Aircel,a mobilephoneserviceproviderin Indiawhich offers both

f' prepaidandpostpaidGSMcellularphonecoverage.commencedoperationsin 1999,It becamethe leadingoperatorin TamilNaduwithin18months,Itsubsequentlylaunchedits servicesin 18 circles,

Thecompanydecidedto extendits operationsto rural areas.andfentheneedto understandthe rural ecosystemwith referenceto

presentpracticesregardingmobileservicedeliveryand customer

expectation.mappingfor the future practicesof an elevatedcus-tomerservicedeliverymodel.In 2009. it commissionedMARTtostudytheusage,attitudeand behaviourtowards different mobile

phoneservices.identifytheproblemsinthe servicedeliveryof differ-

entoperators,identifyfuturecommunicationand informationneeds.andunderstandretailerbehaviour.

Thestudywasconductedin UttarPradesh.WestBengalandTamilNadu,theirfocusmarkets.Therespondentsegmentscoveredwereconsumers,keyopinionleadersand retailers.Participatoryruralap-

praisal,minifocusGroupdiscussions,andin-depthinterviewswereusedtounderstandtheruralecosystem.

Thepurchaseprocessstudiedrevealedthattheneedfora mobileconnectionwastriggeredbythechiefwageearnerortheyouthinthehousehold.Friendsandrelativesalreadyusingmobileswere

contactedfor informationondifferentserviceproviders,Aftercol-lectingalltherequiredinformation,thebuyerwouldrequestsomefriendsof hiswithan understandingof technologyto accompanyhimtothenearbytown,wherehewouldgetmoreproductandbrandchoice,genuineproducts.andawarranty,

TheSIMwasboughtfromthevillageretailerwhogavesuggestionstotheserviceprovideronthebestsignal.andhelpedwiththedocu-mentation.

Initiallythe phonewasusedlikea landlineas it alwaysremainedat hometo beusedbytheentirefamily.Butsubsequently.whenanothermobilewaspurchasedbythefamily.thefirstonebecamethepersonalphoneofthechiefwageearner.whocarriedit withhimwhereverhewent

Afterthestudy.Aircellearntthatcoverageisthefirstcriteriaconsid-eredbytheconsumerwhiledecidingupona serviceprovider.It isimportanttodevelopa last-milereachsothatthebrandreachesthedoorstepoftheconsumer.Forthe"last-milereach",Aircelneedstousethe"mobileretailer"formatinadditiontotheregulardistributor-retailerformatTheyalsorealizedthatsimpleschemesmakeforhappyconsumers.