Acknowledgement

This internship report would not be completed without the help and cooperation of the

following people. First of all I would like to thank my honorable faculty member and the

Internship supervisor Prof. Mojib U. Ahmed, Director, MBA program for giving me the

permission to work on this topic. The clear guidelines given by him were very help for me to

understand the structure of the paper.

Next, I would like to thank Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited authority for their

cooperation in doing this project. I would specially like to thank my internship co-coordinator

for the organization Mr. Mahmudul Haque, Deputy Manager, Corporate Customer Care

and Sales of the Sales & Marketing Department for his support and cooperation.

Finally, I would like to thank all the staffs & instructors of BRAC University and

employees of PBTL who gave me necessary help, information and support to complete this

report successfully.

1

March 24, 2003

Prof. Mojib U. Ahmed

Director, MBA Program & Internship Supervisor

School of Business

BRAC University

Subject: Letter of Transmittal.

Dear Sir,

I am very happy to submit my Internship Report that you assigned me at the beginning of

the summer 2007 semester.

While working on the report, I have tried to follow each and every guideline that you

advised. It was a nice experience to work on this project. The authority of Pacific

Bangladesh Telecom Limited also extended their cooperation as required.

I hope, you will accept my report and oblige.

Sincerely,

Md. Noor – E – Alam

ID # 04264030

Contact: 011 99 800429

017 11 452626

Table of Contents Page #

Organization Part

1. Introducing the Company 5

2

1.1 The Company 5

1.2 The Company History 5

1.3 Ownership Structure 6

1.4 Vision 6

1.5 Mission 6

1.6 Objective 6

1.7 Strategies 7

1.8 Organizational Structure 7

2. Departments Of PBTL 8

3. Organizational Structures 10

4. Functions of Different Departments 16

5. Products and Services offered by CityCell Digital 24

6. Technology 32

7. Network of CityCell Digital 41

8. Distribution Channel 43

9. Industry Analysis 44

10. SWOT Analysis 50

11. Assessing CityCell Digital’s Current State & Future Direction 53

Project Part

1. Introduction 57

2. Objectives 58

3. Significance of the Study 59

4. Hypothesis 60

5. Methodology 61

6. Customer Satisfaction: Theoretical View 62

7. Customer Satisfaction: Factors of CityCell Digital 64

8. Conducting a Survey 65

9. Presenting the Survey Results 66

10. Analysis of the Results 79

11. Applying the GAP’s Model of Service Quality 82

12. Recommendations to close the GAP’s 86

13. Limitations of the Study 89

14. Conclusion 90

Appendix

3

Organization Part

1. Introducing the Company

1.1 The Company

4

CityCell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) is a leading mobile communications service provider and the only sophisticated CDMA 2000 1 X network operator in the country. CityCell is a customer-driven organization whose mission is to deliver the latest in advanced telecommunication services to customers. The company offers a full array of voice & wireless internet services for consumers and businesses that are focused on the unique needs of the Bangladeshi community. CityCell’s growth strategy is to integrate superior customer service, highest standard technology and choice of packages at affordable rates.

The company operates a 24-hour call centre with well trained operators to respond to customer queries. CityCell’s customer services are open 7 days a week to ensure customers can access CityCell at any convenient time. CityCell is focused on innovation and creating new ways for customers to stay in touch and to do business. CityCell is offering a wide range of competitive voice & Wireless Internet packages. These voice & wireless internet service (My CityCell Zoom) is based on CDMA 2000 1 X technology, which ensures easy connectivity, voice & data security, mobility, high speed data transfer and nationwide coverage throughout the CityCell network.

1.2 The Company History

In October 1990, Hutchison Bangladesh Telecom Limited (HBTL) was formed as a joint venture between Bangladesh Telecom Limited (BTL) and Hutchison Whampoa Limited of Hong Kong. In March of that year BTL had been issued a license by Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) for operating cellular, paging and other wireless communication networks. The joint venture agreement with Hutchison gave HBTL the right to use BTL’s cellular license while Hutchison would provide financial support to BTL.

However, soon there was legal dispute between BTTB and BTL regarding the refusal of BTTB to provide Public Switch Telecommunication Network (PSTN) channels which ensured connectivity to the BTTB network. The Supreme Court then ruled in April 1993 that BTTB would have to provide PSTN connections to HBTL, and that BTL would have to transfer the cellular portion to the license of HBTL. BTTB gave HBTL the PSTN connections in August 1993 and HBTL began commercial operation of the first cellular telephone service in Bangladesh in the same month. The owners of HBTL decided to sell their stakes in the company due to the legal war. HBTL’s shares were divided into two parts: Type A, which was held by BTL and Type B, held by Hutchison. Each type of share represented 50% title of HBTL. Pacific Motors Limited bought the type A shares while Hong Kong based financial investors Far East Telecom Limited bought the Type B shares.

On 12th February 1996, HBTL was renamed Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited. PBTL uses the brand name CityCell Digital to market its cellular products. In order to boost the financial and also the managerial strength of PBTL, the shareholders of PBTL has completed the transaction under the agreements in which Fujitsu Limited, Japan and Asian Infrastructure Development Company (AIDEC), established in Cayman Islands, would acquire 10% and 20% equity shares in PBTL, respectively on June 2000.

With this acquisition of 10% shares in PBTL by Fujitsu Limited, a Global Fortune 500 company, they have further strengthened their presence in Bangladesh and also have demonstrated confidence as well as their commitment to the Bangladesh market. Fujitsu has long been supplying Microwave links and telecommunications equipment to BTTB and is clearly a leading market player in providing telecommunication solutions in Bangladesh. Being 10% equity shareholder of the company Fujitsu is in a position to nominate 1 (one) Director to the Board of PBTL.

1.3 Ownership Structure

5

CityCell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) is a privately owned company with majority foreign ownership equity. Following lists the current owners of CityCell (PBTL):

SingTel Asia Pacific Investments Pte Ltd - 45% Pacific Motors Limited - 31.43% Far East Telecom Limited - 23.57%

1.4 Vision

The Vision of the company is “To continue to be the leader in the Telecom industry in the region and provide a complete communication solution to our customers with a smile.” It may be noted that there is an emphasis on strong customer relations. This is important to CityCell especially as, until recently, they positioned their packages as high end packages. This means that they need to promote their packages especially to corporate and business users. Such customers will require strong support for brand loyalty to develop.

1.5 Mission

PBTL’s mission statement is “The most successful cellular, paging and other wireless service provider in Bangladesh by virtue of having greater operating expertise.” This mission statement puts into perspective about a few points about CityCell Digital. Their inherent emphasis is on quality, not cheapness of service. The first priority is to provide a high end service that can be used for both commercial and personal use.

1.6 Objectives

1.6.1 Qualitative Objectives:

Increasing service offerings.

Expanding the network.

Creating innovative, unique, and cost-effective various products to customers.

Increasing loyalty by focused customer retention program.

Develop operational procedure for the fast deployment of service.

1.6.2 Quantifiable objectives:

Increase subscriber base over 20 lacks on the network by Dec 31, 2007.

99.5% overall network availability.

1.7 Strategies

1.7.1 Functional Level Strategy

PBTL’s focus is on efficiency, quality, innovation, and customer responsiveness.

1.7.2 Business Level Strategy

PBTL applies both the cost leadership and differentiation strategies as their business

level strategies.

6

Advisor

Technical offi cer

Executive

S r Executive

AVP

VP

G M

CTO

D irector Engg

Engineerin g

Executive

S r Executive

AVP

VP

S r VP

S ales &Marketing

O ffi cer

Executive

AVP(Finance)

Executive

AVP(Com m ercia l)

VP

Finance & Com mercial

Custom er S erviceO peration

B illing &I T

O ffi cer

Executive

S r Executive

AVP

VP

O ffi cer

Executive

O ffi cer

Executive(S tore)

S r Executive

AVP

VP

Accounts

O ffi cer

S r Offi cer

Executive

S r Executive

AVP

S r VP

Administrat ion

Managing Director

Chairm an

1.7.3 Corporate Level Strategy

PBTL follows related diversification as their corporate level strategies.

1.8 Organizational Structure

PBTL has total 500 employees:

Organogram of Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited

2. Departments Of PBTL

2.1 Sales & Marketing: As the name implies, this division’s job is to conduct marketing

promotion of CityCell. The job of its employees is to maintain relationship distribution

channel, media, and corporate clients. This division also deals with value added services,

brand and product design.

In the Sales Division there are Channel Sales, Corporate Sales and Direct Sales. In the

Marketing Division, there are Market Communications, Brand, VAS, Product Development

7

and FWT & Backbone Departments. Mr. Anand of SingTel is the Chief Marketing Officer of

this Sales & Marketing Division. Details about the departments have been discussed in the

following chapter.

2.2 Customer Service Operation, Billing and IT: This department deals with customer

after the sale occurs. Main activities of this department includes maintaining data base of

the customers, preparing, distributing, and collecting the bills, activating new connections,

deactivating connections, helpline service, interchanging of the CDMA sets, collecting the

faulty and repairable sets, returning repaired sets, changing CDMA sets and so on. This

department is divided into three divisions:

a) Billing and IT b) Service Delivery

Fig 3: Billing and IT

Fig 4: Service Delivery

2.3 Finance and Commercial: This department is divided into two divisions, a) LC

preparation and Purchase, and b) Fund Management. Here LC is opened for purchasing of

sets and equipment, and all the funds collected are used and controlled for the maximum

benefit of the company. This department is also responsible for the budgeting which takes

place once a year for the next three years.

8

Billing and IT

Risk Management Revenue Generation

Service Delivery

Front Office Account Verification Collections Workshop

Fig 5: Finance and Commercial

2.4 Engineering: This department is responsible for the setting up and maintenance of the

heavy equipment and the major telecom channels required for providing services to

customers. This department is divided into 7 divisions. They are Switch, Central Base

station, Microwave, Radio Frequency, Base Transceiver Station, Power, Planning and

development.

Fig 6: Engineering

2.5 Accounts: This department is responsible for collecting direct cash or check or charging

credit cards from the customers who are paying for the service and equipment. This

department is also responsible to maintain the balance of store where sets and equipments

are gathered for future purpose and present operation.

9

Finance and Commercial

Commercial LC & Purchasing

Fund Management

Engineering

Switch

Central Base Station Control

Base Transceiver Station

Planning & Development

Microwave

Radio Frequency

Power

Fig 7: Accounts

2.6 Administration and Human Resource: As the name implies, this department has

three major divisions. The Administration division is responsible for Contract, Legal and

Protocol & Government affairs. The Purchase & General Maintenances is responsible for

Purchase & Support and Estate & Properties, Maintenance & general security. The Human

Resource department is responsible for procuring future employees according. This

department is also responsible for maintaining the database of all employees, leaves,

attendance, health care and related fields of employees.

Fig 8: Administration and Human Resource

3. Functions of the Sales and Marketing Division

The major marketing goal of this division is to capture a significant market segment that will yield maximum revenue by means of passing on directly or indirectly high end cellular phone service. Many clients provide telecom services to their locality by Tellular or Fixed

10

Accounts

All type of payments collection Store (Sets and equipments)

Administration and Human Resource

Contract, Legal and Protocol

Procurement Purchase & General Admin

Wireless package (FWT). The rates of this package may be low but this is offset by the high frequency of usage and the strong support claimed to be provided by CityCell.

Fig 9: Sales & Marketing Division

3.1 CMO

The office of the Chief Marketing Officer of Sales and Marketing Division is responsible for

coordination of marketing activities across the company and to provide top level

management with an overall picture of the market situation.

3.2 GM

The General Manager of the division oversees the product and business development

scenario of the company. He is responsible to the CMO of the division.

3.3 Product Development

This department is responsible for find out the innovative features that can attract the

existing and potential customers. Product development is one of the key departments in the

company. While developing new packages and talk plans this department has to keep in

mind the profit and cost issue. Under all these constraints the department has been

producing exciting and new features which ultimately attract customers.

3.4 Value Added Service (VAS)

This is another department which also deals with product development but this department

is concerned only with the Value Added Services that the company offers. Value added

services are those other than basic voice calls. CityCell’s VAS department is one of leading

11

CMO

GM

ManagerProduct

Manager Brand

ManagerVAS

ManagerMar Com

ManagerChnl. Sales

ManagerCorp. Sales

Manager FWT

Senior Executive

Executive

VAS providers in the country in terms of the number of wide range services that it is

providing.

3.4.1 Short Messages Service (SMS)

3.4.2 Voice Mail Service

3.4.3 Call Conferencing

3.4.4 SMS Based Information Services

Fun (Jokes, quotations, etc.) Financial Services

Emergency Services

Sports

SMS Banking & others

3.5 Brand

The brand department of the company deals with image o the brand to the customers. It

basically helps the brand to portray its intentioned image to the potential target group. This

department along with the Marketing Communication department deals with the

promotional activities.

3.6 Corporate Sales

There is a separate office of Manager for corporate sales who is also responsible for

corporate customer relations. Corporate customers are given high priority in terms of sales

and also in terms of after sales service. Of course this is due to the high usage and need for

good long term goodwill with such corporate clients. This department however deals mainly

with sales to corporate customers and maintenance of relations with both current clients as

well as scouting out potential new corporate clients, whereas the after sales service and

other issues are dealt with by the customer services operations section of the company.

3.7 Channel Sales

The assistant vice president responsible for channel management has the very important job

of setting up marketing channels by which packages are distributed among clients and by

which feedback is obtained from customers. This department is responsible for the selection

of new dealers and motivating them and current dealers to promote CityCell packages to their

customers in their respective areas. This department is also responsible for seeing that there is an

excellent support network for each dealer and that they are satisfied with their monetary or otherwise

remuneration. This department is also responsible for checking that each dealer does not cut into the

sales of another dealer in a very proximal region.

3.8 Marketing Communications

12

The chief responsibility of this department is logically, promotion and communication of new products

and product ideas to customers both directly through selection of advertising media, then

dissemination of information by means of advertisements; and indirectly through dealers by providing

them with promotional material. This department is also responsible for public relations which do not

include corporate relations. This is handled, as we have seen, by other departments. The responsibility

of this department is immensely important especially in the introduction stage of a package for

customers. They also provide help for other departments such as the front office and services

marketing in order to promote CityCell packages to both current and new customers. This helps very

much in handling cases of dissatisfied customers and also in case of adjusting customers with old

packages who have to be convinced to upgrade their packages to the new ones on offer.

The company sub-contracts its promotional materials production to local companies. A regular number

of events are held to integrate promotional activities with public relation exercises to enhance the

image of CityCell and better promote the packages on offer.

3.9 Product (& Tariff design)

This sub-department is under the Product Development department and is responsible for the design

of packages and the fixing of tariff rates which are actually the rates of usage for each package. This

department is also responsible for the coordination of market research for the whole company. They

will integrate knowledge gleaned from extensive market research into the design of new packages that

fulfills the needs of customers. This is done very frequently as the needs of even the most stable of

customer segments change and the company has to change the tariff structure of its offered packages

accordingly.

3.10 FWT and Backbone

This particular department looks after the Fixed Wireless Terminal clients and the packages. FWT has

been one of the most profitable sectors for the company. As a result this department has a great

significance to the company. PBTL has undertaken a commercial program to expand its business

activities to selling back-bone for data transfer to corporate clients. This network stretches from

Chittagong to Sylhet through Dhaka. It has immense potential and may generate significant revenues

for the company.

The overall structure of the sales & marketing department and its sections of CityCell has both

advantages and disadvantages in terms of organizational structural and respective functionality.

4. Products and Service offered by PBTL

4.1 Fixed Phone Package

T&T Incoming and Outgoing with Mobile to Mobile:

Set Price with Connection:

HUAWEI ETS 1200 Fixed Wireless Terminal (CDMA2000 1 X)

13

4.2 Post Paid Packages

4.2.1 CityCell Corporate Premium Super Package: Commercial/ Business/ Personal use by high income consumers. This product can reach the Local T&T, NWD, IDD and all Mobile service operators across the country. It is one of the recent packages of CityCell . This package is being provided to many high income group consumers. Both small and large institutions and organizations subscribe the service as their needs.

4.2.2 CityCell Supreme Package: The new product is under development.

4.2.3 CityCell Zoom

4.3 Pre Paid Packages:

New generation subscribers are very much interested with this service. It is also helpful for limited income group of people. ‘Aalap’ pre-paid card is available everywhere and this service provides flat rate and nation wide roaming. A very significant edge that CityCell pre-paid packages have over other pre-paid packages from other companies is the package that features T & T incoming and outgoing. This feature has not been released by any other company along with pre-paid option.

Like many others if you are wondering whether prepaid is best for you, here are a few tips on what you can expect out of it:

You don’t have to pay monthly line rent. Don’t need to deposit money for any special service (e.g. NWD/ISD). Don’t have to wait in long queue to pay mobile bill.

What are the packages available in Prepaid?

Hello Tomake Aalap Classic CityCell Prepaid PCO CityCell Landcell

4.3.1 Hello Tomake: Enjoy! The lowest rate of 1.76/min to any number, any time Tk. 0.25/min to any CityCell number from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.

14

Tk. 0.25/min to any 1 preferred CityCell number 2 additional Friends & Family (FnF) numbers to any operator Tk. 1.00/SMS to any number 24 hour BTTB incoming free

4.3.2 Aalap Classic:

3 FNF numbers @ only Tk. 0.70/min 24 hours BTTB incoming-outgoing & ISD facility 24 hours BTTB incoming free Economy ISD call rates facility to 55 countries Tk 1.00/SMS to any mobile, Tk 2.00/SMS for Internatioanl SMS

4.3.3 CityCell Prepaid PCO

Tk. 1.45/min to all operators Bill payment as per usage only. No Line rent, no hassle of minimum monthly bill. Economy ISD call rates facility to 55 countries Auto SMS Update after every call 5% Bonus after 10 months of usage Incoming call facility, 17 paisa/incoming call (VAT applicable)

4.3.4 CityCell Landcell

Only for Chittagong City A unique package with full connectivity features Tk 0.30/min LandCell-to-LandCell (*5 min pulse, Tk. 1.50 per 5 mins) Tk 1/min LandCell-to-CityCell (1 min pulse) Tk 1.80/min LandCell-to-Any Other Operators (1 min pulse) (BTTB charges applicable

for only NWD and ISD calls) Economy ISD call rates facility to 55 countries Free incomings calls including BTTB

5. Technical Definition

5.1 CDMA Technology

CDMA stands for "Code Division Multiple Access" and is both the most interesting and the hardest to implement multiplexing method. CDMA has been likened to a party: When everyone talks at once, no one can be understood, however, if everyone speaks a different language, then they can be understood. CDMA systems have no channels, but instead encode each call as a coded sequence across the entire frequency spectrum. Each conversation is modulated, in the digital domain, with a unique code (called a pseudo-noise code) that makes it distinguishable from the other calls in the frequency spectrum. Using a

15

correlation calculation and the code the call was encoded with, the digital audio signal can be extracted from the other signals being broadcast by other phones on the network. From the perspective of one call, upon extracting the signal, everything else appears to be low-level noise. As long as there is sufficient separation between the codes (said to be mutually orthogonal), the noise level will be low enough to recover the digital signal. Each signal is not, in fact, spread across the whole spectrum (12.5 MHz for traditional cellular or 60 MHz in PCS cellular), but is spread across 1.25 MHz "pass-bands."

CDMA systems are the latest technology on the market and are already eclipsing TDMA in terms of cost and call quality. Since CDMA offers far greater capacity and variable data rates depending on the audio activity, many more users can be fit into a given frequency spectrum and higher audio quality can be provide. The current CDMA systems boast at least three times the capacity of TDMA and GSM systems. The fact that CDMA shares frequencies with neighboring cell towers allows for easier installation of extra capacity, since extra capacity can be achieved by simply adding extra cell sites and shrinking power levels of nearby sites. CDMA technology also allows lower cell phone power levels (200 miliwatts) since the modulation techniques expect to deal with noise and are well suited to weaker signals. The downside to CDMA is the complexity of deciphering and extracting the received signals, especially if there are multiple signal paths (reflections) between the phone and the cell tower (called multi path interference). As a result, CDMA phones are twice as expensive as TDMA phones and CDMA cell site equipment is 3-4 times the price of TDMA equivalents.

5.2 GSM Technology

GSM stands for "Global System for Mobile Communications." GSM is mostly a European system and is largely unused in the US. GSM is interesting in that it uses a modified and far more efficient version of TDMA. GSM keeps the idea of timeslots and frequency channels, but corrects several major shortcomings. Since the GSM timeslots are smaller than TDMA, they hold less data but allow for data rates starting at 300 bits per second. Thus, a call can use as many timeslots as necessary up to a limit of 13 kilobits per second. When a call is inactive (silence) or may be compressed more, fewer timeslots are used. To facilitate filling in gaps left by unused timeslots, calls do "frequency hopping" in GSM. This means that calls will jump between channels and timeslots to maximize the system’s usage. A control channel is used to communicate the frequency hopping and other information between the cell tower and the phone. To compare with the other systems, it should be noted that GSM requires 1 Watt of output power from the phone.

5.3 CDMA VS. GSM: A Technical Comparison

Advantages of CDMA include:

Increased cellular communications security.

Simultaneous conversations, less call drops, strong network.

Increased efficiency, meaning that the carrier can serve more subscribers.

Smaller phone sets.

Low power requirements and little cell-to-cell coordination needed by operators.

Extended reach - beneficial to rural users situated far from cells.

16

Disadvantages of CDMA include:

Due to its proprietary nature, all of CDMA's flaws are not known to the engineering

community for solving.

CDMA is relatively new, and the network is not as mature as GSM.

CDMA cannot offer international roaming, a large GSM advantage.

Advantages of GSM:

GSM is already used worldwide with over 450 million subscribers.

International roaming permits subscribers to use one phone throughout

Western Europe. CDMA will work in Asia, but not popular European destinations.

GSM is mature, having started in the mid-80s. This maturity means a more stable

network with robust features. CDMA is still building its network.

GSM's maturity means engineers cut their teeth on the technology, creating an

unconscious preference.

The availability of Subscriber Identity Modules, which are smart cards that provide

secure data encryption give GSM m-commerce advantages. 

Disadvantages of GSM:

Lack of access to burgeoning American market.

17

PROJECT PART

PART – 1

1.1 Origin of the report

This report is prepared for Prof. Mojib U. Ahmed, Director, MBA Department of BRAC University. It is a pilot-survey report prepared by Md. Noor –E– Alam, Executive, Corporate Sales. This is an intern report.

1.2 Purpose of the report

The respondents are the future decision makers, so this report will light on their need.

18

Negative word of mouth may cause loosing of existing customers. The survey on 14 corporate clients to fulfill this report will help CityCell to establish their concern for valued clients.

In such a volatile telecom market such type of pilot-survey based report can be helpful to depict the short time scenario.

1.3 Scope

Cellular post-paid subscribers of Dhaka city were included in the survey. Neither tellular nor pre- paid subscribers were included.

This report is prepared by not considering Tel-e-Talk & Warid Telecom.

1.4 Limitations

Decision makers of corporate purchase could not be included in the survey. Top management of the companies takes most of the purchase decisions. Their need analysis could be effective.

All figures are rounded up to nearest full numbers. No background study done.

1.5 SOURCE AND METHOD OF COLLECTING DATA

The survey was a group effort of the executives and internee of Corporate and Direct Sales Department of CityCell. A pilot survey was conducted. About 14 organizations were surveyed and 33 respondents were peaked randomly. A questionnaire, which includes both open and closed ended questions, was prepared to conduct the survey.

1.6 REPORT OVERVIEW

This project part is arranged in 4 parts starting with the origin of the report. The second part is departmental structure, job responsibilities & Findings. The third is a blend of analysis of the survey findings and experience of direct sales. The fourth part is appendix, which includes the questionnaire.

PART 2

DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATE SALES:

19

Structure of Corporate Sales Department

Key Responsibilities of Corporate Sales Department:

Develop strategy for new prospect/client hunt

Actively seek sales prospect and mature sales

Retain existing clients and develop relationship

Actively take part in the short term and regional business planning.

Develop and maintain necessary relations with internal product & VAS environments

Participant in relevant PBTL Campaign forums to ensure optimal implementation in PBTL

Centers.

Support & Coordinate all market material production & implementation with Trade

Marketing & Marketing.

Encourage individual competence development and raise team effectiveness for

achieving sales target.

Co-operate closely with regions in managing and developing SME sales activities

FINDINGS

2.1 CITYCELL NUMBER USED (IN OFFICE + HOUSEHOLD) PER RESPONDENT

The reasons of a corporate client using CityCell number can be of the following types-

20

Head of Corporate Sales

Deputy Manager

RelationshipManager

AccountManager

New Business Manager

Executive

a. Official : The incumbent’s office may oblige him/ her to use CityCell number. Even he/she can use CityCell to get corporate facilities like reduced tariff, reduced connection price.

b. Personal: He/ she may use CityCell for personal or other reasons. These purchase decisions are not biased by official obligations. It is assumed that these purchase decisions are mostly backed by his /her own choice. A good indication of such preference is the household/ personal use of CityCell number along with official use. If the incumbent also uses CityCell number in his/her household it indicates incumbent’s preference of CityCell.

The survey findings show that 46% of the corporate clients use at least 2 CityCell numbers. Total multiple users amount (46%+28%) 74%. This is may be due to the One2One facilities.

2.2. CONSIDERATION DURING PURCHASE OF CELLULAR CONNECTION

The respondents were provided with 7 factors regarding cellular connection purchase and were requested to rank them according to priority among all operators. The factors were-

21

1. Handset2. Tariff/ Call charge 3. Package/ Connection price4. Value Added Services (VAS)5. After sales service 6. Accessories availability7. Network coverage

Another row titled “others” was provided to facilitate the respondent to rank factor/s other than the provided seven. Only one respondent filled up the “others” row and the mentioned the factor as “Smooth Service”.

The survey findings regarding these factors are described in the following portion-

1. Tariff/ Call charge: 66% respondent considers tariff / Call charge first consideration during mobile connection purchase. 94% corporate client ranks tariff among top 3 factors.

2. Network coverage: Maximum 57% of the respondents rank network coverage as 2nd consideration.

3. Handset: Most of the respondent (33%) ranked handset as their third consideration regarding mobile connection purchase. 20% ranked it as fourth factor.

4. Package/ connection price: 33% and 30% of the corporate clients rank connection price as 3rd and 2nd factors respectively regarding mobile connection purchase. None ranked connection price among 5th – 7th factors.

5. Value Added Services: 77% of the corporate clients do not rank VAS among top 4 factors.

6. After sales service: Maximum 40% respondents ranked “after sales service” as fourth consideration regarding mobile purchase.

7. Accessories availability: Most of the clients (40%) rank accessories availability as their 6th consideration. This contradicts with the direct sales experience. Because lots of people come everyday for accessories like charger, battery complaining that these parts are not available in the market. Some times they are to dump sets due to unavailability of accessories.

2.3. REASONS OF USING CITYCELL CONNECTION

This question (no.4) was asked to reveal the features of CityCell’s corporate offerings that drive the corporate clients to be with (sustain) CityCell. This was an open-ended question. All the reasons were compiled together. They mentioned 8 reasons. The reasons and there respective percentile are-

1. Reduced tariff : 35% 2. Smooth T&T connectivity : 26%3. After sales service : 16% 4. Package price: 7%5. Brand Image : 6%6. Network (in urban area) : 4% 7. Official reason : 4%8. One2One facilities : 2%

22

It is noticeable that the VAS and accessories availability was not mentioned by any of the respondent.

2.4. CORPORATE CLIENTS’ PERCEPTION ABOUT FOUR OPERATORS

To know the corporate clients’ perception, they were requested to mention strengths and weakness of four mobile operators. It should be noticed that all the corporate clients are not well informed about each and every operators. For that reason TeleTalk (T&T mobile) was not included in the study. This question was formulated to figure out the perception of our valued corporate clients about the four operators. As it was an open-ended question and the each and every feature mentioned for Cityell not present in GP/ Aktel/ Banglalink.

2.4.1. Strength of four operators :

A. CityCell: The respondents mentioned 8 strengths of CityCell, The following table shows the percentile of respondent per feature.

For example, most (34%) of the respondents perceive Call charge/ Tariff as CityCell’s strength. Again only 2% thinks CityCell has a strong brand image. Though most of the corporate clients do not use cash card for bill payment, 8% think ‘cash card’ as CityCell’s strength.

Table 1: Client’s perceived strength of CityCell

Sl.No. Aspect Percentile1 Call charge/ Tariff 34%2 After sales service 25%3 Smooth T&T Connectivity 19%4 Cash card 8%5 Network quality (coverage + Call drop) 6%6 Package price 4%7 Brand Image 2%8 VAS 2%

23

100%

It is noticeable that even with the RUIM based sets are introduced, the corporate clients of CityCell did not mention hand set flexibility as strength as they did in case of other operators. They did not even mentioned CDMA technology as strength of CityCell.

B. Grameen Phone: The corporate clients of CityCell are mostly concerned about Grameen phone among other 3 operators. They judged Grameen phone not only in respect of network coverage but also of call droppings.

For example, most (67%) of the corporate clients of CityCell mentioned network coverage as strength of Grameen phone whereas only 6% of them perceive it as CityCell’s strength. 10% of them mentioned “Less call drop” as GP’s strength. The strengths of GP are as follows-

Table2: Client’s perceived strength of Grameen Phone

Sl.No. Aspect Percentile1 Network coverage 67.5%2 Less call drop 10%3 Customer care 7.5%4 GSM technology 5%5 VAS 5%6 Brand Image 2.5%7 Hand set flexibility 2.5%

100%

C. Aktel: The followings are the strengths of Aktel perceived by the respondents. It should be mentioned that only 20% of the respondents respond this question. It is may be due to their lack of concern about Aktel or time constraint.

I. Good localized network.II. Tariff III. Hand set flexibilityIV. Customer Care

D. Bangalink: The most noticeable part of the respondents is that they are enough concerned about the inception and offerings Banglalink. About 60% of the respondents replied this section of the questionnaire. That means the communication of Banhlalink is stronger than Aktel to be able to attract the corporate clients of CityCell.

I. 60% of them recognized package price as strength of Banglalink. II. 15% thinks call charge as Banglalink’s strength.III. At least 10% of the respondent recognized Orascom’s brand image as Banglalink’s

strength. Other strengths mentioned are hand set flexibility, network of Banglalink.

2.4.2 Weakness of four operators:

A. CityCell: The weakest part of CityCell’s service is network as mentioned by the most (52%) of the corporate clients. The respondents complained 3 types of network problem, which are in combination named as network quality. These problems vary organization to organization. These are-

24

Poor signal in different portion of office (example, SQUARE suffers from poor signaling in office space) .

Access problem to other operators, specially in GP. If gets access, frequently call drops.

Sl.No.

Aspect Percentile

1 Network quality (Coverage+ Call drop) 52%2 Handset flexibility 13%3 Tariff/ Call Charge 7%4 Customer service 7%5 Time counting method 6%6 Pulse 6%7 Line rent 6%8 Roaming charge 3%

100%

Table 3: Weakness of CityCell

B. Grameen Phone: Call charge: The weakness of GP is termed as its tariff /call charge from

respondent’s viewpoint. Most (86%) of them mentioned that. Access from other operators : 10% mentioned about the difficulties of access from

other operator in GP. Package price: Rest of the respondents (4%) mentioned the higher package price.

C. Aktel: The response regarding Aktel is less as told before. The weakness of Aktel mentioned by the respondents’ are-

Network quality Call charge Roaming Charge Package price

D. Banglalink: Few respondents respond about the weakness of Banglalink. The weakness they mentioned-

Network coverage Previous image of Sheba telecom VAS.

2.5. SATISFACTION LEVEL OF CORPORATE CLIENTS

Respondents were provided with various aspects (Handset, Network quality, One stop service, Call charge, VAS, Accessories availability, Package price) to mention their satisfaction level. They were provided with 5-point scale starting from very satisfied to very dissatisfied. Then they were requested to mention their overall satisfaction level through the same scale. The following portion will discuss about their satisfaction level on various aspects- 2.5.1. Handset: Major portion of the corporate clients (44%) are satisfied with their

handset.

25

Satisfaction level Percentage

Very satisfied 7.5%

Satisfied 44%

Indifferent 19%

Dissatisfied 22%

Very Dissatisfied 7.5%

Table 4: Satisfaction about handsets

2.5.2 Network quality: The sum of dissatisfied and very dissatisfied clients amounts to 53.5%, which is the highest.

Table 5: Satisfaction about network quality.

2.5.3 One strop service: Most of the respondents (63%) are at least satisfied with the one stop service of Corporate Sales.

Satisfaction level Percentage

Very satisfied 37%Satisfied 26%Indifferent 22%Dissatisfied 11%Very Dissatisfied 4%

Table 6: Satisfaction about one stop service.

2.5.4 Call charge: Call charge of tariff is responsive to the competitors offer. During this report preparation most (48%) of the corporate clients were satisfied with the existing call charge. The sum of very satisfied and satisfied customers is 59%.

Satisfaction level Percentage

Very satisfied 11% 59%Satisfied 48%Indifferent 18.5%Dissatisfied 18.5%Very Dissatisfied 4%

Table 7: Satisfaction about Call charge.

2.5.5. Value added service (VAS): 66% of the respondents are indifferent about the value added services of CityCell.

Satisfaction level Percentage

Very satisfied 0%

Satisfied 21.5%

Indifferent 25%

Dissatisfied 32% 53.5%

Very Dissatisfied 21.5%

26

Satisfaction level Percentage

Very satisfied 7%Satisfied 22%Indifferent 66%Dissatisfied NilVery Dissatisfied 4%

Table 8: Satisfaction about VAS.

2.5.6. Accessories availability: Most of the respondents are indifferent about the accessories availability of CityCell handset. This figure contradicts with the direct sales experience. Many subscribers come to purchase accessories like battery, charger, antenna etc., every day to the CityCell’s direct sales office. This may be due to the Temporary replacement (TR) facility of CityCell.

Satisfaction level Percentage

Very satisfied 3%Satisfied 27%Indifferent 45%Dissatisfied 21%Very Dissatisfied 4%

Table 9: Satisfaction about accessories availability.

2.5.7. Package price / Connection price: 62% (Very satisfied +satisfied) of the corporate clients are at least satisfied with the existing package price.

Satisfaction level Percentage

Very satisfied 10% 62%Satisfied 52%Indifferent 17%Dissatisfied 11%Very Dissatisfied 10%

Table 10: Satisfaction about package price.

2.5.8. Overall satisfaction: The percentages of at least satisfied (satisfied+ Very satisfied) and dissatisfied are 39% and 36% respectively. None is very dissatisfied.

Satisfaction level Percentage

Very satisfied 7% 39%Satisfied 32%Indifferent 25%Dissatisfied 36%Very Dissatisfied Nil

Table 11: Over all satisfaction level of corporate clients.

2.6. CONSUMERS CHOICE OTHER THAN CITYCELL

Not all the customers are satisfied with the current service of CityCell. They may think to switch to other operator. Though most of the respondents are not the decision makers but they may be potential influencers. So, it is important to know their alternative consideration (GP/Aktel/ Banglalink) and the reasons due to which corporate clients want to switch. As the

27

respondents are the existing corporate clients of CityCell, most of them judged other operators in relation to the weakness of CityCell.

Percentage Preference 78% Grameen phone19% Aktel2% BanglaLink

Table 12: Alternative of CityCell

Reasons to prefer GP:

Network quality Waved line rent Less call drop Call time counting procedure As GP has maximum subscribers, it is felt by some respondents that

they can get easy access to most mobiles by which are GP. International roaming VAS

Reasons to prefer Aktel:

Value added service. Network. Call rate.

Reasons to prefer Banglalink:

Call charge.

2.7. CUSTOMERS’ SUGGESTIONS

Lastly respondents were asked to give their valuable suggestions regarding various aspects. The outcomes are described below.

1. Network: Some clients suggest not only to increase coverage but also to improve connectivity (less call drop).

2. Handset: Most of them suggested to be more flexible about handsets. Some clients suggested introducing various brands of SAMSUNG and NOKIA.

3. T&T incoming bill: Some of them suggested to reduced T&T incoming bill.

4. Roaming Charge: Some clients requested to wave roaming charge.

5. Pulse: Some clients suggested pulse in the first minute for corporate clients.

6. CDMA technology: There is considerable negative attitude toward CDMA technology, especially on it’s ‘Time Counting Feature’.

28

7. Customer service: Some corporate clients suggested to set up 2/3 customer service centers in every division of Bangladesh.

8. Billing Information: Some clients complained that bill information from *121 differs from the information provided by 011 121 121.

9. VAS: Some thinks VAS’s need more advertisement.

PART 3Analysis and Observations

This analysis is for the time being and depends only on the response of the existing corporate clients. This portion is a blend of survey and direct sales experience.

3.1. Price leadership: CityCell seems to be the price leader as most of the clients (35%) places tariff as the prime reason to be with CityCell.

3.2. Strength of CityCell: Tariff is the main strength of CityCell as 34%(maximum) of the respondent feels so. 59% of them are satisfied with he recent call charge. Smooth T&T connectivity is another strength of CityCell.

3.3. Weakness of CityCell: Network is the main weakness of CityCell. The recent network problem including call drop makes most (53%) the corporate clients response fiercely.

3.4. Handset and accessories availability: Though respondents mentioned handset inflexibility (not easy to change) as weakness of CityCell but most (44%) of them are satisfied with the recent handsets they use. This is contradictory with direct sales experience.

3.5 Value Added Service: The respondents (66%) are surprisingly indifferent about the VAS of CityCell. Industry based customized VAS can be helpful for existing client retention and creating new customers. Similarly promotion of existing and customized VAS among corporate clients may be helpful to generate revenue.

29

3.6. One stop service: The Corporate clients, in spite of recent network disruption, are satisfied (37%) with the one stop service of Corporate Sales team. This team is not only absorbing the heat but also helping retention through relationship building. Probably the TR policy makes most of the corporate clients satisfied about their handset. It will be helpful if it can be ensured that most of the clients know the name and contact number of their respective Relationship Manager (RM).

3.7. Alternatives of CityCell; The respondents consider GP and Aktel as 1st and 2nd

alternatives respectively of CityCell. Though they are conscious about the offerings of Banglalink but they are not still considering them as corporate alternative.

3.8. Some observations for management consideration

III.8.1 Family package for the existing clients: Most (46%) of the corporate clients use at least 2 CityCell numbers. It implies that promotion of facilities like “Reduced connection price for existing corporate client’s friends & family ” may convert the single-user to multiple-user. It will increase inter CityCell communication and will result in higher revenue realization.

3.8.2. Research on industry based customized VAS: Every industry might have their unique VAS needs. A study on such VAS can be conducted for future need. This endeavor may also be helpful to prepare the corporate market for after price-war period.

3.8.3 Working-Class-specific package: One corporate client suggested to introduce lower priced package for his driver. This can be extended to “Working Class specific package” like for the Garment workers.

3.8.4 Parts package: Lots of customers are coming to direct sales to purchase accessories like battery, charger, and antenna. A ‘Parts Package’ may be effective. It may be extended to complete “Exchange offer” as SIEMENS did in the recent past.

Conclusion

The company appears to be moving towards a more customer oriented approach to its overall customer policy. Gone are the days when PBTL could dictate terms to its clients. These days PBTL has to spend an increasing amount of time covering its shortfalls and persuading customers to stay with them. This is especially worrying after what is perceived to be by many industry insiders a concerted effort by Grameen to make headway into the corporate market – a domain that was once almost exclusively under PBTL. What PBTL is really looking for is a way by which it can seriously bounce back into dominant position. The primary reason for choosing CDMA is that they hope to be able to introduce next generation (3G) mobile phone features such as voice conferencing, Internet, sending visual data, etc into their services. It remains to be seen how successful they are in harnessing the full power of CDMA technology.

There is also a proposal to decentralize their organization in order to be able to better serve their customers in the far-reaching regions of the country. This means that many major functions will be spread out throughout the country divided according to customer regions. It is yet to be seen how much decentralization may occur, but it is a major issue under consideration. Now the network has been expanded From North Bengal to South Bengal. There is a real potential, by virtue of superior technology, to gain a significant competitive edge over GSM rivals. Then there is the sale of data link to corporate clients. This will gather significant revenue for the company as well as solidify its position with its corporate clients as their primary information transfer and telecom provider. There are no mergers or acquisitions in the future, but it is believed that SINGTEL may increase its holdings in PBTL

30

and gain greater management control. If this happens, then the entire picture may change. This is especially important if we consider the fact that slowly boundaries are opening and technologies are improving. GSM will give way to more advanced technologies like CDMA and there will soon be no national boundaries as defined in the telecom industry. If that happens and the telecom sector is further liberalized, then PBTL can look forward to increased growth and revenue.

In all, PBTL is a company with immense potential, but it remains to be seen whether management can fully harness this potential. The potential is present in all the factors of operations:

1) The technology is very advanced and has immense potential2) The labor factor is strong with some very capable staff3) PBTL has sufficient capital to undertake infrastructure investments4) There is still a significant portion of goodwill towards the company from its

stakeholders

What PBTL needs to do now is to harness all these positive factors, negate the detrimental ones and move forward.

Works Cited

BRAC University, MBA Program Internship Guidelines. Fall - 2007.

Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited, Sales & Marketing Division, Mohakhali, Dhaka–1212

Kotler, Armstrong, Gray. Principle of Marketing. Eight edition. Prentice-Hall, India; 1999

Zeithaml, Valarie. Bitner, Mary. Service Marketing. Macraw-Hill; 1996

//http:www.citycell.com

31

APPENDIX

S AMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Sir / Madam:

Corporate Sales Department of CityCell in continuation of its untiring effort towards higher customer satisfaction is conducting a project titled “Feedback of Corporate Clients: Report on September 2007”. In this regard on behalf of the corporate team we are conducting a survey on our valued corporate clients and request your kind participation. We will highly appreciate your participation and will acknowledge properly.

Thank you.

1. How many mobile phones are used in your house and office?

2. How many of them are CityCell?

3. Please rank among the following factors in regards to mobile phone purchase. You can mention other factor/s in “others” title and rank accordingly (1-8).

a. Handset………………………………….

b. Package price………………………….

c. Network quality………………………

d. Tariff/ Call charge…………………...

e. Value added services……………….

f. After sales service………………..….

g. Accessories availability…………..…

32

h. Others_____________……………..

4. If you are a CityCell user please mention the main reasons of using CityCell?a. ………………………………..

b. ………………………………..

c. ………………………………..

d. ……………………………….

e. ………………………………..

5. Please mention the strengths of four operators as far as you are concerned.

CityCell GP AKTEL Banglalink

6. Please mention the weaknesses of four operators as far as you are concerned

CityCell GP AKTEL Banglalink

7. Please tick your satisfaction level regarding the following product and services of CityCell.

Handset NetworkCoverage

One stop service

Call Charge

Value Added

Services

AccessoriesAvailability

Connection

PriceVery

satisfiedVery

satisfiedVery

satisfiedVery

satisfiedVery

satisfiedVery

SatisfiedVery

satisfiedSatisfied Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied

Indifferent Indifferent Indifferent Indifferent Indifferent Indifferent Indifferent

Dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Dissatisfied Dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

8. What is your over all satisfaction level regarding the service of CityCell.

9. If you are to take any corporate package other than CityCell which operator will you choose and why?

10. Being a responsible corporate professional, please suggest steps that CityCell should take to remain competitive in regards of the following aspects. We will appreciate your suggestions on any other aspect/s other than the stated ones.

a. Handset……………………………………………………………..…...

b. Network Coverage………………………………………………….…...

33

Very Satisfied Satisfied Indifferent Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied

c. Tariff/ Call charge………………………………………………….…...

d. Value added services………………………………………………….....

e. After sales service……………………………………………………….

f. Accessories availability………………………………………………….

g. Others

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________

Name of the respondent:

Designation & organization:

Contact number: Survey conducted by:

34