Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research A PROJECT REPORT ON Consumer Behaviour towards Idea post-paid card and

data connection Submitted By RANJIT PAWAR From Pillais institute of Management Studies and Research Under the guidance of Prof. Neelima Sinha (Project Guide) (Pillais institute of Management Studies and Research) And Mr. Hiten Shah (Owner of Idea Cellular Franchise) 1

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research ACKNOWLEDGEMENT With immense pleasure, I would like to present this project report on Consumer Be haviour towards Idea post-paid card and data connection. It has been an enriching experience for me to undergo my summer training at Idea cellular , which would not have possible without the goodwill and support of the people around. As a st udent ofPillais Institute of Management studies and research I would like to expr ess my sincere thanks to all those who helped me during my practical training pr ogramme. Words are insufficient to express my gratitude toward Mr. Hiten Shah [O wner of Idea franchise] As they know research work needs hard work, keen insght and long patience with i scholarly vision based on content operation hence it be comes a humble duty to express my sincere gratitude to my project guide Prof.Nee lima Sinha. At last but not least my grateful thanks is also extended to Dr. R. Chandran (Director PIMSR) and my thanks to all my faculty members for the proper guidance and assistance extended by them. . 2

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Declaration I, Ranjit Bhagwat Pawar, student of Pillais Institute of Management Studies & Res earch, New Panvel studying in MMS-2nd year hereby declare that I have successful ly completed this Project Report entitled Consumer Behaviour towards Idea post-pa id card and data connection in the academic year 2009-10. The information provided in this project is true and original to the best of my knowledge. DATE: PLACE: Mumbai SIGNATURE OF THE STUDENT (Ranjit Bhagwat Pawar) 3

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL This is to certify that the summer internship project entitled Consumer Behaviour towards Idea post-paid card and data connection. Submitted by Mr. Pawar Ranjit B hagwat, student of Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research as a part of curriculum of Masters of Management Studies is approved. Prof. Neelima Sinha (Project Guide) Dr. Vijay Raghavan ( Director-PIMSR) 4

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research INDEX Sr no. Particulars Page No. Chapter 1 Executive summary Introduction Objective of the Study Need of the Project Scope of the Project Research Methodology Limitations of the Project 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 18 28 29 34 37 Chapter 2 Industry Overview Company Profile Organization Chart Benefits given by Company Chapter 3 Theoretical Background Data Analysis & Interpretations Chapter 4 Finding Suggestions / Recommendations 42 43 Bibliography 45 5

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Executive summary In todays world, telecom industry is growing very quickly. Now a days many operato rs are working in telecom field. The intense competition makes the companies to take the necessary steps, to retain their old retailers and customers as well as attract new ones. In this project, we have done cold calling on nearly 2500 ide a prepaidnumbers. Our main intention is to find out consumer behaviour towards i dea post paid and data card connection. Throughout the project we found that maj ority of the prepaid customers are happy with their service. Some statistics of the project are as followsy 72% customers are satisfied with prepaid service, wh ile 21% customers are not satisfied with prepaid service. y 73.84% customers dont want to convert from prepaid to post paid, while 16.96% customers want to conve rt from prepaid to post paid. y y Major factor responsible for switching into po st paid plan is of high usage. Major factor responsible for not switching into p ost paid plan is low usage (44.84%)and low fares in prepaid plan(33.88%) This su rvey will help the company to know there market share. It will also help the com pany to know and design the various plans according to need of customer and it r equired for the company to become a market leader. We have got many practical ex periences during this training period. This project gives us the brief idea abou t the different products and servic of the company. It also gives the brief es i dea about perception of the consumers about both pre -paid and post-paid plan. T he result of which can be used to formulate the necessary str ategies required f or the development of the companys plans so as to benefit both customers as well as the company. 6

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research INTRODUCTION This project is mainly deals with the finding of consumer behaviour towards Idea post paid and data card connection. Hence first we have to find out what is con sumer behaviour is all about? Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy product. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such asdemographic s and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to asses influences on s the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for custo mer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the rediscovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the custome r or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management, personalisation, customisation and one -to-one marketin g. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions. Idea offers post paid plan to their customers according to their use as discuss ed further. The main intention of offering post paid plan is develop long term r elationship with customers and to get fixed income which is not possible in prep aid. Idea also offers Data card for internet user. You can use it in your laptop or desktop by simple plug and play operation. It helps you to access any websit es and provides you easy downloading and uploading of data. 7

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The objectives of this project are as follows y y y y y To get the Exposure to t he corporate world To interact with customers and to understand their need. To f ind the potential customers for Post-paid scheme. To gain the knowledge of the t elecom industry To find the perception of customers regarding post-paid card. 8

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research NEED OF THE PROJECT y To provide knowledge to customer about various benefit of post-paid planMany c ustomers dont having the knowledge about various post paid plan. Also they have m any misconceptions about post-paid card. This project helps them to acquire more information about post-paid plan. Also it helps to choose best plan for custome r. y To increase the no. of postpaid customer by converting prepaid customer into pos t-paid customer: As in case of post-paid more revenue is generated for the compa ny as compared to the pre -paid, the promotion of post-paid is very important. T he promotion of the post-paid is also important to eradicate the misconception o f potential customers about the companys post-paid plan. y To get the feedback from customers: Also this study will enable us to know the e xpectation of the customers from a good post-paid plan and then accordingly form ulate the plan so as to benefit both company as theyll as customers. y To get the information about acceptance or non acceptance of postpaid planby cus tomer-This project help the company to find out the reason for acceptance or non acceptance of postpaid plan by customer. Also it help to customize the plan acc ording to need of customer. 9

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Scope of the Project y This study will enable us to understand the consumer behavior towards post-paid card. This helps us in future to work in telecom industry. y The project will also help company for the future improvements on the basis of p resent scale: Data collected from the customers can be used to make necessary am endments in the existing post-paid plans. y This project will also helps to those customers who are willing to use Idea post paid card in the future. 10

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research design is the conceptual structure within which research is conduct ed; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data. The data was collected from database of the company. Telephonic interview was used to collect primary data, on the other hand; second ary data was collected from the database of the company. Graphical tools includi ng bar diagrams, piechart used in the process of analysis and interpretations of the collected data. POPULATION 2500 customers from the universe theyre selected randomly for the surv ey. SAMPLING Simple random sampling was the method adopted for the selection of sample from t he above mentioned universe. SOURCE OF DATA COLLECTION Both primary and secondary data theyre used for the dat a collection PRIMARY DATA AND SECONDARY DATA Both primary and secondary data theyre used for t he data collection. The primary data was collected through telephonic interview with the existing customers. Secondary database was collected from the database of the company. TOOLS USED FOR THE STUDY Various statistical tools have used for the study. Statistical tables, Charts and Diagrams are used for the presentatio n of the data. 11

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT y y y y y The study had been conducted only in a selected region. The project time is limi ted only for only 2 months. Lack of experience in telecom industry. Customers res ponse was not good for post-paid card. The study was confined to the randomly se lected customers, so the result may not be same with remaining customers. 12

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Industry Overview Telecom sector: At 110.01 million connections ' Indian Telecom Industry' is the fifth largest and fastest growing in the world. The subscriber base has grown by 40% in 2005 and is expected to reach 250 million in 2007. Over the last 3 years , two out of every three new telephone connections were wireless. Consequently, wireless now accounts for 54.6% of the total telephone subscriber base, as compa red to only 40% in 2003. Wireless subscriber growth is expected to grow at2.5 mi llion new subscribers every month in 2007. The wireless subscriber base skyrocke ted from 33.69 million in 2004 to 62.57 million in FY 2004 -2005. The wireless t echnologies currently in use ' Indian Telecom Industry ' are Global System for M obile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). There are p rimarily 9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile services in 19 telecommunic ation circles and 4 metro cities, covering more than 2000 towns across the count ry. And the numbers are stll growing for ' Indian Telecom i Industry '. ' Teleco m Industry in India ' is regulated by 'Telecom Regulatory Authority of India' (T RAI). It has earned good reputation for transparency and competence. Three types of players exists in ' Telecom Industry India ' community State owned companies - BSNL, MTNL. Private Indian owned companies Reliance, Tata. Foreign invested co mpanies Vodafone, Aircel, Airtel. Wireless technologies in use are Global system for Mobile Communication(GSM) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Airtel is the market leader with 110 million subscriber base followed by Vodafon e on the 2nd place and Idea on the 3rd place with over 67 million subscribers. 13

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Market Share Bharti Airtel Vodafone IDEA BSNL AIRCEL 1% % 1% 1% RELIANCE MTNL LOOP UNINOR STEL 4% 8% 31% 15% 15% 24% Indian telecom sector has undergone a major process of transformationthrough sig nificant policy reforms. The reforms began in 1980s with telecom equipment manuf acturing being opened for private sector and theyre later follo wed by National T elecom Policy (NTP) in 1994 and NTP'1999. Historically, the telecom network in I ndia was owned and managed by the Government considering it to be a natural mono poly and strategic service, best under state's control. However, in 1990's, exam ples of telecom revolution in many other countries, which resulted in better qua lity of service and low tariffs, led Indian policy makers to initiate a change p rocess finally resulting in opening up of telecom services sector for th private sector. e Policy reforms can be broadly classified in three distinct phases 14

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research y "The Decade of 1980's saw private sector being allotted in telecommunications eq uipment manufacturing. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Videsh Sanch ar Nigam Limited (VSNL) theyre formed and a Telecom Commission was set up to give focus to telecommunications policy formation. y "In 1990s, telecommunications sector also benefited from the general opening up of the economy. NTP 1994 was the first attempt to give a comprehensive roadmap f or the Indian telecommunications sector. Availability of telephones on demand (t argeted by 1997) Universal service covering all villages and one PCO per 500 per sons in urban areas at the earliest (targeted to be achieved by 1997) Telecom se rvices at affordable and reasonable prices World standard quality of services y "NTP 1999 brought in the third generations of reforms in the Indian telecommunic ations sector. The Indian Telecom Sector: 1. Telecommunication Services 1. Basic service- Fixed Service Provider (FSPs) Fixed line services consist of basic services, national or domestic long distance and international long distance services. The domesti c market (i.e. excluding international revenues), has been growing more than 5 p er cent annually durng the past three years, and i has a current market size of Rs 30,164 cores, with a base of 43 million lines. The state operators (BSNL and MTNL), account for almost 90 per cent of revenues from basic services. Private s ector services are presently available in 18 circles, and collectively 15

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research account for less than 5 per cent of subscriptions. Ho wever, private services focus on the business/corporat e sector, and offer reliable, high- end services, such as leased lines, ISDN, cl osed user group and videoconferen cing. As a result, average-revenues-per-user ( ARPU) of private operators are more than twice those of the state-owned service providers. 2. Cellular service - Cellular Services There are 25 private companies providing Cellular Services in 19 Telecom Circles and 4 Metro cities, covering 1500 towns across the country. Presently, there are five private service operators in each area, and an incumbent state operator. Almost 80% of the cellular subscriber ba se belongs to the pre-paid segment. Several GSM cellular service companies are c limbing the EDGE bandwagon. Hutch has already started and Bharti has made test c alls on the EDGE platform and the company is in talks with Siemens for EDGE-enab ling some of its circles. The DoT has allotted cellular companies to buy rivals within the same operating circle provided their combined market share did not ex ceed 67 per cent. Previously, they theyre only allotted to buy companies outside their circle. Growth Drivers Opening up of international and domestic long distance telephony services are growth drivers in the industry. Cellular operators now get substant ial revenue from these services, and compensate them for reduction in tariffs on airtime, which along with rental was the main source of revenue. The reduction in tariffs for airtime, national long distance, international long distance, and handset prices has driven demand. 16

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research 2. Internet Service Provider (ISP) - Internet Service Provider Internet has beco me very easily accessible with cyber cafes /kiosks increasing their density, not only in the metro towns but also in semi urban towns. There is no restriction o n the number of internet companies and more than 185 companies are operational. Internet telephony has been allotted officially from 1 April 2002. The growing d emand of corporate for applications such as Electronic Commerce, internet leased lines, ISDN, VPN etc is driving the growth of the internet services market. How ever, the industry continues to face a number of bottlenecks in terms of regulat ory treatment of ISPs, high bandwidth prices, low PC penetration, high cost of t elephone access etc. 3. Telecommunication Equipment - Telecommunication Equipment The domestic indust ry is worth Rs 303,000 million and has made little progress in comparison to the development of Telecom services in the country. The industry is faced with two major challenges: India is being steadily open up to the global market, as trade ed restrictions are done away with, resulting in crashing of import duties acro ss the board and easy movement of goods from overseas. It is forecasted that by 2005, imported telecom equipment will account for 75% of the expenditure on tele com equipment in India. Secondly, to cut down on operations costs, US, European and East Asian multinationals are outsourcing manufacturing to cheaper destinati ons in Taiwan and China. (Refer to Appendix 5 for more details on this segment) 17

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research COMPANY PROFILE y TypePublic BSE: 532822 NSE: 532822 y y y y IndustryFoundedHeadquarters Key peopleTelecommunications 1995 Santacruz East, Mumbai, India [1] Kumar Mangalam Birla(C hairman) Sanjeev Aga(MD) Rajat Mukharjee(VP Corporate Affairs) y y y y ProductsRevenueOperating incomeNet incomeParent Mobile Rs 12,447.08 crore (US$ 2.65 billion) (2010) [1] Rs. 1,475.87 crore (US$ 314.36 million) (2010) Rs. 953.94 crore (US$ 203.19 million) (2010) Aditya Birla Group (49.05%) Axiata Group Berhad (15%) Providence Equity (10.6%) y Websitewww.ideacellular.com 18

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research History The chronology of key events of the Company from incorporation is set outbelow: Calendar year Events 2009 Subscriber base as on December 31, 2009: 57,611,872 Id ea becomes a pan-India operator Emerging Company of the Year - fastest growing m obile operator in the worlds fastest growing telecom market 2008 Subscriber base as on December 31, 2008: 40,016,153 Idea acquired 9 licences for Punjab, Karnata ka, Tamil Nadu & Chennai, Theist Bengal, Orissa, Kolkata, Assam, North East and Jammu & Kashmir Acquired Spice Communications with the operating circles of Punj ab and Karnataka Launched services in Mumbai metro in the largest single metro c ity launch, ever Launched services in Bihar 2007 Subscriber base as on December 31, 2007: 21,054,027 Won an award for the "CARE" service in the "Best Billing or Customer Care Solution" at the GSM Association Awards in Barcelona, Spain Initi al Public Offering aggregating to Rs. 28,187 million and Listing of Equity Share s on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange Merger of seven s ubsidiaries with Idea Cellular Limited 2006 Subscriber base as on December 31, 2 006: 12,442,450 Became part of the Aditya Birla Group subsequent to the TATA Gro up transferring its entire shareholding in the Company to the Aditya Birla Group Acquired Escorts Telecommunications Limited (subsequently renamed as Idea Telec ommunications Limited) Restructuring of debt Launch of the New Circles Reached t he 10 million subscriber mark Received Letter of Intent from the DoT for a new U AS License for the Mumbai Circle. 19

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Received Letter of Intent from the DoT for a new UAS License for the Bihar Circl e through Aditya Birla Telecom Limited. ABNL, the parent of Aditya Birla Telecom Limited, pursuant to a letter dated November 22, 2006, agreed to transfer its e ntire shareholding in Aditya Birla Telecom Limited to the Company for the consid eration of Rs. 100 million. 2005 Subscriber base as on December 31, 2005: 6,473 ,962 Reached the five million subscriber mark Turned Profit Positive Won an Awar d for the "Bill Flash" service at GSM Association Awards in Barcelona, Spain Spo nsored the International Indian Film Academy Awards 2004 Completed debt restruct uring for the then existing debt facilities and additional funding for the Delhi Circle. Acquired Escotel Mobile Communications Limited (subsequently renamed as Idea Mobile Communications Limited) Reached the four million subscriber mark Fi rst operator in India to commercially launch EDGE services 2005 2003 Reached the two million subscriber mark 2002 Changed name to Idea Cellular Limited and laun ched "Idea" brand name Commenced commercial operations in Delhi Circle Reached t he one million subscriber mark 2001 Acquired RPG Cellular Limited and consequent ly the license for the Madhya Pradesh (including Chattisgarh) Circle Changed nam e to Birla Tata AT&T Limited Obtained license for providing GSM-based services i n the Delhi Circle following the fourth operator GSM license bidding process 2000 Merged with Tata Cellular Limited, thereby acquiring original license for t he Andhra Pradesh Circle 20

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research 1999 Migrated to revenues share license fee regime under New Telecommunications Policy ("NTP") 1997 Commenced operations in the Gujarat and Maharashtra Circles 1996 Changed name to Birla AT&T Communications Limited following joint venture b etween Grasim Industries and AT&T Corporation 1995 Incorporated as Birla Communi cations Limited Obtained licenses for providing GSM-based services in the Gujara t and Maharashtra Circles following the original GSM license bidding process. 21

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Values: Integrity Honesty in every action At Aditya Birla Group, Integrity is de fined as: Acting and taking decisions in a manner that is fair, honest, followin g the highest standards of professionalism and alsoperceived to be so. Commitment deliver on the promise At Aditya Birla Group Commitment is defined as : On the foundation of integrity, doing whatever it takes to deliver value to al l stakeholders. In the process, taking ownership of our actions and decisions, t hose of our team and that part of the organization that they are responsible for . Passion energized action At Aditya Birla Group Passion is defined as: A missio nary zeal arising out of emotional engagement with the organization that makes w ork joyful and inspires each one to give his or her best. Relentless pursuit of goals and objectives with the highest level of energy and enthusiasm, that is vo luntary and spontaneous. Seamlessness boundryless in letter and spirit At Aditya Birla Group, Seamlessness is defined as: Thinking and working together across functional silos, hierarchies, business and geographies. Leveraging the available diversity to garner synergy benefits and promote openness through sharing and collaborative efforts. Speed one step ahead always At Aditya Birla Group, Speed is defined as: Respondi ng to internal and external customers with a sense of urgency. Continuously seek ing to crash timelines and choosing the right rhythm to optimize organization ef ficiencies. 22

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Brand Initiatives Aim of Idea cellular is to create year round impact through media buying and pla nning,. With the objective of Strengthening our brand, they work with strategic communication partners on campaigns like sponsorship of the Idea International I ndian Film Academy awards and the television programs Idea Rocks India, Idea Star Singer and Idea Andhra Idol. They seek engagement with subscribers on a variety of levels, from major celebrity fashion shows to small local events timed to coinci de with new product offerings. Since August 2003, they have commissioned a Brand Track Index Study to evaluate the health of our brand. The Brand Track Index St udy is a monthly study conducted by TNS, a marketing consultant engaged by us to evaluate our brand using faceto-face interviews on a random sample of mobile us ers a theyll as those Intending to purchase mobiles within the next three months. According to the study our brand is perceived as reliable/trustworthy and one tha t offers cheaper and good promotional offers. They have improved our rating in the Brand Track Index calculated by the study in the past year reflecting, they bel ieve, the growing strength of our brand. The main communication medium for the I dea brand is television, where they seek strategic Idea brand coverage in variou s formats. Billboards and hoardings are used as a secondary medium, customized f or specific regional preferences to communicate effectively at the local level. They also use other mass communication media such as the press and radio to comm unicate price plans and other tactical and customer information. All our key ini tiatives are subjected to a rigorous testing and launch process to ensure accoun tability for all advertising spend and improve the chances of success of a new p roduct . This process is followed up with extensive briefing of call centre agen ts and sales personnel and real-time tracking of the impact of the communication and feedback from subscribers. 23

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research SHAREHOLDING PATTERN: As seen from the above pie chart the promoters hold nearly 49% of the total shar es So the . majority stake is held by the promoters of the company. The overseas corporate bodies amount to nearly 30.17%, which make them the second largest sh areholder in the company. The FIIs, Banks and FI also hold the significant in the company. PROMOTERS: IDEA Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, India's first truly multination al corporation. Global in vision, rooted in Indian values, the Group is driven b a performance ethic pegged y on value creation for its multiple stake holders. The group operates in 25 countries, and is anchored by over 100,000 employees be longing to 25 nationalities. The Group has been adjudged 'The Best Employer in I ndia and among the Top 20 in Asia' by the Hewitt Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007. 24

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research A premium conglomerate, the Aditya Birla Group is a leader in swathe of products - viscose staple fibre, aluminium, cement, copper, carbon black, insulators, ga rments. The Group has also made successful forays into financial services, telecom,softw are, BPO and retail sectors. Today, the Group is India's most diversified busine ss house . 25

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Subscriber base Idea's subscriber base as at the end of May 2010 Maharashtra and Goa - 9,754,424 y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh - 7,800,385 Andhra Pradesh - 6,497,952 Kerala 5,588,865 Kolkata - 604,650 Gujarat - 5,527,480 Uttar Pradesh (Theyst) & Uttarak hand - 6,019,347 Delhi - 2,751,588 Haryana - 2,236,132 Uttar Pradesh (East) - 3, 985,584 Rajasthan - 2,404,693 Himachal Pradesh - 267,763 Mumbai - 1,562,675 Biha r & Jharkhand - 3,237,896 Tamil Nadu & Chennai - 800,053 Orissa - 604,876 Punjab (Spice) - 3,406,761 Karnataka (Spice) - 2,802,370 Rest of Bengal - 664,427 Assa m - 96,542 Jammu & Kashmir - 71,874 North East except Assam - 40,465 Totalling to 66,726,802 or 15.02%(Approx.) of the total 444,295,711[3] mobile co nnections in India. 26

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Subscriber in million 40 70 60 50 67 47 30 20 10 0 24 14 2.7 5.1 7.4 Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 subscir Customer Service The company has its retail outlets under the "My Idea" banner. The company has also been the first to offer flexible tariff plans for prepaid c ustomers. It also offers GPRS services in urban areas. Idea Cellular won the GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer Care Solution" for 2 consecuti ve years. IDEA Cellular has been recognized as the 'Most Customer Responsive Com pany' in the Telecom sector, at the prestigious Avaya Global Connect Customer Re sponsiveness Awards 2010. 27

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Organization Chart Chairman Kumar M. Birla CEO Sanjeev Aga CFO CMO Pradeeep Srivastava CTO SM SM 28 ZMO ZMO2 ZMO3 SM Channel Partner Akshay Mundra Anil Tand n

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Benefits Given By Company: Post-paid plan in India: Idea offers various post-paid plan according to use of customer like Special Pla n for conversion from pre to Post: Plan Value plus 199 Monthly Rental 199 Benefi ts 400 local+., 200 Local sms Free. Double value 299 299 600 local+., 200 Local sms Free. Super duper300 300 400 local+100 STD min., 200 Local sms Free Roaming 400 400 500 local+100 STD min., 200 Local sms Free Our customer centric tariffs allow you all the room in the world to choose the p erfect plan, one which optimizes your usage and keeps your pocket heavy too. So, when you talk, you don't forget to smile. Idea Cellular Ltd. does not deal in h andsets. Idea services are purely restricted to the business of SIM cards and ce llular services. Special Plan given to us for conversion from pre to Post: Plan Win 175 Monthly R ental 175+service tax Benefits 400 local+200STD min., 200 Local sms Free. Local call-40ps/min STD call-50ps/min SMS-50ps/SMS No. will remain same as prepaid no. 29

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Idea Post-paid Registration & Activation Process As per the directive from the D epartment of Telecom (DOT), following Documents need to be submitted with the Cu stomer Application Form For Address Proof And Identity Proof 1. Passport 2. Arms License 3. Driving License 4. Photo Identity Card having address 5. Election Co mmission ID Card 6. CGHS / ECHS Card 7. Certificate of address with Photo from G ovt. recognized educational institutions (for students only) 8. Certificate of a ddress having photo issued by Village panchayat head (for rural areas) 9. Post O ffice address card - Photo duly attested 10. Bank Pass Book (any scheduled Bank) duly attested on Photograph (with transactions details not older than 3 months) 11. Post Office Pass Book duly attested on Photograph (with transactions detail s not older than 3 months) 12. Caste & Domicile Certificate with photo issued by State Govt. 13. Pensioner Card having Photo & address 14. Freedom Fighter card having Photo & address 15. Kisan Passbook having Photo & address 30

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research For Identity Proof 1. Income Tax PAN 2. Photo Credit Card 3. CSD Card / Paramili tary Card 4. Photo Identity Card issued by Govt. recognized educational institut ions (for students only) For Address proof only 1. Ration card 2. Water Bill (not older than last 3 month s) 3. Telephone Bill for Fixed line (not older than last 3 months) 4. Electricit y Bill of State company (not older than last 3 months) 5. Income Tax Assessment Order 6. Vehicle Registration Certificate 7. Registered Sale / Lease Agreement ( On Rs.100/- Stamp Paper & Registered at SubRegistrar's Office only) 8. Bank Pass Book (any scheduled Bank) - (with transactions details not older than 3 months) 9. Post Office Pass Book (with transactions details not older than 3 months) 10 . Credit Card Statement (not older than last 3 months) 11. Latest bank statement (not older than 3 months) of any scheduled bank duly signed &sealed by Branch M anager along with customer's photo graph 31

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Value Added Services Mumbai: SMS Text Messaging Idea Buzz - Subscription Service s 554560456 Missed Call information USSD Cricket Alerts Ringtones, Picture Messa ges & Logos SMS Short Codes SMS Packs GPRS Ideafresh Idea GPRS - Rate Plans & Ch arges Dialer Tones Dialer Tones M-Search on Dialer Tones! Copy a Dialer Tone! Di aler Tone Subscription Through USSD *456# Voice Say !dea-55456 Background Music55246 Rail Enquiry -Dial 139 Voice Mail Service Night Radio Service!!!! Voice S MS Select Call Treatment Service Idea Music Station !dea Voice Portal 54040 Gane sha Speaks-55181 Astrology Service-55315 Voice Pack - 55456030 IDEA Voice Portal - 53030 32

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Roaming: y y National International Roaming Roam Like Home - with IDEA: Now you have one more reason to select Idea network while roaming in India. You can enjoy a Roam Like Home experience even while roami ng. IDEA is the first telecom operator in India to offer this facility to its val ued roamers. Mumbai-Call Management Services: Post-paid CLIP Call Hold / Call Wait Call Conference Itemised Bill SMS Prepaid C LIP Call Hold / Call Wait SMS Call Divert 33

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Theoretical Background GSM: GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications): is the most popular standard for mobile telephony systems in the world. The GSM Association, its promoting i ndustry trade organization of mobile phone carriers and manufacturers, estimates that 80% of the global mobile market uses the standard. GSM is used by over 4.3 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories. Its ubiquity ena bles international roaming arrangements between mobile phone operators, providin g subscribers the use of their phones in many parts of the world. GSM differs fr om its predecessor technologies in that both signalling and speech channels are digital, and thus GSM is considered a second generation (2G) mobile phone system . This also facilitates the wide-spread implementation of data communication app lications into the system. The ubiquity of implementation of the GSM standard ha s been an advantage to both consumers, who may benefit from the ability to roam and switch carriers without replacing phones, and also to network operators, who can choose equipment from many GSM equipment vendors. GSM also pioneered low-co st implementation of the short message service (SMS), also called text messaging , which has since been supported on other mobile phone standards as theyll. The s tandard includes a worldwide emergency telephone number feature. CDMA: Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method utilized b y various radio communication technologies. It should not be confused with themo bile phone standards called CDMA One and CDMA2000 (which are often referred to a s simply CDMA), which use CDMA as an underlying channel access method. One of th e basic concepts in data communication is the idea of allowing several transmitt ers to send information simultaneously over a single communication channel. This allows several users to share a bandwidth of different frequencies. This concep t is called multiplexing. 34

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research CDMA employs spread-spectrum technology and a special coding scheme (where each transmitter is assigned a co de) to allow multiple users to be multiplexed over the same physical channel. By contrast, time division multiple access (TDMA) divides access by time, while fr equency-division multiple access (FDMA) divides it by frequency. CDMA is a form of spread-spectrum signalling, since the modulated coded signal has a much highe r data bandwidth than the data being communicated. Mergers and Acquisitions: The phrase mergers and acquisitions (abbreviated M&A) refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dea ling with the buying, selling and combining of different companies that can aid, finance, or help a growing company in a given industry grow rapidly without hav ing to create anothe business entity. r An acquisition, also known as a takeover or a buyout, is the buying of one company (the target) by another. Merger is when two companies combine together to form a new company altogether. An acquisition may be private or public, depen ding on whether the acquire or merging company is or isn't listed in public markets. An acquisition may befriendly or hostile. Whether a purchase is perceived as a friendly or hostile depends on how it is co mmunicated to and received by the target company's board of directors, employees and shareholders. It is quite normal though for M&A deal communications to take place in a so called 'confidentiality bubble' whereby information flows are res tricted due to confidentiality agreements (Harwood, 2005). In the case of a frie ndly transaction, the companies cooperate in negotiations;in the case of a hosti le deal, the takeover target is unwilling to be bought or the target's board has no prior knowledge of the offer. Hostile acquisitions can, and ofte do, turn fr iendly at the end, as the n acquire or secures the endorsement of the transactio n from the board of theacquire company. This usually requires an improvement in the terms of the offer. Acquisition usually refers to a purchase of a smaller fi rm by a larger one. Sometimes, however, a smaller firm will acquire management c ontrol of a larger or longer established company and keep its name for the 35

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research combined entity. This is kno wn as a reverse takeover. Another type of acquisition is reverse merger a deal t hat enables a private company to get publicly listed in a short time period. A r everse merger occurs when a private company that has strong prospects and is eag er to raise financing buys a publicly listed shell company, usually one with no business and limited assets. Achieving acquisition success has proven to be very difficult, while various studies have shown that 50% of acquisitions theyre unsu ccessful. The acquisition process is very complex, with many dimensions influenc ing its outcome. Spectrum: is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first sci entific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colours in vis ible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by analogy to many fields other than optics 36

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Data Analysis and Interpretation: Whether satisfied with the prepaid service Sales cant sa , 155 6% not satisfied, 533 21% Satisfied, 1812 72% Majority (72%) of the customers are satisfied with the prepaid plans while 21% o f the customers feel they are not satisfied because of attractive plans by the c ompetitors. While6% of the customers feel that Idea serves for their purpose but are a bit confused. 37 Satisfied Not satisfied Can't sa

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Response of customers about changing the plan from pre to Post-paidChart Title Want to change 499 19.96% Doesn't want to change 155, 6% Others 1846 73.84% Majority(73.84%) of the people do not want to change mostly because of low usage and unable to afford the post-paid plan. 19.94% of people want to change from p re to post due to the very attractive plan and also because of its affordability . O thers include 6% of the customers who are not sure about there future uses a nd wish to hold it for a while. 38

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Factors for switching to post-paid: Sales High usage Affordability Plan attractiveness Lucrative number Other 124 577 1215 273 311 As it is clear from the above pie chart that majority of the customers switching to the post paid are due to the high usage which leads them to recharge again a nd again in the case of prepaid connection, which may also lead to the temporary disconnection or loss of time on part of the customer. Because of these reasons the customers having high uses preferredpost-paid over the pre-paid. 10.92% of the customers switched from prepaid to the post-paid because of attractiveness o f the plan. As this plan is a special plan and meant only for the pre -paid cust omers and also having a very low monthly rental of just Rs. 175 when compared wi th the regular plan of Rs. 300. And also this plan gives the more benefit at low rental when compared with the competitors plan. 13.44% of the people fill that d ue to its low rental this plan is very affordable. Also lucrative numbers are ge tting post-paid which also gives heavy impact on switching from prepaid to postpaid. It accounts 23.08% of total sample. 39

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Factors for not switching to post-paid Series 1 Low usage Low fares in prepaid 66 2.64% Better service by other company Other 466 18.64% 847 33.88% 1121 44.84% Out of the total database provided, 33.88% of the customers do not want to switc h to postpaid because of low usage. And in the case of Win 175 also their monthl y bill will exceed their current recharges and thus will be paying mo for the sa me uses. 44.84% of the re customers feel that prepaid is better than the post-pa id because you cannot make calls more than the balance in your account, and also some felt that they are charged more in the case of the post-paid than the prepaid. Nearly 18.64% of the people think that service provided by other operators is better than us. 40

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research As seen from the above graph it is clear that subscriber base of the prepaid cus tomers has been going up with the time. As per the company data nearly 94.3% of the total userstheyre prepaid customers. Thus company has a very good scope for i ncreasing itsmarket share and thus generating more revenue for the company using the post paid plans. 41

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research FINDINGS OF THE PROJECT From the above data analysis following findings can be drawn y As low call rate in prepaid card, majority of the companys customers are satisfied with the existi ng prepaid service. y Another reason for using prepaid service, there is low roa ming charges in prepaid than post-paid. y Transparency of call charges and also they get the report and cost of th calls instantly e on their dialing screen in prepaid service, it force the customer to use prepaid service. y Approximate 34% of the customers do not want to change their plan due to low usage. Other reaso n for not changing their plan includes poor coverage and perception of customer regarding post-paid plans. y Many customer want to use postpaid service, but bec ause of not availability of document necessary it, they cant use it. y y Majority of the customers who want to switch to post-paid are high users. More than 90% of the companys customers are prepaid customers. 42

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Suggestions / Recommendations: The main objective of every analysis is to find the faults and road blocks of a business Some . of the suggestions based on the 4 ps of marketing are: Product: y Idea came in Mumbai in 2007.So Idea need to develop Brand visibility by more an d more advertising in front of its competitor Vodafone.. y Idea cellular is some what poor in coverage than its competitor Vodafone..Because of that there are ce rtain issues of customer dissatisfaction in certain areas. Company should be car eful about these problems. y Postpaid plan should be made according to need of c ustomer. For example, many customer need plan for STD use. But having no such an y plan for STD users. y It will be better to have feedback from the customers at regular interval to minimize communication gap. Price: y The company should offer more discounts plan for customer according to competitors plan. So that it will help the company to develop more attractivenes s of customer towards postpaid plan. y As many customer belong to out of Maharas htra, postpaid plan should develop in such way that STD rate will be minimum. y Also sum customers are not ready to the deposit and activation fees taken by com pany, so it should minimized to some extent. 43

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Promotion: y Company should give more emphasis on promotion of postpaid plan alo ng with prepaid plan, as there are many misconceptions about postpaid service in the mind of customer. y Company should create Brand visibility in mind of custo mer by keeping more transparency and availability of postpaid service among the consumers. y There should be good promotion schemes t at support the post-paid p lan like some h discount offer, some gift along with postpaid card, some group c alling scheme etc. y Company should change the perception of the customers about postpaid that in post paid they get unnecessary bills. This can be done by send ing them free itemized bills. y There should be some relaxation in the documenta tion process as the current process is lengthy and proofs needed are many. y y C ompany should come up with plans which suit the low users. Company should come u p with plans for the customer which mainly requires STD calls. 44

Pillais Institute of Management Studies and Research Bibliography y y y y y y www.ideacellular.com www.google.com www.scribd.com www.currentanalysis.com www.w ikipedia.org Economic Times 45