PROJECT REPORT

ON

Factors behind brand switching in the Telecom Industry

Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirement of Bachelor of

Business Administration (BBA)

BBA VI Semester
Batch 2017-2020

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Sahiba Sahny Meghna Kaintura
Assistant Professor 40314101717

JAGANNATH INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT SCHOOL, KALKAJI

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 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

This is to certify that Meghna Kaintura, enrolment number 40314101717 pursuing BBA
(General) from Jagannath International Management School, Kalkaji has successfully
completed the research project on “Factors Behind Brand Switching in The Telecom
Industry” under my supervision and guidance.

She has taken care of all necessary aspects and has shown keen interest and utmost
sincerity during the completion of this project file.

I certify that this project file is up to my satisfaction and as per the Guidelines laid down
by the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.

Ms. Sahiba Sahny

(Internal mentor)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A lot of effort has gone into this training report and for that I would like to thank all
those who have contributed in completing this project.

First of all, I would like to send my sincere thanks to Ms. Sahiba Sahny, Assistant
Professor, JIMS Kalkaji who as my guide was a constant source of inspiration and
encouragement to me. The strong interest evinced by her has helped me in dealing
with the problems I faced during the course of project work.
I express my profound sense of gratitude to them for their timely help and co-operation
in completing the project.

Also, I am highly intended and extremely thankful to the people who helped me to
complete the survey by investing their precious time and by showing full cooperation
during the survey.

Lastly, I would like to thank my entire beloved family & friends for providing me
monetary as well as non – monetary support, as and when required without which this
project would not have completed on time. Their trust and patience are now coming out
in form of this thesis.

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 Table of Contents

SNO. CONTENTS PAGE

NO.
1. Title Page 1
2. Certificate 2
3. Acknowledgement 3
4. Table of Contents 4
5. Executive summary 5
6. Chapter Plan:
 Chapter I
Introduction to the topic explaining the concept and 7
importance of the topic of research.
 Chapter II 13
Objectives Of the study
 Chapter III 15
Review of Literature
 Chapter IV 28
Profile of the Organization (in case it is company based)
 Chapter V 43
Research Methodology:
 Chapter VI 47
Analysis and Interpretation of Data
 Chapter VII 61
Conclusion and Recommendations
 Chapter VIII 64
Limitations of the study
7. Bibliography 67

8. Annexure 68

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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This research aims to explore the factors which lead to brand switching behavior of
consumer in telecom sector Telecom is one of the fastest-growing and highly
competitive industries in India. Due to number of factors such as customers’ low
switching cost, price sensitivity, and availability of Mobile Number Portability (MNP),
choices available to customers and there is increase in the brand switching by them
across mobile networks. This increased competition among players set pressure on
them to find ways and means to retain their customers. Hence it is important to explore
the factors that make the consumer switch towards other cellular network brands. This
research aims to explore the factors which lead to brand switching behavior of
consumer in telecom sector. The data for this research was gathered through use of a
structured questionnaire which was duly filled by the users of various service providers
in Mumbai area. The chi-square test is used to test research hypothesis and which was
further supported by factor analysis. The findings reveal that price, network quality,
loyalty, value added services and satisfaction directly influence switching behavior
among customers. The practical implication of the outcomes of the present study would
be useful for the telecom companies in their marketing strategies aiming to keep
customers loyalty and to discourage brand switching. Brand switching in the telecom
domain is the process in which a customer switches from the usage of
products/services of a service provider to those being offered by another service
provider. Due to fierce market competition, it is highly possible that although customers
are satisfied with an existing service/product from a particular service provider, they
may switch over to other service providers providing a more customized product at a
lower price with a better service. With the advent of rapidly advancing technology,
uninterrupted communication is just the core benefit which fulfills the unstated needs of
a customer and a larger picture of which lies in the need for a faster carrier signal at a
lower price with a customized service to match up to the customer’s needs and
requirements. In order to ensure their market existence, telecommunication service
providers strive to gauge the churn rate and retain their customers over a period of
time. Price, quality, quantity and availability are some of driving factors of brand loyalty.

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Telecom companies also leaves no stone unturned to attract customers by fiercely
investing in advertising their products. Fierce advertisement attracts potential
customers who think that they will be rewarded with extra benefits by switching to their
brand. The findings reveal that price, network quality, loyalty, value added services and
satisfaction directly influence switching behavior among customers.

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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

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 INTRODUCTION
India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of
telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone) with 1.183 billion subscribers as on 31
May 2019. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom
operators and hyper-competition among them. As on 31 July 2018, India has the
world's second-largest Internet user-base with 460.24 million broadband internet
subscribers in the country. As of 31 December 2018, India had a population of 130
crore people (1.3 billion), 123 crore (1.23 billion) Aadhaar digital biometric identity
cards, 121 crore (1.21 billion) mobile phones, 44.6 crore (446 million) smartphones, 56
crore (560 million or 43% of total population) internet users up from 481 million people
(35% of the country's total population) in December 2017, and 51 per cent growth in e-
commerce.

Major sectors of the Indian telecommunication industry are telephone, internet and
television broadcast industry in the country which is in an ongoing process of
transforming into next generation network, employs an extensive system of modern
network elements such as digital telephone exchanges, mobile switching centers,
media gateways and signaling gateways at the core, interconnected by a wide variety
of transmission systems using fiber-optics or Microwave radio relay networks. The
access network, which connects the subscriber to the core, is highly diversified with
different copper-pair, optic-fiber and wireless technologies. DTH, a relatively new
broadcasting technology has attained significant popularity in the Television segment.
The introduction of private FM has given a fillip to the radio broadcasting in India.
Telecommunication in India has greatly been supported by the INSAT system of the
country, one of the largest domestic satellite systems in the world. India possesses a
diversified communications system, which links all parts of the country by telephone,
Internet, radio, television and satellite.

Indian telecom industry underwent a high pace of market liberalization and growth
since the 1990s and now has become the world's most competitive and one of the
fastest growing telecom markets. The Industry has grown over twenty times in just ten

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years, from under 37 million subscribers in the year 2001 to over 846 million
subscribers in the year 2011. India has the world's second-largest mobile phone user
base with over 1157.04 million users as of July 2018.

Telecommunication has supported the socioeconomic development of India and has

played a significant role to narrow down the rural-urban digital divide to some extent. It
also has helped to increase the transparency of governance with the introduction of e-
governance in India. The government has pragmatically used modern
telecommunication facilities to deliver mass education programs for the rural folk of
India.

According to London-based telecom trade body GSMA, the telecom sector accounted
for 6.5% of India's GDP in 2015, or about ₹9 lakh crore (US$130 billion), and
supported direct employment for 2.2 million people in the country. GSMA estimates
that the Indian telecom sector will contribute ₹14.5 lakh crore (US$200 billion) to the
economy and support 3 million direct jobs and 2 million indirect jobs by 2020.

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 TABLE 1.1 Communications in India

Communications in India

Gross adjusted revenue (2017) ₹160,814 crore (US$23 billion)

Telephony

Total telephone subscribers 1.1835 billion (May 2019)

Mobile subscribers 1.161 billion (May 2019)

Fixed line subscribers 21.29 million (May 2019)

Monthly telephone additions (Net) -620,000 (May 2019)

Tele density 89.92% (May 2019)

Urban Tele density 160.79% (May 2019)

Rural Tele density 56.74% (May 2019)

Internet access

Internet users 636.73 million (Mar 2019)

Broadband subscribers 581.51 million (May 2019)

Internet penetration 48.48%

(Mar 2019)

Share of World Internet Users 17% (31 Dec 2018)

country code top-level domain .in

Broadcasting

Private television channels 902 (Mar 2019)

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 Private FM radio stations 356 (Mar 2019)

This research tried to find out the underlying factors that made the customer to
switchover to another service provider in telecom industry. The telecommunication
industry is one of the most important industries of the world. In order to gain
competitive advantage as competition is getting more and more intense, the
companies are compelled to innovate and do their best for the customer satisfaction.
As in the telecom industry the customers have multiple choices to select among
service providers and actively seek their rights of switching from one telecom service
provider to another. In this ferocious competition customers requires better services at
reasonable prices, while service providers concentrating on retention of the most
profitable customers instead of acquisition. The technology in telecommunication
industry is booming with fast pace thus bringing the changes in the sizes and types of
network services. Multiple tariffs plans are usually offered by the network service
providers to compete in their menu plans and to provide the quality of service. In the
telecom industry the service providers try to attract the large number of customers to
exploit the consumer’s preference heterogeneity. The need to understand that why
customers switch to another service providers have usually become a key area of
study. The switching behavior has to be analyzed to identify the possible drivers
leading to customer switching behavior It’s entirely apparent that when a customer
decides to switch over to another network, they try to figure out that which service
provider offers them best. The switching costs also affect the customer switching
behavior. The customers switch when they find that their potential savings relatively
exceeds switching cost. The deep understanding of the customer’s switching behavior
in the telecom industry has an important proposition for the service providers.

This study helps us to analyze the factors that cause the switching behavior. As the
telecom industry has been growing rapidly and the rate of penetration also increased,
the number of new customers subscribing to thus can’t be reduced. Where as in the
mature market with a base of shrinking potential subscribers, stealing the customers of
competitors and retaining its own customers has become the most important strategy

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for the service firms. Therefore, the service firms have got more interested in knowing
and understanding the underlying factors leading to switching behavior of customers,
as customers are totally heterogeneous in nature and can repeat switching from time to
time. As stated in the relevant literature the service of high quality helps to create
customer satisfaction, loyalty and market share growth by petition for new customers
and improved financial performance and productivity (Lewis, 1993); Andereson, Fornell
& Lehmann, 1994). According to Hackl, Scharitzer, and Zuba (2000) had
demonstrating it by adding that customer satisfaction is a prerequisite of customer
retention, satisfaction and loyalty.

Those customers who are loyal plays vital role in building up businesses, by setting up
distinct moves, by paying the premium prices and providing the companies with a set
of potential new customers by positive word of mouth. (Ganesh et. al. referred in Aydin
and Ozer, 2004)

In fact, the telecom industry losses their customers more frequently so it’s usually
challenging thing for the service providers to retain their existing customers and attract
the new customers

In telecom industry it has been observed that the customers when remained connected
with the particular network or the service provider then the long tenure of their
relationship is particularly very important for the success of a company in this
competitive era. (Gerpott et. al. 2001 referred in Aydin and Ozer 2004).

Price has been considered as one of the major contributing factors in brand switching
in telecom industry as the customers were price-conscious. Kay, (2006) argued that
brand image has been built-in into the lives as well as the minds of customers because
brands were considered to be not only the company’s property but also as a culture or
a social property by customers.

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 CHAPTER II
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

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 OBJECTIVES
 The basic purpose of this study is to determine the factors that
influence the customers to switch from their particular service
providers to others.
 To access the problems generally faced by the service users.
 Satisfaction level of consumers towards the different cell phone
service providers.
 Analyze and assess the consumer preferences.

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 CHAPTER III
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

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 LITERATURE REVEIW

Much attention has been given to the concept of brand Kotler (1991) defined “Brand as
a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them which is intended to
identify the goods of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those
of competitors. To interpret the perception of the company people usually developed
knowledge systems (i.e. schemas) Corporate Image believed to have identical
characteristics as self-schema Markus(1977) with consideration to persuade the
buyer’s purchasing decision i.e. good image of corporate encourages purchase from
one company by abridge decision rules.

(Bateson 1995) stated that the service quality is generally conceptualized as an

attitude, the evaluation of the service offered. Quality is basically made up from a
series of evaluated experiences and are usually fluctuates less comparatively than
attitudes built from the satisfaction emotions. Parasuraman et al. (1988) stated that the
customers judge the service quality on the basis of overall firm’s superiority and
excellence. According to Gronroos (2000) the evaluation of service quality by
customers could be judge through the interaction process that exactly happens or
perceived by customers leave a critical impact on customers. Parasuraman et al.,
1988; Aydin and Ã-zer, 2005; Ismail et al., 2006; etc. If service is high in quality it is
regarded as a key to succeed in most competitive service markets. Many researchers
have indicated that the customer satisfaction and the customer’s trust in that service
firm is directly influence by the service quality being provided. The pre-purchase
expectations if fulfilled with the kind of service quality being provided the customers
might be satisfied. The telecom industry which is basically the service industry, the
service quality is an important factor to develop the customer’s satisfaction and loyalty.
Gronroos (1984) analyzed the two distinct service quality dimensions which are
technical and functional quality. Technical quality is something that customers get as a
conclusion of a dealings with the service provider. Whereas the functional quality is

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something that has to do with how the service has been delivered. McDougall and
Levesque (2000) also analyzes the theory of technical quality, although in the type of
core service quality i.e. product or service-related offerings. As compare to technical
quality, functional quality tends to be more important in customer satisfaction. Lim,
Widdows, and Park (2006) has identified the five distinctive proportions of cell phone
service quality, and the indirect and direct effects on economic value, and emotional
value on faithfulness through customer satisfaction. These are usually network, billing,
pricing, data and customer services. According to Johnson & Sirikit, (2002) the
perceptions of the customers about the service quality affects their behavior intentions.
Even though if one telecommunication company has been preferred by the customer to
the over another based on the perceived quality of the service provided, that customer
might engaged in a repurchasing cycle and that would most probably lead to
recommending the specific service providers to their peers.

Modern research has tried to set up the bases for improving the understanding of
customers’ switching behavior and can be expressed in two main areas:

(1) The factors and the processes underlying customer switching decisions.

(2) The exact factors that encourage switching.

The effort of Roos (1999) He discriminates among the three determinants of switching
decisions using the Switching Path Analysis Technique (SPAT): (a) Pushing
determinants (the basis to switch to another supplier). (b) Pulling determinants (factors
that stimulate the customers to come reverse to the original supplier) and (c) Swayers
(they do not cause switching by themselves; they can only lessen or reinforce the
switching decision).

Though the most of the concentration is given to the specific factors that lead to
switching behavior literature. Bansal et al. (2005), Portraying from repositioning
literature, thus create a model of customers’ switching behavior that recognizes the

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method by which customers make a decision to switch service providers. Roos (1999),
He has also identified the determinants that play an integral role in customers switching
behavior. He has also emphasized on push, pull and mooring variables that are
fundamental to the switching process. Keaveney (1995), Among his most significant
revolutionary works, classify eight factors coming behind customers’ switching
decisions in most of the service industries, which includes core service breakdown,
employee reaction to service failures, attraction by competitors, pricing or
inconvenience. Collectively with the variables point out above. It has also identified the
subsequent as determinants of customers’ decisions to switch suppliers: Customer
Dissatisfaction Swinyard and Whitlark, (1994), perceived quality Rust and Zahoric,
(1993), awareness of alternatives Capraro et al., (2003), location Jones et al., (2003)
and switching costs Klemperer, (1995); Burnham et al.,( 2003).

Keaveney (1995) has also identified several other leading factors that associate with
the customer switching decision and those differences are the person’s attitude,
behavior, and of course the socio-demographic characteristics.

Switching cost plays an integral role extensively in literature. Well switching cost
appears in different terms to every researcher to Benkenstein and Stuhlreier,(2004)
switching cost is related to poor service quality and to Gerrard and Cunnininggham,
(2004) its related to the customer’s reaction to high prices where as to Bowen and
Chen (2001) switching cost is thus the action taken by the customer when the
customer get dissatisfy. Burnham, Frelsand & Mahajan (2003),

He has classified switching cost as the following: (a) procedural switching costs, (b)
financial switching costs, (c) relational switching costs.

However, these costs were negatively correlated with the customer’s switching
behavior pattern.

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Klemperer (1995) defined the three types of switching cost (a)Artificial cost (b)Learning
cost (c) Transaction cost.
Whereas the most important is the transaction cost which shows that the customer
should be aware of the cost incurs while switching to another service providers. Jones,
Mothersbaugh and Beatty (2000) and Sharma and Patterson (2000) they
recommended that switching costs are basically the factors themselves in influential
switching. Bumham, Frels and Mahajam (2003) survey in cross- industry specify that
switching cost such as financial loss and suspicions with the new service provider
discourage consumers from switching to other service providers regardless of
dissatisfaction. References of family and friends and pressure for consistency could
also dispirit customers from switching through peers, expectation, customs and
traditional values.

Customer satisfaction among theoretical literatures has been given much

consideration. Fornell (1992) defined that satisfaction derives from the overall
assessment depending upon the total consumption and purchase experience of the
service compared with repurchasing expectations over time.

The evaluation that a customer makes of any definite transaction is known as

Satisfaction. While Oliver (1980) stated that” Satisfaction is a summary psychological
state resulting when the emotions surrounding disconfirmed expectations are coupled
with the consumer’s prior feelings about consumption experience”.

In marketing literatures, customer satisfaction has been an indicator in evaluating the

relationship between customers and service providers.

According to Li (2008), five emotions perceived by customers as below are

satisfactory:

(1) Satisfaction: the products can be accepted or tolerated;

(2) Content: the products bring people with a positive and happy experience;

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(3) Relieved: the products remove people’s negative state.
(4) Novelty: the products bring people with freshness and exciting;
(5) Surprise: the products make customer unexpectedly pleased

Yi and Jeon, (2003) His study is based on the subscription market. Customers
basically subscribe to mobile phone services with no purpose of switching, they tend to
remain loyal with the present service until and unless some factors prompt them to
switch to another network for improved features or services. The research shows that
customer satisfaction is basically could not be fully explained through customer
retention that if customer is retained, he is satisfied. There are other underlying factors
to determine the switching. Inger (2008) He analyzed that the fine understanding of the
emotion that plays an important role in customer switching behavior and identifies the
occurrence of negative distinct emotions in terms of distinct triggers. The findings were
that the emotions identified were located in the relationship trigger part and was
immensely expressed by the respondents during their switching behavior in forms of
anxiety, annoyance, disappointment and dissatisfaction, stress tension etc. Seth et al
(2008) describes in his study that to manage the customer perceived service quality for
a cellular mobile phone, it analyzes that the service quality attributes are very important
whereas responsiveness is its most important dimension, followed by other dimensions
such as reliability, customer network quality, assurance, empathy and tangibles.
Kalpana and Chinnadurai (2006) analyzes in their study named “Promotional Schemes
for Cellular Services”. stated that the increased in competition and customer’s changed
taste and preferences in all over the world prompting the companies to change their
strategies as well. The study revealed that the advertisement plays vital role in
influencing the customers to switch over.

BRAND IMAGE:

Brand image was defined by Keller (1993, p3) as the “perceptions about a brand as
reflected by the brand associations held in consumers’ memory.”

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According to Dobni and Zinkhan, (1990) brand image is a perception or a picture of a
brand created in the minds of customers through different responses of customers that
could be emotional or rational. Gronroos (2007, p.287) “A brand is not first built and
then perceived by the customers. Instead, every step in the branding process, every
brand massages, is separately perceived by customers and together add up to a brand
image, which is formed in customers’ minds”.Gronroos (2000) stated that the
relationship of brand being develop with the customers is usually based on a series of
contacts with brands experienced by the customers.

The customers build brand image in their mind through different sources such as word
of mouth, public reputation, and marketing communication. The positive brand image
prevents the customers from switching to another brand. The more value the brand
hole the more profitable would it be for the company (Ibid).

CORE SERVICE FAILURES:

Core service failure has been seen as the major cause of customer’s switching
behavior in Susan Keaveney (1995) study. Core service failures might be itself the
major cause or it could be accompanied by other reasons that makes the customer to
switch. Basically, the Core Service Failures includes all the that are due to errors or the
technical problems caused by the service providers themselves. Keaveney (1995)
stated that the core service failures include the errors of billing, service mistakes and
service disasters. If the customer sees the billing errors or if accompanied by the delay
in correcting those errors, he or she is likely to switch to another service provider.

In the cell phone industry as the new features, packages plan etc. are introduced they
need to change or update their billing systems which may ultimately could result in
billing problems. As mentioned above another factor of core service failure is service
disaster or service catastrophes which is the breakdown of the company’s core service
function which makes the customers to switch because of the loss of their time and
money.

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Example: Mr. Rob Simpson asked his service provider to make his call forwarded to
another cell phone number after 3 rings. But due to some service problems, the calls
could not be forwarded. And as Mr. Simpson was an incensed customer delay in
addressing such problems might lead to the switching behavior.

PRICING:

Keaveney’s (1995) study indicated that the third most important factor in switching
behavior is pricing. Pricing basically includes call charges, rates, penalty, surcharges or
fees. Customers switch at times when they perceived that the price is high and that’s
totally unfair because they have the reference prices on their mind which they tend to
compare it with past experience or the acceptable charges for the values or the
services that are being rendered to them. Customers compare the prices of the
competitors that what other service providers are offering them for the same service.

According to Peng and Wang, (2006) high pricing negatively influenced the purchase
probabilities of customers. Lichtenstein et al., (1993) stated that the perception of price
usually thought to be related to price searching. Oliver (1997) stated that the customers
relate the prices to the service quality and then generate dissatisfaction or satisfaction.
And if a customer thinks that the price is comparatively fair then only the customer
would go for transaction with service provider. According to previous studies Cheng et
al. (2008) suggested the two dimensions of price perception. The first one is rationality
of prices which shows the way that how the price is being perceived by the customers
as compared to its competitors. And the other is basically the value for money.
According to chitty et al., (2007) High quality services as compare to low quality
equivalents cost more. Oliver, (1997); Peng and Wang, (2006); Cheng et al., (2008);
Kim et al., (2008). These researchers have described the price as being the most
influential factor on customer satisfaction and trust. Peng and Wang, (2006) stated that
the customers mainly switch due to pricing issues i.e. high, unfair pricing.

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Another category of pricing which leads to switching behavior relates to deceptive
pricing. In which the customer has not been given all the subsidiary charges and the
final price when charged is more than the customer’s expectations and the price
quoted to customer.

Example: The customer subscribed for the free minutes for a particular time duration
i.e. certain minutes free till that particular time and if the customer exceeds the minutes
in either time period there are an additional charge Such kind of hidden pricing causes
high churns that prompts the customers to switch to another service providers.
Ericsson Consumer lab survey (2004) studies showed that the 86% of the customers
select their service providers on the basis of the pricing of the plans and the features
thus makes it a critical factor in choosing the service provider.

INCONVENIENCE:
Keaveney’s study indicates that the inconvenience by the service providers leads the
customers to switch to another service operator. The inconvenience includes the
factors such as time elapse, long hours of operations, waiting for the service or the
location of the operator. As in customer services the clients have to wait for so long on
the telephone for the customer representative. One solution that has been suggested
by Taylor (1994) to stay away from infuriating the waiting clients is to “Filling time can
reduce the anger and the uncertainty felt by the waiting client”

Taylor (1994, p.60).

VALUE OFFERS:
Zeithami (1988) stated that the customers judge the consumption value after
comparing its benefits that could be gain from other services as well along with their
cost. Ravald and Grönroos, (1996). Proposed that the service providers through
enhanced offers provide the superior value to improve the customer satisfaction by
increasing the benefits and decreasing the benefits so that the customer is retained.

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COMPETITIVE OFFERS:
Competition makes the service providers in telecommunication industry to attract the
new customers to its network by persuading them, offering them the large number of
discounts, promotional time bound free-calling etc. These offers have led the
customers with number of choices specially those who are price- conscious. Weisser,
(2004 p.33)” Truth is probably you don’t need to switch carriers to get bargain€¦score a
deal just by calling your current carrier and threatening to switch”. A price war in any
kind of industry is not good because it makes the industry less profitable by constant
discounting, which makes the customer price-sensitive and more likely to switch.

ETHICAL PROBLEMS:
A frequent complain by the customers is that while the service providers announce a
low call rates/price for the package, there are mostly hidden charges not specified.
Such hidden pricing can be harmful in the long run as the massive customers can
switch as they get much better offer.
While the callings patterns of customers frequently change, optimization of the rate
plans needs to be done to make sure that its best suits the customer’s needs to
prevent the customer’s from switching.

Steward, (1993) Network Services is one of the most important pillars in a telecom
industry. Network services include call quality, network connectivity, and network
coverage. From customer’s point of view the dropped calls, stagnant or broke
conversations can make the customers frustrated and annoyed. Shah, (1996) The
enhanced landline communication quality of today with the good voice clarity and call
quality has raised the customer’s level of expectation similarly in cell phone industry.
Boney (1997) stated that the mostly people just used the phone but what exactly and
truly the customer wants were a clear call, a good connection, and a good network
coverage so that the phone can be easily taken where they want to. Steward, (1996)
stated that the advancement of network technologies and air boundary standards were
swiftly becoming more complex. Therefore, any drop calls, static, weak signals or
broken connections could simply lead to customer’s dissatisfaction and churn. Shah

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(1996) stated that background noise could also be another factor leading to customer’s
switching. The echo canceller was at the center of very intricate digital network that can
help service providers to deliver a good quality of service to the customers.

Boney (1997) studies indicated that the most important aspects of service are the
customer service value. As a result, a variety of choices should be offered which
includes contract options, handsets feature and pricing etc. Among all these Pricing is
the most importantly related to the customer’s value. According to Meyers (1997)
building up the brand image includes lots of responsibilities like paying continuous
attention to the needs and the requirements of the customers in markets. Ensuring the
satisfaction among employees, creating brand equity and brand association. Emerging
up with new technology stages and concentrating on expansion by developing new
services for their customers. According to Ryan (1995) The service providers needed
to improve their billing systems in line to continue eccentric out accurate bills. Billing
system was basically the lifeblood of any business. If the service providers could not
have the billing systems accuracy or in capable to bill in a timely pattern, they could be
into a huge cash flow problem that could destroy the business. Burdiek (1993) studies
showed that the customer quality model for a cell phone services yet not exist, despite
the reality that an incredible quantity of industry capital had been owed to model
another network performance characteristic. Garelis (1996) revealed that by executing
a technology that offered our employees with the accurate tools, we facilitated them to
take possession of their jobs, and that enhanced the overall value of service provided.
Inventive software applications were used for the improvement of the quality of
services to the customers. Lonergan (1999) revealed that the churn remained a main

Challenge for the cell phone providers. The most common reason of churn among
customers was switching over to another network service provider. Even though 25%
of customers had left their previous service providers to avail the promotional offers by
other service providers.

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Customers switch over to different service providers for several reasons. The reasons
could be that the service provider fails to meet the needs of its customers because of
the changing demand patterns and circumstances. Or a customer might get better
offers from its competitors. However, if the motive of any business is to get the
knowledge of the customer behavior, and how and why in the customer base the
fluctuations can take place is critical for the effective management of customer
relationships.

Relationship with the customers is a dynamic process that involves the interaction
between a service provider and the customers. According to Bolton (1998); LaBarbera
and Mazursky (1983); Rust et al. (1999). The process of consumption that the
customers go through leads them to the decision of whether to switch or to stay with
the company.

The main reasons or the sources of the fluctuation in customers relationships in the
situation of the switching course is known as “trigger”. Gustafsson, Johnson, and Roos
(2005); Roos (1999); Roos, Edvardsson, and Gustafsson (2004); Roos, Gustafsson,
and Edvardsson (2006). Previously carried out studies have shown that triggers can be
categorized in terms of the own lives of the customers known as “situational triggers”
the impact of market known as “influential trigger” and the conventional critical
incidents known as “reactional triggers”. This study described that the two facets
considered being very important for the inclusive understanding of the customers who
switches very frequently. Roos (1999) stated that the customer relationships are
triggered by the driving forces that usually have long lasting effects on customers.
Customers if experiences a trigger, they may own some sort of sensitivity to switching
deliberately or no deliberately. Roos, Gustafsson, and Edvardsson (2006) If sensitivity
persists in customer relationships it influences customer’s valuation and steadily
causes switchover to competitors. The literature offers theoretical support for this
assumption that when customers are attracted by other alternatives, they demonstrate
quiescent attitude towards their existing service providers that persuade their switching
behavior. According to Dambrun and Guimond (2004) referred to implied attitudes as

26
an insensible mode of definite behavior. Hastie and Park (1986); Meyer (1987). Park
and Mittal (1985) stated that the stimulated capacity of a switching condition is not
always the same from the perspective of an aggregate customer. It differs by
depending on the variety of offers presented to the customers by the competitors. In
the framework of this study the outcome of this condition is switching because the
competitor contact plays an influencing role.

Gopinath (2005) stated that the trigger is referred to time-related changes and the
definite factors that included in them. Customers who willing to switch are definitely
sensitive to change. Ahluwalia, Burnkrant, and Unnava (2000); Garbarino and Johnson
(1999); Gustafsson, Johnson, and Roos (2005) ; Roos, Gustafsson, and Edvardsson
(2006).

When customers are confronted by such situations, they become familiar with the
reasons that the service providers they had chosen is no longer good enough and
valid. Thus such kind of difficulty causes sensitivity and those customers actively try to
switch over to another service provider to get a better subscription, whereas
(situational trigger) reflects those customers who get easily attracted to advertisements
and company promotions make them to switch over and to belief on the
advertisements promises known as (influential trigger) and lastly those customers who
have been treated harshly or badly move to new service providers.

27
 CHAPTER IV
PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATIONS

28
 PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATIONS

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, d/b/a Jio, is an Indian telecommunications company

and wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, headquartered
in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It operates a national LTE network with coverage
across all 22 telecom circles. It does not offer 2G or 3G service, and instead uses
only voice over LTE to provide voice service on its 4G network. Jio soft launched on 27
December 2015 with a beta for partners and employees, and became publicly available
on 5 September 2016. As of 30 November 2019, it is the largest mobile network
operator in India and the third largest mobile network operator in the world with over
369.93 million subscribers. It is also the fourth largest provider of fixed
telephony in Country. In September 2019, Jio launched a fibre to the home service,
offering home broadband, television, and telephone services.

History

29
The company was registered in Ambawadi, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) on 15 February 2007
as Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited. In June 2010, Reliance Industries (RIL) bought a
95% stake in Infotel Broadband Services Limited (IBSL) for ₹4,800
crore (US$670 million). Although unlisted, IBSL was the only company that won
broadband spectrum in all 22 circles in India in the 4G auction that took place earlier
that year. Later continuing as RIL's telecom subsidiary, Infotel Broadband Services
Limited was renamed as Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) in January 2013. In
June 2015, Jio announced that it would start its operations throughout the country by
the end of 2015. However, four months later in October, the company postponed the
launch to the first quarter of the financial year 2016–2017. Later, in July 2015,
a PIL filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO called the Centre for Public Interest
Litigation, through Prashant Bhushan, challenged the grant of a pan-India licence to Jio
by the Government of India. The PIL also alleged that the firm was being allowed to
provide voice telephony along with its 4G data service, by paying an additional fee of
just ₹165.8 crore (US$23 million) which was arbitrary and unreasonable, and
contributed to a loss of ₹2,284.2 crore (US$320 million) to the exchequer. The
Indian Department of Telecommunications (DoT), however, explained that the rules for
3G and BWA spectrum didn't restrict BWA winners from providing voice telephony. As
a result, the PIL was revoked, and the accusations were dismissed.
The 4G services were launched internally on 27 December 2015. The company
commercially launched its 4G services on 5 September 2016. Within the first month,
Jio announced that it had acquired 16 million subscribers. Jio crossed 50 million
subscriber mark in 83 days since its launch, subsequently crossing 100 million
subscribers on 22 February 2017. By October 2017 it had about 130 million
subscribers.
Alliance

In June 2015, Jio entered into an agreement with domestic handset maker Intex to
supply 4G handsets capable of voice over LTE (VoLTE). However, in October 2015,
Jio announced that it would be launching its own mobile handset brand named LYF.
On 25 January 2016, the company launched its LYF smartphone series starting with

30
Water 1, through its chain of electronic retail outlets, Reliance Retail Three more
handset models have been released so far, namely Water 2, Earth 1, and Flame 1.

Jio Phone

JioPhone is a line of feature phones marketed by Jio. The first model, released in
August 2017 (with public pre-orders beginning 24 August 2017), was positioned as an
"affordable" LTE-compatible feature phone. It runs the KaiOS platform (derived from
the defunct Firefox OS), and includes a 2.4-inch display, a dual-core processor, 4 GB
of internal storage, near-field communication support, a suite of Jio-branded apps
(including the voice assistant HelloJio), and a Jio-branded application store. It also
supports a "TV cable" accessory for output to an external display. In July 2018, the
company unveiled the JioPhone 2, an updated model in a keyboard bar form factor
with a QWERTY keyboard and horizontal display. Jio also announced
that Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube apps would become available for the two
phones.

Jionet WiFi

Prior to its pan-India launch of 4G data and telephony services, the firm has started
providing free Wi-Fi hotspot services in cities throughout India
including Surat, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Visakhapatnam in Andhra
Pradesh, Indore, Jabalpur, Dewas and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, select locations
of Mumbai in Maharashtra, Kolkata in West Bengal, Lucknow in Uttar
Pradesh, Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Mussoorie in Uttarakhand, Collectorate's Office
in Meerut, and at MG Road in Vijayawada among others.

In March 2016, Jio started providing free Wi-Fi internet to spectators at six cricket
stadiums hosting the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 matches. .

Jio apps

Jio sim card pouch as distributed by Reliance Jio Infocomm

In May 2016, Jio launched a bundle of multimedia apps on Google Play as part of its
upcoming 4G services. While the apps are available to download for everyone, a user

31
will require a Jio SIM card to use them. Additionally, most of the apps are in
the beta phase. Notable apps include:

• JioChat - instant messaging app

• JioCinema - online HD video library

• JioCloud - cloud-based backup tool

• JioMags - e-reader for magazines

• JioMoney Wallet - online payments/wallet app

• JioSaavn (earlier, JioMusic) - for online and offline music streaming in

English and Indian languages

• JioSecurity - security app

• Jio4GVoice (earlier, JioJoin) - VoLTE phone simulator

• MyJio - manage Jio account and digital services associated with it

Affordable 4G phones

Reliance Jio has partnered with Google to manufacture "affordable" 4G handsets.

These phones will run exclusively on Jio network. The two companies are also working
on developing software for smart-TV services. Both were expected to launch in 2017.

JioFi

Jio has also launched Wi-Fi routers by the name JioFi.

32
 Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group plc is

a multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office is located
in Newbury, Berkshire, England and its global headquarters is based in London,
England. It predominantly operates services in the regions of Asia, Africa, Europe,
and Oceania. Among mobile operator groups globally, Vodafone ranked 4th
(behind China Mobile, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea) in the number of mobile
customers (313 million) as of 2018. As of 2018, Vodafone owned and operated
networks in 25 countries, and had partner networks in 47 further countries.
Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunications and IT services to
corporate clients in 150 countries. Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock
Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of
approximately £52.5 billion as of 10 February 2016, the eighth-largest of any company
listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company has a secondary listing
on NASDAQ.

History
The evolution of Vodafone started in 1982 with the establishment of the Racal Strategic
Radio Ltd subsidiary of Racal Electronics, the UK's largest maker of military radio
technology, which formed a joint venture with Millicom called 'Racal', which evolved
into the present-day Vodafone.

33
In 1980, Ernest Harrison, the then chairman of Racal Electronics, agreed to a deal with
Lord Weinstock of the General Electric Company to allow Racal to access some of
GEC's tactical battlefield radio technology. The head of Racal's military radio division,
Gerry Whent, was briefed by Ernest Harrison to drive the company into commercial
mobile radio. Whent visited a mobile radio factory run by General Electric (unrelated to
GEC) in Virginia, USA the same year to understand the commercial use of military
radio technology.

Jan Stenbeck, head of a growing Swedish conglomerate, set up an American

company, Millicom, Inc. and approached Racal's Whent in July 1982 about bidding
jointly for the UK's second cellular radio licence. The two struck a deal giving Racal
60% of the new company, Racal-Millicom, Ltd, and Millicom 40%. Due to UK concerns
about foreign ownership, the terms were revised, and in December 1982, the Racal-
Millicom partnership was awarded the second UK mobile phone network license. Final
ownership of Racal-Millicom, Ltd was 80% Racal, with Millicom holding 15% plus
royalties and venture firm Hambros Technology Trust holding 5%. According to the UK
Secretary of State for Industry, "the bid submitted by Racal-Millicom Ltd… provided the
best prospect for early national coverage by cellular radio."
Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985 under the new name, Racal-Vodafone
(Holdings) Ltd, with its first office based in the Courtyard in Newbury, Berkshire, and
shortly thereafter Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications
Group Limited. On 29 December 1986, Racal Electronics issued shares to the minority
shareholders of Vodafone worth GB£110 million, and Vodafone became a fully owned
brand of Racal.

On 26 October 1988, Racal Telecom, majority held by Racal Electronics, went public
on the London Stock Exchange with 20% of its stock floated. The successful flotation
led to a situation where Racal's stake in Racal Telecom was valued more than the
whole of Racal Electronics. Under stock market pressure to realise full value for
shareholders, Racal demerged Racal Telecom in 1991.

Vodafone Group, then Vodafone Air touch plc: 1991 to 2000

34
On 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as
Vodafone Group, with Gerry Whent as its CEO.

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 January 1997, Gerald Whent retired and Christopher Gent took over as the CEO.
The same year, Vodafone introduced its Speech mark logo, composed of a quotation
mark in a circle, with the O's in the Vodafone logotype representing opening and
closing quotation marks and suggesting conversation.

On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of Air Touch Communications,

Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Air touch plc. The merged company
commenced trading on 30 June 1999. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of
Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network. To gain antitrust approval
for the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in Mannesmann's German competitor,
E-Plus Mobilfunk.

On 21 September 1999, Vodafone agreed to merge its US wireless assets with those
of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed on 4 April
2000, just a few months prior to Bell Atlantic's merger with GTE to form Verizon
Communications, Inc.

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 resist Vodafone's efforts. However, on
3 February 2000, the Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of £112 billion,

35
then the largest corporate merger ever. The EU approved the merger in April 2000
when Vodafone agreed to divest the 'Orange' brand, which was acquired in May 2000
by France Telecom.

Vodafone Group plc: 2000 to present

The headquarters of Vodafone Romania in Bucharest

On 28 July 2000, the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group plc.
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 2007, Vodafone entered into
a title sponsorship deal with the McLaren Formula One team, which traded as
"Vodafone McLaren Mercedes" until the sponsorship ended at the end of the 2013
season. On 1 December 2011, it acquired the Reading based Bluefish
Communications Ltd, an ICT consultancy company. The acquired operations formed
the nucleus of a new Unified Communications and Collaboration practice within its
subsidiary Vodafone Global Enterprise, which will focus on implementing strategies in
cloud computing, and strengthen its professional services offering.

In April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire Cable & Wireless

Worldwide (CWW) for £1.04 billion. Vodafone was advised by UBS AG, while Barclays
and Rothschild advised Cable & Wireless. The acquisition will give Vodafone access to
CWW's fiber network for businesses, enabling it to take unified communications to
large enterprises in the UK and globally; and expand its enterprise service offerings in
emerging markets. On 18 June 2012, Cable & Wireless' shareholders voted in favor of
the Vodafone offer, exceeding the 75% of shares necessary for the deal to go ahead.
On 2 September 2013, Vodafone announced it would be selling its 45% stake in

36
Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications for $US130 billion, in one of the biggest
deals in corporate history. With the proceeds from the deal, it announced a £19 billion
Project Spring initiative to improve network quality in Europe and emerging markets
like India. In June 2017, the company took measures to prevent its advertising from
appearing within outlets focused on creating and sharing hate speech and fake news.

Products and services

A Vodafone shop selling a range of products in Leeds, England
In October 2009, it launched Vodafone 360, a new internet service for the mobile, PC
and Mac. This was discontinued in December 2011 after disappointing hardware sales.
This was after the Director of Internet Services resigned in September 2010 tweeting "5
days before I leave Vodafone. Freedom beckons." In February 2010, Vodafone
launched the world's cheapest mobile phone known as Vodafone 150, intended to sell
for below $15 (£10) in the developing world. It was initially launched in India, Turkey
and eight African countries including Lesotho, Kenya and Ghana.

Mobile money transfer services

In March 2007, Safaricom, which is part owned by Vodafone and the leading mobile
communication provider in Kenya, launched mobile payment software developed by
Vodafone.

By February 2008, the M-PESA money transfer system in Kenya had gained 1.6 million
customers. By 2011 there were fourteen million M-Pesa accounts by which held 40
percent of the country's savings. Following M-PESA's success in Kenya, Vodafone
announced that it was to extend the service to Afghanistan. The service here was
launched on the Roshan network under the brand M-Paisa with a different focus to the
Kenyan service. M-Paisa was targeted as a vehicle for microfinance institutions' (MFI)
loan disbursements and repayments, alongside business-to-business applications such
as salary disbursement. The Afghanistan launch was followed in April 2008 by the
announcement of further a further launch of M-PESA in Tanzania, South Africa and
India.

37
In February 2012, Vodafone announced a worldwide partnership with Visa.

Health services
In November 2009, Vodafone announced the creation of a new business unit focused
on the emerging market (the application of mobile communications and network
technologies to healthcare). One of its early success stories is with the Novartis-led
"SMS for Life" project in Tanzania, for which Vodafone developed and deployed a text-
message based system that enables all of the country's 4,600 public health facilities to
report their levels of anti-malarial medications so that stock level data can be viewed
centrally in real-time, enabling timely re-supply of stock. During the SMS for Life pilot,
which covered 129 health facilities over six months, stock-outs dropped from 26% to
0.8%, saving thousands of lives.

Vodafone Foundation
The Vodafone Foundation is a recognized charity which supports and initiates projects
which use mobile technology to benefit the vulnerable, using the slogan "Connecting
for Good". They often work in collaboration with other charitable groups. Below are
some examples of their initiatives:

TECSOS – mobile phones have been adapted to allow victims of domestic violence to
activate immediate contact with the emergency services if they are in danger
Pediatric Epilepsy Remote Monitoring System – a monitoring system that allows
physicians to remotely make patient observations
Safe Taxi System – an initiative in Portugal that consists of technology that taxi drivers
can use to alert police if they are in danger of being assaulted
Learning with Vodafone Solution – technology that allows teachers in India to use
graphical and multi-media content to enhance their teaching
The World of Difference program – successful applicants choose charities for which
they work either full-time for two months or part-time for four months (minimum 15

38
hours a week). The charities are provided with £2,500, with each winner receiving the
balance as a salary after NI and tax have been paid.

Bharti Airtel Limited

Bharti Airtel Limited, also known as Airtel, is an

Indian global telecommunications services company based in Delhi, India. It operates
in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, and also in the Channel Islands. Airtel
provides GSM, 3G, 4G LTE, 4G+ mobile services, fixed line broadband and voice
services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its VoLTE
technology across all Indian telecom circles. It is the third largest mobile network
operator in India and the second largest mobile network operator in the world with over
411.42 million subscribers. Airtel was named India's 2nd most valuable brand in the
first ever Brandz ranking by Millward Brown and WPP plc.

Airtel is credited with pioneering the business strategy of outsourcing all of its business
operations except marketing, sales and finance and building the 'minutes factory'
model of low cost and high volumes. The strategy has since been adopted by several
operators. Airtel's equipment is provided and maintained by Ericsson, Huawei, and
Nokia Networks whereas IT support is provided by Amdocs. The transmission towers
are maintained by subsidiaries and joint venture companies of Bharti including Bharti
Infratel and Indus Towers in India. Ericsson agreed for the first time to be paid by the
minute for installation and maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid up
front, which allowed Airtel to provide low call rates of ₹1 (1.4¢ US)/minute.

39
History
In 1984, Sunil Mittal started assembling push-button phones in India, which he earlier
used to import from a Taiwan company, Kingtel, replacing the old fashioned, bulky
rotary phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) was
incorporated and entered into a technical tie up with Siemens AG of Germany for
manufacture of electronic push button phones. By the early 1990s, Bharti was making
fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear. He named his first push-button
phones as 'Mitbrau'.

In 1992, he successfully bid for one of the four mobile phone network licenses
auctioned in India. One of the conditions for the Delhi cellular license was that the
bidder have some experience as a telecom operator. So, Mittal clinched a deal with the
French telecom group Vivendi. He was one of the first Indian entrepreneurs to identify
the mobile telecom business as a major growth area. His plans were finally approved
by the Government in 1994 and he launched services in Delhi in 1995, when Bharti
Cellular Limited (BCL) was formed to offer cellular services under the brand name
AirTel. Within a few years Bharti became the first telecom company to cross the 2
million mobile subscriber mark. Bharti also brought down the STD/ISD cellular rates in
India under brand name 'Indiaone'.

In 1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired control of JT Holdings, and extended cellular

operations to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 2000, Bharti acquired control of
Skycell Communications, in Chennai. In 2001, the company acquired control of Spice
Cell in Calcutta. Bharti Enterprises went public in 2002, and the company was listed on
Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. In 2003, the cellular
phone operations were re-branded under the single Airtel brand. In 2004, Bharti
acquired control of Hexacom and entered Rajasthan. In 2005, Bharti extended its
network to Andaman and Nicobar. This expansion allowed it to offer voice services all
across India.

40
Airtel launched "Hello Tunes", a caller ring back tone service (CRBT), in July 2004
becoming the first operator in India to do so. The Airtel theme song, composed by A.R.
Rahman, was the most popular tune in that year.

In May 2008, it emerged that Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying the MTN
Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company with coverage in 21
countries in Africa and the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that Bharti was
considering offering US$45 billion for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be the largest
overseas acquisition ever by an Indian firm. However, both sides emphasize the
tentative nature of the talks, while The Economist magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti
would be marrying up," as MTN has more subscribers, higher revenues and broader
geographic coverage. However, the talks fell apart as MTN Group tried to reverse the
negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company. In May 2009,
Bharti Airtel again confirmed that it was in talks with MTN and the companies agreed to
discuss the potential transaction exclusively by 31 July 2009. Talks eventually ended
without agreement, some sources stating that this was due to opposition from the
South African government.

In 2009, Bharti negotiated for its strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the
network infrastructure for the fixed line business. Later, Bharti Airtel awarded the three-
year contract to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up an Internet Protocol access network
across the country. This would help consumers access internet at faster speed and
high-quality internet browsing on mobile handsets.
In 2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In June 2010,
Bhartil acquired the African business of Zain Telecom for $10.7 billion making it the
largest ever acquisition by an Indian telecom firm. In 2012, Bharti tied up with Wal-
Mart, the US retail giant, to start a number of retail stores across India. In 2014, Bharti
planned to acquire Loop Mobile for ₹7 billion (US$98 million), but the deal was called
off later. On 18 November 2010, Airtel rebranded itself in India in the first phase of a
global rebranding strategy. The company unveiled a new logo with 'airtel' written in
lower case. Designed by London-based brand agency, The Brand Union, the new logo

41
is the letter 'an' in lowercase, with 'airtel' written in lowercase under the logo. On 23
November 2010, Airtel's Africa operations were rebranded to 'airtel'. Sri Lanka followed
on 28 November 2010 and on 20 December 2010, Warid Telecom rebranded to 'airtel'
in Bangladesh.
Airtel India
Airtel India is the third largest provider after Jio Communications and Vodafone Idea
Ltd of mobile telephony and second largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is
also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. It offers its telecom
services under the airtel brand, and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.

Telemedia
Under the Telemedia segment, Airtel provides broadband internet access through DSL,
internet leased lines and MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) solutions[buzzword], as
well as IPTV and fixed line telephone services. Until 18 September 2004, Bharti
provided fixed line telephony and broadband services under the Touchtel brand. Bharti
now provides all telecom services including fixed line services under the common
brand airtel. As of June 2019, Airtel provides Telemedia services; in 99 cities. As on 30
June 2019, Airtel had 2.342 million broadband subscribers.

Airtel Broadband provides broadband and IPTV services. Airtel provides both capped
as well as unlimited download plans. However, Airtel's unlimited plans are subject to
free usage policy (FUP), which reduces speed after the customer crosses a certain
data usage limit. In most of the plans, Airtel provides only 64KByte/second beyond
FUP which is equal to other competitors tariffs. The maximum speed available for
home users under the new V-Fiber program is up to 300Mbit/s and with DSL is
16Mbit/s.

In May 2012, Airtel Broadband and some other Indian ISPs temporarily blocked file
sharing websites such as [Link], [Link], and [Link], without
giving any legal information to customers.

42
In June 2011 the Economic Times reported that Telemedia Business was merged with
Mobile, DTH and Business in three separate parts respectively.

Digital television
The Digital television business provides Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV services across
India under the brand name Airtel digital TV. It started services on 9 October 2008 and
had about 16.027 million customers at the end of June 2019.

Mobile data service

Services under mobile data include BlackBerry services; a web-enabled mobile email
solution[buzzword] working on 'push technology'; a USB modem that helps in getting
instant access to Internet and corporate applications; Airtel Data Card, which enables
accessing the internet anytime; Easy Mail, a platform that provides access to
personal/corporate e-mails independent of handset operating system; and application
services that shorten the queues at the billing section, off-load the pressure on the
billing staff and bring convenience to the user.

Business
Airtel Business consists largely of six products: cloud and managed services, digital
signage, NLD/ILD connectivity (VSAT/ MPLS/ IPLC and Ethernet products), Wi-Fi
dongles, voice solutions[buzzword] (like toll free numbers, TracMate, and automated
media reading) and conferencing solutions (VoIP, audio, video, and web conferencing)
serving Industry verticals like BFSI, IT/ITeS, manufacturing, hospitality and
government.

Airtel Business, the B2B arm of Bharti Airtel, has rolled out a first of its kind dedicated
digital platform to serve the growing connectivity, communication and collaboration
requirements of emerging businesses, including SMEs and startups. The digital
platform will offer solutions[buzzword] to emerging enterprises to enable ease of
business and faster time to market.

43
Android-based tablet
Beetel Teletech Ltd., a unit of Bharti Enterprises Ltd., on 18 August 2011, launched a
₹9,999 (US$140) 7-inch tablet in India based on Google Inc.'s Android operating
system. The offering is intended to capitalize on the expected demand for cheap
computing devices in the world's fastest-growing and second-largest mobile phone
market.

CHAPTER V
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

44
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Purpose of the study

The research has been done to study the factors behind the brand switching in the
Telecom Industry.

Research Design

Descriptive research design has been used in this study. Descriptive research is also
called Statistical Research. The main goal of this type of research is to describe the
data and characterises about what is being studied. Descriptive research is used to
obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena to describe “what
exists” with respect to variables or conditions in a situation.

Sources of data collection

A. Primary Data: Primary data is the main and raw source of data collection through
interaction with the staff of the company and structured questionnaire. Structured
Questionnaire is a quantitative method of research. It is a positivist research method.

45
B. Secondary Data: Secondary data is data taken by the searcher from secondary
sources, internal or external of the organisation. Secondary data is collected from
following sources: -

 Internet
 Book
 Journals
 Publications
 Website of the company etc.

Primary research has been done in this project.

Sampling Procedure

Sample Technique: Simple random sampling

Simple random sampling refers to the sampling technique in which each and every
item of the population is given equal chance of being included in the sample. Random
sampling is sometime referred to as “Representative Sampling.” If the sample is
chosen at random and if the sample is sufficiently large, it will represent all groups in
the population. A random sample is also known as “Probability Sample” because every
item of population has equal opportunity of being selected in the sample.

Method used- QUESTIONNAIRE by Google Forms

A good way to obtain information from a large number of people and/or people who
may not have the time to attend an interview or take part in experiments. They enable
people to take their time, think about it and come back to the questionnaire later.
Participants can state their views or feelings privately without worrying about the
possible reaction of the researcher. Unfortunately, some people may still be inclined to
try to give socially acceptable answers. People should be encouraged to answer the
questions as honestly as possible so as to avoid the researchers drawing false
conclusions from their study. Questionnaires typically contain multiple choice
questions, attitude scales, closed questions and open-ended questions. The drawback
for researchers is that they usually have a fairly low response rate and people do not

46
always answer all the questions and/or do not answer them correctly. Questionnaires
can be administered in a number of different ways Researchers may even decide to
administer the questionnaire in person which has the advantage of including people
who have difficulties reading and writing

Sample Area: Delhi NCR

Sample Size: 65

CHAPTER VI
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

47
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

48
 JIO 23
VODAFONE 17
AIRTEL 22
OTHERS 3

From the above mentioned pie chart the following points can be concuded

 Majority of population in Delhi NCR have chosen Reliance Jio as their service
provider.
 Airtel is ranked second and vodafone third.
 Most people in Delhi NCR use only Jio, Vodafone and Airtel.

A YEAR OR LESS 6
MORE THAN A YEAR, LESS 13
THAN 2 YEARS
MORE THAN 2 YEARS, 27
LESS THAN 4 YEARS
4 OR MORE 4919
From the above pie chart the following points can be concluded

 Only 29.2% population in Delhi NCR remains loyal to their service providers.
 70.8% of the population have changed their telecom service provider in the past
4 years.
 Most of the people use the same service provider atleast for 2 years.

PRICE 5
BENEFITS 22
CONNECTIVITY 35
TREND 3

50
From the above pie chart the following points can be concluded

 The major factor that draws people’s attention toward their brand in the
telecommunication industry is connectivity.
 The second factor the attracts customers are the benefits the telecomunication
service providers offer along with their service.
 Trend is the least ranked factor in the consumer buying behavior.

2G 1
3G 2
4G 62
NONE 0

From the above pie chart the following points can be concluded
 94.4% of the population is using 4G service
 Only 4.6% of the population is using 2G and 3G services.

51
 YES 51
NO 14

From the above pie chart the following points can be concluded
 78.5% population is satisfied with their service providers.
 21.4% population is dissatisfied with their servive providers due to lack of
connectivity, high pricing strategy etc.

52
 YES 51
NO 14

From the above pie chart the following points can be concluded

 78.5% population who are satisfied with their service provider are willing to
recommend their service provider to their friends and family.
 21.5% are dissatisfied with their service providers and would not recommend it
to anyone.

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 NEVER 44
ONCE 15
TWICE 4
MORE 2

From the above pie chart the following points can be concluded

 67.7% of the population has not never changed it service provider.

 The rest 32.3 % of the population has atleast once changed its service provider
due to better connectivity, more benefits etc.

54
 VOICE DISTORTION 6
PROBLEMS RELATED TO 22
INTERNET SPEED
CONNECTION PROBLEMS 20
NONE 17

From the above pie chart the following points can be concluded
 30.8% of the population has faced connection problems in the past.
 33.8% of the population has faced problems related to the internet speed.
 9.2% of the population has faced the problem of voice distortion in the past.
 And the rest 26.2% has never faced any problem with their service provider.

55
 JIO 17
VODAFONE 10
AIRTEL 29
OTHERS 9

From the above pie chart the following points can be concluded
 A major propotion of the population almost 44.6% are willing to switch to Airtel
or continue using Airtel.
 15.4% of the population is willing to switch or continue using Vodafone’s
telecommunication services.
 26.2% of the population is willing to switch or continue using Jio’s
telecommunication services.
 The rest 13.8% of the population is willing to switch or continue using other
telecommunicators other than Airtel, Jio and Vodafone.

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 STRONGLY AGREE 17
SOMEWHAT AGREE 26
STRONGLY DISAGREE 6
SOMEWHAT DISAGREE 3
NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE 13

From the above pie chart the following points can be concluded

 66.2% of the population agree with the above statement out of which 26.2%
strongly agree with the same and the rest 40% somewhat agree with the
statement.
 13.8% of the population disagrees with the above statement out of which 9.2%
strongly disagree with the statement and the rest 4.6% somewhat disagree with
the statement.
 20% of the population neither agree nor disagree with the statement.

57
The following graph shows the satisfaction level of the users using different telecom
service providers.
(in the following graph S represents satisfaction and NS represent no satisfaction)

58
The following graph represents the users who want to switch from which telecom
service provider to which telecom service provider.

59
The following graph represents the problems which the users of a particular telecom
service provider are facing.
(HP means high pricing; IRP means internet related problems and LOC means lack of
connection)

60
 Chapter V
Limitations of the study

61
 Limitations
1. Dishonest answers
While there are many positives to questionnaires, dishonesty can be an issue.
Respondents may not be 100% truthful with their answers. This can happen for
a variety of reasons, including social desirability bias and attempting to protect
privacy.

2. Differences in understanding and interpretation

The trouble with not presenting questions to users face-to-face is that each may
have different interpretations of your questions. Without someone to explain the
questionnaire fully and ensure each individual has the same understanding,
results can be subjective. Respondents may have trouble grasping the meaning
of some questions that may seem clear to the creator.

3. Hard to convey feelings and emotions

A survey or questionnaire cannot fully capture emotional responses or feelings
of respondents. Without administering the questionnaire face-to-face, there is no
way to observe facial expression, reactions or body language. Without these
subtleties, useful data can go unnoticed. Don’t get stuck trying to interpret
emotion in data, instead go for a Likert scale, the response scale that often uses
a rating scale from “slightly agree” to “strongly disagree.”

4. Some questions are difficult to analyze

Questionnaires produce a lot of data. Multiple choice questions can be tabulated
and graphed, but open-ended questions are different. Open-ended questions
allow for individualized answers which cannot be quantified and must be
reviewed by a human. Too many open-ended questions can produce a flood of
data, that can take forever to analyze.

62
5. Respondents may have a hidden agenda
questionnaire-agendas with any sort of research, respondent bias can be an
issue. Participants in your survey may have an interest in your product, idea or
service. Others may be influenced to participate based on the subject of your
questionnaire. These proclivities can lead to inaccuracies in your data,
generated from an imbalance of respondents who see your topic in an overly
positive or negative light.

6. Lack of personalization
Customization is the prevailing marketing theme. Any piece of marketing
material is at risk of seeming impersonal unless time and care are taken to
personalize it. If you’re unable to add touches of personalization, some potential
respondents may be put off and ignore it. This can be particularly difficult when
the questionnaire or survey is taken voluntarily on a website, regardless of
purchase or email.

7. Unconscientious responses
Every administrator hopes for conscientious responses, but there’s no way to
know if the respondent has really understood the question or read it thoroughly
before answering.

8. Accessibility issues
No matter what form of delivery is used, lack of accessibility is a threat. Surveys
may be unsuitable for users with a visual or hearing impairment, or other
impediments such as illiteracy. This should be considered when choosing to do
research in this manner.

63
 CHAPTER VIII
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

64
 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The telecom sector in India have to deal with various challenges like maintaining the
sufficient spectrum, Adoption of new technologies faster to be able to use new features
and techniques to serve the customers with better and feature rich service,
Government and regulatory agencies, various mobile handsets available from various
companies brings lot of issues and content partners etc. Also, it is evident from the
current scenario that the Voice alone will not be sufficient to generate revenue and
hence the focus is required to be shifted towards various data services.
After the data collection and complete analysis, I, found that some factors really effect
the consumer decision of switching from current service provider to others. We found
that service providers should focus on these factors otherwise they will lose their
customers. This research indicates that there are five factors play an important role in
switching consumers in telecom industry. These factors are:
1. Service Quality 2. Brand Image 3. Trust 4. Satisfaction 5. Customer Loyalty
From my current findings it is seen that
 Majority of population in Delhi NCR have chosen Reliance Jio as their service
[Link] is ranked second and vodafone third. Most people in Delhi NCR
use only Jio, Vodafone and Airtel.
 Only 29.2% population in Delhi NCR remains loyal to their service
providers.70.8% of the population have changed their telecom service provider
in the past 4 years. Most of the people use the same service provider atleast for
2 years.
 The major factor that draws people’s attention toward their brand in the
telecommunication industry is connectivity. The second factor the attracts
customers are the benefits the telecomunication service providers offer along
with their service. Trend is the least ranked factor in the consumer buying
behavior.
 94.4% of the population is using 4G service. Only 4.6% of the population is
using 2G and 3G services.

65
 78.5% population is satisfied with their service providers. 21.4% population is
dissatisfied with their servive providers due to lack of connectivity, high pricing
strategy etc.
 78.5% population who are satisfied with their service provider are willing to
recommend their service provider to their friends and family.21.5% are
dissatisfied with their service providers and would not recommend it to anyone.
 67.7% of the population has not never changed it service provider. The rest 32.3
% of the population has atleast once changed its service provider due to better
connectivity, more benefits etc.
 30.8% of the population has faced connection problems in the past. 33.8% of
the population has faced problems related to the internet speed. 9.2% of the
population has faced the problem of voice distortion in the past. And the rest
26.2% has never faced any problem with their service provider.
 A major propotion of the population almost 44.6% are willing to switch to Airtel
or continue using Airtel.15.4% of the population is willing to switch or continue
using Vodafone’s telecommunication services. 26.2% of the population is willing
to switch or continue using Jio’s telecommunication services. The rest 13.8% of
the population is willing to switch or continue using other telecommunicators
other than Airtel, Jio and Vodafone.
 66.2% of the population agree with the statement that Jio will lead
telecommunication industry in a new digital era out of which 26.2% strongly
agree with the same and the rest 40% somewhat agree with the statement.
13.8% of the population disagrees with the statement out of which 9.2% strongly
disagree with the statement and the rest 4.6% somewhat disagree with the
statement. 20% of the population neither agree nor disagree with the statement.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
66
 [Link]
 [Link]
[Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
 [Link]
industry/
 [Link]
 [Link]
presentation
 [Link]
 [Link]
[Link]
 [Link]
_FACTORS_BEHIND_BRAND_SWITCHING_IN_A_TELECOM_INDUSTRY._I
N_PARTIAL_FULFILLMENT_OF_BBA

ANNEXURE

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