A

PROJECT REPORT
ON

“Retail Visibility of AIRCEL With Respect to Competitors”

A report submitted to Delhi Business School, New Delhi

As a part fulfillment of
MBA+PGP Graduate program (industry integrated) in entrepreneurship and business.

Submitted to: - Submitted by:-

Director Academics Abhishek Kumar
Delhi business school Roll. No. : 01
New Delhi Batch : Winter (09-11)
Semester : 3rd
Internal guide: - University : Punjab Technical
Ms. Kiran Malhotra University
Delhi business school
New Delhi

B-II/M.C.I.E.,Mathura Road, New Delhi

Website: - www.dbs.edu.in

PREFACE

1
Training, as we know, is essential to supplement theoretical knowledge with
practical one and to inculcate efficiency. Due to this reason project training in
professionally managed organization has been made an integral part of the
syllabus of MBA course.

In the above mentioned context I had the privilege of getting this practical
training at Aircel. Patna. The training was in the field of marketing
management, involving to find out market potential, market share and
recommendations for Aircel confectionery particularly in Patna.

In order to gather required information surveyed almost every nook and

corner of the markets of Patna and compiled the data.

This project report is hereby submitted for the partial fulfillment for the
award of Master in Business Administration, which will presumably prove
useful to the management of the Aircel too.

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank Mr. Amit Raj (HR Manager), Mr. Rohit Narayana
(Marketing Head), Mr. Abhishek Gupta (Marcom Head), Mr. Laxmikant
(Senior executive, Marketing), Mr. Avinish, and Mr. Pankaj Kumar for their
guidance and giving me his valuable time, support, suggestion & the
opportunity to excel and work in the field of Marketing Communication
(Marcom) which motivated me to complete my training successfully.

A well combination of theory and practice helped us in compiling this

report on “Retail visibility of Aircel with respect to competitors”.

Last but not the least I wish to thank all the Merchandiser for their
support and encouragement during the long weekends and evening that went
into completion of my project successfully.

Abhishek Kumar
MBA 3Rd SEM
Delhi Business School

3
 STUDENT DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report entitled

“Retail visibility of AIRCEL with respect to competitors ” At “Dishnet
Wireless Limited ” Patna Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of “MBA+PGP” to Delhi business School, New Delhi , India, is
my original work and not submitted for the award of any other degree,
diploma ,fellowship, or any other similar little or prizes.

Place: New Delhi [Abhishek Kumar]

Date: Roll. NO:01

TABLE OF CONTENTS
4
Executive Summary

1. Introduction
1.1 Retail visibility
1.2 Objective of the study
1.3 Scope of the study
2. Research Methodology
2.1 Methodology
2.2 Research design
2.3 Source of data
2.4 Sampling
2.5 Data collection tolls
2.6 Limitation of the Study
3. Overview of the Indian Telecommunication industry
4. Organization Profile

4.1 Company Profile

4.2 Our Presence

4.3 Telecom Circles

4.4 Our Branch Offices

4.5 Aircel Product

4.6 Value added services

4.7 Awards & achievements

4.8 Future Ahead

5. Data analysis

6. Findings
5
7. Recommendation
7.1 Recommendation & Suggestions
7.2 SWOT analysis For Aircel
7.3 Bibliography
7.4 Annexure

6
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project titled “Retail visibilty of Aircel with respect to competitors” has
been carried out for AIRCEL, Patna, Bihar. The main objective of this project
is to know the Status of the company with the competitor and how to regenerate
their confidence in the prevailing market condition. The whole summer
internship period with Dishnet Wireless Ltd (Aircel) has been full of learning
and sense of contribution towards the organization. In this project the great
emphasis is given to find out the retail visibility of Aircel with respect to
competitors, whether its better than other competitors or not?
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. (Aircel) is a telecom network providing company. The
main objective of this company is to provide the best services to their customer
in low cost as compared to their competitor. They offer more value added
service in marginal cost. Occasionally they give some offers for the benefit of
the customers and retailer and distributor. According to the study of the
markets, it is being observed that there are many players available in the
markets and some of them are really doing well but if we talk about retail
visibility of these companies, Aircel’s retail visibility is less effective than other
companies. The needs and wants of the client taken into consideration.
I hope Dishnet Wireless Ltd (Aircel), Patna, Bihar will recognize this as well
as take more references from this project report. HR department has been given
more emphasis for the study of the project because it is the only sector where all
type of Age group, Income class and different level of people are represented.
According to the market study, Patna is one of the potential markets for the
telecom service because a single person uses many SIM(network services).Due
to some drawback in the service they do like this ,If the company removes their

7
drawbacks then it’s sure that the company will get great response from the
customer.
The main objective of this project is to know the drawbacks of their visibility &
services and the need and wants of the retailers of Patna. Patna is one of the
potential markets for customer but company has to give special emphasis on
retailer’s demands for merchandising.
This project will provide me the better platform to understand the History,
Growth and various other aspects of telecom companies. It will also help me to
understand the behavior of retailers, customers and distributers, regarding retail
visibility.

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 Chapter-1
Introduction

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Objective of the Study
1.3 Scope of the study

INTRODUCTION
Telecommunication:-

9
The word telecommunication was adapted from the French word
telecommunication. It is a compound of the Greek prefix tele-, meaning 'far off',
and the Latin communicates, meaning 'to share'. Telecommunication is the
transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. In
modern times, this process almost always involves the sending of
electromagnetic waves by electronic transmitters but in earlier years it may have
involved the use of smoke signals, drums or semaphore. Today,
telecommunication is widespread and devices that assist the process, such as the
television, radio and telephone, are common in many parts of the world. There
is also a vast array of networks that connect these devices, including computer
networks, public telephone networks, radio networks and television networks.
Computer communication across the Internet, such as e-mail and instant
messaging, is just one of many examples of telecommunication.

The basic elements of a telecommunication system are:

 a transmitter that takes information and converts it to a signal for

transmission
 a transmission medium over which the signal is transmitted
 a receiver that receives and converts the signal back into usable
information

Often telecommunication systems are two-way and devices act as both a

transmitter and receiver or transceiver. For example, a mobile phone is a
transceiver. Telecommunication over a phone line is called point-to-point
communication because it is between one transmitter and one receiver,
telecommunication through radio broadcasts is called broadcast communication
because it is between one powerful transmitter and numerous receivers.

10
A collection of transmitters, receivers or transceivers that communicate with
each other is known as a network. Digital networks may consist of one or more
routers that route data to the correct user. An analogue network may consist of
one or more switches that establish a connection between two or more users.
For both types of network, a repeater may be necessary to amplify or recreate
the signal when it is being transmitted over long distances. This is to combat
attenuation that can render the signal indistinguishable from noise.

The shaping of a signal to convey information is known as modulation.

Modulation is a key concept in telecommunications and is frequently used to
impose the information of one signal on another. Modulation is used to
represent a digital message as an analogue waveform. This is known as keying
and several keying techniques exist — these include phase-shift keying,
frequency-shift keying, amplitude-shift keying and minimum-shift keying.
Bluetooth, for example, uses phase-shift keying for exchanges between devices.

Retail visibility:-

Retail visibility is an important part of the marketing plan, and should have a
reasonable budget allocated - even for a retailer operating on a shoestring.

In today's competitive retail environment a retailer cannot afford to consider

merchandising as a 'frill'. Everyone is competing for the customers' dollar.
There are more choices out there for consumers than ever before.
Merchandising is more than simply the arrangement of products on the shelf. It
is an integral component of the business image. It should be considered when
you design your logo, business cards, brochures, letterhead, packaging, and
product mix.

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 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1. To identify the retail visibility of Aircel in Comparison to its

Competitors.

12
 2. To find out the market presence of AIRCEL products in retail
outlets of, Patna and measures to improve it.

3. To find out the replacement cycle of Pop in which AIRCEL is

available.

4. To find out who take cares of POP activity.

5. To find out retailers opinion in related to the life of POP Material

and life of hard visibility.

6. To assess the distribution on the basis of number of outlets

covered, supply, Merchandiser.

7. To find out retailers opinion in relation to company specific like

replacement of POP, GSB, NON-LIT board etc.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study for management student gets to apply all their theoretical
knowledge in the company’s summer training. During training they solve the
particular problem given by the company and come to know the various things
practically

13
The company could take appropriate steps to increase Retail Visibility of
AIRCEL Products thus increasing the sales in Patna. The study was conducted
among Retailer outlets of Patna, Patna only and it was conducted only for a
period of two Months.

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 Chapter-2
RESEACH METHODOLOGY
2.1 Methodology
2.2 Research design
2.3 Source of data
2.4 Sampling
2.5 Data collection tolls
2.6 Limitation of the Study

METHODOLOGY

“Marketing research is the systematic and objective identification,

collection analysis, dissemination and use of information for the purpose of
improving decision making related to the identification and solution of
problem”.

During the course of conducting the study the information were gathered
mainly through the primary source.

15
Conducting field survey by taking to the retailer who is using mobile phone on
the methodology used in the survey was personal observation and interview
with retailer with the help of questionnaire.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design is a framework of blueprint for conducting the marketing

research project. It deals the procedure necessary for obtaining the information
needed to structure and / or solve the marketing research problem.

The two types of research are:-

1. Exploratory
2. Conclusive
The objective of exploratory research is to provide insight, into and
understanding of the problem conforming the researcher.

The objective of conclusive research is to test specific hypothesis and examine

specific relationship.

Source of data:-
Data requires for the research work can be making available from different
sources, they could be classified in two groups:-

a) Primary source:- includes living person, in my survey primary sources

constituted of the retailer who are selling telecom product and FMCG
retail outlet.
b) Secondary data: - Includes already collected data whether published or
unpublished, such as officially data base, magazines and journals.

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 SAMPLING
When a small group is taken as the reprehensive of the whole, the study is
called a sampling study. Sampling allows us to concentrate our attention upon a
relatively smaller number of items and hence to devote more energy ensure that
the information collected from them is accurate. When the whole area or
Population person is contacted the method is known as Census method. In my
survey it was census method because I was assigned a job to do survey in East
Patna Zone and take to feedback of all those retails who are selling RCV’s,
EASY RECHARGE, SIM etc.

DATA COLLECTION TOOLS

The collection of data is through a

(A). Questionnaire

(B). Observation

Questionnaire:-

o It is a piece of paper with a set of questions related to the purpose

Research, which is presented to the respondent. The questionnaire
used in my survey had close-end question.

Observation Methods:-

o When we look at the phenomenon with some objective it is called

Observation. It is the important technique for data collection. This
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 Method was also accompanying survey, to know the exact position
or Responses of the respondents.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

 The scope of the study has been kept restricted due to time and money
Constraints.
 Some question regarding the other company depends on the mood of the
respondent and at the time during which they were interviewed

 The biased view of the respondents.

 Some of the respondents were not aware about the facts.
 Though every possible attempt was made to ensure correct results but
there may be changed of sampling error.
 There is a chance of human error.
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 This report is based on small area of Patna and is true for Patna region
only, so this report cannot be generalized.
 The result is true for the given time period and it may vary with time.

Chapter-3

Overview of the Indian Telecommunication industry

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 THE TELECOM INDUSTRY

Introduction

The Indian telecommunication industry, with about 600.69 million

mobile phone connections as of February 2010, is the third largest
telecommunication network in the world and the second largest in terms of
number of wireless connections of 563.73 million. The Indian telecom industry
is one of the fastest growing in the world and is projected that India will have
'billion plus' mobile users by 2015. Projection by several leading global
consultancies is that India’s telecom network will overtake China’s in the next
10 years. For the past decade or so, telecommunication activities have gained
momentum in India. Efforts have been made from both governmental and non-
governmental platforms to enhance the infrastructure. The idea is to help

20
modern telecommunication technologies to serve all segments of India’s
culturally diverse society, and to transform it into a country of technologically
aware people.

EVALUTION OF THE INDUSTRY AND MILESTONES

21
WIRELESS SERVICES IN INDIA

22
 The Mobile telecommunications system in India is the second largest in
the world and it was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. The country is
divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along state boundaries).
Government and several private players run local and long distance telephone
services. Competition has caused prices to drop and calls across India are one of
the cheapest in the world. The rates are supposed to go down further with new
measures to be taken by the Information Ministry. The mobile service has seen
phenomenal growth since 2000. In September 2004, the numbers of mobile
phone connections have crossed fixed-line connections. India primarily follows
the GSM mobile system, in the 900 MHz band. Recent operators also operate in
the 1800 MHz band. The dominant players are Airtel, Aircel Uninor, Reliance
Infocomm, Vodafone, Idea cellular and BSNL/MTNL. There are many smaller
players, with operations in only a few states. International roaming agreements
exist between most operators and many foreign carriers.

MAJOR PLAYERS AND THEIR MARKET SHARE

23
 WIRELINE SERVICES IN INDIA

Landline service in India is primarily run by BSNL/MTNL and Reliance Info

comm though there are several other private players too, such as Touchtel and
Tata Teleservices. Landlines are facing stiff competition from mobile
telephones. The competition has forced the landline services to become more
efficient. The landline network quality has improved and landline connections
are now usually available on demand, even in high density urban areas. The
breakup of wire line market share in India as of February 2010 is given below.

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 MAJOR PLAYER IN THE TELECOM INDUSTRY

BSNL

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (known as BSNL, India Communications

Corporation Limited) is a state-owned telecommunication company in India.
BSNL is the sixth largest cellular service provider, with over 57.22 million
customers as of December 2009 and the largest land line telephone provider in
India. Its headquarters are at Bharat Sanchar Bhawan, Harish Chandra Mathur
Lane, Janpath, New Delhi. It has the status of Mini Ratna, a status assigned to
reputed public sector companies in India.

BSNL is India's oldest and largest Communication Service Provider (CSP).

Currently has a customer base of 90 million as of June 2008. It has footprints
throughout India except for the metropolitan cities of Mumbai and New Delhi
which are managed by MTNL. As on March 31, 2008 BSNL commanded a
customer base of 31.55 million Wireline, 4.58 million CDMA-WLL and 54.21
million GSM Mobile subscribers. BSNL's earnings for the Financial Year
ending March 31, 2009 stood at INR 397.15b (US$7.03 billion) with net profit
25
of INR 78.06b (US$ 1.90 billion). BSNL has an estimated market value of $
100 Billion. The company is planning an IPO within 6 months to offload 10%
to public in the Rs 300-400 range valuing the company at over $100 billion.

BHARTI

Bharti Airtel formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures LTD (BTVL) is

the largest cellular service provider in India, with more than 124 million
subscribtions as of February 2010. With this, Bharti is now world’s third-
largest, single-country mobile operator and sixth-largest integrated telecom
operator. It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its
TELECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti
Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and broadband Internet
access (DSL) in top 95 cities in India. It also acts as a carrier for national and
international long distance communication services. The company has a
submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable
connecting Chennai and Singapore.

It is known for being the first mobile phone company in the world to outsource
everything except marketing and sales. Its network operations are provided by
Ericsson, business support by IBM and transmission towers by another
company. Ericsson agreed for the first time, to be paid by the minute for
installation and maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid up front.
This enables the company to provide pan-India phone call rates of Rs. 1/minute
(U$0.02/minute).

The businesses at Bharti Airtel have always been structured into three
individual strategic business units (SBU's) - Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia
Services & Enterprise Services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed
wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles while the
26
Airtel Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone services in 95
cities and has recently launched a Direct-to-Home (DTH) service, Airtel Digital
TV.

VODAFONE

Vodafone Essar, formally known as Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator

in India that covers 23 telecom circles in India based in Mumbai. Vodafone
Essar is owned by Vodafone 67% and Essar Group 33%. It is the second largest
mobile phone operator in terms of revenue behind Bharti Airtel, and third
largest in terms of customers.

On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of

67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, pipping
Reliance Communications, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is the
owner of the remaining 33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8
billion. The transaction closed on May 8, 2007. Despite the official name being
Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both
prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India with good
presence in the metros.

Vodafone Essar provides 2.75G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz
digital GSM technology, offering voice and data services in 23 of the country's
23 license areas. It is among the top three GSM mobile operators of India.

RELIANCE

27
 Reliance Communications, formerly known as Reliance Infocomm, along
with Reliance Telecom and Flag Telecom, is part of Reliance Communications
Ventures (RCoVL). Reliance Communications Limited founded by the late
Shri Dhiru bhai Ambani (1932-2002) is the flagship company of the Reliance
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group
currently has a net worth in excess of Rs. 64,000 crore (US$ 13.6 billion), cash
flows of Rs. 13,000 crore (US$ 2.8 billion), net profit of Rs. 8,400 crore (US$
1.8 billion).The Equity Shares of RCOM are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange
Limited and National Stock Exchange Limited. The Global Depository Receipts
and Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds are listed on Luxembourg Stock
Exchange and Singapore Stock Exchange respectively.

TATA TELESERVICES

Tata Teleservices is part of the Tata Group. Tata Teleservices spearheads

the Group’s presence in the telecom sector. Incorporated in 1996, Tata
Teleservices was the first to launch CDMA mobile services in India with the
Andhra Pradesh circle.

The company acquired Hughes Telecom (India) Limited [now renamed Tata
Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] in December 2002. With a total Investment
of Rs 19,924 Crore, Tata Teleservices has created a Pan India presence spread
across 20 circles that includes Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat, J & K,
Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, North East, Tamil Nadu, Orissa,
Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar
Pradesh (W), Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

Having pioneered the CDMA 3G1x technology platform in India, Tata

Teleservices has established 3G ready telecom infrastructure. It partnered with

28
Motorola, Ericsson, Lucent and ECI Telecom for the deployment of its telecom
network.

The company is the market leader in the fixed wireless telephony market with a
total customer base of over 3.8 million.

Tata Teleservices’ bouquet of telephony services includes Mobile services,

Wireless Desktop Phones, Public Booth Telephony and Wireline services. Other
services include value added services like voice portal, roaming, post-paid
Internet services, 3-way conferencing, group calling, Wi-Fi Internet, USB
Modem, data cards, calling card services and enterprise services. Some of the
other products launched by the company include prepaid wireless desktop
phones, public phone booths, new mobile handsets and new voice & data
services such as BREW games, Voice Portal, picture messaging, polyphonic
ring tones, interactive applications like news, cricket, astrology, etc.

Tata Indicom "Non Stop Mobile" allow pre-paid cellular customers to receive
free incoming calls.

Tata Teleservices Limited along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited

have a subscriber base of 36 million customers (as of April 2009) in more than
5,000 towns. Tata Teleservices has also acquired GSM licenses for specific
circles in India.

Tata Telelservices is an unlisted entity. Tata Group and group firms own the
majority of the company; NTT docomo holds 26% while investor C.
Sivasankaran holds 8%.

IDEA

29
 Idea Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in all the 22
telecom circles in India based in Mumbai. It is the 3rd largest GSM Company in
India behind Airtel and Vodafone and ahead of state run player BSNL.

In 2000, Tata Cellular was a company providing mobile services in AP. When
Birla-AT&T brought Maharashtra and Gujarat to the table, the merger of these
two entities was a reality. Thus Birla-Tata-AT&T, popularly known as Batata,
was born. In 2001, the Batata triumvirate agreed to merge its operations with
the Rajeev Chandrasekhar promoted BPL Communications. The merger could
have brought in regions like Mumbai, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu,
which seemed to be a perfect accompaniment to what it already had. This was
critical with the bid for the fourth operator licence round the corner. However,
the engagement with BPL was broken. Then Idea set sights on RPG’s
operations in Madhya Pradesh which was successfully acquired, helping Batata
have a million subscribers, and the licence to be the fourth operator in Delhi
was clinched. In 2004, Idea (the company had by then been rechristened)
bought over the Escorts group’s Escotel gaining Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West)
and Kerala — and licences for three more — UP (East), Rajasthan and
Himachal Pradesh. By the end of that year, four million Indians were on the
company’s network. In 2005, AT&T sold its investment in Idea, and the year
after Tatas also bid good bye to pursue an independent telecom business. And
Idea was left only with one promoter, the AV Birla group when the company’s
stock listed on the bourses in March 2007, its subscriber base was 13 million
with presence in 11 circles. In less than three years, the subscriber numbers
have more than quadrupled. The public issue was oversubscribed 50 times and
raised Rs 2,450 crore. In June 2008, Idea Cellular bought out BK Modi’s stake
in Spice Communications for Rs 2,700 crore adding Punjab and Karnataka
circles. Modi’s joint venture partner, Telekom Malaysia, invested Rs 7,000

30
crore for a 14.99% stake in Idea. Just around then, Idea’s subsidiary, Aditya
Birla Telecom sold a 20% stake to US-based Providence Equity Partners for
over Rs 2,000 crore.

The company has its retail outlets under the "Idea n' U" banner. The company
has also been the first to offer flexible tariff plans for prepaid customers. It also
offers GPRS services in urban areas.

Idea Cellular won the GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer
Care Solution" for 2 consecutive years.

AIRCEL

Aircel is a mobile phone service provider in India. It offers both prepaid

and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India. Aircel is a joint
venture between Maxis Communications of Malaysia and Apollo Hospital
Enterprise Ltd of India. Maxis 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 27.7 million, as of October 31, 2009. It has a
market share of 12.8% among the GSM operators in the country. As on date,
Aircel is present in 18 of the total 23 telecom circles (including Andhra Pradesh,
Assam, Bihar & Jharkhand, Chennai, Delhi & NCR, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu
& Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Mumbai, North East, Orissa, Rest of
Maharashtra & Goa, Rest of Tamil Nadu, Rest of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh
East, Uttar Pradesh West) and with licences secured for the remaining 5 telecom
circles, the company plans to become a pan-India operator by 2010.
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 is also a category A ISP.
It is also having the largest service in Tamil Nadu.
31
MTS INDIA

MTS India, is a brand owned by Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL).

SSTL is a joint venture company between Sistema {LSE-SSA} of Russia and
Shyam Group of India. System is the majority share holder in this joint venture
with a 73.71% equity stake, along with the Shyam Group, holding a 23.79%
stake and the rest 2.5% being public partake. SSTL has the spectrum to provide
mobile telephony services in all the 48 circles across the country. Presently
SSTL offers mobile telephony services in the Bihar-Jharkhand, Delhi, Haryana,
Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata

Maharashtra (Pune), Mumbai, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal circles.
In a recent development, SSTL tied up with Mobile TeleSystems OJSC of
Russia to bring the globally acclaimed telecom brand-MTS-to India. MTS is the
8th largest telecom brand in the world and has recently been voted the 71st
ranked brand out of the 100 top global brands in the world by Millward Brown.

32
 TELECOM POLICY ENIVIRONMENT IN INDIA

Liberalization

The process of liberalization in the country began in the right earnest with
the announcement of the New Economic Policy in July 1991. Telecom
equipment manufacturing was de-licensed in 1991 and value added services
were declared open to the private sector in 1992, following which radio paging,
cellular mobile and other value added services were opened gradually to the
private sector. This has resulted in large number of manufacturing units been set
up in the country. As a result most of the equipment used in telecom area is
being manufactured within the country. A major breakthrough was the clear
enunciation of the government’s intention of liberalizing the telecom sector in
the National Telecom Policy resolution of 13th May 1994.

National Telecom Policy 1994

In 1994, the Government announced the National Telecom Policy which
defined certain important objectives, including availability of telephone on
demand, provision of world class services at reasonable prices, improving
India’s competitiveness in global market and promoting exports, attractive FDI
and stimulating domestic investment, ensuring India’s emergence as major
manufacturing / export base of telecom equipment and universal availability of
basic telecom services to all villages. It also announced a series of specific
targets to be achieved by 1997.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

33
 The entry of private service providers brought with it the inevitable need
for independent regulation. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
was, thus, established with effect from 20th February 1997 by an Act of
Parliament, called the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, to
regulate telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom
services which were earlier vested in the Central Government.

TRAI’s mission is to create and nurture conditions for growth of

telecommunications in the country in manner and at a pace, which will enable
India to play a leading role in emerging global information society. One of the
main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy
environment, which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair
competition. In pursuance of above objective TRAI has issued from time to
time a large number of regulations, orders and directives to deal with issues
coming before it and provided the required direction to the evolution of Indian
telecom market from a Government owned monopoly to a multi operator multi
service open competitive market. The directions, orders and regulations issued
cover a wide range of subjects including tariff, interconnection and quality of
service as well as governance of the Authority.

The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000,
establishing a Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal
(TDSAT) to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI.
TDSAT was set up to adjudicate any dispute between a licensor and a licensee,
between two or more service providers, between a service provider and a group
of consumers, and to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction, decision
or order of TRAI.

New Telecom Policy 1999

34
 The most important milestone and instrument of telecom reforms in India
is the New Telecom Policy 1999 (NTP 99). The New Telecom Policy, 1999
(NTP-99) was approved on 26th March 1999, to become effective from 1st
April 1999. NTP-99 laid down a clear roadmap for future reforms,
contemplating the opening up of all the segments of the telecom sector for
private sector participation. It clearly recognized the need for strengthening the
regulatory regime as well as restructuring the departmental telecom services to
that of a public sector corporation so as to separate the licensing and policy
functions of the Government from that of being an operator. It also recognized
the need for resolving the prevailing problems faced by the operators so as to
restore their confidence and improve the investment climate.

Key features of the NTP 99 include:

 Strengthening of Regulator.
 National long distance services opened to private operators.
 International Long Distance Services opened to private sectors.
 Private telecom operators licensed on a revenue sharing basis, plus a
one-time entry fee. Resolution of problems of existing operators
envisaged.
 Direct interconnectivity and sharing of network with other telecom
operators within the service area was permitted.
 Department of Telecommunication Services (DTS) corporatised in
2000.
 Spectrum Management made transparent and more efficient.

All the commitments made under NTP 99 have been fulfilled; each one of them,
in letter and spirit, some even ahead of schedule, and the reform process is now

35
complete with all the sectors in telecommunications opened for private
competition.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Internet service was opened for private participation in 1998 with a view
to encourage growth of Internet and increase its penetration. The sector has seen
tremendous technological advancement for a period of time and has necessitated
taking steps to facilitate technological ingenuity and provision of various
services. The Government in the public interest in general, and consumer
interest in particular, and for proper conduct of telegraph and telecom services
has decided to issue the new guidelines (Details) for grant of licence of Internet
services on non-exclusive basis. Any Indian company with a maximum foreign
equity of 74% is eligible for grant of licence.

Broadband Policy 2004

Recognizing the potential of ubiquitous Broadband service in growth of

GDP and enhancement in quality of life through societal applications including
tele-education, tele-medicine, e-governance, entertainment as well as
employment generation by way of high-speed access to information and web
based communication; Government has announced Broadband Policy in
October 2004. The main emphasis is on the creation of infrastructure through
various technologies that can contribute to the growth of broadband services.
These technologies include optical fibre, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines
(ADSL), cable TV network; DTH etc. Broadband connectivity has been defined
as “ Always On” with the minimum speed of 256 kbps. It is estimated that the
number of broadband subscribers would be 20 million by 2010. With a view to
encourage Broadband Connectivity, both outdoor and indoor usage of low
power Wi-Fi and Wi-Max systems in 2.4 GHz-2.4835 GHz band has been
36
delicensed. The use of low power indoor systems in 5.15-5.35 GHz and 5.725-
5.875 GHz bands has also been delicensed in January 05. The SACFA/WPC
clearance has been simplified. The setting up of National Internet Exchange of
India (NIXI) would enable bringing down the international bandwidth cost
substantially, thus making the broadband connectivity more affordable.

The prime consideration guiding the Policy includes affordability and reliability
of Broadband services, incentives for creation of additional infrastructure,
employment opportunities, induction of latest technologies, national security
and brings in competitive environment so as to reduce regulatory interventions.

By this new policy, the Government intends to make available transponder

capacity for VSAT services at competitive rates after taking into consideration
the security requirements. The service providers permitted to enter into
franchisee agreement with cable TV network operators. However, the Licensee
shall be responsible for compliance of the terms and conditions of the licence.
Further in the case of DTH services, the service providers permitted to provide
Receive-Only-Internet Service. The role of other facilitators such as electricity
authorities, Departments of ITs of various State Governments, Departments of
Local Self Governments, Panchayats, Departments of Health and Family
Welfare, Departments of Education is very important to carry the advantage of
broadband services to the users particularly in rural areas.
Target has been set for 20 million broadband connections by 2010 and
providing Broadband connectivity to all secondary and higher secondary
schools, public health institutions and panchayats by 2010.

In rural areas, connectivity of 512 KBPS with ADSL 2 plus technology (on
wire) will be provided from about 20,000 existing exchanges in rural areas
having optical fiber connectivity. Community Service Centers, secondary
schools, banks, health centers, Panchayats, police stations etc. can be provided
37
with this connectivity in the vicinity of above-mentioned 20,000 exchanges in
rural areas. DOT will be subsidizing the infrastructure cost of Broadband
network through support from USO Fund to ensure that Broadband services are
available to users at affordable tariffs.

Tariff Changes

The Indian Telecom Sector has witnessed major changes in the tariff
structure. The Telecommunication Tariff Order (TTO) 1999, issued by regulator
(TRAI), had begun the process of tariff balancing with a view to bring them
closer to the costs. This supplemented by Calling Party Pay (CPP), reduction in
ADC and the increased competition, has resulted in a dramatic fall in the tariffs.
ADC has been abolished for all calls w.e.f. 1st October 2008.

 The peak National Long Distance tariff for above 1000 Kms. in 2000 has
come down from US$ 0.67 per minute to US$ 0.02 per minute in 2009.
 The International Long Distance tariff from US$ 1.36 per minute in 2000 to
US$ 0.16 per minute in 2009 for USA, Canada & UK.
 The mobile tariff for local calls has reduced from US$0.36 per minute in
1999 to US$ 0.009 - US$ 0.04 per minute in 2009.
 The Average Revenue Per User of mobile is between US$ 5.06 - US$ 7.82
per month

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

 In Basic, Cellular Mobile, Paging and Value Added Service, and Global
Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite, Composite FDI permitted is
74% (49% under automatic route) subject to grant of license from
Department of Telecommunications subject to security and license
conditions.

38
 FDI up to 74% (49% under automatic route) is also permitted for the
following: -
 Radio Paging Service
 Internet Service Providers (ISP's)
 FDI up to 100% permitted in respect of the following telecom services: -
 Infrastructure Providers providing dark fiber (IP Category Electronic
Mail; and Voice Mail

Subject to the conditions that such companies would divest 26% of their equity
in favor of Indian public in 5 years, if these companies were listed in other parts
of the world.

 In telecom manufacturing sector 100% FDI is permitted under automatic

route.
 The Government has modified method of calculation of Direct and Indirect
Foreign Investment in sector with caps and have also issued guidelines on
downstream investment by Indian Companies.
 Guidelines for transfer of ownership or control of Indian companies in
sectors with caps from resident Indian citizens to non-resident entities have
been issued

Investment Opportunities and Incentives

An attractive trade and investment policy and lucrative incentives for foreign
collaborations have made India one of the world’s most attractive markets for
the telecom equipment suppliers and service providers.

 No industrial license required for setting up manufacturing units for telecom

equipment.

39
 Automatic approval of 100 percent foreign equity, technology fee up to US $
2 million, royalty up to 5 percent for domestic sales and 8 percent for exports
in telecom manufacturing projects.
 Foreign equity of 74% (49 % under automatic route) permitted for telecom
services - basic, cellular mobile, paging, value added services, NLD, ILD,
ISPs - and global mobile personal communications by satellite.
 Full reparability of dividend income and capital invested in the telecom
sector.

Opportunities

India offers an unprecedented opportunity for telecom service operators,

infrastructure vendors, manufacturers and associated services companies. A host
of factors are contributing to enlarged opportunities for growth and investment
in telecom sector:

 An expanding Indian economy with increased focus on the services sector

 Population mix moving favorably towards a younger age profile
 Urbanization with increasing incomes

Investors can look to capture the gains of the Indian telecom boom and diversify
their operations outside developed economies that are marked by saturated
telecom markets and lower GDP growth rates.

Inflow of FDI into India’s telecom sector during April 2000 to March 2009 was
about Rs 275,444 million. Also, more than 8 per cent of the approved FDI in the
country is related to the telecom sector.

3G & Broadband Wireless Services (BWA)

40
 The government has in a pioneering decision, decided to auction 3G &
BWA spectrum. The broad policy guidelines for 3G & BWA have already been
issued on 1st August 2008 and allotment of spectrum has been planned through
simultaneously ascending e-auction process by a specialized agency. New
players would also be able to bid thus leading to technology innovation, more
competition, faster roll out and ultimately greater choice for customers at
competitive tariffs. The 3G will allow telecom companies to offer additional
value added services such as high resolution video and multimedia services in
addition to voice, fax and conventional data services with high data rate
transmission capabilities. BWA will become a predominant platform for
broadband roll out services. It is also an effective tool for undertaking social
initiatives of the Government such as e-education, telemedicine, e-health and e-
Governance. Providing affordable broadband, especially to the suburban and
rural communities is the next focus area of the Department.

BSNL & MTNL have already been allotted 3G & BWA spectrum with a view
to ensuring early roll out of 3G & WiMax services in the country. They will pay
the same price for the spectrum as discovered through the auction. While,
Honbl’e Prime Minister launched the MTNL’s 3G mobile services on the
inaugural function of ‘India Telecom 2008’ held on 11th December 2008,
BSNL launched its countrywide 3G services from Chennai, in the southern
Tamil Nadu state on 22nd February 2009.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) allows subscribers to retain their

existing telephone number when they switch from one access service provider
to another irrespective of mobile technology or from one technology to another
of the same or any other access service provider. The Government has

41
announced the guidelines for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Service
License in the country on 1st August 2008 and has issued a separate License for
MNP service w.e.f. 20.03.2009. The Department of Telecommunication (Dot)
has already issued licenses to two global companies (M/s Syniverse
Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and M/s MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India
Pvt. Ltd.) for implementing the service.

MNP is to be implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra & Gujarat service

areas of Zone – 1 and Kolkata, Tamil Nadu including Chennai, Andhra Pradesh
& Karnataka service areas of Zone - 2 within six months of the award of the
license i.e. by 20.09.2009 and in rest of the service areas within one year of the
award of the license i.e. by 20.03.2010.

 Quadrupling production in 2010.

 Achieving exports of 10 billion during 11th Five year plan.

7. Research & Development

 Pre-eminence of India as a technology solution provider.

 Comprehensive security infrastructure for telecom network.
 Tested infrastructure for enabling interoperability in Next Generation
Network.
 Doubling the telecom equipment R&D by 2010 from present level of
15%.

42
 Chapter-3
Organization profile

1. Company Profile

2. Aircel Presence

3. Telecom Circles

4. Our Branch Offices

5. Aircel Product

6. Value added services

7. Awards & achievements

8. Future Ahead

43
44
 COMPANY PROFILE
Type Private

Founded 1999

Headquarters Chennai, India

Key people Gurdeep Singh, CEO

Industry Telecom

Parent Maxis communications (74%)

Apollo Hospital (26%)

Products Mobile Telecommunication operator

Website http://www.aircel.com

AIRCEL LOGO
45
 MAXIS LOGO

COMPANY PROFILE

46
 The Aircel Group is a joint venture between Maxis Communications
Berhad of Malaysia and Apollo Hospital Enterprise Ltd of India, with
Maxis Communications holding a majority stake of 74%.

Aircel commenced operations in 1999 and became the leading mobile

operator in Tamil Nadu within 18 months. In December 2003, it launched
commercially in Chennai and quickly established itself as a market leader – a
position it has held since.

Aircel began its outward expansion in 2005 and met with unprecedented
success in the Eastern frontier circles. It emerged a market leader in Assam and
in the North Eastern provinces within 18 months of operations. During this
period, the company gained a foothold in 9 circles including Chennai, Tamil
Nadu, Assam, North East, Orissa, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh
and West Bengal.

The Company has currently gained a momentum in the space of telecom

in India post the allocation of additional spectrum by the Department of
Telecom, Govt. of India for 13 new circles across India. These include Delhi
(Metro), Mumbai (Metro), Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka,
Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Goa, Rajasthan, Punjab, UP (West)
and UP (East).

Aircel has won many awards and recognitions. Voice and Data gave
Aircel the highest rating for overall customer satisfaction and network quality in
2006. Aircel emerged as the top mid-size utility company in Business world’s
‘List of Best Mid-Size Companies’ in 2007. Additionally, Tele.net recognized
Aircel as the best regional operator in 2008.

47
 Aircel was the largest mobile phone service provider in Tamil Nadu,
India, however, it has been recently been overtaken by Airtel and Hutch with
better service and in terms of Number of Connections provided. It offers both
prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout Tamil Nadu,
Assam, NE States, Orissa, West Bengal, J&K, and Bihar & HP. It offers only
the Basic phone service, and doesn’t offer any Data services.

Aircel, now part of Maxis Communications Berhad, Malaysia, is India’s

seventh largest GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 6.2
million (over 4 million in Chennai & Tamil Nadu alone) and the fastest growing
mobile operator in the country. As on date, Aircel is present in 9 telecom circles
(Assam, Bihar, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, North East,
Orissa, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal) and with licenses secured for the
remaining 14 of the 23 telecom circles, the company is on track to become a
pan-India operator. Additionally, Aircel has also obtained the nod from
Department of Telecommunications (Dot) to provide International Long
Distance (ILD) and National Long Distance (NLD) telephony services. For
more information, please log on to www.aircel.com

Aircel Business Solutions (ABS), part of Aircel, is headquartered in

Chennai and is an ISO 9000 certified company. ABS is a registered member of
WINMAX forum – both in the Indian and International Chapters. ABS’ product
range includes a host of cutting-edge enterprise solutions such as Multi Protocol
Label Switching Virtual Private Networks (MPLS VPNs), Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) and Managed Video Services on wireless platform including
WiMAX.

48
AIRCEL PRESENCE

49
TELECOM CIRCLES

50
Telecom Circles & Metro districts are responsible for providing service to
the customers. There are 24 Telecom Circles and 3 Metro districts.

1. Andaman & Nicobar Telecom Circle

2. Andhra Pradesh Telecom Circle
3. Assam Telecom Circle
4. Bihar Telecom Circle
5. Chhattisgarh Telecom Circle
6. Gujarat Telecom Circle
7. Haryana Telecom Circle
8. Himachal Pradesh Telecom Circle
9. Jammu & Kashmir Telecom Circle
10. Jharkhand Telecom Circle
11. Karnataka Telecom Circle
12. Kerala Telecom Circle
13. Madhya Pradesh Telecom Circle
14. Maharashtra Telecom Circle
15. North East-I Telecom Circle for Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura
16. North East-II Telecom Circle for Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and
Nagaland.
17. Orissa Telecom Circle
18. Punjab Telecom Circle
19. Rajasthan Telecom Circle
20. Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle
21. Uttar Pradesh (East) Telecom Circle
22. Uttar Pradesh (West) Telecom Circle
23. Uttaranchal Telecom Circle
24. West Bengal Telecom Circle

51
Metro Districts

1. Kolkata Telecom District

2. Chennai Telecom District

3. Delhi telecom district

BRANCH OFFICES

Circle Name Postal Address

52
 Aircel Cellular Limited, Aircel Towers, 301, Poonamalee
Chennai Road, Kilpauk, Chennai 600 010
Aircel Limited, no 5, T B Road (Hosur Road) Codissia
RoTN Towers, Coimbatore 642028
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. Triveni Commercial Complex, 3rd
Assam Floor, G. S. Road, Ulubari, Guwahati-781007
Dishnet Wireless Ltd., Eldorado Building, 3rd Floor, Jail
North East Road, Shillong 793001, Meghalaya
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. Hall No 105-112 B1, North Block
Bahu Plaza Complex, Jammu-180012
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. Near Gurdwara Shaheed Bunga,
Jammu & Kashmir Baghat Barzulla, Srinagar-190005
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. 2nd and 3rd Floor, Keonthal
HP Complex, Main Bazar, Khalini, Shimla – 171002
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. 7th Floor, Block B, Fortune
Orissa Towers, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneshwar-751023
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. 4th Floor, Office No.415, Maharaja
Kameshwar Complex, Fraser Road(Mazharul Haque
Bihar & Jharkhand Path), Patna – 800001
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. A-201 to 205, A-304, A Block, City
West Bengal Centre, Durgapur-713216
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. Globsyn Crystal Building, 3rd
floor, Block EP, Plot No.11 & 12, Sec - 5, Salt Lake
Kolkata Electronics Complex, Salt Lake City, Kolkata-700091
Aircel Ltd., B-1, Plot No.1&2, Local Shopping Centre,
Delhi Vasant Kunj, New Delhi – 110070
Dishnet Wireless Ltd., A-4 & A-29, NCPL Web Tower,
Uttar Pradesh Sector 9, Noida, District Gautambudh Nagar, Uttar
(West) Pradesh – 201 301  
Uttar Pradesh Dishnet Wireless Limited, Ratan Square, 3rd Floor, 20 A,
(East) Vidhan Sabha Marg, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh – 226 001
Aircel Ltd., 5th floor, CACHE Properties, Gumidelli
Commercial Complex, 1-10-39 to 44, Old Airport Road,
Andhra Pradesh Begumpet, Hyderabad – 560016
Karnataka Aircel Ltd., Municipal No.66-5-25, HM Vibha Towers,
53
 Luskar Hosur Road, Adugodi, Bangalore – 560029
Dishnet Wireless Ltd(Aircel), NO.9419/33/2365B,
B1,B2,B3 R R Arcade, NH 47 Bypass, Thammana (PO),
Kerala Cochin-682032
Aircel Ltd., Opus Centre, 47, Central Road, Opp: Hotel
Tunga Paradise, M.I.D.C., Andheri (East), Mumbai –
Mumbai 400093

AIRCEL PRODUCT

SERVICE

POST-PAID 54
PRE-PAID
Any service provider companies provide two types of facility for the usages
1. PRE-PAID
2. POST-PAID
PRE-PAID:-PRE-PAID Define as a pre paid and then use. In this type
customer purchases the recharge coupons’ and other value added services card
from retail shops and then that can use. In the PRE-PAID if we have no
sufficient balance then we cannot make a call.
POST-PAID: POST-PAID Define as a post means first use and then paid. In
this type of facility we can make a call unlimited till the credit limit.

There are many types of facility who divert my opinion to use the Post-paid
Facility.

VALUE ADDED SERVICES

 Pocket Internet:-

55
 Non-stop downloads of your favorite stars' Wallpaper, latest Polyphonic

Ringtones, MP3 tones, True tones, Music Videos, Movie videos, Themes,
Movie Themes and Mobile games only on Aircel pocket internet

 Caller ring back tone:-

56
Aircel introduces Dialer Tunes! Get rid of boring Tring Tring and make your
callers listen to latest tunes. Dial 53000, Registration Rs.30, call Rs.3/min. Song
Download Charges : Free

What is Caller Ring Back Tone?

Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT) is a special feature through which the calling
party can hear a song or music instead of the default "tring tring" tone.

 Aircel 55500 Service

Aircel introduces 55500 Voice Portal! Dial 55500 to download latest

ringtones, listen to latest news, and dedicate songs and your daily
horoscopes. Call charges 10 paisa per sec.

Total services on portal as follows:

 Music Station
 Astrology
 Jokes
 Bollywood
57
  News

 Music on call:-

Now listen to music of your choice from the list of hit numbers without any
interruption with Aircel's new "Music on Call".
No breaks, no unnecessary chatter, just good Music. So stay tuned by just
subscribing to the service.

 Voice Portals:-

58
Aircel 55500 service offers you a host of never before services - from music on
your mobile to tit-bits about celebrities. All you need to do is call 55500 from
your Aircel mobile and follow the simple instructions to enter a world of
information and entertainment. The service recognizes your voice and gives
information based on the command given by you.

 Music Messaging and Ringtones:-Browse through the rich selection of

music across the various categories and languages and listen to your
favorites while on the go, also you can dedicate songs with a personal
message to any Aircel number. You can download ringtones of these
songs.
We have wide collection of music based on occasions like birthdays,
valentines, Rakhi, Diwali, Holi, New Year and song collections on Latest
hits, Classic, Romantic Hits.
 Multimedia Messaging Service:-

59
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a store and forward messaging
service that allows mobile subscriber to exchange multimedia messages with
other mobile subscriber. With this facility now start sending picture
(images), audio & video clips with MMS. What's more you want just get it
registered...

 Subscription Services:-

60
 Live astrology:-

Astrology service on short code 55315 is a voice based LIVE SERVICE,

where AIRCEL customers can call at Rs. 9/min and talk to formally
trained & experienced ASTROLOGERS.
 Job Alerts:-

61
Aircel now Launches "Job Alert Service on Mobile". Tell us what you are
looking for & sit back and relax!
We will get your dream jobs to come looking for you.
Get Jobs from the best sources like naukri.com, monsterindia.com,
clickjobs.com, sulekha.com, timesjobs.com and lot more!

 Devotional Voice:-

62
The Devotional Subscription service allows you to listen to full length of all the
devotional songs from the Portal. All you need to do is just dial 55508 and
subscribe to enjoy the unlimited devotional songs.

 Mobile TV:-

Mobile phone over the period of time has evolved from a basic
communication device into a Multi-utility and entertainment device. This
evolution of the mobile phone has created varied entertainment needs
63
 among consumers. In order to cater to such needs of consumers, we have
launched Aircel Mobile TV service wherein subscribers would be able to
watch popular TV channels on their mobile phones while on move.
 GPRS:-

Now subscribers are empowered with web connectivity on their mobile phone
and can enjoy the magic of internet. Subscribers will be able to browse, check
emails on the move, view and update blogs, download entertainment &
infotainment contents from all world wide websites from their GPRS
compatible mobile phones.

 Aircel Reminder:-

64
With this new reminder service, you can store important occasions/ events. The
events will be reminded to you through SMS.

 COLOUR SMS

 Music Stations:

 Astrology

 Jokes

 Bollywood

 News

 Tips

 AIRCEL HEALTH SERVICES

 PLAY SCRABBLE

65
 Search your favorites Ring tone

 Bengali Ring tones

 Voice Mail Service

 Save Your Contacts

 Healthy Living Tips

 SIM browser services

 Dictionary

 Funny Logos and Pictures

66
 AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Since its foundation in 1999 and the company has gone from strength to
strength and by late 2006, company served some 4 million subscribers in
Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Northern and Eastern India.
 Aircel network cover more than 135 towns and over 1500 Kms of state
and national highways in the Bihar circle and the network is being rolled
out with 2-MSCs, 7-BSCs and 750 –BTS to ensure the seamless
connectivity.
 Aircel also established a world class 24*7 Soft Switch / IP Based Call
Center at Patna.
 Aircel has recently been honored as the No.1 operator across all metro
circles for customer satisfaction by Voice and Data magazine’s survey in
2008.
 Currently, Aircel has a marked presence in the North and North East
circles of the country including Rest of West Bengal, Orissa, Sikkim,
Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar.
67
  Aircel had acquired RPG Cellular in the Chennai circle in December,
2003, and since then the cellular service provider has registered a
whopping 117.8% growth in its subscriber base.

 Overall Mobile satisfaction survey 2007-IDC

 2008 Best Regional operator Award- Tele.net Publication.

 Overall Mobile satisfaction survey 2006- Voice and Data

FUTURE AHEAD

Aircel has a good future ahead, being one of the most dominant operators in
South India. The company has planned for investing a handsome amount of
money for developing the infrastructure in the near future. But the future ahead
is not going to be cakes walk for Aircel because telecom giants like BSNL,
Airtel, Vodafone, etc. are in front of it. The company needs to think and take
appropriate action for betterment. With the pool of talented and hard working
employees, it is not that tough for Aircel to become one of the major players in
telecom in the coming future.

68
Chapter-4
DATA ANALYSIS

DATA ANALYSIS
69
Q1. What is the replacement cycle of all operators?

Day/ Brand (a)Aircel (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

Idea Voda Airtel Reliance Uninor
(a) 2 days 37 35 16 23 42 27

(b) 3 days 67 53 47 62 73 63

(c) 4- 5 days 33 42 54 49 25 42

(d) More than 12 20 33 16 10 18

5 days

80
70
60
50
(A) 2 days
40 b) 3 days
c). 4 -5 days
30 d). More than 5 days
20
10
0
A) AIRCEL B)IDEA C) VODA D) AIRTEL E) RELIANCE F) UNINOR

Analysis:- It was observed that Reliance dominated in terms of replacement

cycle of POP.

Q2. What is the minimum quantity displayed by each company?

Quantity/Brand (a)Aircel (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

Idea Voda Airtel Reliance Uninor
(a) 1 9 25 23 32 7 5
70
 (b) 2 81 80 72 86 92 58

(c) 3 60 37 32 21 29 73

(d) More 0 8 33 11 22 14
than 3

100
90
80
70
60 a) 1
50 b) 2
c) 3
40
d) More than 3
30
20
10
0
A) AIRCEL B)IDEA C) VODA D) AIRTEL E) RELIANCE F) UNINOR

Analysis:- :- It was observed that Uninor dominated in terms of minimum

quantity display for retail visibility but it was also seen that the retail visibility
was being dominated by the presence of Aircel followed by the Airtel And
Vodafone.

Q3. What is the life of pop material?

Day/Brand (a)Aircel (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

Idea Voda Airtel Reliance Uninor
(a) 2 Days 54 45 43 43 25 14

(b) 3 days 78 63 68 70 64 38
71
 (c) 4 days 12 22 25 23 43 62

(d) More 6 10 14 14 18 36
than 4
days

80

70

60

50
a) 2 days
40 b) 3 days
c) 4 days
30 d) more than 4 days

20

10

0
A) AIRCEL B)IDEA C) VODA D) AIRTEL E) RELIANCE F) UNINOR

Analysis:- According to the below table, It can be seen that the life of Uninor
and reliance’s POP are more better than Aircel.

Q4. Who takes care of POP activities?

(a) Merchandiser (b) FOS

No of Outlets 141 9

72
 No of outlets

6%

a) merchandiser
b) FOS

94%

Analysis:- According to the below table, It can be seen that 94% outlet
Merchandiser take care of Pop activities And only 6% Fos take care of Pop
activities.

Q5. What is the life of hard visibility?

Timing/Brand (a)Aircel (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

Idea Voda Airtel Reliance Uninor
(a) Not 45 43 51 29 78 30

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 available

(b) Less than 6 6 25 33 21 23 82

months

(c) 6-12 Months 67 78 59 51 25 38

(d) More than 1 22 8 7 49 14 0

Year

90

80

70

60

50 a) Not available
b) less than 6 months
40 c) 6-12 month
d) More than 1 year
30

20

10

0
A) AIRCEL B)IDEA C) VODA D) AIRTEL E) RELIANCE F) UNINOR

Analysis:- According to the below table, It can be seen that Aircel’s life of hard
visibility is less than Airtel but more than other competitor.

Q6. Which display of retail visibility is most durable?

a) POPs b) Sinages c) Others

No Of Retailers 32 80 38

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 No of Retailers
a) Pops b) Sinages c) Others
25% 21%

53%

Analysis:- According to table 54% retailers believe in singage,25% retailers

believe in Pops and 21 % retailers believe in Others like Wall painting for
display of retail visibility is most durable.

Q7. In your view which brands retail visibility is better (Rank them)?

Figure7:- Showing the Brand retail visibility of the various telecom service
providers according to Retailer opinions.

75
 50

45

40

35
A) AIRCEL
30 B) IDEA
C) VODAFONE
25 D) AIRTEL
E) RELIANCE
20 F) UNINOR
g) DOCOMO
H) Others
15

10

0
Rank1 Rank2 rank3 rank4 rank5 rank6 rank7 rank8

Analysis:- it was observed that Uninor and reliance dominated in terms of

Retail visibility of the market under survey was covered with logos, banners,
hoardings and other outdoor/indoor advertising media provided by the
company.

Q8. According to you, how company can make its presence better on retail
outlet?

(a) On (b)In shop (c) Both (d)Neither(a) or

shop Brandi (a) nor (b)
Brand ng and
ing (b)

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No of 70 20 60
Outlets

Figure 8:-

No. of Outlet

c) both (a) and (b)

40%
a). On shop branding
47%

b) Inshop branding
13%

Analysis:- According to the below table, we can see that 47% Retailers are
liking On shop branding, Only 13 % retailers are liking In shop branding and $0
% retailers are liking On shop and in shop branding.

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 Chapter-5
FINDINGS

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:

 The retail Visibility of Aircel was not up to the level. It lacked

significantly Reliance and Uninor In terms of Visibility at the retail
Outlets.

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 Some of the Merchandisers are not working their level best due to the
absence of proper incentives for them and frequent changes in their
BEAT plans often irritated them.

 The products are easily available in the market for consumers

 Marketing materials (posters, danglers, pamphlets, etc...) being provided

to Merchandiser is not distributed properly.

 There had been a lot of biasness and irregularity in the distribution of

Non-lit and Glow sign Boards to the retailers.

 Retailers are not interesting in retail visibility of Aircel Due to proper gift
or Incentive because some companies are providing Gift or incentive for
the Own retail visibility.

 I observed that most retailers are not satisfied with the marcom.

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 Chapter-6
Recommendation

6.1 Recommendation & suggestions

6.2 SWOT analysis For Aircel

6.3 Bibliography

6.4 Annexure

RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS:

 Company should get involved in forceful advertisement policy like Uninor

and Reliance.
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 The distributor should get involved in the hiring and recruitment of
Merchandiser.

 The Merchandiser visit should be regularly checked by the company.

 Advertising should be done on television and radios also specially on those

channels which are being watched regularly by customers.

 Proper remuneration should be provided to the Merchandiser from behalf of

company to those who are working well.

 The company should always keep in mind the kind of competitors it is facing
and construct its product in the similar fashion to satisfy its customers.

 Marcom department should make more effective & efficient in ground level

 The company should advertise its products and services on a regular basis.

 There should must be better visibility for awareness of tariff plan and new
scheme of company.

 Regular meets should be organized with the distributors as well as the

retailers so that all the complaints or grievances of both the parties can be
resolved and proper feedback can be obtained from them.

 Company should provide gift or Incentive to the retailer for creating Good
retail visibility.

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 SWOT ANALYSIS FOR AIRCEL

AIRCEL is emerging as one of the Fastest expanding mobile service

provider in india.bit if we have look at the circulation figures of different
service providers, it can be observed that there isn’t huge difference in their
sale and advertisement..More or Less, these entire telecom service providers
enjoy a comfortable position and have a good stronghold on the cellular
industry.

So if the company wants to have a major portion of the market and emerge
as a leading telecom service provider of India, It should identify is internal
strength telecom service provider of India, it should identify its internal
strengths and weakness and match them with the opportunities and threats of
the external environment.

Strengths:-

 Strong presence in the cellular industry, rapidly emerging as a market

leader

 Fast expanding distribution network

 use of latest technology in providing the service

 Highly skilled and committed personnel with strong team work.

 Present in all the metropolitan cities and other important cities of the
country.

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Weakness:-

 Lees penetration in small towns and villages where maximum number of

potential customer lives

 Comparatively high priced products/service than its competitors.

 Lack of aggressive advertising.

Opportunities:-

 Unique opportunity to tap into one of the world’s fastest growing

economics and mobiles telecommunications market space.

 Ability to expand into other parts of the country and subsequently acquire
new licenses to operate on the all circles.

 Tap the other telecommunication service market like landline facilities &
broadband d internet.

Threats:-

 Competitive operating landscape with the large and mid-size players

having advantage of

 Market Leadership

 Economies of scale and

83
  stronger network capacity

 regulatory hurdles, such as future allocation of spectrum and license,

which may not favor the foreign partner Maxis communication berhad
of Malaysia

 Network capacity expansion to consume sizeable amount of profit at the

initial stages, with high financing costs.

84
 Bibliography

BOOKS:

1) Research Methodology

Author: Pratap Keshari Khatoi

C.R. Kothari

2) Marketing Management

Author: C.N Sontakki

Philip Kotler

3) Essentials of marketing

Author: B.A.V Sharma

Magazine and Journals

(1) Business and Management chronicles

(2) The Times of India

(3) Economics Times

(4) Business World

WEBSITES:-

(1) www.google.co.in

85
(2) www.aircel.co.cin

Annexure

Sample of the questionnaire as provide by the company for the

purpose of market survey:
Comprehensive study of retail visibility of Aircel vs. competitors

Owner Name. ______________________

Outlet Name & Add.__________________

Contact no. ______________________ ______________________

Q1. What is the replenishment cycle of all operators?

a). Aircel b). Idea c). Voda d). Airtel

e).Reliance f).Uninor

Q2. What is the minimum quantity displayed by each company

a). Aircel b). Idea c ). Voda d ). Airtel

e).Reliance f).Uninor

Q3. What is the life of POP MATERIAL?

a). Aircel b). Idea c ). Voda d ). Airtel

e).Reliance f).Uninor

Q4. Who takes care of pop activities?

a). Merchandiser b). FOS

Q5. What is the life of hard visibility?

a). Aircel b). Idea c ). Voda d ). Airtel

e).Reliance f).Uninor

Q6. Which display of retail visibility is most durable?

a). Pops b). Sinages c). Others

86
Q7. In your view which brands retail visibility is better? (Rank them)

a).Aircel b). Airtel c). Vodafone d). Docomo e). Uninor

f). Reliance g). Idea h). Others

……. ..…... ..….. ..….. ..….. ..….. ..….. ..…..

Q8. According to you, how company can make its presence better on retail
outlet?

a). Through better on shop branding, b). Through better in shop

branding,

c). Both (a) and (b), d). Neither (a) nor (b).

Q6. Do the visibility tools of Aircel needs innovation?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Merchandiser Retail Visibility

S.N. Company Name Poster Leafle A4 Sheeter Dangler Others G.S.B/In Non- lit Flenge Others
t shop
1. Aircel
2. Airtel
3. Reliance
4. Vodafone
5. Docomo
6. Uninor
7. Idea
8. Others

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