RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

PROJECT NAME:

CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDERS

CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDERS

The cell phone industry in India has transitioned from offering mere voice connectivity to providing value added services such as MMS, and internet connectivity with phone types ranging from normal cell phones to the ones having PDA features. Faced with such a wide range of options, customers are finding it increasingly difficult to choose the right service provider.

Once the customer opts for a cell phone service, the cell phone number becomes his identity. This is the reason why changing the service provider at a later point of time becomes impractical.

Therefore, it is imperative for the prospective customer to evaluate service providers before he selects any of them. The aim of this article is to help customers rate cell phone operators on a set of general criteria, which will help in the selection process.

Let us look at the cell phone giants, most of whom operate nationwide -- Airtel, BSNL’s CellOne, Hutch, Idea, Reliance and Tata Indicom.

We shall consider the following criteria to evaluate the various service providers:

Network coverage

Quality of service

Customer service/satisfaction

Calling plans

Schemes and offers

Recoverability

Value added services

Some of these operators offer CDMA based services, while most others offer GSM based services.

Some of these operators have a greater advantage over the others in terms of the target customers, the penetration and the brand image. Operators such as Airtel and Reliance have built up a powerful brand image in their respective segments (GSM and CDMA). They have also evolved over time and integrated with other institutions such as banks, TV channels, etc. For example, a subscriber to Reliance mobile service maintains his savings account with ICICI Bank. Once he updates his phone details on the bank’s web site, or informs the bank about this update, the bank stores this information. When a transaction takes place against the customer’s account, the bank immediately sends an SMS to the customer’s cell phone, informing him of the transaction.

Big brands have been built when operators have tied up with various TV channels and encouraged the participation of their subscribers in successful shows such as Star Plus’s Kaun Banega Crorepati.

In this way, cell phone service providers have been devising income generation strategies with very low turn around time.

What’s more, they offer various kinds of ring tone services, dialer tone services, data (internet), and other services to keep their stock prices soaring in the markets.

LIST OF CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDERS IN INDIA

1) AIRTEL

2) RELIANCE

3) TATA – DOCOMO

4) IDEA

5) VODAFONE

6) LOOP

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CONSUMER SATISFACTION REPORT WITH

RATINGS

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BHARTI AIRTEL CONSUMER SATISFACTION REPORT

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QUESTIONNAIRE1. Which wireless service providers are available in your area? Which appear to be the

most reliable and strongest signal where you work and live?

2. Would you prefer to sign a contract and take on a monthly postpaid plan or would you

rather go with a pay as you go cell phone plan?

3. How many minutes do you need each month? Do you talk mostly during the day or in

the evenings? How about on the weekends? Are most of your friends already on the

same network?

4. What additional features are most important to you? Are there any value packs that

combine the basic add-on features that you desire? What features can you do without?

5. Do you want to surf the web? What kind of Internet connection, if any, do you need?

6. Have you inquired about any promotional plans? Have you taken a competitor's offer

to a different carrier to see if they will beat it?

what is your cell phone provider?

how long have you been with that provider?

what providers have you used in the past?

what is a benefit and or attribute of your provider?

what is a negative aspect of your provider?

what can a provider do to keep you a loyal customer?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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- SECONDARY DATA

- CONSUMER SATISFACTION REPORT WITH

RATINGS

- www.consumerdaddy.com

END OF THE PROJECT

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