Study of Retailers perception of Aircel ltd and their

satisfaction with the Company

AIRCEL | University of Kashmir 1

 Project Report Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of The
Requirement For The Award Of
Masters in Business Administration

Submitted By:-

Tabish Ashraf (305)

Submitted To:-

Sajad Ahmad Mir

Assistant Manager
Aircel, Srinagar

The Business School,

University of Kashmir

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I have taken serious efforts in completing this project. However, it would not
have been possible without the kind support and help of many individuals and
the organization. I would like to extend our sincere thanks to all those people
who supported and helped us to undertake this research study.

I am highly indebted to Aircel Ltd. for their guidance and constant supervision
as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project and also for
their support in completing the project.

I would also like to express our special gratitude and thanks to the industry
retailers for giving us such attention and time.

My special thanks and appreciation also goes to Miss Sumaira Nissar, who has
been my guide and mentor in developing this project.

Thanks and regards.

Yours sincerely,
Tabish Ashraf

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that research report entitled Study

of retailers perception of Aircel limited and
their satisfaction with the company is my
original work done on behalf of The Business
School, University of Kashmir under the guidance
of Miss Sumaira Nissar.

I have not submitted this research report to any

other organization/institution for any type of
materialistic goal/reward or incentive.

(Tabish Ashraf)

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 Contents

Introduction.................................................................................7
Research Objectives......9
Research GAP...9

1. Industry Profile
1.1 Competitors. ..12

2. Company Profile
2.1 Mission Statement16
2.2 Timeline and Early history...18
2.3 Aircel Business Solutions18
2.4 Other Business Initiatives18
2.5 Sponsorships and Brand Ambassador.18
2.6 CSR Policies19
2.7 Products and Services..20
1. Aircel Pocket Internet. ......20
2. Packs and Plans Offered by Aircel in J&K Circle21
3. Value Added Services...23
2.8 Marketing and Strategic Analysis of Aircel....25

3. Research Methodology......29
3.1 Sampling Size .30
3.2 Sampling Frame...30
3.3 Data..30
3.4 Research Approach..30
3.5 Limitations...30

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4. Interpretation.31
5. Findings.51
6. Conclusions...53
7. Suggestions...55
8. Questionnaire.56
Bibliography

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 INTRODUCTION

The word telecommunication was adapted from the French word tl communication. It is a
compound of the Greek prefix tele meaning "far off", and the Latin communicare,
meaning "to share". Telecommunication is the transmission o f information, over significant
distances, to communicate.

Customer satisfaction is a part of customers experience that exposes a suppliers behavior on

customers expectation . It also depends on how efficiently it is managed and how promptly
services are provided.

This satisfaction could be related to various business aspects like marketing, product
manufacturing, engineering, quality of products and services, responses customers problems
and queries, completion of project, post delivery services, complaint management etc.

Customer satisfaction is the overall essence of the impression about the supplier by the
customers. This impression which a customer makes regarding supplier is the sum total of all
the process he goes through, right from communicating supplier bef ore doing any marketing
to post delivery options and services and managing queries or complaints post delivery.
During this process the customer comes across working environment of various departments
and the type of strategies involved in the organization. This helps the customer to make
strong opinion about the supplier which finally results in satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

Customers perception on supplier helps the customer choose among the supplier on basis of
money value and how well the delivered products suit all the requirements. The suppliers
services never diminishes after the delivery as customer seeks high values post marketing
services which could help them use and customize the delivered product more efficiently. If
he is satisfied with the post marketing services then there are good chances for supplier to
retain the customers to enhance repeated purchases and make good business profits.

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It is necessarily required for an organization to interact and communicate with customers on a
regular basis to increase customer satisfaction. In these interactions and communications it is
required to learn and determine all in dividual customer needs and respond accordingly. Even
if the products are identical in competing markets, satisfaction provides high retention rates.
For example, shoppers and retailers are engaged with frequent shopping and credit cards to
gain customer satisfaction, many high end retailers also provide membership cards and
discount benefits on those cards so that the customer remain loyal to them.

Higher the satisfaction level, higher is the sentimental attachment of customers with the
specific brand of product and also with the supplier. This helps in making a strong and
healthy customer-supplier bonding. This bonding forces the customer to be tied up with that
particular supplier and chances of defection very less. Hence customer satisfaction is very
important panorama that every supplier should focus on to establish a renounced position in
the global market and enhance business and profit.

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Research Objectives

To understand retailers perception of Aircel Services.

To study Aircel service providers & their service quality and behavior towards
Retailers.
To study Aircel retailers satisfaction & understand the current scenario in telecom
sector.
To measure the effectiveness of Territory Sales Managers.
What measures the company should take retailers satisfaction.
To measure the companys major lacunae.

Research Gap
No academic research has been conducted to assess the retailer satisfaction and
perception of AIRCEL in Kashmir and as per the data required by the Marketing Department
of AIRCEL, there was a need for data based on survey in Budgam Distt. Of Kashmir division
by which they could assess their performance and also understand problems and complaints
faced by the retailers of that district.

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1. Industry Profile
Telecom industry in India has a big market potentiality and is a fast growing sector.
Government of India is eager to reconstitute this telecom industry by enacting effective
policies for more investments from foreign companies, which results in a very competitive
and deregulated market in the world.

The sector ranks second in the world, with over 509.03 million telephone
subscriptions by Sep 2008 end. The fast track growth of the Indian telecom industry has
made it a key contributor to India's progress. India adopted a phased approach for reforming
the telecom sector right from the beginning. Privatization was gradually introduced, first in
value-added services, followed by cellular and basic services. An independent regulatory
body, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), was established to deal with
competition in a balanced manner.

This gradual and thoughtful reform process in India has favored industry growth.
Today, there are more than 509 million telecom subscribers in India. Every month, 10-14
million new subscribers are added. Upcoming services such as 3G and WiMax will help to
further augment the growth rate. Furthermore, the Indian economy is slated to sustain its 7-9
per cent growth rate in the near future. This is supported by the political stability that the
country is experiencing currently. India's demographic outlook makes it one of the largest
markets in the world.

A conductive business environment is also created by a favorable regulatory regime.

There exists enormous business potential for telecom companies on account of the country's
low tele-density, which is close to 19 per cent presently. Indian Telecom sector, like any
other sector in the country, has gone through many phases of growth and diversification.
Whenever we talk of growth and development of a nation, hardly can there be anyone who
can ignore the vital contribution of Telecommunication sector. Today it has become a lifeline
for us, in the absence of which we feel we are separated from the world at large. The

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importance of telecommunication product and service has gone deep in the life of people that
after three essentials. of human being i.e. food, shelter and clothing the fourth one that can be
added comfortably is the communication.

A gadget and a service which can be found in everyone's palm ranging from rickshaw-puller
to big businessmen. Now talking of India, which is still a developing country, the importance
of telecommunication as a sector can be very well understood. Indian telecom sector has been
doing exceptionally well in the past decade. Its structural and institutional reforms have
provided tremendous growth opportunity to his sector.

India has nearly 250 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. And in this context whenever we talk of mobile telephony, Aircel as
a brand must be taken in to account. Nowadays there is lot of competition between different
telecom operators who in order to add more subscriber base to the existing figures comes out
with attractive customer schemes and virtually there is a tug of war between operators to get
more market share. But in this fierce competitive war to get more subscriber base, many a
times the Retailers who play a vital role in the whole chain of sales and who influence
customers for a service provider are sometimes ignored.

So from this study an attempt has been made to understand the psychology, behavior,
perception and satisfaction at the Retailer level. In this competitive market for a service
provider to get an edge over other operator, in addition to other prevailing factors a operator
must clearly understand the behavior, perception and satisfaction level of Retailers, which
will help them to design effective strategies to get more sales and increase subscriber base.
The study delves into how the Retailer perception and their expectation level from a
particular service provider and how it can be effectively managed.

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1.1 Competitor Profile:

Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian multinational

telecommunications services company headquartered at New Delhi, India. It operates in 20
countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. Airtel has GSM network in all
countries in which it operates, providing 2G, 3G and 4G services depending upon the country
of operation. Airtel is the world's third largest mobile telecommunications company with over
261 million subscribers across 150 countries as of August 2012. It is the largest cellular
service provider in India, with 183.61 million subscribers as of November 2012. Airtel is the
third largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China
Unicom.

Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephony and second largest provider of fixed
telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. It
offers its telecom services under the airtel brand, and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Bharti
Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco Gold Certification. 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.

Airtel is credited with pioneering the business strategy of outsourcing all of its business
operations except marketing, sales and finance and building the 'minutes factory' model of
low cost and high volumes. The strategy has since been copied by several operators. Its

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networkbase stations, microwave links, etc.is maintained by Ericsson and Nokia
Siemens Network whereas business support is provided by IBM, and transmission towers are
maintained by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. in India). 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, which allowed Airtel to provide low call rates of 1/minute
(US$0.02/minute). During the last financial year (200910), Bharti negotiated for its strategic
partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the network infrastructure for the tele-media business. On
31 May 2012, Bharti Airtel awarded the three-year contract to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up
an Internet Protocol access network (mobile backhaul) across the country. This would help
consumers access internet at faster speed and high quality internet browsing on mobile
handsets.

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered

in London and with its registered office in Newbury, Berkshire. It is the world's second-
largest mobile telecommunications company measured by both subscribers and 2011
revenues (in each case behind China Mobile), and had 439 million subscribers as of
December 2011.
Vodafone owns and operates networks in over 30 countries and has partner networks in over
40 additional countries. Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides
telecommunications and IT services to corporate clients in over 65 countries. Vodafone also

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owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile telecommunications company in the
United States measured by subscribers.

Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of approximately 89.1 billion as of
6 July 2012, the third-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has a
secondary listing on NASDAQ.

Idea Cellular

In 2000, Tata Cellular was a company providing mobile services in Andhra Pradesh. 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 and was later
rebranded as IDEA.
Then Idea set sights on RPGs 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 groups
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 companys 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. Rs 2,700 crore adding Punjab and Karnataka
circles. Modis joint venture partner, Telekom Malaysia, invested Rs 7,000 crore for a

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14.99% stake in Idea. Just around then, Ideas subsidiary, Aditya Birla Telecom sold a 20%
stake to US-based Providence Equity Partners for over Rs 2,0000 crore.

Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Ltd. (commonly called RCOM) is an Indian broadband and
telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is India's second
largest telecom operator, only after Bharti Airtel. It is world's 15th largest mobile phone
operator with over 150 million subscribers. Established in 2004, it is a subsidiary of the
Reliance Group. The company has five segments: Wireless segment includes wireless
operations of the company; broadband segment includes broadband operations of the
company; Global segment include national long distance and international long distance
operations of the company and the wholesale operations of its subsidiaries; Investment
segment includes investment activities of the Group companies, and Other segment consists
of the customer care activities and direct-to-home (DTH) activities. It ranks among the top 5
telecommunications companies [citation needed] in the world by number of customers in a
single country. Reliance Communications corporate clientele includes 2,100 Indian and
multinational corporations, and over 800 global, regional and domestic carriers. The company
has established a pan-India, next-generation, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent
(voice, data and video) digital network that is capable of supporting services spanning the
entire communications value chain, covering over 24,000 towns and 600,000 villages.
Reliance Communications owns and operates the next-generation IP-enabled connectivity
infrastructure, comprising over 190,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable systems in India,
USA, Europe, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.
The above mentioned networks are the competitors of Aircel in J&K Airtel being at the top of
the competitors list. Airtel being the first in the network providers in Kashmir division is
giving tough competition to the Aircel company especially in Kashmir. Aircel is having
2092(approx) BTS in Kashmir whereas its main competitor i.e, Airtel is having more than
3000 BTS in Kashmir. Aircel is having more than 18,500 retailers, 166 Distributors in
Kashmir & 18 Lack subscribers.

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 2. COMPANY PROFILE

2.1 MISSION STATEMENT

"We are conditionally committed to exceeding our customer's expectations. We will provide
network and services that are innovative and reliable, allowing our customers any time
anywhere communications. We will attract, develop and retain an exceptional team of
people. We are committed to enhancing the quality of real life in the community in which we
operate. We will meet the financial expectation of our shareholders."

Aircel group is an Indian mobile network operator headquartered in Chennai, that provides
wireless voice, messaging and data services in India. It is a joint venture between Maxis

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Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities & Investments Private Limited,
whose current shareholders are the Reddy family of Apollo Hospitals Group of India, with
Maxis Communications holding a majority stake of 74%. Aircel commenced operations in
1999 and today is the leading mobile operator in Tamil Nadu, Assam, North-East India and
Chennai.

It is Indias fifth largest GSM mobile service provider and seventh largest mobile service
provider (both GSM and CDMA) with a subscriber base of over 63.35 million, as of
December 2012 with 62.24% of them being active. It has a market share of 7.33% among
wireless operators (includes GSM, CDMA, and FWP operators) in the country.

Aircel has also obtained permission from the 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.

It's a marriage of two successful companies, each a leader in its own right and ranked a
"super brand" in its home base. Maxis is Malaysia's premier mobile operator with an
impressive track record of growth and market leadership. It has consistently won several
international and national awards for its vision, corporate governance and market leadership.
In 2006, it was voted Malaysia's Most Admired Company by Wall Street Journal Asia and
the following year, the company was awarded Asian Mobile Operator of the Year at Asian
Mobile News Awards held in Singapore in June 2007. Apollo is the largest health care
provider in Asia. A pioneer in the industry, it now owns and manages a chain of hospitals,
clinics and pharmacies in India, Bangladesh, the Middle East and Africa Like Maxis, Apollo
is a service provider committed to customer service excellence delivered through professional
management and modern technology. The new ownership heralds a new chapter for Aircel
group, which was formed in 1994 by entrepreneur C. Sivasankaran in the wake of the
privatization of telecommunications in India. In its first decade of operations (1995-2005),
Aircel concentrated on building its base in the south to emerge as the regional market leader.

The Southern leader has now set its sight on becoming a pan India operator. It has embarked
on a vigorous pan-India expansion, with current operation in 10 of 23 telecom circles In
addition to its leadership position in Tamil Nadu. Aircel has now achieved regional leadership
in the North-Eastern region within 18 months of launch of services and is on the fast track to
realize its vision as a national player by 2010.

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2.2 Timeline and early history

Aircel started as a regional player in Tamil Nadu in 1999. Soon, it became the leading
operator in Tamil Nadu. At one time, Aircel was the fastest growing operator in India.[8]
Because of this, it attracted foreign investments and Malaysian operator Maxis
Communications bought a 74 percent stake in the company in 2005 from its Indian owner
Chinnakannan Sivasankaran. In 2010, the company bough 3G and wireless broadband
(BWA) spectrum in 13 and 8 circles respectively in the 2010 spectrum auction. It paid US$
1.44 billion ( 79.1 billion) for the 3G spectrum and US$ 0.76 billion ( 49.76 billion) for
BWA. Of this, the company raised $0.88 billion ( 48.3 billion) from Deutsche Bank,
Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and Barclays. It also took a $0.44 billion ( 24.2 billion)
one-year bridge loan from HSBC, Punjab National Bank and Axis Bank. The company, as of
November 2012, has around 1 million 3G customers. It is yet to launch its LTE network,
although it is conducting trials at its center in Hyderabad. Aircel expects to launch it in the
first quarter of 2013.

2.3 Aircel Business Solutions

Aircel Business Solutions (ABS), part of Aircel, sells enterprise solutions such as
Multiprotocol Label Switching Virtual Private Networks (MPLS VPNs), Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) and managed video services on wireless platforms including WiMAX.

2.4 Other business initiatives

Aircel on 27 May 2011 launched the Apple iPhone 4 apart from Bharti Airtel, which is one of
the most popular smartphones in the contemporary world.

2.5 Sponsorships and brand ambassadors

Aircel is one of the sponsors of the Indian Premier League cricket team Chennai Super Kings
and I-League side Shillong Lajong FC. It is also the major sponsors for the Chennai Open

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(the only ATP tennis tournament in India) and the Professional Golf Tour of India. Aircel
also spearheads the Save the Tiger campaign for protecting India's tigers.

The brand ambassadors of Aircel include the Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh
Dhoni and Tamil actor Suriya. Aircel is also engaging with Mary Kom, the female boxer,
Dhanush, another Tamil actor and Sameera Reddy, a Bollywood actress for their Celebrity
Chat series.

2.6 CSR Policy at Aircel

Aircel continually pursues healthy corporate citizenship. Aircels aim is not to merely
discharge social responsibility, but conduct business in a manner which reinstates respect for
people, communities and the environment. It emphasize on an inclusive work culture to
appreciate differences and believe engagement with its employees is quintessential for an
effective CSR plan. It shares adequate information on the organizations vision and CSR
initiatives, because it promises healthy operations and subsequently adds to the overall
quality of life. This motivates the employees and their family members to contribute to
society. Aircel maintains integrity and respect in its interactions with its stakeholders,
customers, retailers, investors, NGO partners and the government. It is careful in not
partnering with any PR / communication that induces distrust in the sincerity of its efforts. Its
stringent belief in delighting customers with good products and services helps build a strong
relationship. Aircel is always proactive in supporting NGOs and NPOs. It extends all possible
assistance to their projects for a minimum of 3 to 5 years and thereafter support new projects.
Besides, it aim at continual involvement with our business partners and the government for
economic and social development of the underprivileged. Aircel engages external audit
agencies to guarantee authenticity, and maintains and monitors an external profile of the CSR
activities which are shared with the stakeholders in the annual reports and websites.

Today, India has only 1411 of the magnificent tigers left in the wild. The main threats to the
tigers survival include deforestation, poaching, habitat loss and population fragmentation. In
recent times the demand of tiger bones from China for the manufacture of medicines and
wines has resulted in mass poaching, thereby causing a great alarm regarding the tigers

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survival. The volumes are significant and there is little enforcement action against poachers
and dealers who trade these items. To address the issue to ensure that our tiger population
thrives, Aircel took upon the initiative Save Our Tigers. Aircel partnered with WWF to
create a Support Initiative Fund to work in the protected areas of the areas of Brahmaputra
Valley. The Support Initiative fund will be used to cater to the justified demands of the forest
officials, government authorities and local communities in and around Tiger landscapes.
These could range from capacity building for government and forest departments,
infrastructure development, providing emergency relief to creating awareness on anti-
poaching amongst communities.

The work in the protected areas of the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam is instrumental in
studying the pressures on the Tiger, identifying priority areas for its dispersal, establishing a
database for tiger conservation and training and motivating forest staff. To raise awareness
about the cause and persuade public opinion towards tiger conservation, Aircel undertook a
pan-India campaign TV, Outdoor and Digital. As the next logical step, Aircel partnered with
NDTV to provide a platform to Tiger Conservationists to raise issues and enable key
stakeholders and concerned citizens an opportunity to voice their opinion and contribute to
the cause. The association included a series of special tiger programs including hard hitting
new stories and documentaries. These were aimed at highlighting the on-ground situation and
challenges facing the tigers across key reserves in India as part of the build up to the
campaign.Taking Save Our Tigers a step further, it has partnered with Kids For Tigers, the
Sanctuary Tiger program. It is an action-based environmental education program in schools
across India urging children to protect the tiger and hence the environment.

2.7 Products and Services

1. Aircel Pocket Internet

With Aircel PocketInternet card, the customer can browse the net at an
affordable cost. To download music, check mails, connect on Facebook and

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 much more, the customers can choose their cards from Rs. 5, Rs.14, Rs.35,Rs.
54,Rs. 78 and Rs. 98 with validity from 1 day to 1 month.

2. Packs and Plans offered by Aircel in J&K Circle

Top Data/2G 3G Local STd

up
Rs. Rs129(30day) Rs 8(2Days) Rs.59(7Days) Rs.97(15Das)
44 Unlimited 60MB; upto 3.6 Mbps 250 local onnet 220local/STD min.
TT Data(2G)+ 6000 minnutes
50 SMS*
Rs. Rs135(30day) Rs17(3 Days) Rs.97(15Days) Rs.122(15Days)
69 Talk time* of 100MB; 3.6 Mbps 220 local/STD min 15000 local/STD min.
TT Rs.150+150MB
69 2G Data
Rs. Rs 11 (1 day) Rs37(10Days) Rs.122(15Days) Rs.179(15Days)
75 Talk time* of Rs 200 MB; 3.6 Mbps 15000 local/STD min 500 local/STD min
TT 11+ 1MB Data
75
Rs. Rs125(15Day) Rs67(15Days) Rs.179(15Days) Rs.352(30Days)
80 Talk time* of Rs 250MB 3G+500MB 500local/STD min 60000 local/STD
TT 135+1MB Data 2G; 3.6 Mbps seconds
80
Rs. Rs 25(3 Days) Rs128(28Days) Rs.352(30Days) Rs.501(28Days)
84 Talk time* of Rs 500MB; 3.6 Mbps 60000local/STD min 100000 Local/STD
TT 135+ 1MB data seconds.
100
Rs. Rs 65 (7Days) Rs198(30Days) Rs.501(28Days) Rs. 5 (1 Day)
119 Talk time* of Rs 1GB; 3.6 Mbps 100,000 local/STD All local STD and SMS
TT 70 in DA account days at 50 paisa/min.
119 & 1MB Data
Rs. Rs 75 (90Days) Rs399(30Days) Rs.148(90Days) Rs.12 (28Days)
220 Talk time of Rs 2GB; 3.6Mbps Local A2A @10p/min, All STD calls @
TT 75+ 1 MB Data A2L@1.65p/sed. All 45p/min.
220 Std @ 2p/sec.

Rs.25 Rs119(90Days) Rs697(30Days) Rs. 5(1Day) Rs. 38(28Days)

0 Talk time of 119+ 5GB; upto 7.2 Mbps All local, STD SMS at All STD calls at Re.
TT 1 MB Data 50p/min 1.20/3min and others

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250 @50p/min.

Rs. Rs997(30Days) Rs. 21 (2Days) Rs.349(28Days)

500 10GB;upto 7.2Mbps Local 121 A2A min. Free local A2A till
TT 250000sec,thereafter
550 @ 10p/min
Rs.10 Rs. 33 (28Days) Rs.3 (2Days)
00 Local offnet Local A2A calls @
TT 1.65p/2sec. 0.20p/min for 1 Day.
1150
Rs. Rs.39(30Days)
10 Night calling on local
TT 9 Aircel@Re. 1 for 30
min.
Rs. Rs.105(30Day)
20 Free A2A calls 11p.m
TT to 6a.m.
18
Rs. Rs.3 (2Days)
25 Local A2A calls @
TT 0.20p/min for 1 Day.
22
Rs. Rs.159(30Day)
30 Unlimited
TT Data(3G+2G)+6000S
27 MS.

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3. Value Added Services

Apollo Mobile Healthcare

Apollo Mobile Healthcare provides access to quality medical advice from the comfort of
customers home/office. Gets customers instant advice on medical/ health and wellness
queries from a panel of doctors specializing in various fields.
Details of charges: Apollo Mobile Healthcare service on 55106 - Rs. 2/min

Dialer Tunes Cards

Dialer Tune Card gives the customer the freedom to change your Dialer Tune unlimited times
till your validity expire at no extra cost for song change.
All Aircel prepaid and postpaid customers can recharge with this coupon by dialing the
special IVR number 5300003 and entering the 16 digit secret PIN number. They can also
recharge by sending SMS DTC 16 digit PIN number to 5300003 (toll free).

Job Alerts
All messages sent on SMS short code 58010 are absolutely FREE!
Charges for the subscription pack are Rs.30 for 30 days

Live Astrology
Aircel customers can call at Rs. 9/min and talk to formally trained & experienced
Astrologers.

Voice Station
Aircel 55500 service offers customers a host of never before services - from music on 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 the voice of the customer and gives information based on the command given by
the customer.

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 Missed Call Alerts
In case customer wants to know who called when the mobile was switched off or out of
coverage area? After subscribing to the monthly service, you will receive alerts on your
mobile for all the missed calls at no extra cost.

2.8 Territory Management & Planning

Planning is the process of determining what you want to accomplish (the end result or
outcome) and how you wish to achieve it, using the most effective and efficient ways. The
success of the outcome is largely determined by the planning.

Planning involves the following steps:

a. Setting objectives

b. Identifying resources and

c. Devising strategies

Types of Planning

a. Planning can be short term or long term.

b. Planning can also be strategic or operational.

The aim of strategic planning (3-5 years) is to establish the long-term results desired by our
company. The strategic plan has to cascade through to the functional parts of the company
where it is converted into operational plans by the various organizations.

Operational planning is more short term, providing day-to-day details of how the strategic
plan of our organization will be achieved.

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2.9 Marketing and Strategic Analysis of AIRCEL

a. ANSOFF MATRIX

b. AIRCEL LAUNCH

Aircel commenced operations in 1999 and became the leading mobile operator in Tamil
Nadu within 18 months. 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.

To gain grounds in telecom market it followed low pricing market penetration strategy. It was
the first company of india to make incoming calls free. It kept the cost of sim cards low and
waived of the monthly rental. These steps ensured that it became market leader in these

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markets in no time and achieve economies of scale. By keeping its airtime charges low it was
able to tap the bottom of pyramid. Today it boasts of having 800minutes of usage per user
and huge net profits year after year.

c. AIRCEL EXPANSION TO NEW MARKETS

The Company has gaining momentum in the telecom space 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). Today it is present in 18 circles out of 23 circles of India and has licenses for the
remaining 5 circle. By the end of 2010 aircel plans to become a pan India telecom player.

d. AIRCEL NEW PRODUCTS DEVELOPMENT

Aircel has positioned itself on the future of telephony - data play. Its services are loaded with
value-added applications, as would be apparent from its campaign. It wants to offer services
that the youth craves for. It has moved beyond voice services and explores the VAS space.It
is working a lot with content aggregators such as Yahoo and Makemytrip. It is looking to
rope in more partners to help us position it better in the VAS space. Aircel wants to offer a
platform for innovation. So are encouraging new and out-of-the-box ideas. New technology
like 3G would further give an impetus to its brand positioning.

e. AIRCEL DIVERSIFICATION

AIRCEL sees a lot of potential remaining in India and is focusing on its Indian operation. It
has no intention to start operation in overseas markets.

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f. AIRCEL LIFECYCLE

1. INTRODUCTION STAGE

Aircel met with unprecedented success in the Southern and Eastern 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.

2. GROWTH STAGE

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-

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size utility company in Businessworlds List of Best Mid-Size Companies in 2007.
Additionally,Tele.net recognised Aircel as the best regional operator in 2008.

3. MATURITY STAGE

Telecom market in urban India is reaching maturity stage. Teledensityin cities is close to 100
percentage. Tough competition is putting a dent on the balance sheet of various telecom
companies. Call rates in cities have already crashed. Pay per second plan intiated by Docomo
was soon adopted by everyone and revenues of telecom companies further reduced.

4. DECLINE / ALTERNATIVE GROWTH STATEGY

Telecom Industry is reaching out for new options to maintain its growth trajectory. Some of
the many option with telecom industry are :-Rural Markets -Telecom companies are reaching
to rural India to maintain their growth rate. Teledensity in Indian villages is close to 50% and
has high growth potential. With call rates dropping cell phone will soon will be a part of
every Indian household.3G and BWA spectrum - Aircel has won 3G spectrum across 13
circles and BWA spectrum in 8 circles in recently spectrum auction .Aircel holds one of the
highest amount of next generation spectrum amongst all telecom operators in India. It wants
to ramp up operations in india in a big way. Broadband will be the new driver for growth of
Indian Telecom Industry.Operations Restructuring Aircel has sold its towers to GTL
infrastructure. It plans to focus on its telecom services while using towers from GTL . Its IT
infrastructure is outsourced to Wipro. They are also helping us transform our IT backhaul to
the new generation technology. Our network is of the latest technology and we have installed
state-of-the-art EDGE technology. We are ready for the 3G as our networks can easily be
upgraded as per the requirements of new generation technology.

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3. Research Methodology

Methodology is an essential aspect of any project or research. It enable the researches look at
the problem in a systematically, meaningful and orderly way. Methodology comprises the
source of data, selection of data, various design and techniques used for analyzing the data.

The primary data was collected through survey method and was undertaken to find the
retailers satisfaction and opinion.

A survey was conducted among the retailers of Budgam District and the areas of Hyderpora
& Peerbagh by the aid of a structured close ended questionnaire.

The population of the study consists of retailers who are providing or selling Aircel product
services.

The sampling unit for the study is 85, which includes almost all the retailers found in the
areas we surveyed.

The number of question was 19. It included question regarding the retailer's opinion towards
company services.

Secondary data was collected from the company website and other websites on the internet.

Secondary data from Journals and from magazines were also useful.

For analyzing the data, Microsoft Excel was used.

The results are based on satisfaction with the company in the entire district and also upon
satisfaction of retailers with the territory sales managers assigned to specific areas of the
district.

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3.1 Sampling size
The sample size taken was 85

3.2 Sampling frame

District Budgam which includes the area of Hyderpora, Peerbagh, Beerwah, Magam,
Ompura, Airport Road and Humhama, Kashmir.

3.3 Data
Data collected through Personal meetings, Internet & Journals.

3.4 Research Approach

Survey method

Survey Questionnaire

Type of Questions Close Ended

3.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The sample size of data was limited and collected up to sample size of 85 retailers.
The analysis is based upon the retailer's answers which are subject to biasness.
There were also a few non-respondents.
The time period was a restriction.
Another limiting factor in this project work is some retailers don't give their full cooperation and
find surveys like these rather irritating.
Some Retailers did not want like to provide the data regarding their annual income.
Some Retailers found the Questionnaires very lengthy and might not have fully comprehended
the entire meaning of every question in their mind.

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4. INTERPRETATION

Q1 Network coverage of Aircel is reliable as compared to other networks.

This Question was asked to understand the perception of Retailers regarding the network
coverage of Aircel in Budgam, most of which lies within Rural Kashmir. The Retailers
Perception here can also be used to direcly determine the perception of the customers as well.
This is because of the relationship between their sales for Aircel and how satisfactory its
network is viewed as compared to other networks in the area. It was found that in some areas
the network coverage was extremely poor with retailers complaining of there being no
network coverage at night because of problems with the aircel towers generator in the area.
Other problems found were that the network coverage starts to lose efficieny fast while
moving from towns to rural areas. Amongst the 85 respondents this Question, around 2.35%
strongly disagreed to Aircels network being better than others, 3.53% moderately disagreed,
10.59% neither agreed nor disagreed to the proposed Question, 34.12% Agreed and 49.41%
were amongst those who strongly agreed. The following is the summary of the results
achieved.

Strongly Disagree
2% Disagree
Neither Disagree
4% or Neither Agree
11%

Strongly Agree
49%

Agree
34%

Q1

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Q1 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 2 2.4 2.4 2.4
Disagree 3 3.5 3.5 5.9
Neither agree nor Disagree 9 10.6 10.6 16.5
Valid
Agree 29 34.1 34.1 50.6
Strongly Agree. 42 49.4 49.4 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q2 Aircel shows sincere interests in solving problems of retailers.

The Purpose of this Question was to understand the relationship of Aircel with its Retailers.
While Many of the retailers were extremely delighted with the servces Aircel provided them
and said the FOS(feet on service) and TSM(territory sales manager) regularly visited them
and gave them regular attention, there were many who complained of of employees from
Aircel not having visited them for months together. One of the chronic cases we found here
was a retailer by the name of Police General store in the area of Sheikhpora, Budgam.
Other complaints that we received were that while most other telecom operators provide
Credit, Aircel seemed to have a problem with this thus affecting its image amongst retailers
negatively.

Q2
Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree
12% 11%

Disagree
22%

Agree
46%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
9%

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 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent

Strongly disagree 9 10.6 10.6 10.6

Disagree 19 22.4 22.4 32.9

Neither agree nor Disagree 8 9.4 9.4 42.4
Valid
Agree 39 45.9 45.9 88.2
Strongly Agree. 10 11.8 11.8 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q3 Aircel provides services to you at the time they promises to do so.

There are occasions when the retailers need to get very fast and efficient service from Aircel
in order to keep their customers satisfied. These are occasions like activating sims of
customers, returning back rejected forms to customers or problems related to putting back
balance into customers accounts in case it was cut off without reason. This question was
asked regarding all those issues and whether Aircels service is fast and timely. Huge
dissatisfaction was seen amongst retailers in regards to these issues. The following are the
results received.

Q3
Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree
7% 15%

Agree
39%
Disagree
33%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
6%

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 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent

Strongly disagree 13 15.3 15.3 15.3

Disagree 28 32.9 32.9 48.2
Neither agree nor Disagree 5 5.9 5.9 54.1
Valid
Agree 33 38.8 38.8 92.9
Strongly Agree. 6 7.1 7.1 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q4 Delivery of services such as latest offers and other services are timely.

Whether or not the latest offers specifically meant for retailers were being introduced
to them in a timely fashion or not. Following were the results achieved

Strongly Agree Strongly

Q4 7% Disagree
14%

Agree
33%

Disagree
37%

Neither
Disagree or
Neither Agree
9%

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 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 12 14.1 14.1 14.1
Disagree 31 36.5 36.5 50.6
Neither agree nor Disagree 8 9.4 9.4 60.0
Valid
Agree 28 32.9 32.9 92.9
Strongly Agree. 6 7.1 7.1 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q5 Service providers are always willing to help you

The purpose of this question was to see whether or not the various middle and lower
level employees of Aircel who deal with retailers whether it be the TSM or the
runners are willing to help retailers when they need their assistance. Matters which
concern retailers are issues such as activation of sims of customers, getting their
forms back if rejected, issues related to providing credit or basic services.

Q5
Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree
3% 11%

Agree Disagree
38% 22%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
26%

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 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 9 10.6 10.6 10.6
Disagree 19 22.4 22.4 32.9
Neither agree nor Disagree 22 25.9 25.9 58.8
Valid
Agree 32 37.6 37.6 96.5
Strongly Agree. 3 3.5 3.5 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q6 Service providers are never too busy to respond to your requests.

Service providers not giving enough attention to retailers can be a major impediment in a
telecom company progressing in any given place. This question was also put forward with the
same intention to check the behavior of employees towards retailers. On many occasions it
was found that the service providers were always in a hurry while delivery recharge to
retailers in the morning and as such they didnt give any heed to the problems being faced by
the retailers or their requests. The following are the results received to this question.

Q6 Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree 6%
5%

Disagree
Agree 27%
41%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
21%

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 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 5 5.9 5.9 5.9
Disagree 23 27.1 27.1 32.9
Neither agree nor Disagree 18 21.2 21.2 54.1
Valid
Agree 35 41.2 41.2 95.3
Strongly Agree. 4 4.7 4.7 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q7 Service providers are willing to take and are getting your feedback.

How fast any organization progresses direcly depends on how knowledgible it is of the
conditions in the market and how satisfied their customers are. Taking feedback is also a
detrimental factor in the development of new ideas. A lot of retailers were seen to be very
dissatisfied with Aircel when this question was asked and this can be a very serious issue for
the organization, if not realized the importance of, in the long run. The following were the
results achieved.

Q7
Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
4%
21%

Agree
36%

Disagree
25%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
14%

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 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 18 21.2 21.2 21.2
Disagree 21 24.7 24.7 45.9
Neither agree nor Disagree 12 14.1 14.1 60.0
Agree 31 36.5 36.5 96.5
Strongly Agree. 3 3.5 3.5 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q8 Distributor network is large enough and easily accessible.

In a telecom based organization the distributor is the link between retailers,runners & the
organization. There were many occasions when the retailers direcly blamed the distributors
for not being provided credit on occasions when they most needed it. There were may who
believed the FOS or Runners are often willing to provide them with credit but do not the
required support from distributors. As such a need for a broader base of distributors was
realized. Following are results achieved.

Q8
Strongly Disagree
5% Disagree
Strongly Agree 12%
28% Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
13%

Agree
42%

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Q8 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 4 4.7 4.7 4.7
Disagree 10 11.8 11.8 16.5
Neither agree nor Disagree 11 12.9 12.9 29.4
Agree 36 42.4 42.4 71.8
Strongly Agree. 24 28.2 28.2 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q9 Service providers have required knowledge and skill to answer your queries.

This question was put forward to get an idea of whether or not employees of Aircel have
enough knowledge to understand the various queries put forward to them by retailers and
solve them. This also emphasizes the amount of training that is needed to be imparted upon
lower level employees dealing with retailers. Following are the results achieved.

Q9
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree 3%
11%

Disagree
Agree 28%
26%

Neither
Disagree or
Neither Agree
32%

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 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 3 3.5 3.5 3.5
Disagree 24 28.2 28.2 31.8
Neither agree nor Disagree 27 31.8 31.8 63.5
Agree 22 25.9 25.9 89.4
Strongly Agree. 9 10.6 10.6 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q10 You feel safe in your transactions with service providers of Aircel.
Retailers transactions with service providers include the usual transactions related to
providing of recharge on time and more importantly accurately. Results were by and large
good. Following are the results achieved.

Q10
Strongly Disagree
7% Disagree
6%

Strongly Agree
40%
Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
35%
Agree
12%

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Q10 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 6 7.1 7.1 7.1
Disagree 5 5.9 5.9 12.9
Neither agree nor Disagree 30 35.3 35.3 48.2
Agree 10 11.8 11.8 60.0
Strongly Agree. 34 40.0 40.0 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q11 Aircel service providers are consistently courteous to you.

This question was put forward not only to understand the behavior of FOS towards retailers
but also that of TSMs and customer care. Following are the results achieved.

Q11
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree Disagree
4%
20% 12%
Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
8%

Agree
56%

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Q11 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 3 3.5 3.5 3.5
Disagree 10 11.8 11.8 15.3
Neither agree nor Disagree 7 8.2 8.2 23.5
Agree 48 56.5 56.5 80.0
Strongly Agree. 17 20.0 20.0 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q12 Service providers are sincere and patient in resolving your problems.
This question was put forward with the aim of understanding the level of sincerity that
retailers feel Aircel shows in resolving their problems. Retailers were mostly seen divided on
this matter. Following are the results achived.

Q12 Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree 7%
6%

Disagree
Agree 22%
38%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
27%

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Q12 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 6 7.1 7.1 7.1
Disagree 19 22.4 22.4 29.4
Neither agree nor Disagree 23 27.1 27.1 56.5
Agree 32 37.6 37.6 94.1
Strongly Agree. 5 5.9 5.9 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q13 Information/Messages in top up cards is written clearly and is useful

Although top up cards are not a preferred for recharge amongst customers this question still
was important in understanding tangible factors of the organization. Following are the results
that were achieved.

Q13
Strongly Disagree
5%

Strongly Agree Disagree

34% 26%

Agree
29%
Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
6%

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Q13 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 4 4.7 4.7 4.7
Disagree 22 25.9 25.9 30.6
Neither agree nor Disagree 5 5.9 5.9 36.5
Agree 25 29.4 29.4 65.9
Strongly Agree. 29 34.1 34.1 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q14 Promotional offers are communicated properly through bill boards and
other media.
Apart from keeping people updated about latest offers through SMS it is also important for
telecom operators to keep the people updated through regular advertisements and billboards
and charts. The advertisement should be so simple as can be easily understood and
comprehended by the customer. It should not mislead the customer or the retailer since most
customers like to hear from the retailer himself before going for any latest offers. This
question was directed to find out Aircels strength in this matter. Following were the results
achieved.

Q14
Strongly Disagree
9%

Strongly Agree
32%
Disagree
31%

Agree
21%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
7%

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Q14 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 8 9.4 9.4 9.4
Disagree 26 30.6 30.6 40.0
Neither agree nor Disagree 6 7.1 7.1 47.1
Agree 18 21.2 21.2 68.2
Strongly Agree. 27 31.8 31.8 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q15 Aircel company provides you support in making your outlets visually
appealing.

This question was asked to know whether or not the charts, billboards, stickers and other such
requirements were being regularly provided to the retailers by the organization or not. They
not only help in making a retailers outlet visually appealing but also promote the company
and remind the customer of its presence. Following were the results obtained.

Q15 Strongly Disagree

12%

Strongly Agree
26%
Disagree
29%

Agree
26%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
7%

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Q15 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 10 11.8 11.8 11.8
Disagree 24 28.2 28.2 40.0
Neither agree nor Disagree 6 7.1 7.1 47.1
Agree 23 27.1 27.1 74.1
Strongly Agree. 22 25.9 25.9 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q16 Retail outlets are available in enough numbers and are easily accessible.

The relevance of this question being asked to retailers is to know the stronghold and presence
of Aircel in the market and whether the level of genuine and fair competition it creates within
the retailers too. Following were the results.

Q16 Strongly Disagree

5% Disagree
Neither Disagree
5%
or Neither Agree
8%
Strongly Agree
36%

Agree
46%

The Business School, University of Kashmir Page 46

Q16 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 4 4.7 4.7 4.7
Disagree 4 4.7 4.7 9.4
Neither agree nor Disagree 7 8.2 8.2 17.6
Agree 39 45.9 45.9 63.5
Strongly Agree. 31 36.5 36.5 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q17 Aircel has your best interest at heart.

The response to this Question is pretty much detrimental in understanding the total perception
in the minds of the retailers regarding Aircel at this time in the Market. There was a lot of
negative response and it only told us that revolutionary steps need to be taken on ground by
Aircel in order not to lose out its position to emerging competition specially Vodafone. The
following was the response.

Q17
Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree
6% 15%

Agree
36% Disagree
24%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
19%

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Q17 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 13 15.3 15.3 15.3
Disagree 20 23.5 23.5 38.8
Neither agree nor Disagree 16 18.8 18.8 57.6
Agree 31 36.5 36.5 94.1
Strongly Agree. 4 4.7 4.7 98.8
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q18 The company understands your specific needs.

The response to this Question also gives an overall idea of whether or not retailers feel that
their specific needs which range from better compensation, more schemes, credit to basic
needs like being able to easily get in touch with related officials regarding their problems are
being met or not. Following were the results.

Q18
Strongly Agree
6% Strongly Disagree
25%

Agree
29%

Disagree
24%

Neither Disagree
or Neither Agree
16%

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Q18 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 21 24.7 24.7 24.7
Disagree 20 23.5 23.5 48.2
Neither agree nor Disagree 14 16.5 16.5 64.7
Agree 25 29.4 29.4 94.1
Strongly Agree. 5 5.9 5.9 100.0
Total 85 100.0 100.0

Q19 They never hesitate in apologizing the inconvenience caused to you.

The question was asked to get an idea of how retailer friendly employees of Aircel are. It was
interpreted that Aircel company doesnt show in apologizing or compensating for their
mistakes. More than 60% disagreed with the statement. The results were.

Q19
Strongly Agree
6%
Strongly Disagree
30%
Agree
18%

Neither Disagree
Disagree or 36%
Neither Agree
10%

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Q19 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Strongly disagree 26 30.6 31.0 31.0
Disagree 30 35.3 35.7 66.7
Neither agree nor Disagree 9 10.6 10.7 77.4
Agree 16 18.8 19.0 96.4
Strongly Agree. 3 3.5 3.6 100.0
Total 85 100 100.0

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5. Findings
Network coverage was found to be extremely poor in some areas with retailers
complaining of there being no network coverage at night because of problems with the
Aircel towers generator in one of such areas. It is pertinent to mention here that these
areas were mostly rural, away from towns and cities.
There is a lot of inconsistency in the quality of service provided to different areas by their
respective territory sales managers and runners. While retailers in some areas were
extremely happy with Aircel employees, there were others from whom we recieved a lot
of complaints.
One of the factors that seems to be going against Aircel in the market is not providing
credit to retailers. This is damaging the image of Aircel in the market when compared to
its rivals.
Fast and efficient service from Aircel is not provided on occasions such activating SIMs
of customers, returning back rejected forms to customers or problems related to putting
back balance into customers accounts in case it was cut off without reason. Many
instances were related to us where SIMs hadnt been activated for as long as a month and
forms werent even being returned if the customers patience gave in and he asked for his
form to be returned.
On many occasions it was found that the service providers were always in a hurry while
delivery recharge to retailers in the morning and as such they didnt give any heed to the
problems being faced by the retailers or their requests.
One of the most important factors in the development of new ideas is taking and study of
feedback . A lot of retailers were seen to be very dissatisfied with Aircel when they were
asked if the company took their feedback regularly and this can be a very serious issue for
the organization, if not realized the importance of, in the long run.
In a telecom based organization the distributor is the link between retailers, runners & the
organization. There were many retailers who instead of dealing directly with runners were
dealing with distributors. This because of the inconsistency of runners.
Here it is important to mention that the area to be covered by runners everyday was seen
to be very large leading to such inconsistencies on their part.

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 Distribution network was also seen to be insufficient and not easily accessible to retailers
in many cases.
The level of knowledge needed in employees dealing with retailers seems to be good in
Aircel. However there is a scope of training for further development.
Behavior of FOS, TSMs and customer care towards retailers and the courtesy they show
towards them received a positive response in most cases.
Retailers were mostly seen divided on the matter of how sincere they felt employees from
Aircel were in resolving their problems.
On the question of whether charts, billboards, stickers and other such requirements were
being regularly provided to them, 50% of the retailers gave a positive responce. They not
only help in making a retailers outlet visually appealing but also promote the company
and remind the customer of its presence.
Retail outlets providing Aircel services are available in enough numbers and are easily
accessible
On being asked the question of whether or not Aircel has your best interest at heart,
there was a lot of negative response from the retailers and it only told us that huge steps
need to be taken on ground by Aircel in order not to lose out its position to emerging
competition specially Vodafone.
Many retailers also feel that compensation provided by Aircel is not enough and needs to
be increased.

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 6. Conclusions

SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths

Second largest customer base in Kashmir.

A strong network in towns and cities of Budgam district.
Flexible call rates.
Variety in 2G and 3G plans being offered.
Presence of retailers in almost all areas of Kashmir.
The level of knowledge needed in employees dealing with retailers seems to be good
in Aircel.
Weakness
Huge dissatisfaction amongst retailers and customers due to VAS being activated
without any act on the part of the customer and balance being often cutoff without
reason.
Weak network in rural Budgam. Network coverage was found to be extremely poor in
some areas with retailers complaining of there being no network coverage at night
because of problems with the Aircel towers generator in one of such areas.
Inconsistency in the quality of service provided to different areas by their respective
territory sales managers and runners.
Fast and efficient service from Aircel is not provided on occasions such activating
SIMs of customers, returning back rejected forms to customers or problems related to
putting back balance into customers accounts in case it was cut off without reason.
Very little feedback is taken from retailers.
Distribution network was also seen to be insufficient and not easily accessible to
retailers in many cases.

The Business School, University of Kashmir Page 53

 Many retailers feel that compensation provided by Aircel is not enough and needs to
be increased.
3G is only available in some select districts.
No efficient grievance redressal system is in place to deal with the problems faced
very often by retailers.

Opportunities

Aircel can introduce a one click accessibility system to get more support from its
retailers and to gain their confidence. Apart from this it can be an easy way to get
their valuable feedback.
Introduction of a one click accessibility system designed for retailers can also be an
easy way to monitor the performance of Runners and Distributors.
An effective grievance redress mechanism system if introduced for retailers, apart
from being the first of its kind in Kashmir, can work wonders in surging the
popularity of the company amongst retailers.
3G can be introduced in districts which are still to be explored by the competitors as
well.
Scheme based compensation can be introduced amongst retailers to make Aircel more
attractive to them.

Threats

Growing competition from Airtel and relatively new entrants like Vodafone.

Dissatisfaction within Retailers and Customers is leading many to drop the company
and this may be used by the competitors to their advantage.

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 7. SUGGESTIONS

Improve network coverage towards Rural areas.

Reduce the area to be covered by runners to half of what it currently is as the current
setup is leading to inconsistencies on their part in serving the retailers.
Introduce a policy of providing limited credit to retailers.
Keep a time limit on accepting or rejecting SIM application forms of customers and
returning rejected ones.
A policy of taking regular feedback from retailers should be introduced.
Distributors network needs enhancement and improvement.
Scheme based compensation as with Idea can be introduced to regain the
confidence of retailers in the company.
Margin should be increased from 2.8 to 4%.
Regular survey should be conducted by TSM and ZSM.
Tapping and billboards should be provided regularly so that the customers are
continually reminded of the companys presence.
Charts containing latest offers should be regularly provided. The charts should be
designed in such a way as is simple and easy to comprehend.
Retailers should have one click accessibility to service providers.
The company should try and activate 3G in more districts.
A performance appraisal of the FOS working with the company must be conducted
every 6 months.
While the knowledge of employees dealing with retailers seems to be good, but there
is still some scope for training.
A grievance redress mechanism for retailers is a huge necessity that must be given top
priority and must to be introduced.

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 Questionnaire
Name ---------------------------------------------- Address -----------------------------------------------
Retailer of which company-------------------- Phone Number----------------------------------------
We the students of The Business School, University Of Kashmir are doing our project on the topic
Study of Retailers perception of Aircel Ltd. and their satisfaction with the company. We will be
obliged for your candid participation. We assure you that the information collected will be used for
academic purpose only.
You are supposed to tick the box which best reflects your level of agreement with each statement
below on a scale where

1= Strongly disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neither agree nor Disagree, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly Agree.

1 Network coverage of Aircel is reliable as compare to other

networks.

2 Aircel shows sincere interests in solving problems of retailers.

3 Aircel provides services to you at the time they promises to do so.

4 Delivery of services such as latest offers and other services are

timely.

5 Service providers are always willing to help you

6 Service providers are never too busy to respond to your requests.

7 Service providers are willing to take and are getting your feedback.

8 Distributor network is large enough and easily accessible.

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 9 Service providers have required knowledge and skill to answer your
queries.

10 You feel safe in your transactions with service providers of Aircel.

11 Aircel service providers are consistently courteous to you.

12 Service providers are sincere and patient in resolving your

problems.

13 Information/Messages in top up cards is written clearly and is useful

14 Promotional offers are communicated properly through bill boards

and other media.

15 Aircel company provides you support in making your outlets visually

appealing.

16 Retail outlets are available in enough numbers and are easily

accessible.

17 Aircel has your best interest at your heart.

18 The company understands your specific needs.

19 They never hesitate in apologizing the inconvenience caused to you.

Who else do you deal with.

Suggestions

The Business School, University of Kashmir Page 57

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Heskett, S. (1990). Service Breakthroughs: Changing the Rules of theGame. New York.
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www.aircel.com
www.wikipedia.com
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www.managementresearch.com
www.slideshare.com
www.doaj.com
www.academia.com
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www.idea.com

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