Telecom Project by Jaydeepsinh solanki
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Transcript of Telecom Project by Jaydeepsinh solanki
Telecom Way forward to being global
Research Guide: Research Student:
Mr. Somesh Khandelwal Mr. Jaydeepsinh solanki
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Telecom the Booming sector
A project
Submitted in the fulfillment of the
Requirement for the certification in program in
Business skill (PBS)
DEVELOPED BY:
Jaydeepsinh Solanki
NIS ACADEMY
Vadodara
A division of NIS SPARTA LTD,
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Company
Website: www.thenisacademy.com
Certificate
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This is to certify that the reported here has been carried out
independently by Mr.Jaydeepsinh solanki under the guidance of
Mr. Somesh Khandelwal as a fulfillment of master’s degree in
business skill, and is her original and bonafide work.
Mr. Somesh Khandelwal Mr. Somesh Khandelwal
(Director) (Trainer)
Telecom The booming sector
BATCH CODE: MBA-1B
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NAME OF COORDINATOR: Somesh Khandelwal
NAME OF STUDENT: Jaydeepsinh Solanki
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 5th March 2011
)
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Acknowledgement
It’s a great pleasure for me to make a project on Telecom-the
booming sector.
First of all I would like to thank NIS Academy for giving me a
chance to work on this project. I express my deepest sense of gratitude
towards my project coordinator Mr. Somesh Khandelwal Nair who has
helped me a lot throughout this project. I learnt many new things from her
and I am thankful to her for her kind support.
I am also thankful to my Location Head Mr. Somesh Khandelwal
for his vital encouragement and support, Mr. Deepak Vaishnav Head of
Administration department for inspiration and help he extended, Ms
Meenakshi Nair and Ms Kamakshi Pandya for their understanding and
assistance
I would also like to thanks Mr. Harjeet Singh Marketing Manager,
Bharti Airtel, Mr. Shrijith Nair, Vodafone and also telecom companies like
Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance, and Tata Indicom.
Finally, yet importantly I would like to express my heartfelt thanks
to my beloved parents for their blessings, my friends and classmates for
their help and wishes for successful completion of this project.
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Content
Page no.
1. Abstract.......................................................................................................................07
2. Global Telecom Scenario...........................................................................................09
3. Indian Telecom Scenario...........................................................................................15
4. Vadodara Telecom Scenario.....................................................................................21
5. Number Portability....................................................................................................23
6. Per Second Billing......................................................................................................30
7. New Players in the Telecom Industry......................................................................34
8. 3G/4G Spectrum........................................................................................................44
9. Other Telecom Services............................................................................................54
10. Research Methodology..............................................................................................61
Objective.........................................................................................................61
Data Collection................................................................................................61
Sampling..........................................................................................................61
Limitations to the Study...................................................................................62
11. Data Analysis & Interpretation ...............................................................................62
12. Findings......................................................................................................................70
13. Suggestions.................................................................................................................71
14. Conclusion..................................................................................................................72
15. References..................................................................................................................73
16. Appendices.................................................................................................................74
Interview Questions....................................................................................74
Questionnaire..............................................................................................74
Permission Letter........................................................................................76
17. Brochures, Catalogues, templates of different retail outlets..................................76
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Abstract
The research is based on the quality of services that are being
offered by various mobile service providers and the level of satisfaction that
the customers experience. The government launched the mobile phone
services and opened it for the private operators nearly 10 years back. With
this move of the government many big and small companies ventured into
the business. But as we move on today, nearly after 5 years only half of the
companies are surviving in the industry. The number was also increased
which was a thousand subscribers in 2005 to less than a million in 2010.
Today mobile service providers serve nearly 60 million customers
adding 2.5 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, selection criteria are some of
the key areas which we aimed to measure in our research.
Objective of the study are:
Assessment of quality of service provided by landline and cellular mobile
service providers.
Customer satisfaction surveys for assessing the customer perceptions of the
service.
Sample universe of the research includes all the existing and potential
users of different mobile services in Vadodara.
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In the survey we tried to find out the attributes that customer keeps in
mind while selecting a mobile operator in the order their importance like
connectivity, advertisement, rate plan offered, brand value, customer care
services.
The study also finds out the frequency of problems related to services
provided by mobile operators like call drop down, call from wrong number,
connectivity problem during peak hours, call barred without intimation. An
attempt was made to find out the level of satisfaction that customer
experiences from various services provided by mobile operators like value
added services, time allotted for bill payment, roaming facility, customer
care services.
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Global Telecom Scenario
The global telecommunications (telecom services) industry was estimated
USD1.71 trillion in 2010. An overwhelming 77% of this sum came from the
Telecommunications services (USD1.32tr). Revenues from fixed-line services stood at
USD449 billion, mobile services were USD572 billion, and telecom related services such as
data communications, telex accounted for the rest in the services section.
In future, the telecom value chain is bound to undergo a significant change, with a move
towards convergence of information, telecommunications and entertainment and pacing up
the usage of 3G mobile services. The industry will see many M&A and 3G implementations
in the future, but it is the customer who would have the final say and, decide the future trend
of the industry.
The Global Telecommunications Industry Insight -2006 provides an in depth coverage of the
telecom industry (excluding telecom services and equipment) as a whole. The survey in
essence covers the macro issues and gives a broad overview of the industry from the global
perspective. It consists of ten chapters that include industry overview, growth drivers, major
issues and challenges the industry has been facing in the recent times, application of
technology, major markets associated with the sector, the major players driving the industry,
regulatory aspects, mergers and acquisitions, critical success factors
And the industry’s future outlook.
This report is relevant to all those related to the industry and to those who are keen on having
a firsthand overview. The review helps the reader gain a broad understanding of the
telecommunications industry consorting to the scope defined earlier. Business Management
students will be benefited by the overview that will help them in their academic pursuits and
assignments. This report is useful as an important business directional guide for professionals
in Telecom industry as well as a key learning aid for other business professionals.
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Rank OperatorSubscribers
in millionData Date
1 China 650 Jan-10
2 India 392 Mar-10
3 US 278.99 Dec-10
4 Russia 189.61 Feb-10
6 Indonesia 154.757 Dec-10
5 Brazil 153.7 Mar-10
8 Japan 112.05 Mar-10
7 Germany 106 Sep-10
9 Italy 92.8 Oct-10
10 Pakistan 91.44 Mar-10
Top 3G Countries
Rank Country Subscribers
in million
1 Japan 107.49
2 USA 64.21
3 Hongkong 19.02
4 Italy 18.01
5 UK 13.10
6 Spain 12.64
7 Germany 11.73
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Top 10 GSM mobile Operators (All Country)
Rank Mobile OperatorSubscribers in
million
1 China Mobile 477.16
2 Vodafone 280
3 Telenor 159
4 China Unicom 137.69
5 TeliaSonera 137.00
6 T-Mobile 128.30
7 France Telecom (Orange) 117.60
8 MTS 96.17
9 Bharti Airtel 93.92
10 MTN Group 90.70
Top 10 GSM Mobile Operators (One Country)
Rank Mobile OperatorSubscribers
in million
1 China Mobile 477.16
2 China Unicom 137.69
3 Bharti Airtel 96.74
4 AT&T 78.21
5 Vodafone 71.54
6 Telkomsel 65.30
7 MTS 64.83
8 America Movile 56.371
9 BSNL 52.14
10 Beeline 48.77
Top 10 CDMA Mobile Operators (One Country)
Rank Operator Subscribers in million
1 Verizon 86.6
2 Reliance Com 72.67
3 Sprint Nextel 50.54
4 NTT DOCOMO 49.04
5 China Telecom 42.40
6 China Unicom 41.73
7 Tata Teleservice 35.12
8 AU 30.84
9 SK Telecom 23.22
10 Softbank Mobile 18.6536
World telecom industry is an uprising industry, proceeding towards a goal of achieving two
third of the world's telecom connections. Over the past few years information and
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communications technology has changed in a dramatic manner and as a result of that world
telecom industry is going to be a booming industry. Substantial economic growth and
mounting population enable the rapid growth of this industry.
Research works associated with world telecommunication industry
A number of research works are being carried out all over the world to improve the quality
and speed of transmission. Research works are also done on the basis of the users' needs. The
objective of the research work is to provide quality and affordable service to the consumers.
Market potentiality of world telecommunication industry
The world telecommunications market is expected to rise at an 11 percent compound annual
growth rate at the end of year 2010. The leading telecom companies like AT&T, Vodafone,
Verizon, SBC Communications, Bell South, and Qwest Communications are trying to take
the advantage of this growth. These companies are working on telecommunication fields like
broadband technologies, EDGE(Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) technologies,
LAN-WAN inter networking, optical networking, voice over Internet protocol, wireless data
service etc.
Market potentiality of world telecommunication industry
The world telecommunications market is expected to rise at an 11 percent compound annual
growth rate at the end of year 2010. The leading telecom companies like AT&T, Vodafone,
Verizon, SBC Communications, Bell South, and Qwest Communications are trying to take
the advantage of this growth. These companies are working on telecommunication fields like
broadband technologies, EDGE(Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) technologies,
LAN-WAN inter networking, optical networking, voice over Internet protocol, wireless data
service etc.
Economical aspect of telecommunication industry
World telecom industry is taking a crucial part of world economy. The total revenue earned
from this industry is 3 percent of the gross world products and is aiming at attaining more
revenues. One statistical report reveals that approximately 16.9% of the world population has
access to the Internet.
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Present market scenario of world telecom industry
Over the last couple of years, world telecommunication industry has been consolidating by
allowing private organizations the opportunities to run their businesses with this industry.
The Government monopolies are now being privatized and consequently competition is
developing. Among all, the domestic and small business markets are the hardest.
U.S. telecom industry is the most prosperous telecommunication industry in the world,
which covers a wide range of areas and services like telephone, television, Internet, radio and
so many. U.S. telecom industry primarily deals with the services of transmitting message
through mediums like cables, satellites etc.
U.S. telecommunication industry designed to achieve the target of creating more than
212,000 jobs in its telecommunication industry. Besides creating new job opportunities, some
other objectives of U.S. telecommunication industry include adding customer value by
providing them innovative services like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), creating an
overall of $58 billion capital investment opportunities and generating $113 billion new
revenues in its telecom industry.
Economic perspective of U.S. telecom industry- Telecommunication industry is the key
force of American economy. U.S. telecommunication industry extends its activities in almost
every sector, from education to health care or banking and finance. U.S. telecom industry
enables an overall of 75% U.S. labor productivity gains.
Telecom industry analysis uncovers the fact that this industry has a huge business
potentiality and is going to be a booming industry. Telecom industry analysis also reveals
that this industry will provide an immense employment opportunity in the coming years.
Telecom industry trends
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Throughout the world, telecom industries are being controlled by private companies instead
of government monopolies. Traditional telecom technologies are also being replaced by
modern wireless technologies, specifically in case of mobile services. One of the major
objectives of telecom industry is to enhance the quality and speed of Internet technology.
These days, telecom industry is more concerned with texts and images (Internet
technologies), rather than voice (telephone service ). Most of the research works are going on
Internet accessibility, specifically on data applications and broadband services. The other
major division of telecom industry is mobile network sector, where lots of innovative
research works are going on. Previously the traditional telephone calls used to earn the
maximum revenues, but these days mobile service is going to replace traditional telephone
services.
Statistical report
Phoenix Center research revealed that in the coming years, there will be a healthy
competition among the providers of telecommunication services. At the same time, the price
will be lower and quality will be higher. The new telecommunications technologies will
replace the traditional telecom services. Statistical data also reveals that
the t elecommunications industr y is going to be a dynamic and booming industry in the near
future. The telecom industry comprises of complex network of services like telephones,
mobile phones and internet services.
Telecom industry analysis from the experts point of view
Telecom industry is a vast and diversified industry and needs a huge capital to invest. That is
why the competitors of this industry should be such that they can meet that demand. From the
investor's point of view, it can be said that they should be well aware of cash flow in this
industry.
Indian Telecom Scenario
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Telecom Industry in India
The telecom industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India. India has nearly 200
million telephone lines making it the third largest network in the world after China and USA.
With a growth rate of 45%, Indian telecom industry has the highest growth rate in the world.
History of Indian Telecommunications started in 1851 when 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 merged 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 of Communications.
Telecom sector was considered as a strategic service and the government considered it best to
bring under state's control.
The first wind of reforms 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. New National Telecom Policy was adopted in 1999 and cellular services were also
launched in the same year.
Telecommunication sector in India can be divided into two segments: Fixed Service Provider
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(FSPs), and Cellular Services. Fixed line services consist of basic services, 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 for less than
5 per cent of subscriptions. However, private services focus on the business/corporate sector,
and offer reliable, high- end services, such as leased lines, ISDN, closed user group and
videoconferencing.
Cellular services can be further divided into two categories: Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). The GSM sector is
dominated by Airtel, Vodafone-Hutch, 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
operators get substantial revenue from these services, and compensate them for reduction in
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.
Telephone penetration in India (Total working lines)
Source: Indian Department of Telecommunication
1968 March 1998 March 2005 July 2008 Nov 2010
800,000 18.6 million 98.37 million 333.84 million 650 million
Indian Telecom: A Tale of Stupendous
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The past decade has seen an exponential growth in the Indian Telecom Sector. In the year
2000, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act was amended and in 2001 Telecom
Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) started its functioning. In 2002, Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) entered into GSM cellular operation and made incoming
calls free for the first time and since then there is no looking back. Currently, the call rates in
India are one of the lowest; to the extent where some operators are even offering Per-Second-
Billing.
Despite the financial slowdown, the industry continued its high growth rate. In 2009 the
Indian Telecom sector contributed 5.65 to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and
attracted a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of over $2 billion. India is Third in the world in
terms of the number of Telecom subscribers. The Indian telecom industry had an awesome
run in 2009, adding some 170 million phone connections to take the subscriber base to nearly
550 million.
In addition to this, India has the second largest wireless network in the world, next only to
China. There were 442 million wireless subscribers as of July 2009, with a Compounded
Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 65% during the last five years.
The government initiatives like announcement of 3G policy and WiMax rollout are bold steps
in serving mass communications. Sharing of the basic telecom infrastructure among the
major telecom players such as Airtel and Vodafone has also resulted in a pan India reach.
The Telecom Scenario can be broadly dissected into four categories:
1) Rural India: Bridging the Telecom Divide.
The emergence of Rural Market in India provides an extensive market place for mobile
industry. The adoption of 3G and Broadband Wireless Association (BWA) is likely to
galvanize competition and expand network coverage into the hinterlands of the country. With
in a short span of 3 years the rural tele-density has jumped from 4.5% to 19%.
Communications Minister A. Raja believes that the continued participation of private sector
will help us achieve the target of 40 percent rural tele-density well before the set timeline of
2014.
2) India as hub for Telecom Equipments Manufacturing and Exports.
In order to make the latest technology available in the market, focus is on commercialization
of telecom innovation and technology. This can contribute towards inclusive growth by
making low cost handsets available that support affordable access in rural areas.
The production of telecom equipments as of March 2009 was INR 518 billion with a CAGR
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of 29% during the last five years. At the same time INR 81 billion of telecom equipments
were exported with a CAGR of 100% during the last five years.
3) VAS, Mobile Banking and M-commerce
Value Added Services (VAS) has an immense potential to grow with services like Mobile
banking and Mobile -commerce. Content development, pricing and innovative strategies are
the key factors for driving the VAS demand.
4) Exploring New Frontiers
With growing competitive pressure on all fronts and the inevitable need to keep pace with
emerging technologies globally, telecom operators are re-examining their traditional business
models and are making substantial investments in upcoming technologies. These include 3G
Band Allocation, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) and Future
Generation Networks.
[India] Total Telecom Subscriber Count reaches 671.69 Million (Jun 2010)
As per the latest TRAI report, India’s total telecom subscriber strength as of 30th June 2010
stands at 671.69 Million. This article lists down key highlights of the report.
At the end of May 2010, India had 653.92 Million telecom subscribers. With the latest
numbers, telecom subscriptions in India registered a growth of 2.72% on a month-on-month
comparison.
Some more key points from the latest report.
1.) In the wireless segment, Bharti Airtel added most subscriptions registering 16.69% of the
total share of additions.
2.) Wire line subscriber base declined from 36.39 Million in May-2010 to 36.18 Million at
the end of June-2010.
3.) Total Broadband subscriber base has increased from 9.24 million in May-2010 to 9.45
million in June-2010, there by showing a growth of 2.27%. In India, users with internet speed
greater than or equal to 256 Kbps are termed to have “broadband” connection.
Graph below shows Service Provider wise Market Share as on 30-6-2010.
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1. [India] Telecom Subscriber Count at 688.38 Million on 31st July 2010
2. [India] 16.31 Million Telecom Subscribers added in May 2010 (Total Count at 653.92
Million
3. India’s Telecom Subscriber Count Crosses 700 Million [August 2010 Telecom]
4. [India] Total Telecom Subscriber Count at the end of March was 621 Million
5. [India’s] Telecom Subscriber Count for October 2010 at 742.12 Million
Bharti Airtel added maximum number of subscribers in July followed by Reliance
and Vodafone. Below is also a quick graph from the report which states the market share of
service providers in Wireless category.
New Delhi, Jan 25: India added 22.88 million mobile phone subscribers in November, taking
the total number of cellular users to 729.57 million till Nov 30, 2010, official data revealed
Tuesday.
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the wireless phone user
base grew 3.24 percent to 729.57 million in November last year, from 706.69 million in the
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previous month.
With this the total telephone subscriber base in the country, wireless and wire line, touched
764.76 million. The total telephone density reached 64.34 percent.
The growth in India's wireless phone category was led by Vodafone Essar with an addition of
3.13 million users, 13.66 percent of the net addition in November 2010, taking its user base to
121.16 million.
Telecom giant Bharti Airtel followed next with an addition of over 3.1 million subscribers
accounting for 13.55 percent of the net addition during the month under review taking its
total number of subscribers to 149.4 million
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communication stood at the third spot with an addition of 3
million subscribers taking its total subscriber base to 122.4 million. State-owned Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) added 2.99 million subscribers taking its total number of
subscribers to 83.73 million.
Other telecom players such as Idea Cellular performed remarkably with the addition of 2.8
million users closely followed by Uninor which added 2.45 million users taking their total
subscriber base to 78.83 million and 16.19 million respectively.
According to the data, the broadband subscriber base grew 1.80 percent from 10.52 million in
October 2010 to 10.71 million in November 2010.
However, the wire line segment declined further from 35.43 million in October 2010 to 35.19
million at the end of November 2010.
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Vadodara Telecom Scenario
Gujarat has approximately 37,138,891 telephone users out of that Vadodara has
approximately 13, 79,571 users.
From a little over 2,000 in 1997 to over four crore in 2010. That is how Vadodara has
progressed in number of mobile connections in the past 13 years. Now, the state boasts of
13, 79,571 mobile connections.
The October 2010 subscription data report of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(Trai), which was released last week, says the mobile subscription in Gujarat stands at
4, 01,58,662.
These connections have been provided by 10 operators.
Considering that Gujarat's estimated population is about six crore, the current number of
cellular connections gives one the impression that about 66.6% of people (or 6.66 out of
every 10 people) have mobile connections.
But industry sources say there are many who possess more than one connection, so it is not
necessarily true that 66.6% of people hold mobile connections.
In May 1997, there were only 4,100 mobile connections in Gujarat. At that time there were
only two operators and the incoming charge was Rs8 per minute. It took 11 years for the
number of mobile connections to reach one crore in May 2007.
However, the number of subscriptions increased remarkably in short spans thereafter.
Then it took another 18 months for that figure to double. And by the end of January 2010,
that is, in only about 14 months, Gujarat recorded a total of three crore mobile phone
connections. And soon, in next nine months, one crore connections were added and the
number of connections now is over four crore.
Five years back, Gujarat was on the top in the number of connections among 22 circles in
India but today it stands seventh.
By end of October 2010, Tamil Nadu had 6.36 crore mobile connections followed by Uttar
Pradesh (East) with 5.46 crore, Andhra Pradesh (5.40 crore), Maharashtra & Goa excluding
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Mumbai (5.23 crore), Bihar (4.63 crore) and Karnataka (4.38 crore). The number of mobile
connections in India is now 70.66 crore, of which Gujarat contributes 5.67%.
In last one year, five new telecom companies - Videocon, Uninor, Aircel, Etisalat (GSM
service) and Shyam Sistema (CDMA service) - have launched their services in Gujarat.
Besides, two existing CDMA players _ Tata and Reliance _ have also started their GSM
operations in the state.
Of the total four crore mobile connections, the new players have a share of around 50 lakh
connections. Industry sources say since there is a rise in multi-SIM users in Gujarat, there is a
huge potential for mobile penetration in rural areas.
"It is pure SIM card penetration in which more than one SIM card is sold to a person. At
present, in rural areas of Gujarat the actual mobile penetration is less than 40% so there is a
huge potential there," said COO ofBharti Airtel (Gujarat Circle) Shivan Bhargava.
Of the total mobile subscription of 4,01, 58,662 in Gujarat, about 3.80 crore are believed to
be prepaid connections. "Around 95% of the total mobile connections are prepaid. With more
telecom players entering the market, the prepaid connection sales have gone up.
Simultaneously, there is also a rise in multi-SIM holders in which people want to try out the
cheapest tariff services," said senior vice president (operations) Idea Cellular, Arul Bright.
He said in September and October which are months of festive season, many numbers were
added and that pushed the mobile subscriptions to over four crore.
23
Number Portability
What is mobile number portability (MNP)? Mobile number portability (MNP) is the
process of transferring (porting) your mobile phone number from one mobile phone network
provider to another. You may want to do this if you wish to sign up to a new mobile phone
provider and keep your original mobile phone number, thus saving you the inconvenience of
updating your contacts with your new telephone number. Mobile number porting is becoming
increasingly popular worldwide due to the savings that can be made by switching mobile
phone providers in order to get a better mobile phone tariff...
The long-awaited mobile number portability finally became reality on Wednesday,
empowering consumers to change providers conveniently.
What is mobile number portability:
Allows subscriber to opt for service provider of his choice but retain his mobile number. The
number gets ported to the new provider.
Does it allow a technology switch?
Subscriber can stay with same technology, GSM/CDMA. Also change to CDMA or vice
versa. Both post-paid & prepaid subscribers can use it.
How long will it take to port a number?
Seven working days. Fifteen days in J&K, North-east.
How expensive?
Will cost Rs19, to be collected by new service provider.
Can you retain your number in another city?
No. You can't change circles.
How frequently can you switch service providers?
A subscriber must be with a provider for at least three months.
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To switch, send the following text PORT mobile number to 1900.
You'll get an eight-digit alphanumeric code and expiry date for it. This is the unique porting
code.
Approach service provider you have opted for with unique code. Carry address & ID proof/
photograph/ application form with unique code & mobile number. Complete this process
within the expiry date that came with unique code.
Operator will take request to mobile portability clearing house. Clearing house will get your
number deactivated from existing provider and activate new one.
You'll then get text from new provider mentioning date & time when phone will go through a
no-service period.
This is when switching of service providers will happen. Phone will be out of use for couple
of hours — between 12pm and 5am.
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) allows the mobile phone users to select any network
without changing their numbers. Indian mobile service providers will implement this facility
from December31, 2009 in metro cities and by March 2010 onwards, in other parts of the
country. MNP is firstly available in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, and ‘Circle A ‘service
areas at first and rest of the country by March. Department of Telecom (DOT) earlier selected
two companies Telcordia Technologies and Syniverse Technologies to aid them in rolling out
MNP services
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) would make severe competition among mobile service
providers in India. They will be compelled to lower the call and SMS rates. Coverage, call
quality, customer service and all other areas will see improvements as this the only way to
retain customers. The postpaid customers get more advantage from the MNP. They have
lesser tendency than the prepaid users to change their numbers, and therefore they will move
to a better service provider if required.
We expect Mobile Number Portability to change the face of Indian Telecom sector.
25
To switch,
1. Send the following SMS to 1900 – PORT <Your Mobile Number> – eg. PORT
9123456789
2. You will get an SMS with your unique porting code. This is a unique number that will be
maintained along with your mobile number with a third party called MNP Service Provider
(Selected companies for this service in India- Syniverse Technologies and Telcordia). The
unique code has an expiry time. You need to apply to the new preferred operator with that
code within the stipulated time.
3. The new operator will communicate with existing operator and ask for permission. If
approved the new operator will set a time for porting and communicate this to MNP provider
and existing operator.
4. On the set date and time, the current operator will disconnect the number and pass the
message to MNP provider.
5. The new operator will now claim that number and MNP would maintain a central database
with the new details.
Presently BSNL and Tata Docomo announced their attractive MNP offers with freebies.
Wherein subscribers can switch to BSNL at FREE of cost while Tata Docomo charged Rs. 19
for number portability service.
MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions has been awarded a license by the Department of
Telecommunications to implement a mobile number portability Mobile number portability
(MNP) is expected to bring in more competition in the telecom sector, 20 Jan 2011 Pan India
MNP (Mobile Number Portability) will be rolled out Mobile number portability (MNP)
enables mobile telephone users to retain their. India, 2011.01.20, 7, INR 19, Customers can
port between prepay and post
Porting Procedure for Subscriber
1. Contact the new mobile Service Provider to whom you want to port your mobile no.
2. Read the eligibility and other conditions carefully.
3. Obtain Customer acquisition From (CAF) & Porting Form.
4. If eligible, Obtain ‘Unique Porting Code‘by sending an SMS from the mobile number
you want to port to the number ‘1900’ with text ‘PORT’ followed by space followed
by your 10 digit mobile number you want to port.
5. Fill up the CAF and Porting Form.
26
6. Submit the duly filled Porting Form and CAF along with requisite documentary proof
of the mobile service provider.
7. If you are a post paid subscriber, submit a paid copy of the last bill issued along with
the Porting Form and CAF.
8. Obtain new SIM card from the new service provider.
9. Subscriber can withdraw the porting request within 24 hrs of applying.
.
Impact of mobile number portability
NEW DELHI: Nearly a month after the nationwide rollout of mobile number portability
services, Vodafone Essar has emerged as the biggest gainer, notching up 1.9 lakh new
subscribers, whereas state-owned BSNL lost more customers than it attracted from other
service providers.
Since the launch of MNP services, nearly 20 lakh mobile subscribers have switched service
providers using the facility.
MNP allows users to change service providers while retaining their phone numbers.
27
"A total of 19, 79,600 numbers of subscribers have ported their numbers so far using the
MNP facility," according to official figures provided in the Rajya Sabha by the Department
of Telecom (Dot).
According to latest available figures, Vodafone Essar gained as many as 1.9 lakh customers,
followed by Idea Cellular, with a net gain of 1.5 lakh subscribers.
The figures denote the difference between the number of customers porting in and porting
out.
The country's largest operator, Bharti Airtel remained at number three with a net gain of
about 1.48 lakh subscribers till date.
However, most operators stick by the theory that MNP will not be a game-changer for the
industry.
CDMA operators are facing a huge exodus of subscribers, with RCOM, Tata Teleservices
and BSNL losing subscribers to old and established GSM service providers.
In the case of R.Com (CDMA), as many as 1.34 lakh subscribers ported out, while 5,717
ported in. Similarly, TTSL (CDMA) lost over 1.04 subscribers while attracting only 8,298
subscribers to its fold.
All that a customer needs to do for changing his telecom operator is pay a maximum of Rs
19. He/she will get a new service provider within seven working days as per the guidelines of
the sectoral regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Among the new operators, Uninor and Sistema Shyam attracted more subscribers than they
lost, but others were hit by the facility as they lost more subscribers, the data revealed.
To combat this, these operators had lowered tariffs along with doling out freebies. Regional
operators have also upped the ante, as they feared losing customers.
28
MNP services were first launched in Haryana in November last year and according to
industry estimates, less than one per cent of subscribers opted for changing their operators.
Both pre-paid and post-paid consumers can use the MNP service.
It's been a month since mobile number portability (MNP) kicked in, and as expected, older
GSM operators like Vodafone Essar, Airtel and Idea Cellular continue to lure the bulk of
subscribers to their network.
Latest numbers indicate Vodafone Essar gained as many as 1.7 lakh customers while Idea
Cellular ranked second with a net gain of 1.5 lakh. The figures denote the difference between
the number of customers porting in and porting out. The country's largest operator, Bharti
Airtel, on the other hand gained 1.35 lakh subscribers of February 20. However, most
operators stick by the theory that MNP will not be a game-changer for the industry.
"The revenue impact of new customers who have come on to Vodafone is yet to be
ascertained as we need to study a few billing cycles of the post-paid customers to figure how
much these new customers are spending," said Samresh Parida, strategy director- Vodafone
Essar. A large proportion of subscriber movement in India is seen in the prepaid segment,
which accounts for a monthly churn rate of 4-5 %. "Early analysis also indicates that among
MNP portins, we are getting a disproportionate share of high value customers from other
operators," said Atul Bindal, president- mobile services, Bharti Airtel. The mobile operator,
besides advertising around the MNP, also introduced several freebies such as giving away
pizza vouchers and offering discount on monthly bills to retain customers.
Idea Cellular said it had benefitted from its high-decibel advertising campaign. "We had a
strong rural footprint but with the launch of MNP, we also wanted to grab the opportunity to
strengthen our presence in the big cities and metros and this brand campaign helped us get
noticed," said Himanshu Kapania, deputy MD, Idea Cellular.
Customer Service: A Sore Point with Indian Telecom Operators
A little more than one-fifth of Airtel consumers and around one-third of Vodafone consumers
cite poor customer service as a motive behind their decision to opt for mobile number
portability. A significant number of subscribers also cite various promotional messages sent
29
by the operator as a put-off. That consumer can opt for mobile number portability because of
this came as a surprise to us. Perhaps, sending promotional messages for value added services
and activating these services without consumer’s consent has rubbed up the wrong way. It is
not that poor customer orientation alone is the main reason; customer service is just one
among several gray areas, as you would have noticed in the image above. It is also pertinent
to point out that customer service is a generic problem stretching across operators. None of
operators truly comes out to be customer centric. And, this is why every operator is gaining
some and losing some subscribers.
30
Per Second Billing
The past month has seen some hectic activity in the Indian Telecom Sector. It’s amazing how
a little competition always keeps everyone on their feet. Each business enterprise looking at
the market as if through the eyes of a hawk for the next big business opportunity .Each
company trying to seduce the prospective customer with its products. India, the future to be
world’s largest mobile telephony market is now going through a massive upheaval. Market
leaders no longer have it easy and with the introduction of the per second billing model, the
competition has only gotten more cut throat.
Up until now we’ve seen various hashes and rehashes of the tariffs under the prepaid and post
pay systems. Plan after plan requiring you to remember how much you’d have to pay if you
spoke for a minute. How much to a phone using a rival’s network, how much for STD, how
much for ISD, etc.
All that has changed with the entry of Tata Docomo in the Indian market.Docomo got the ball
rolling by offering the per second model charging 1 paisa per second.
The competition and I mean everybody, absolutely everybody; Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance,
BSNL, Idea Cellular, Aircel and the smaller operators too have now begun offering the
pay/second model.
The activity in the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) offices with regard to this
matter has taken place at lightning speed.
The recommendation has been passed approving the model and immediately the companies
have launched the scheme to attract customers. Tata Docomo has barely had the time to blink
at the success of their initial few weeks in the Indian markets!
31
So how does pay per second affect you? Well for one, it makes all calls cheaper. Say
you talk for 50 seconds; you end up paying just for those 50 seconds. Not the entire
Rupee. Also long distance calls become cheaper in this tariff option. You have to buy a
voucher/recharge for a certain amount to migrate to per second billing. It’s different for
all mobile operators.
It positioned Tata DOCOMO as a refreshingly different and innovative brand and generated
sales momentum that has made it the fastest growing telecom service providers in the India.
The Per Second Billing Impact on Indian telecom industry.
.
Market is flooded with `Per Second Billing` offering from almost all telecoms these days.
The scheme has become so popular among the new and existing subscribers due to attractive
price of 1 paisa per second. Thanks to Tata Docomo, a brainchild of Tata Tele Services, this
was the first to come out with Per Second Billing scheme.
Tata Docomo has not only successfully managed to grab a bigger share in new subscribers
addition but has also beaten biggies like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications who
have been forced to follow the same route to maintain their market positions.
With this increase in competition, the dynamics of telecom industry, which was earlier
controlled by top few companies, is now changing thus leading to price war among players.
The competition is good from subscribers' point of view. But is telecom industry ready for
this changing environment that has left the stocks to have blood bath on D-Street?
32
The result:
The result is already visible. Bharti Airtel which all the while led in the subscriber additions
space slipped down to No 2 position having 16.78% of the new subscribers added, according
to the September 2009 figures released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The place has been taken over by Tata which mopped up more than quarter (26.74%) of all
the wireless subscribers that were added in September 2009. The third and the fourth position
were taken over by Reliance (13.38%) and Vodafone (13.16%) respectively.
The consumer effect
Indian mobile tariffs, which are amongst the cheapest in the world, are set to probably fall
further. Trai Chairman JS Sarma who is visiting the ITU World Telecom event here in
Geneva has told us that it is likely that it will be made mandatory for all network service
providers in India to offer per second billing. Per second billing essentially means the fact
that currently mobile calls in India are charged on a per minute basis. So, if you make a call
for 10 seconds, you pay the rate per minute, you make a call for 59 seconds, you still pay it.
One operator, Tata Indicom has recently gone ahead and actually started per second billing.
33
Some other operators have also reacted. The fact is that the Trai soon proposes to issue a
consultation paper, the way it takes decisions and within three to four months a final decision
will be taken on this matter.
JS Sarma, Chairman, Trai, said, “We are looking at the possibility of making service
providers offer to consumers per second pulse as a mandatory option to be provided.
Hopefully, in a month or a month-and-a-half we might like to come out with a consultation
paper.”
The fact remains that in the market network service providers are already going ahead, Tatas
have announced this. Reliance Communications has reacted and possibly all of this is going
to lead to further affordability whether it is actually affordable for subscribers or whether
there will be some more twists and hidden charges in these packages, we don’t know about
that. But clearly Indian mobile tariffs, which are already the cheapest in the world, are set to
perhaps go further down once the TRAI makes up its mind on this important regulatory
change.
The stock effect Most of the brokerage firms are underweighting the sector and have recommended a sell
rating on the telecom stocks. Enam Securities has maintained an underweight rating on
telecom sector. It says that tariff cuts will intensify the pressures on the sector in near-term. It
also feels that the new entrants will intensify the competition. Earning outlook is deteriorating
and Q2, FY10 and FY11 earnings will disappoint. Enam is revising the EPS numbers
downwards.
However, by then, so strong was the word of mouth and understanding of pay-per-use with
the consumers that the incumbent operators had no choice but to offer the per second billing
to consumers to stem their falling market share.
By October 2009, just one month after the campaign all telecom operators were forced to
launch the per second pulse. The Indian consumer was the ultimate winners with their mobile
bills coming down substantially across the board, saving all users around $2.4 billion a
month.
New Players in the Telecom Industry
34
The stupendous growth of the telecommunication companies in India over the last fifteen
years can be attributed to the liberal government of India, economic policy. The economic
renaissance affected in the early 1990s brought around a paradigm shift on the overall
business scenario of India. The telecommunication companies in India went through a
huge make-over during the implementation of the open-market policy of India.
The erstwhile closed market policy was replaced by a more liberal form of economic
policy. A whole new form of Indian Telecommunication Policy was drafted to
compliment the change effected in the economic policy of India. The amendment affected
the new telecommunication policy of India made huge changes with respect to
investments and entry of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and Foreign Institution
Investors (FII) respectively, into the virgin Indian telecommunication market. This
resulted entry of private, domestic and foreign telecommunication companies in India.
The economic contribution made by these newly formed telecommunication companies
of India is really mentioned worthy and this industry witnessed highest growth after the
Indian Information Technology industry. The robust growth of Indian economy after the
economic liberalization in the 1990s induced massive change in the telecom policy and
new draft was framed and implemented by the 'Telecom Regulatory Authority of India'
(TRAI) and 'Department of Telecommunication' (DOT), under the Ministry of
Telecommunication government of India. The main aim of these telecommunication
companies in India is to provide basic telephony services to each and every Indian.
Following are the new players in Telecom Industry in India
35
TATA Docomo, usually referred to as Docomo (not to be confused with NTT Docomo), is a
Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) owned cellular service provider on the GSM platform-
arising out of the Tata Group's strategic joint venture with Japanese telecom giant NTT
Docomo in November 2008. Tata Teleservices received a pan-India license to
operate GSM telecom services, under the brand "TATA Docomo". Tata Docomo launched
GSM services on 24 June 2009. It first launched in South India and currently operates in 18
of 23 telecom circles.[1] Tata Teleservices is the country's fourth largest operator in terms of
wireless subscribers (including both CDMA and GSM), after Bharti Airtel, Reliance
Communications and Vodafone.
Tata DOCOMO offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone in 18 circles. It has
become very popular with its one second pulse especially in semi-urban and rural areas. They
are launching their service from the south of India to central, east and north.
Tata DOCOMO had about 42.34 million users at the end of December 2010.[3]
On 5 November 2010, Tata DOCOMO became the first private sector telecom company to
launch 3G services in India.
3G
On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Tata Docomo paid 5864.29 cores
for spectrum in 9 circles. The circles it will provide 3G in
are Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Punjab,Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh (east) & Uttarakhand [4]
Apalya Technologies has been selected by Tata Docomo as their exclusive partners for
providing mobile TV services on 3G platform across India. Apalya's technology will be used
to provide high quality mobile TV services on Tata Docomo's 3G platform enabling
subscribers to view television channels at a higher resolution and speed.[5]
On 5 November 2010, Tata DOCOMO became the first private sector telecom company
(third overall) to launch 3G services in India. The company will be investing USD 500
million in network roll out nationally.
36
On January 9, 2011, it was reported by an industry source that Docomo and Aircel agreed to
jointly roll out 3G networks in the areas where they both have spectrum. This would be one
of the first deals of network sharing in the Indian market. Nokia Siemens Networks is
carrying out a pilot for Tata Docomo and Aircel in the state of Punjab.
In the spectrum auction held last year, Aircel won 3G spectrum in 13 of India's 22 circles
(service areas), while Tata was awarded 3G licenses in nine circles. This deal would give
both companies 3G coverage in 19 telecom circles of India. The will not have coverage on 3
circles - Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Mumbai. The companies have three circles in common
- Karnataka, Kerala and Punjab.[6]
Tata Docomo's HSPA+ 3G networks, set up with the assistance of NTT Docomo, supports
high-speed internet access with speeds of up to 21.1 Mbps. The network also supports high
definition voice for superior quality voice calls.
Tata Docomo, the GSM wing of Tata Teleservices has introduced an offer wherein all local
and std calls made to Tata Network (Tata Docomo, Tata Indicom and Virgin CDMA/GSM)
are charged at 1 paisa/6 seconds with a special recharge of Rs. 24 valid for 30 days. This is a
very good offer considering the price it comes for and the benefit it gives as no operator is
offering such tariff for STD On-net calls. The benefit is applicable only in home network and
not while roaming.
Tata Docomo is known for its aggressive marketing techniques and for delivering
something new to the subscribers. This time Tata Docomo has reason to celebrate as they
have crossed the 1 Million fans mark on Facebook in a short span of 18 months, thus being
the first telecom brand in India to achieve this milestone. Tata DOCOMO is one of the first
Indian brands to take the Social Media Marketing route and successfully made an impact on
popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and YouTube. To celebrate this
achievement, Tata Docomo has brought a new offer valid from 11th January 2011 at 00.00
hrs to 13th January 2011 at 23.59 hrs wherein subscribers will get Doubletalk time on every
top up recharge starting from Rs. 10 to Rs. 1000.
37
Aircel is a mobile phone service provider in India. It offers
both prepaid and postpaid GSMcellular phone coverage throughout India. Aircel is a joint
venture between Maxis Communications of Malaysia and Apollo Hospital Enterprise Ltd of
India. UTSB has a 74% stake in Aircel and the remaining 26% is with Apollo Hospitals. It is
India’s fifth largest GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 46.51
million, as of September 30, 2010. It has a market share of 9.65% among the GSM operators
in the country. As on date, Aircel is present in all 23 telecom circles (including Andhra
Pradesh, Assam, Bihar & Jharkhand, Chennai, Delhi & NCR, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, North
East, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Rest of Maharashtra & Goa, Rest of Tamil Nadu, Rest of
West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West) as per the company plans to become a
pan-India operator by 2010. Aircel is undisputed market leader in Tamil Nadu, Chennai,
Assam and North-East Circles, especially in TN State it is undisputed market leader since its
launch. Additionally, Aircel has also obtained permission from Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) to provide International Long Distance (ILD) and National Long
Distance (NLD) telephony services. It also has the largest service in Tamil Nadu.
3G & BWA
Recently on 3G spectrum auction by Government of India, Aircel wins 13 circles out of 23
Circles in par with Airtel and Reliance as large bidder. Aircel also wins BWA (broadband
wireless access) Spectrum in 8 Circles at auction. Aircel’s expenditure towards 3G and BWA
comes to a total of 9,936 crore. While it bid 6,498 crore for 3G spectrum, it would pay
another 3,436 crore towards BWA. Aircel wins 3G spectrums in A.P., Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Kolkata, Kerala, Punjab, U.P (E), West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, North East, and
Jammu & Kashmir. On outcome of auction Aircel emerged as only operator to cover and
provide 3G services in whole South India and whole North-East and East part of India. In
BWA auction, Aircel wins Tamil Nadu, A.P., West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, North-
East, and Jammu & Kashmir. On outcome of auction Aircel emerged as 2nd largest winner.
38
Aircel Business Solutions (ABS), part of Aircel, is an ISO 9000 certified company. ABS is a
registered member of WiMax forum – both in the Indian and International Chapters. ABS’
product range includes enterprise solutions such as Multiprotocol Label Switching Virtual
Private Networks (MPLS VPNs), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Managed Video
Services on wireless platform including WiMax.
Aircel placed an actual dinghy lifeboat to a downtown billboard. A rope with a sign reading,
“In case of emergency, cut rope”, held up the branded raft. July 15, 2009 the monsoon arrived
with flooded streets and so did Aircel customer service. The dinghy was cut down and
pedestrians were safely transported. What Aircel calls “Corporate Social Responsibility – A
Solution”? The company was able to generate positive publicity and show consumers that
they care.
Beautification of Anna Flyover has been taken up Aircel for a period of three years; the
contract has been awarded by TNRIDC and executed by Chennai based outdoor advertising
agency Abra Media Networks. This project boasts of first of its kind lighting solution for the
entire stretch of the bridge and many other landscapes to enhance the look of the whole
bridge. As far as the utility is concerned, they are building a dedicated toilet for the police
guarding the Anna Flyover and the US Embassy. Once this flyover is beautified, Aircel plans
to maintain it for 3 years. Aircel tied up with Tamil Nadu Public Works Department for
beautification and maintaining of Gandhi Mandpam, Guindy in opposite of Anna University.
Aircel has won many awards for its services. Aircel was honored at the World Brand
Congress 2009 with three awards, Brand Leadership in Telecom, and Marketing Campaign &
Marketing Professional of the Year. Aircel was honored by CMAI INFOCOM National
Telecom Award 2009 for, ‘Excellence in Marketing of New Telecom Service’. Aircel had
been selected as the best regional operator in 2008 by Tele.net. Aircel was rated as the top
mid-size utility company in Business World’s ‘List of Best Mid-Size Companies’ in 2007.
Aircel got the highest rating for overall customer satisfaction and network quality in 2006
by Voice and Data.
Aircel is famous for innovative Pocket Internet cards for Free GPRS service for
1day/3days/7days/30days. Aircel become first to introduce Online service to subscribe and
manage Dialer tunes. It is first in country to introduce SMS bank/Phone
Book/Reminder/Talking SMS.
39
History
The company Unitech Wireless was until 2009 a subsidiary of Unitech Group, holding a
wireless services license for all 22 Indian telecom circles since 2008. In early 2009, Unitech
Group and Telenor agreed on a majority take-over by Telenor of Unitech's wireless business,
including Unitech Wireless' national-wide mobile license. By March, May and November,
Telenor acquired a 33%, 49% and 60% stake in Unitech Wireless, respectively. In
September, the mobile operation changed its name to Uninor. On October 19 the Indian
Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) announced that it has approved Telenor's
acquisition of up to 74% in Unitech Wireless, and the shareholder's agreement sets a
67.25% Telenor ownership in Uninor.
Uninor's strategy
Uninor is India's eighth nation-wide mobile operator, in a competitive landscape of 13 nation-
wide or regional mobile operators. The company is targeting an 8 % pan-Indian market share,
and the opening of one million retail points and breaking even on EBITDA within three
years.[4] It will provide mobile communication and Value Added Service.
In order to reduce time-to-market, Uninor will outsource infrastructure and back-end services
to partner organizations with established core competencies.[5] The operational model is low-
cost with a gradual network-build up, infrastructure sharing, GSM equipment at competitive
cost, full-scale IT-outsourcing and a long term cost and capex efficiency.
Uninor Dynamic Pricing
The operator comes with a new plan called Dynamic Pricing aka Badalta Plan. This was the
first time in India to launch this type of offer and became a competitor for existing operators.
As the name it self reflects, it’s pricing on LOCAL & STD calls changes time to time.
Initially the customer is in a basic plan of 50p/min. Then, as per the Dynamic Pricing (DP)
plan, you will get a Discount on the calls in different areas of the same city. i.e.; if your city
have 10 Uninor Towers, if you are covered in 1st Tower, you will get one discount plan, the
person in the 2nd tower will get a different discount plan like this all towers.
The discount ranges from 5% to 60% on the call charges. The Discount value varies Time to
Time based on network traffic.
40
This Discount info is displayed on your Mobile Screen. Where you actually get tower
location info, Cell Info.So you have to ON your Cell Info in your mobile settings.
So, when you get a "60% OFF on DP" on your screen it means:
You will be charged 60% less of 50p i.e.; 20p/min (60% * 0.50=0.30 => 0.50-0.30=0.20) at
that time.
Keeping its promise of being closest to the customer, Uninor, the GSM mobile service brand
of Unitech Wireless and the joint venture company of India’s second largest real estate major
Unitech Limited and the world’s largest mobile services provider Telenor Group of Norway,
today announced the launch of the first Uninor (company owned-company operated) store in
Moradabad. This store is centrally located on Main Rampur Road to maximize its reach to the
customers across Moradabad. With this new store, Uninor now has three company owned-
company operated stores across UP West, the first two being in Agra and Meerut
respectively.
Uninor, GSM mobile service operator and telecom venture of the realty major Unitech Group
and Norway’s telecom operator Telenor, has started to attract subscribers by giving some
exciting offers.
Uninor has announced extra talk time for its prepaid subscribers on first recharge in all
circles. Users can get up to 10%, 15% and 16.66% bonus talk time on selected first recharges.
Uninor Prepaid subscribers of all 8 circles now can able to enjoy Extra talk time on selected
top ups. Customers will get talk time of Rs. 175 with RC150, Rs. 115 on RC100 and Rs. 55
with RC50.
Unitech Wireless, a telecom venture of the realty major Unitech Group and Norway’s
telecom operator Telenor, has launched its GSM mobile service in 7 telecom circle
simultaneously in the circles with the tagline of “Ab Mera Number Hain .The Seven telecom
circles are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar
Pradesh West and Bihar (including Jharkhand).Uninor Life Time prepaid card will
cost Rs. 49 with talk time of Rs. 5 and it is available across the 7 circle from today.
The operator introduced two tariff plans. ‘Talkmore@29 paisa’ would allow users to make
calls at 29 paisa a minute and STD calls at 49 paisa a minute with a daily rental of Rs. 2.
41
MTS mobile is one of the new comers to Indian mobile market. They will have to put up a
tough fight with compete with mobile market giants like Airtel, BSNL, etc. MTS mobile tries
to reach their target audience through their attractive talk time packages. There are lots of
criticisms against this new comer. MTS has announced daring 1 million free minutes of talk
time between MTS to MTS. This launching offer is sure to attract customers.
MTS has already been in the mobile market for many years and they are one of the most
popular service providers in Russia. Through their vast experience, they come up
with tariff plans and mobile communication solutions that are customized to specific markets.
Before entering any market, they make a complete research of the market on the usage
pattern of the target market.
MTS has come up with many interesting tariff plans for its Indian customers. The very fact
that you can get 1 million free minutes with other MTS users has attracted lovers and college
students as they can have cheaper mobile phone solution for their needs. Coverage of MTS is
nothing to be boasted about as yet. Their network is yet to expand further to provide complete
coverage like Airtel.
They have also launched a number of full talk time recharge packages. We will not know for
how long these full talk time vouchers will be available. This can be part of their launching
offer. If you are within the city limits, you will be able to enjoy cheap mobile solutions. The
quality of their customer service is questionable.
They have three basic plans SME, SME roaming and the Mass. The Mass comes with Rs. 49
but with no talk time. It comes with life time validity. However it will be valid only up to
2028. For a local number you will be charged 1p for 4 seconds if you are calling another
MTS number. This is cheaper by 4 times with the popular one second billing. If you are
calling other mobile service providers you will be charged 1p for 2 seconds.
42
Think Hatke
We are India's first national youth-focused mobile service, with presence across 45,000
outlets reaching over 3, 20,000 cities, towns and villages across India.
Ranked as the No. 1 for customer satisfaction within the first year of its launch with an
overall score of over 95%, we continued to offer you best service and value. We have Also
been adjudged the 'Booziest Brands of 2009' i.e. the most searched for brands by surfers, in a
survey carried out by a leading online portal in India.
Everything we do, we do a little 'Hatke'. We plan different, whether it's 'paying for incoming'
or great value deals and cool phones. All to make you happy because that's what makes us
happy. So, think different. Think Hatke.
Virgin Mobile India Limited is a cellular telephone service provider company which is a joint
venture between Tata Teleservices and Richard Branson's Virgin Group. Currently, the
company uses Tata's CDMA network to offer its services under the brand name Virgin
Mobile, and it has also started GSM services in some states.
Virgin Mobile GSM Starter Kit costs Rs. 49 which includes Virgin GSM SIM card with zero
talk time and lifetime validity. Default tariff or Basic on the Starter kit is Local Re 1 per
minute, STD Rs 1.50 per minute. To avail cheaper per minute you have to recharge with
some denominations. First Recharge Coupons (FRC) is available of Rs 10, Rs 25, Rs 40, Rs
50 and Rs 100. All first recharges give full talk time, net of service tax and admin fee of Rs 2.
After the FRC is pumped in your Virgin GSM account, you will be moved to Per Minute Plan
for 365 days. But you have to pay Rs 1.50 as daily rental on Per Minute Plan.
Virgin GSM also introduces Per Second Plan. To get it, you have to recharge with Rs. 12
(includes talk time of Rs. 10.88). This per second plan will be valid for 365 days. And there is
NO daily rental on per second plan.
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Videocon group, the popular consumer electronic company in India announced their GSM
mobile service in Tamilnadu area. Videocon GSM service was earlier under the brand
datacom solution. The re-branded provider, Videocon mobile communications will
commence its GSM services from March 27. Videocon has PAN India license for setting up
GSM services. The service will be available in Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Tamilnadu and other
telecom circles in India. Videocon is the 13th mobile service provider in India after Tata
Docomo and Uninor. They announced attractive traffic plans for calls and value added
services.
Videocon will launch future ready 2.75 G network with EDGE facility. They will also
participate in upcoming 3G auctions, for license in 20 areas. As per Vinodh Dhood, the
chairman and managing director of the Videocon group, company expects 3 rd positions in
the Indian telecom sector by 3 years. They will invest a sum of around 140000 cores in three
years for setting up infrastructure, and there by reaching 100 million customers base.
Videocon mobile connection rates:
Videocon GSM connections with Life long validity can be activated by paying 49RS, which
also includes 5 RS talk time. The connection is available in all parts of Tamilnadu through
Videocon retail outlets and other shops.
Videocon mobile tariff plan and recharge voucher offers.
The standard plan charges are RS 1/min for local and RS1.5/min for STD calls to home/other
networks. The SMS charges in this plan are RS 1/1.5 /5 for local/national and international
SMS. Videocon has introduced first time recharge vouchers for enabling per second tariff
plans and unlimited calls in a newly purchased SIM card.
44
3G/4G Spectrum
3G Spectrum:
When you read about radio spectrum this means a range of radio frequencies. The
bandwidth of a radio signal is defined as being the difference between the upper and lower
frequencies of the signal. For example, in the case of a voice signal having a minimum
frequency of 300 hertz (Hz) and a maximum frequency of 3,300 Hz, the bandwidth is 3,000
Hz (3 KHz).
The amount of bandwidth needed for 3G services could be MHz Compare this with the
bandwidth of 30-200 KHz used for current 2G communication and you can see that there is
as much as a 500-fold increase in the amount of bandwidth required. Now you can appreciate
why radio spectrum has become such a precious and scarce resource in the information age -
everybody from television broadcasters to the military wants spectrum, and it is in short
supply. Michael Powell, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), has suggested that spectrum demand “is. The telecoms operators have had to buy 3G
spectrum from governments around the world, and those governments - realizing that they
own a precious, valuable resource - have sought to sell that spectrum at the highest possible
price.
Radio spectrum is often organized (and sold) as paired spectrum - a bit of spectrum in a
lower frequency band, and a bit of spectrum in an upper frequency band (see the section
on Technology for an explanation of paired spectrum). Paired spectrum is often specified in a
form like "2x15MHz" meaning 15MHz in a lower band and 15MHz in an upper band. This
technique of two users talking to each other on two separate frequencies is called Frequency
Division Duplex, or FDD (see the section on3G Technology for an explanation of FDD). W-
CDMA is an FDD technique (i.e., it requires paired spectrum) whereas TD-CDMA is a TDD
technique (i.e., it can use unpaired spectrum).
45
3G in India: Spectrum Allocated To Telecom Operators, License Fee Increased
3G spectrum was allocated to telecom operators by India’s Department of
Telecommunications (Dot) today, Business Standard reports quoting unnamed DoT sources.
The allocation appears to have been done according to plan, and Dow Jones
Newswires reports that Tata Teleservices as has confirmed receiving the spectrum in nine
circles. Allocations of spectrum were due today, following the end of the3G auction on May
19th, wherein three slots of spectrum per circle were allocated across 7 telecom operators.
Dot modified the terms for the Universal Access Service License (UASL) and Cellular
Mobile Telephony Service (CMTS) license today to allow these telecom operators to use 3G
spectrums for 20 years from 1st September 2010 onwards, or until the end of the term of their
existing license, whichever is earlier.
Of the telecom operators, Aircel, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications won spectrum
in 13 circles, Idea Cellular in eleven, Tata Teleservices and Vodafone in nine, and S Tel in
three circles.
License Fee
Following the amendment to licensing agreements for these telecom operators today, the DoT
also amended license fee being charged. Contrary to what is being reported in some
publications, this is not unexpected. These spectrum charges had been indicated in the initial
Notice Inviting Applications (for 3G auction):
Roll out obligations
- Metro Circles: 90% of metro service area will need to be covered within five years of the
effective date
46
- Category A, B C service area: 50% of district headquarters (DHQ) will be covered by 3G
spectrum, of which at least 15% should be rural Short distance charging (SDC) areas within 5
years. Rural SDC areas are such that 50% of their population lives in rural areas. The
operator shall be permitted to cover any other town in the district in lieu of the DHQ. The
choice of expansion and towns beyond 50% shall lie with the operator.
In case the telecom operator does not meet the rollout obligations in 5 years they can get a
one year extension by paying an additional 2.5% of the successful bid amount. Beyond that,
if rollout obligations are not met, the spectrum will be withdrawn.
Other important conditions
- No Merger of Spectrum In Case of M&A: If two or more licensees holding 3G spectrum
merge they’ll be allowed to retain only one 3G spectrum block I that area and surrender the
remaining 3G spectrum blocks
- Return of Spectrum: licensee may surrender 3G spectrum by giving a 60 calendar day
notice and 30 day notice to each customer. All fees payable until date of surrender of 3G
spectrum need to be paid.
The 3G spectrum auction in India began on 9 April 2010. The winners were awarded
spectrum in September, and Tata Docomo is the first private operator to launch 3G services
in India. The Government of India set a target of 35000 Crore INR. But at the end of the
auction the government could raise 50,968.37 Crore INR. The country was divided into 22
telecom regions for the auction.
Controversy
The telecom minister of the Government of India A. Raja of the DMK was alleged of
irregularities in the earlier sale of 2G Spectrum auction. The Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India claimed that by not holding 2G auction A. Raja had lost crore of Rupees for the
exchequer. A lot of political parties in India like the CPM and AIADMK had pressed for the
resignation of Mr. Raja before the auction. The Central Bureau of Investigation has been
brought in to investigate the charges.
Vodafone, Bharti win costly India 3G spectrum
47
Vodafone and Bharti paid a combined $5.1 billion for 3G mobile licenses in India, ending an
epic auction that yields a bonanza for a deficit-strapped government but puts winners under
pressure.
Reliance Communications also won the right to provide third-generation services in an
auction that lasted 34 days and will generate $14.6 billion for the government, authorities said
on Wednesday, nearly twice what it had expected.
"Its good news for the government, no doubt," said Arun Kejriwal, strategist at Kris Research
in Mumbai.
"For the operators it's a large sum of money that has to be paid out. We have to see how these
services are priced and received by the subscribers and how it will impact their profitability,"
he said.
India is the world's fastest growing mobile phone market with some 500 million subscribers.
India's three biggest carriers -- Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications -- each
won key licenses to offer 3G services in Delhi and Mumbai.
Nine private operators participated in the auction for three sets of licenses, which ended with
no single carrier winning high-speed 3G spectrum in all 22 circles up for bidding.
Seven different carriers, including Idea Cellular and unlisted Tata Teleservices, ended up
winning spectrum. Japan's NTT Docomo owns 26 percent of Tata Teleservices.
A fourth license will be sold separately and has been reserved for state operators.
India is a late adapter of 3G and is the biggest economy not to offer such premium services
on a wide scale, although the state-run telecoms firms have 3G services in some zones.
Vodafone Essar, the UK giant's India unit, will pay about $2.5 billion for its India 3G mobile
spectrum, according to government data, and said it planned to launch a service by year-end.
Bharti, one-third owned by SingTel, is paying about $2.6 billion but India's top carrier said it
fell short of its objective of securing a pan-India footprint due to high prices.
"We would like to point out that the auction format and severe spectrum shortage along with
ensuing policy uncertainty, drove the prices beyond reasonable levels," the company said in a
statement.
48
The auction will help the government plug a fiscal deficit that last year reached a 16-year
high, and may enable it to cut back on borrowing, bringing relief to satiated bond investors.
"The 3G auction results demonstrate that the government borrowing will sail through
smoothly," said Paresh Nayar, head of foreign exchange and money markets at First Rand
Bank in Mumbai.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the auction proceeds will give "elbow room" to the
government.
4G spectrum
In telecommunications, 4G is the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a
successor to 3G and 2G families of standards. Speed requirements for 4G service set the peak
download speed at 100 Mbit/s for high mobility communication (such as from trains and
cars) and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users).[1]
A 4G system is expected to provide a comprehensive and secure all-IP based mobile
broadband solution to laptop computer wireless modems, smart phones, and other mobile
devices. Facilities such as ultra-broadband Internet access, IP telephony, gaming services,
and streamed multimedia may be provided to users.
Pre-4G technologies such as mobile WiMax and first-release 3G Long term evolution (LTE)
have been on the market since 2006[2] and 2009[3][4][5] respectively, and are often branded as
4G. The current versions of these technologies did not fulfill the original ITU-R requirements
of data rates approximately up to 1 Gbit/s for 4G systems. Marketing materials use 4G as a
description for Mobile-WiMax and LTE in their current forms.
IMT-Advanced compliant versions of the above two standards are under development and
called “LTE Advanced” and “Wireless MAN-Advanced” respectively. ITU has decided that
“LTE Advanced” and “Wireless MAN-Advanced” should be accorded the official
designation of IMT-Advanced. On December 6, 2010, ITU announced that current versions
of LTE, WiMax and other evolved 3G technologies that do not fulfill "IMT-Advanced"
requirements could be considered "4G", provided they represent forerunners to IMT-
Advanced and "a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with
respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed." [6]
49
In all suggestions for 4G, the CDMA spread spectrum radio technology used in 3G systems
and IS-95 is abandoned and replaced by OFDMAand other frequency-domain
equalization schemes.[citation needed] This is combined with MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out),
e.g., multiple antennas, dynamic channel allocation and channel-dependent scheduling.
Objective Approach
4G is being developed to accommodate the quality of service (QoS) and rate requirements set
by further development of existing 3G applications like mobile
broadband access, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), video chat, mobile TV, but also
new services like HDTV. 4G may allow roaming with wireless local area networks, and may
interact with digital video broadcasting systems.
In the literature, the assumed or expected 4G requirements have changed during the years
before IMT-Advanced was specified by the ITU-R. These are examples of objectives stated
in various sources:
A nominal data rate of 100 Mbit/s while the client physically moves at high speeds
relative to the station, and 1 Gbit/s while client and station are in relatively fixed positions
as defined by the ITU-R[19]
A data rate of at least 100 Mbit/s between any two points in the world[19]
Smooth handoff across heterogeneous networks[20]
Seamless connectivity and global roaming across multiple networks[21]
High quality of service for next generation multimedia support (real time audio, high
speed data, HDTV video content, mobile TV, etc.)[21]
Interoperability with existing wireless standards[22]
An all IP, packet switched network[21]
IP-based femtocells (home nodes connected to fixed Internet broadband
infrastructure)
50
Advanced antenna systems
His performance of radio communications depends on an antenna system,
termed smart or intelligent antenna. Recently, multiple antenna technologies are emerging to
achieve the goal of 4G systems such as high rate, high reliability, and long range
communications. In the early 1990s, to cater for the growing data rate needs of data
communication, many transmission schemes were proposed. One technology, spatial
multiplexing, gained importance for its bandwidth conservation and power efficiency. Spatial
multiplexing involves deploying multiple antennas at the transmitter and at the receiver.
Independent streams can then be transmitted simultaneously from all the antennas. This
technology, called MIMO (as a branch of intelligent antenna), multiplies the base data rate by
(the smaller of) the number of transmit antennas or the number of receive antennas. Apart
from this, the reliability in transmitting high speed data in the fading channel can be
improved by using more antennas at the transmitter or at the receiver. This is
called transmit or receive diversity. Both transmit/receive diversity and transmit spatial
multiplexing are categorized into the space-time coding techniques, which does not
necessarily require the channel knowledge at the transmitter. The other category is closed-
loop multiple antenna technologies, which require channel knowledge at the transmitter.
4G in India
India is a country where voice is given more importance than data communication over a
cellular network. Although, this situation is changing now, but mobile broadband is limited to
selected pockets in the country. On the other hand, service providers are more interested in
owning bandwidth to release them under high costs which is not always affordable to people.
At a recent 4G auction, (which seems useless currently in itself has India is still not living in
a 3G world) Infotel, a mobile broadband provider bought the largest share of 4G spectrum
and won the bid for all 22 regions this bid was being placed. One factor that makes Infotel so
much better than its competitor is that it has nationwide wireless broadband operations,
possibly the largest; making it the de-facto ruler in this sector.
51
Others in this race, Aircel, Tikona Digital and Bharti, each got eight, four and four licenses
respectively. Seeing this state, Mukesh Ambani who currently holds the Reliance Industries,
is now proposing to buy Infotel for $1 billion and also agrees to pay the licensing fees. This
desperate move will make Reliance Communication and Reliance Industries tough
competitors in the mobile business once again.
What is expected of Reliance Industries now is that it understands the current #fail scenario
and need of wireless broadband in India and tries to make it better.
4G is a leader in developing and deploying Identity Management solutions for the Indian
market.
4G offers the technology to achieve unparalleled security and speed for large-scale
identification and verification applications.
As an early market entrant, 4G has invested significantly in the Indian market and has
achieved substantial market penetration in India across multiple sectors.
4G has developed a portfolio of applications built around 4G’s modular Identity Management
platform that interoperates with multiple biometric devices, biometric algorithms, and
demographic search engines.
The simple, but powerful architecture has allowed 4G to cultivate a diverse clientele that span
across Governments, PSUs and Corporate across India.
At his inauguration, U.S. President Obama stressed the need for bold and swift action in
laying foundations for growth. Appreciating the role of technology in improving effective
services and efficient delivery, he acknowledges the demands of a new age with
infrastructure and digital line investments required. More recently, global leaders at WEF
Davos have also highlighted the importance of innovation in forthcoming solutions.
Regardless the difficulty of circumstances or direness of situation, opportunity arises out of
crisis. More than ever, relationship-building and technology innovation are crucial. The 4th
generation (4G) mobile technology is becoming the emerging solution to drive the new
52
growth of the industry, and help foster state-of-the-art technology, novel partnership
arrangements or transformational business models. Our 4G events, the world's leading
platforms of the 4G industry, are steadfast in supporting the industry and confident in the
ability to uncover and advance the opportunities.
4G in India
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance is testing 4G in India, Getting 80 Mbps Download Speed
After the acquisition of Infotel Broadband Ltd by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance (RIL), the
rumor was there in market that Mukesh’s Reliance will come up with the speediest Internet
connection in India. As Indian market is still waiting for proper implementation of 3G
network by major players, Reliance has started testing 4G connections. As per some initial
reports, RIL team at Navi Mumbai started trials of 4G connection and got download speed of
80 Mbps and upload speed of 20 Mbps. It is way ahead than current 3G connection of 3.1
Mbps or 7.2 Mbps. Tata Indicom (Docomo) and Reliance Communication (Anil Ambani’s )
also started giving 21 Mbps download speed on supported devices. Reliance is using Ericsson
equipment to test this 4G network. As the above testing results are in ideal scenario, that may
drop to 40 to 50 Mbps depending on the system load and distance from the nearest tower etc.
S wireless Internet is at boom in India and other parts of world but still we are way behind
most of the western countries. We are still waiting for the proper coverage of 3G network
when Smartphone makers started selling 4G phones in countries like US and UK. But finally
we are getting good news on Wireless Internet connectivity, as Reliance is expected come up
with good plans in future for such fast Internet connections.
Reliance is currently having 22 of 44 licenses of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum
which were auctioned in June 2010. As they need to start the implementation in less than a
year, so we can expect to get the service by March – May 2011.
NEW DELHI -- India's telecommunications regulator said Friday it will send its proposals
to the government by June on fourth-generation, or 4G, mobile technology that will allow
users to watch high-definition video and download content on mobile devices at a much
faster pace.
53
"We have floated a pre-consultation paper on 4G," J.S. Sarma, chairman of the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference. "At TRAI,
we are readying ourselves for it," he said.
The regulator is likely to come up with a consultation paper on 4G in a month's time, Mr.
Sarma said, adding that he expects operators to start offering 4G services next year.
The 4G technology, while in its infancy, holds the promise of Internet speeds at least five
times faster than typical third-generation networks now common in Europe and the U.S.
The regulator's comments come at a time when India's telecom operators are yet to start
full-fledged 3G mobile services across the country after receiving spectrum in a hotly
contested auction last year. The auction saw telecom and Internet services providers
together paying nearly $23 billion to the Indian government for bandwidth to offer 3G
telephony and broadband wireless Internet services.
Separately, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said the ministry may
look at extending the timeline for digitising television distribution networks across the
country by a year.
The TRAI, which also regulates the broadcasting sector, had in a report submitted to the
government last year suggested a Dec. 31, 2013, deadline for digitization of networks.
But the regulator is now suggesting that the deadline be postponed to June 2014.
India has about 106 million cable and satellite television homes, of which about 26 million
are connected through direct-to-home satellite television distribution companies. The
remainder is connected mostly through analog cable systems, which often give room to
disputes between broadcasters and cable TV companies on the number of users.
The government's digitization move will boost its tax collections, ramp up subscription
revenue for broadcasters and also provide customers a greater choice of channels.
54
Other Telecom Service
Value Added Service
A. Introduction
Mobile phones today have moved beyond their fundamental role of communications
and have graduated to become an extension of the persona of the user. We are
witnessing an era when users buy mobile phones not just to be in touch, but to express
themselves, their attitude, feelings& interests.
Customers continuously want more from their phone. They use their cellular phones to
play games, read news headlines, surf the Internet, keep a tab on astrology, and listen to
music, make others listen to their music, or check their bank balance.
Thus, there exists a vast world beyond voice that needs to be explored and tapped and
the entire cellular industry is heading towards it to provide innovative options to their
customers. Spoilt by choice, the mobile phone subscribers are beginning to choose their
operators on the basis of the value added services they offer. The increased importance
of VAS has also made content developers burn the midnight oil to come up with better
and newer concepts and services.
55
To understand that where this industry is at present and where it is headed, IAMAI and
IMRB International have jointly prepared the Mobile VAS Report to focus back stage
and uncover the trends in the cellular industry, current market status, value chain,
competition, market dynamics & expected roadblocks.
This is the first publicly available study on Mobile VAS in India and the insights
provided herein can be used by both the mobile operators and the content providers to
better address the needs of their customers. A timely and strategic action would help
nurture the mobile VAS market in India.
All VAS share the same characteristics:
1. Not a form of basic service but rather adds value total service offering
2. Stands alone in terms of profitability and/or stimulates incremental demand for core
service(s)
3. Can sometimes stand alone operationally
4. Does not cannibalize basic service unless clearly favorable
5. Can be an add-on to basic service, and as such, may be sold at a premium price
6. May provide operational and/or administrative synergy between or among other
services – not merely for diversification
Every VAS will demonstrate one or more of the above characteristics. Furthermore, a value-
added service will never stand in stark contrast to any of the above characteristics.
VAS also has a certain time dimension associated with them. Subjectively speaking, a value-
added service today becomes a basic service when it becomes sufficiently common place and
widely deployed to no longer provide substantive differentiation on a relative basis.
Relationship to other Services
56
There are two types of VAS. The first service types are those value-added services that stand
alone from an operational perspective. These types of services need not be coupled with other
services, but they can be. Many non-voice services fall into this category. They are often
provided as an optional service along with voice services, but they could be offered and used
by themselves without the voice service. For example, SMS could be offered and used as a
service without voice calling.
The second, and arguably more numerous and important type of VAS, are those services that
do not stand-alone. Instead, this category adds value to existing services. While it seems
implicit in the definition of value-added, this is an important principle that makes value-
added services stand apart from other services.
Value-added Services Examples
There are many services that could be considered "value-added". For discussion purposes, we
will a few of these services below.
Push-to-Talk
Push-to-Talk (PTT) is a VAS because it:
Drives additional revenue to the wireless carrier, but doe not cannibalize existing
revenues
Provides differentiated service offerings
May be packaged with various other VAS such as MIM to provide even greater value
Call Management Services
This type of service can not stand alone as a service. Instead, it adds value to a core service
by allowing the subscriber to manage incoming and/or outgoing calls. For example, value-
added service interactions occur when the subscriber receives a call. Many call management
services allow the subscriber to establish when, where, and under what circumstances they
57
may be reached by calling parties. This provides value to the core service - voice
communications - by way of increased control and flexibility.
Depending on the specific commercial situation, this value-added service could be offered as
either a premium service (at a premium price) or be bundled with other the core service
offering. The benefit of bundling would be to provide a differentiated core service and/or to
increase the use of the core service.
Location Sensitive Billing
This is another example of a service that can not stand-alone. Instead, location sensitive
billing (LSB) adds value to the core service by location enabling the core service. Location
sensitive billing can be used in conjunction with post-paid, prepaid, and/or VPN based
mobile communications services to establish zones for which differentiated billing treatment
may be applied. For example, a "home zone", "work zone", and "premium price zone" could
be established to allow an operator to offer differentiated service to its customers.
This is viewed as a value-added service to both the customer and the mobile operator. The
customer benefits from LSB through his ability to use the mobile phone at preferred rates
based on location. The wireless carrier benefits from incremental revenues derived from
additional usage and from premium charge zones where there is already high demand and
perhaps overly taxed system capacity. While the issue of potential cannibalization of existing
service arises, customer behavior and studies indicate a net benefit derived from overall
increased usage and revenues.
Taken together, call management services and LSB also depict characteristic number six,
operational synergy. Call management services add value in terms of providing the user
options depending on location. For example, the user may want to receive certain calls at the
home zone, but not at work, and perhaps receive only urgent calls when traveling or on
vacation. LSB provides the additional synergistic benefit of location based billing when the
user is in those various locations.
Mobile Data Services
This is an example of a value-added service that does stand-alone. Mobile data services are
considered value-added because they depict many of the characteristics discussed earlier.
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Does not cannibalize existing services
Can be offered at a premium price
Provides differentiation
Can provide synergy with basic service
Largely due to the current state of mobile communications evolution, many non-voice
services can be considered to be value-added. However, the extent to which additional value-
added services can be layered on top of mobile data services will determine the limit of their
value. For example, many non-voice services will have even greater value through
personalization. Two of the most significant ways to personalize wireless services are
through location enabling them and making them personal profile driven.
Mobile data services are utilized to obtain information, content, and to perform transactions.
All of these activities are more meaningful if they are tailored to the individual. Location
based services add value by way of putting the data into a location context for the user.
Personal profiles further enhance the value through Personalization.
The mobile value-added services market in India
Mobile value-added services (VAS) include messaging and premium content like music,
video, TV, entertainment and information services.
The mobile VAS market is estimated to be over Rs 5,400 crore by end-2010.
It is expected to grow to over Rs 12,000 crore by end-2015.
Innovative content, improved customers service, affordability of handsets, and the operator’s
focus on increasing awareness are some of the key factors that will drive the VAS market.
The restricted use of enterprise VAS will act as an obstacle in the growth of the segment.
Caller tunes or Dialer Tunes or Hello Tunes are the most popular VAS service in the
World.
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Bharti and Nuance Introduce ‘One Number, One Voice’
Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries
across Asia and Africa, and Nuance Communications today announced the launch of an
innovative voice service titled ‘One Number, One Voice’ – which will allow airtel mobile
customers across India to access major voice based services offered by the company (like
Hello Tunes, Airtel Radio, News, Sports, Jokes etc) by dialing a single number – 54321.
Powered by Nuance Recognizer 9.0, the world's leading automated speech recognition
technology, ‘One Number, One Voice’ is now available for Airtel customers across Madhya
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Kerala, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh (East & West). The
service currently supports English, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam and will be rolled out in
other languages subsequently.
Commenting on the launch of the new service, Mr. Shireesh Joshi, Chief Marketing Officer-
Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel said, “At Bharti Airtel, we are constantly looking for ways of
delivering the best user experience for our 150 million plus customers across the country and
accounting for their diverse preferences in language and relative comfort in interacting by
voice or text.
Our ‘One Number, One Voice’ service provides our customers with the dual benefit of a
single number of access for VAS services and the ease of voice recognition with multiple
language options – giving him a simple and improved service experience.” He added,
“Today, as we join hands with Nuance Communications for the launch of our ‘One Number,
One Voice’ service – we look forward to leveraging their expertise towards delivering an
improved ‘search and discover content’ experience for airtel mobile customers across India.”
The ‘One Number, One Voice’ initiative covers all major voice services on airtel like Hello
Tunes, airtel Radio, News, Sports, Devotional, Astrology and Jokes. Customers need to
simply dial 54321 and speak to access the desired content, thus making search and discovery
of content much simpler and easier. ‘One Number, One Voice’ is available at a charge of
Rs.2 per minute.
“We’re experiencing an unprecedented demand for voice services, as they provide consumers
60
with a fast and intuitive way to access a broad range of content,” said Michael Thompson,
Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mobile Division, Nuance Communications.
“Bharti Aircel’s One Number, One Voice service is an incredibly innovative initiative that
brings the power of voice to millions of consumers across India, providing access to exciting
content-driven voice services through a single number and simple voice commands.”
Bharti airtel and Nuance had jointly undertaken an extensive pilot project in the Kerala circle
for over a year to comprehensively test and refine the service. The menu for the ‘One
Number, One Voice’ service has been designed basis the inputs of a comprehensive customer
research exercise on the usability aspects of value added service (VAS) voice applications,
making navigation more intuitive and simpler. This the first application to incorporate the
user interface guidelines and framework developed for airtel by Nuance, which incorporates
Nuance’s global best practices and rigorous customer testing. The service is intuitive enough
to distinguish between regular callers and first-time callers, offering a customized caller
experience wherein novice callers get more hand-holding whereas frequent callers are offered
short-cuts.
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Research Methodology On
Number Portability
Objective
1. What customer thinks about number portability?
2. The impact of Number Portability on Indian market?
3. To know acceptability of Number Portability system on customer?
4. To find out pros and cons of Number Portability system for mobile users?
5. To find out pro and cons of Number Portability system for Cellular Service
providers.
Data Collection
1. Primary Data: were collected by survey method. Questionnaires administered by
respondent personally.
2. Secondary Data: were collected from internet.
Sampling
1. Sample Size: A sample of 135 respondents was taken for the study. Among 25
them were cellular service providers and 110 were the customer of service
providers.
2. Sampling Method: Non-probability/Convenience sampling method was used for
the study.
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Limitation of the study
1. As Number Portability System is yet to be launched, scope was study was limited to
the perception of samples.
2. Mobile users are not yet fully aware about Number Portability so administering
questionnaire was a difficult.
3. Providers were also not aware about Number portability, so their views were differing
to each provider.
4. Lack of resources like time, mode of transportation to Survey team.
Data Analysis & Interpretation
Customer Perspective:
Q.1 Which cellular service do you use? [To know who the dominant player in Vadodara market is]
Service Provider Users
Airtel 20
Reliance 5
Vodafone 30
Idea 25
BSNL 7
TATA Docomo 9
Aircel 4
Uninor 1
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Total 110
Out of 60 customer Vodafone with 14 customer was found dominating players in Vadodara.
Q.2. Are you satisfied with the services of your current service provider?
Objective: To know whether the customers are satisfied with current service provider or not.
Q.2 Satisfied with current service provider?
YES 82
NO 28
Out of all 110 respondents, 82 (75%) respondents are satisfied and 28 (25%) respondents
were not satisfied with the services of current service provider.
Q.3. Would you like to change your service provider, if given a chance to change it without
changing your mobile number? (Mobile Number Portability System)
Objective: To check the willingness of customers to accept Mobile Number portability.
Prefer to Change Response
Yes 78[71%]
No 32[29%]
Out of 110 respondents 78 respondents would like to change their service provider if given a
chance to which provider with same mobile number.
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Satisfied Not Satisfied TOTAL
Willing to Change 54 24 78
Not willing to Change 28 4 32
TOTAL 82 28 110
From above table and chart, it was found that out of total 82 customers who were satisfied
with the services of current provider, 54 customers are willing to change their service
provider. Out of 28 customers who were not satisfied with the services of current services
provider, 24 customers were willing to change their services provider.
Conclusion
Large number of customers was satisfied with the services but even then they were willing to
change their service provider in search of better prospects. So If Mobile Number Portability
system comes into action, there is a chance that people will accept it.
Q.4 (A) Why will you change your service provider?
Objective: To know the reasons that will influence them for switching the service provider
RESON FOR CHANGE NO. OF CUSTOMER
Flexibility to change service provider 19[25%]
Low switching cost 08[10%]
Low tariffs of other provider 26[33%]
More Value added service by other provider 18[33%]
Worst service of Current provider 07[9%]
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Total 78[100%]
Out of 78 customers who were willing to change;
A. 26 (33%) customer are willing to change in search of low tariffs of other service
providers,
B. 19 (25%) customer want to change because of flexibility to change service provider
without changing mobile number,
C. 18 (23%) customer want to change because of more value added services provided by
other services provider,
D. 8 (10%) and 7 (9%) were willing to change because of low switching cost and worst
services of current services provider.
Q.4 (B) if you do not like to change the service provider, please specify the reason.
Objective: To know the reason, why people will not change their service provider in spite of
option to keep their mobile number the same.
REASON NO. OF CUSTOMERS
Happy with current
provider
30
Corporate Plan, So can Not
change
2
Out of 32 customers who were not willing to change;
A. 30 (94%) customers are not willing to change because they are happy with their
current cellular service provider.
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B. 2 (6%) customers are not willing to change because they have corporate plan
provided by their organizations, so even if they are willing to change, they cannot
change.
Q.5. What do you think the advantages you will have if Mobile Number Portability System
comes in to action? (Open Ended)
Objective: To know what will be the advantages for customer, if Mobile Number Portability
System comes into action
REASON NO. OF RESPONSE
Low Tariffs 44
Flexibility 33
Good Network 17
More VAS 21
TOTAL 115
1. Low tariffs:
44 responses said that if NPS comes into action, they will get services at low tariffs.
2. Flexibility
33 responses said that there will be flexibility in changing the services provider without
changing mobile number. They will also get flexibility to switch the service provider if
customer is not happy with the services of current provider.
3. Good network
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17 responses said that they will get good network because all cellular service providers
will serve them better to sustain in competitive market.
4. More value added services (VAS).
21 responses came about More VAS, i.e. customer will get more value added services at
cheaper rates.
Q.6. what do you think, the problems you will face if Mobile Number Portability System
comes in to action?
Objective: To know what will be the problems for customer, if Mobile Number
Portability System comes into action
RESPONSE NO. OF
RESPONSE
No Problem 77
Difficulty to identify the caller’s service provider 18
Network Problem 13
Time for switching 2
When respondents were asked about the problems they might face with introduction of
Mobile Number Portability System,
A. 77 respondents responded that they will not face any problem if MNPS comes in to
action,
B. 18 respondents said that they will face difficulty to identify the caller’s service provider.
C. 13 said that they will face network problem because churning of customers will increase
and will cause network conjunctions.
D. 2 respondents were not happy with the idea of time taken to switch between providers as
it takes 72 hours (as per current suggestion of TRAI) to switch from one provider to
another.
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SERVICE PROVIDER PERSPECTIVE
Q.1. what do you think, the advantages you will have if Mobile Number Portability System
comes in to action?
Objective: To know the advantages for services provider, if mobile Number Portability
System comes into action.
ADVANTAGES No. of Responses
Increase Customer 14
Don’t have to issue new Numbers 1
No advantage 9
Increase Revenue 1
From above table and graph, it can be seen that, 14 services providers said that they will
increase customer. 9 service providers said that they will not have any advantage if MNPS
comes in to action. 1 respondent said that they will not have to issue new mobile numbers so
they could control their expenses and 1 said that introduction of MNPS will increase the
revenue of the company.
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Q.2. what do you think, the problems you will face if Mobile Number Portability System
comes in to action?
Objective: To know what will be the problems for cellular services providers, if Mobile
Number Portability System comes into action.
PROBLEMS NO. OF RESPONSES
Have to give Promotional Schemes 1
Upgrade network 4
Difficult to identify customer 3
Lose customer 12
Increase competition 4
Database Maintenance 1
Sale of new card decreases 2
Difficult to retain customer 2
Financial Loss 3
High Investment 1
Customer will rule market 2
Decrease customer loyalty 2
No Problem 1
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When services provider were asked about the problems of MNPS, 12 responses went to lose
customer. Services provider have to upgrade their network and competition will increase was
some of the major problems services providers will face after MNPS comes into action. Also
sale of new SIM card will affect was also a point made by 2 services provider. If MNPS will
come in to the action, customer will have complete control over market. They will rule the
market. One big problem will be of identifying the customer as his/her number will not
change and service provider will change. So tapping customer’s service provider will be a
challenge for service providers.
FindingsVodafone was found the most dominating player in Vadodara market, followed by Idea and
Airtel.
A. 78 respondents out of 110 would like to change their service provider with same mobile
number, in spite of being satisfied with current service provider. So if Mobile Number
Portability comes into action, people may certainly accept the system.
B. Out of 78 customers who were willing to change;
C. 26 (33%) customer are willing to change in search of low tariffs of other service
providers,
D. 19 (25%) customer want to change because of flexibility to change service provider
without changing mobile number,
E. 18 (23%) customer want to change because of more value added services provided by
other services provider and 8 (10%) and 7 (9%) were willing to change due to low
switching cost and worst services of current service provider.
F. If Mobile Number Portability comes into action, customers will have benefits like:
Services at low tariffs
G. They will be flexible to change services provider without changing the number.
H. All services provider will try to give better services to customer in order to gain market
share. This rise in competition will result in intensive price war among the cellular
services providers and will benefit to customers.
I. Cut throat competition will enable services providers to offer better Value Added
Services at cheaper prices.
J. Major problem for customers will be to identify counterpart’s service provider.
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K. Network problems will also arise because there will be huge churning rate. Customer will
keep on switching networks which will result in Network related problems.
L. According to Services provider, they will gain customers due to MNPS if they provide
quality services and customer satisfaction to Users.
M. On the other services provider also says that if they fail to provide better services, they
will lose their market share.
N. Customer loyalty and retention ration will affect. Services provider will also have to
update their networks in fight their rivals.
Suggestion
1. TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) should take into consideration, the
pros and cons to services providers before launching Number portability System in
India
2. TRAI should try and make out some benefits for the services provider so that they
mutually accept the System.
3. To remain untouched by the effects of Number Portability system, service provider
should put their all efforts on making customers, brand loyal and concentrate more on
customer retention than on making new customers.
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CONCLUSION
1. In Vadodara market, Airtel is the top player. Idea is on Second followed by Reliance.
2. Customers at Vadodara are willing to switch Service provider if they are given an option to
switch with same mobile number.
3. Mobile Number Portability System will change the scenario of the telecom Industry.
Earlier the only way a service provider was able to hold their customer was by the mobile
number. But now if MNPS comes in to action customer will have freedom to switch with
same number so customer will rule the market.
4. In this battle between customers and service providers, service provider will have to
surrender against customers.
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REFERENCES
Books
Mobile Communication by Jochen Sehiller-Second Edition
Report
Trai Report 2009-2010
Telecom Sector Annual Report 2009-2010
Website
www.trai.gov.in
www.wikipedia.com
www.google.com
www.dot.gov.in
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Appendices
Questionnaire [Customer]
Topic: Number Portability
Dear sir/Madam,
I request to spare sometime to consider the following questionnaire. The intention of this
project is purely academic; all information provided by you will be kept strictly confidential.
Be as truthful as you can.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Q.1 which cellular service do you use?
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
TATA Docomo
Reliance
BSNL
Aircel
Uninor
75
Q.2 Are you satisfied with the services of your current service provider?
Yes
No
Q.3 would you like to change your service provider, if given a chance to change it without
changing your mobile number?
Yes
No
(A) If yes, why you change your service provider?
Flexibility to change service provider
Low switching cost
Low tariffs of other provider
More Value added service by other provider
Worst service of Current provider
Other, please specify
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
(B) If No, please specify the reason?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Q.4 what do you think, the advantages you will have if Mobile Number Portability System
comes in to action?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Q.5 what do you think, the problems you will face if Mobile Number Portability System
comes in to action?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Permission Letter
To whom so it may concern
This is a very humble request to leading Telecom Service Provider to allow
and help our student to prepare their project. The project details and
requirements are available with the students.
This project preparation is purely for academics purpose and do not have any
commercial aspects. This is a part of MBA program undertaken by the student
at our academy.
Thanks and Regards
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Meenakshi Nair | Trainer | NIS Academy