idea cell symbi project

8/4/2019 Idea Cell Symbi Project

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Pre-Paid

Churn Analysis of

Maharashtra & Goa

Telecom Circle

Wg Cdr Indranil Maitra

Sem III / Roll No. [email protected] Marketing-Finance


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Pre-Paid Churn Analysis of Maharashtra & Goa Telecom Circle

Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project titled

Pre-Paid

Churn Analysis of Maharashtra & Goa

Telecom Circle

is a bonafide work carried out by

Wg Cdr Indranil Maitra

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of

M.B.A. Marketing & Finance under the guidance of

MR. ANAND AGRAWAL MR. MANISH KUMAR

SR. MANAGER MARKETING HEAD MARKETINGMAHARASHTRA & GOA CIRCLE MAHARASHTRA & GOA CIRCLEIDEA CELLULAR LTD. IDEA CELLULAR LTD.


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Acknowledgements

I express my sincere thanks to Brig. H Chakerbuti (Retd.), Director SIMS, Deputy DirectorProf. B.S. Kadam & the management of my college for giving me this opportunity to avail a

Corporate experience with one of the countrys most professional companies as a part of mytraining program.

I am extremely thankful to Mr. Manish Kumar, Head Marketing, Maharashtra & Goa Circle forentrusting me with a project of such enriching experience. I credit the completion of this project tomy mentor Mr. Anand Agrawal, Sr. Manager Marketing, Maharashtra & Goa Circle. His guidance& professionalism were vital during each stage of the project.

I also take this opportunity to thank Mr. Lakshminarayana, COO, Maharashtra & Goa Circle & hisentire team of IDEA Cellular Ltd. for the excellent work environment made available, which was avery big motivating factor.

I would also like to thank Mr. Sambaran Dutta & Miss Tulsi Daultani, Assistant Managers, HR,Mr. Ashwin Kashyap, Manager Marketing & Mr. Dhanuk Kohli, Assistant Manager, Marketing, &the entire team of Marketing & Sales Dept. of IDEA Cellular Ltd. for extending their co-operationat all times.


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction. India has gone wireless. Telecommunications in India has experienced

unprecedented growth since the introduction of new players in 1995. The annual growth of last yearoutpaced the total combined growth from the beginning of telephony in India through to March 2004.As India's fifth largest Mobile Services operator, Idea Cellular Ltd. has licenses to operate in 11 circles.With a customer base of over 17 million, Idea Cellular Ltd. has operations in Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa,Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West, HimachalPradesh and Kerala.

Project background. There are 6 Wireless operators in Maharashtra & Goa circle, viz. Idea,Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, Reliance & the Tata-Virgin combine. These operators sell a total ofapproximately 12 lakh new pre-paid connections every month. But at the same time, approximately 3.5lakh customers get churned (i.e. leave one network to join another). The project was a market research

to carry out a quantitative & qualitative analysis of the churn that takes place in the pre-paid customerbase of each GSM operator in Maharashtra & Goa circle. A total of 1206 samples to responses to aquestionnaire were collected across various zones of Maharashtra & Goa circle covering the followinglocations: Pune, Lonavla, Baramati, Daund, Sinnar, Sangamner, Nasik, Satara, Karad, Chandrapur,Shegaon & Buldana. This data was collated & analysed; also taken into account were the various inputsreceived from the respondents based on their experiences. This analysis & inputs have been included inthe findings, & action areas have been recommended.

Top-line findings. Following are the circle-level findings of the Market research.

1. The survey brought out the following Market shares of the 4 GSM operators in Maharashtra & Goa

circle.

Operator Samples % Market share

Airtel 301 25

BSNL 247 20

Idea 499 42

Vodafone 159 13

Grand Total 1206 100

Idea thus has an undisputable leadership in Market Share, leading the No.2 brand by 17%.

2. The circle-wise breakdown of Competition & Rotational churn, Additional connections & Categorynew entrants is given below.

Operator Competitions churn Rotational churn Additional Connection New Entrants Total Samples

Airtel 36 6 14 245 301

BSNL 38 7 10 192 247

Idea 71 9 21 398 499

Vodafone 22 3 7 127 159

All 167 25 52 962 1206


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OperatorCompetitionschurn % Rotational churn %

AdditionalConnection % New Entrants % Total samples

Airtel 11.96% 1.99% 4.65% 81.40% 301

BSNL 15.38% 2.83% 4.05% 77.73% 247

Idea 14.23% 1.80% 4.21% 79.76% 499

Vodafone 13.84% 1.89% 4.40% 79.87% 159

All 13.85% 2.07% 4.31% 79.77% 1206

The share of each operator in the above customer Mix is as follows.

Operator Competitions churn % Rotational churn % Additional Connection % New Entrants %

Airtel 21.56% 24.00% 26.92% 25.47%

BSNL 22.75% 28.00% 19.23% 19.96%

Idea 42.51% 36.00% 40.38% 41.37%

Vodafone 13.17% 12.00% 13.46% 13.20%

3. The Competition churn of each operator is as follows.

Previous operator Count of Competition churn % of Competition churnA 32 19.16%

B 46 27.54%

I 34 20.36%

V 18 10.78%

R 21 12.57%

T 16 9.58%

Total 167

Ideas Competition churn % in the circle is 2nd highest among all operators & a little above Industrynorms.

Rotational churn of all the operators is negligible.

Maharashtra & Goa circle is not a saturated telecom market & Idea has a very high acquisition % ofCategory new entrants.

Action areas. The following recommendations are made.

1. Idea has an undisputable leadership in Market Share, leading the No.2 brand by 17%. Thisleadership must be maintained by improving the acquisition rate from other operators, keeping theCompetition churn to the minimum, & ever improving its share of category entrants.

2. Ideas churn has primarily been due to Better offer from competitors, viz. cheaper calling rates,like BSNLs 10 paise calling schemes, Airtels popular product Friends, perception of BSNL &Vodafone connections being cheaper than Ideas etc. Therefore Ideas My Gang product may bepopularized to effectively compete with Airtels Friends. The students & trader community maybespecifically targeted like the way Reliance covers the travel agencies. Non-local students of all townsmaybe targeted since they ought to find the new STD rates attractive. Idea STD rates & generally theircalling rates are perceived costlier than those of other operators. This perception, especially regardingthe STD rates, has improved since the introduction of the new flat STD rates. But the message needs toreach all.


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3. Locations/Pockets where competitors do not have a strong network coverage vis--vis Ideas maybespecifically targeted to drive home the difference in quality of coverage in the minds of the consumer.Network coverage maybe improved in villages & urban pockets where Idea does not have a satisfactorycoverage.

4. The Zabardast network is a reality & the message maybe driven home using TV advertisement.

5. There are a significant number of loyal Idea customers in the Circle with greater than 5 years ofassociation, & lot many with 10 years of association. This loyal customer base was found to be muchgreater than those of other operators. Customer loyalty maybe rewarded & promoted.

6. Subject to policy regulations, users beyond a certain age in the circle (say 1 year) & needing tomove out of the circle permanently maybe offered a new Idea connection/ the same number in the newcircle immediately upon crossing over. Customer churn is therefore expected to reduce significantly byproviding this service.

7. Idea may choose to tie-up with Corporates to offer Idea Pre-paid Top-up cards to corporateemployees on the lines of Sodexho Meal passes.


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Table of Contents

Page

1. The Indian Telecom Industry 81.1 Introduction 8

1.2 State of the Telecom Industry 81.3 Lessons from Success in Mobile Telephony 81.4 Fostering Future Growth 91.5 Cellular Mobile 10

2. Idea Cellular Ltd.: Company Profile 11

3. Research Design 13

3.1 Research problem formulation 13

3.2 Project objective 143.3 Sampling technique 14

3.4 Data collection 14

3.5 Data analysis, findings & recommendations 14

4. Findings 154.1 Findings Pune 16

4.2 Findings Nasik 234.3 Findings Ahmednagar 304.4 Findings Chandrapur 354.5 Findings Buldana 424.6 Findings Satara 50

4. Recommendations 55

5. Questionnaire 56

10. References 58

11. Glossary 59


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1. THE INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY

1.1 Introduction.

India has gone wireless. Whether it is the headlines of newspapers screaming about India racingahead on the worlds telecom stage, growing faster than every other country, defining how businessis going to be done in a world where emerging economies dictate their own terms rather than followthose of the developed ones or its the sight of new cellular towers being built everyday to serveeveryone from roadside vendors to corporate head honchos Looking around, we can clearly seethat what was unimaginable a decade ago has indeed happened.Progress has been remarkable, but past success and astronomical growth figures should not lead tocomplacency, and the loss of what has brought us here in the first place the urgency to ensure agrowth environment continues with a clear path ahead.

1.2 State of the Telecom Industry

Telecommunications in India has experienced unprecedented growth since the introduction of newplayers in 1995. Annual growth in the past fiscal year outpaced total combined growth from thebeginning of telephony in India through to March 2004. Mobile subscriber growth has been themain factor behind the remarkable increase in telephone subscribers, having witnessed unparallelgrowth in the world and surpassing all expectations.The same cannot be said for Internet and broadband growth. The current situation is well short ofthe targets set by the DOT, and recent patterns do not seem to be yielding any significantacceleration. Furthermore, achieving the targets will be a daunting task given that the country hasalready missed the targets for broadband subscriber set for 2007.

1.3 Lessons from Success in Mobile Telephony

Explosive growth in voice service in India has shown us that the demographics and economiccharacteristics of the country are ideal to fuel the current hockey stick growth. Three main areasthat have contributed to widespread mobile adoption are falling tariffs, lifestyle marketing to allconsumer segments, and low perceived entry cost.

1.3.1 Competition is the Key

The competition amongst 4, 5, 6 and at times 7 operators per region resulted in prices reaching thelowest per minute tariffs worldwide. This has led to an innovative customer orientation-encouraging

introduction of new services, subscription schemes and in some cases advanced technologies andusage capabilities. The competition has also driven general knowledge and awareness of featuresand benefits, which has further helped adoption.


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1.3.2 Utility Derived from End Services

The next focus area was the positioning of mobile services across all segments of customers.Initially, the emphasis was on driving customer adoption from those who could afford tariffs of INR16 (USD 0.35) per minute for both outgoing and incoming calls. Over time, new messages tailoredto the masses accompanied the increasing affordability of the services. Telecom operators

successfully positioned the mobile phone as a necessity, which improved quality of life andincreased the earning capability of even laborers.

1.3.3 Affordability and Access for All

The last piece of the puzzle was to ignite growth by dramatically lowering entry costs byintroducing phones in the sub-USD 50 segment. These ultra low cost handsets (ULCH) accountedfor 50% of all handset shipments nationwide last year. This allowed a sophisticated customersegmentation to occur, catering to high end users, aspirational consumers, mass market as well asthe low end. A mature second-hand market for refurbished handsets also helped further decreaseentry costs.

Added to this increased affordability is further expansion of network coverage across category Band C Circles, which are growing at rates much higher than Metros and category A Circles, albeitfrom a lower base. DOT target is for 500 million subscribers by the end of 2010, and if the currentpattern continues, BDA believes that this is achievable.Therefore, when thinking about how to move forward and promote growth in Indias telecomlandscape, these lessons must be closely followed. Any new service will only be successful when: Robust competition is promoted to induce innovation and tariff rationalization.

New services can deliver social and economic values to the users.

Services are structured in such a fashion that they are affordable and accessible for all segments.

1.4 Fostering Future Growth

Before one becomes complacent about growth in the Indian telecom sector with the assumption thatall is well, some major hurdles stand in the way of achieving widespread high speed voice and dataconnectivity. Today, quality of service (QoS) in existing cellular networks is deteriorating in anumber of areas due to a dire lack of spectrum, while voice average revenue per user (ARPU)continues to fall at a rapid pace and challenge operator margins. Additionally, an environment tofoster value-added services has not been promoted, and thus content and applications for mobile andInternet are still relatively in their infancy. Observing the current state of broadband, majorinitiatives need to be taken to boost growth. These steps need to be across a variety of areas, frominfrastructure, through to access devices, and including content, to promote adoption. Finally, whilethe industry must consider how to accelerate broadband penetration, it must also ensure that this is

not at the cost of continued growth in existing platforms.


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1.5 Cellular Mobile

A lack of spectrum capacity and related deteriorating QoS are straining the cellular telephonemarket and putting the entire industry at risk of stalling. These are the biggest factors impacting theconsumer experience of not only cellular telephony, but also of those using the internet for the first

time via mobile handsets, and of others attempting to experience more advanced mobile datasolutions. Operators nationwide have crossed the benchmarks established by the DOT for thenumber of subscribers and correlated spectrum quantity. GSM operators have surpassed thebenchmark in each of the twelve circles from varying categories. CDMA operators are also in acritical situation in some circles. While it is true that spectrum shortage is primarily being felt incities where there is a proportionately higher density of users, the regions feeling these problemswill continue to increase as subscriber base grows and spectrum remains unavailable. TRAI hasdescribed the problems faced by the industry in QOS as a crisis. The anomaly of the situation isthat while the technical data submitted by operators demonstrates fairly high levels of compliance,the consumer survey data shows that in the most recent survey only one operator nation-widepassed the required benchmarks. The historical subscriber-based criteria for spectrum allocation

has also lead to a situation which favors subscriber base inflation, and thus reduces the priority ofdata based and value added services.Another major challenge that India faces is the situation of low ARPU in mobile services, which isamongst the lowest globally due to the worlds lowest per minute tariffs. Though operators are ingeneral, financially healthy due to high volumes and cost efficiencies, investments in expensiveassets remain a challenge due to long ROI cycles. Delivery platforms have to be optimized to allowcustomers to cost effectively access a variety of services and applications over the same network.The industry has reached a critical point. Further mobile growth will depend on whether operatorshave access to an enabling environment to deploy the technologies and services of their choice.Most important in this equation is appropriate spectrum management, which will have a directbearing on how far the operators can expand existing 2G services and deploy more powerful data

applications. Additionally, appropriate promotion of rural coverage will also help in widening reachSource: TRAI April 2007, BDA Report June 2007


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2 IDEA Cellular Limited: Company Profile

IDEA Cellular is a publicly listed company, having listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in March 2007.

As Indias leading GSM Mobile Services operator, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in all 22Service Areas. Presently, operations exist in 11 Service Areas covering Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa,Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West, HimachalPradesh, UP-East, Rajasthan and Kerala. With a customer base of over 26 million, IDEA Cellularsfootprint currently covers approximately 60% of Indias telecom population.

A frontrunner in introducing revolutionary tariff plans, IDEA Cellular has the distinction of offeringthe most customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid offerings, for the first time in India in anincreasingly segmented market.

Customer Service and Innovation are the drivers of this Cellular Brand. A brand known for theirmany firsts, Idea is only operator to launch GPRS and EDGE in the country. Idea has receivedinternational recognition for its path-breaking innovations when it won the GSM AssociationAward for Best Billing and Customer Care Solution for 2 consecutive years.

IDEA Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US$ 24 billion corporation with a market cap ofUS$ 31.5 billion and in the league of Fortune 500. Anchored by an extraordinary force of over100,000 employees belonging to 25 different nationalities, over 50% of its revenues flow from itsoverseas operations. The Group has been adjudged The Best Employer in India and among the Top20 in Asia by the Hewitt-Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.

The combined holding of the Aditya Birla Group companies in IDEA stands at around 57 per cent.With ambitious future plans, the company is poised for rapid growth across the whole country.The Indian telecommunications market for mobile services is divided into 22 Service Areasclassified into Metropolitan, Category A, Category B and Category C service areas by theGovernment of India. These classifications are based principally on a Service Areas revenuegenerating potential. Its operational 11 Service Areas are broken up into Established and NewService Areas.

The established service areas are Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, Haryana,Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (West). Licenses for the Maharashtra and GujaratService Areas were awarded in December 1995, with network rollout and commercial launchachieved in 1997. In January 2001 the mobile operations in Andhra Pradesh Service Area wereintegrated with IDEA through a merger with Tata Cellular Limited. In June 2001, the mobileoperations in Madhya Pradesh Service Area were fully integrated with IDEA through an acquisitionof RPG Cellcom Limited. In October 2001, the license for Delhi Service Area was acquired duringthe fourth mobile license auction, with network rollout and commercial launch in November 2002.In January 2004, Escotel Mobile Communications Private Limited (Escotel), was acquired withits original licenses in the Service Areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Kerala. All these


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Service Areas were re-branded and integrated with IDEA in June 2004. The company has recentlyacquired Spice Telecom on 26 Jun 2008 to enter the big league of Telecom players in India.

The New Service Areas are Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Licenses forthese New Service Areas were acquired through the acquisition of Escotel (EscortsTelecommunications Limited). Following significant investment in the roll-out of network in the

New Service Areas, amounting to approximately Rs. 4,678 million upto September 30, 2006, a fullcommercial launch of mobile services was achieved in the New Service Areas between Septemberand November 2006 in a manner which also met the network roll-out requirements of the licenses in2007.


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3 RESEARCH DESIGN: IDEA PRE-PAID SERVICE

There are 13 zones in Maharashtra & Goa telecom circle. A Primary research was carried out acrossvarious towns of the Circle, covering a large cross-section of Pre-paid customers of all the 4 GSMoperators. The research process was as follows.

3.1 Research problem formulation.

3.1.1 Background. There are 6 Wireless operators in Maharashtra & Goa circle, viz. Idea,Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, Reliance & the Tata-Virgin combine. These operators sell a total ofapproximately 12 lakh new pre-paid connections every month. But at the same time, approximately3.5 lakh customers get churned (i.e. leave one network to join another).

Thus,

(A) = Gross addition = 12 lakh/month(B) = Churn = 3.5 lakh/month(C) = (A) (B) = Net addition = 8.5 lakh/month ------- ( I )

Equation I amplifies the need to know the actual or real market size (i.e. monthly gross addition)& the Churn/month. Net addition I can be maximized by maximizing the gross addition (A), whilekeeping Churn (B) to the minimum. While every operator reports its Net addition / month, its Grossaddition/month & Churn/month are not reported.

In order to reduce to the Churn, it is necessary to identify the scenarios in which the Churn happens,& the factors that are responsible for the Churn.

3.1.2 Scenarios

S1: Customer moves to another operator. (Competition Churn).S2: Customer drops existing connection & buys another connection from the same operator.

(Rotational Churn).S3: Customer moves out of circle.S4: Customer ceases to be a mobile user.

3.1.3 Possible factors for Churn

R1: Better offer from competitor.R2: Dissatisfied with current operator.R3: Gets a new connection from his organization.R4: New offer from current operator not available to existing customers.R5: Retailer induced rotational churn to earn commission.R6: To avoid roaming charges.


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R7: Discontinues extra connection.R8: Opts for a fixed line / WLL /Broadband connection instead.R9: Is not able to afford usage.R10: Benefit : Price = Low.

The above scenarios & factors are more or less all encompassing, & get mapped as follows.

Sl. No. Scenarios Factors (&/or combination)

1 S1 R1, R2, R3

2 S2 R3, R4, R5

3 S3 R6

4 S4 R7, R8, R9, R10

3.2 Project objective

The following were the broad objectives of the project.

What are the stimuli (reasons) specific to each operator for the churn? What are the Competition & Rotational churn percentages for each operator?

What is the contribution of each factor to its Scenario? What is the percentage of category entrant users for each operator? What is the satisfaction rating of users for each operator?

What actions can be recommended to arrest the churn?

Compare these results for all the 4 GSM operators.

Since churn is not a reported entity, a primary research was required to be carried out across thevarious zones of Maharashtra & Goa circle. A questionnaire covering the above-defined objectiveswas prepared.

3.3 Sampling technique

Random area sampling was employed across the following locations of Maharashtra & Goa circle:Pune, Lonavla, Baramati, Daund, Sinnar, Sangamner, Nasik, Satara, Karad, Chandrapur, Shegaon &Buldana.

3.4 Data collection

A questionnaire was formulated based on the objectives defined above, & I involved myself withthe respondents to get their unbiased opinion. A total of 1206 samples across the above locations

were collected.

3.5 Data analysis, findings & recommendations

The data so collected was collated & analysed operator-wise. It enabled arrival at quantitative &qualitative findings; also taken into account were the various inputs received from the respondentsbased on their experiences. This analysis & inputs have been included in the findings, & actionareas have been recommended.


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4 FINDINGS

Primary research was carried out across the following locations of Maharashtra & Goa circle:

Pune ZonePuneLonavlaBaramatiDaund

Ahmednagar Zone

Sangamner

Nasik Zone

Nasik

Sinnar

Satara Zone

SataraKarad

Chandrapur Zone

Chandrapur

Buldana Zone

Buldana

Shegaon

The findings are brought out in the subsequent pages, zone-wise.


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4.1 FINDINGS: PUNE

A total of 590 respondents were interviewed across various areas in & around Pune & theirresponses to the Questionnaire taken. The following broad locations in Pune zone were surveyed.

Zone Place Total

Pune Baramati 62

Daund 56

Lonavla 50

Pune & neighbourhood 422

Pune Total 590

4.1.1 Operator Market Share

The survey brought out the following Market share of each operator in Pune zone.

Pune Airt el

29%

Pune BSNL

13%Pune Idea

40%

Pune Vodafone

18%

Pune Airt el

Pune BSNL

Pune Idea

Pune Vodafone

Thus Idea has the leadership in Market share in Pune zone, leading the second-placed operator by

11%.

4.1.2 Acquisition % from other operators in Pune zone

The survey brought out the following acquisition % by operators from other operators.

Zone Operator Count of users Count of Previous operator Acquisition %

Pune Idea 236 39 39*100/236=16.53%

Airtel 173 19 10.98%

BSNL 76 4 5.26%

Vodafone 105 11 10.47%

Zone Operator Total

Pune Airtel 173

BSNL 76

Idea 236

Vodafone 105

Pune Total 590

Grand Total 590

Zone Operator Previous operator Total

Pune Idea A 19

B 13

R 3

T 1

V 3

Idea Total 39

Pune Total 39


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IDEA'S ACQUISITION % IN PUNE ZONE

48%

33%

8%

3%

8%

Pune Idea A

Pune Idea B

Pune Idea R

Pune Idea T

Pune Idea V

Count of Previous operator

Zone

Operator

Previous operator

The survey brings out that there have been 16.53 % (=39*100/236) acquisitions in Pune zone byIdea from other operators out of the Gross additions of 590. This is the highest among all GSMoperators.

4.1.3 Breakdown of Competition & Rotational churn, Additional connections & Category

new entrants in Pune

The breakdown of Competition & Rotational churn, Additional connections & Category newentrants in Pune is given below.

OperatorCompetitions

churnRotational

churnAdditional

Connection New Entrants Total

Airtel 16 3 7 147 173

BSNL 2 2 3 69 76

Idea 31 2 12 191 236

Vodafone 9 1 3 92 105

All 58 8 25 499 590


churn %Rotationalchurn %

AdditionalConnection %

NewEntrants % Total

Airtel 9.25% =16*100/173 1.73% 4.05% 84.97% 173

BSNL 2.63% 2.63% 3.95% 90.79% 76

Idea 13.14% 0.85% 5.08% 80.93% 236

Vodafone 8.57% 0.95% 2.86% 87.62% 105

All 9.83% 1.36% 4.24% 84.58% 590


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4.1.4 Reasons for Competition churn of operators in Pune

REASONS FOR COMPETITION CHURN CODE

Better offer from existing operator A

Dissatisfied with previous operator B

Previous connection lapsed C

SIM lost/stolen/damaged D

Additional connection E

Others F

ZonePreviousoperator Reasons for competition churn Total

% of competitionchurn

Pune A A = Better offer from existing operator 4

B = Dissatisfied with previous operator 8

B+C 1

C = Previous connection lapsed 2

D = SIM lost/stolen/damaged 1

F = Others 2

A Count 1818*100/58 =

31.03%

B A 2

B 16 B Count 18 31.03%

V A 2

B 2

D 2

F 1

V Count 7 12.07%

I A 6

I Count 6 10.34%

R C 1

D 2

R Count 3 5.17%

T 6 10.43%PuneTotal 58

4.1.5 Rotational churn of operators in Pune

The number of samples of rotational churns is quite small, & the Rotational churn % of all operatorsis very small & hence not significant.


churn %Rotational

churn %Additional

Connection %New

Entrants %

Airtel 27.59%=16*100/58 37.50% 28.00% 29.46%

BSNL 3.45% 25.00% 12.00% 13.83%

Idea 53.45% 25.00% 48.00% 38.28%Vodafone 15.52% 12.50% 12.00% 18.44%


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4.1.6 Category entrant users in Pune

% OF CATEGORY ENTRANT USERS:OPERATOR-WISE

Pune Airtel (blank)

29%

Pune BSNL (blank)14%

Pune Idea (blank)

39%

Pune Vodafone (blank)

18%

Pune Airtel (blank)

Pune BSNL (blank)

Pune Idea (blank)

Pune Vodafone (blank)

The total churn in Pune is 58 out of the total universe of 590 samples. This equals a churn of9.83%, which is well within the industry norm.

Ideas Competition churn % in Pune is the lowest among GSM operators at 10.34%. It can focuson churning Airtel & BSNL users, as these operators have a high Competition churn of 31.03%.

The only reason for Ideas Competition churn is Better offer from existing operator,viz.cheaper calling rates, like BSNLs 10 paise calling schemes, Airtels popular product Friends,perception of BSNL & Vodafone connections being cheaper than Ideas etc. (that too a small

quantity of 4 out of 8). There has been no competition churn in Idea in Pune zone due toreasons attributable to dissatisfactory service.

Rotational churn of all the operators is negligible.

Pune is not a saturated telecom market & Idea has an 80.93% acquisition of Category newentrants. BSNL has the highest acquisition % of Category new entrants in its universe, but on acustomer base of just 76 samples. The number of Category entrant users in Idea is the highest bya healthy margin of 10% than the second-best operator. This is also a barometer indicating thatIdea has the largest number of loyal category entrants. This inference was also qualitativelymade during the Market Research when Idea users as well as users of other operators in most ofthe different places surveyed in Pune zone strongly advocated about Ideas Zabardastnetwork.


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4.1.7 Overall satisfaction rating

Overall satisfaction rating given by users about their respective operators is as follows.

Zone Operator Rating Total

Pune Idea Below Average -2 1

Average -3 26Above Average -4 60

Excellent -5 149

Idea Total 236

Pune Total 236


Pune Airtel 2 9

3 23

4 71

5 69

Airtel Total 172

Pune Total 172

4.1.8 Overall satisfaction rating of Idea in Pune

Pune Idea 2

0% Pune Idea 3

11%

Pune Idea 4

25%

Pune Idea 5

64%

Pune Idea 2

Pune Idea 3

Pune Idea 4

Pune Idea 5

Count of Rating

Zone

Operator

Rating

89% of Idea users out of the Idea universe of 236 users rated it as providing better than Averagesatisfaction, out of which a healthy number of 64% respondents rated it as providing Excellentsatisfaction. No users rated Idea as a Poor service provider, & only 1 user rated it BelowAverage. Thus Idea stands out as an operator providing very high satisfaction to its users in theZone. This was also corroborated qualitatively by an extremely large number of Idea users whowere its very strong advocators. Such a strong positive response was not forthcoming fromrespondents of any other operator.


Pune Vodafone 3 13

4 34

5 58

Vodafone Total 105

Pune Total 105


Pune BSNL 2 1

3 24

4 38

5 13

BSNL Total 76

Pune Total 76


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4.1.9 Qualitative findings

Some insights & experiences gained during the survey of Pune revealed the following.

Pune

Vodafone customer care is perceived as more customer friendly. Idea STD rates & generally their calling rates are perceived costlier than those of other

operators. This perception, especially regarding the STD rates, has improved since theintroduction of the new flat STD rates.

sms @ Rs.1/- is perceived high by many users.

Airtel has coverage problems in some pockets of FC road, Keshav Nagar (Chinchwad),Kothrud, & in & around SIMS, Kirkee on Thursdays. A user cited instances of call drops &international SMSes not going through despite being charged; the call center was also notresponsive to his complaints. Users expected their call center staff to be better trained tohandle calls.

BSNL has nil coverage in Hinjewadi, & poor coverage in Range Hills, Kirkee Cantt, Pimpri& in Bhonsale Nagar. Its users also reported poor coverage in Beed & Jalna of Ahmednagardistrict.

Idea has a considerable base of loyal customers with greater than 5 years of association, &lot many with 10 years of association. This loyal customer base was found to be muchgreater than those of other operators.

Airtel Friends is a popular product, especially among students. Idea My Gang is acomparatively much lesser known product.

A significant number of budget customers switch from Post-paid to pre-paid products inorder to control costs. Post-paid connection is widely perceived as costlier than a Pre-paidone. A student in Pune migrated from Idea Post-paid to Airtel citing billing problems & thatPost-paid was costly, & that Airtel Friends made local calls cheaper @ 10p per min.

All Travel agencies of Pune & Nasik use Reliance connections, since they can make freeReliance-to-Reliance local calls.

In Pimpri, a section of small businessmen originally from U.P. were found to preferVodafone since it had a good coverage in their region back home in U.P. Their perceptionwas that calls would therefore get established much better! A Vodafone user complained ofpoor coverage in Bhosari.

An erstwhile Idea user migrated to Airtel because he experienced a poor roaming network ofIdea in Bihar & W. Bengal. Another Idea post-paid user had no service upon crossingMaharashtra, although the Customer Care in Hyderabad informed him that roaming getsautomatically activated upon crossing the circle. He reported that the Customer Careexecutive appeared in a hurry to complete the call rather than in trying to solve the problem.

Users often do a competition churn when their connections are locked & they are informedafter a year of usage that their documents are not complete.


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Baramati

Although the number of samples of Airtel users was more in Baramati, people are largelynot happy with Airtel there. Airtel coverage is widely considered as bad in Baramati.Frequent network congestion is also reported in its network there.

Reliance distributor in Baramati is reportedly not very efficient. Recharges take place thenext day, & never within a few hours. There was once an instance of no Reliance Top-up

cards being available in Baramati for an entire fortnight. A few businessmen reported infrequent network problems in their Idea connection in

Baramati.

Some users in Baramati perceive roaming charges as more in Idea.

A SIM card vendor in Baramati recounted good sales of Idea & Vodafone connections &recharge coupons.

Some users do a competition churn when asked to submit fresh documents even after a yearof usage.

Vodafone has a good coverage in Sirsufkar, a village 20 Km. From Baramati. Reliance network is considered good in Baramati.

Airtel has good network coverage in Shirsubhal, a village 22 Km. From Baramati. Students prefer the night packages of Airtel, being budget users.

Daund

Airtel has a very bad network in Daund. Network is reportedly busy in the evenings there.Tata has a good network & a strong base in Daund.

Most Auto drivers use Idea & hold a very good perception about Idea. BSNL occasionally has network congestion in Daund.

Lonavla

Idea network is the most popular. Most INS Shivaji & Air Force residents are Ideacustomers. Reliance has a better coverage there than Tatas.

Because of the hilly terrain, there are pockets where some or the other operator does nothave adequate coverage.


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4.2 FINDINGS: NASIK

A total of 590 respondents were interviewed across various areas in & around Nasik & theirresponses to the Questionnaire taken. The following broad locations in Nasik zone were surveyed.

Zone Place TotalNasik Nasik 101

Sinnar 58

Nasik Total 159


The survey brought out the following Market share of each operator in Nasik zone.

Zone Place Operator Total

Nasik Nasik Airtel 21

BSNL 17

Idea 49

Vodafone 14

Nasik Total 101

Sinnar Airtel 22

BSNL 5

Idea 29

Vodafone 2

Sinnar Total 58

Nasik Total 159

Zone Operator Total

Nasik Airtel 43

BSNL 22

Idea 78

Vodafone 16NasikTotal 159

Nasik Airtel

27%

Nasik BSNL

14%Nasik Idea

49%

Nasik Vodafone

10%

Nasik Airtel

Nasik BSNL

Nasik Idea

Nasik Vodafone


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Thus Idea has the leadership in Market share in Nasik zone, leading the second-placed operator by ahuge margin of 22%.

4.2.2 Acquisition % from other operators in Nasik zone

The survey brought the following acquisition % by operators from other operators.

Zone OperatorPreviousoperator Reasons for competition churn Total

Acquisition %from otheroperators

Nasik Airtel I A = Better offer from existing operator 1



F 1

R B = Dissatisfied with previous operator 1

T B = Dissatisfied with previous operator 2

V C = Previous connection lapsed 1

Airtel Total 99*100/43 =20.93%

Nasik BSNL I A = Better offer from existing operator 1

R A = Better offer from existing operator 1


T F = Others 1

V A = Better offer from existing operator 1

BSNL Total 55*100/22 =22.72%

Nasik Idea A C = Previous connection lapsed 1


B D = SIM lost/stolen/damaged 1

T A = Better offer from existing operator 1

B = Dissatisfied with previous operator 1D = SIM lost/stolen/damaged 1

V A = Better offer from existing operator 1



F = Others 1

Idea Total 1010*100/78 =12.82%

Nasik Vodafone A A = Better offer from existing operator 1

I A = Better offer from existing operator 2

Vodafone Total 33*100/16 =18.75%

Nasik Total 27


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Breakdown of Previous operators of Idea in Nasik zone is as follows.

Zone Operator Previous operator Total

Nasik Idea A 2

B 1

T 3

V 4

Idea Total 10

Nasik Total 10

Previous Operators of Idea Users in Nasik

Nasik Idea A

17%

Nasik Idea B

8%

Nasik Idea T

33%

Nasik Idea V

42%

Nasik Idea A

Nasik Idea B

Nasik Idea T

Nasik Idea V

The survey brings out that there have been 12.82% acquisitions in Nasik zone by Idea from otheroperators out of the Gross additions of 159. The acquisition is the highest among all GSMoperators, although BSNL has a higher % of acquisition (22.72%) but that is an acquisition of 5 outof a much smaller customer base of 22.


new entrants in Nasik

The breakdown of Competition & Rotational churn, Additional connections & Category newentrants in Nasik is given below.

OperatorCompetitionschurn

Rotationalchurn

AdditionalConnection

NewEntrants

Totalsamples

Airtel 9 2 1 30 42

BSNL 5 0 1 17 23

Idea 10 2 3 63 78

Vodafone 3 2 1 10 16

All 27 6 6 120 159


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OperatorCompetitionchurn %

Rotationalchurn %


NewEntrants %

Airtel 33.33% 33.33% 16.67% 25.00%

BSNL 18.52% 0.00% 16.67% 14.17%

Idea 37.04% 33.33% 50.00% 52.50%

Vodafone 11.11% 33.33% 16.67% 8.33%

4.2.4 Rotational churn in Nasik

The survey brought out Nil Rotational churn in Nasik.

4.2.5 Category entrant users in Nasik


Nasik Airtel (blank)

25%

Nasik BSNL (blank)

14%Nasik Idea (blank)

53%

Nasik Vodafone (blank)

8%

Nasik Airtel (blank)

Nasik BSNL (blank)

Nasik Idea (blank)

Nasik Vodafone (blank)

4.2.6 Reasons for Competition churn in Nasik







Others F

Reasons for Competition churn operator-wise are as follows.

OperatorCompetitionschurn %

Rotationalchurn %


NewEntrants %

Totalsamples

Airtel 21.43% 4.76% 2.38% 71.43% 42

BSNL 21.74% 0.00% 4.35% 73.91% 23

Idea 12.82% 2.56% 3.85% 80.77% 78

Vodafone 18.75% 12.50% 6.25% 62.50% 16

All 16.98% 3.77% 3.77% 75.47% 159


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Reasons

Zone Previous operator A B C D F Grand Total

Nasik A 1 1 1 3

B 1 1

V 2 2 1 1 6

I 4 2 1 1 8

R 1 1 1 3

T 1 3 1 1 6

Nasik Total 9 4 5 6 3 27

Grand Total 9 4 5 6 3 27

ZonePreviousoperator

Reasons forcompetition churn Total

Reasons forCompetition churn %

Nasik A A = Better offer from existing operator 1 33.33%

C = Previous connection lapsed 1 33.33%

D = SIM lost/stolen/damaged 1 33.33%

A Total 3 3*100/27=11.11%

B D 1 100.00%B Total 1 3.7%

I A 4 50.00%

C 2 25.00%

D 1 12.50%

F = Others 1 12.50%

I Total 8 29.63%

V A 2 33.33%

C 2 33.33%

D 1 16.67%

F 1 16.67%

V Total 6 22.22%

R A 1 33.33%B 1 33.33%

D 1 33.33%

R Total 3 11.11%

T A 1 16.67%

B 3 50%

D 1 16.67%

F 1 16.67%

T Total 6 22.22%

Nasik Total 27

Grand Total 27

The total churn in Nasik is 33 out of the total universe of 159 samples. This equals a churn % of20.75%, which is well within the industry norm.

Ideas acquisition due to Competitions churn % in the circle is the lowest at 12.82%. Idea canfocus on increasing this share.

Ideas Competition churn is the highest at 29.63%. Idea can focus on decreasing this churn; elseit can be vulnerable to poaching from other operators.


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The quantum of each reason for Competitive churn is not a significant number. However, it canbe seen that the major cause of Competitive churn for Idea in Nasik is due to Reason A, i.e.Better offer from existing operator, viz. cheaper calling rates, like BSNLs 10 paise callingschemes, Airtels popular product Friends, perception of BSNL & Vodafone connectionsbeing cheaper than Ideas etc. (quantity 4 out of 8). There has been no competition churn in Ideain Nasik zone due to reasons attributable to dissatisfactory service.

Rotational churn of Idea is negligible. Idea can focus on acquiring Vodafone customers whoseRotational churn is high.

Nasik is not a saturated telecom market & Idea has the highest of 80.77% acquisition % ofCategory new entrants. The number of Category entrant users in Idea is the highest at 52.50%,leading the second-best operator by a healthy margin of 28%. This is also a barometer indicatingthat Idea has the largest number of loyal category entrants. This inference was also qualitativelymade during the Market Research when Idea users as well as users of other operators in most ofthe different places surveyed in Nasik zone strongly advocated about Ideas Zabardastnetwork. Idea can focus on maintaining Market Share through maintaining this leadership inacquisition of Category New Entrants.

4.2.7 Overall satisfaction rating


91% of Idea users out of the Idea universe of 159 users of Nasik rated it as providing better thanAverage satisfaction, out of which a healthy number of 48.72% respondents rated it as providingExcellent satisfaction. There were no users who rated Idea as a Poor service provider, & only 3users rated it Below Average. Thus Idea stands out as an operator providing very high satisfactionto its users in the Zone. This was also corroborated qualitatively by an extremely large number of

Zone Operator Rating Total % of each reason

Nasik Airtel 2 2 4.65%

3 3 6.98%

4 19 44.19%

5 19 44.19%

Airtel Total 43 27.04%

BSNL 1 1 4.55%

4 12 54.55%

5 9 40.91%

BSNL Total 22 13.84%

Idea 2 3 3.85%

3 4 5.13%

4 33 42.31%

5 38 48.72%

Idea Total 78 49.06%

Vodafone 4 10 62.50%

5 6 37.50%

Vodafone Total 16 10.06%

Nasik Total 159

Grand Total 159


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Idea users who were its very strong advocators. Such a strong positive response was notforthcoming from respondents of any other operator.


Some insights & experiences gained during the survey of Nasik revealed the following.

Sinnar

A Vodafone user reported poor coverage in Deopur, a village near Sinnar.

A BSNL user reported bad network in Thanapada, a village 55Km. from Nasik.

A few Tata Indicom users reported poor coverage in Sinnar. Airtel does not have a good coverage near Sinnar Bus-stand. An Idea user reported poor coverage in Deopur & Limgaon, villages near Sinnar.

Quite a few businessmen hold Tata connection in Sinnar; they say that it is because Tata towercame earlier & so they became early adopters.

Airtel Friends is popular in Sinnar.

Nil/poor coverage was reported by an Airtel user in the villages of Lonarwadi & Thandgaon

near Sinnar.

Nasik

Tatas coverage was cited as inadequate in Nasik. General perception of Idea is one that has a good-to-best coverage all around, especially in

Pune, Nasik, Baramati etc. Complaints in general were the least encountered in Ideas case.There were ample number of cases where people vouched & advocated very strongly about theIdea network. Market research indicated that BSNL has the most number of dissatisfiedcustomers.

BSNL users are generally persons above 30 years of age, frequently with an income withinRs.15, 000/- per month. They are generally cost conscious budget customers, who perceive

BSNL as the cheapest being a govt. entity & hence continue with it despite agreeing that it hascoverage inadequacies & frequent network congestion problems.

Vodafone call rates are perceived as cheaper than those of other private operators. In Nasik & Baramati, there were some complaints of Idea Customer Care being always busy.

BSNL subscribers generally reported a good coverage in the villages outside Nasik, althoughthere was a complaint of bad coverage in Nandgaon, a village near Nasik.

Airtel users reported a good coverage in Nasik, but also spoke of poor coverage in Aurangabad,along with instances of call dropping & network congestion during the night.

Airtel users reported bad coverage in Vaijapur, in Aurangabad.


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4.3 FINDINGS: SANGAMNER (AHMEDNAGAR ZONE)

A total of 62 respondents were interviewed in Sangamner & their responses to the Questionnairetaken.


The survey brought out the following Market share of each operator in Sangamner..Zone Place Operator Total

Ahmednagar Sangamner irtel 21

BSNL 4

Idea 32

Vodafone 5

Sangamner Total 62

Ahmednagar Total 62

Ahmednagar Sangamner

Airtel

34%


BSNL

6%

Ahmednagar SangamnerIdea

52%


Vodafone

8%

Ahmednagar Sangamner Airtel

Ahmednagar Sangamner BSNL

Ahmednagar Sangamner Idea

Ahmednagar Sangamner Vodafone

Thus Idea has the leadership in Market share in Sangamner, leading the second-placed operator by ahuge margin of 18%.

4.3.2 Acquisition % from other operators in Sangamner


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Zone Place OperatorPreviousoperator Total

Acquisition % % ofAcquisitionsfrom otheroperators

Ahmednagar Sangamner Airtel I 2 9.52% 33.33%R 2 9.52% 33.33%

V 2 9.52% 33.33%

(blank) 15 71.43%

Airtel Total 21 33.87%

BSNL (blank) 4 100.00%

BSNL Total 4 6.45%

Idea A 3 9.38% 60.00%

I 2 6.25% 40.00%

(blank) 27 84.38%

Idea Total 32 51.61%

Vodafone (blank) 5 100.00%

Vodafone Total 5 8.06%

Sangamner Total 62

Ahmednagar Total 62

Idea has the highest % of acquisition of users from other operators in Sangamner, much greater thansecond placed Airtel. But the sample size of such acquisitions is small, & the 3 acquisitions in thesurvey have only been from Airtel. BSNL & Vodafone do not have any such acquisitions in thesurvey.


new entrants in Sangamner

The breakdown of Competition & Rotational churn, Additional connections & Category newentrants in Sangamner is given below.


Rotationalchurn

AdditionalConnection

NewEntrants

Totalsamples

Airtel 3 0 3 15 21

BSNL 0 0 0 4 4

Idea 2 1 2 27 32

Vodafone 0 0 1 5 6

All 5 1 6 51 63


Rotationalchurn %


NewEntrants %

Totalsamples

Airtel 14.29% 0.00% 14.29% 71.43% 21

BSNL 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% 4

Idea 6.25% 3.13% 6.25% 84.38% 32

Vodafone 0.00% 0.00% 16.67% 83.33% 6

All 7.94% 1.59% 9.52% 80.95% 63



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OperatorCompetitionchurn %

Rotationalchurn %

AdditionalConnection % New Entrants %

Airtel 60.00% 0.00% 50.00% 29.41%

BSNL 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 7.84%

Idea 40.00% 100.00% 33.33% 52.94%

Vodafone 0.00% 0.00% 16.67% 9.80%

4.3.4 Reasons for Competition churn in Sangamner

Reasons for Competition churn operator-wise are as follows.

The quantum of each reason for Competitive churn is not a significant number. However, it can beseen that the only cause of Competitive churn for Idea in Sangamner is due to Reason A, i.e.Better offer from existing operator. There has been no competition churn in Idea in Sangamner due

to reasons attributable to dissatisfactory service.

4.3.5 Category entrant users in Sangamner

Ahmednagar Airtel

(blank)

29%

Ahmednagar BSNL

(blank)8%

Ahmednagar Idea(blank)

53%

Ahmednagar Vodafone

(blank)10%

Ahmednagar Airtel (blank)

Ahmednagar BSNL (blank)

Ahmednagar Idea (blank)Ahmednagar Vodafone (blank)

4.3.6 Overall satisfaction rating in Sangamner

Place Previous operator Reasons for competition churn Total

Sangamner AB = Dissatisfied with previousoperator 2

A Total 2

IA = Better offer from existingoperator 1

I Total 1

RB = Dissatisfied with previousoperator 1

R Total 1

VB = Dissatisfied with previousoperator 1

V Total 1

Sangamner Total 5

Grand Total 5


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Zone Place Operator Rating Total % of Rating

Ahmednagar Sangamner Airtel Above Average =4 14 66.67%

Excellent =5 7 33.33%

Airtel Total 21

BSNL Above Average =4 2 50.00%


BSNL Total 4

Idea Average=3 2 6.25%

Above Average =4 22 68.75%


Idea Total 32

Vodafone Excellent =5 5 100.00%

Vodafone Total 5

Sangamner Total 62

Ahmednagar Total 62

Ahmednagar Idea 3

6%

Ahmednagar Idea 4

69%

Ahmednagar Idea 5

25%

Ahmednagar Idea 3

Ahmednagar Idea 4Ahmednagar Idea 5

100% of Idea users out of the Idea universe of 62 users of Sangamner rated it as providing betterthan Average satisfaction, out of which a healthy number of 66.67% respondents rated it asproviding Excellent satisfaction. Thus Idea stands out as an operator providing very highsatisfaction to its users in the Zone. This was also corroborated qualitatively by an extremelylarge number of Idea users who were its very strong advocators. Such a strong positive responsewas not forthcoming from respondents of any other operator.


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Some insights & experiences gained during the survey of Sangamner revealed the following.

Sangamner

Idea does not have a good coverage in Vadgaon & Landga, villages 15 Km. from Sangamner.

Both Idea & Airtel do not have a good coverage in Kolwara, a village 20 Km. from Sangamner. Some Airtel users reported good coverage in Nanajdumala, but otherwise poor coverage in

villages adjoining Sangamner.

Airtel network is reportedly missing frequently in the evenings in Sangamner. An Idea user in Sangamner reported receiving lesser balance after a Top-up.

Vodafone users reported bad network in Sangamner & Akola, apart from their customer care notbeing effective.

There were quite a few instances of users exchanging/lending/selling their SIM cards to others. Some users in Sangamner reported Airtels customer care as an efficient one. A mobile antennae tower near ones residence often influences their decision to choose/switch to

a particular operator.


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4.4 FINDINGS: CHANDRAPUR ZONE

A total of 90 respondents were interviewed in Chandrapur & their responses to the Questionnairetaken.


The survey brought out the following Market share of each operator in Chandrapur.

Zone Operator Total

Chandrapur Airtel 12

BSNL 44

Idea 27

Vodafone 7

Chandrapur Total 90

Grand Total 90

MARKET SHARE: CHANDRAPUR

Chandrapur Airtel

13%

Chandrapur BSNL

49%

Chandrapur Idea

30%

Chandrapur Vodafone

8%

Chandrapur Airtel

Chandrapur BSNL

Chandrapur Idea

Chandrapur Vodafone

Thus BSNL has the leadership in Market share in Chandrapur, leading the second-placed operatorIdea by a huge margin of 19%.


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new entrants in Chandrapur

The breakdown of Competition & Rotational churn, Additional connections & Category newentrants in Chandrapur is given below.

Operator Competitionschurn Rotationalchurn AdditionalConnection NewEntrants Totalsamples

Airtel 1 0 0 11 12

BSNL 16 0 2 26 44

Idea 5 2 0 20 27

Vodafone 2 0 1 4 7

All 24 2 3 61 90


Rotationalchurn %


NewEntrants %

Totalsamples

Airtel 8.33% 0.00% 0.00% 91.67% 12

BSNL 36.36% 0.00% 4.55% 59.09% 44

Idea 18.52% 7.41% 0.00% 74.07% 27

Vodafone 28.57% 0.00% 14.29% 57.14% 7

All 26.67% 2.22% 3.33% 67.78% 90



Rotationalchurn %


Airtel 4.17% 0.00% 0.00% 18.03%

BSNL 66.67% 0.00% 66.67% 42.62%

Idea 20.83% 100.00% 0.00% 32.79%

Vodafone 8.33% 0.00% 33.33% 6.56%


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4.4.3 Reasons for Ideas Competition churn in Chandrapur

PlacePreviousoperator Reasons for competition churn Total

% ofreasons

Chandrapur A A 1 16.67%

A+B 1 16.67%

B 3 50.00%

F 1 16.67%

A Total 6 25%

B A+B 1 25.00%

B 3 75.00%

B Total 4 16.67%

I A 1 16.67%

A+B 1 16.67%

B 1 16.67%

C+F 1 16.67%

F 2 33.33%

I Total 6 25%

R A 2 33.33%

A+B 2 33.33%

B 1 16.67%

D 1 16.67%

R Total 6 25%

V B 1 50.00%

F 1 50.00%

V Total 2 8.33%

Chandrapur Total 24

REASONS FOR COMPETITOR CHURN: CHANDRAPUR

Chandrapur I A

17%

Chandrapur I A+B

17%

Chandrapur I B

17%

Chandrapur I C+F

17%

Chandrapur I F

32%

Chandrapur I A

Chandrapur I A+B

Chandrapur I B

Chandrapur I C+F

Chandrapur I F


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4.4.4 Category entrant users in Chandrapur

The % of Category entrant users operator-wise is as follows.

Zone Operator Previous operator TotalChandrapur Airtel (blank) 11

Airtel Total 11

BSNL (blank) 26

BSNL Total 26

Idea (blank) 20

Idea Total 20

Vodafone (blank) 4

Vodafone Total 4

Chandrapur Total 61

CATEGORY NEW ENTRANTS: CHANDRAPUR

Chandrapur Airtel (blank)

18%

Chandrapur BSNL (blank)

42%

Chandrapur Idea (blank)

33%

Chandrapur Vodafone

(blank)

7%

Chandrapur Airtel (blank)

Chandrapur BSNL (blank)

Chandrapur Idea (blank)

Chandrapur Vodafone (blank)

The total churn in the circle is 24 out of the total universe of 90 samples. This equals a churn %of26.67%, which is well above the industry norm.

Vodafone & BSNL have high acquisition % from other operators. Ideas Competition churn % is 25%, but the number is just 6 samples. But both do not have

significant churn numbers. BSNL has the highest churn at 36.36%.

Idea alone has Rotational churn, which is not significant at 2 samples.

Chandrapur is not a saturated telecom market & Idea has an acquisition % of 74.07% Categorynew entrants. BSNL has acquisition % of 59.09% Category new entrants on the largest customerbase of 44 samples. Airtel has the highest acquisition % of 91.67% Category new entrants butupon a customer base of just 12 samples.


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4.4.5 Overall satisfaction rating in Chandrapur

Zone Operator Rating Total % of Rating

Chandrapur Airtel 3 3 25.00%

4 1 8.33%

5 8 66.67%

Airtel Total 12

BSNL 2 1 2.27%

3 13 29.55%

4 25 56.82%

5 5 11.36%

BSNL Total 44

Idea 3 5 18.52%

4 6 22.22%

5 16 59.26%

Idea Total 27

Vodafone 3 1 14.29%

4 2 28.57%

5 4 57.14%Vodafone Total 7

Chandrapur Total 90

Grand Total 90

Rating: Airtel Chandrapur

Chandrapur Chandrapur

Airtel 3

25%


Airtel 4

8%Chandrapur Chandrapur

Airtel 5

67%

Chandrapur Chandrapur Airtel 3




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Rating: BSNL Chandrapur


BSNL 2

2%


BSNL 3

30%


BSNL 4

57%


BSNL 5

11%

Chandrapur Chandrapur BSNL 2




Rating: Idea Chandrapur


Idea 3

19%


Idea 4

22%


Idea 5

59%

Chandrapur Chandrapur Idea 3



Rating: Vodafone Chandrapur


Vodafone 3

14%


Vodafone 4

29%

handrapur Chandrapur

Vodafone 5

57%

Chandrapur Chandrapur Vodafone 3




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71% of Idea users out of the Idea universe of 27 users of Chandrapur rated it as providing betterthan Average satisfaction, out of which 59% respondents rated it as providing Excellentsatisfaction. 87% of BSNL users out of the BSNL universe of 44 users of Chandrapur rated it asproviding better than Average satisfaction, out of which 57% respondents rated it as providingExcellent satisfaction.


Some insights & experiences gained during the survey of Chandrapur revealed the following.

Chandrapur

Although BSNL has the maximum clientele here, Idea is perceived to be the best serviceprovider.

BSNL has nil/poor coverage in Khutala (near Padoli), Saoner, Deoli near Wardha,between Sakhri, Nampur (near Dhule), Sainik School in Visapur & poor coverage inDeendayal Nagar area in the city. A user also reported experience of poor coverage while in

Gondia. Most BSNL users cited instances of frequently not being able to reach their called subscriber

in the first attempt. Inadequate coverage, poor voice clarity, one-way speech, cross-talk,weak network inside houses, delayed reception of SMSes & instances of finding the calledBSNL party to be out of coverage area even if in proximity were also common problemsexperienced by most BSNL subscribers.

A user reported nil Airtel coverage in Temburdi village near Jambh (60 km. from Nagpur). A Wardha resident & BSNL user cited poor network inside homes & no coverage inside

A.S. Polytechnic in Pipri on Arvi Road. He claimed Idea to have the best coverage &popularity in Wardha.

People prefer BSNL despite known service limitations due to it being a Govt. owned

company. Initial perception had been that its coverage would be much larger than thatprovided by the private operators. People still perceive BSNL to have the best coverage inthe rural areas. Others especially in business do not want to churn to any other operatorfearing post-switching difficulties. BSNL has good coverage in the villages of Allapalli,Dhanora, Kurkheda & Mulcheda. These are forest regions with dense bamboo growth &hence raw material for the Paper mills in the region. Idea does not have network in theseplaces.

Reliance has a good network in Chandrapur.

Idea does not have a good network in Gadchandur, Tadoba & Tadali. Users cited cases ofpeople churning to Vodafone due to its perceived better network in these areas. An Idea usercited connectivity problems when moving out of circle to Mumbai. Many Idea users

frequently face this problem. Airtel has poor network coverage in Urja Nagar near Chandrapur & in Plywood Factory in

Visapur. A Yavatmal resident cited poor Airtel network inside houses there.

A Vodafone user cited nil network in Chimur.


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4.5 FINDINGS: BULDANA ZONE

A total of 148 respondents were interviewed in Buldana & Shegaon & their responses to theQuestionnaire taken.


The survey brought out the following Market share of each operator in Buldana.


Buldana Buldana BSNL 41

Idea 22

Vodafone 10

Buldana Total 73

Shegaon Airtel 3

BSNL 41

Idea 29

Vodafone 2

Shegaon Total 75Buldana Total 148

Grand Total 148

MARKET SHARE: BULDANA

Buldana Airtel

2%

Buldana BSNL

56%

Buldana Idea

34%

Buldana Vodafone

8%

Buldana Airtel

Buldana BSNL

Buldana Idea

Buldana Vodafone

Thus BSNL has the leadership in Market share in Buldana, leading the second-placed operator Idea

by a huge margin of 22%.


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4.5.2 Acquisition % from other operators in Buldana


Zone OperatorPreviousoperator

Reasons forcompetition churn Total

Buldana BSNL A A 1

I A 11

R D 1

T 1

BSNL Total 14

Idea R D 2

F 1

Idea Total 3

Vodafone A C 1

B B 4

Vodafone Total 5

Buldana Total 22

ACQUISITION OF OTHER OPERATORS:BSNL BULDANA

Buldana BSNL A A

7%

Buldana BSNL I A

79%

Buldana BSNL R D

7%

Buldana BSNL T

7%

Buldana BSNL A A

Buldana BSNL I A

Buldana BSNL R D

Buldana BSNL T

BSNL has maximum acquisitions (quantity 11 out of 14) from Idea. Idea needs to initiate steps tohalt its Churn.


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new entrants in Buldana

The breakdown of Competition & Rotational churn, Additional connections & Category newentrants in Buldana is given below.


Rotationalchurn

AdditionalConnection New Entrants

Totalsamples

Airtel 0 0 0 3 3

BSNL 15 4 5 58 82

Idea 12 2 1 36 51

Vodafone 5 0 0 7 12

All 32 6 6 104 148


Rotationalchurn %


NewEntrants % Total samples

Airtel 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% 3

BSNL 18.29% 4.88% 6.10% 70.73% 82

Idea 23.53% 3.92% 1.96% 70.59% 51

Vodafone 41.67% 0.00% 0.00% 58.33% 12

All 21.62% 4.05% 4.05% 70.27% 148



Rotationalchurn %


Airtel 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 2.88%

BSNL 46.88% 66.67% 83.33% 55.77%

Idea 37.50% 33.33% 16.67% 34.62%

Vodafone 15.63% 0.00% 0.00% 6.73%

The total churn in the circle is 32 out of the total universe of 148 samples. This equals a churn% of21.62%, which is above the industry norm.

Ideas acquisition due to Competitions churn % is 23.53%, based on 12 churns out of 51samples. Both Airtel & Vodafone do not have significant acquisitions due to churn numbers &their customer bases are also small.

Ideas Rotational churn is not significant at 2 samples.

Buldana is not a saturated telecom market & Idea has an acquisition % of 70.59% Categorynew entrants. BSNL has acquisition % of 70.73% Category new entrants on the largestcustomer base of 44 samples.


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4.5.4 Reasons for Ideas Competition churn in Buldana







Others F

Zone Previous operatorReasons forcompetition churn Total

% ofreasons

Buldana A A 1 50%

C 1 50%

A Total 2 6.25%

B B 10 71.43%

C 214.29%

D 2 14.29%

B Total 14 43.75%

R D 3 75%F 1 25%

R Total 412.5%

T C 1100%

T Total 1 3.12%

I A 10 90.9%

A+B 1 9.09%

I Total 11 34.38%

Buldana Total 21

Ideas competiton churn in Buldana is very high. All Churns of Idea in the survey areattributable to Better offer from BSNL. Idea needs to focus on reducing its churn. It wasthe first operator to start cellular service in Buldana, but all private operators have lostground to BSNL there as it is widely preferred being a Govt. entity.

Idea needs to change the perception people of Buldana have about it, that of being a costlierservice provider because it is a private player. It also needs to improve its coverage in &around the towns & rural regions of Buldana.

4.5.5 Category entrant users in Buldana


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Buldana Airtel (blank)3%

Buldana BSNL (blank)55%

Buldana Idea (blank)35%

Buldana Vodafone(blank)

7%

Buldana Airtel (blank)

Buldana BSNL (blank)

Buldana Idea (blank)

Buldana Vodafone (blank)

Although Category New entrants form the largest chunk of users of Ideas customer mix, Ideas

share in the Category of New entrants is only 35% out of 104 samples, while BSNLs share is 55%.Thus there is ample scope for Idea to improve its share of Category New entrants.

4.5.6 Overall satisfaction rating in Buldana

Zone Operator Rating Total % of Rating

Buldana Airtel 3 2 66.67%

4 1 33.33%

Airtel Total 3

BSNL 1 1 1.22%

2 2 2.44%

3 48 58.54%

4 27 32.93%

5 4 4.88%

BSNL Total 82

Idea 3 1 1.96%

4 16 31.37%

5 34 66.67%

Idea Total 51

Vodafone 3 1 8.33%

4 9 75.00%

5 2 16.67%

Vodafone Total 12

Buldana Total 148


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Rating: Airtel Buldana

Buldana Shegaon Airtel 3

67%


33%



Rating: Idea Buldana

Buldana Idea 3

2%

Buldana Idea 431%

Buldana Idea 5

67%

Buldana Idea 3

Buldana Idea 4

Buldana Idea 5

Rating: BSNL BuldanaBSNL RATING

1%

2%

59%

33%

5%

Buldana BSNL 1

Buldana BSNL 2

Buldana BSNL 3

Buldana BSNL 4

Buldana BSNL 5


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Rating: Vodafone Buldana

Buldana Vodafone 3

8%

Buldana Vodafone 4

75%

Buldana Vodafone 5

17%

Buldana Vodafone 3

Buldana Vodafone 4

Buldana Vodafone 5

98% of Idea users out of the Idea universe of 51 users of Buldana rated it as providing better thanAverage satisfaction, out of which 67% respondents rated it as providing Excellent satisfaction.Comparatively, only 38% of BSNL users out of the BSNL universe of 82 users of Buldana rated itas providing better than Average satisfaction, out of which only 5% respondents rated it asproviding Excellent satisfaction. Thus although Idea does not have a huge customer base inBuldana, it has the highest number of satisfied users. Idea should focus on reducing its churn &market its USP of Zabardast Network by making it a reality in Buldana.


Some insights & experiences gained during the survey of Buldana revealed the following.

Buldana

Idea was the first mobile operator in Buldana. It is largely perceived to provide an overall goodservice here.

BSNL has the maximum clientele here; with a large number of users having churned from Idea& others once BSNL started operation. People prefer it despite known service limitations due toit being a Govt. owned company. Initial perception had been that its coverage would be muchlarger than that provided by the private operators. Others especially in business do not want tochurn to any other operator fearing post-switching difficulties. Most LIC agents & staff haveBSNL connections with group calling.

BSNL users reported network congestion problems in Buldana, Deuoulgaon Raja Taluka(population of about 40,000) & in Lonar, a village 100 Km. from Buldana. A discussion withthe Sarpanch of Undri village (in Chikli Taluka) revealed BSNL coverage problems there. Thisvillage has a population of about 10,000.

Most BSNL users cited instances of frequently not being able to reach their called subscriber inthe first attempt. Inadequate coverage, poor voice clarity, one-way speech & instances of


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finding the called BSNL party to be out of coverage area even if in proximity were alsocommon problems experienced by most BSNL subscribers.

Tata has good network coverage here, while Vodafone does not have adequate coverage.Reliance has a good network here but not a significant customer base.

Reliance does not have network coverage in Lonar & Dhamangaon.

A Vodafone user cited its Customer Care centre to be mostly busy. He had also experienced

poor coverage in Yedgaon village near Buldana.


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4.6 FINDINGS: SATARA ZONE

A total of 157 respondents were interviewed in Satara & Karad & their responses to theQuestionnaire taken.


The survey brought out the following Market share of each operator in Satara.


Satara Karad Airtel 13

BSNL 12

Idea 35

Vodafone 2

Karad Total 62

Satara Airtel 36

BSNL 7

Idea 40

Vodafone 12

Satara Total 95

Satara Total 157

Satara Airtel

31%

Satara BSNL

12%

Satara Idea

48%

Satara Vodafone

9%

Satara Airtel

Satara BSNL

Satara Idea

Satara Vodafone

Idea has the highest Market share of 48% in Satara.


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new entrants in Satara

The breakdown of Competition & Rotational churn, Additional connections & Category newentrants in Satara is given below.

Operator Competitionschurn Rotationalchurn AdditionalConnection NewEntrants Total samples

Airtel 7 1 2 39 49

BSNL 0 1 0 18 19

Idea 11 0 3 61 75

Vodafone 3 0 2 9 14

All 21 2 7 127 157


Rotationalchurn %


NewEntrants % Total samples

Airtel 14.29% 2.04% 4.08% 79.59% 49

BSNL 0.00% 5.26% 0.00% 94.74% 19

Idea 14.67% 0.00% 4.00% 81.33% 75

Vodafone 21.43% 0.00% 14.29% 64.29% 14

All 13.38% 1.27% 4.46% 80.89% 157


Operator Competitions churn %Rotationalchurn %


Airtel 33.33% 50.00% 28.57% 30.71%

BSNL 0.00% 50.00% 0.00% 14.17%

Idea 52.38% 0.00% 42.86% 48.03%

Vodafone 14.29% 0.00% 28.57% 7.09%

The total churn in the circle is 21 out of the total universe of 157 samples. This equals a churn of13.38%, which is well within the industry norm.

Ideas Acquisition due to Competitions churn % in the circle is 14.67%, with 12 churns out of51 samples. Airtels acquisition due to Competitions churn numbers is 33.33%, much higherthan Ideas. Idea needs to focus on increasing its acquisition due to churn.

Ideas Rotational churn is not significant at 2 samples. Satara is not a saturated telecom market & Idea has an acquisition of 81.33% Category new

entrants. BSNL has acquisition % of 70.73% Category new entrants on the largest customerbase of 44 samples. Vodafone has a comparatively smaller % of Category New entrants at64.29%.


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4.6.3 Acquisition % from other operators in Satara


Zone Operator Previous operator Reasons for competition churn Total

Satara Airtel B B 3

V A 1I B 1

R A 2

Airtel Total 7

Idea B B 5

V D 1

R B 1

C 1

T 3

Idea Total 11

Vodafone A A 1

B B 1

I A 1Vodafone Total 3

Satara Total 21

Zone Previous operator Reasons for competition churn Total

Satara A A 1

B B 9

V A 1

D 1

I A 1

B 1

R A 2

B 1

C 1

T 3

Satara Total 21

Satara Idea B B

46%

Satara Idea V D

9%

Satara Idea R B

9%

Satara Idea R C

9%

Satara Idea T

27%

Satara Idea B B

Satara Idea V D

Satara Idea R B

Satara Idea R C

Satara Idea T


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4.6.4 Category New Entrants in Satara

CAT EGORY NEW ENTRANTS : SA TARA

Satara A irtel (blank)

31%

Satara BSNL (blank)

14%

Satara Idea (blank)

48%

Satara Vodafone (blank)

7%

Satara Airte

Satara BSN

Satara Idea

Satara Vod

Reasons for Competition churn of Operators in Satara

Idea has an insignificant number of competition churn in Satara.

4.6.5 Overall satisfaction rating in Satara


% ofeachrating

Nasik Airtel 2 2 4.65%

3 3 6.98%

4 19 44.19%5 19 44.19%AirtelTotal 43

BSNL 1 1 4.55%

4 12 54.55%

5 9 40.91%

BSNLTotal 22

Idea 2 3 3.85%

3 4 5.13%

4 33 42.31%

5 38 48.72%

Idea Total 78

Vodafone 4 10 6.29%

5 6 3.77%

Vodafone Total 16

Nasik Total 159

91% of Idea users rate it as a better than Average operator, with 38 samples indicating anExcellent rating out of 78. No user has rated Idea as Poor.


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Some insights & experiences gained during the survey of Satara revealed the following.

Karad

Reliance has a good network in Karad, but some users cited customer care issues. Due to quite a number of educational institutions in Karad, there is a significant number of

non-local student population in Karad. Some students informed that North Indian studentsprefer Idea due to its lower STD rates, while local students prefer BSNL/Airtel. Thisexperience of theirs was prior to the latest slashing of STD rates by all operators.

Users doing a Competition churn in favour of Idea had a prior perception that Idea has agood coverage all over.

BSNL users in Karad reported network problems in Sangli, Kodoli & Aastha villages nearKholapur and Vagheri near Karad.

Some Airtel users cited poor coverage in Vita, a village 5 Km. from Sangli.

Satara

Airtel has network problems in some areas of Satara, while Idea has a generally good

coverage in the city. But Idea has inadequate coverage in nearby villages. Vodafone users cited good coverage in Satara.

Idea does not have coverage beyond Pattan, near Satara, while villages like Muneri,Tosheghar, Chalkewadi, Pratapgarh, Kolhapur ghat & Ambenadi ghat have no Ideacoverage.

There were voices in Satara of Idea customer Care putting users on hold for a long time.


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5 RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations are made.

1. Idea has an undisputable leadership in Market Share, leading the No.2 brand by 17%. Thisleadership mus

idea cell symbi project

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