1.

1) Introduction:

The telecom network in India is the fifth largest network in the world meeting up with
global standards. Presently, the Indian telecom industry is currently slated to an estimated
contribution of nearly 1% to India’s GDP.

The Indian Telecommunications network with 110.01 million connections is the fifth
largest in the world and the second largest among the emerging economies of Asia.
Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world and represents unique opportunities
for U.S. companies in the stagnant global scenario. The total subscriber base, which has
grown by 40% in 2005, is expected to reach 250 million in 2007.

According to Broadband Policy 2004, Government of India aims at 9 million broadband

connections and 18 million internet connections by 2007. The wireless subscriber base
has jumped from 33.69 million in 2004 to 62.57 million in FY2004- 2005. In the last 3
years, two out of every three new telephone subscribers were wireless subscribers.
Consequently, wireless now accounts for 54.6% of the total telephone subscriber base, as
compared to only 40% in 2003. Wireless subscriber growth is expected to bypass 2.5
million new subscribers per month by 2007. The wireless technologies currently in use
are Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple
Access (CDMA). There are primarily 9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile
services in 19 telecom circles and 4 metro cities, covering 2000 towns across the country.
1.2) Evolution of the Industry - Important Milestones:

Year Description
1851 First operational land lines were laid by the govt. near Calcutta(seat of
British Power)

1881 Telephone Service introduced in India

1883 Merger with the postal system

1923 Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT)

1932 Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Communication
Company(IRCC)

1947 Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies to form the

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

1985 Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive

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

1986 Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies: the

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international
telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)
for service in metropolitan areas.

1997 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created

1999 Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom Policy is
adopted.

2000 DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL

(Source: The Indian Telecom Industry by consulting club, IIM Calcutta)

1.3) Major Players:

 There are three types of players in telecom services:

 State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL)

 Private Indian owned companies (Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices)

 Foreign invested companies (Vodafone-Essar, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Escotel, Idea

Cellular, BPL Mobile, Spice Communications)

India's mobile telecom sector is one of the fastest growing sectors. Unlike in the 1990s
when the mobile phone was an elitist product, mobile operators now tap a mass market
with mass marketing techniques. "Unified licensing" rules allow basic and mobile
operators into each other’s territory, and have ushered in perhaps the final phase of
industry consolidation.

It seems that only companies with deep pockets can effectively compete as primary
operators mobile markets. Economies of scale, scope, and end-to-end presence in long-
distance as well as local telecom, are desirable.

There are, besides, new challenges. Operators have to find new growth drivers for the
wire line business. There are problems of getting broadband to take off, of technology
choice, of when to introduce new technologies, and of developing a viable business
model in an era of convergence.

1.4) Growth of mobile technology:

India has the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. The mobile services were
commercially launched in August 1995 in India. In the initial 5-6 years the average
monthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to 0.1 million only and the total mobile
subscribers base in December 2002 stood at 10.5 millions. However, after the number of
proactive initiatives taken by regulator and licensor, the monthly subscriber additions
increased to around 2 million per month in the year 2003-04 and 2004-05.
Although mobile telephones followed the New Telecom Policy 1994, growth was tardy
in the early years because of the high price of hand sets as well as the high tariff structure
of mobile telephones. The New Telecom Policy in 1999, the industry heralded several
pro consumer initiatives. Mobile subscriber additions started picking up. The number of
mobile phones added throughout the country in 2003 was 16 million, followed by 22
millions in 2004, 32 million in 2005 and 65 million in 2006. The only countries with
more mobile phones than India with 156.31 million mobile phones are China – 408
million and USA – 170 million.

India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile communications)
and CDMA (code-division multiple access) technologies in the mobile sector.

The mobile tariffs in India have also become lowest in the world. A new mobile
connection can be activated with a monthly commitment of US$ 5 only. In 2005 alone 32
million handsets were sold in India. The data reveals the real potential for growth of the
Indian mobile market.

1.5) Cellular Service Providers:

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

Bharti Airtel

Airtel is providing cellular services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Andhra

Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP and
West Bengal. Airtel is the No.1 cellular service provider in India using GSM technology.
Airtel has 23% market share in India with a total subscriber base of 38 million.

Reliance Communications

Reliance has both CDMA and GSM networks and total subscriber base of 29 million or
17% market share. It has GSM network in Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kolkata,
North East, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. Reliance has CDMA networks in
other states and cities.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)

BSNL is a state owned telecom company which has GSM presence in almost every cities
and towns. BSNL has 27 million subscribers with a market share of 16%.

Vodafone

Vodafone is another emerging GSM provider in India with coverage in Kerala, Mumbai,
Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab with a total
subscriber base of 27 million.

Tata Indicom
Tata Indicom is a main CDMA provider in India with 16 million subscribers all over
India. Tata Indicom has presence in almost every state and cities in India.
 Company Profile

2.1) Introduction:

Vodafone is a mobile network operator headquartered in Berkshire, England, UK. It is

the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and
has a market value of about £75 billion (August 2008). Vodafone currently has operations
in 25 countries and partner networks in a further 42 countries.

The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the
provision of voice and data services over mobile phones."

As of 2006 Vodafone had an estimated 260 million customers in 25 markets across 5

continents. On this measure, it is the second largest mobile telecom group in the world
behind China Mobile.

In the United States, Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless.

2.2) Mission:

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

2.3) Vision: Our Vision is to be the world’s mobile communication leader – enriching
customers’ lives, helping individuals, businesses and Communities be more connected in
a mobile world.
2.4) History:

In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of two UK
cellular telephone network licenses. The network, known as Racal Vodafone was 80%
owned by Racal, with Millicom and the Hambros Technology Trust owning 15% and 5%
respectively. Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985. Racal Strategic Radio was
renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited in 1985. On 29 December 1986
Racal Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB£110 million.

In September 1988 the company was again renamed Racal Telecom and on 26 October
1988 Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued Racal Telecom
at GB£1.7 billion On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal
Electronics as Vodafone Group.

In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for
£30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples
Phone for £77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using
Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec
Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores.

In 1997 Vodafone introduced its Speech mark logo, as it is a quotation mark in a circle;
the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting
conversation.

On 29 June 1999 Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc.

and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading of the new company
commenced on 30 June 1999. To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in
E-Plus Mobilfunk. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner
of the largest German mobile network.

On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of
Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed on 4 April
2000.
In November 1999 Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was
rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's purchase
of Orange, the UK mobile operator. Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into
the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory.
The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany and a "titanic struggle" which
saw Mannesmann resists Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the
Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of £112bn, then the largest corporate
merger ever. The EU approved the merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was
subsequently broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off.

On 28 July 2000 the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc. In April
2001 the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network. In
2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebranded it as
Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-largest mobile operator J-
Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan.

On 17 December 2001 Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks" by

signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone
international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone.
The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets
where it does not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed
under the dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local
brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.)

In February 2002 Finland was added into the mobile community, as Radiolinja is signed
as a Partner Network. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa. Later that year the
Company rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone live! and on 3
December 2002 the Vodafone brand was introduced in the Estonian market with signing
of a Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti). Radiolinja (Eesti) later changed
its name to Elisa.
On 7 January 2003 the Company signed a group-wide Partner agreement with mobilkom
Austria. As a result, Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia were added to the community. In
April 2003 Og Vodafone was introduced in the Icelandic market and in May 2003
Vodafone Italy (Omnitel Pronto-Italia) was rebranded Vodafone Italy. On 21 July 2003
Lithuania was added to the community, with the signing of a Partner Network agreement
with Bitė.

In February 2004 Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with Luxembourg's

LuxGSM and a Partner Network Agreement with Cyta of Cyprus. Cyta agreed to rename
its mobile phone operations to Cytamobile-Vodafone. In April 2004 the Company
purchased Singlepoint airtime provider from John Caudwell (Caudwell Group) and
approx 1.5million customers onto its base for £405million, adding sites in Stoke on Trent
(England) to existing sites in Newbury (HQ), Birmingham, Warrington and Banbury. In
November 2004 Vodafone introduced 3G services into Europe.

In June 2005 the Company increased its participation in Romania's Connex to 99% and
also bought the Czech mobile operator Oskar. On 1 July 2005 Oskar of the Czech
Republic was rebranded as Oskar-Vodafone. Later that year on 17 October 2005
Vodafone Portugal launched a revised logo, using new text designed by Dalton Maag,
and a 3D version of the Speech mark logo, but still retaining a red background and white
writing (or vice versa). Also, various operating companies started to drop the use of the
SIM card pattern in the company logo. (The rebranding of Oskar-Vodafone and Connex-
Vodafone also does not use the SIM card pattern.) A custom typeface by Dalton Maag
(based on their font family InterFace) formed part of the new identity.

On 28 October 2005 Connex in Romania was rebranded as Connex-Vodafone and on 31

October 2005 the Company reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Sweden to Telenor
for approximately €1 billion. After the sale, Vodafone Sweden became a Partner
Network. In December 2005 Vodafone won an auction to buy Turkey's second-largest
mobile phone company, Telsim, for $4.5 billion. In December 2005 Vodafone Spain
became the second member of the group to adopt the revised logo: it was phased in over
the following six months in other countries.
In 2006 the Company rebranded its Stoke-on-Trent site as Stoke Premier Centre, a centre
of expertise for the company dealing with Customer Care for its higher value customers,
technical support, sales and credit control. All cancellations and upgrades started to be
dealt with by this call centre. On 5 January 2006 Vodafone announced the completion of
the sale of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor. On February 2006 the Company closed its
Birmingham Call Centre. In 1 February 2006 Oskar Vodafone became

Vodafone Czech Republic, adopting the revised logo and on 22 February 2006 the
Company announced that it was extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the signing of
Partner Network Agreement with Mobiltel, which is part of mobilkom Austria group.

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

On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its footprint to Serbia as VIP mobile was added to
the community as a Partner Network and on 20 May 2008 the Company added VIP
Operator as a Partner Network thereby extending the global footprint to Macedonia. In
May 2008 Kall of the Faroe Islands rebranded as Vodafone Faroe Islands.

On 30 October 2008, the company announced a strategic, non-equity partnership with

MTS group of Russia. The agreement adds Russia, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and
Uzbekistan to the group footprint.
 Research Methodology
5.1) Introduction:

“Marketing research means the systematic gathering, recording, analyzing of data

about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services”

Marketing research has proved an essential tool to make all the need of marketing
management. Marketing research therefore is the scientific process of gathering and
analyzing of marketing information to meet the needs of marketing management. But
gathering of observation is must be systematic. The systematic conduct of research
requires:

 Orderliness, in which the measurements are accurate.

 Impartiality in analysis and interpretation.

All of research can be categorized into basic and applied.

1. BASIC RESEARCH: - Basic Research is that intended to expand the body of

knowledge for the use of others.

2. APPLIED RESEARCH: - Applied Research is one, which is carried out to find

the solution for a particular problem or for guiding a specific decision. It is
usually private in nature.

My research on Vodafone is carried on for guiding specific decisions and its

results are useful only to Vodafone for taking particular decision regarding product
quality, staff and security. Hence the nature of my research study is “APPLIED
RESEARCH “.
5.2) Objective of Study:

Following are the main objective to study about the customer satisfaction on
Vodafone.

 To study telecommunication industry.

 To study the company profile of Vodafone.

 To study customer satisfaction of Vodafone.

 To study various Marketing activities provided by Vodafone.

 To study the various services provided by Vodafone.

 To know the expectation of Vodafone Customers.

5.3) Benefits of study:

There are many benefits related to take this study. Some of the benefits of taking
this study are as follows:

 By analyzing this information, the company would be able to better design

schemes & services & target right prospects’ needs & wants.

 More people will get aware about Vodafone that will increase profit level of
Vodafone.

 This study helps to identify the behavior of consumer when there are no offers &
schemes from Vodafone.
5.4) Process of Marketing Research:

The marketing research is done in systematic process. The Researcher has

pursued the below process of marketing for my study at Vodafone:

Problem Identification

Research Design

Data Collection

Data Analysis & Interpretation

Research Report & Presentation

5.4.1) Problem Identification:

The first and the most important step of marketing research is properly defining
the problem. In order to identify the research problem two categories of problem should
be carefully noticed.

Here the researcher’s problems are:-

 A number of customers are not satisfied with services, new schemes and offers.

 A number of customers are not satisfied with the network coverage.

 A number of customers are not satisfied with the current call rates of Vodafone.

 A number of customers are not satisfied with the Free SMS schemes.

 A number of customers are not satisfied with the service of customer care of
Vodafone.

5.4.2) RESEARCH DESIGN:

Research design indicates the methods and procedure of conducting research

study. Research design can be done in following three types:-

1 Exploratory Research:-

Exploratory research focuses on the discovery of new ideas and is generally

based on secondary data.
2 Descriptive Research:-

Descriptive research is undertaken when the researcher want to know the

characteristics of certain groups.

3 Causal or Experimental Researches:-

An experimental research is undertaken to identify causes and effect relationship

between two variables.

The Research Design is: Descriptive Research Design

5.4.3) Data Collection and Sampling:

A) Sources of Data Collection:-

Basically there are two types of data i.e. secondary and primary:

I) Primary Data Collection:-

Primary data collection contains the following four types of methods: -

1 Observation Method:

It contains Causal observation, Systematic observation, direct observation and

contrived observation.

2 Survey Method:

It contains Personal Interview, Telephone Interview and Mail Interview.

3 Experimental Method.

4 Panel Method.

II) Secondary Data Collection: -

It can be collected from internal as well as external sources

1 Internal Source:

Various internal sources like employee, books, sales activity, stock availability,
product cost, etc.

2 External Sources:

Libraries, trade publications, literatures, etc are some important sources of

external data.

The Researcher has used primary data for the core purpose of the project and this
primary data has been gathered by survey method. The researcher has also used
secondary data

B) Data collection Tools:

To conduct a survey, the Researcher has selected a structured questionnaire as an

instruction for gathering valuable information from the customers. Questionnaire, which
is used for the survey, is consisting of questions and checklist questions to check the
customer feedback.

C) Sampling Plan:

The researcher has design a sampling plan that is consist of five decisions.

I) Sampling unit:

Who is to be surveyed?
 The Researcher has selected youngsters, businessmen, and housewives, employees to
conduct survey and to measure satisfaction level.

II) Sampling types:

There are two types of sampling i.e. Probability Sampling and Non – probability
Sampling.

i) Probability Sampling : -

Probability sampling means each unit of the universe has equal chance of getting
selected. The most frequently used probability sampling methods are as below:

a) Simple Random Sampling.

b) Stratified Random Sampling.

c) Multi-stage Random Sampling.

d) Cluster Sampling.

e) Multi – phase Sampling.

f) Replicated Sampling.

ii) Non – Probability Sampling:-

Non – Probability sampling contains following methods:-

a) Judgment Sampling.

b) Convenience Sampling.

c) Panel Sampling.
d) Quota Sampling

For this purpose the researcher has used non probability convenience sampling

III) Sample Size:

Sample size means limited numbers of respondents covered under the research
study from a population and the researcher has taken a survey of 100 respondents to
know the satisfaction level of customer.

IV) Sampling Area:

The researcher’s area for survey was:

 The S.P.B. College of Business Administration, Udhna.

 Vodafone Store, Ghod Dod Road.

 Outside Big Bazaar, Piplod.

V) Sampling Unit:

Here the researcher has randomly selected the respondents of the Surat city.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

After all the above steps are completed now the important step is data analyzing
and interpretation. For this there are various analytical and statistical tools. Some of these
tools are Percentage, Average, Dispersion, Co-relation, Co-efficient, etc.