Summary and Conclusions

Transcription

1 [295] Chapter 5 Summary and Conclusions 5.1. Introduction In this chapter, it is attempted to summarise and provide conclusions of every chapter. Chapter 1 provides the current global and Indian telecom sector scenario and the latest news of TRAI (Nov 2011), the latest data regarding subscribers base as on January It also provides the concept of customer satisfaction and the basic concepts of mobile marketing. It also focus on the internet usage through mobiles, current trends in mobile marketing. This chapter mainly provides a brief focus on customer satisfaction of cellular and broadband services in rural and urban areas, along with importance, objectives, hypothesis, sample and methodology of the study. The Chennai metropolitan city and its environs has been chosen for the present study in view of its distinct and unique historical importance. The present study is different from other studies as it considers the importance of customer satisfaction of cellular and broadband services both in rural and urban areas.

2 [296] In Chapter 2, an attempt has been made by the researcher to study the modern concepts of customer satisfaction, service quality, broader view of customer service, in part A. In part B, an attempt has been made to examine the literature relating to the telecom sector which is grouped under the following heads. Literature relating to growth of telecommunication industry. Literature relating to customer satisfaction studies in telecommunication services. Literature relating to performance of the service providers. Literature relating to customers usage pattern of the cellular services. Literature relating to strategies used by the cellular service providers to enhance their market share and customer satisfaction. In Chapter 3, an attempt has been made by the researcher to examine the demographic profile of respondents in part A and as well as the origin and growth of the cellular and broadband service providers in part B. In Chapter 4, an attempt has been made by the researcher to examine the customer satisfaction of cellular and broadband service providers, based on the data collected. The researcher examines the data pertaining to the respondents belonging to rural areas in section A, and the data pertaining to the respondents belonging to urban areas in section B, and the researcher also examines the data pertaining to the respondents of both rural and urban areas in section C, followed by a model

3 [297] suggested in section D, by the researcher based on the review and the analysis of data. In Chapter 5, the researcher has summarized the conclusions of every chapter. Besides, major findings of the study as well as suggestions based on the study are also given in this chapter Major findings of the study % of the respondents are in the age group of up to 25 years in urban areas, and 44% of the respondents are in the age group of years in rural areas % of the respondents are male and the remaining are females in urban areas, and 53% of the respondents are male and the remaining are females in rural areas. 3. Majority (53%) of the respondents from urban areas are married, and 75% of the respondents in rural areas are married. 4. It is found that 35% of the respondents are graduates in urban areas, and 41% of the respondents are graduates in rural areas. 5. It is found that 37% of the respondents are students in urban areas, and 37% of the respondents are salaried persons in rural areas. 6. Majority 49% of the respondent s monthly income is Rs Rs in urban areas, and 47% of the respondents monthly income is Rs Rs in rural areas.

4 [298] 7. It is found that 64% of the respondents are living in joint family in urban areas, and 54% of the respondents are living in joint family in rural areas. 8. Majority 57% of the respondent s family size is 2-4 members in urban areas, and 41% of the respondent s family size is more than 4 members in rural areas. 9. It is found that 38% of the respondents are in middle status in urban areas, and 47% of the respondents are in middle status in rural areas. 10. The study considered 50% of the respondent s belong to rural and the other 50% of them belong to urban areas. 11. It is found that awareness about brand through television, radio and friends and relatives does not influence in geographical locations. 12. It is found that awareness through online has more impact in urban areas. 13. It is found that awareness through sales persons and dealers has more impact in rural areas. 14. It is found that in rural areas, the respondents are keen about call charges, SMS charges, talk time, roaming charges and validity period. 15. It is found that the respondents in rural areas are keen in all the services than the respondents from urban areas. 16. It is found that the respondents in rural area are keen about the customer care and reputation of the service provider. 17. It is found that the respondents in the urban and rural areas are almost similar in their expectations.

5 [299] 18. It is found that the respondents in urban area give more importance to all the factors than the respondents in rural areas in selecting the cellular services. 19. It is found that the respondents in urban area give more importance to all the factors than the respondents in rural areas in selecting the broadband services. 20. It is found that the influence of advertisement is more in urban respondents than respondents in rural area expect appeal factor. 21. It is found from the mean response that the urban respondents are slightly more benefitted than the respondents from rural areas. 22. It is found that the respondents in the urban areas have ranked Airtel as first, Vodafone as Second, and Reliance as Third, in their ratings for service providers in the cellular field based on their satisfaction. 23. It is found that the respondents in the rural areas have ranked Airtel as first, Vodafone as Second, and Reliance as Third, in their ratings for service providers in the cellular field based on their satisfaction. 24. It is found that the respondents in the urban areas have ranked Airtel as first, Tata Indicom as Second, and BSNL as Third, in their ratings for service providers in the broadband based on their satisfaction. 25. It is found that the respondents in the rural areas have ranked BSNL as first, Airtel as Second, and Aircel as Third, in their ratings for service providers in the broadband based on their satisfaction.

6 [300] 5.3. Suggestions. Based on the study the following suggestions are made. 1. Most of the respondents complain about poor connectivity and therefore it is suggested that more number of towers to be erected in almost all the towns and villages. 2. The call tariffs of majority of the companies are confusing and overlapping. Therefore, it is suggested that a clear cut tariff plan has to be given by the service providers, which can be easily understood by the villagers too. 3. The call tariffs also differ from one service provider to other. Therefore, it is suggested the TRAI has to monitor and standardize the call tariffs and make ways for competitive pricing. 4. It is suggested that most of the companies should avoid all types of hidden charges. 5. Generally, it is not easy to contact the (CCC) customer care centers of the cellular companies. Therefore, it is suggested that a mechanism to be evolved by the service providers in such a way that, the customer care centers are easily and immediately accessible to the customers. 6. Most of the companies offer unsuitable plans which causes for frequent change of plans. Therefore, it is suggested the plans can be designed according to the various needs and segments of the customers.

7 [301] 7. Payment of monthly bills, on bi-monthly and quarterly basis may be implemented to reduce the inconvenience of the customers. 8. With regard to broadband services, the tariff plans and call charges are confusing and misleading as they are volume ( of strength ) based like KB, MB, GB. Most of the customers do not understand the values and often find slowdown of the speed. For example, there is a plan by Airtel by name 999/ unlimited. Customers generally, think that this plan is unlimited, as this plan provides unlimited downloads for Rs.999/-. But, it is not so. Even within the bill period of 30 days, the speed of the download comes down to 50% of the original speed after 15 days. One can find these troubles only after getting the connection of 999 unlimited. Afterwards, the customer has to change the plan like 1299, in order to maintain the download speed for a month. Thus, the broadband service providers mislead the customers and hide the facts. A clarity is required in broadband plans. 9. The service providers can focus on more tailor-made schemes for each segment of customers in order to satisfy their specific needs. 10. Customer delight and customer loyalty are prerequisites for customer retention. Only truth and quality can retain the customers. 11. The service providers should undertake innovative marketing strategies to face competition. 12. The service providers should satisfy the customers from both technical and functional quality point of view.

8 [302] 13. Customer perception towards cellular services is highly demanding in nature and henceforth service providers should focus on innovative research and product development. 14. The service providers should undertake innovative marketing strategies to face competition. The promotional strategies adopted by the cellular service providers are sales oriented in nature, which shall be more of customer oriented. 15. To-day, the customers seek more information about product / brand / category before making purchase decisions. And, therefore considerable amount of information shall be given through advertisement. Any change in the schemes should be communicated to the customers on regular basis. 16. More awareness can be created among the pre-paid users regarding ATM recharge and On-line recharge. 17. Cellular service providers can offer Value-added services such as e-banking, e- Ticketing and e-global payment at the lowest possible rates to meet the requirements of the customers. 18. Majority of the respondents do not want to shift from their current service providers. So senior and loyal customers can be given some special privileges. Customers who avail the service for more than 3 or 5 years can be given extra minutes of free talk or gift vouchers as a token of appreciation. 19. To retain customers in postpaid belt, the after sales service may be improved. The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) team of the service

9 [303] providers shall be given adequate training regularly. There shall be provision for customers to register their complaints in a convenient mode. 20. In order to satisfy the customers, the cellular service providers can scrap the differential SMS rates during the festival seasons and follow the uniform rates throughout the year Scope for future research This study has made an attempt to analyse the customer preference and satisfaction towards the select cellular and broadband service providers in Chennai city. The research has also made an extensive analysis of the reasons for owning cellular phones, preference towards plans and the different modes of payments, customer satisfaction towards the customer care services; value added services and promotional aspects adopted by the cellular and broadband service providers. However, no attempt has been made to study the rippling effect of demand for cellular and broadband service providers in the context of present global meltdown. There is an ample scope for further study in the area of how to enhance the average revenue per users in the cellular and broadband service providers for their plans.