30476846 project report on market potential analysis

7/31/2019 30476846 Project Report on Market Potential Analysis

1/92


2/92

WEST BENGAL UNIVERSITY OFTECHNOLOGY

A SUMMER TRAININGREPORT ON

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR WITH A FOCUSONPERCEPTION TOWARDS INTERNET DATA

CARDWITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TOVODAFONE

FROM,

(20th June,2009-5thAugust, 2009)

SUBMITTEDBYARPITA

TEWARYWBUT Regn no. 081670710019WBUT Roll no. 08167009061

Major: MarketingManagementMinor: Human ResourceManagement

MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE OFDURGAPUR RAJBAND

H

1


3/92

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

S

First of all I would like to thank the Management at Vodafone for giving me

theopportunity to do my two month project training in their esteemed organization.Iam highly obliged to the marketing manager at vodafone. I would like to

expressmy gratitude to area Sales Manager, who has provided me with guidance,

inspiration, perspective and stimulating discussion, throughout the writing of

thisreport. His constant review and excellent suggestions throughout the project are

highly commendable. A study like this cannot be completed without help of

other

persons. And therefore I would like to express my gratitude to provide me crucialguidance in the analytical part of this Project. My heartfelt thanks goes to

Mr.Koushik. Mukherjee (sales manager) and to all the executives who helped me gain

knowledge about the actual working and the processes involved in various

departments. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the director of

MID,Dr. N.C. Ghosh & also to our principal, Dr. A.K. Ghosh. I would like to

expressmy gratitude towards our H.O.D. Mr. B.Chandra who had helped me lot

inpreparing this project report. I would like to forward my gratitude to my

internalguide Mr. Avijit Aditya & to all the marketing faculties of MID,

Rajbandh .Finally, I would like to convey my gratitude to my friends & family members

&other faculty members who always endured me and stood with me and

withoutwhom I could not have envisaged the completion of my

project.

2


4/92

Students

DeclarationI, Ms Arpita Tewary. hereby declare that the Project Work titled Consumer

Buying

Behavior with a focus on perception towards internet data card is the original work

done by me and submitted to the MID, Rajbandh, Durgapur in partial fulfillment

of

requirements for the award of Masters in Business Administration with

major

Subject as Marketing Management and Minor subject as Human

Resource

Management is a record of original work done by me under the supervision of

Mr.

Avijit. Aditya (MID

faculty).

Date:

Signature of the student

3


5/92

EXECUTIVE

SUMMARY

Growth on the Data Cards. Especially happen when business travelers,

academicians as well as other professionals need to access emails and corporate

applications as well as personal requirements during urgent trips and travels. Now,

what kind of a company enters an industry with competitors already

entrenched?

Which ones actually succeed? The answer to both the questions is

VODAFONE

ESSAR, which is now known as VODAFONE. It is a confident andsmart

company that was able to enter a saturated and highly competitive industry,

and

emerge at the top. The project aims to identify the problems faced by Vodafone

in

the internet data card market. Customers often feel that service providers do not

deliver what they promise. They feel players should present the terms

andconditions and tariff plans/schemes in clear terms. The research we conducted also

supports this fact. We have suggested a marketing plan for Vodafone data card

along with other suggestions for VODAFONE to face the competition in the

near

future and the long

run.

4


6/92

Contents

Pg.

no.1.xAbout

Vodafone..2.xIntroduction of

project3.xLitrature

Survey..Chapter 1: Experts views on Indian Telecom

Sector.Chapter 2: An overview of internet and wireless

connectivity..Chapter 3: Telecom Sector-An

Outlook.3.1 Industry

Analysis3.2 About Internet Data

Cards.3.2.1 Vodafone............

....3.2.2 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)

.3.2.3 Tata

Indicom3.2.4 Reliance

Communication..

3.2.5 Airtel.

Chapter 4: Consumer behavior towards Internet data

Card.4.xResearch

Methodology.....5.xData

AnalysisChapter 1: Brand

RecallChapter 2: Development of Hypothesis and

Testing.Chapter 3: Graphs and

Charts6.xRecommendation and

Conclusion.7.xAnnexure

8.xBibliography

5


7/92

6


8/92

About

Vodafone

Vodafone Essar in India is a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc and commenced

operations in 1994 when its predecessor Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular

license for Mumbai. Vodafone Essar now has operations in 22 circles with

over65.92 million customers. The company is a joint venture of Essar

CommunicationHoldings Ltd and the UK-based Vodafone Group. Vodafone has partnered with the

Essar Group as their principal joint venture partner for the Indian market. They

arein the business of cellular telephony. Over the years, Vodafone Essar, under

the

Hutch brand, has been named the Most Respected Telecom Company, theBestMobile Service in the country and the Most Creative and Most

EffectiveAdvertiser of the Year. Vodafone is the worlds leading international

mobilecommunications company. It currently has equity interests in 27 countries across

5continents and 40 partner networks with over 303 million proportionate

customersworldwide. Vodafone has partnered with the Essar Group as its principal joint

venture partner for the Indian market. Essar Global Limited (EGL) is a

diversifiedbusiness group spanning the manufacturing and services sectors of Steel, Energy,

Power, Communications, Shipping & Logistics, and Projects. The group has

operations and investments in India, Canada, USA, Africa, the Middle East,

theCaribbean and South East Asia and employs 30,000 people worldwide. Vodafone

Essar Ltd provides services like 3G, which are based on 1800 MHz and 900Mhz

GSM digital technology. They offers voice and data services. In addition,

theyoffers postpaid connections activation, prepaid SIM cards and recharge coupons

sale, service activation/deactivation, postpaid tariff plan change, customer query

resolution, prepaid/postpaid SIM card replacement and up gradation, mobile

number change, and information on and subscription of value added services

through stores. The Essar Group is Vodafones principle partner in India.

The7


9/92

Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with a balaned portfolio of assets

in manufacturing and service sectors of Steel, Energy, Power,

Communications,Shipping prots & Logistics and Projects.

About Hutchison-Essar Vodafone

Negotiations

The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone HQ in Berkshire, England,

isthe worlds leading international mobile communications group

with29Million revenuesx x27 countries, 303 million customers, 40

partnernetworks. Advanced mobile telecommunications services x provided

by

vodafone are 3G, data related services. The Joint venture - 67% stake byHTIL and 33% owned by Essar.HTIL Li Ka-Shing , Essar

RuiaFamily.HTIL is HK Based Telecom Company and Essar is India

baseddiversified corporation 4th largest cellular operator in India 74.08

millioncustomer.

Vodafones Objective

To venture into the worlds most lucrative cellular

market

Strengthen its operation

worldwide

To obtain the majority stake of

Hutchison

8


10/92

Introduction of Project

The objective of the study is to understand the consumers pre, post behavior,

during perception of data card and consumer buying behavior and attitude for

Vodafone data card. To understand the former part, the researcher created a

questionnaire and conducted a survey. The researcher analyzed the questionnaire

and the survey to create an extensive questionnaire understanding the buying

behavior of consumers of Vodafone data card and other brands. The researcher had

an analysis done on the 600 respondents from Durgapur, Asansol & Burdwan to

identify how much of buying intension is due to attributes and how much due

to

influence by referrals.

The research analysis had revealed that the consumers are satisfied with the brand

Vodafone data card and its attributes. However, Vodafone has not performed well

with the customers who are considerably concerned about internet connection

with

its cost and tariff plans. This following detailed analysis is presented in the project

report.

9


11/92

LITERATURESURVEY

Chapter 1: Experts views on Indian Telecom Sector

10


12/92

Girija (1998), in its article Socioeconomic Implications of

TelecommunicationsLiberalization: India in the International Context says that

Telecommunicationsrestructuring have evolved differently in Asia and Latin America. WhileAsiangovernments have moved, cautiously in bringing changes to the sector,

LatinAmericanx xNationsx xhavex ximplementedx xradicalx xownershipx xandx

xmarkettransformations. The Indian telecommunications reform falls in between these

twogeneral regional trends. The choice of a high component of competition, increased

private participation, and no privatization of the national carrier set conditions

that

will trigger unique socioeconomic effects. This article identifies and highlightsthelikely implications of the Indian reform on key economic and social issues, such

asthe cost of services, cross-subsidies, network interconnection, private investments,

universal services, employment, and the possible rise of an information-

intensiveeconomy. It does so by comparing and contrasting the Indian experience

withdominant reform strategies elsewhere in the developing

world.

Chowdary (1999) discusses how Telecom reform, or demonopolization, in India

has been bungled. Shaped by legislation dating back to the colonial era and post

Second World War socialist policies, by the mid-1980s India realized that its poor

telecommunications infrastructure and service needed reform. At the heart of

theproblemx xlayx xthex xmonopolyx xbyx xthex xgovernmentsx xDepartmentx

xofTelecommunications (DOT) in equipment, networks and services. The

NationalTelecom Policy 1994 spelt out decent objectives for reform but tragically its

implementation was entrusted to the DOT. This created an untenable situation

inwhich the DOT became policymaker, licenser, regulator, operator and also

arbitrator in disputes between itself and licensed competitors. He discusses the

question: Why did India get it so wrong? and What India should do

now?11


13/92

Anand (1999), in his article named India's economic policy reforms says

thatIndia was embarked on economic reforms in July 1991, in the wake of a balance

ofpayments crisis. In this article, an attempt is made to review two books and a setofWorld Bank reports concerning the progress of these reforms. Issues concerning

economic policy, impact of the reforms on poverty, sectoral issues relating to

agriculture, industry and infrastructure are briefly discussed. As reforms enter a

more difficult phase, several challenges remain. Some of this fall under

theeconomic agenda'' of measures needed to maintain economic growth; others can

be termed the development agenda'' - of improving human development.Progresswith regard to the former is not sufficient to produce results concerning the

latter.

Bhattacharya (2000) constructs a vision of the Indian telecommunication

sectorfor the year 2020. The paper aims at isolating agents of change based on

international experiences and situates India in the development continuum.

Theagents of change have been broadly categorized into economic structure,

competition policy and

technology.

Das (2000),U in her paper described the Liberalization of the

Indiantelecommunications services which started in mid nineties with no change in

theexisting public monopoly structure, entirely controlled by Department

ofTelecommunications (DoT). In order to evaluate any proposed industry structure,

itis essential to analyze the production technology of DoT so as to determine the

rationale of liberalization and sustainability of competition. Accordingly,

theresearcher estimates a frontier multi-product cost function for DoT, where the cost

function has been duly modified to account for the production technology of a

public monopoly. The study finds that although DoT displays high

allocation12


14/92

inefficiency, it is still a natural monopoly with very high degree of sub

additivelyof cost of production. This study implies that the choice of any reform

policyshould consider the trade-off between the loss of scale and scope economies and

cost saving from the reduction in inefficiency of the incumbent monopoly intheevent of

competition.

Rao (2000), in her article named Internet service providers in India, provides

abroad view of the role of an Internet service provider (ISP) and the factors to

beconsidered before entering the ISP market. Describes the Internet/ISP scene

within

India and discusses the configuration of local, regional and national level ISPs, andthe supporting infrastructure. She also identifies the various success factors. The

global Internet scenario is discussed regarding the phases of the Internet in

India,i.e. pre and post commercialization. The main players are described:

ERNET,NICNET, STPI, VSNL,MTNL, Satyam Infoway and Bharti-BT. The financial

andlegal implications are highlighted in the Indian context. Many companies

enteredthe nascent ISP business in India due to deregulation. Building local

content,foreknowledge of new Internet technologies, connecting issues, competitiveness,

etc. would help in their sustainability. She concludes that though many

companiesentered the nascent ISP businesses in India due to deregulation, many of them

areunlikely to survive in the longer

term.

Vrmani (2000) estimates the contribution of telecommunication (or

telecom)services to aggregate economic growth in India. Estimated contributionisdistinguished between public and private sectors to highlight the impact of

telecomprivatization on economic growth. Knowledge of policy determinants of

demandof telecom services is shown to be essential to enhance growth contribution of

telecom services. Using a recent sample survey data from Karnataka State in

South13


15/92


16/92

important role in crop production and natural resource management. The

othercritical factor is technological challenges for universalaccess to ICTs to bring

down the network access cost.

Nikam, Ganesh, Tamizhchelvan (2004), analyses that changing face of India

inbridging the digital device. He reiterated - India lives in villages said the

Fatherof the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. With 1,000 million people and 180

millionhouseholds, India is one of the biggest growing economies in the world. With

theadvent of the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) revolution,

India

and its villages are slowly but steadily getting connected to the cities of the nationand the world beyond. Owing to the late Rajiv Gandhi, India is now a

powerfulknowledge economy, and though India may have been slow to start, it certainly

hascaught up with the West and is ahead in important respects. The Government,

thecorporate sector, NGOs and educational institutions have supported rural

development by encouraging digital libraries, e-business, e-learning and

e-governance. The aim of this paper is to touch upon and highlight some of the areas

where, by using ICT, the masses have been reached in this way. A follow-up paper

will outline collections of significant cultural material which, once national

ITstrategies are fully achieved, could form part of a digitally preserved national

heritage

collection.

Dey (2004), in her article talks about the discussions between the Federal

Communications Commission (FCC) and communications policy makersand

regulators in other countries and how they have gleaned several clusters of issues

where further research would directly benefit them. Recently, there have been

twonotable shifts. First, as the acceptance of the competition model over the

monopolymodel for telecommunications markets takes deep effect in regulators all over the

15


17/92

world, questions regarding process and procedure for regulation are becoming ever

more urgent. This paper discusses current questions regarding decision making,

enforcement, and understanding consumer issues that arise often in the FCC's

discussions with other regulators. Second, technological change is potentially

shifting market definitions. In the FCC's discussion with other regulators over

thelast two years, the overlap of wireline telecom, wireless telecom and cable

television has become more

pronounced.

Singh (2005), in his article The role of technology in the emergence of

the

information society in India describes the role that informationandcommunication technologies are playing for Indian society to educate

themformally or informally which is ultimately helping India to emerge as

aninformation society. Though India has a huge population, the illiteracy rate is

alsohuge in this country. The paper has taken an approach to find the historical

situation and present the prevailing scenario as well as the change that are taking

place with the application of ICT to the advantage of the society in different areas

including daily life. India is making all out efforts to be counted among

thedeveloped nations of the world. The article also describes the considerable

attention India is taking for application of technology, development

ofinfrastructure and human resource for meeting national needs. Basically India

isbuilding an information society. Technology has helped society to cut across the

traditional boundaries for getting converted into an emerging information

society.The study concludes that The Indian software and services industry has

significantly helped to boost the Indian economy. In IT-enabled services too,

Indiahas been clearly perceived to be the dominant hub. The Indian software sector

isbeing recognized as the single largest contributor to incremental

marketcapitalization in India but the sector is still small in terms of contribution to

GDP,16


18/92

especially when compared to other large sectors in the economy like agriculture

and manufacturing. Similarly, the telecommunication sector has contributed a

lotbut still has a considerable way to go. The paper also enforces that comparisons of

Indias telecommunication statistics with those of developed and otheremergingeconomies show that the country is still far behind its

contemporaries.

Banka (2006) gives an overview of the mergers and acquisitions in the

telecommunication industry. According to him Governments decision to raise

theforeign investment limit to 74% is expected to spur fresh rounds of mergers and

takeovers in India. He foresees a sector that represents humongous opportunitywaiting to be tapped by Indian and foreign

conglomerates.

Thomas (2007),U in his article describes the contribution made

bytelecommunications in India by the state and civil society to public service,

thisarticlex xaimsx xtox xidentifyx xthex xstatesx xinitialx xreluctancex xtox

xrecognizetelecommunications provision as a basic need as against the robust tradition of

public service aligned to the postal services and finds hope in the renewal of public

service telecommunications via the Right to Information movement. The

articlefollows the methodology of studying the history of telecommunications

approachthat is conversant with the political economy tradition. It uses archival

sources,personal correspondence, and published information as its research material. The

findings of the paper suggests that public service in telecommunication is a

relatively new concept in the annals of Indian telecommunications and thataderegulated environment along with the Right to Information movement

holdssignificant hope for making public service telecommunications a real

alternative.Thex xarticlex xprovidesx xax xreflexive,x xcriticalx xaccountx xofx xpublicx

xservicetelecommunications in India and suggests that it can be strengthened by

learning17


19/92

gained from the continual renewal of public service ideals and action by the postal

services and a people-based demand model linked to the Right to Information

Movement. All studies done by the researcher suggests that the right to

informationmovement has contributed to the re-vitalisation of participatory democracy inIndiaand to a strengthening of public service

telecommunications.

Cygnus Business Consulting & Research Pvt. Ltd. (2008), in its Quarterly

Performance Analysis of Companies (April-June 2008) has analysed the

Indiantelecom industry in the awake of recent global recession and its overall impact on

the Indian economy. The analysis is done in the background of wake ofglobalrecession and rising inflation. Cygnus estimates, the Indian telecom industry

isexpected to maintain the growth trajectory in the next quarter as well. With

almost5-6m subscribers are being added every month, and the country is witnessing

wildmomentum in the telecom

industry.

Maheshwari (July-September 2008), in her report analysed the Indian

telecomindustry and ascertain that Indian telecommunications has been zooming up

thegrowth curve at an mounting pace, and India is has surpassed US to become the

second largest wireless network in the world. This growing subscriber base is

basically created by tapping into rural India, which is an emerging market for

theindustry. The estimate for the next five to ten years is that the rural market

willform 40 % of the subscriber base. The study has analysed the human resource

management process of the industry, and specially the latest trends of recruitment

of this massively growing

industry.

Anderson (2008), in his single executive interview titled Developing a route

tomarket strategy for mobile communications in rural India An interview

with18


20/92

Gurdeep Singh, Operations Director, Uttar Pradesh, Hutch Indiasuggests

thatmanagers need to go beyond traditional approaches to serving the poor, and

innovate by taking into account the unique institutional context of

developingmarkets. His practical implication saysthatthe experience of Hutchison Essar in India provides some important lessons

formobile network operators (MNOs) and other firms in other developing

marketswho are hoping to serve the rural poor: Hutchison has recognized the value of

corporate and noncorporate partners. The company has proactively established

relationships with individual entrepreneurs, and has provided has provided

development support to other partners such as distributors. The company hasrecognized the value of leveraging existing local institutions, and has seen gaps in

local infrastructure or missing services as potential opportunities rather than

barriers to growth. The company has seen the rural market as an opportunity

notjust an obligation to be served because of universal service obligations. Also this

article demonstrates that MNOs can deliver availability and affordability

toachieve increased individual or household penetration through business model

innovation

.

Mani (2008) addresses a number of issues arising from the growth of telecom

services in India since the mid-1990s. It also discusses a number of spillover

effects for the rest of the economy and one of the more important effects is

thepotential to develop a major manufacturing hub in the country for

telecomequipment and for downstream industries such as semiconductor devices. The

telecom industry in India could slowly become an example of the service sector

acting as a fillip to the growth of the manufacturing sector. A beginning

towardsthis has been made. The formation of a Telecom Equipment Export Forum and

theannouncement of the Indian Semiconductor Policy 2007 are steps in this

direction.19


21/92

Success crucially depends on the response of the private sector to these incentives.

Given the importance that a regulatory agency can play in this crafting, no

effortshould be lost in strengthening the powers of the TRAI. The benefits to the

Indianeconomy from having both a strong services and manufacturing segments inthetelecom sector cannot be

undermined.

Narayana (2008) estimates the contribution of telecommunication (or

telecom)services to aggregate economic growth in India. Estimated contribution

isdistinguished between public and private sectors to highlight the impact of

telecom

privatization on economic growth. Knowledge of policy determinants ofdemandof telecom services is shown to be essential to enhance growth contribution of

telecom services. Using a recent sample survey data from Karnataka State in

SouthIndia, price and income determinants of demand for telecom services are estimated

by capacity of telephone exchanges. Estimation results offer evidence for

significant negative own price elasticity and positive income elasticity of

demandfor telecom

services.

Sharma (2009) deals with the major challenges faced by Indias telecom

equipment manufacturing sector, which lags behind telecom services. Only 35%

ofthe total demand for telecom equipment in the country is met by

domesticproduction. This is not favourable to long-term sustained growth of the telecom

sector. The country is also far behind in R&D spending when compared to

otherleading countries. India needs to see an increase in R&D investment,industry-academia-government partnership, better quality doctoral education and incentives

to entrepreneurs for start-ups in telecom equipment manufacturing. In 2006-07,

65% of the total consumption of equipment was met through imports. This

trendhas far-reaching implications for the economy and should not be allowed to

20


22/92

continue for long. In a country like India which has a problem of

massiveunemployment, the manufacturing sector should be promoted to create more

employment

opportunities.

Shah (February, 2009), has analysed Indian telecom industry and studied the

sector keeping in mind three companies; namely Bharti, R.Comm and idea in

thebackground of recent global meltdown. The study suggests that though there is no

sign of slowdown in this sector, but surely a strong turmoil is going on in the

industry. The study states that the sector is fairly immune from the

current

economic downturn & does provide a good defensive bet in medium term.Withthe help of newer technologies, wireless penetration is expected to increase in the

near future, which is basically fuelling the growth of the sector. While the

3G /Broadband adoption would ensure long term growth momentum,the article

hasthoroughly investigated about the intense competitive scenario, pricing pressure,

high capital intensity & substantial regulatory uncertainties currently faced by

theindustry. The article has also described the cause of being relatively safe of this

industry. The causes described by Shah are increasing rural coverage, rising

affordability, declining handset/subscription costs, substantially low tariffs

&established brand/distribution. However, the study also cautions the

telecomindustry that a steeper economic slowdown could start impacting the subscriber

usage patterns as well as operator capital investments & thereby could substantially

restrict revenue growth

rate.

Chapter 2: An overview of internet and wireless connectivity

21


23/92

Definition of internet

The Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer

networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard

InternetProtocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions ofsmallerdomestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry

various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file

transfer,and the interlinked web pages and other resources of the World Wide Web

(WWW)

.Common uses of the Internet

E-mailWorld Wide Web

Remote Access

Collaboratio

nStreaming

MediaFile

SharingVoice

Telephony

DRIVING GROWTH OF INTERNET DATA

CARD

Growing business in all segments, necessity to access emails and corporate

applications during urgent business trips and the urge for some entertainment

While on the move are some drivers increasing the demand for data card usage.

Apart from these factors, as the name of Tata Indicoms data card,Plug 2 surf,

Suggests, ease of use with plug and play factor is also a driver for growth, S P

Shukla, president, Personal Buisness, Reliance Communations, says that faster

surfing and higher download speeds, convenience of surfing the Internet while

onthe move, simple to use, and affordable tariff are among the key reasons for the

data card growth, in both the laptop and desktop segments. While broadband

22


24/92

connections are yet to penetrate the vast semi-urban and rural parts of the country

where entrepreneurs , officials, students, etc. have the need to surf the internet for

various purposes. Though the laptop penetration in these areas has not made a

significant mark, desktop penetration is comparatively more. with datacardsoffering convenient access to the Internet, a number of companies have started

totie up with service providers to avail bulk network connections for their

employeeson the go and allow them to utilize their time during business travels. Since

datacards can be used with desktop also, it cuts down the office infrastructure costs as

well. With the data card segment witnessing steady growth, affordability will

go

up, which, in turn, will drive growth. As the data card growth increases, speedevolves and prices come down, affordability will go up and more users can begin

to think of data card as an affordable solution, says an Airtel spokesperson. And

growth of mobile telephony in India has created users with specific needs like

m-commerce that require wireless Internet, driving the wireless data card

growth.Once the concept of mobile wallet and its applications hit the market in India in

thenear future, the wireless data card segment is also expected to witness an

exponential growth. Apart from this, Internet charges in costly hotels are very

high.With the availability of data cards and USB modems, frequent business

travelerswho stay in costly star hotels can access the internet and corporate applications on

their laptops and avoid using the Internet facility at hotels, savings on high

Internetcharges.

The Deterrents

All players are competing with each other to give affordable tariff rates for

theirdata cards. But still the rates are very high when compared to countries like the

UK. In the UK, wireless broadband connection through 3G technology costs

about10 per month and that too with a data download speed faster than 256Kbps.

23


25/92

International travelers who have used data cards with faster speed are not satisfied

with data cards and USB modems services offered in India. So, in India, data

cardsmean accessing a bare minimum net connectivity only for a sizable

population.That is why it is said that data cards have not exactly taken off inIndia.

Chapter 3: Telecom Sector-An Outlook

3.1 Industry

Analysis24


26/92

Indian Telecom industry is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in

the

world. In telecom industry, service providers are the main drivers;

whereas

equipment manufacturers are witnessing growth and decline in successive quarters

as sales is dependent on order undertaken by the companies. Airtel, Reliance, Tata

and Vodafone are some of the companies that are expected to spur the growth in

AMJ08, as compared to AMJ07. According to Cygnus estimates, telecom

industry

is expected to grow by 25% in AMJ 09 as compared to AMJ 08, in terms of

sales.

EBDITA and PAT are expected to grow by 32% and 34% respectively inAMJ09

as cost expenses are being control by major companies like Airtel and

Reliance.

The major booster is the wireless mobile subscriber base; crossing over 261m

in

March 2009. Other services like Internet subscriber base has also provided

significant impetus with its subscriber base reaching over 11m in March

2009.

3.2 About Internet Data

Cards

25


27/92

An Internet Data card is a modem which can be connected to the PCs or Laptops

any where any time to get connected with the internet. A data card comes

with

different verities and models, some of the models of data cards of different service

providers are mentioned

below.3.2.1VodafoneVodafone has few models in the data card category, these are:

i.UVodafone Mobile Connect EDGE data

card

Connect to Internet, the wireless way with Vodafone Mobile Connect EDGEData

Card in India. Get quick, simple and secure access to the Internet. And

your

company

server.

Features of this Vodafone Data

Card:

Gives us high-speed connectivity through the Vodafone EDGE network

in

India and

abroad.

26


28/92

Easy VPN connectivity, to give us secure access to our company server and

intranet

Keeps us connected even while travelling in India or

abroad

Saves our from high internet charges on your hotel

bills

Is easy to install & simple to use no wires, phones lines or cable

connections required

Comes with a choice of tariff plans, so one can pick the one that suits you

best

Supports

SMS

Charges & Price

For Mumbai and Maharashtra except Goa Rs 7799

For rest circles including Goa Rs 6499

Tariff Plans

Monthly

rental

(Rs)

499 699

Free data 500M

B

1G

BUsage

charges

5p /

10K

B

5p /

10KB

27


29/92

ii.Vodafone Mobile Connect USB

Modem

Gives wireless Internet anywhere, anytime. With the Vodafone

Mobile

Connect USB Modem you get real-time access to information. Plus,the

Vodafone Internet USB stick comes without any installation hassles. Just

plug

the Vodafone USB modem into our laptop and get connected to the internet

and

even your company server, at a speed thats three times faster than our wired

dial-up connection. Thats not all this Vodafone USB Modem gives us 3G

Broadband speeds while roamingabroad.

Features:

High-speed connectivity through the Vodafone EDGE

network

Works with your preferred VPN software, to give us secure access to

our company server and intranet

Keeps us connected even while travelling in India or

abroad

Saves us from high internet charges on your hotel

bills

28


30/92

Easy to install & simple to use no wires, phones lines or cable

connections required

Comes with a choice of tariff plans, so we can pick the one that suits

best

Supports

SMS

Charges

Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Stick costs: Rs2599

Tariff Plans

Monthly

rental

(Rs)

499 699

Free data 500MB

1GBUsage

charges

5p /

10K

B

5p /

10KB

iii. Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G USB

Stick

29


31/92

Now you can make the most of a mobile internet connection for our laptop

or

desktop. With the Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G USB Stick one can work

from

anywhere with real-time access to information. Without any installationhassles.

Just plug it into your laptop and get connected to the internet and even your

company server, at a speed that's faster than our traditional dial up

connection.

Thats not all the Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G USB Stick also gives us

3G

Broadband speeds while roaming

abroad.

Gets us high-speed connectivity to the internet through the VodafoneEDGE

network.

Is easy to install just plug in and is ready, no CDs required.

Gives 3G Broadband speeds when we travel abroad.

Works with your preferred VPN software, to give us secure access to your

company server and intranet.

Has many different tariff plans, so we can choose the one that meets our

requirements

.

Saves from high internet charges on our hotel

bills.

Supports

SMS

30


32/92

Supports Micro SD card upto 2

GB.

Price

For Mumbai and Maharashtra except Goa Rs 6599

For rest circles including Goa Rs 5499

3.2.2 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL)3.2.2.1 Why

BSNL?

i. First thing is thetariff?

While other service providers charge Rs.1500 + tax for the same service,

BSNL

charge only Rs.400+tax that also including voice rental!! And it is

truly

unlimited. No caps at all. No hidden charges, no strings attached nothing.

Now

isn't it a cool reason?

ii. The subscriber need not buy the card !

No other service provider allows you to take the data card on rental basis.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam, Limited - BSNL - has option to take the card on

rental,

that also just Rs.150 a

month.

iii.Unmatched

Coverage

The user is never away from a BSNL CDMA tower. If the subsriber have

WLL

coverage or FWT coverage in your area, the data card will work

perfectly.

iv.Internet in rural areas

31


33/92

As only Bharat Sanchar Nigam, Limited - BSNL - has coverage in lot of

places

which are very remote and rural areas, this service is best suited for people

there. A very affordable internet facility for the peoplethere.

v. Discontinue when there is no need of it

All other service providers ask us to purchase the data card and we do not have

any alternatives if you wish to discontinue. There is no way one can return

the

data card to get your money. But for BSNL one can give the data card back

after the minimum rental period and will get the security deposit

back.

vi. Truely Unlimited

Internet

No caps, no limits. we can go online 24x7. Need not worry on the bills and

we

know how much to pay every month as it is NOT based on the monthly

traffic

or hourly usage. No confusing tariff tables and nothing complicated. Simpleand

affordable

.

vii.Cutting Edge

Technology

The BSNL data card is Huawei - EC 321 which is the latest one and support

ROMSIM/R-UIM card. It is CDMA2000 1X RTT, compatible with IS-95

A/B.It support Voice and SMS, Incoming Calling Display, ring prompt,

call

receiving while data service online (for this function Call Waiting service

must

be activated) and it has a large-capacity phone

book.

32


34/92

Tariff / Other

Security deposit - Rs. 1000

Activation charges

-

Rs. 250

Security deposit (voice-

no STD) -

Rs.500

Advance rental for 3

months -

Rs. 450

Service tax

-

Rs. 87.00

Total initial charge

-

Rs. 2287.00

Monthly charges of BSNL data card Rs.400 - if you buy the card and Rs.550

if

you take the card on rental basis. Rate of BSNL data card for purchase Rs.2800

if you purchase it form

BSNL.

Minimum hire period: Three

monthsThe actual speed

The speed is mainly depend on the distance from the BSNL CDMA tower.

If

we are near the tower we may get speed of 120 kbps, if we are away from the

tower it will go down to 80 or 60

kbps.

BSNL EVDO is a Wireless Based Broadband Service on CDMAnetwork.

33


35/92

It offers Internet at 2.4 Mbps data rate. EVDO (Evolution Data Optimize,

3G

service in CDMA) is a technology for providing high Speed Internet on

CDMA

network (Latest version of EVDO provides up to 7.2 Mbps Internet, but its

not

available with BSNL now). As 3G is officially launched, BSNL isproviding

this service on testing and unofficial basis like Reliances and Tatas

WIMAX.

BSNL EVDO comes as both USB Modem (Pen Drive like) and PCMCIA

Card

form factor. BSNL started this service from small towns and some rural

places

in South India and gradually expanding to all major cities in India. As BSNL

is

currently in upgrading phase of its CDMA towers to EVDO enabled.The

availability of 2.4 EVDO connections depends on the city and the area in

the

city where EVDO tower is present. Depending on the availability of the

tower

in your area or your wish, you could choose between two speeds. Either EVDO

(2.4 Mbps) or CDMA 1x (144Kbps). Please note whatever you choose, the

cardor modem will require to be pre configured at BSNL exchange for that.

The

service totally depends on the area of availability and the signal you are getting.

The maximum practical speed is 1.5 Mbps (which I consider is very

good).

34


36/92

However if the tower (in your area or the area you move) is not

EVDO

enabled, the connection automatically switches to the CDMA 1x and

provides

speed of 144 Kbps. BSNL EVDO provides roaming also however itsavailable

in the state only, nationwide will be soon

launched.

Rate and Tariff

Plans:

EV-DO Device cost Rs 7,500 , Either USB Modem or PCMCIA card cost

Rs.

3500 on out right purchase. For rental basis, you will have to give Rs.

1500

deposit (Rs. 1000 refundable) and the monthly modem rent will be Rs.200.

Minimum commitment is 3 months. 250 Rs / Month (only if u buy the

device

for 7,500 Rs at the Begining) 600 Rs / Month (On rental for device) Tariff

for

EVDO (2.4 Mbps) is Rs. 550 + Tax/month unlimited download Tariff

for

CDMA 1x (144 Kbps) is Rs. 250(reduced from 350) + Tax/month

unlimiteddownload. Only above two tariff plans are available and Yes its too cheap than

Internet offered by other companies. So at starting, for Outright Purchase

we

will have to pay 3500 + 550 or 250 plus tax. For Rental Basis we will have

to

pay 1500 + 550 or 250 plus

tax.3.2.3 Tata

IndicomSTAY CONNECTED WHEREVER YOU

ARE

Now, stay connected to the internet from the comfort of your homes, offices,

or

wherever you are with Tata Indicom. Presenting Vdata Card & Plug 2

Surf

35


37/92

(USB Modem), 2 innovative solutions that function as a wireless

network

connection, a mobile phone and a modem. All in one and that too,

with

attractive tariffplans.

ITS FAST. ITS EASY. ITS

CONVENIENT.

Easy Installation &

maintenance.

Now Surf the internet, intranet or the extranet with consistent & high

speeds.

Send/Receive SMS or use voice capabilities. (Plug2Surf Whiz doesnot

support Voice calls)

Stay connected across the Tata indicom network20 circles & 3500

cities

Actual internet speed will be dependent on multiple factors like time of the

day,

number of simultaneous users, web page accessed etc.

THE 3-IN-1

ADVANTAGE

The Internet Advantage

The Plug 2 Surf / Vdata card offers data transfer and access at high speeds.

Just switch on your PC / laptop and get connected, so don't miss out on any

critical information even while we are on the

move.

36


38/92

Connects directly to the Tata Indicom network with the minimal user

steps

and fastest network registration.

The Voice Advantage

Now you can make and receive voice calls without any hassles. All you need

to do is connect the earphone jack provided with the Plug 2 Surf / Vdata

card. (Plug2Surf Whiz does not support Voice calls)

Provision of caller Id.

Voice calls at attractive call rates.

The SMS Advantage

Two way messaging facility available on both devices.

Send messages while we are connected on our voice call or internet mode.

Useful for being online, and being able to send and receive

message.

Plug 2 Surf - Unparalleled Features

Features Data-for

Laptops

PhotonU Ufor

PCs &

Laptops

Photon Whiz

for PCs &

Laptops

37


39/92

Speeds Upto

153.6kbps

Upto

153.6kbps

Upto

153.6kbpsAntenna E ternal

retractable

Interna

l

Interna

l

SMSCapacity 1000 msgs in

inb

o

and

outbo

1000 msgs in

inb

o

and

outbo

10x xmsgsx xin

inb

o

and

outbo

Phonebook

Capacit

y

1000 entries 1000 entries 250

entrie

Type T-SIM

Based

T-SIM

Based

T-SIM

BasedInterface PCMCI

A

US

B

US

BSupported OS Windows 2000/

Windows

XP/

Windows

Vista

Windows 2000/

Windows

XP/

Windows

Vista

Windows 2000/

Windows

XP/

Redhat

Enterprise

Linux 3 & 4/

Fedora Core 5

& 6/

SUSE Desktop

Linux 9 &

10/

Debian Linux 5

& 6/

Ubuntu Linux 5

& 6

38


40/92

Price Rs

2499/-

Rs

2499/-

Rs

2249/-

Photon & Photon Whiz Tariffs

Plan

Nam

e

Fixed

Charges

Free Usage Additional

usage charg

Time

Based

Budget

150

Value

325

Value

525

Rs.150/m

t

h

Rs.325/m

t

h

Rs.525/m

t

h

300 Mins (5

Hrs)

1800Mins

(30 Hrs)

3600Mins

(60 Hrs)

50p/min

50p/25p

50p/25p

Data

Based

ME

Economy

ME

Jumbo

Rs.500/mt

h

Rs.650/mt

h

1 GB

1.5G

B

Rs.2/M

B

Rs.2/M

B

nlimite

d Plan

nlimite

dU UData

Plan 799

Rs

799/mth

nlimited

data

usage

Tata Photon+ USB

Modem

Tata Photon Plus is a new Mobile Broadband Service. Tata Photon+ - the

next

generation technology offers a great mobile internet connectivity solution.

With

Tata Photon Plus we now have access to the internet at never before speeds .

39


41/92

Never before speeds:

With Tata Photon+ - Mobile Broadband Service you now have access to

internet at super fast speeds using the new USB modem.

Internet on the go:

With the new USB Modem we also now have the convenience of being able

to

access Tata Photon+ service ( Mobile Broadband Service) from wherever

we

are.

Plug andPlay:

All we now need to do is just plug the USB Modem into your Laptop/Desktop

PC and we are ready to access a whole new world of High speed internet

connectivity

.

Style

statement:With Tata Photon+'s new sleek and stylish USB Modem , you are

now

completely free from

wires.

SB interface:

With the USB port interface one can now simply plug the USB Modem

device

into either a Laptop or your Desktop PC & get ready to access high speed

internet

connectivity.

40


42/92

Feature Specifications

Speed Upto 3.1 Mbps Downlink speed .

Actual internet speed will depend on

multiple factors like time of the day,

number of simultaneous users, web

page accessed, etc.

NON-

RUIM

Non-RUIMx xbasedx

xprogrammed

device is provided to customers.

OS Win 2000, Win XP, Win

Vista

Antenna E ternal

Price: Rs 3500/- for the device.

3.2.4 RelianceCommunicationThe magic of mobile surfing

Reliance Net connect Data and Voice

Card

Now we dont need to frantically search for a cyber caf while on tour. Reliance

Netconnect gives us the freedom of mobile surfing anywhere in the country.

Slip

41


43/92

the Reliance Netconnect Data & Voice Card into your laptop and you're ready to

go. This pocket-size wonder packs quite a punch it works both as a modem and

a mobile phone, so you can surf at high speeds as well as make and receive calls

and SMSes from our laptop.

Reliance's cutting edge CDMA2000 1X technology offers pan-India coverage,

giving you wireless Internet access even from the remotest part of the

country.

E perience it all at a cost that's incredibly

affordable.

Reliance Netconnect KeyBenefits:

Working while travel has never been this simple. Reliance Netconnect offers

you

benefits that make it easy to connect to work or catch up with friends, no

matter

where we go.

Coverage

Surf seamlessly across India in over 20,000 towns and 4.5 lakh villages and

counting.

Speed

Access files and download information at speeds up to 144kbps

Email

s

Stay in touch by accessing mail while we're on the

move.

Calls

42


44/92

Make and receive calls to any number in the world from our

laptop.

SMS

Send and receive SMS messages from our laptop. Even multiple SMS ispossible.

Address Book

Synchronise your address book with Outlook Express.

Convenience

Say goodbye to bothersome copper wires and the problem of dial-up connections

like timeouts, blackouts and frequent disconnections.

Easy to

Install

Follow simple instructions after installing the software from the CD

provided .

nlimited Internet Surfing

Stay online always at just Rs 650 per month (up to 1 GB data transfer)

withoutbothering about running up huge phone

bills.

i.UReliance Netconnect MG880 USB

Modem

43


45/92

A revolutionary product from Reliance Netconnect that lets one access the

Internet

anytime anywhere. This product is an unique sleek modem which can be

attached

to the USB port directly and helps one to do the Internet, talk and sendSMS.

Features: Connectivity

Wireless Internet access across 20000 towns and 4.5 lakh villages and

counting

Enhanced download & surfing speed with cutting-edge CDMA 1X

technology

Internet browsing and download speed upto 153.6 kbps

Compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP & Vista

High-speed wireless data access for laptop or tablet PC.

Voice and SMS Compatible:

Make and receive voice calls

Send and receive

SMS.

Price : Rs 2490/- for the device

ii. Huawei EC-121 USB

Modem

44


46/92

First time in India a revolutionary product from Reliance Netconnect that lets

one

to access the internet anytime anywhere. This product is a unique modem

which

can be attached to the USB port directly and helps to do the internet, talk andsend

SMS.

Features: Connectivity

CDMA 1x RTT

800Mhz.

Inner

Antenna.

AutoInstallation.

Voice Supported.

Packet Data Service supported.

Supports Incoming and Outgoing

SMS.

Laptop/PC Speaker & Mic / Head Jack can be used for voice

calls.

Windows 2000 (SP4), Windows XP (SP2), Windows Vista32/64bits,

MAC

OS

45


47/92

Price: Rs 2500/- for the device

iii.xPCMCIA card (Personal Computer Memory Card International

Association)

A revolutionary product from Reliance Netconnect that lets us access the

Internet

anytime

anywhere.

Price: Rs. 2500/- for the card.

Tariff Plans

Postpaid Plans

Tariff Plan Monthly Rental

Rs.

Free Usage sageU UCharges

BeyondU UFree

sage

Pay as you

go

174 Nil 60 p/min

day30 p/min

nightSwift 30 300 40 hrs day

40 hrs

nigh

50 p/

min

Swift 40 Plus 400 Night

unlimited

50 p/

min

46


48/92

Freedom 650 1 GB/

month

Rs. 2.00/

MBFreedom plus 900 1.5 GB/

month

Rs. 2.00/

MBPlatinu

m

1500 Unlimite

d

Netconnect Prepaid Data Vouchers

5 Hour Pack 10 Hour PackU25 Hour

Pack

nlimited

Pack

Prepaid Data

RCV (in

Rs.)

Rs.

111/-

Rs. 202/- Rs. 404/- Rs. 1099/-

Validity (in

Days)

0 0 30 30

Free SMS 50 100 300 300

MinutesU Uof

usageU U(If

entire usage is

in Peak

Hours)

300 600 1500 unlimite

d

MinutesU Uof

usageU U(If

entire usage isin Off Peak

Hours)

600 1200 3000 unlimite

d

iv.xNetconnect Broadband

Plus

47


49/92

Reliance Communications has launched the Netconnect Broadband+ (Plus)service

which they call the Fastest internet broadband service and that

also

wireless.According to Reliance Communications, the Netconnect

Broadband+

(Plus) service will offer up to 3.1 Mbps download and up to 1.8 Mbps upload

speed.Netconnect Broadband Plus service will be available in 35 cities with

seamless handover to high speed 1x (CDMA Datacard) service covering 20,000

towns and 4.5 lakh

villages.

Charges : Rs

3500/-

Tariff Plans

Plan

Name

Monthly

Renta

l

Bundled

sag

sage

Charges

beyond Free

sage

Roamin

g

Pay As you

Go

Rs. 299/- Nil Rs. 2/- per

xNationwide*48

Features

Wireless Broadband for laptops & desktops

20 times faster with speed upto 3.1 Mbps

Simply plug & play

Fastest uploads at a speeds of upto 1.8 Mbps

Seamless network across 20,000 towns and 4.5 lac villages


50/92

M

BBroadband+

10GB @Night

Rs. 499/- 10GB@

Night

50 paise per

minute

during day

Nationwide

*

Broadband+ 1 GB

Plan

Rs. 650/- 1

GB

Rs. 2/- per

xNationwide*

MB

Broadband+ 2.5

GB

Plan

Rs. 850/- 2.5

GB

Rs. 2/- per

xNationwide*

MB

Broadband+ 5 GB

Plan

Rs. 1099/- 5

GB

Rs. 2/- per

xNationwide*

MBBroadband+

CitywideU U10GB

Plan

Rs. 1099/- 10G

B

Rs. 2/- per

xCitywide

MB

Broadband+

10GB Plan

Rs. 1750/- 10G

B

Rs. 2/- per

M

B

Nationwide

Broadband+10GB

NightU UAdd-on

Pack**

Rs. 199/- 10GB

Rs. 2/- per xAs per Plan

MB chosen

Day Usage : 6 AM to 10 PM ; Night Usage : 10 PM to 6

AM

3.2.5AirtelAirtel USB

Modem

49


51/92

Airtel USB Modem can be inserted along with a SIM card in your

laptop/desktop

(in USB Slot). It works on GPRS/EDGE and gives you Anytime

Anywhere

Connectivity through internet

WIRELESSLY.

Airtel USB Modem advantages

are:

Large International Roaming GPRS coverage

Technical Call Centre

Support

Customized for Airtel GPRS/EDGE usage (APN is customized to

Airtel)

Pan India Presence of Airtel

Network

Attractive plans to choose

from

1 years

warranty

Features

Quad band

EDGE

Plug & Play

50


52/92

Data, SMS

FOR USB PORT

EDGE/

GPRS/GSM(SMS)

SMS

facilities

For Notebooks and PCs

Fully Customized

International

Roaming

Price: Rs

2,999/-

Tariff Plans

Standard

Plan

Plan I Plan

II

Surf

nlimited

Airtel Data Card

Rental

Rs.49 Rs. 350 Rs. 599 Rs. 999

Free Bundled

Usage

NIL 500

MB

1

GB

Unlimite

dAdditional Data Usage (per

MB)

Re.0.10p/

1

0 KB

Rs. 5/- Rs. 3/- NA

Free SMS per Month NA Nil 100 100

Voice Plan Additional

Any

Plan

Voice

Rental

Voice

Rental

Voice

Rental

51


53/92

Inclusive*xInclusive*xInclusive

*

Chapter 4: Consumer behavior towards Internet data

Card

When consumer purchase internet data card they still perform a similar sequence

of tasks: searching for information about different products, evaluating these

alternatives, and transacting the chosen alternative. However, the family

and

friends has great impact on these

activities.Problem recognition:

The starting point is feeling the need or recognition of a problem. The need

for

accessing internet at anywhere can trigger the recognition of a need or problem and

52


54/92

can have significant impact by encouraging customers to begin the

information

search process (Breitenbach and van Doren,

1998).

Information Search:

Once customers identify the need they may seek information about retailers

or

products to help them satisfy. Customer search regarding internet data card could

be limited because its a specialty product. Our analysis has shown that in terms of

internet data card customer mostly refer to family and friend as reference

group.

These reference groups affect buying decision offering informationlike price,tariff

plan availability and so forth. Providing rewards for specificpurchasing

behaviors

for instance friends could appreciate that you could access internet at anywhere if

you are carrying a laptop. By identifying and affiliating with reference

groups,

consumers create, enhance, and maintain theirself-image. Customers who want

tocreate an image of mobile, technologically updated person as well as want to be

seen as members of a higher social class might buy internet data card from

Reliance or other competitors

products.

Product

Evaluation:

During this stage, consumers process different product information and make a

final value judgment. x The multi attribute modelprovides a useful way

for

summarizing how customers use the information they have about

alternative

brands of internet data card. From our consumer behaviour analysis we have

found

53


55/92

out that on this stage customer evaluate data card on its several attributes like price,

net speed, tariff plan which come along with, looks etc and they also decide which

attributes are most important for them. The multiattribute modelshows that howa

consumer gives weights of importance tothe various attributes of a data card. A

samplemultiattribute modelwhich isactually has been taken from one of

our

questionnaire shown that how a consumer gives importance to different product

attributes of data card.

No. Attributes/BenefitsRating

1. Price

2. User

friendly

3. Net Speed

4. Installation

5.

Durability

6. Tariff

plan

7. After sales service

Total evaluation score for each attributes is 5.From the above sample table we can

see that consumer is giving more importance to net speed and signal strength. So

marketer should put more focus of highlighting these two

attributes

Purchase

Activity:

54


56/92

Its not necessary that customer will always purchase a brand or data card with

evaluation. The data card offering benefits (having the highest evaluation) may

not

be available in the store, or the customer may feel that the risks outweighthe

potential. During purchasing customer also may feel that their data card might

not

be able to meet their expectations. Therefore retailer should ensure that their sales

persons are knowledgeable enough and they are also skilled presenter of their

product, otherwise it could raise confusion in customers mind during purchasing

of data card. Reducing the actual and perceived time ofpurchasing.

Post Purchase Activities:

As we know buying process doesnt end when a customer purchase a product.

From focus group interviews we have come to know that after making a purchase

of data card, customer evaluate their experience on the basis of net speed, signal

strength amount of money they have spent. Customers often feel that

service

providers do not deliver what they promise. They feel players should present the

terms and conditions and tariff plans/schemes in clear terms. Mentioning

every

small detail regarding the tariff plans must be included in the bill. For example, if

acompany intends to collect an advanced monthly rental from customers, then it

has

to mention that in its tariff plan, so that customers are not shocked when they see

a

55


57/92

bill that includes monthly advance rentals as well. This kind of practice might

keep

customers away from going for a particular

brand.

Perceived benefits of Internet data card

Among the process there are various factors that might influence consumers

purchase during their purchasing process. Many of these factors also reflect the

advantages and disadvantages of Internet as a shopping medium. The advantages

or benefits currently conceived by people are described as the

followings.

Convenience:

From our questionnaire survey and focus group discussion we have come to know

that when a customer thinks to purchase a data card for accessing internet they

mostly its convenient to access internet at any where at any time. Especially

those

who have to extensively traveling its quite convenient for them to get

connectedwith World Wide

Web!

Time

saving:

Some time data card also proves time saving from the customers especially for

business executives who have to travel extensively due to their job purpose. If

theyare using a data card for accessing internet they dont have to find out a cyber caf

at an unknown

place.

Economical

:

56


58/92

From our secondary research we have found that for younger group of consumers

(age group of 18-28) who generally spend a lot of time for downloading

different

kind of materials like music, picture, data, due to availability of some attractive

tariff plans offered by the different players along with their respective data cards,

its seems a must have utility device for all young laptop

users.

DRAWBACKS

.

Perceived risk of Internet data card

Perceived risk can be defined as the uncertainty that consumers face when they

cannot foresee the consequences of their purchase decision. Customer perception

of risk varies depending on individuals, situation and product. The degree of risk

that consumers perceive and their own tolerance for risk taking,are factors that

influence their purchase strategy (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000).Individuals tend

toreduce perceived risk to some acceptable level in any given purchase

situation.

Risks of internet connection speed:

Internet connection speed refers to the data transfer rate from the Internet to

our

computer. Basically that means the amount of time it takes our computer

todownload a given amount of data. Internet connection speeds are usually measured

in Kbps (kilobitsper second, or thousands of bits per second) or KBps(kilobytes

per second).According to our study, consumers already have a predisposition that

57


59/92

data card do not provide good internet connection speed, so during products

evaluations and purchasing activities they mostly think about product

attributes

e.g. internet connection speed, signal strength. Therefore here implicationfor

management is during product evaluation; purchase activities, retailers must take

some necessary measures to reduce the uncertainty in the customer mind by

aggressive promotional strategies, especially focusing on innovating below the line

(BTL) marketing activities, giving excellent product demonstrations

during

purchase and most importantly reducing the cognitive dissonance during post

purchase behaviour by giving enough assurance about product qualities, warranty

as well as excellent after sale service.

Research

MethodologyChapter 1: Data

CollectionThere are two types of data; primary and secondary

data.Primary

dataIn this project work primary data has been collected

by: Interviews with employees working at Vodafone people for collecting

ofbackground information such as products explanation; market situation

inasansol, durgapur and burdwan and contact information for distributors.

58


60/92

Discussions have been done with Vodafone representatives in

theinvestigated markets to apply information and further discussions after

thequestionnaires.

Questionnaires have been done on several respondents in the local areaandperception about the data card were collected. Several tele-callings were

done to gather information an about the data card after they had used it .

The questionnaires are used to get exactly and comparable answers in

questions.

Primary data has given answer in following questions in each of the studied

markets

: Competitors name andposition

Customers

Marketing methods used by different data card

providersNumber of people having laptop or PC

Number of people using

internet.Average monthly usage of internet

Monthly expenditure of internet of the

people.Number of different occupation & age category using

internetNumber of people aware about the data card

Number of data card users

Number of people favouring different categories of data

card.Number of people aware about the vodafone data card.

Purpose of using

internet.

Secondary

data

59


61/92

Review of literatures are used to get relevant theories . Printed literatures

arearticles and books in telecom sectors providing data card .

omepages are used for information about competitors. The

informationabout the different product launched by different players along withtheirtarrif plans, cost ,etc. were collected from different

websites.Secondary data has given answer in following questions in each of the studied

markets

: Information about

competitors Information about marketing

methods

Different statistical models used.Z

TESTCHI-

SQUARE.

Data Analysis

Chapter 1: BrandRecallA sample of customers, which is representative of the Durgapur, Asansol and

Burdwan population, was surveyed and unaided recall of the brands by these

customers was recorded. It was observed that Reliance data cards had the highest

60


62/92

brand recall amongst all the brand of Internet data card. This can be attributed

to

various reasons like brand perception, usage pattern, advertisement expenditure

etc. The survey administered had questions which measured the importance of

various attributes like price, net speed, signal strength, offers & discounts of

various data cards and specifically for Vodafone data card.

Chapter 2: Development of Hypothesis and

Testing

Development of Hypothesis

1. Hypothesis

Price is an important factor that governs the buying behaviour of

thecustomers while making purchase of data

card.

61


63/92

Null Hypothesis H:Price plays an insignificant role in purchase of data0

card.

Alternative Hypothesis Hx: Price plays a significant role in the purchase

of

1

data card.

This hypothetical statement is drawn from question no. 12(in likert scale

of1-5) from the questionnaire of annexure 1. To test this hypothesis

theresearcher has done z-test (two-tailed test) and the inference drawn from the

hypothesis is stated

below.INFERENCE:The observed value of the test statistic Z is 10.55 but at

the

critical region the value of Z at 5% level of significance is I Z I 1.96.Therefore, the observed value of Z does not lie in the critical region so

therefore we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that price plays a

significant role in the purchase of data

card.Mathematically:

z = x - / S.E ofx, where S.E ofx = /n

The Null Hypothesis is H : = 3 (where the respondents are giving

no0

response)

Then the Alternative Hypothesis H :

31

= 3.76 3/0.07 =

10.55Since I Z I = 10.55 > 1.96, hence H =

Rejected.0

Price of the data card: In this research, it is discovered that price of the

Data card is playing an important role in the purchase decision of the

customer; Data cards with high prices are less preferred. BSNL is the only

company in the market, which is providing Data cards on rental basis, and

itis one of the main reasons behind BSNLs success. Reliance

Communication and Tata Indicom is also providing data cards at cheaper

62


64/92

rates. Normal Data cards ranges from Rs 2000 to Rs 3000 and 3G,

Broadband Data cards range starts from Rs 3500

onwards.2. Hypothesis:

Installation of the data card plays an important role in the purchase decision

of the data card.

Null Hypothesis H = Installation of the data card plays an insignificant

role0

in the purchase decision of data card.

Alternative Hypothesis H = Installation of the data card plays asignificant

1

role in the purchase decision of data card.

This hypothetical statement is drawn from question no. 12(in likert scale




below.INFERENCE: The observed value of the test statistic Z is 10.81 but at

thecritical region the value of Z at 5% level of significance is I Z I 1.96.

So,the observed value of Z does not lie in the critical region so therefore we

reject the null hypothesis and conclude that price plays a significant role in

the purchase of data card.

Mathematically:



no0

response)

63


65/92


31

= 3.8 3/0.074 =

10.81Since I Z I = 10.81 > 1.96, hence H =

Rejected.

0

Installation process: The installation process of data card should be simple

and can be easily understood by the user, because the user is the one who is

going to operate it with the machine, and if it is a complicated process then

user might think for other options. A user wants simplest process to get

connected with the internet, just plug in the data card and connect, if he/she

needs to install some special softwares in the PC or Laptop for using the

data card, it is not possible for everyone to handle this installation process,so installation process plays an pivotal role in the purchase

decision.

3.Hypothesis

: Durability of the Data card plays influential role in the purchase decision

ofdata card.

Null Hypothesis H = Durability of the data card plays an insignificant

role0

in the purchase of Datacard.Alternative Hypothesis H = Durability of the Data card plays a

significance1

role in the purchase of Data

card.This hypothetical statement is drawn from question no. 12(in likert scale







64


66/92

reject the null hypothesis and conclude that durability of the data card plays

a significant role in the purchase of data




no0

response)


31

= 3.9 3/0.073 =

12.32Since I Z I = 12.32 > 1.96, hence H =

Rejected.0

Durability: Purchasing a Data card is mostly a long-term investment, soaData must have to be durable enough to meet the requirements of the user. A

Data card should not get over heated while in use, should be made up of un-

breakable plastic are some features of durable Data card.

4.Hypothesi

s

User friendliness of the data card plays an important role in the purchasingdecision of data cards.

Null Hypothesis H x= User friendliness of the data card plays an0

insignificant role in the purchase of Data

card.Alternative Hypothesis H = User friendliness of the data card plays

a1

significance role in the purchase of Data





below.

65


67/92

INFERENCE: The observed value of the test statistic Z is 18 but at



reject the null hypothesis and conclude that user friendliness of the data

card plays a significant role in the purchase of data card.

Mathematically:



no0

response)

Then the Alternative Hypothesis H : 3

1

= 4.8 3/0.6 =

18Since I Z I = 18 > 1.96, hence H =

Rejected.0

ser Friendly: A Data should be user friendly in operations. Apart

fromconnecting internet, Data cards comes with multiple features such as

receiving and sending SMS, making and receiving voice calls, etc, so all

these functions should be easy to operate, if it is little complicated it

becomes a hassle for the user and ultimately affects the purchasing

decision.

5.Hypothesis

Tarrif plans offered by the service providers of the data card play an

influential role in the consumer buying

behavior.Null Hypothesis H = Tariff plans of the data card plays an insignificant

role

0

in the purchase of Datacard.Alternative Hypothesis Hx= Tarrif plans of the data card plays a

significance1

role in the purchase of Data



the66


68/92

researcher has done z-test (two-tailed test) and the inference drawn from the



thecritical region the value of Z at 5% level of significance is I Z I 1.96.So,the observed value of Z does not lie in the critical region so therefore we

reject the null hypothesis and conclude that user friendliness of the data


Mathematically:


The Null Hypothesis is H : = 3 (where the respondents are givingno

0

response)


31

= 3.81 3/0.068 =

11.91Since I Z I = 11.91 > 1.96, hence H =

Rejected.0

Tariff Plans: Apart from the price of the Data, card how much the

internetservice is costing to the pocket of the user is very important factor in the

purchase of any Data card. A internet user wants tariff plans which fits

intohis/her budget and fulfills all the other requirements. Again BSNL is

themarket leader in this segment with cheapest tariff plans and after

thatReliance and Tata Indicom

comes.

6.Hypothesis

Speed of the data card plays a pivotal role in the purchase decision of data

card.

Null Hypothesis H = speed of the data card plays an insignificant role in0

the purchase of Data card.

67


69/92

Alternative Hypothesis Hx= speed of the data card plays a significance role1

in the purchase of Data


of1-5) from the questionnaire of annexure 1. To test this hypothesistheresearcher has done z-test (two-tailed test) and the inference drawn from the





reject the null hypothesis and conclude that speed of the data card plays asignificant role in the purchase of data




no0

response)


31

= 4.12 3/0.06 =

18.66Since I Z I = 18.66 > 1.96, hence H =

Rejected.0

Net Speed: The internet speed is very important for the users and slow

internet is not at all preferred in our fast moving lives. With the

introductionof Broadband and 3G in the market of Data cards, the competition has got

even tougher. Customers prefers internet with good downloading

speed.

7.Hypothesis

After sales service provided by the service providers plays a significant role

in the purchase decision of data cards.

68


70/92

Null Hypothesis H = After sales service of the data card plays an0


card.Alternative Hypothesis Hx= After sales service of the data card plays

a

1

significance role in the purchase of Datacard.This hypothetical statement is drawn from question no. 12(in likert scale





the

critical region the value of Z at 5% level of significance is I Z I 1.96.So,the observed value of Z does not lie in the critical region so therefore we

reject the null hypothesis and conclude that after sales service of the data


Mathematically:



no0

response)


31

= 3.50 3/0.08 =

6.25Since I Z I = 6.25 > 1.96, hence H =

Rejected.0

After Sale Service: After sales service like sending bills on time, keep the

customers updated with the new developments in different areas etc

improves the chances of increasing the sale of data card, and plays an

important role in the purchase decision of the customer

also.

8. Hypothesis

69


71/92

Image of the company in the minds of the customers plays a vital role in

thepurchase decision of data card.

Null Hypothesis H = mage of the company of the data card plays an0


card.Alternative Hypothesis Hx= I

30476846 project report on market potential analysis

Documents