A

Project Study Report

On
A Study on Customer Satisfaction in Indian telecommunication
industry With Special Reference of Vodafone

Submitted in partial fulfilment for

Award of degree of
Master of Business Administration
2008-2010

Rajasthan Technical University, Kota

Submitted By:

Submitted To:

Manish Agrawal

Ms. Deepti jaimini

Apex Institute of management & Science,

Jaipur

INDEX

S.N.

Particulars

P. No.

Introduction to the Industry

Introduction to the Organization

38

Research Methodology

71

3.1

Title of the Study

71

3.3

Objective of Study

71

3.4

Type of Research

72

3.5

Sample Size and method of selecting sample

72

3.6

Scope of Study

72

3.7

Limitation of Study

73

4.

Facts and Findings

74

5.

Analysis and Interpretation

89

6.

SWOT

92

7.

Conclusion

99

8.

Recommendation and Suggestions

97

9.

Appendix

101

10.

Bibliography

105

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my sincere thanks to my project guide, Ms. DEEPTI JAIMINI,For guiding me right from the
inception till the successful completion of the project. I sincerely acknowledge her for extending their
valuable guidance, support for literature, critical reviews of project and the report and above all the
moral support she had provided to me with all stages of this project.

MANISH AGRAWAL

PREFACE
Someone has greatly said that practical knowledge is far better than classroom teaching.
During this project I have fully realized this and come to know about the level of satisfaction of t
customers of telecom sector and the factors of customer satisfaction in telecom sector.
The Subject of my study was A Study on Customer Satisfaction in Indian telecommunication
industry With Special ReferenceOf Vodafone.Customer Satisfaction is one of the most
significant factors for the profitability of telecom sector in India. The Report consists of all the
necessary information that relates to effective recommendations that are made to the
telecommunication company for increasing their customer satisfaction level.
The main concern of the study is to provide information that would help the management of
the bank to evaluate and redesign its current marketing strategies in order to retain its existing
customers and to attract new ones in todays competitive environment. Furthermore, this study
is based on the assumption that patronages of a telecommunication company depend on the
degree of customer satisfaction.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This project is based on telecom sector as the telecom sector is growing
at a very good pace. The telecom company which I have selected for my
project

is

VODAFONE.

The

reason

behind

selecting

Vod a f o n e

is

its

various schemes in product & service category & also its future policies
where the company is coming out with lots of new & affordable schemes
f o r i t s c u s t o m e r s . Vod a f o n e i s a U K b a s e d c o m p a n y & h a s v a r i o u s
branches all over the world. The compan y was started in the mid 70s &
since then it has never looked back. The products & services offered by
V od a f o n e i s o f a v e r y h i g h q u a l i t y & a l s o a t a n a f f o r d a b l e r a t e s . T h e y h a v e
various plans for various customers depending on the status of the
customers.
V od a f o n e h a s v a r i o u s p r o d u c t c a t e g o r i e s r a n g i n g f r o m c h a r g e r s , i n t e r n e t ,
mobile phones, headsets & headphones & many more. In the service
category it has internet services which include broadband internet & PC
internet services.
Apart from the products & services normally offered they also came out
with some interesting & unique product like the I phone. This was one of
t h e b i g g e s t e v e n t s i n t h e h i s t o r y o f I n d i a n t e l e c o m i n d u s t r y.

The phones

were available at around 32000-36000 Rs which has a unique feature

called as 3G system.
V od a f o n e a l s o c a m e o u t w i t h c e l l p h o n e s f o r t h e p o o r w h i c h w a s a p a r t o f
t h e i r s o c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o w a r d t h e p o o r c l a s s p e o p l e o f t h e s o c i e t y. T h e
phones were available in the range of 1000 Rs -1500 Rs which was one of
t h e s u c c e s s f u l s t r a t e g i e s o f Vod a f o n e .
According to the 2002-2008 data VODAFONE captures the market with
17.56 % & is at the 3rd position just after Bharti with 24.69% & Reliance
with 17.68%.

V od a f o n e a l s o c a m e o u t w i t h o n e o f b e s t & m o s t a t t r a c t i v e a d v e r t i s e m e n t
which no one has ever seen before called as VODAFONE ZOO-ZOOS.
This advertisement was a part of VODAFONES marketing strategy to
boost its sales during the IPL 2 season. This was one of the master moves
by VODAFONE to introduce ZOO-ZOO during the IPL 2 season which was
a SUPER-HIT.
VODAFONE is planning to come with its own accessories stores which
would be a one-time shop for its customers wherein the customers will get
a l l t h e p r o d u c t s u n d e r o n e r o o f . Vod a f o n e s f u t u r e p l a n i s t o b e c o m e n o . 1
t e l e c o m c o m p a n y b y t h e y e a r 2 0 1 0 - 2 0 11 w h i c h d o e s n o t s e e m s t o b e v e r y
difficult keeping in mind the progress it has made in the last 5 years.
V od a f o n e h a s a d d e d a r o u n d 5 m i l l i o n s u b s c r i b e r s i n t h e y e a r 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 0 9
w h i c h m a k e s i t t h e 3 r d l a r g e s t t e l e c o m c o m p a n y i n t h e w o r l d . V od a f o n e
has joined hands with one of the world largest & the best car racing
company F1 MCLAREN MERCEDES to host the 2 day event. This is the
p a r t o f t h e p r o m o t i o n s t r a t e g y o f Vod a f o n e t o b e c o m e t h e w o r l d w i d e
l e a d e r i n t e l e c o m i n d u s t r y.
V od a f o n e i s a l s o t h e o f f i c i a l s p o n s o r o f t h e E n g l a n d C r i c k e t Tea m f o r t h e
Npower test series . It has also shaken hands with the most popular
f o o t b a l l t o u r n a m e n t U E FA C H A M P I O N S L E A G U E f o o t b a l l w h i c h i s a p a r t o f
t h e p r o m o t i o n a l s t r a t e g y o f Vod a f o n e .

INTRODUCTION
The telecom network in India is the fifth largest network in the world meeting up with global
standards. Presently, the Indian telecom industry is currently slated to an estimated
contribution of nearly 1% to Indias GDP.
The Indian Telecommunications network with 110.01 million connections is the fifth largest in
the world and the second largest among the emerging economies of Asia. Today, it is the
fastest growing market in the world and represents unique opportunities for U.S. companies in
the stagnant global scenario. The total subscriber base, which has grown by 40% in 2005, is
expected to reach 250 million in 2007.
According to Broadband Policy 2004, Government of India aims at 9 million broadband connections
and 18 million internet connections by 2007. The wireless subscriber base has jumped from 33.69
million in 2004 to 62.57 million in FY2004- 2005. In the last 3 years, two out of every three new
telephone subscribers were wireless subscribers. Consequently, wireless now accounts for 54.6% of
the total telephone subscriber base, as compared to only 40% in 2003. Wireless subscriber growth is
expected to bypass 2.5 million new subscribers per month by 2007. The wireless technologies currently
in use are Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA). There are primarily 9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile services in 19 telecom
circles and 4 metro cities, covering 2000 towns across the country.

ABOU T D OT

DOT stands for department of telecom. It was started in the year 199293.The department is presently headed by Prof M.N. Srirangaraju, who is
supported by a team of qualified & dedicated staff members.
On the forefront of development & with the advent of technological
revolution

&

quantum

development

in

the

field

of

electronics

&

communication due to m yriad complexities of the e-world it was inevitable

for the evolution of another field to make a distinct identity of its own.
Thus

the

ball

of

development

was

set

into

motion

&

the

telecommunication field gradually assumed a role of pre-eminence which

is shared by few other engineering disciplines in the modern world.
The Department established in the year 1992 emphasized in providing
quality education with the practical aspects of learning given ample
importance .The department encourages tech-savvy Projects which Whet
the students appetite for technical exploration.

TRA I

TRAI

stands

for

Tel e c o m

Regulatory

Au t h o r i t y

of

India.

TRAI

was

established in the year 1997 in pursuance of TRAI (Ordinance) 1997

which

was

later

telecommunication

replaced

by

services.

an

act

Some

of

of

parliament
the

major

to

regulate

the

r e c o m m e n d a t o r y,

regulatory & tariff setting.

FUNC TION S OF TRA I

Functions of TRAI are to make recommendations on the need & timing for
introduction of new service provider ensure

compliance of terms &

conditions of license, effective management of spectrum, lay down the

standards of quality of service to be provided by the service providers &
ensure the quality of service & conduct the periodical survey of such
service provided by the service providers so as to protect interest of the
Consumers of telecommunication service, ensure effective compliance of
universal service obligations notify the rates at which telecommunication
services in India shall be provided under this act etc.
Recently in exercise of powers conferred by Provision(K) (1) of Section 2
o f t h e T R A I Ac t , t h e C e n t r a l G o v e r n m e n t , V i d e N o t i f i c a t i o n n o S 0 4 4 ( E )
dated 9th January 2004, has notified Broadcasting & Cable services to be
telecommunication service.

REC ONS TITUT ION

I ( A m e n d m e n t ) Ac t , 2 0 0 0 h a d l e d t o r e c o n s t i t u t i o n o f t h e a u t h o r i t y. I t
consists of one Chairperson, two full-time members & two part-time
Members.
The present composition of the authority is as follows:
SHRI. NRIPENDRA MISRA
(Chairperson)
S H R I A . K . S AW H N E Y
(Member)
SHRI R.N. PRABHAKAR
(Member)
PROF N. BALAKRISHNAN
(Part-Time Member)
DR RAJIV KUMAR
(Part-Time Member)

1.1)

Evolution of the Industry - Important Milestones:

Year

Description

1851

First operational land lines were laid by the govt. near Calcutta(seat of
British Power)

1881

Telephone Service introduced in India

1883

Merger with the postal system

1923

Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT)

1932

Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Communication
Company(IRCC)

1947

Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies to form the

Posts, Telephone and Telegraph(PTT), a monopoly run by the
governments Ministry of Communication

1985

Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive

provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own
regulator (separate from the postal system)

1986

Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies: the

Videsh

Sanchar

Nigam

Limited

(VSNL)

for

international

telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)

for service in metropolitan areas.
1997

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created

1999

Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom Policy is

adopted.

2000

DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL

The Indian telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing in the world and India is projected
to become the second largest telecom market globally by 2010.
India added 113.26 million new customers in 2008, the largest globally. In fact, in April 2008, India had
already overtaken the US as the second largest wireless market. To put this growth into perspective,
the countrys cellular base witnessed close to 50 per cent growth in 2008, with an average 9.5 million
customers added every month. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the total
number of telephone connections (mobile as well as fixed) had touched 385 million as of December
2008, taking the telecom penetration to over 33 per cent. This means that one out of every three

Indians has a telephone connection, and telecom companies expect this pace of growth to continue in
2009 as well. "We are extremely bullish that the growth will continue in 2009. This year, the number of
additions will be in excess of 130 million," according to T.V. Ramachandran , Director General, Cellular
Operators Association of India (COAI), an industry body that represents all Global System for Mobile
communications (GSM) players in India.
According to CRISIL Research estimates, eight infrastructure sectors, which include the telecom sector,
are expected to draw more than US$ 345.28 billion investment in India by 2012.
With the rural India growth story unfolding, the telecom sector is likely to see tremendous growth in
India's rural and semi-urban areas in the years to come. By 2012, India is likely to have 200 million rural
telecom connections at a penetration rate of 25 per cent. And according to a report jointly released by
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Ernst & Young, by 2012, rural users will account for over 60
per cent of the total telecom subscriber base.
According to Business Monitor International, India is currently adding 8-10 million mobile subscribers
every month. It is estimated that by mid 2012, around half the country's population will own a mobile
phone. This would translate into 612 million mobile subscribers, accounting for a tele-density of around
51 per cent by 2012.
It is projected that the industry will generate revenues worth US$ 43 billion in 2009-10.
According to a Frost & Sullivan industry analyst, by 2012, fixed line revenues are expected to touch
US$ 12.2 billion while mobile revenues will reach US$ 39.8 billion in India. Fixed line capex is projected
to be US$ 3.2 billion, and mobile capex is likely to touch US$ 9.4 billion.
Further, according to a report by Gartner Inc., India is likely to remain the world's second largest
wireless market after China in terms of mobile connections. According to recent data released by the
COAI, Indian telecom operators added a total of 10.66 million wireless subscribers in December 2008.
Further, the total wireless subscriber base stood at 346.89 million at the end of December 2008.
The overall cellular services revenue in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 18 per cent from 20082012 to exceed US$ 37 billion. Cellular market penetration will rise to 60.7 per cent from 19.8 per cent
in 2007.
The Indian telecommunications industry is on a growth trajectory with the GSM operators adding a
record 9.3 million new subscribers in January 2009, taking the total user base to 267.5 million,

according to the data released by COAI. However, this figure does not include the number of
subscribers added by Reliance Telecom.
In WiMax, India is slated to become the largest WiMAX market in the Asia-Pacific by 2013. A recent
study sees India's WiMAX subscriber base hitting 14 million by 2013 and growing annually at nearly
130 per cent. And investments in WiMAX ventures are slated to top US$ 500 million in India, according
to a report by US-based research and consulting firm, Strategy Analytics.

Value-Added Services Market

A report by market research firm IMRB stated that the mobile value-added services (MVAS) industry
was valued at US$ 1.15 billion in June 2008, and is expected to grow rapidly at 70 per cent to touch
US$ 1.96 billion by June 2009.
Currently, MVAS in India accounts for 10 per cent of the operator's revenue, which is expected to reach
18 per cent by 2010. According to a study by Stanford University and consulting firm BDA, the Indian
MVAS is poised to touch US$ 2.74 billion by 2010.
Mobile advertising, which is an important VAS segment, offers great potential to become an important
revenue source. Marketers are increasingly using MVAS as a step ahead of SMS-based marketing to
sell soaps and shampoos, banking, insurance products and also entertainment services, and rural
markets are proving to be very receptive for such marketing.
Further, Venture Capitalists like Canaan Partners, Draper Fisher Juvertson, Helion, and Nexus India
are also innovating with services like mobile payment options, advertising, voice-based SMS and
satellite video streaming.
According to Venture Intelligence, there were nine deals worth US$ 41 million in 2007 in the mobile
VAS space, and till August 2008, seven deals worth US$ 91 million had already been finalised.
Presently, mobile VAS has a US$ 700 million market with a 20 per cent y-o-y growth, which is likely to
touch US$ 3 billion by 2012.

Major Investments
The booming domestic telecom market has been attracting huge amounts of investment which is likely
to accelerate with the entry of new players and launch of new services.
Buoyed by the rapid surge in the subscriber base, huge investments are being made into this industry.

Norway-based telecom operator Telenor has bought a 60 per cent stake in Unitech Wireless for
US$ 1.23 billion.

Japanese telecom major NTT DoCoMo has acquired a 27.31 per cent equity capital of Tata
Teleservices for about US$ 2.6 billion and a 20.25 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices
(Maharashtra) Ltd for about US$ 190.23 million.

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), which has a 31 per cent stake in BhartiAirtel has
received the governments approval to offer long distance services in India, according to a
communication ministry official.

Mauritius-based P5 Asia Holding Investments (Mauritius) Ltd will be investing around US$
545.13 million to hold a 20 per cent stake in Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd (ABTL). The funds will be
utilised for network rollout and operations of ABTL in the Bihar circle.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is planning an investment of around US$ 201.5 million in the
Tamil Nadu Circle for an additional 23 lakh mobile connections under both 2G and 3G
technologies by 2009.

The latest to join the world's second largest telecom market is Bahrain's Batelco which has
signed a deal to buy 49 per cent in Chennai-based S-Tel, a GSM service provider, for $225
million.

Etisalat, a Gulf-based telecommunications company has picked up a 45 per cent stake in Swan
Telecom.

Kavveri Telecom Products Limited is planning to set up a new subsidiary - Kavveri Telecom
Infrastructure Limited (KTIL) - with an investment of US$ 20.11 million over the next two years,
to offer in-building telecom infrastructure to telecom service providers.

Juniper Networks, which is the second-largest maker of networking equipment, plans to invest
US$ 400 million in India, over the next five years, with a focus on its research and development
(R&D) activity.

BSNL, India's leading telecom company in revenue terms, will put in about US$ 1.16 billion in its
WiMax project.

BhartiAirtel will be spending US$ 2.5 billion in a major expansion bid.

Reliance Communication has committed US$ 5.69 billion as capital investment for the fiscal
year ending March 2009.

Idea Cellular will spend about US$ 2.36 billion in the fiscal ending March 2009.

Srei Group's Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd (QTIL) plans to invest US$ 3 billion in 2008-09
to ramp up its telecom infrastructure business to grow both organically and inorganically.

Vodafone Essar will invest US$ 6 billion over the next three years in a bid to increase its mobile
subscriber base from 40 million at present to over 100 million.

Telecom service provider, Tata Teleservices Limited, has announced that the company will be
investing additional US$ 6.74 million in Gujarat to set up 100 cell sites by August 2009. The
company had earlier made an announcement of investing US$ 24.1 million in the state till March
2009.

Telecom operator Aircel, which launched GSM mobile services in Bangalore on February 23,
2009, plans to invest US$ 220.58 million over the next year to set up base stations across the
state.

Investments Abroad
After the amazing growth story in the domestic market, Indian telecommunication companies are now
set to have a major global footprint.

The Bharti Group, which already has operations in Seychelles, (begun over a decade ago), and
in the Channel Islands in Europe, launched its mobile services in Sri Lanka under 'Airtel' brand
on January 12, 2009. Airtel is expected to invest about US$ 200 million in setting up and
expanding its operation in Sri Lanka over the next five years. The company will simultaneously
roll out second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) services in the country.

DTH company Spize TV (owned by Pyramid Saimira Group) has bought France Telecom's
European DTH operations called WorldTV Europe.

Tata Communications has bought the 30 per cent stake in Neotel that was previously held by
Eskom and Transnet. With this, Tata Communications in association with Tata Africa Holdings
became the largest stakeholder with 56 per cent stake.

Tata Communications marked its entry into UAE by launching a range of dedicated Ethernet
services in association with leading telecommunication service provider of UAE, Etisalat.

Manufacturing
India's telecom equipment manufacturing sector is set to become one of the largest globally by 2010.
Mobile phone production is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 28.3 per cent from 2006 to 2011, totalling
107 million handsets by 2010. Revenues are estimated to grow at a CAGR of 26.6 per cent from 2006
to 2011, touching US$ 13.6 billion.
Presently the telecom hardware manufacturing sector is dominated by international majors like Nokia,
Ericsson, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Alcatel-Lucent, who have set up manufacturing bases in India.
Domestic manufacturers have little contribution in the segment. Other foreign majors that have set up
manufacturing bases in India include Foxconn, Flextronics Elcoteq Celestica, ElextronicsAspocomp,
Salcomp, Siemens, Cisco, Perlos and Solectron.
LG Electronics has announced that it will be further expanding its handset manufacturing facility in India
and Nokia will now be targeting rural India in its expansion plans. In fact, Nokia Siemens Networks
launched its new facility for the production and distribution of mobile communications infrastructure at
Oragadam near Chennai.

Rural Telephony
Rural India had 76.65 million fixed and Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) connections and 551,064 Village
Public Telephones (VPT) as on September 2008. Therefore, 92 per cent of the villages in India have
been covered by the VPTs. The target of 80 million rural connections by 2010 is likely to be met during
2008 itself. Universal Service Obligation (USO) subsidy support scheme is also being used for sharing
wireless infrastructure in rural areas with around 18,000 towers by 2010.

The Indian wireless industry, with a 32 per cent penetration, is only second after China in terms of
subscribers at 325 million. Most of this growth has come from urban India where penetration is close to
60 per cent, but in rural markets it's less than 15 per cent. And it's here that the industry sees the
largest opportunity for growth.

Policy Initiatives
The government has taken many proactive initiatives to facilitate the rapid growth of the Indian telecom
industry.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has adopted new guidelines for
computation of foreign equity holding in Indian companies. The new norm is expected to allow
companies in a sector like telecom to raise the extent of foreign investment. The new norms will
benefit all such companies that have touched their foreign direct investment ceiling and part of
the investment is through an Indian company owned and controlled by resident Indians. "All
investments directly by a non-resident entity into an Indian company will be counted as foreign
in-vestment, while foreign investment through an investing Indian company will not be
considered for calculation of the indirect foreign investment, in case the Indian company is
owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens," according to Home Minister Mr. P
Chidambaram.

100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) is permitted through the automatic route in telecom
equipment manufacturing.

FDI ceiling in telecom services has been raised to 74 per cent.

Introduction of a unified access licensing regime for telecom services on a pan-India basis.

Introduction of mobile number portability in a phased manner, starting in the fourth quarter of
2008.

The government is implementing a program of connecting 66,822 uncovered villages under the
Bharat Nirman programme. The government will invest US$ 2 billion to set up 1.12 lakh
community service centres in rural India to provide broadband connectivity in 2008-09.

The Finance Ministry has declared a five-fold (from US$ 100 million to US$ 500 million)
increase in the external commercial borrowings amount, which companies involved in
infrastructure sectors can borrow from overseas to spend in India.

In another move, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has stated that foreign telecom
companies can bid for 3G spectrum without partnering with Indian companies. Only after
winning a bid, would they need to apply for unified access service licence (UASL) and partner
with an Indian company in accordance with the FDI regulations.

Further, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased its mobile-banking norms, by raising the
caps on fund transfers as well as mobile-based payments, and increasing the transaction limit to
US$ 96.81 per day for fund transfers.

The Department of Telecom has allowed passive infrastructure sharing among operators, which
includes sharing of physical sites, buildings, shelters, towers, power supply and battery backup.
In early 2008, it also allowed sharing of active infrastructure but it has been limited to antenna,
feeder cable, node B, radio access network and transmission systems and not sharing of
spectrum.

The Road Ahead

As on October 17, 2008, there were 350 million mobile and fixed line subscribers in India, with about 8
million subscribers being added each month. The Union Minister for Communications and Information
Technology, Mr A Raja, has stated that the target for the 11th Plan period (2007-12) is 600 million
phone connections with an investment of US$ 73 billion. Apart from the basic telephone service, there
is an enormous potential for various value-added services. In fact, the real potential for telecom service
growth is still lying untapped.
The Indian rural market is going to be the next big thing for wireless telecom providers. With the teledensity in rural areas being still about 10 per cent against the national average of about 21 per cent,
there seems to be huge untapped potential for mobile phone penetration in rural India. The government

also plans an investment of US$ 2 billion, during 2008 to 2009, for the development of around 100,000
community service centres in rural India to provide broadband connectivity.
Additionally, by 2010, the government targets:

80 million rural connections

Mobile coverage of 90 per cent geographical area

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) in 600 towns

Quadrupling manufacture

Two-fold increase in telecom equipment R&D from the current level of 15 per cent.

According to the CII Ernst & Young report titled 'India 2012: Telecom growth continues', revenue from
India's telecom services industry is projected to reach US$ 54 billion in 2012, as against US$ 31 billion
in 2008. According to Mr PrashantSinghal, Telecom Industry Leader, Ernst & Young India, "Going
forward, rural telephony, 3G, WiMax and data services will drive sector growth in 2012. The industry will
witness sustained growth in mobile services and data revenues. Network expansion will continue in
order to support the rural growth."

In addition to this, some interesting new developments worth tracking include:

The emergence of digital media advertising (internet, mobile and digital signage) as the medium
of choice for advertisers. Of the available media, it was the fastest growing segment in 2008.
According to a FICCI-PwC report, it is expected to touch US$ 211.97 million in 2011 from the
current US$ 57.1 million.

The robust sales of smartphones which do not seem to have been adversely affected by the
economic slowdown. Smartphones, which have computer-like features, are a favourite with not
only professionals, as they enhance productivity, but also with the youth that are attracted by
their multimedia applications. Smartphones market, sized at 5 million in 2008, is expected to
witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23 per cent by 2011, as per technology
research firm Ascendia.

Global mobile phone vendors are going green in India. Vihaan Network Ltd, a group company of
Shyam Group has launched the worlds first zero opex GSM systems powered by solar energy
rather than conventional sources. In a recently launched initiative, Nokia collected three tonnes
of junk handsets, batteries, chargers and accessories from four cities during a 45-day
campaign. The collected junk will be taken to Singapore for recycling. Hundred per cent of the
materials in the phones can be recovered and used to make new products.

1.2) Major Players:

There are three types of players in telecom services:
State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL)
Private Indian owned companies (Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices)
Foreign invested companies (Vodafone-Essar, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Escotel, Idea Cellular, BPL
Mobile, Spice Communications)
India's mobile telecom sector is one of the fastest growing sectors. Unlike in the 1990s when the mobile
phone was an elitist product, mobile operators now tap a mass market with mass marketing techniques.
"Unified licensing" rules allow basic and mobile operators into each others territory, and have ushered
in perhaps the final phase of industry consolidation.
It seems that only companies with deep pockets can effectively compete as primary operators mobile
markets. Economies of scale, scope, and end-to-end presence in long-distance as well as local
telecom, are desirable.
There are, besides, new challenges. Operators have to find new growth drivers for the wire line
business. There are problems of getting broadband to take off, of technology choice, of when to
introduce new technologies, and of developing a viable business model in an era of convergence.

1.3) Growth of mobile technology:

India has the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. The mobile services were commercially
launched in August 1995 in India. In the initial 5-6 years the average monthly subscribers additions
were around 0.05 to 0.1 million only and the total mobile subscribers base in December 2002 stood at
10.5 millions. However, after the number of proactive initiatives taken by regulator and licensor, the
monthly subscriber additions increased to around 2 million per month in the year 2003-04 and 2004-05.
Although mobile telephones followed the New Telecom Policy 1994, growth was tardy in the early years
because of the high price of hand sets as well as the high tariff structure of mobile telephones. The
New Telecom Policy in 1999, the industry heralded several pro consumer initiatives. Mobile subscriber
additions started picking up. The number of mobile phones added throughout the country in 2003 was
16 million, followed by 22 millions in 2004, 32 million in 2005 and 65 million in 2006. The only countries
with more mobile phones than India with 156.31 million mobile phones are China 408 million and
USA 170 million.
India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile communications) and CDMA
(code-division multiple access) technologies in the mobile sector.
The mobile tariffs in India have also become lowest in the world. A new mobile connection can be
activated with a monthly commitment of US$ 5 only. In 2005 alone 32 million handsets were sold in
India. The data reveals the real potential for growth of the Indian mobile market.

1.4)MARKET PLAYERS

GSM

CDMA

As on Apr 2007 India has 167 million mobile phone subscribers. Out of this 125 million are GSM users
and 41 million CDMA users. BSNL, BhartiAirtel, Hutch, Idea, Aircel, Spice and MTNL are the main GSM
providers in India. Reliance Communications and Tata Indicom are the main CDMA providers in India.

BSNL
On October 1, 2000 the Department of Telecom Operations, Government of India became a corporation
and was renamed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). BSNL is now Indias leading
telecommunications company and the largest public sector undertaking. It has a network of over 45
million lines covering 5000 towns with over 35 million telephone connections. The state-controlled
BSNL operates basic, cellular (GSM and CDMA) mobile, Internet and long distance services throughout
India (except Delhi and Mumbai). BSNL will be
expanding

the network in line with the Tenth Five-Year Plan (1992-97). The aim is to provide a

telephone density of 9.9 per hundred by March 2007. BSNL, which became the third operator of GSM
mobile services in most circles, is now planning to overtake Bharti to become the largest GSM operator
in the country. BSNL is also the largest operator in the Internet market, with a share of 21 per cent of
the entire subscriber base

BHARTI
Established in 1985, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and
innovations to its credit, ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private basic telephone
service provider in the country, first Indian company to provide comprehensive telecom services outside
India in Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch National Long Distance Services
in India. Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting investments in
telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate telecom services across India. Bhartis
operations are broadly handled by two companies: the Mobility group, which handles the mobile
services in 16 circles out of a total 23
circles across the country; and the Infotel group, which handles the NLD, ILD, fixed line, broadband,
data, and satellite-based services. Together they have so far deployed around 23,000 km of optical
fiber cables across the country, coupled with approximately 1,500 nodes, and presence in around 200
locations.
The group has a total customer base of 6.45 million, of which 5.86 million are mobile and 588,000 fixed
line customers, as of January 31, 2004. In mobile, Bhartis footprint extends across 15 circles. Bharti
Tele-Ventures' strategic objective is to capitalize on the growth opportunities the company believes are
available in the Indian telecommunications market and consolidate its position to be the leading

integrated telecommunications services provider in key markets in India, with a focus on providing
mobile services.

MTNL
MTNL was set up on 1st April 1986 by the Government of India to upgrade the quality of telecom
services, expand the telecom network, introduce new services and to raise revenue for telecom
development needs of Indias key metros Delhi, the political capital, and Mumbai, the business
capital. In the past 17 years, the company has taken rapid strides to emerge as Indias leading and one
of Asias largest telecom operating companies. The company has also been in the forefront of 5
technology induction by converting 100% of its telephone exchange network into the state-of-the-art
digital mode. The Govt. of India currently holds 56.25% stake in the company. In the year 2003-04, the
company's focus would be not only consolidating
the gains but also to focus on new areas of enterprise such as joint ventures for projects outside India,
entering into national long distance operation, widening the cellular and CDMA-based WLL customer
base, setting up internet and allied services on an all India basis.
MTNL has over 5 million subscribers and 329,374 mobile subscribers. While the market for fixed
wireline phones is stagnating, MTNL faces intense competition from the private playersBharti,
Hutchison and Idea Cellular, Reliance Infocommin mobile services. MTNL recorded sales of Rs. 60.2
billion ($1.38 billion) in the year 2002-03, a decline of 5.8 per cent over the previous years annual
turnover of Rs. 63.92 billion.

RELIANCE INFOCOMM
Reliance is a $16 billion integrated oil exploration to refinery to power and textiles conglomerate
(Source: http://www.ril.com/newsitem2.html). It is also an integrated telecom service provider with
licenses for mobile, fixed, domestic long distance and international services. Reliance Infocomm offers
a complete range of telecom services, covering mobile and fixed line telephony including broadband,
national and international long distance services, data services and a wide range of value added
services and applications. Reliance IndiaMobile, the first of Infocomm's initiatives was launched on

December 28, 2002. This marked the beginning of Reliance's vision of ushering in a digital revolution in
India by becoming a major catalyst in improving quality of life and changing the face of India.
Reliance Infocomm plans to extend its efforts beyond the traditional value chain to develop and deploy
telecom solutions for India's farmers, businesses, hospitals, government and public sector
organizations. Until recently, Reliance was permitted to provide only limited mobility services through
its basic services license. However, it has now acquired a unified access license for 18 circles that
permits it to provide the full range of mobile services. It has rolled out its CDMA mobile network and
enrolled more than 6 million subscribers in one year to become the countrys largest mobile operator. It
now wants to increase its market share and has recently launched pre-paid services. Having captured
the voice market, it intends to attack the broadband market.

TATA TELESERVICES
Tata Teleservices is a part of the $12 billion Tata Group, which has 93 companies, over 200,000
employees and more than 2.3 million shareholders. Tata Teleservices provides basic (fixed line
services), using CDMA technology in six circles: Maharashtra (including Mumbai), New Delhi, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Karnataka. It has over 800,000 subscribers. It has now migrated to
unified access licenses, by paying a Rs. 5.45 billion ($120 million) fee, which enables it to provide fully
mobile services as well.
The company is also expanding its footprint, and has paid Rs. 4.17 billion ($90 million) to DoT for 11
new licenses under the IUC (interconnect usage charges) regime. The new licenses, coupled with the
six circles in which it already operates, virtually gives the CDMA mobile operator a national footprint that
is almost on par with BSNL and Reliance Infocomm. The company hopes to start off services in these
11 new circles by August 2004. These circles include Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala,
Kolkata, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East) & West and West Bengal.

VSNL
On April 1, 1986, the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) - a wholly Government owned corporation
- was born as successor to OCS. The company operates a network of earth stations, switches,
submarine cable systems, and value added service nodes to provide a range of basic and value added

services and has a dedicated work force of about 2000 employees. VSNL's main gateway centers are
located at Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The international telecommunication circuits are
derived via Intelsat and Inmarsat satellites and wide band submarine cable systems e.g. FLAG, SEAME-WE-2 and SEA-ME-WE-3. The company's ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and
its shares are
listed on major Stock Exchanges in India.
The Indian Government owns approximately 26 per cent equity, M/s PanatoneFinvest Limited as
investing vehicle of Tata Group owns 45 per cent equity and the overseas holding (inclusive of FIIs,
ADRs, Foreign Banks) is approximately 13 per cent and the rest is owned by Indian institutions and the
public. The company provides international and Internet services as well as a host of value-added
services. Its revenues have declined from Rs. 70.89 billion ($1.62 billion) in 2001-02 to Rs. 48.12 billion
($1.1 billion) in 2002-03, with voice revenues being the mainstay. To reverse the falling revenue trend,
VSNL has also started offering domestic long distance services and is launching broadband services.
For this, the company is investing in Tata Telservices and is likely to acquire Tata Broadband.

HUTCH
Hutchs presence in India dates back to late 1992, when they worked with local partners to establish a
company licensed to provide mobile telecommunications services in Mumbai. Commercial operations
began in November 1995. Between 2000 and March 2004, Hutch acquired further operator equity
interests or operating licences. With the completion of the acquisition of BPL Mobile Cellular Limited in
January 2006, it now provides mobile services in 16 of the 23 defined licence areas across the country.
Hutch India has benefited from rapid and profitable growth in recent years. it had over 17.5 million
customers by the end of June 2006.

IDEA
Indian regional operator IDEA Cellular Ltd. has a new ownership structure and grand designs to
become a national player, but in doing so is likely to become a thorn in the side of Reliance
Communications Ltd. IDEA operates in eight telecom circles, or regions, in Western India, and has
received additional GSM licenses to expand its network into three circles in Eastern India -- the first
phase of a major expansion plan that it intends to fund through an IPO, according to parent company
Aditya Birla Group .

Life Cycle Stage of Indian Telecom

GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS AND POLICIES

Reform thrust on independent regulation, competition and investment facilitation:

Unified Licensing
Regime

SALES COMPARISON OF TELECOM PLAYERS

Sales and profit has direct relationship in some extent for understand the position of firms in
this competitive world I evaluate the firms on the bases of sales. Then I found that AIRTEL is
market leader. When I compare the companies on the bases of % change of sales I again
found that AIRTEL get biggest change (33.42%) it shows rapid growth in sales of AIRTEL.

Company Name

RCOM

TTML

AIRTEL

IDEA

Sales (2008)

31539.5

4940.15

88301.1

28210.5

414.03

Sales (2007)

34035.2

4397.6

66182.7

19724

643.51

% Change

-7.33

12.34

33.42

43.03

-35.66

(Sales is in mn. Rupees.)

Comparison chart of sales in Year 2008

88301.1
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000

31539.5

28210.5

30000
20000

4940.15

10000
0

414.03

SALES 2008
R COMM

TTML

AIRTEL

IDEA

SHYAM

SHYAM

Profit Comparison of Telecom Players

Primary objective of a firm is profit. When we compare the profit of firms in telecom industry
we found that Airtel is market leader in terms of profit also.
Company Name

RCOM

AIRTEL

IDEA

SHYAMTEL

TTML

Cash Profit

44301.1

94107.75

19211.24

39.55

3136.1

(Profit is in mn. Rupees.)

Comparison Chart of Profit(in mn. in telecom industry(2008March31st)

100000
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0

94107.75

44301.1
19211.24
3136.1

39.55

PROFIT (2008)
R COMM

TTML

AIRTEL

IDEA

SHYAM

Total Telecom Growth Circle Wise (GSM)

Metros

City/Circle

Operators

Apr'2009

May'2009

Delhi

BhartiAirtel

4913281

5013775

Vodafone Essar

4151163

4203442

MTNL

1934015

1947107

IDEA

2356703

2326058

140010

239254

13495172

13729636

Loop Mobile

2204676

2256862

Vodafone Essar

4445950

4517438

MTNL

2288214

2313158

BhartiAirtel

2811299

2821221

825989

856365

61292

140627

12637420

12905671

Aircel Cellular
Ltd

2582580

2613806

BhartiAirtel

2207830

2268110

Vodafone Essar

1585998

1606108

BSNL

1103855

1109193

7480263

7597217

BhartiAirtel

2506825

2527010

Vodafone Essar

2898756

2970734

BSNL

1591774

1582600

854217

854217

548670

552914

8400242

8487475

1.04%

42013097

42719999

1.68%

Aircel Ltd
Delhi
Mumbai

IDEA
Aircel Limited
Mumbai
Chennai

Chennai
Kolkata

Reliable Internet
Aircel Cellular
Ltd
Kolkata
All Metros

% Growth
over
previous
month

Total Telecom Growth Circle Wise (GSM)

1.74%

2.12%

1.56%

Circle

State

A' Circle

Maharashtra

Gujarat

A.P.

Karnatka

T.N.

A' Circle

Operators
Vodafone
Essar
IDEA
BhartiAirtel
BSNL
Vodafone
Essar
IDEA
BhartiAirtel
BSNL
IDEA
BhartiAirtel
Vodafone
Essar
BSNL
Aircel Limited
BhartiAirtel
Spice Comm.
Vodafone
Essar
BSNL
Aircel Limited
Vodafone
Essar
Aircel Limited
BSNL
BhartiAirtel
IDEA

Apr'2009

May'2009

4917148
7628044
6018396
3639056

5141142
7800638
6036123
3619217

22202644

22597120

8207673
4020894
4202918
2396780

8415802
4082321
4253725
2396819

18828265
5188665
9471463

19148667
5292520
9821762

4107549
3206400
86350

4257943
3280453
157237

22060427
10136069
1683662

22809915
10322015
1715291

3820630
2397629
96670

3946252
2462645
145026

18134660

18591229

5398603
8346805
3220697

5550119
8654732
3271811

6360685

6569274
6066
24052002
107198933

23326790
104552786

Total Telecom Growth Circle Wise (GSM)

% Growth
over
previous
month

1.78%

1.70%

3.40%

2.52%

3.11%
2.53%

Circle

State

Operators

Apr'2009

May'2009

B' Circle

Kerala

IDEA

4472053

4607373

Vodafone Essar

3255172

3370227

BhartiAirtel

2420281

2502433

BSNL

2560514

2588012

93263

133195

12801283

13201240

Spice Comm.

2487925

2519732

BhartiAirtel

3821780

3858426

BSNL

2852974

2873503

Vodafone Essar

2269320

2303023

11431999

11554684

IDEA

1577879

1597891

Vodafone Essar

2260750

2310951

BhartiAirtel

1270229

1280162

BSNL

1685635

1762073

6794493

6951077

IDEA

4205253

4282063

BhartiAirtel

2415305

2468395

BSNL

2481615

2496465

Vodafone Essar

4541351

4674719

31697

78358

13675221

14000000

Aircel Limited

Punjab

Haryana

U.P.(W)

Aircel Limited

% Growth
over
previous
month

3.12%

1.07%

2.30%

2.37%

Total Telecom Growth Circle Wise (GSM)

Circle

State

Operators

Apr'2009

May'2009

% Growth
over

previous
month
U.P.(E)

Vodafone Essar

6879931

7176532

BSNL

5809362

5858803

BhartiAirtel

6147131

6467537

IDEA

2085662

2251382

41361

77173

20963447

21831427

Vodafone Essar

5219675

5401156

BhartiAirtel

7267379

7572262

BSNL

2881541

2831732

IDEA

1249702

1288417

16618297

17093567

IDEA
Reliance
Telecom

5210915

5400258

2687646

2687646

BhartiAirtel

4830061

5001125

BSNL

2465882

2454994

445847

534564

15640351

16078587

Reliance
Telecom

1465351

1465351

BSNL

1919483

1947089

BhartiAirtel

3758817

3886556

Vodafone Essar
Dishnet
Wireless

5091979

5249681

1216235

1295658

13451865

13844335

2.92%

111376956

114554917

2.85%

Aircel Limited

Rajasthan

M.P.

Vodafone Essar
W.B. & A &
N

B' Circle

4.14%

2.86%

2.80%

Total Telecom Growth Circle Wise (GSM)

Circle

State

Operators

Apr'2009 May'2009

% Growth over
previous month

C' Circle

H.P.

Bihar

Orissa

BhartiAirtel
Reliance Telecom
BSNL
IDEA
Dishnet Wireless
Vodafone Essar
Reliance Telecom
BSNL
BhartiAirtel
Dishnet Wireless
ABTL (IDEA)
Vodafone Essar
Reliance Telecom
BSNL
BhartiAirtel
Dishnet Wireless
Vodafone Essar
IDEA

Assam

Reliance Telecom
BSNL
BhartiAirtel
Dishnet Wireless
Vodafone Essar

N.E.

Reliance Telecom
BhartiAirtel
BSNL
Dishnet Wireless
Vodafone Essar

J&K

BSNL
BhartiAirtel
Dishnet Wireless
Vodafone Essar

974495
991275
740553
740553
847435
869908
143770
150247
138616
149604
56894
63517
2901763 2965104
2931877 2931877
2748449 2772670
7778055 8159469
1462983 1502738
1002106 1201417
1048748 1251331
16972218 17819502
1393525 1393525
1482198 1539364
3122778 3253456
970150
990903
481880
572757
35019
100237
7485550 7850242
1425863 1425863
891616
898328
1622477 1684159
1808533 1880377
190474
231625
5938963 6120352
466344
466344
969504 1005121
701036
718646
1073893
1143859
210129
245980
3420906 3579950
839672
1708248
886191
56268
3490379

842860
1785817
930250
85664
3644591

2.18%

4.99%

4.87%

3.05%

4.65%

4.42%

INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY

Introduction:
Vodafone is a mobile network operator headquartered in Berkshire, England, UK. It is the
largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a
market value of about 75 billion (August 2008). Vodafone currently has operations in 25
countries and partner networks in a further 42 countries.
The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the
provision of voice and data services over mobile phones."
As of 2006 Vodafone had an estimated 260 million customers in 25 markets across 5
continents. On this measure, it is the second largest mobile telecom group in the world behind
China Mobile.
In the United States, Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless.

Mission:
Vodafone is primarily a user of technology rather than a developer of it, and this fact is reflected in the
emphasis of our work program on enabling new applications of mobile communications, using new
technology for new services, research for improving operational efficiency and quality of our networks,
and providing technology vision and leadership that can contribute directly to business decisions.

Vision:
Our Vision is to be the worlds mobile communication leader enriching customers lives, helping
individuals, businesses and Communities be more connected in a mobile world.

SOME

I M P O R TAN T

&

INTERESTING

F AC T S

company

country

AB O U T

V O D AF O N E :
Voda fo ne

is

the

third

largest

in

this

by

market

c a p i t a l i z a t i o n . T h i s i s r e m a r k a b l e b e c a u s e Vo d a f o n e i s a r e l a t i v e l y n e w
c o m p a n y.

M o s t p e o p l e i n t h i s c o u n t r y i n s t a n t l y r e c o g n i z e t h e Vod a f o n e l o g o a n d
k n o w w h a t t h e c o m p a n y d o e s . Vo d a f o n e s u p p l i e s c u s t o m e r s w i t h m o b i l e
t e l e p h o n e f a c i l i t i e s i n c l u d i n g t e x t , g a m e s , m u s i c , m o b i l e T V, a n d i n t e r n e t
services.

In

2005

Vo d a f o n e

had

around

16

million

UK

customers,

e m p l o y e d o v e r 11, 5 0 0 p e o p l e a c r o s s c a l l c e n t e r s , o f f i c e s a n d r e t a i l
shops.

The NAS is less well-known. It is a national charity working with children,

adults, and families affected by autism, and those professionals who work
a l o n g s i d e t h e m . Au t i s m i s a c o m p l e x l i f e l o n g d e v e l o p m e n t a l d i s a b i l i t y
affecting an increasing number of children in the UK. The term autism
covers a wide range of behavioral and communication difficulties. For
example people with autism find ever yda y social interaction ver y difficult.

Their

ability

to

develop

friendships

is

generally

limited

as

is

their

capacity to understand other people's emotional expression. People with

autism can often have accompan ying learning disabilities but ever yone
with the condition shares a difficulty in making sense of the world.

The NAS champions the interests of people with autism and provides
s e r v i c e s a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e i r n e e d s . Ar o u n d 5 3 5 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e i n t h e U K

have autistic spectrum disorders and 2 million parents, carers and friends
are affected. Understanding of the condition remains limited.
In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of two UK
cellular telephone network licenses. The network, known as Racal Vodafone was 80% owned
by Racal, with Millicom and the Hambros Technology Trust owning 15% and 5% respectively.
Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985. Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal
Telecommunications Group Limited in 1985. On 29 December 1986 Racal Electronics bought
out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB110 million.
In September 1988 the company was again renamed Racal Telecom and on 26 October 1988
Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued Racal Telecom at GB1.7
billion On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as
Vodafone Group.
In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for 30.6
million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples Phone for
77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's
network. In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did
not own, a service provider with 21 stores.
In 1997 Vodafone introduced its Speech mark logo, as it is a quotation mark in a circle; the O's
in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting conversation.
On 29 June 1999 Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. and
changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading of the new company commenced on 30
June 1999. To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-Plus Mobilfunk. The
acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile
network.

Vodafones original logo used until the introduction of the speech mark logo in 1998.

On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of Bell
Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed on 4 April 2000.
In November 1999 Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was rejected.
Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's purchase of Orange,
the UK mobile operator. Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a
"gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory. The hostile takeover
provoked strong protest in Germany and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resists
Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the Mannesmann board agreed to an
increased offer of 112bn, then the largest corporate merger ever. The EU approved the
merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up and all manufacturing
related operations sold off.
On 28 July 2000 the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc. In April 2001 the first
3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network. In 2001 the Company took over
Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebranded it as Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire
Japan's third-largest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan.

On 17 December 2001 Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks" by signing TDC
Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone international
services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone. The concept would
be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it does not have
stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the dual-brand scheme,
where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone
etc.)
In February 2002 Finland was added into the mobile community, as Radiolinja is signed as a
Partner Network. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa. Later that year the Company
rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone live! and on 3 December 2002
the Vodafone brand was introduced in the Estonian market with signing of a Partner Network
Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti). Radiolinja (Eesti) later changed its name to Elisa.
On 7 January 2003 the Company signed a group-wide Partner agreement with mobilkom
Austria. As a result, Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia were added to the community. In April 2003

Og Vodafone was introduced in the Icelandic market and in May 2003 Vodafone Italy
(OmnitelPronto-Italia) was rebranded Vodafone Italy. On 21 July 2003 Lithuania was added to
the community, with the signing of a Partner Network agreement with Bit.
In February 2004 Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with Luxembourg's LuxGSM
and a Partner Network Agreement with Cyta of Cyprus. Cyta agreed to rename its mobile
phone operations to Cytamobile-Vodafone. In April 2004 the Company purchased Singlepoint
airtime provider from John Caudwell (Caudwell Group) and approx 1.5million customers onto
its base for 405million, adding sites in Stoke on Trent (England) to existing sites in Newbury
(HQ), Birmingham, Warrington and Banbury. In November 2004 Vodafone introduced 3G
services into Europe.
In June 2005 the Company increased its participation in Romania's Connex to 99% and also
bought the Czech mobile operator Oskar. On 1 July 2005 Oskar of the Czech Republic was
rebranded as Oskar-Vodafone. Later that year on 17 October 2005 Vodafone Portugal
launched a revised logo, using new text designed by Dalton Maag, and a 3D version of the
Speech mark logo, but still retaining a red background and white writing (or vice versa). Also,
various operating companies started to drop the use of the SIM card pattern in the company
logo. (The rebranding of Oskar-Vodafone and Connex-Vodafone also does not use the SIM
card pattern.) A custom typeface by Dalton Maag (based on their font family InterFace) formed
part of the new identity.
On 28 October 2005 Connex in Romania was rebranded as Connex-Vodafone and on 31
October 2005 the Company reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Sweden to Telenor for
approximately 1 billion. After the sale, Vodafone Sweden became a Partner Network. In
December 2005 Vodafone won an auction to buy Turkey's second-largest mobile phone
company, Telsim, for $4.5 billion. In December 2005 Vodafone Spain became the second
member of the group to adopt the revised logo: it was phased in over the following six months
in other countries.
In 2006 the Company rebranded its Stoke-on-Trent site as Stoke Premier Centre, a centre of
expertise for the company dealing with Customer Care for its higher value customers, technical
support, sales and credit control. All cancellations and upgrades started to be dealt with by this
call centre. On 5 January 2006 Vodafone announced the completion of the sale of Vodafone

Sweden to Telenor. On February 2006 the Company closed its Birmingham Call Centre. In 1
February 2006 Oskar Vodafone became
Vodafone Czech Republic, adopting the revised logo and on 22 February 2006 the Company
announced that it was extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the signing of Partner Network
Agreement with Mobiltel, which is part of mobilkom Austria group.
On 12 March 2006 former chief, Sir Christopher Gent, who was appointed the honorary post
Chairman for Life in 2003, quits following rumours of boardroom rifts. In April 2006 the
Company announced that it has signed an extension to its Partner Network Agreement with
BITE Group, enabling its Latvian subsidiary "BITE Latvija" to become the latest member of
Vodafone's global partner community. Also in April 2006 Vodafone Sweden changed its name
to Telenor Sverige AB and Connex-Vodafone became Vodafone Romania, also adopting the
new logo. On 30 May 2006 Vodafone announced the biggest loss in British corporate history
(14.9 billion) and plans to cut 400 jobs; it reported one-off costs of 23.5 billion due to the
revaluation of its Mannesmann subsidiary. On 24 July 2006 the respected head of Vodafone
Europe, Bill Morrow, quit unexpectedly and on 25 August 2006 the Company announced the
sale of its 25% stake in Belgium's Proximus for 2 billion. After the deal, Proximus was still part
of the community as a Partner Network. On 5 October 2006 Vodafone announced the first
single brand partnership with Og Vodafone which would operate under the name Vodafone
Iceland and on 19 December 2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25% stake in
Switzerland's Swisscom for CHF4.25 billion (1.8 billion). After the deal, Swisscom would still
be part of the community as a Partner Network. Finally in December 2006 the Company
completed the acquisition of Aspective, an enterprise applications systems integrator in the
UK, signaling Vodafone's intent to grow a significant presence and revenues in the ICT
marketplace.
Early in January 2007 Telsim in Turkey adopted Vodafone dual branding as Telsim Vodafone
and on 1 April 2007 Telsim Vodafone Turkey dropped its original brand and became Vodafone
Turkey. On 1 May 2007 Vodafone added Jersey and Guernsey to the community, as Airtel was
signed as Partner Network in both crown dependencies. In June 2007 the Vodafone live!
Mobile Internet portal in the UK was relaunched. Front page was now charged for and
previously "bundled" data allowance was removed from existing contract terms. All users were
given access to the "full" web rather than a Walled Garden and Vodafone became the first

mobile network to focus an entire media campaign on its newly launched mobile Internet portal
in the UK. On 1 August 2007 Vodafone Portugal launched Vodafone Messenger, a service with
Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.
On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its footprint to Serbia as VIP mobile was added to the
community as a Partner Network and on 20 May 2008 the Company added VIP Operator as a
Partner Network thereby extending the global footprint to Macedonia. In May 2008 Kall of the
Faroe Islands rebranded as Vodafone Faroe Islands.
On 30 October 2008, the company announced a strategic, non-equity partnership with MTS
group of Russia. The agreement adds Russia, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and
Uzbekistan to the group footprint.

H IS TORY OF V ODA FON E

Voda fo ne

is

the

world's leading

international

mobile

communications

c o m p a n y. C u r r e n t l y i t h a s o p e r a t i o n s i n 2 5 c o u n t r i e s a c r o s s 5 c o n t i n e n t s
and 40 partner networks with over 260 million customers worldwide.

DURING 1980S
Voda fo ne m ade the UK 's fir st m obile ca ll at a fe w m inutes pa st m idni ght
on 1st January 1985. Within fifteen years, the network was the largest
company in Europe and the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. By
t h e t u r n o f t h e c e n t u r y, a l m o s t e v e r y s e c o n d U K c i t i z e n h a d a m o b i l e
a n d a t h i r d o f t h e m w e r e c o n n e c t e d t o Vo d a f o n e .
T he Voda fo ne s to r y is on e of in ve stm ent, inno vatio n and a wa rd -wi nn ing
c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e . Ab o v e a l l , i t s o n e o f g r o w t h a n d t h e a b i l i t y t o d e l i v e r
the tremendous benefits of mobile communications, not just in the UK but
worldwide.

1982
The Racal electronics group wins its bid for the private sector UK
cellular license. It sets up the Racal telecoms division and names the
n e w n e t w o r k Vo d a f o n e t o r e f l e c t t h e p r o v i s i o n o f v o i c e a n d d a t a s e r v i c e s
o v e r m o b i l e p h o n e s . B a s e d i n N e w b u r y, t h e c o m p a n y h a s l e s s t h a n 5 0
emplo yees, all in one building.

1985
T h e V od a f o n e a n a l o g u e n e t w o r k i s t h e f i r s t c e l l u l a r n e t w o r k t o l a u n c h i n
the UK, and the first call is made from St Katherines dock in London to
Newbury on 1 January 1985.

1987
V od a f o n e i s r e c o g n i z e d a s t h e l a r g e s t m o b i l e n e t w o r k i n t h e w o r l d .
Voda fo ne is cr eated as the voi ce and data busin es s to de ve lop and
m a r k e t Vo d a f o n e r e c a l l , t h e v o i c e m a i l s e r v i c e .
V od a f o n e i s l a u n c h e d , p r o v i d i n g a p a g i n g n e t w o r k t h a t c o v e r s 8 0 % o f
the UK population.

1988

Racal

telecomm

plc

floats

on

the

London

and

New

Yor k

stock

exchanges.

1989
Paknet is formed as a joint venture between Racal telecom and cable &
wireless

DURING 1990S:

1991
R a c a l a n d Vo d a f o n e d e m e r g e . An d t h e Vo d a f o n e g r o u p i s l i s t e d a s a n
i n d e p e n d e n t c o m p a n y o n t h e L o n d o n a n d N e w Yor k s t o c k e x c h a n g e s .

 Voda fo ne and te lec om F inlan d mak e the wo rl ds fir st in te rna ti onal

roaming call.
V od a f o n e l a u n c h e s i t s d i g i t a l ( G S M ) m o b i l e p h o n e s e r v i c e t h e f i r s t i n
the UK.

1992
V od a f o n e a n d t e l e c o m F i n l a n d s i g n t h e w o r l d ' s f i r s t i n t e r n a t i o n a l G S M
roaming agreement.

1993

V od a f o n e

group

international

is

formed

to

acquire

licenses

and

supervise overseas interests.

V od a f o n e o p e n s i t s f i r s t h i g h s t r e e t s t o r e .

1994
V od a f o n e i s t h e f i r s t n e t w o r k o p e r a t o r i n t h e U K t o l a u n c h d a t a , f a x a n d
sms services over the digital network.
Voda fo ne join s the glo bal star co nso rtium to de velop an d la unc h a lo w
earth orbiting satellite mobile phone service.

1996
Voda fo ne is th e fir st net wo rk oper ator in th e U K to laun ch a p re- pa y
analogue package.

 Per second billing on the digital network is introduced, as well as

options

to

buy

bundled

minutes

and

make

off-peak

local

calls

to

landlines.

1997
Chris gent succeeds Sir Gerald Whent as chief executive officer of
Voda fo ne g roup plc .

1999
V od a f o n e a i r t o u c h p l c i s c r e a t e d a s a r e s u l t o f a s u c c e s s f u l m e r g e r
b e t w e e n Vo d a f o n e g r o u p p l c a n d a i r t o u c h c o m m u n i c a t i o n s I n c .
O n 5 J a n u a r y Vo d a f o n e c o n n e c t s t h e f i v e m i l l i o n c u s t o m e r s i n t h e U K .

DURING 2000S:
2000
T h e a c q u i s i t i o n o f M a n n e s m a n n Ag a l m o s t d o u b l e s t h e s i z e o f t h e
Voda fo ne gro up mak ing it the lar ges t m obile tele comm un ica ti ons com p an y
and one of the top ten companies, by market capitalization, in the world.
V i z z a v i i s l a u n c h e d , a 5 0 / 5 0 j o i n t v e n t u r e b e t w e e n Vod a f o n e a i r t o u c h
and vivendinet to deliver a multi-access branded internet portal for
Europe.

 Voda fo ne acqu ire s the la rge st a vaila ble 3g lice nse in th e UK. In par allel
w i t h t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f 3 g , Vo d a f o n e a n n o u n c e s i t s i n t e n t i o n t o o f f e r
GPRS (general packet radio service) to UK corporate customers.
The global star satellite communications service is launched in the UK.

2001
V od a f o n e i n t r o d u c e s i n s t a n t m e s s a g i n g t o i t s n e t w o r k s .
Voda fo ne mak es the wo rld s fi rs t 3g roam in g c all bet we en S pain and
Japan.

2002
V o d a f o n e t r i a l s i t s g l o b a l m o b i l e p a ym e n t s y s t e m i n t h e U K I t a l y a n d
G e r m a n y.

V od a f o n e

launches

the

first

commercial

European

GPRS

roaming

group

and

service.

The

Vod a f o n e

group

foundation

is

launched.

The

its

subsidiaries plan to contribute 20 million to community programmes,

g u i d e d b y t h e g r o u p s o c i a l i n v e s t m e n t p o l i c y.
V od a f o n e l a u n c h e s Vod a f o n e l i v e ! & m o b i l e o f f i c e , t w o n e w c o n s u m e r
and business propositions.

Ar u n S a r i n

is

selected

to

succeed

Sir

Christopher

Gent

as

Chief

E x e c u t i v e o f Vod a f o n e g r o u p p l c .

2003
V od a f o n e l i v e ! At t r a c t s 1 m i l l i o n c u s t o m e r s i n i t s f i r s t s i x m o n t h s .

Orange,

telefonica

moviles,

t-mobile,

and

Vod a f o n e

form

new

association to drive interoperable mobile pa yments.

2004
V od a f o n e l a u n c h e s i t s f i r s t 3 g s e r v i c e i n E u r o p e w i t h t h e V o d a f o n e
mobile connect 3g/gprs data card.
V od a f o n e l i v e ! W i t h 3 g i s l a u n c h e d i n 1 3 m a r k e t s .

2005
V od a f o n e s i m p l y i s l a u n c h e d , g i v i n g c u s t o m e r s n e w, e a s y - t o - u s e v o i c e
and text services.
V od a f o n e i n t r o d u c e s p a s s p o r t , a n e w v o i c e r o a m i n g p r i c e p l a n .

2006

 T h e n u m b e r o f Vo d a f o n e l i v e ! C u s t o m e r s w i t h 3 g r e a c h 1 0 m i l l i o n .

VODAFONE ESSAR

Introduction:
Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 21
telecom circles in India. Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products are

simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage
throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros.
Vodafone Essar provides 2G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM
technology, offering voice and data services in 22 of the country's 23 licence areas.

Ownership:
Vodafone Essar is owned by Vodafone 52%, Essar Group 33%, and other Indian nationals,
15%.
On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li KaShing
Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, pipping Reliance Communications, Hinduja Group, and
Essar Group, which is the owner of the remaining 33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8
billion. The transaction closed on May 8, 2007.

Previous brands:
In December 2006, Hutch Essar re-launched the "Hutch" brand nationwide, consolidating its
services under a single identity. The Company entered into agreement with NTT DoCoMo to
launch i-mode mobile Internet service in India during 2007.
The company used to be named Hutchison Essar, reflecting the name of its previous owner,
Hutchison. However, the brand was marketed as Hutch. After getting the necessary
government approvals with regards to the acquisition of a majority by the Vodafone Group, the
company was rebranded as Vodafone Essar. The marketing brand was officially changed to
Vodafone on 20 September 2007.
On September 20, 2007 Hutch becomes Vodafone in one of the biggest brand transition
exercises in recent times.
Vodafone Essar is spending somewhere in the region of Rs 250 crores on this high-profile
transition being unveiled today. Along with the transition, cheap cell phones have been
launched in the Indian market under the Vodafone brand. There are plans to launch cobranded handsets sourced from global vendors as well.
A popular daily quoted a Vodafone Essar director as saying that "the objective is to leverage
Vodafone Group's global scale in bringing millions of low-cost handsets from across-the-world
into India."
While there is no revealing the prices of the low-cost Vodafone handsets, the industry is abuzz
that prices might start at Rs 666, undercutting Reliance Communications' much-hyped 'Rang
Barse' with cheap handsets beginning at Rs 777.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Essar sources said there would be no discounts or subsidized handset
offers -- rather handset-bundled schemes for customers.
Incidentally, China's ZTE, which is looking to set-up a manufacturing unit in the country, is expected to
provide several Vodafone handsets in India. Earlier this year, Vodafone penned a global low-cost
handset procurement deal with ZTE

A BOUT THE MOST POP ULA R V ODA FON E Z OO-ZOOS:

S O M E I N T E R E S T I N G FAC T S AB O U T Z O O Z O O S :
O n f i r s t l o o k , t h e s e Z o o Z o o s i n Vo d a f o n e T V a d s m a y r e s e m b l e
animated cartoon characters with an alien look or simply a stupid egghead character with disproportional white bodies and black dots for eyes
and

mouth.

But the interesting part is that Zoo Zoos are not animated characters but
are actually slim women actors from local Mumbai theatres, dressed in
white costumes that are stuffed with foam to portray the characters.

These characters are named Z oo Zoos, and are created by O&M. These
ads

were

directed

by

P r a k a s h Ve r m a

and

were

launched

during

the

ongoing IPL 2 series.

They are human beings who were made to wear body suits. the design of
the characters is such that one gets fooled into thinking it is animation,
shrugs Rao, which was indeed the very illusion that had to be created. in

a sense, it is live animation! He quips, referring to the fact that it was

all shot live.
To c r e a t e l a r g e h e a d s t h e y u s e d a m a t e r i a l c a l l e d P e r s p e x , w h i c h w a s
a g a i n s t u f f e d w i t h f o a m . Al s o , t h e y c a s t e d o n l y w o m e n a n d c h i l d r e n t o
play the zoo zoos so that the thin hands and legs made the heads look
e v e n b i g g e r.

SPONSORSHIP
V O D AF O N E S

PAR T N E R S H I P

WITH

M C L AR E N

MERCEDES

SERIES:
A s t i t l e s p o n s o r a n d o f f i c i a l m o b i l e p a r t n e r o f t h e Vod a f o n e M c l a r e n
M e r c e d e s t e a m , Vo d a f o n e i s r a i s i n g i t s a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h F o r m u l a 1 t o t h e
ultimate level. We have committed to a long-term agreement, starting in
2007.

T h e s p o n s o r s h i p d e m o n s t r a t e s Vod a f o n e s o n g o i n g c o m m i t m e n t t o t h e
Formula

world

championship,

sport

which

continues

to

deliver

massive global television coverage and which has significant appeal for
Voda fo nes con sum er and bu sine ss cu stom ers aro und the wor ld .

The

title

sponsorship

including

the

team

name

Vo d a f o n e

Mclaren

M e r c e d e s a n d o f f i c i a l m o b i l e p a r t n e r o f t h e t e a m g i v e s V od a f o n e ;
dominant title sponsorship branding on the cars, drivers' and pit crews'
overalls and helmets.

As we enter into this exciting new partnership the associative rights

acquired provide unique opportunities that will continue to raise brand
awareness through the team name and branding. The team partnership
delivers a powerful integrated marketing platform through advertising,
h o s p i t a l i t y, m o b i l e c o n t e n t , h a n d s e t o f f e r s a n d p r o m o t i o n s a n d t h r o u g h
innovative

activation

will

encourage

preference

and

lo yalty

amongst

Voda fo nes cu stom ers .

V O D AF O N E W I T H U E F A C H AM P I O N S L E AG U E :
Voda fo ne is in i ts s eco nd se aso n as offi cial pa rtne r and offi cial mobil e
n e t w o r k o f t h e U E FA C h a m p i o n s L e a g u e , t h e w o r l d ' s l a r g e s t a n n u a l
football competition.

Voda fo ne is delig hted to be a t the fore fr on t of E uro pes pr em ier clu b

c o m p e t i t i o n . Af t e r t h e s u c c e s s e s o f l a s t s e a s o n ' s U E FA c h a m p i o n s l e a g u e
s p o n s o r s h i p a n d t h e a g r e e m e n t s a n n o u n c e d i n Ap r i l t o s p o n s o r t h e U E FA
cup

final

and

U E FA

super

cup,

Vo d a f o n e

is

looking

forward

to

strengthening its position as a brand passionate about the beautiful

game.

The

U E FA

champions

league

is

the

world's

greatest

club

football

competition. During nine months of ever y year, Europes top 32 clubs

battle it out for the troph y that proves the y're the best of the best. It's a
s p o n s o r s h i p t h a t d e l i v e r s c o n s i d e r a b l e v a l u e t o Vod a f o n e a n d i s h i g h l y
r e l e v a n t t o m o s t o f t h e Vo d a f o n e o p e r a t i n g c o m p a n i e s .

Football

is

the

most

popular

sport

in

the

world.

Huge

numbers

of

Voda fo ne c us tom er s a re pa ssi ona te ab out footbal l - and sp ons or ship s

help to convert this passion into a business relationship.

The

partnership

e n a b l e s Vo d a f o n e

to

deliver

content

including

video

h i g h l i g h t s p a c k a g e s a n d g o a l a l e r t s f r o m a l l U E FA c h a m p i o n s l e a g u e
m a t c h e s t o f o o t b a l l f a n s o n t h e Vo d a f o n e l i v e ! W i t h 3 g c o n s u m e r s e r v i c e .

V O D AF O N E T I E - U P W I T H R AD I O C H AN N E L F E V E R 1 0 4 :
Voda fo ne ti ed up wi th Radi o chan nel FE VE R 104 whe re in th e c hann el
provides with cash prizes of upto 1 lakh or more which is another
p r o m o t i o n s t r a t e g y a d o p t e d b y Vod a f o n e w h i c h w a s a s u c c e s s .

V O D AF O N E S P O N S O R O F E N G L AN D C R I C K E T T E AM :
As our sponsorship of the England cricket team comes to a close, weve
got an impressive line up to celebrate the 12th and final year of the
partnership. This summer England will once again embark on the quest
for victory in the ultimate test of any England cricketer as they take on
A u s t r a l i a i n t h e p o w e r a s h e s s e r i e s ; a n d a s a Vod a f o n e c u s t o m e r, y o u c a n
b e w i t h u s t h e w h o l e w a y.

V O D AF O N E S O U N D B I T E S
Vodafone sound bites explore every aspect of the global music scene.
Featuring international artists interviews at gigs and festivals, bands
fantasy group line-ups, pre-show rituals and performers describing their
first time on stage, the programme brings an authentic behind the scenes
insight into the world of music.

Voda fo ne

sound

bite

is

available

vodafonesoundbites.com)

and

on

T V,
on

via

website

mobile

( w w w.m t v (wap.mtv-

vodafonesoundbites.com) as a series of twenty one, three minute shows.

The website and mobile service carry additional footage, as well as
editorial and news elements.

Uniquely the programme is available in seven languages on MTV in

G e r m a n y, H u n g a r y, t h e N e t h e r l a n d s , P o r t u g a l , R o m a n i a , S p a i n , Tu r k e y,
t h e U K a n d I r e l a n d , Au s t r a l i a , N e w Z e a l a n d a n d o n t h e m t v E u r o p e a n
feed, covering sixteen countries!

E F F O R T S TAK E N T O B O O S T S AL E S B Y V O D AF O N E ( T H E Z O O
ZOO SERIES):
Voda fo nes ne w se rie s o f ad ve r ti sem en ts fe ature lo va ble wh i te , larg eheaded creatures that have attracted more than 28,500 fans on face
book. They are so cute, they remind me of Casper who was my favorite
cartoon.

But for all those who think the zoo zoos are animated, heres the shocker:
they are real people in costume.
R a j i v R a o , E x e c u t i v e C r e a t i v e D i r e c t o r ( S o u t h As i a ) o f O g i l v y & M a t h e r,
t h e a g e n c y t h a t h a n d l e s Vo d a f o n e a d v e r t i s e m e n t s , s a i d : w e w a n t e d t o
make real people look as animated as possible.
B a n g a l o r e - b a s e d n i r v a n a f i l m s s h o t t h e a d s i n C a p e Tow n , S o u t h A f r i c a ,
just in time for IPL.

S a i d P r a k a s h Ve r m a , n i r v a n a s o w n e r a n d d i r e c t o r o f

the zoozoo campaign: our actors were small-bodied, thin women covered
in layers of white fabric. Each facial expression was made of rubber and
pasted on the actors.

In about 10 da ys, O&M completed the campaign shooting two-three films

a d a y, e a c h s e l l i n g a p r o d u c t o r a s e r v i c e o f f e r e d b y Vo d a f o n e . A d o z e n
more films are expected as the league progresses.

The characters, which look like distant cousins of the Pillsbury dough
b o y, w e r e e n a c t e d b y p r o f e s s i o n a l b a l l e t a r t i s t s i n w h i t e b o d y s u i t s . W h a t
makes them so endearing is that they are innocent people living in a
s i m p l e w o r l d u n l i k e o u r s , w h o l a u g h l o u d w h e n t h e y l a u g h . An d w h o s e e m
t o b e i n a n i n - b e t w e e n w o r l d o f a n i m a t i o n a n d r e a l i t y, s a i d M r . R a j i v R a o ,
e x e c u t i v e c r e a t i v e d i r e c t o r, O & M .

A film shot at 20 frames per second

made the zoo zoos movements

hurried and comical. Of the 29 different zoo zoo ads created for the IPL,
t h e r e w i l l b e a n e w o n e e v e r y d a y.

V O D AF O N E L AU N C H E S P H O N E S F O R T H E P O O R
From now onwards millions of people all through the world could access
m o b i l e p h o n e s f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e w i t h t h e r e l e a s e o f Vo d a f o n e s f i r s t u l t r a cheap own-branded phones. It is said b y the compan y that these phones
a r e c h e a p e n o u g h f o r p o o r p e o p l e t o h a v e . P l u s t h e Vod a f o n e 1 2 5 a n d
225,

released

r e c e n t l y,

are

aimed

at

expanding

the

availability

of

affordable mobile phones in increasing markets.

The

mobile

phones

have

been

produced

for

Vod a f o n e

by

Chinese

manufacturer ZTE Corporation - the first handsets resulting from an

a g r e e m e n t b e t w e e n t h e t w o c o m p a n i e s a n n o u n c e d i n D e c e m b e r. T h e y w i l l
c o m e i n t o v i e w f i r s t o n Vo d a f o n e n e t w o r k s i n E g y p t , R o m a n i a a n d S o u t h

A f r i c a . T h e Vod a f o n e 1 2 5 a n d 2 2 5 a r e r e p o r t e d t o b e c o n s i s t i n g w i t h a
similar set of basic features, although the 125 has a monochrome display
w h e r e a s t h e 2 2 5 s d i s p l a y i s c o l o r.

Voda fo ne is also planni ng to ope n ac ce ss to m obile se r vi ces fo r m ore

people in countries where mobile networks are the most viable and costeffective communications service available. The phones are said to be
coming with the price tag of around 1200-2500.

INTRODUCTION

OF

PHONE

H I S T O R Y O F I N D I AN T E L E C O M :

OF

THE

BIGGEST

EVENT

IN

THE

We are delighted to announce that the iphone 3g will be available in

India from august 22, 2008. It will be available in 8gb& 16gb models,
p r i c e d a t R s 3 1 , 0 0 0 a n d R s 3 6 , 1 0 0 r e s p e c t i v e l y.

And this is just the cost of apple hardware - you will have to pa y extra for
d a t a a n d v o i c e p l a n s . Ai r t e l w i l l a l s o i n t r o d u c e i p h o n e o n t h e s a m e d a t e
b u t I d o n t t h i n k i f a n i p h o n e 3 g i s w o r t h t h a t k i n d o f m o n e y.

N o w t h a t Vod a f o n e o f f i c i a l l y a n n o u n c e d t h e p r i c e o f i p h o n e , a l o c a l r e p .
S h a r e d d e t a i l s a b o u t t h e d i f f e r e n t t a r i f f p l a n s a v a i l a b l e f o r V od a f o n e
customers of iphone in India.

U n l i k e b l a c k b e r r y, Vod a f o n e o f f e r s n o " u n l i m i t e d d a t a " p l a n f o r i p h o n e

users. That means if you exhaust your monthl y data usage limit, be
prepared to shell out an extra Rs 5 per mb of data exchanged.

The monthly rent for iphone will range from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 depending
on your internet requirements. The lower plan will provide you with 50 mb
of free data usage while the upper 1000 plan provides 600 mb of data
usage.

The above plans are for customers with a postpaid connection. If you
want to go for a prepaid iphone connection, theres aiphone data card
available for a monthly rent of Rs 100 but without any free data usage.
The sms and local / std call charges on iphone will more or less be the
s a m e a s e x i s t i n g t a r i f f s o f f e r e d b y Vo d a f o n e .

L e t s d o s o m e m a t h s . I f y o u a r e h e a v y w e b u s e r, t h e o v e r a l l c o s t w o u l d
work something like this - Rs 36000 (for handset) + Rs 12000 ( yearl y
rent) + call charges + extra data charges + taxes.

Contrast that with a blackberry curve from airtel - Rs 23000 (for headset)
+ Rs 6000 ( yearl y rent with unlimited data) + call charges + taxes.

V O D AF O N E S T I E - U P W I T H B . E . S . T & R AI LWAY S :
A s a p a r t o f t h e c u s t o m e r r e l a t i o n s h i p m a n a g e m e n t Vod a f o n e c a m e o u t
with a unique plan of providing its customers with utmost ease of pa ying
their bills on the railway platforms & in the buses. The customers were
have to visit the respective centres of their area to pay the bills which
was time consuming & required some effort. Because of the initiative
t a k e n b y Vod a f o n e p o s t p a i d c u s t o m e r s a r e v e r y m u c h r e l a x e d t h a t t h e y d o
n o t h a v e t o v i s i t t h e r e s p e c t i v e c e n t r e s t o m a k e t h e p a ym e n t .

Customer Satisfaction
Introduction:
Customer satisfaction, a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied
by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator
within business and is part of the four perspectives of a Balanced Scorecard.

In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction

is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business
strategy.
There is a substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of customer
satisfaction for firms.

Measuring customer satisfaction

Organizations are increasingly interested in retaining existing customers while targeting noncustomers; measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the
organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace.
Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation of
the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product/service.
The state of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical variables
which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend rate. The level of
satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may have and other
products against which the customer can compare the organization's products.
Because satisfaction is basically a psychological state, care should be taken in the effort of
quantitative measurement, although a large quantity of research in this area has recently been
developed. Work done by Berry, Brodeur between 1990 and 1998 defined ten 'Quality Values'
which influence satisfaction behavior, further expanded by Berry in 2002 and known as the ten
domains of satisfaction. These ten domains of satisfaction include: Quality, Value, Timeliness,
Efficiency, Ease of Access, Environment, Inter-departmental Teamwork, Front line Service
Behaviors, Commitment to the Customer and Innovation. These factors are emphasized for
continuous improvement and organizational change measurement and are most often utilized
to develop the architecture for satisfaction measurement as an integrated model. Work done
by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry between 1985 and 1988 provides the basis for the
measurement of customer satisfaction with a service by using the gap between the customer's
expectation of performance and their perceived experience of performance. This provides the

measurer with a satisfaction "gap" which is objective and quantitative in nature. Work done by
Cronin and Taylor propose the "confirmation/disconfirmation" theory of combining the "gap"
described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry as two different measures (perception and
expectation of performance) into a single measurement of performance according to
expectation. According to Garbrand, customer satisfaction equals perception of performance
divided by expectation of performance.
The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with a set of statements using a
Likert Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement and in term of
their perception and expectation of performance of the organization being measured.

Vodafone had highest customer satisfaction index in 2007

Lisbon, 25 August 2008 - Vodafone obtained the highest customer satisfaction index in the
telecommunications sector in 2007, according to annual results published by Anacom.
Vodafone achieved a satisfaction index of 74.4 (on a scale of 0 to 100), the highest score of all
the companies in the Portuguese telecommunications market and considerably above the
sector average of 67.6.
In the report published by Anacom, Vodafone is ranked in first place in all the indicators
included in the survey: Satisfaction with the operator, Image that customers have of the
operator, Customer Expectations, Perceived Quality of the operator's network and services,
Perceived Value for Money, Complaints received and their handling, and Loyalty of customers
to their operator.
In the Perceived Quality indicator, Vodafone obtained a score of 8.3 points for overall quality,
way ahead of the scores of the other two operators (both obtained 7.7 points). Vodafone
comes top in all the indicators for perceived quality of network and services: technical quality of
the network (8.2 points); customer service and advice capability (7.6 points); quality (8.2
points), diversity (8.0 points) and reliability (7.9 points) of products and services offered; clarity
and transparency of information supplied (7.8 points); network coverage (7.9 points) and clarity
and transparency of price plans (7.9 points).

Similarly, in the indicators measuring the Image of mobile operators, Vodafone comes top in
the five categories analyzed (on a scale of 1 to 10): 'It is a reliable company in terms of what it
says and what it does' (8.1 points); 'It is stable and well established in the market' (8.8 points);
'It contributes positively to society' (7.5 points); 'It cares about its customers' (7.6 points); and 'It
is innovative and forward looking' (8.5 points).
The methodology used in the ECSI Portugal 2007 survey (ECSI European Customer
Satisfaction Index) is similar to that used by the European Commission to survey customer
satisfaction in 25 Member States, enabling comparisons to be made between the results
obtained in each country.
The ECSI Portugal 2007 Communications survey was carried out by the Higher Institute of
Statistics and Information Management at Lisbon's New University in partnership with the
Portuguese Quality Institute and the Portuguese Quality Association, with sponsorship from
Anacom.

RESEARCH METHDOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

Research in common parlance refers a search for knowledge. Once can also define research
as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific c topic. Infect,
research is an art of scientific investigation. Research as a systematized effort to gain new
knowledge
Research is an original contribution to the existing stop of knowledge for it advancement. It is
the pursuit of truth with help of study observation comparison and experiment insured research
for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution to a problem is
research. Research refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating the problem,
formulating the hypothesis, collection of the facts .

Problem Definition / Title Of The Study:A Study on Customer Satisfaction In Indian telecommunication industry With Special
Reference Of Vodafone.

Duration of the project:My report on A Study on Customer Satisfaction In Indian telecommunication industry With
Special Reference Of Vodafone, have been completed in 20 days.

Objective Of The Study:Following are the main objective to study about the customer satisfaction on Vodafone.
To study telecommunication industry.
To study the company profile of Vodafone.
To study customer satisfaction of Vodafone.
To study various Marketing activities provided by Vodafone.

To study the various services provided by Vodafone.

To know the expectation of Vodafone Customers
Type of Research :Descriptive Research: Descriptive research includes facts, findingsand enquires of different
kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it exists

at present. Researcher has no control over the variables of this type of research. The
methodology of the study is based on primary and secondary data.

Data Collection:
Primary Data:Data is collected primarily through personal contact, meeting, interview and
questionnaire with the concerned authority of the organization and respondents
Secondary Data:
Secondary data was collected by gathering information from concerned personnel at these
firms and the rest was collected from the various journals and websites

Sample Size & Method Of Selecting Sample:The sampling method so as to obtain a representative sample is the Non-probability
sampling methods. Under Non-probability sampling, the question addressed the basic
questions relating to the level of satisfaction with in customers.
A random sample of 100 people was taken. I selected the respondents to the survey on the
basis of judgment sampling with convenience taken into account.

Scope of the study: By analyzing this information, the company would be able to better design schemes, services
& target right prospects needs & wants.
More people will get aware about Vodafone that will increase profit level of Vodafone.

This study helps to identify the behavior of consumerwhen there are no offers & schemes from
Vodafone

Understand different facilities provided by the Vodafone to the customers.

To do the careful study of steps which Vodafone takes to attract the customers..
The study is also useful to the Vodafone to formulate a systematic structure for providing
facilities to the customers.
It informs to customers about Vodafone progressive attitude towards customers.
Understand the overall performance and progress of the Vodafone.
The Study Also Relates To Customer Satisfaction And Its Related Factors.The Factors Studied
Are:

Service provided by the Vodafone

The Image Or Personality Of The Vodafone.

Convenience Provided To The Customers.
Maintenance Of Relationship With The Customers

Limitations Of The Study:

The overall data collected through one branch of the bank that is raja park Branch jaipur.

Therefore it makes some limitations to collect the data and analyze.

A customer s satisfaction towards the Branch is only considered for study, hence the structure;

other concepts of the banks are excluded for the detail study.
The study is on the information collected from bank, during very short period of the case study

work. So only limited data is collected and no detailed study about case is carried out.
The study considered only the customers satisfaction so other concepts of the banks are
excluded.

FINDINGS
93% of the respondents are have a mobile phone while 7% of the respondents do not have a
mobile phone.

 100% of respondents are aware about Vodafone Services.

36% of the respondents are aware about Vodafone through Advertisements, 29% are aware
because of Hoardings while 20% and 15% of the respondents are aware because of
Newspapers and Mouth Publicity respectively.
39% of the respondents use Vodafone services from past more than 1 year while the lowest is
14% respondents using Vodafone services less than 1 month.
84% of the respondents use pre-paid services while only 16% of the respondents use post

paid services.
37% of the respondents use Vodafone for SMS services while only 14% of the respondents

use Vodafone for Value Added Services.

87% of the respondent calls at customer care while 13% respondents do not call at customer

care.
34% of respondents call at customer care for complaining purpose while 30%, 19% and 17%
of respondents call customer care for other queries, information regarding new schemes and

value added services respectively

90% of the Vodafone customers would like to recommend Vodafone services to others while
10% of the Vodafone Customers wont recommend to others.

ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

Q1) Do you have a mobile phone?
Yes

93

No

Column1
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Column1

yes

no

Interpretation:
It is clear from the graph that 93% of the respondents have mobile phone while 7% of them
dont keep mobile

Q2) Are you aware about Vodafone service?

Yes
No

100
0

Column1
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Column1

yes

no

Interpretation:
Allthe respondents are aware about the Vodafone services.

Q3) From which source you came to know about Vodafone?

Advertisement
Hoardings
Newspapers

36
29
20

Mouth Publicity

15

Column1
40
35
30
Column1

25
20
15
10
5
0
Advertisement

Hoardings

Newspapers

Mouth Publicity

Interpretation:
As shown in the graph 36% of the respondents came to know about the services of vodafone
by advertisements,followed by 29% through hoardings, 20% by newspapers and remaining
15% through mouth publicity.

Q4) Since how long you are using Vodafone services?

Less than 1 month
2-6 months
6-12 months
More than 1 year

14
22
25
39

Column1
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Column1

Interpretation:
39% of the surveyed customers are using Vodafone services from more than 1 year, 25%
customers from 6-12 months, 22% from 2-6 months and 14% are using from less than 1
month.

Q5) Which of the following services do you use of Vodafone?

Pre-paid
Post-paid

84
16

Column1
90
80
70

Column1

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Pre-paid

Post-paid

Interpretation:
84% of the customers are using pre-paid services, while 16% are using post- paid services.
This shows that pre-paid users are large as compared to post-paid users.

Q6) Which services are more helpful to you while using Vodafone services?
Call rates
SMS service
Network
Value Added Services

21
37
28
14

Column1
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Column1

Interpretation:
When asked about Vodafone services, 37% told that sms services are very helpful to them,
followed by good network (28%) , call rates are favorable for 21% and value added services
for 14%.

Q7) Do you call at customer care?

Yes
No

87
13

Column1
90
80
70

Column1

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
yes

Interpretation:

no

When asked about calling at customer care, 87 % of the respondents told that they call at
customer care , where as 13% dont call.

Q8) For what reason you call at customer care?

Value added services
Information regarding new schemes
Other queries
Complaining

17
19
34
30

Column1
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Column1

Interpretation:
When asked about reason for calling at customer care , 17% of users told that they call for
value added services , 19% call for information regarding new schemes , 30% for complaining
and 34% have other queries.

Rate the following services on the basis of your satisfaction.(Q9 to Q16)

Q9) Network
Excellent
Very good
Fairly good
Average
Poor

31
33
20
8
3

Series 1
35
30
25
Series 1

20
15
10
5
0
Excellent

Very good

Fairly good

Average

Poor

Interpretation:
Majority of the customers are satisfied with the Vodafone network. 33% told network is very
good, 31% find it excellent, 20% rate it as fairly good and rest (11%) find it average and poor.

Q10) SMS rates

Excellent
Very good
Fairly good
Average
Poor

7
22
40
28
3

Series 1
40
35
30
25

Series 1

20
15
10
5
0
Excellent

Very good

Fairly good

Average

Poor

Interpretation:
SMS Rates are fairly good according to majority(40%) of users, 28% find it average, Very good
according to 22% users and 7% rate it as excellent.

Q11) New schemes and offers

Excellent
Very good
Fairly good
Average
Poor

3
16
31
38
12

Series 1
40
35
30
25

Series 1

20
15
10
5
0
Excellent

Very good

Fairly good

Average

Poor

Interpretation:
Satisfaction level for new schemes and offers of majority of users is low as, 38% said it is
average ,according to 31% offers are fairly good, Very good for 16% users and 12% users
think that offers of Vodafone are poor.

Q12) Customer Care

Excellent

Very good
Fairly good
Average
Poor

37
33
17
6

Series 1
40
35
30
25

Series 1

20
15
10
5
0
Excellent

Very good

Fairly good

Average

Poor

Interpretation:
Majority of the customers are satisfied with the customer care as 37% rate it as very good,
33% rate it as fairly good,.17% find it average and excellent for 7%.

Q13) Recharge outlets

Excellent
Very good

14
32

Fairly good
Average
Poor

36
16
2

Series 1
40
35
30
25

Series 1

20
15
10
5
0
Excellent

Very good

Fairly good

Average

Poor

Interpretation:
When asked about satisfaction level for no of recharge outlets ,36% rated it as fairly
good,32% users find it very good ,16% average and 14% excellent, which shows higher
satisfaction level of the users.

Q14) Call Rates

Excellent
Very good
Fairly good

2
23
49

Average
Poor

22
4

Series 1
50
45
40
35
Series 1

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Excellent

Very good

Fairly good

Average

Poor

Interpretation:
Study reveals that 49% users of Vodafone find call rates as fairly good and are satisfied with it.
23% rate it as very good, 22% consider it as average and very few i.e. 2% rate it as excellent.

Q15) Value Added Services

Excellent
Very good
Fairly good
Average

10
28
33
22

Poor

Series 1
35
30
25
Series 1

20
15
10
5
0
Excellent

Very good

Fairly good

Average

Poor

Interpretation:
Majority of the respondents are satisfied with the value added services of Vodafone as 33%
rate it as fairly good, 28% find it very good, average for 22% users, and 10% rate it as
excellent. Only 7% find it poor.

Q16) Locality of Vodafone stores

Excellent
Very good
Fairly good
Average
Poor

5
35
30
20
10

Series 1
35
30
25
Series 1

20
15
10
5
0
Excellent

Very good

Fairly good

Average

Poor

Interpretation:
Locality of Vodafone stores is very good according to 35% respondents, 30% find it fairly good,
20% rate it as average and 10% find locality as poor.

Q17) Rate the level of satisfaction of regarding customer services among the
respondents.
Highly satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dis satisfied

16
40
29
15

Column1
40
35
30
Column1

25
20
15
10
5
0
Highly satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Dis satisfied

Interpretation:
Level of satisfaction is very good regarding customer services.40% customers are satisfied,
16% are highly satisfied, 29% are neutral and 15% are dissatisfied.

Q18) Would you like to recommend Vodafone to others?

Yes
No

90
10

Column1
90
80
70

Column1

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
yes

no

Interpretation:
90% of the customers would like to recommend Vodafone to others , which shows that they
are satisfied with its services. Only 10 % would not like to recommend it to others.

SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It

involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal
and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. The
technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a research project at Stanford University in
the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.

Internal

Strengths

Weaknesses

Leadership Position

Centralized

Global Brand Strength

Low Flexibility

High Geographical reach

High

Control

Consumer

churn

rates
Opportunities

Threats

Expanding
External

marketing Increased Competition

boundaries

Market

saturation

in

Growth through 3G

Europe

Strategic Alliances

Emergencies of Low cost

Brands

4.1) Strengths:
The main strength of Vodafone within the telecommunications market lies in its brand
image and recognition. Vodafone, having established a global presence and having invested
highly in marketing a differentiated image by promoting a Vodafone life style, currently enjoys a
differentiating advantage that, if exploited

properly, can offer a lead in competition. The

presence of Vodafone in numerous countries within Europe as well as in all part of the world
enhances this image. It allows customers to travel and enjoy easily the services of their home
country operator. In the few countries that Vodafone is not physically present (e.g. Norway) it
has well established strategic alliances which allow for a better service of mobile clients.
4.2) Weaknesses:
The expansion of Vodafone has been completed at the expense of direct control of its
operations.

The

company

grew

through

process

of

acquisitions

of

national

telecommunications companies (e.g. the acquisition of the third biggest Czech mobile phone
operator, Cesky mobile) rather than organic growth. This increased its subscribers base
quickly, offering direct market knowledge and immediate additions of customer bases at the
expense of direct effective control of the subsidiaries. At the same time though, it implicitly
imposed a centralized operational structure for the group, nominating the UK headquarters as
the leading business unit running a much centralised marketing and handset procurement at
group level. This has resulted in the neglect of local markets and local differences, allowing
market share to be gained by smaller local competitors. Due to the highly saturated Western
European market this has resulted in an increase in the price elasticity of demand, with
consumers becoming continuously price oriented. This has resulted in high customer churn
rates reaching the level of 32.8% in the UK compared to O2s 24%.

4.3) Opportunities:
The telecommunications market, even though highly saturated in some regions offers
great potential due to the ageing population and the sophistication of the consumers. It offers
great opportunities through a careful market segmentation and exploitation of particular
profitable segments. Different strategies should be pursued simple phones and simplified
pricing plans to the ageing population and more updated, sophisticated solutions for younger
generations. The expanding Boundaries of the market could provide further opportunities by
allowing Vodafone to enter more aggressively into fixedline service and to better enjoy the
benefits of its high investment in 3G technology. Moreover the company has undertaken its
first steps in establishing strategic alliances to develop customized solutions for endusers:
Vodafone recently announced two new partnerships, one with supermarket group ASDA to
launch an ASDA branded mobile service in the UK, and another with electrical retailer DSG
International to provide mobile solutions to small businesses. This could further be enhanced
to avoid being a lateentrant in this new method of distribution which offers access to a wide
potential customer base.

4.4) Threats:
The European part of Vodafones market is characterized by existing high levels of
competition. Major brands such as O2 and TMobile are exploiting the price sensitivity of

customers and in this way they are building a stronger image and presence in the market.
Indirect competition is also increasing further, through the presence of Skype and other related
(not only voice) Internetbased services. This combined with the upcoming European
legislative measures is expected to limit further the tariffs for the network providers imposing
further need for price cuts which could harm the bottom line profitability of the company.

CONCLUSION
Follwing are the conclusion that the researcher found after the survey.

 From the above analysis the researcher concludes that major respondents are dissatisfied with
some of the major services like call rates, SMS rates and new schemes & offers.
Major respondents from all respondents use services of Vodafone.
Major customers of Vodafone are old customers so many of the respondents are satisfied with
the services of Vodafone and thus they would like to recommend Vodafone to others.
Major respondents using Vodafone use pre-paid services compared to post-paid services.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Following are some of the suggestions given by the researcher so that Vodafone can serve
people and its customers in an improved way:
Vodafone should decrease call rates for local users.

 Vodafone should provide more offers to Post-Paid customers so that the number of Post-Paid
customers increase.
Vodafone should bring introduce some new SMS schemes for the youngsters.
Vodafone should introduce more schemes and offers.
Vodafone should provide more schemes and offers to its old customers.
Vodafone should decrease call rates of STD and ISD.

QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: ________________
Age: ___ years
Q1) Do you have a mobile phone?

o Yes - 93
o No - 7
Q2) Are you aware about Vodafone service?
o Yes - 100
o No
Q3) From which source you came to know about Vodafone?
o Advertisement - 36
o Hoardings 29
o Newspapers - 20
o Mouth Publicity - 15
Q4) since how long you are using Vodafone services?
o Less than 1 month - 14
o 2-6 months - 22
o 6-12 months - 25
o More than 1 year - 39
Q5) Which of the following services do you use of Vodafone?
o Pre-paid - 84
o Post-paid - 16
Q6) Which services are more helpful to you while using Vodafone services?
o Call rates - 21
o SMS service - 37
o Network - 28
o Value Added Services - 14
Q7)Do you call at customer care?
o Yes - 87

o No - 13
Q8) For what reason you call at customer care?
o Value added services

- 17

o Information regarding new schemes - 19

o Other queries - 34
o Complaining - 30
Rate the following services on the basis of your satisfaction.
S NO.

Services

Excellent Very

Fairly

Average

Poor

good
20

Q9

Network

31

Good
33

Q 10

SMS rates

22

40

28

Q 11

New schemes and offers

16

31

38

12

Q 12

Customer Care

37

33

17

Q 13

Recharge outlets

14

32

36

16

Q 14

Call Rates

23

49

22

Q 15

Value Added Services

10

28

33

22

Q 16

Locality of Vodafone stores 5

35

30

20

10

Q17) Rate the level of satisfaction of regarding customer services among the respondents.
Highly satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Dis satisfied

16

40

29

15

Q18) Would you like to recommend Vodafone to others?

o Yes - 90

o No - 10

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS:

 Kothari C. R.: Research Methodology=methods and techniques.

Kotler Phillip: Marketing Management Eleventh revised edition, 2002.
Gupta S. P.: Statistical Methods Thirteen revised edition, 2001.
Khan, M Y , Financial services, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi 2006.
Khan, M Y ,Indian Financial system, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi 2007

WEBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/local_press_releases/portugal/portugal_p
ress_release/vodafone_had_highest.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_satisfaction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutch_(Indian_cellular_company)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone
http://bora.nhh.no/bitstream/2330/1919/1/Saplitsa%202008.pdf
www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=606658
www.iimcal.ac.in/community/consclub/reports/telecom.pdf