LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI INSTITUE OF MANAGEMENT

NEW DELHI

“CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND SERVICE DELIVERY AND QUALITY IN TELECOM SECTOR i.e. IDEA

CELLULAR LTD (GSM)”

Presented in partial fulfillment for the award of thePresented in partial fulfillment for the award of the Post Graduate Diploma in Management -VI TrimesterPost Graduate Diploma in Management -VI Trimester

By

Abhishek Mitra(25/2008)

PGDM Evening

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Summer Project work on “CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

MANAGEMENT AT IDEA CELLULAR LTD.”, is an original work and this work has not been

submitted to SriSIM or elsewhere in any form. My Indebtedness to other works/publications has

been duly acknowledged at the relevant places. The Project work was carried during 14/05/2007

to 29/06/2007 in IDEA CELLULAR Ltd. (ADITYA BIRLA GROUP).

Date:

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PREFACE

When CHARLES DARWIN spoke of “the survival of fittest”, he could have

been speaking of the cut throat competition of today’s market and Corporate

ambition. Such is the rat race that PROFIT is becoming an Obsession.

I got an opportunity to do my project, in “IDEA CELLULAR Ltd.” where I was

allotted the project entitled “CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT”.

The work was carried out over a span of 52 days. The first part of the project

was to understand the concept of TELECOM INDUSTRY, (GSM) and conduct a

survey, in order to trace out the prospective competitors in this business.

The second part of the project was carried out by meeting Channel partners

and corporate customers (COCP) and direct walk in customers who use to come

with their queries at the customer care center located at the circle office by

handling their problems and understanding their customer type and give them a

quality service. Each chapter in this report is organized to provide clarity and

continuity.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Here I have an opportunity to thank all those in “IDEA CELLULAR Ltd.” with

whose direct or indirect help and cooperation my project has become “A Great

Success”.I would like to place on records my sincere thanks to Mr. Abhishek

Gupta, Zonal Office Head of U.P (W) zone at IDEA CELLULAR Ltd. for

giving me an opportunity to work under his supervision as a summer trainee

in the company. My sincere gratitude to Mrs. ANUBHUTI, CUSTOMER

RELATIONSHIP MANAGER and Mr. MOHIT GUPTA, CORPORATE

SALES MANAGER for their constant support, guidance and

encouragement, With their unrestricted bank of Knowledge, all through

successful Completion of my Project. I would also like to thank Dr.

C.V.Ramanan, Director of Srisim for his unrestricted help and guidance all

through the duration of my Project.

This project report could not have been completed without the Guidance of

our Programmer Coordinator, Mr.RITESH KUMAR and My faculty guide Ms.

CHANDRASENA MUKHERJEE and Ms. PRATIMA SHARMA.

Last but not the least I would like to thank all those who have directly or

indirectly helped me in the successful completion of my project.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE1. PREFACE

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4. OBJECTIVE

5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

6. OVERVIEW OF TELECOM INDUSTRY

7. COMPANY PROFILE

8. TARIFF PLANS

9. OVERVIEW ON CUSTOMER

RELATIONSHIP AND SERVICE DELIVERY

10. COMPETITIORS ANALYSIS

11 PROBLEMS FACED BY

CUSTOMERS AND THEIR REDRESSAL

11. SWOT ANALYSIS

12. RECOMMENDATIONS

13. CONCLUSION

14. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Executive Summary

Globalization is the crux reality of 21st century. We are in an Era of innovations,

fast changing technology, good customer service and proactive smart marketing.

All this and more pave an organization’s way to global success in this highly

competitive world economy. Marketing is indeed one of the most important

aspects of organizational success.

As a young aspiring marketer I undertook a project, which was all about

understanding customers and how to maintain good and healthy relations with

them by delivering quality service in telecom industry (GSM).

This is through telecom industry only we have come so close to each other,

wherever we are we can share all are joys and sorrows within no time. As IDEA

CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

CUSTOMER HANDLING is one of the most complex, difficult and at the

same time one of the most valuable business as the market place in which we

operate is becoming more demanding and competitive day by day. In order to have

a good market share in telecom industry provided with the following assignments:

-

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To conduct meetings with customers to analyze their problems and assure

them for their resolutions by forwarding their requests.

To conduct a survey to know different competitors

available in telecom market.

To know WHAT’S IN in telecom industry and WHAT’S OUT

by conducting a survey to understand customer’s

aspirations for future.

To understand why customers leave the network by

analyzing problems faced by them through personal

meetings and trying to retain them.

In the span of 45 days I have done two projects. One main on customer

relationship management and it comprises of above assignments. The subsidiary

project was regarding service delivery and quality, how it works, different stages,

SDQ staff recruited by idea cellular.

I learned about different competitors of Idea Cellular Ltd. and their

competitive advantage over each other’s. In what ways their offerings are

converting into customer delight in turn leading to customer loyalty. Swot analysis

of idea cellular helped me in analyzing the areas where idea cellular needs to focus

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proactively for customer retention. Beside reasons for customer loyalty I also got

an understanding of brand switching behavior in this industry. Interaction with

channel partners helped me in understanding customer expectations.

Customer preferences, distributors as company member in building customer

loyalty. It helped in drawing a conclusion the future trend of this industry from

customer relationship management prospective. .

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OBJECTIVES

MAIN OBJECTIVES :

To make a comparative study of IDEA CELLULUR Ltd. against it’s

competitors.

To make the corporate customer aware about the product portfolio offered

by IDEA CELLULAR Ltd.

To recommend respective improvement and particularly focus on those

problems, which need immediate attention.

To understand future trend of this industry from Customer

Relationship Prospective.

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SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

To understand the concept of customers.

To determine why is customer care important.

To understand different types of customers.

To analyze how to handle different customers.

To analyze the concept of Service Delivery and Quality.

To make a SWOT analysis so that internal strength and weakness can be

understood from point of view of cellular industry and also understand the

opportunities that can be earned and threats that affects the business.

To understand the importance of Call Center.

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To understand different stages of cellular industry i.e. Activation Retention

Revenue Enhancement and Communication.

To analyze Complaint Resolution Cell.

To understand the concept of HNI Customers.

To analyze mantras for Successful Customer Care.

To determine why customers leave the network.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The perspective of the research is to understand customer relations And service

delivery and quality in telecom sector i.e. IDEA CELLULAR LTD. (GSM)

potential its future spare. The focus was concentrated in Uttar Pradesh (w). The

study is based upon exploratory research.

To fulfill the objective certain information was gathered by.

1. Primary source.

2. Secondary source.

Research Approach

1. Observational. 2. Exploratory.

Research Instrument

1. Direct Interviews.

2. Personal Meetings.

As I have used primary data by using Direct Personal Investigation Method.

In this method the data is personally collected by investigator from informants.

Accordingly I had meetings with customers and give resolutions for their

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problems. And secondary data has been collected from various internet sites as

mentioned in Bibliography.

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Overview of Telecom Industry(gsm)

What is GSM:

GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications. Developed in the

1980s, GSM was first deployed in 7 European countries in 1992. Operating in the

900MHz & 1.8GHz bands in Europe and the 1.9GHz PCS band in the U.S.A.,

GSM defines the entire cellular system, not just the air interface (TDMA, CDMA,

etc.). By the year 2000, there were over 250 million GSM users, which is more

than half of the world's mobile phone population.

GSM technology provides a short messaging service (SMS), which enables text

messages up to 160 characters in length to be sent to and from a GSM phone. GSM

phones also supports data transfer at 9.6 Kbps to packet networks, ISDN & POTS

users. GSM is a circuit-switched system that divides each 200 kHz channel into

eight 25 kHz time slots.

Today's second-generation GSM networks deliver high quality and secure

mobile voice and data services (such as SMS/Text Messaging) with full roaming

capabilities across the world.

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Today's GSM platform is a hugely successful wireless technology and an

unprecedented story of global achievement. In less than ten years since the first

GSM network was commercially launched, it became the world's leading and

fastest growing mobile standard, spanning over 200 countries.

Today, GSM technology is in use by more than one in six of the world's

population and it is estimated that at the end of Jan 2004 there were over 1 billion

GSM subscribers across more than 200 countries of the world.

The growth of GSM continues unabated with more than 160 million new

customers in the last 12 months. Since 1997, the number of GSM subscribers has

increased by a staggering 10 fold.

The progress hasn't stopped there. Today's GSM platform is living, growing

and evolving and already offers an expanded and feature-rich 'family' of voice and

data enabling services.

Nevertheless, it was clear there would be an escalating demand for a

technology that facilitated flexible and reliable mobile communications.

As far as GSM is concerned, it's always been a risky business getting into

the prediction game. Growth has invariably outstripped even the most incautious

speculation. However, it's safe to assume that by the end of the century GSM will

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have over 150 million customers and be a major influence across every continent

on the planet.

The future of GSM technology is happening all around us. As the

technology advances, it is essential that user demand for applications plays as

significant role in determining development as does technological potential. Just

because it can be done does not necessary mean that it should be done.

Equally important is that, in the near future, one of the keys to ensuring

GSM maintains its market position lies in the provision of advanced customer care.

It's not simply a case of attracting new customers, but holding on to them. Already

significant steps have been taken to establish consistent standards across the

networks. The aim should now be to engender a culture of customer care rather

than simply the means of responding to customer complaints. For example, it's

easy to envisage a future in which if a GSM phone is not performing, as it should,

the network's care center contacts the user and offers to replace the faulty device.

Global roaming has always been the cornerstone of GSM's success. Users

are coming to demand ubiquitous coverage and seamless mobility. For this reason,

work is already well advanced on the development of multi-band terminals. These

products will enable the user to roam freely between two, and ultimately all three,

of the 900/1800/ 1900MHz GSM-related frequencies. Genuinely global coverage

is next. A number of satellite network operators already have rapport their

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membership of the MoU, and development is under way of terminals that integrate

both GSM and satellite networks. Such phones will operate as ordinary GSM

mobiles at their usual tariffs when the user is within a GSM coverage area. When

they move out of coverage, their calls will travel by satellite. "The advent of GSM

is not seen as so significant a factor that the traditional cellular market growth

trends will alter dramatically."

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GSM MARKET IN INDIA: ~

GSM India was the first regional interest group to be formed for a single country.

Umang Das, Spice Communications, and India currently chair it.

With a population of around 1 billion growing at roughly 1.7 per cent a year, India

is potentially one of the most exciting GSM markets in the world. After two rather

difficult years, the past 12 months have seen the region's promise beginning to

come to fruition. Much of this success can be attributed to the stabilization of the

licensing and regulatory environment.

India's telecommunications have undergone a steady liberalization since

1994 when the Indian government first sought private investment in the sector.

More significant liberalization followed in 1996 with the licensing of that has had

the most radical impact on the development of GSM services. 'The policy's mission

statement is 'affordable communications for all', There is a genuine commitment to

creating a modern and efficient communications infrastructure that takes account

of the convergence of telecom, IT and media. In addition, the policy places

significant emphasis on greater competition for both fixed and mobile services.

Competition in the mobile sector has already had a visible impact on prices

with calls currently costing less than 9 cents per minute. This means that service

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costs have fallen by 60 per cent since the first GSM networks became live in 1995.

It also helps explain why a recent Telecom Asia survey revealed that more than 70

per cent of Indian mobile subscribers felt that prices were now at a reasonable

level.

One of the challenges facing GSM operators in India is the diversity of the

coverage regions -from remote rural regions to some of the most densely populated

metropolitan areas in the world. India has more than 40 networks, which cover the

seven largest cities, over 600 towns and several thousand villages. Such depth of

coverage has required enormous investment from India's operators. It is estimated

that more than Rs150 billion had been invested in India's GSM industry by mid-

2000, a figure that is set to be supplemented by a further Rs200 billion over the

next five years.

The good news is that subscriber growth is beginning to look healthy. With

India's low PC penetration and high average Internet usage -at 14-20 hours a month

per user it is comparable to the US -the market for mobile data and m-commerce

looks extremely promising. WAP services have already been launched in the

subcontinent and the first GPRS networks are in the process of being rolled out. In

the year ahead, GSM India will work with its members to realize the potential of

early packet services in anticipation of the award of 3GSM licenses in 2003/04.

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COMPARISON BETWEEN GSM AND CDMA:~

Cellular is one of the fastest growing and most demanding telecommunications

applications. And the continuous advancement in this technology has provided

many options to a consumer. Today, the two alternatives that face the mobile world

are - GSM and CDMA technology. First of all, let’s comprehend the meaning and

functionality aspects of these technologies.

Global Service for Mobile Communications (GSM):~

During the 80s, when the cellular system was introduced, each nation had its own

system. As a result, a couple of problems arose. Firstly, the equipment was limited

to operate only within the boundaries of a country and secondly, the market for

mobile equipment was also limited. In order to overcome these problems, the

conference of European Posts and Telecommunications (CEPT) formed the Group

Special Mobile (GSM) to create a common European mobile telephone standard.

The GSM later came to be known as Global Service for Mobile

communications (GSM). At the end of 1997, GSM was made available in more

than 100 countries. Today it has Become the global standard in Europe and Asia.

GSM operates in 900-MHz – 1800MHz. If one has to connect to the specific

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service provider in different countries, GSM-users simply need to switch

Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards. As per GSM technology, a mobile

unit logs on to the network after being switched on. The mobile unit tries to contact

a nearby BTS, which then transmits all the frequencies of the neighboring BTS’ to

the mobile unit, which identifies the frequency on which the reception is the best

and passes on the information to the BTS.

The BTS then transmits the information to the BSC which has the deciding

power as to which BTS should the mobile unit be assigned.

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA):~

Developed by Qualcomm for the US Military, Code Division Multiple Access is a

system that enables many users to share the same frequency band at the same time.

CDMA is a spread spectrum technology whereby multiple users share the same

time and frequency allocation in a given band. Each speech signal is modulated

(spread) across an entire band. The respective receiver demodulates and interprets

the signal using relevant code that is embedded in the signal. The final signal

contains only the relevant conversation.

The CDMA based mobile technology was introduced in India to provide

WLL services, as the GSM was the choice for full mobility. CDMA based WLL

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operators were given license of operation as fixed line operators. As CDMA can

very well connect large geographical area, WLL operators were given the rights to

provide "limited mobility" whereby a WLL operator could allow network coverage

to the boundary of a Short Distance Charging Area (SDCA).

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Differences:~

While TDMA and FDMA are the types of multiplexing in GSM, CDMA works

on spread spectrum. However the bandwidth available is same for both the

technologies, which is 800, 1800 and 1900 MHz.

While GSM cannot add more than a fixed number of subscribers in a cell, the

capacity of the system is not rigid in CDMA.

The biggest advantage with GSM is its widespread network in Europe and Asia,

whereas CDMA is predominant in US and South Korea.

The user of GSM is enabled an easy international roaming. As far as SMS,

gaming and Internet are concerned, both GSM and CDMA score an equal point.

GSM has already set a standard in India. Being a patented technology, all

CDMA equipment’s and handsets require a royalty to be paid.

The Choice: is determined by the service used by those whom you call most

frequently. When mobile telephony was introduced in India, CDMA was an

emerging technology. Hence GSM was the only choice. But today’s scenario

calls for an evaluation of the alternatives.

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COMPANY’S PROFILE

ADITYA BIRLA GROUP

The Aditya Birla Group is India's first truly multinational corporation. Global in

vision, rooted in Indian values, the Group is driven by a performance ethic pegged

on value creation for its multiple stakeholders. Its 66 state-of-the-art manufacturing

units and sectoral services span India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,

Egypt, Canada, Australia and China.

A US$ 6.7 billion conglomerate, with a market capitalization of US$ 7 billion, it is

anchored by an extraordinary force of 72,000 employees belonging to over 20

different nationalities.

Over 30 percent of its revenues flow from its operations across the world.

A premium conglomerate, the Aditya Birla Group is a dominant player in all of the

sectors in which it operates. Such as viscose staple fiber, non-ferrous metals,

cement, viscose filament yarn, branded apparel, carbon black, chemicals,

fertilizers, sponge iron, insulators and financial services.

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The Group has also made successful forays into the IT and BPO sectors.

Currently around 57 percent of our Equity Shares are held by our Promoters who

are companies belonging to the Aditya Birla Group.

Our Promoters are –

1. Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited

2. Grasim Industries Limited

3. Hindalco Industries Limited and

4. Birla TMT Holdings Private Limited.

The Aditya Birla Group is a dominant player in all of the sectors in which it

operates? Among these is viscose staple fibre, non-ferrous metals, cement, viscose

filament yarn, branded apparel, carbon black, chemicals, fertilizers, sponge iron,

insulators, financial services, telecom, BPO and IT services.

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Following table lists the major Indian companies of the Aditya

Birla Group and the products and services they offer:

Company

- Grasim

- UltraTech Cement Limited

- Shree Digvijay Cement

- Hindalco

- Indian Aluminums Company Limited

- Bihar Caustic and Chemicals Limited

- ABNL

- Idea Cellular Limited

- Birla NGK Insulators*

- Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited*

- Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Limited*

- Birla Sun Life Distribution Company Limited*

- PSI Data Systems

- TransWorks

- Birla Global Finance Limited

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- Tanfac Industries Limited* fluorine chemicals

Idea cellular

Idea Cellular's antecedents date back to 1995, when the Aditya Birla Group

and AT&T (through Birla AT&T- Maharashtra, Gujarat) and the Tata Group

(through Tata Cellular-Andhra Pradesh) came together to set up cellular networks.

In 2000, the historic path-breaking merger and the subsequent acquisition of RPG

Cellular - (Madhya Pradesh circle) helped take their aims even further and led to

the formation of Birla Tata AT&T Limited.

Since then, there has been no looking back for Birla Tata AT&T (Idea

Cellular). In its very first financial year, Idea Cellular recorded the fastest growth

among all cellular operators at a 135% increase in subscriber base. The company

BTAL (now Idea Cellular) also ranked No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all

operators (as per the NFO MBL survey), a testimony to the quality of the

company's services and subscribers.

As India's leading GSM Mobile Services operator, IDEA Cellular has

licenses to operate in 11 circles.

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With a customer base of over 10 million, IDEA Cellular has operations in

Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh,

Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala.

IDEA Cellular's footprint currently covers approximately 45% of India's

population and over 50% of the potential telecom-market.

As a leader in Value Added Services, Innovation is central to IDEA's VAS

Factory. It is the first cellular company to launch music messaging with 'Cellular

Jockey' , 'Background Tones', 'Group Talk', a voice portal with 'Say IDEA' and

A complete suite of Mobile Email Services.

A frontrunner in introducing revolutionary tariff plans, IDEA Cellular has

the distinction of offering the most customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid

offerings, for the first time in India, with 'Super Power', 2 Minutes Outgoing Free,

Lifelong offer and other segmented offerings like Women's Card. 'Lifetime Idea' is

the first and only loyalty program, for pre paid customers, introduced by a Cellular

brand.

Customer Service and Innovation are the drivers of this Cellular Brand. A brand

known for their many firsts, Idea is only operator to launch GPRS and EDGE in

the country.

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The latest feather in the IDEA cap is the GSM Association Award for Bill Flash,

it has recently won making it the first cellular operator in India to win an award on

this platform.

Idea Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, which is India's first truly

multinational corporation. Global in vision, rooted in Indian values, the group is

driven by a performance ethic pegged on value creation for its multiple

stakeholders.

The combined holding of the Aditya Birla Group companies in Idea stands at

98.3 per cent.

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Vision: To become most profitable Cellular company

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Improve Profitability

Strengthen Channels

Reduce cost per minute

Capture additional

subscribers

Protect Current ARPUs

Retain existing

subscribers

Companies Mission

“We will Delight our customersWhile meeting their

Individual communication needsanytime anywhere”

We survive because of our customers.

Delight: Positively surprise customers with every interaction.

Customer: Whole universe of current and potential users who have

communication needs.

Individual Communication Needs: Specific communication needs of individual

consumers.

Communication: All voice and non-voice services that are permitted under the

license.

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ValuesValues

CUSTOMERS

Our customers are our most valued assets. We will strive to exceed their

expectations at all times by providing them with superior services that

embody value, innovation, quality and care.

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Some of our Technology and Content Partners

Onmobile Asia Pacific Ltd

Cellebrum India Ltd

Siddhivinayak Astro Services Ltd.

Kodiak Ltd

Mauj

Net4nuts India Ltd

Yahoo

Rediff

India times

Mobile2win

Sify

NDTV

ROAMING

Roamware.inc

Starhome

Bharti Telesoft

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MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Lowe India Pvt Ltd

Insight Media Ltd

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Clea PR NETWORK

Nokia

Ericsson

Siemens BILLING

Atos Origin

COVERAGE

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Idea Cellular Ltd has seen phenomenal growth since its inception. Idea

Cellular's footprint idea is to first achieve critical mass, then drill deep instead of

spreading thin.

In keeping with this, the company has been providing excellent service to its

subscribers in various states.

It controls a portfolio of India's most attractive and contiguous telecom

geographies,

Including the circles of Andhra Pradesh & Delhi (inclusive of NCR),

Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh,

Maharashtra & Goa (excluding Mumbai), Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (W), Uttar

Pradesh (E).

With a footprint dominating the map of India, Idea Cellular accesses over

60% of India's total telephony potential.

The company is now poised to launch its services in new circles - namely

Mumbai and Bihar.

Idea Cellular Ltd, however, does not believe only in increasing geographic

footprint - it also drills deep and successfully attempts to provide excellent network

coverage in all its circles of operations

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The brand Idea

It is almost impossible to disintegrate brand Idea from the corporate Idea. Brand

values are the company values and vise versa.

Brand Vision: It goes without saying that the brand vision of idea mirrors

The company’s vision.

The brand mission statement is......

To be the most customer-focused mobile service brand,

Continuously innovating to help liberate our customers from the shackles of time

& space.

IDEA - Brand Values

Innovate. Stimulate. Liberate....

It is these brand values, which have made us a formidable player in

the telecom industry. Innovations that stimulate the customer and

liberate him from the shackles of time and space are the core of our

brand. This is what we strive for. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing

else.

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IDEA - Brand Mission

The India footprint Idea

Anywhere connectivity bringing India closer.

The Technology Advantage Idea

Tomorrow's technology to enrich today.

The Customer Focus Idea

Make a single interaction a lasting relationship.

The Employee Focus Idea

Nurture the roots that nurture our ideas.

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What Idea Brand stands for?What Idea Brand stands for?- Four planks of competitive edge- Four planks of competitive edge

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Product Innovation

Brand Perception

Best Service Delivery

Best Distribution Network

InnovativeAffordableCaringHonest

• Available wherever you want• New Innovative channels

Prepaid• Ecotalk• Lifetime Idea• Super PowerPostpaid• Good Bye Landline• Dual IMSI SolutionVAS• Cellular Jockey• Global SMS• Idea Mail

• Positively surprise during all customer interactions

Sum total of customer experience with our service

creates a perception

in the mind of Consumer

What business are we in?What business are we in?

Infrastructure?

Total investments: Rs 67 bn

Number of Towns covered:~2000

Highway coverage: ~20,000km

Average monthly Calls on network: 1.25 bn

Average monthly SMS: 200 mn

Service?

Manpower for customer service: ~3,000

Daily relationship calls made: 65,000

Bills delivered every month: 1.3 mn

FMCG?

Total Consumers: 7.3 mn

Number of Retailers: 125 k

Average monthly gross adds: ~650,000

BPO?

Call Center agents: ~1,000+

Daily Calls received at call center: 500 k

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Financing?

Short term debt: Rs 14 bn

Average monthly debt rollover: Rs 1 bn

Industry ScenarioIndustry Scenario

•Growth phase for 2-4 years to continue.

•Commoditised market.

•Highly competitive.

•Tariffs dangerously low.

•Number portability will come.

•New Business Model required.

•Numbers game will change.

•Need to look at your niche.

•Create customer relationships.

Customer Service is the only long-term differentiator.

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Sellers’ to buyers’ market…Sellers’ to buyers’ market…

What’s out What’s in

Product centered Market centered

Pure acquisition mode Profitable growth

Faster than competition Different than competition

Internal focus External focus

Operations driven Service driven

Innovative products Meet changing needs of customer

Economical products Unique value to customer

Expand distribution Differentiate service delivery

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Either you change yourself, or customer will change to another operator.

Focus AreasFocus Areas

•Empowerment: Four Levels of Mgt. Push decisions to lowest level.

•Partnership: Develop outsourcing partners, SLA management skills.

•Measurement and Reporting: Leverage IT for BI & MIS.

•Quality & Processes: Enterprise Process Mgt and Six Sigma.

•Communication: Continuous Corporate Communications.

•Innovation: Do it differently.

•Technology: Stay ahead of curve.

•Regulation: Be prepared to exploit opportunities.

•Segmentation: Mass customization.

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TYPES OF PRODUCT OFFERED BY IDEA CELLULAR

Post-paid subscription

A post-paid subscription is also called a billing connection. In this type of a

connection, you can avail of the cellular connection first and pay for the usage at

the end of the month. To avail this type of connection, you will be required to

submit a signed Customer Service Agreement (CSA) form along with certain

specified documents. Your connection will be activated post the payment of the

one-time charge or activation fee, a refundable deposit and verification of the

requisite documents. On consistent and regular payment and high usage patterns,

you could win yourself the opportunity to enjoy exclusive loyalty and frequent user

facilities provided by Idea Cellular.

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Prepaid subscription

A prepaid subscription is like a ‘cash & carry’ subscription, designed for quick

convenience and ease of mobility. To subscribe, do ask for the ‘IDEA Chitchat’

brand at our outlets. Under this subscription, you can pay in advance for using the

services and your credit balance on the subscription keeps reducing in real time

against usage.

NEW PLAINS OF IDEA CELLULAR

Plan Details

Charges Easy 149 Easy 199 Easy 249 1 Onetime Charges

(a) Sec Deposit 500 500 500(b) Activation 200 200 200

2 Recurring Charges

(a) Monthly Rent 149 199 249 (b) CLI Nil Nil Nil

3 Call Charges

(a) Intra-circle i2i 0.75 0.50 0.25 i2M 0.75 0.50 0.50 i2L 1.50 1.00 0.75 SMS 1 1 0.50

(b) Inter-circle i2i 2.40 2.00 1.50 i2M 2.40 2.00 1.50 i2L 2.40 2.00 1.50

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SMS 2 2 0.50

(c) ISD Country – I 7.20 7.20 7.20 Country – II 9.99 9.99 9.99 Others 50.00 50.00 50.00 SMS 5.00 5.00 5.00

4UDP (local idea to idea calls only)

Rs. 149Rs. 199 Rs. 249

Tariff matrix TMCODE:New Easy 500

Bill Plan New Easy 500 Telephony 99 MMF 401 CLI charges 0 VAS Fee 0 Total 500 UDP/Free Minutes (Intracircle calls +STD calls) 500 minutes Outgoing Band Intra Circle (Distance Taken From Routing POI CUG 0.10*** M2M Idea 0.30M1 M2M Competitor 0.50M2 M2M - UPEAST 0.50M3 M2M - Reliance & Tata 0.50C0 M2F & M2WL 0-50Km 1.00C1 M2F&M2WL above 50- 200 Km Non-POPs 1.00C2 M2F&M2WL above 200 Km Non-POPs 1.00

46

Inter Circle (Distance Taken From Agra Level one TAX) E1 M2M 50 to 200 km 1.00E2 M2M 200 to 500km 1.00E3 M2M >500 km 1.00P1 M2F & M2WL <200 1.00P2 M2F & M2WL 200-500 1.00P3 M2F & M2WL >500 1.00 Pulse 60 sec SMS (P to P Only) Local SMS 0.25 National SMS 0.25 International SMS 5.00 ISD USA, Canada, Europe (F), Singapore & Hong Kong 6.40/ min Other Countries (Except ROW-II) 9.19/ min ROW-II 49.20/ min

47

Tariff matrix TMCODE:Happy Hour PlanBill Plan Happy Hour PlanTelephony 99MMF 76CLI charges 0VAS Fee 0Total 175 Outgoing Intra Circle (Distance Taken From Routing POI CUG 0.10M2M Idea - 10 AM to 6 PM 0.10M2M Idea - 6 PM to 10 AM 0.25M2M Competitor 0.50M2M - UPEAST 0.50M2M - Reliance & Tata 0.50M2F & M2WL 0-50Km 1.00M2F&M2WL above 50- 200 Km Non-POPs 1.00M2F&M2WL above 200 Km Non-POPs 1.00 Inter Circle (Distance Taken From Agra Level one TAX) M2M 50 to 200 km 2.65M2M 200 to 500km 2.65M2M >500 km 2.65M2F & M2WL <200 2.65M2F & M2WL 200-500 2.65M2F & M2WL >500 2.65 Pulse 60 sec SMS (P to P Only) Local SMS 1.00

48

National SMS 2.00International SMS 5.00 ISD USA, Canada, Europe (F), Singapore & Hong Kong 6.4/ minOther Countries (Except ROW-II) 9.19/ minROW-II 49.20/ min

49

"Attracting and nurturing talent has become the single most dominant force in business."

Idea cellular recognizes human resources as a backbone for its long-term success.

We aim to be the best employer, attracting and retaining the best employees. Our

people are our greatest resource as they are our biggest differentiator. We therefore

hire the best professionals brimming with ideas and develop them for future

leadership positions.

Idea is all about participation and involvement - seek opportunities, give opinions

and always speak your mind. And finally make a difference within the company.

We have focussed on conserving the best aspects of our unique culture and on

perpetuating what attracts people to join, and remain, at Idea.

Idea invites you to join a journey of excellence.

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CELLULAR MARKET IN TERMS OF CUSTOMERS AND SERVICE DELIVERY

Customers

•Where are they………….everywhere!

•Who are they…………..everyone!

•When will they come…...any minute!

Who is a Customer

•Some one who buys regularly.

•In USA and UK, a customer is GOD.•In Japan, the customer is the KING.

•And in India the customer is the BOSS!

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Why a Boss?

•Because a boss can fire you when he is unhappy with you or your work.

The Modern Customer

•He is innovative in nature and will always go for the best.

•He is fussy, choosy, ambitious, proud, sophisticated and global in nature.

What is CARE?

•Care means ---To have regard or liking for.

•To look after.

Why is customer care important?

•It costs 5 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an

existing one.

•One unhappy customer tells 10 other people.

•64% of customers change suppliers because of poor service.

•Out of 100 customers only 6 will complaint.

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Building the relationship: Key concepts.

Each interaction, However Miniscule, can begin or build a long term

Relationship.

The customer isn’t always right, But the customer is always the customer!

The problem isn't the problem, But how you handle the problem.

Give customer A little something extra.

Must Remember…

•If you will not take care of your customers…some one else will…

Three dimension of Service

•A attitudes.

•S Skill.

•K Knowledge.

••ASK----attitudes skill and knowledge.

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Customers are NOT…

•Just buyers.

•Just numbers.

•They are whole persons having individual differences.

Customers vary…

•In age.

•In income.

•Education levels.

•Taste.

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Different Customer Types

•The Business Like Customer.

The customer is no nonsense type. His mail objective is to spend only as

much time with an executive as is strictly necessary.

•The Knowledgeable Customer.

This customer is technically very aware of what he is buying. He knows the right

question to ask and it is very difficult to evade the Issue raised by him.

•The friendly customer.

A very common type. Loves to talk-about the weather, about the Indian hockey

team, about politics… In short, about everything except business.

•The egoistic customer.

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The man who feels nothing can happen without him. And that he is solely

responsible for everything that goes right.

•The timid customer.

This type is probably the most difficult to handle. Because he does not take

decisions. He is usually insecure and needs a lot of reassurance. And that is

precisely we need to give him. Reassurance.

•Other customer types.

Confused customer, frustrated customer…

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Handling difficult customers

Don’t take it personally – remember when a customer complains they are

unhappy with the product or your company – not you.

Remember you are good at your job – remind yourself of the skills you have and

why you are working there. Don’t allow customers to make you feel inadequate.

Write down their complaint or concern – show the customer you are listening by

recording their problem and if you are on the phone, tell the customer you are

writing down all the details.

Ask a supervisor to join you and be part of the transaction – if the customer is

becoming more difficult, invite a supervisor to join you and the customer will

notice you are treating them as important by seeking additional help.

Debrief the situation with someone else when the customer leaves –

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Sometimes you may need to talk to someone about your difficult customer to

debrief and get rid of any negative thoughts and emotions you may have – this is a

very important step.

Learn stress management techniques – this may help you stay calm if a

customer raises their voice or becomes emotional. By learning to breath deeply,

focus on the positives and also ensure your body doesn’t carry stress you will be

able To handle these difficult customers easily.

Recognize and accept you will work with customers who have bad days –

understand when you are working with the public some people take their bad days

out on you – it is not personal.

Consider what you could do differently next time – if the customer is

complaining about a company system or process, take some time to review this and

determine if this might need to be changed. Think about the way you handled the

customer and note anything you would do differently next time.

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FIVE MUST OF GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE

Have you ever seen one of the signs regarding customer services that many places

of business have hanging up? They say, "Rule Number 1: The customer is always

right," and below that, "Rule Number 2: Refer back to rule number 1."

Although that's a pointed oversimplification, the statement makes a valid point,

and that is the customer is the reason for the business, whatever that business might

be. The customer is what keeps the business fueled and running. Without the

customer, there would be no business, and keeping customer happy and coming

back is of the utmost importance.

Though customer service truly can't be simplified into a one-rule overview and the

truth is that customers aren't always right, there are some universal rules governing

good customer service.

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1. Listen: When dealing with a customer, the first rule is to listen to what

they're saying rather than anticipating what they want. Customers appreciate

being heard, and if you take the few moments to really, really listen to their

request, complaint or statements, you're increasing the odds that you'll be

able to help them in an efficient, direct manner.

2. Acknowledge: People appreciate being acknowledged. Whether they're

waiting on a long, slow-moving line or being put on hold, customers are

more apt to remain patient if they feel like they're not being ignored. For

customers at the back of a long line, often a simple smile and statement of

"I'll be with you soon" will increase their patience manifold. For customers

waiting on hold, it's a good idea to pick up the phone every now and again,

just to let them know they haven't been forgotten about and that you'll be

with them as soon as it's possible.

3. Be courteous and respectful: Even the most difficult customers often

respond to courtesy and respect, and maintaining that standard is

professional and should be adhered to at all costs.

4. Devote your full attention to the customer: There's nothing ruder than a

cashier that's chatting about her plans for the night with the cashier at the

next register while she's ringing up your purchases. In addition, paying

attention to something else while assisting a customer opens the door for

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mistakes, particular when at the register or when working with money and

figures. Personal business is for your own time.

5. Know when to ask for help: There are times when you just don't have the

wherewithal to help the customer, and there are difficult customers who just

refuse to be reasonable. Don't hesitate to find a supervisor or manager to

help when you find yourself in a position that you can't resolve on your own.

That's what they're there for.

There are many other Do's and Don'ts in the world of customer

service, but these are a great starting point for providing service that will keep

customers coming back to your business.

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TOP TEN TIPS OF OUTSTANDING CUSTOMERS

Remember the 80:20 rule? You may not get everything perfectly right, but getting

most right will be much, much better than the majority of your competition. These

Top Ten Tips for Customer Service will get you well on the way.

1. Be Your Customer

Live the life of your customer and experience what they do. Stand in line, call

your call-centre, soak up feedback.

2. Give Memorable Service

Make the life's mission of everyone (yes, everyone!) to be customer focused –

even those seemingly out of direct line of fire.

3. Have Product Available

Generally, you can't sell it if you haven't got it. Work your systems hard and

focused to get product there on time.

4. Listen Hard to Complaints

Complaints are a wonderful gift - it is feedback of the highest order. Enjoy them

and learn fast.

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5. Enable Your People

Enable and encourage your people to give an immediate and generous customer response.

6. React Fast

Make sure that you and your people work with pace and immediacy with

customer issues.

7. Be Systems Focused

Ask, 'What would my customer think of this - would it give brilliant service?' If

not, reshape the system fast.

8. Be Curious

Encourage everyone in your team to overhear, be nosy, ask questions and feed

back information from your customers.

9. Research the Marketplace

Do more in your own business from what you experience as a customer

elsewhere. Encourage your people to do this too.

10.Have Fun

Have fun with your customers. It builds relationships. Relationships are business.

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SDQSDQIDEA’S IDEA’S

Service Delivery &QualityService Delivery &Quality--An Overview

What is Customer Care?

Cellular business requires :

• Customer Interaction as transactions between Customer & Organization.

• It presents an opportunity to practice Customer Relationship Management.

• Holds responsibility to efficiently service the customers at each point.

GOAL

Holds responsibility to Convert all “Customer Interaction Moments” into

“Moment of Delight” for our customers by providing excellent services and

creating a strong positive Brand Image for Organization as an institution

rendering unparalleled World Class Service.

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Service Delivery and Quality

Creating Competitive edge by achieving:

• Customer Delight At “Moments of Truth” interactions.

• Trained & motivated employees.

• Well defined processes.

• Strong systems.

• Advance technologies at the Call Center, Front Desk & Back-end

Operations.

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SERVICE DELIVERY AND QUALITYSERVICE DELIVERY AND QUALITY

66

Service Delivery

andQuality(SDQ)

Retention

CustomerCare

FieldStaff

Training &Quality

Collections & Credit

Idea Royale

PnT(Provisioning)

CallCenter

CRC

DocumentCenter

External&

InternalCustomer

s

SDQ-Field Staff

• 25 Customer Care Officers at 8 DO locations.

• Specialized in Front-desk, Retention & Back-end operations.

• Customer A/c activation & Service Change Mgmt.

• Channel Operations review & Training.

• Customer retention & CRE support.

• Customer walk-in & on-line channel query support.

• Stock Maintenance.

• Adjustments & Waivers.

• High User Relationship Building.

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CALL CENTER

SDQ-Call Center

• 101 Call-center officers.

• 3 Supervisors & 1 Manager.

• Four teams with individual leaders.

• 5 Lac Plus customers: More than 4 Lac calls per month.

• High degree of Standardization.

• Internal Customer Unit (ICU) for Internal Customers.

• Information Updates.

• 24*7 operational help line for any kind of Assistance.

• Not only a complaint resolution cell. We are looking at call center as a tool

for building a long-term relationship with the customer.

• A differentiating factor which could help us give the competitive advantage.

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There are three skill sets:

• Common (Prepaid, Land line calls, In roamers) No. 347

• Postpaid No.12345

• ICU (Club royal, channels) No.321

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PRODUCT AND TECHNOLOGY ( P N T)

SDQ-Product and Technology

• 8 Customer Care Officers.

• Product Specialization: Pre-paid & Post-Paid.

• System support: BSCS - Postpaid; INSS - Pre-paid.

• Audits, bulk actions, Automation, DO-Backend support.

• Special Activities requiring Expertise, Control & Cross-function

Coordination.

• Centralized activities, viz.. RUG, EPN, No. management, Market Move,

Audits, DP5 uploading, etc.

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Retention, Revenue Enhancement & Communication (RRC)

Retention

• Retaining the customer who is about to leave the network.

They Can be of two types:

1. Voluntary.

2. Involuntary.

Activities undertaken to retain customers.

• Churn Projection.

• Take steps to reduce churn.

• Schemes to reduce churn.

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Why Customers Leave?Why Customers Leave?

•1% die.

•3% move away.

•4% are natural floaters.

•5% move on recommendation.

•9% finds somewhere economical.

•10% are chronic complainers.

•14% are dissatisfied.

•68% go somewhere else because the people who serve them are

indifferent to their needs; they just don’t ‘care’.

9 out of 10 service specs are defined not by the customer but by the service provider.

Average company has to spend six times more to attract new sale than to get a sale from an existing client.

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Revenue Enhancement

• Bill message on every Bill cycle.

• Upselling and cross selling by the out calling department.

• Revenue enhancement through Value Added Services.

Communication

• Information to customers through SMS and Mailer.

• Communication To channels and Field for clarity.

• 15 days satisfaction call to the customer.

Complaint Resolution Cell (CRC)

• Back end operation.

• Coordinates with other departments.

• Fulfilling customer requests.

• Resolving complaints in coordination with other departments.

• Report generation from I - Care (an indigenously designed CRM software)

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• Based upon the type of the call for that particular number action is taken.

Types of Complaints

Post Paid

• Activation/De-activation.

• Service Changes.

• Billing.

• Delay/Wrong Payment postings.

• Refunds.

• Adjustments.

Pre Paid

• Validity Issues.

• Recharge Issues.

• Top-ups.

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Technical

• Network Related.

• Signals/Quality.

• Auto roaming.

Others

• VMS. • SMS.• Other Value Added Services.

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Sources of Complaints

• Call Center/ICU.

• Customers.

• Channels.

• Dos (District Offices).

Club Roy ale

SDQ-Idea Roy ale

• One Customer Care officer.

• Daily monitoring of Barring & Temporary Disconnection.

• Regular analysis of Churn.

• Management of Idea Care gift Scheme & its distribution.

• Monthly evaluation of Customer base to review categorization.

• Quality control of service delivery & Communication to Idea Care.

• Cost-benefit analysis of loyalty Schemes.

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CREDIT AND COLLECTIONS

Credit

• Customer Profiling.

• Customer categorization.

• Limit enhancement and Down gradation.

• Deposit Restructuring.

• Deposit refund.

• Exposure Management.

• Refund balance Closure.

• Configuration Testing of new Products.

• Pre Bill Testing.

• Market Move adjustments.

• BSCS v/s Switch reconciliation.

• IN v/s Switch reconciliation.

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Our Idea of Customer………

Technology Support to SDQ

Some areas where Technology has benefited

• Call Center - IVR, CTI, CRM.

• PnT - IN, Billing, DP5, ICFS, Pre Paid Upload Utilities & Mediation front-

ends.

• CRC - Database support, Bulk SMS.

• RRC - Huge System capabilities, Billing Reports.

• Document Center - Barring/Unbarring utility, Hyperlinks, Pre Paid Upload

Utilities.

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WAY TO DELIGHT CUSTOMERS

80

4 R Mantra for Successful Customer Care

•Record.

•Resolve.

•Rever.

•Relationship.

and no end to servicing…

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COMPETITIOR ANALYSIS

1. Range of network: Airtel, Idea and BSNL service providers have been into this

cellular industry from a very long time and have developed a complete and vast

network in Delhi and around the remote areas. All the operators have vast no. of

towers to cover in Moradabad, Amroha, Gajrola, Rampur, Chandausi, Sambhal.

While BSNL has less number of towers as compared to Idea with a radius of 10-

12 km and not being able to provide proper service in other remote areas.

2. Number of subscribers: All the Players Idea, Airtel, and BSNL have a cutthroat

competition in U.P(w). Trying to add more customers to its service with IDEA has

maximum subscribers base in U.P(W) in which 40% is of CHIT CHAT cards.

While Airtel, as compared to Airtel has only less number of subscribers and 35%

of them are cash card subscribers.

Whereas, Hutch has lowest no. of conections.

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Value Added Services (VAS): Let me first take up the common value added

services, which all the player offers:

Call Line Identification : Presentation (CLIP): Clip gives you the power to know

the phone number of the calling party even before you answer the call. This

gives you the flexibility to either reject the call or answer the call. Also, the

name of the calling party will flash on the handset screen if the same is

available in the Handset Phone Book.

Call Waiting : This feature helps the second sender to wait for the call if the

receiver is busy with the first call.

Call Hold : This feature helps the receiver to put on hold the first call to enable

him to listen to second call.

Call Divert forward the call to : This feature helps the sender to receive his calls

on other number even landline if his mobile is busy.

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Call Roaming : The user can roam anywhere in the country where the roaming

facility is available.

Easy Mail : Easy Mail for IDEA is the most advanced voice mail service. It

keeps you in touch with your caller’s even when you are busy or outside the

coverage area of IDEA or your cellular phone is switched off. Your calls are

diverted to your Easy Mail box. You can retrieve the messages left for you, at

your convenience.

Call Conference : Idea Call Conference service enables you to carry out a Tele-

conference with 6 different people simultaneously. Infact you can set up a

conference, even if the other five are using the PSTN land- line.

Cell Surf : The easy way to access the Internet. You can now get the latest

information, direct on your handset from the web.

Remised billing: Keep track of your calls through a detailed account at the

end of each month.

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Whether one is on prepaid or postpaid, one can enjoy a wide range of

affordable value added services. From getting flight updates to mobile banking to

sending voice messages and more, one can access all that he wants, right from the

gsm phone. (Hutch airtel and idea)

(Gsm network)one also enjoys a host of benefits including free incoming calls

from anywhere in the network. All the more useful because the Hutchison network

covers places that one is most likely to get his calls from, more frequently.

Including all the four metros.

85

MARKET SEGMENTATION CAPTURED BY EACH PLAYER :`

STATE U.P(W

OPERATOR MAY'07 JUNE'07 JULY'07

Idea Mobile Comm.

1609504 1663414 1752840

Bharti Airtel 1054042 1139342 1219294

BSNL 1394226 1418663 1542414

Vodafone Essar

1774251 1865574 1970110

0

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

IdealMobileComm

BhartiAirtel

BSNL VodafoneEssar

Series1

Series2

Series3

86

Growth path of only GSM Services provider

Operators Dec'01 Dec '02 Dec '03 March '04 April '05 Mar '06 - - - - - -

Bharti

Cellular 484850 834269 1331003 1366113 1390201 1405334

Hutchison

Essar 343241 580328 1026077 1202345 1217407 1223510

BSNL 45408 129809 156501 170089 174423 182053

IDEA NIL 128306 420828 501693 508254 514271

- 873499 1672712 2934409 3240240 3290285 3325168

Market Share of Cellular Players in India :~

Group Company Wise Cumulative S. No. Name of Company Total Sub Figures % Market Share1 Bharti 6504314 24.89% 2 BSNL 5229145 20.01% 3 Hutch 5148048 19.70%

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4 IDEA 2732689 10.46% 5 BPL 1882754 7.21% 6 Spice 1208890 4.63% 7 Escotel 989084 3.79% 8 Aircel 1026377 3.93% 9 Reliance 790529 3.03% 10 MTNL 360550 1.38% 11 Hexacom 257053 0.98%

All India 26129433 100.00%

GSM operators in India added a record 5.39m subscribers in June compared to

5.04m subscribers in May, 4.13m in April, 5.9m in March, 4.64m in February and

4.76m in January 2007 (all numbers are excluding RCOM GSM for comparison).

The total GSM subscriber base in India now stands at 135.5m (4.1% MoM

growth). June 2007 was one of the strongest months for GSM operators, with

second highest monthly net additions ever recorded. Assuming same net adds run

rate as last month for CDMA operators, we should see total monthly net adds of

7.2m, a record in Indian wireless history, in line with our theory of accelerating

subs addition.

Bharti Airtel continued its impressive run with record net adds of 1.96m subs in

June 2007, compared to 1.85m in the previous month. Bharti’s total subscriber

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base now stands at 42.7m subscribers (up 4.8% MoM and 85.1% YoY). We have

modelled in 1.92m subscribers per month for the remaining nine months of FY08E

in our earnings model. A stronger performance by Bharti would provide further

upside to our estimates.

Idea Cellular saw a good month, with net adds of 0.86m in June 2007. Improved

performance in Delhi, Rajasthan and UP (West) circles led to strong overall

subscriber growth for Idea. Idea’s subscriber base now stands at 16.1m (up 5.6%

MoM and 88.9% YoY).

Vodafone Essar (erstwhile Hutchison Essar) (Not listed) also reported record

numbers, with monthly net additions of 1.54m in June 2007. Vodafone’s

subscriber base currently stands at 30.8m (up 5.3% MoM and 75.3% YoY).

BSNL (Not listed) again saw a poor month with monthly net adds of 0.42m, taking

its subscriber base to 28.4m (up 1.5% MoM and 55.4% YoY). Severe capacity

constraints continued to choke the growth of BSNL and we think this will continue

until its new capacity comes onstream.

89

90

IDEA’S PERFORMANCE IN TELECOM INDUSTRY:-

Idea Cellular Limited has delivered a robust performance during the year.

The Company has over 14 million subscribers as on March 31, 2007. Total

subscribe base increased by 90% over the corresponding period last year. The All

India market share has improved from 7.7% to 8.6% between March 31, 2006 and

March 31,2007. The company’s gross revenues have risen significantly by 47% to

Rs. 4366.4 Crores from Rs. 2965.5 Crores in the previous year. The Company’s

net profit soared to Rs. 503.3 Crores, from Rs. 211.8 Crores, an increase of 138%.

The company rolled out operations in three new circles viz. Himachal

Pradesh, Rajasthan and U.P (E), thus expanding its network across 11 circles. The

initial launch expenses in these circles created some pressure on margins. The

operating margins of the Company declined to 34% vis-à-vis 37% in FY ’06.

The Company has successfully completed its Initial Public Offering and

raised Rs. 2819 Crores.

The Company is focusing on building, strengthening and expanding network

and related services

91

In the new circles and as planned roll out of services in Mumbai and Bihar circles.

National Long Distance roll out is being worked on.

92

Idea – A growth story

Idea strengthened its balance sheet by raising Rs. 2819 Cr

through IPO & Pre-IPOPlacement.

Nuvo’s stake in Idea came down to 31.78% after IPO.

Aggressive Capex planned for both capacity and coverage.

Roll out of services in Mumbai & Bihar expected by January’08.

Licenses for remaining circles being pursued.

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Problems faced by the customers and their Redressal

The most widely faced problem by the customer is of poor network.

Redressal: In some areas the idea’s network is not up to the mark and in order to

overcome this the company is now providing a Patch Panel Antenna which when

attached to the Fixed Wireless Terminal strengthens the weak signals, whenever

any customers complained to us about weak signals it was duly noted down and

forwarded to higher authorities so that the customer could attain a Patch Panel

Antenna and his problem gets rectified.

Problem of unclear sound and echo effect.

Redressal: Due to some weather problems and exchange faults these problems

arises and on the other side these problems were passed on to the technical staff.

Customers also face problems in connecting the ISD calls.

Redressal: This problem has been conveyed to the technical department and will

be taken care of for its rectification.

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Many idea connection owners face a problem of bill jumping.

Redressal: This problem arises due to wrong plan opted by customer, so

customers are told plains which are suitable to them according to their usage and

their request is forwarded through customer care.

Problem of communication gap.

Redessal: This problem arises when customer does not get proper response about

the queries and complaints through customer care or channel ends.

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SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength

The Brand Name “IDEA” (Aditya Birla Group).

A 24 hours dedicated customer care services.

Oldest channel network in U.P (w) area.

Oldest operator in U.P (w) as far as GSM is conserned.

Loyal Customer Base identified as Roy ale customers.

Idea Cellular company is the first company to launch Music Messaging

with Cellular Jockey, Back Ground Tones, Group Talks, a Voice Portal

with say IDEA and complete suite of Mobile E-mail services.

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WEAKNESS

Network problem, mostly in congested areas.

CUG is not free while other CDMA operators are this

facility to their customers.

New roll out is very slow as per as network is

concerned.

Sales process is Good but lengthy to go.

GSM operators use copper while reliance uses fiber for

network connectivity. So reliance has a advantage over

GSM operators because their network is never busy.

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OPPUTUNITIES

IDEA Cellular considers rural market as an opportunity for

them. They are providing bundle offers i.e. sim cards with

handsets to cover large market share.

Slums and camp areas where wire lines cannot reach.

To increase their Prepaid customer base.

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THREATS

All GSM operators considers THIRD Generation Mobiles as a threat

for them because in next few years customers can make calls from

whichever network they want i.e. they can dial the code of that network

and make a call to enjoy economy calling.

GSM operators need to revise their Revenue Enhancement Process

when third generation mobiles will be launched. Huge capital

investment will be required.

Authority of Negotiation, competitors have but Idea does not have.

Aggressive marketing strategies, competitors have over us.

Competitors have lucrative plans and policies.

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Recommendations and suggestions

Idea cellular should update its network more aggressively, to reduce

Conjunction in network and call drop.

Idea cellular should launch competitive offers more aggressively on regular

intervals to make customer feel delighted.

Idea cellular customer care should take proper feedback from customers and

their suggestions should be implemented and feedback is provided to them

which can be in terms of rewards like free airtime.

Idea cellular should work up on payment posting so that it can be flashed

with in half an hour on customers mobile after payment so that they can be

updated.

Idea cellular should try and make their process as short and simple as

possible specially in case of barring.

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Idea cellular must make a provision to make additional services

automated so that services could be available at earliest.

Idea cellular should cut down the time period of activation. It is hampering

on their sales and their image in the market.

A major complaint by the customer was that grievance handling takes a lot

of time. According to me, complaint handling should be faster to gain an

edge over the competitors to the customer care department needs to be

strengthened so the customer can directly contact the company.

The customer should be updated with all the latest schemes, offers and tariff

plans of the company, as this is a constant cause of complaint.

This can be done with the help of mailer along with the call statement which

should be send and by enabling auto caller system which call the number from the

database by themselves and play the recorded message. This will go a long way in

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putting up a smile on the customers face and they will feel associated with idea

cellular.

Idea cellular should provide authority of negotiations to its employees. So

that they can negotiate with corporate customers and fulfill their

requirements and retain them for long.

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Conclusion

After completion of this project at idea cellular I came to certain conclusions about

the growth and future prospects of idea cellular. Their was a rapid growth, If we

talk about the total base of idea prepaid as well as postpaid connections.

This proves that it is readily accepted among the customers. As India will continue

to be the fastest growing country in the Asia-Pacific region next to China, with

cellular services expected to contribute approx 26 billion by 2011. So Idea Cellular

has a very bright future in GSM industry and it can capture maximum market share

by exploiting rural market.

According to my point of view, telecom industry is likely to register 18.4 per cent

growth per annum during the 2007-2011 and around 58 per cent of the rural

population and 95 per cent of the urban population would get mobile connections.

The cellular market penetration will also get triple. The overall penetration would

be driven mainly by an increased focus on rural market, huge promotions by Idea

cellular and handset bundling schemes can help them in building strong and

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healthy relations with its customers. This can only happen when Idea Cellular will

try and further keep their employees motivated. If they will be satisfied then they

will build good customer relations.

The next step, which idea cellular should concentrate on maintaining its Existing

customer base. For this they need to take quick actions for the redressal of

customers grievances. Idea should maintain good customer relations by taking

regular feedbacks from them.

These steps would ensure definite success and would help idea cellular to

sustain as a leader in GSM market.

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Bibliography

www.ideacellular.com

www.telcomindustry.com

www.bhartiinfotel.com.com

www.ideamobile.com

www.adityabirlagroup.com

Google search engine

Interacting with local business associates.

Direct interactions with customers.

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Questionnaire

(To be filled by Idea Customers)

This questionnaire is solely for academic purpose.

Kindly indicate your choice by placing a tick on the appropriate option.

Strongly Disagree

Disagree Can’t Say Agree Strongly Agree

Q1. Idea gives you prompt services.

Q2. Employees at Idea are always willing to help you.

Q3. Your queries and complaints are handled immediately by the Customer Care Department..

Q4. Idea provides it’s services at the time it promises to do so.

Q5. Idea keeps its customers informed about all its services and how they will be delivered.

Q6. When you have a problem, the company shows a sincere interest in solving it.

Q7. Idea gives you individual attention.

Q8. The employees at Idea understand your individual needs and offer flexibility in their services as per your requirements.

Q9. The Web-Site of Idea is interactive and user-friendly.

Q10. Idea uses the latest technology in its services.

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