pakistan. Since its commencement, EvDO has been met with tremendous

response by the broadband customers as it provides the ultimate facility of “Mobile Broadband”

which means that you can be online anywhere at anytime even on the move. Worldcall was the

sole player in this technology providing wireless broadband access to the cities of Karachi,

Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot. PTCL also launched its EvDO services in major cities around

the country offering data rates up to 3.1Mbps. PTCL also guarantees an automatic switch over to

its CDMA 1x network in case a subscriber enters a non- EvDO service area, thus keeping the

promise of “always online” connection. With two big giants of the telecom industry providing

the same technology solution, a fierce competition is expected which would eventually benefit

the end customer.

FTTH (fiber to the home)

FTTH is a broadband technology that uses optical fiber to replace all or part of the usual metal

local loop used for last mile telecommunications. FTTH is a high speed connection capable of

carrying huge IP traffic volumes. NayaTel has been providing Triple play Services (Voice, Data,

and Video) via FTTH technology to customers for a few years now mainly in Islamabad. With

PTCL planning for GPON networks in Islamabad, FTTH is gearing up to become a major entity

in the telecom structure of Pakistan.

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PTCL Availability

ABBOTTABAD HARIPUR LAHORE ROHRI

AHMADPUR EAST Harunabad LAKKI Sahiwal

AKALGARH Hasilpur LARKANA Sambnal

Arifwala Haveli LEIAH Sanghar

Badin HAZRO LORALAI Sangla

BAHAWALNAGAR Hujra Faisalabad SARGODHA

BAHAWALPUR HYDERABAD Mananwala Shahdadpur

BANNU ISLAMABAD MANSHERA Shahderi

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Bhakkar JACOBABAD MATIARI Shakargarh

BHALWAL Jahania MIAN CHANNUN SHEKHUPURA

Bhimbar Jaranwala MIANWALI Shikarpur

AttockJHANG

SADAR

Mandi

BAHAUDDINShorkot Road

Chakwal JHELUM MIRPUR KHAS SHUJAABAD

ChamanJiapur

MagbulpurMULTAN SIALKOT

Chichawanti Kahna MURREE SIBI

CHINIOT KALABAGH MUZAFFARABAD SUKKUR

Chistian Mandi KAMALIA Muzaffargarh TALAGANG

CHUNIAN Kamoke NAROWALTando Muhammad

Khan

DADU Kandhkot NAWABSHAH Thatta

Daulat Nagar KARACHI OKARA Toba Tek Singh

DERA GHAZI

KHANKASUR PAKPATTAN Umarkot

DERA ISMAIL KHAIRPUR Pandori Vihari

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KHAN

DINGA KHANEWAL PASUR WAH

FATEHJANG KHARIAN Pattoki WAZIRABAD

Fort Abbas KHEWRA PESHAWAR Kotli

Ghakhar KHUSHAB PIR MANGHO Rawlakot

Gojra Khuzdar Pishin Bagh

GUJAR KHAN KOHAT QUETTA Plandri

Survey Questionnaire

1. What is the name of your Internet Service provider (ISP)?

a) Wi-tribe

b) Wateen

c) Word call

d) Ptcl

e) Other:- _____________

2. How often do you use Internet?

a) Daily

b) Every alternate day

c) Weekly

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d) Occasionally

3. What are your monthly average expenses on internet?

a) Less than 700

b) 701--1200

c) 1201-1700

d) 1701-2200

e) More than 2200

4. Which internet speed you use?

a) 256 Kbps

b) 512 KBPS

c) 1MBPS

d) 2MBPS

e) 4 MBPS

f) Other________

5. How often do you use the following different types of media?

Daily Every alternate day Weekly Occasionally

Internet

TV

Radio

Newspaper

Magazines

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6. When do you use the different media the most?

Morning noon Evening Night

Internet

TV

Radio

Newspaper

Magazines

7. Score the following restaurants (out of 100) in terms of preference:

Outlet Score

Wi-Tribe

Wateen

World call

PTCL

Others

8. Rate the following according to value for money

[1= value for money extremely low, 2 = low, 3 appropriate, 4= high, 5= very high]

Outlet 1 2 3 4 5

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Wateen

Wi-tribe

PTCL

World call

Others

9. How would you rate Wi-tribe’s software for ease of installation and use?

a) Excellent

b) Very good

c) Adequate

d) Poor

e) Very poor

10. Rank the following in terms of importance when choosing an internet service provider.

FactorNot important

at all

Little

ImportanceNeutral

Moderately

ImportantVery important

Price

Consistency

Speed

Download cap

Customer

service

11. Wi-tribe’s internet connection packages are adequate.

a) Strongly agree

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b) Agree

c) Neutral

d) Disagree

e) Strongly Disagree

12. If you get better service at the same price would you switch your current connection?

a) Definitely yes

b) Yes

c) Neutral

d) No

e) Definitely No

13. State your opinion on the following factors for Wi-tribe

Factors Poor Sub-par Average Good Excellent

Wi-tribe as a brand

Price

Speed

Consistency

Customer service

Please provide the following details:

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17. Age (in years):

a) 10-15

c)16-20

d)21-25

e) Older than 25

18. Gender:

a) Male

b) Female

19. Education Level:

a) Primary School

b) Middle School

c) High School

d) Undergraduate

e) Post Graduate

f) PhD

20. Monthly Income (in Rupees):

a) Less than 10,000

b) 10,000-30,000

c)30,001-50,000

d) 50,001-70,000

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e) Greater than 70,000

21. Please state your profession: _______________________

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