A DISSERTATION PROJECT REPORT ON

2G AND 3G DATA CARD SERVICES IN TELECOM SECTOR

SUBMITTED BY: Name- RISHA BANSAL

MBA-IB (2010-2012) Roll No. : A1802010075

DIS SERTATION GUIDE MRS SHALINI GAUTAM

AMITY INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL, NOIDA

AMITY UNIVERSITY

UTTAR PRADESH
DECLARATION

A Market Research Project Report on 2G AND 3G DATA CARD SERVICES IN TELECOM SECTOR submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Masters of Business Administration to AMITY University, Noida, is my original work and not submitted for the award of any other degree, diploma, fellowship, or any other similar title or prizes.

Place: Noida

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A successful completion of a project is like a golden feather for any cap. Truly this cannot be turned without apt guidance and help. One must always be obliged to his guide and helpers.

I so much thankful to our faculty guide Mrs shalini gautam Noida give me so much help in completing this project report Finally, I am very grateful to these reverent personalities without whom it would not have been possible for me to put forward this project in present form.

RISHA BANSAL

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Student Declaration Acknowledgements Introduction of project Executive Summary Review of literature History of 3g and 2g services
7.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

2 3 6 7 13 17 21

Telecom sector: An outlook

8. An Overview of Internet & Wireless connectivity

27

8.1 Definition of Internet 8.2 Common Uses of Internet 8.3 Driving Growth of Internet Data Card 28

9. Perceived Benefit of Internet Data Card

9.1 Convenience 9.2 Time Saving 9.3 Economical 29 31

10. Perceived risk of Internet Data Card 11. Research objectives

11.1 Research Questions 11.2 Research Tactic 11.3The Theoretical Population

4

11.4 Sampling frame

12. Implementation

33

12.1 Data Collection- Phase-I 12.2 Final Survey Phase-II 36

13. Consumer Behavior towards Internet Data Card

13.1 Problem Recognition 13.2 Information Search 13.3 Product Evaluation 13.4 Purchase Activity 13.5 Post Purchase Activity 40

14. Marketing Strategy

14.1 Segmentation 42 50 53 56 60 62

15. Graphs and charts 16. Recommendation and Conclusion 17. References 18. Annexure 19. Case study 20. Synopsis

INTRODUCTION OF THE PROJECT

The Objective of the study is to understand the consumers and retailers perception and market awareness, about the data card. Pre, Post, during perception of Data Card & Retailers and consumers buying behavior, attitude, availability about different brands of data card. Comparative study was done for different brand Data card to know above different schemes and tariff plans available for the customers, Reliance, Vodafone, BSNL, MTS and Tata. To understand the former part, we created a questionnaire for customers on data card. We analyzed the questionnaire understanding the buying Behavior and knowledge of customer of different brands. We had done an analysis on 100 respondents within noida City, to identify how much of buying intension is due to attributes & how much due to influence by referral. The detailed study of this is shown in this report.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
India, like many other countries of the world, have adopted a gradual approach to telecom sector reform through selective privatization and managed competition in different segments of the telecom market. To begin with, India introduced private competition in value-added services in 1992 followed by opening up of cellular and basic services for local area to private competition. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was constituted in 1997 as an independent regulator in this sector. Competition was also introduced in national long distance (NLD) and international long distance (ILD) telephony at the start of the current decade. The current policy stance affecting telecom sector in India is presented in the Appendix. Two state-owned public sector incumbents with a large existing subscriber base dominate the fixed line service. As on December 31, 2001, the two Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), BSNL and MTNL owned 34.73 million Direct Exchange Lines (DELs) against 0.45 million privately owned DELs. These two PSEs were allowed belated entry into the cellular segment in the beginning of the present decade. Consequently,
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their cellular subscriber base is tiny compared to the private operators. Out of 7.3 million cellular subscribers in the country in June 2002, they had only 0.2 million subscribers. Despite asymmetry in initial market endowments between public sector incumbents and private operators, the act of opening up of the market unleashed dynamism that was hitherto latent in the sector. New telecom operators who have been given licenses to operate pan-India GSM mobile services are all set to fight a bitter battle with the established GSM players like Bsnl, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular. From the time of telegraphs Indian telecom sector has witnessed an immense growth and has diversified into various segments like, Fixed Line Telephony, mobile telephony, GSM, CDMA, WLL etc. The telecom industry is growing at a fast pace introducing newer technologies. Even the network operators and handset providers are also coming up with newer value added services and advanced technology cell phones with multimedia applications.

Now it's time to welcome the much-awaited 4G Technology. Not only the network providers but also the handset providers in India are waiting
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eagerly for the launch of 4G to earn very high revenues from the value added services provided by the technology. According to a recent news item, China has decided to move to 4G networks, bypassing 3G. There are many problems in allocating 3G aspect

run to telecom networks and in setting up 3G mobile networks at high costs and we have been examining these issues since 2003. It is important that we should also examine the feasibility of moving to 4G now.

4G will be a fully IP-based integrated system of systems and network of networks achieved after the convergence of wired and wireless networks as well as computer, consumer electronics, communications technology and several other convergences that will be capable of providing 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps respectively, in outdoor and indoor environments with end-toend QOS and high security, offering any band of services anytime, anywhere at affordable cost of one billing.

The converged networks were proposed in the Convergence Bill prepared under the guidance of Fali Nariman in 2001 and approved by the
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parliamentary committee headed by speaker Somnath Chatterjee. Unified licence was proposed by Trai in 2003. The Next Generation Networks, proposed in 2005, can lead to 4G using the extensive optical fibre network in India and using free spectrum available for local delivery of all converged services.

We are singularly lucky in India that our networks, particularly that of the incumbent and IP2 licencees like railways, Power Grid, electricity boards, etc., have connected about 30,000 exchanges by optical fibres. This means that, on an average, a group of 20 villages is connected by six fibre ends. These fibres are mostly lying dark and if we can connect them by Next Generation Network configuration, we reach all the rural areas in one stroke with minimal incremental costs and the moneys are available in the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund. These fibre ends can then be connected to all villages by free spectrum available on Wi-fi and Wi-max networks and all villages can be

connected for delivery of voice telephony, broadband, TV, e-governance, e-education, e-medicine, e-agriculture, etc. Of course in the NGN
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configuration, being set up in a large number of countries, the telecom networks become common carriers while any number of services are provided by a different set of service providers without adding more switches, as in the present network. The result the entire country is connected by futuristic networks.

We in government debated on the kind of technology that we should use in 80s and early 90s and whether the mobile technology that all countries started using in mid-80 s was the right technology for poor Indians. Even when we introduced this technology in mid-90s, we disabled it by using very high entry fee. It is only when level playing-field was allowed to this technology in 1998-2003, did the telecom voice revolution take place, but in urban areas only. Are we going to let the opportunity pass India and particularly rural India again by not allowing converged, or unified, or Next Generation Networks, to protect the interests of different voice telephony, or internet, or cable TV providers? We protected the interests of the fixed line service provider from 1985 to 1998 and even later when we did not allow mobile technology full play. Had we not allowed the new mobile technology even in late 90s we would still have been living with +40 million fixed line connections that we had even in late 90s. We have
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about 200 million lines today and more than 60 million cable TV/DTH connections.

The main argument in favour of unified licence regime is that operators should be allowed to use any technology on a converged, or authorisation basis for delivery of any service so that the regime automatically throws up the best technology. If 3G networks are appropriate technology for India, naturally they would prosper in the unified license framework also. The government cannot and should not favour one technology, or another. It should also not impose large entry fee on new or more efficient technologies. Time has come that we allow the telecom network to choose the best technology to extend the India Poised story to our rural areas also.

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CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY India is the 7th largest country in the world and the second largest in Asia with a landmass of 3.29 million square Km, and a population of over 900 million. The second largest populous country, India is the home of 16 per cent of world's population and accounts for 2.42 per cent of the total world area. One of the most striking features of the Indian economy is the sheer size of the consumer market. Private consumption expenditure grew at 13 per cent per annum (at current prices) through the 1980s and was estimated at Rs. 3,418 billion (US $ 110 billion) in 1990-91. The overall growth of 13 per cent is composed of widely differing growth rates in the various sectors. Expenditure on transport and communication is increasing by as high as 21 per cent per annum. This reflects a perceptible shift in consumer spending from primary products to manufactured goods and services, which is also borne out by the increasing share of manufactured goods and services in the country's GDP. The spectacular increase in consumer spending has been accompanied by increasing sophistication. Some Facts about the Indian Telecom Market India has 1000 million people & 180 million households

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 40 million fixed line telephones, 10 million mobile and four million Internet connections Target for Growth: 200 million lines by 2010 Major public confidence as cost of long distance calls in India reduces from Rs 30 ($0.60) to Rs 1.50 ($0.18) per minute International Call charges reduce by 40% VoIP opened up for International calls

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Telecommunications Network India operates one of the largest telecom networks in Asia comprising over 21,718 telephone exchanges, 14.62 million telephone lines, an extensive local and long distance transmission network with 132,022 route kms of terrestrial microwave radio relay, coaxial cables and about 36,632 Km of optical fibre systems. The voice and non-voice telecom services include data transmission, facsimile, mobile radio, radio paging and leased line services to cater to a variety of needs, both residential and business. A dedicated packet switched Public Data Network with international access for Computer Communication services is also available. Tenders have been invited for operation of Radio Paging Services. 95 licenses have been issued for operation of services in 27 cities. Services have commenced in all the 27 cities with over 186,000 subscribers. Rest of the country has been divided in 19 circles and licenses are to be issued. The country has been divided into 18 telecom circles and 4 metro cities for operation of Cellular Mobile Service. Despite the sustained high growth of telecom services in the last five years, the telephone to population ratio in India has reached 22 per hundred people. India's telecoms sector is carved into 22 circles or zones, classified as "metro" and "A", "B" and "C" circles, based on subscriber potential, market curativeness and the state of already present infrastructure. Cellular subscriber base has been growing at a massive pace for the past three years. In 1999, the announcement of the New Telecom Policy and the migration package from fixed license fee to annual revenue share regime gave a boost to the mobile sector. The International Telecommunication Union feels India has the potential to become No 1 in terms of the number of mobile phone users, considering the number of people currently without mobile phones in the country. Currently, China has the highest number of mobile phone subscribers. Michael Minges, head, Telecommunications Data and Statistics Unit, ITU

Telecommunication Bureau, said: "India has the least mobile connectivity with only 10.1 15

million subscribers as compared with China. India is the largest unnerved market and therefore there is huge potential." According to the ITU report, in the last 10 years the telecommunication environment in the Asia-Pacific region has changed rapidly. The rate of change has been the most dramatic in the mobile communication sector.

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History of 2g and 3g data card

The history of mobile phones charts the development of devices which connect wirelessly to the public switched telephone network. The transmission of speech by radio has a long and varied history going back to Reginald Fessenden's invention and shore-to-ship demonstration of radio telephony, through the Second World War with military use of radio telephony links. Hand-held radio transceivershave been available since the 1940s. Mobile telephones for automobiles became available from some telephone companies in the 1940s. Early devices were bulky and consumed high power and the network supported only a few simultaneous conversations. Modern cellular networks allow automatic and pervasive use of mobile phones for voice and data communications. Mobile phone history is often divided into generations (first, second, third and so on) to mark significant step changes in capabilities as the technology improved. 2G (or 2-G) is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja(now part of Elisa Oyj) in 1991.[1] Three primary benefits of 2G networks over their predecessors were that phone conversations were digitally encrypted; 2G systems were significantly more efficient on the spectrum allowing for far greater mobile phone penetration levels; and 2G introduced data services for mobile, starting with SMS text messages. After 2G was launched, the previous mobile telephone systems were retrospectively dubbed 1G. While radio signals on 1G networks
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are analog, radio signals on 2G networks are digital. Both systems use digital signaling to connect the radio towers (which listen to the handsets) to the rest of the telephone system. 2G has been superseded by newer technologies such as 2.5G, 2.75G, 3G, and 4G; however, 2G networks are still used in many parts of the world. 3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT2000) specifications by the International Telecommunication Union.
[1]

Application services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, mobile

Internet access, video calls and mobile TV, all in a mobile environment. Several telecommunications companies market wireless mobile Internet services as 3G, indicating that the advertised service is provided over a 3G wireless network. Services advertised as 3G are required to meet IMT2000 technical standards, including standards for reliability and speed (data transfer rates). To meet the IMT-2000 standards, a system is required to provide peak data rates of at least 200 kbit/s (about 0.2 Mbit/s). However, many services advertised as 3G provide higher speed than the minimum technical requirements for a 3G service. Recent 3G releases, often denoted 3.5Gand 3.75G, also provide mobile broadband access of several Mbit/s to smartphones and mobile modems in laptop computers. The following standards are typically branded 3G:

the UMTS system, first offered in 2001, standardized by 3GPP, used

primarily in Europe, Japan, China (however with a different radio interface) and other regions predominated by GSM 2G system infrastructure. The cell phones are typically UMTS and GSM hybrids. Several radio interfaces are offered, sharing the same infrastructure:
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The original and most widespread radio interface is called WCDMA. The TD-SCDMA radio interface was commercialised in 2009 and is only offered in China. The latest UMTS release, HSPA+, can provide peak data rates up to 56 Mbit/s in the downlink in theory (28 Mbit/s in existing services) and 22 Mbit/s in the uplink.

the CDMA2000 system, first offered in 2002, standardized

by 3GPP2, used especially in North America and South Korea, sharing infrastructure with the IS-95 2G standard. The cell phones are typically CDMA2000 and IS-95 hybrids. The latest release EVDO Rev B offers peak rates of 14.7 Mbit/s downstream. The above systems and radio interfaces are based on spread spectrum radio transmission technology. While the GSM EDGE standard ("2.9G"), DECT cordless phones and Mobile WiMAX standards formally also fulfill the IMT-2000 requirements and are approved as 3G standards by ITU, these are typically not branded 3G, and are based on completely different technologies. A new generation of cellular standards has appeared approximately every tenth year since 1G systems were introduced in 1981/1982. Each generation is characterized by new frequency bands, higher data rates and non backwards compatible transmission technology. The first release of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard does not completely fulfill the ITU 4G requirements called IMT-Advanced. First release LTE is not backwards compatible with 3G, but is a pre-4G or 3.9G technology, however sometimes branded "4G" by the service providers. Its evolution LTE Advanced is a 4Gtechnology. WiMAX is another technology verging on or marketed as 4G.

4g is not yet opted in india it has only evolved in china

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Telecom sector :an outlook

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Communications in India

The Indian telecommunication industry is the world's fastest growing industry with 826.93 million mobile phone subscribers as of April 2011 It is also the second largest telecommunication network in the world in terms of number of wireless connections after China As the fastest growing telecommunications industry in the world, it is projected that India will have 1.159 billion mobile subscribers by 2013 .Furthermore; projections by several leading global consultancies indicate that the total number of subscribers in India will exceed the total subscriber count in the China by 2013. The industry is expected to reach a size of 344,921 crore (Us$76.92 billion) by 2012 at a growth rate of over 26 per cent, and generate employment opportunities for about 10 million people during the same period According to analysts, the sector would create direct employment for 2.8 million people and for 7 million indirectly. In 2008-09 the overall telecom equipments revenue in India stood at 136,833 crore (US$30.51 billion) during the fiscal, as against 115,382 crore (US$25.73 billion) a year before.[11] 1. Indian telecom industry The mobile subscriber base in India expanded to 670.6 million in August 2010 with the addition of 18.2 million new users during the month. Indian telecom is the fastest growing industry next only to IT industry. It has been demonstrating strong growth due to the Government support in the form of many regulatory and policy changes during the last 15 years. The industry has always surpassed the expectations of government targets particularly in the area of tele-density which has reached 59% now. The key regulatory and policy changes which created positive impact on the industry are switching over from fixed licence fee to Revenue sharing, introduction of third and fourth operator, introduction of calling party pays regime introduction of universal access licence, changes in access deficit charges
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issue of licence to new operators and transparent 3G spectrum auction policy Even though there is an increased clarity on the direction of regulation and policy, some of the policies have gone against the interests of the incumbent operators and created a major financial crisis. For example, the policy changes like issue of new licences to new mobile operators led to a large number of players entering the telecom market and ending up in over capacity led hyper completion. The industry is currently facing slow down in revenue growth and huge pressure on profit margin. Some of these key challenges faced by the telecom industry are listed below. Wireless industry in india The wireless industry in India has shown unparalleled growth . It takes into account the key drivers of mobility, such as ARPU, MoU, VAS, Data Cards, future trends in wireless internet, enterprise market and Convergence. ARPU and MoU With increasing number of subscribers, operators have to maintain QoS in order to Per second billing, increasing popularity of retain customers and fight the churn which dual SIM handsets and higher penetration in is expected up to 8-10% after the launch of C circles are the major contributors to the MNP, from 5-6%. Also decreasing AMPU continuously declining APRU and MoU. It is (average margin per user) has led to estimated that the blended ARPU for GSM increased focus on the revenue assurance and CDMA is expected to decline to `98 practices. and `60 respectively, WIRELESS INTERNET Wireless subscribers capable of accessing internet via mobile will grow from 149.03 mn in Dec09 to 187 mn in Dec10 .With private operators rolling out 3G soon, the number of active wireless internet subscribers is expected to grow exponentially. The main driver will be the ability to get real-time while MoU for GSM and CDMA will fall to information on the move. 320 and 260 minutes respectively by Dec 2010. Data Card The effect of declining ARPU and MoU can be directly seen in operators revenue. The need for all-time connectivity, increased Operators are trying to increase subscriber growth in sales of laptops, growing base so that once their 3G services are businesses across various segments, ease launched,
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they can migrate the high end of use with plug and play, internet access customers to 3G, thereby currently even in the far-flung areas, download speed sustaining loss but expecting future growth (maximum 3.1Mbps) and flexible monthly in revenues. rental plans (from `49 to `2500) are the major driving factors for the data card market. This segment is estimated to be services and to generate revenue and arrest worth `740 Cr in FY 2009-10. Most telecom falling ARPUs. operators have entered this market as they are focusing more on data. 3G will further The latest trend among operators and drive this market and give GSM players a Handset vendors is to have their own competitive edge over CDMA players. Sales mobile application stores, owing to their of data cards is expected to grow from 11 popularity and revenue earning potential. mn in 09-10 to 20 mn by the end of 2011. These app stores not only provide a secure single point for customer to get all the latest MVAS mobile applications but also an opportunity for the operators, 3rd party application The 3G scenario in the future will be data providers, aggregators and mobile handset driven and with cheapest call rates in the vendors to coexist. The success of any App world, Indian operators will be focusing store would depend on the Application more on non-voice services as their main portfolio, developer community and the source of revenue. The MVAS revenue for customer awareness. FY09-10 was `97.6 billion. MVAS currently contributes to 10% of operators revenue 3G will give an additional boost to the and is expected to reach `122 billion by the mobile gaming industry, with interactive end of 2010 and 158.6 billion by the end of games, multi player gaming and mobile 2011 thereby contributing to 20 % of gaming contests being introduced. Revenue operators revenue. from mobile gaming is expected to reach $250 million by the end of 2010. Mobile advertising is another source of revenue for the operator. At present, it is approximately $25 million and is expected to grow to $56.6 million in 2011. Advertising, which is majorly SMS and IVRS based, will see a shift towards video in the The major drivers for growth in MVAS will coming years. Mobile advertisement and be the increasing demand for mobile data content customization to a certain target connectivity, entertainment, personalized region, demography and behavioral data is content, mobile social networking, also being looked at as a source of revenue enhanced devices
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and low cost feature rich in both rural and urban areas. The diversity handsets. in languages and dialects in India creates a large potential market for regional content. Entertainment, especially music and cricket, AdRBT will be a major contributor in MVAS has always been highly popular in the revenue in the coming years. Indian VAS market and will continue to do so. However, operators will have to look at Operators are also focusing more on Rural other options like interactive Gaming, LBS, VAS, which is available in atleast 10 m-commerce, in order to differentiate their languages, providing mandi bhav (market rates), health & weather info and services like regional CRBT. These services are available at `15 per month, while the VAS challenges hindering the growth of LBS in services are available at higher price in India is the lack of awareness. So market urban areas. Since the next wave of growth leaders are now focusing on creating is expected from this segment, VAS awareness and educating the mobile users vendors will be focusing more on providing on the concept of LBS introducing newer new services to cater to this segment. devices with navigation capabilities. They These applications in VAS are reducing the need to have focused marketing campaigns digital divide between rural and urban besides showcasing live demonstrations of sectors. the service at various touch points (shopping malls, concept stores, airports IVR systems in local language would be etc) across the country. more popular in the rural scenario. ENTERPRISE MOBILITY, Social networking, blogging, browsing and streaming on mobiles will see an There will be an adoption of enterprise exponential increase. In Q1 2010, around mobility technologies and applications to 14.5 mn users accessed social networking increase business efficiency and to deliver sites via applications on mobile and around an enhanced level of customer experience. 30 mn via mobile web browsers. Out of the Enterprises are adopting IP total users, Orkut and Facebook users were communication i.e. IP telephony, unified 14.4 mn and 8mn respectively. The main messaging and voice mail for their voice drivers are the tie-ups between operators solution. The market has grown by 7.3% to and social networking sites, availability of `2200 Cr in FY 2009-10 and is expected to cheaper smart phones, popularity of social grow to `2467 Cr in 2010-11. networking sites, innovative pricing model like pay per site and network coverage even in rural areas. LBS is expected
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to be the next killer application, which will help cater to a variety of needs including public safety, consumer and enterprise services etc. So telecom operators, handset vendors and GIS companies are now focusing on paid Low cost broadband and cost effective VoIP services like traffic updates, navigation, are driving this segment. point of interest (POIs), location based advertising etc. LBS is expected to cost Audio-video conferencing industry between Rs `100 to 500 a month for continues to be on a growth trajectory and corporate users and Rs `30 to `100 for has become a popular mode of individual users. communication in the enterprise segment. Revenue from this segment increased by Even a subscriber having a very basic 15.2% during FY 2009-10 to `265 Cr and is handset can subscribe and enjoy these expected to exceed `335 cr in 2010-11. The services, as many of these application use major drivers for this growth are SMS and USSD platform. One of the main Outsourcing, offshoring, globalization, Operators are looking at services like IPTV, mobile workforces and telecommuting. 3G WebTV and MobileTV. They have already and WiMAX will be favorable for High started working on mobisodes, which are definition videoconferencing (HDVC). This mobile episodes, formatted for mobile will also enable the BPO industry to explore phone users. These are relatively shorter in high quality video-based call centers and length i.e 3-5 minutes. Mobile TV is at a hire work from home agents. Education very nascent stage in India. Initially it will and healthcare segments will also show an cost around `1.2 for GPRS and content inclination towards visual collaboration charges of 10 paise per KB, to completely technologies. download and watch a mobisode. We will be seeing variety of pricing model like:- pay Convergence per view, daily/monthly rental etc to cater to Telecom operators will focus more on the different need of users. providing bundled services to its subscribers CONCLUSION in order to increase the stickiness. One of the major applications will be Regional content, mobile internet, location- based service, Mobile TV, and M-commerce M-Commerce: - Mobile will become an will emerge as applications of the future. important means of providing remote Enterprises will explore the VAS market to financial and commercial services with a increase the
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stickiness of the subscriber. 3G maturing MVAS market and support of RBI will play a crucial role in shaping the for mobile banking services. wireless industry and providing triple play M-commerce focuses on banking the services. unbanked person. The various services that can be used with m-commerce are m- banking, m-shopping, m-ticketing, mmarketing, m-entertainment etc. But at present m-Payment market is still at its infancy with the current daily transaction in the range of 5-10 million. Reserve Bank of India is also taking initiatives to promote mcommerce, as it has increased the limit on daily fund transfer per customer and transactions involving purchase of goods/services to `50,000. Although there is a restriction for operators in becoming M- Banking associates. Media convergence will be another service provided by the telecom operators. Presently operators are providing a service in which a subscriber can record a T.V program on their DTH via their mobile.

An overview of internet and wireless connectivity-

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Definition of internet- The Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer net works that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other resources of the World Wide Web (www).

Common uses of the Internet:- E-mail, World Wide Web, Remote Access, Collaboration, Streaming Media, File Sharing, Voice Telephony

Driving Growth Of Internet Data - Card growing business in all segments, necessity to access emails and corporate applications during urgent business trips and the urge for some entertainment while on the move are some drivers increasing the demand for data card usage. Apart from these factors, as the name of Tata Indicoms data card, Plug 2 surf, Suggests, ease of use with plug and play factor is also a driver for growth, faster surfing and higher download.

Perceived benefits of Internet data card:27

Among the process there are various factors that might influence consumers purchase during their purchasing process. Many of these factors also reflect the advantages and disadvantages of Internet as a shopping medium. The advantages or benefits currently conceived by people are described as the followings.

Convenience: From our questionnaire survey and focus group discussion we have come to know that when a customer thinks to purchase a data card for accessing internet they mostly its convenient to access internet at anywhere at any time. Especially those who have to extensively traveling its quite convenient for them to get connected with World Wide Web!

Time saving: Some time data card also proves time saving from the customers especially for business executives who have to travel extensively due to their job purpose. If they are using a data card for accessing internet they dont have to find out a cyber caf at an unknown place.

Economical: From our secondary research we have found that for younger group of consumers (age group of 18-28) who generally spend
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a lot of time for downloading different kind of materials like music, picture, data, due to availability of some attractive tariff plans offered by the different players along with their respective data cards, its seems a must have utility device for all young laptop users.

DRAWBACKS.

Perceived risk of Internet data card:-

Perceived risk can be defined as the uncertainty that consumers face when they cannot foresee the consequences of their purchase decision. Customer perception of risk varies depending on individuals, situation and product. The degree of risk that consumers perceive and their own tolerance for risk taking, are factors that influence their purchase strategy (Schiff man and Kanuk, 2000). Individuals tend to reduce perceived risk to some acceptable level in any given purchase situation.

Risks of internet connection speed:

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Internet connection speed refers to the data transfer rate from the Internet to our computer. Basically that means the amount of time it takes our computer to download a given amount of data. Internet connection speeds are usually measure din Kbps (kilobits per second, or thousands of bits per second) or KBps (kilobytesper second).According to our study, consumers already have a predisposition.

Data card do not provide good internet connection speed, so during product evaluations and purchasing activities they mostly think about product attributes. g. internet connection speed, signal strength. Therefore here implication for management is during product evaluation; purchase activities, retailers must take some necessary measures to reduce the uncertainty in the customer mind by aggressive promotional strategies, especially focusing on innovating below the line(BTL) marketing activities, giving excellent product demonstrations during purchase and most importantly reducing the cognitive dissonance during post purchase behavior by giving enough assurance about product qualities, warrant as well as excellent after sale service.

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Research Objective:-

Research Question:-

What is the inter-brand recall of Internet data card and their existing image in the consumer's mind?

What is the effect of non-attribute factors on the purchasing decision of Internet data card?

How strong is the brand loyalty of customers towards Internet data card?

What are the factors that play the most important role in a consumer's choice of buying Internet data card?

Research Boundaries:-

The research was conducted in noida City, and the respondents were chosen on the basis of their usage of Internet data card.

Research Tactics:-

Questionnaires (annexure 1)

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Sampling Plan

The theoretical population:- The population was aged between 25 to 45+ from the noida city from deferent multiple brand outlets.

Sampling frame:- Company's own outlet retailing shops, from students were drawn as respondent and are interview.

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Implementation:-

Data Collection- 1

There are two types of data; primary and secondary data. Primary data in this project work primary data has been collected by:

Interviews with citizens of Noida city for collecting of background information such as products explanation; market situation in Noida City and information for distributors.

Discussions have been done with telecom representatives in the investigated markets to apply information and further discussions after the questionnaires.

Questionnaires have been done on several respondents in the local area and perception about the data card was collected. The questionnaires are used to get exactly and comparable answers in questions. Primary data has given answer in following questions in each of the studied markets:

Competitors name and position, Customers Marketing methods used by different data card providers Number of people having laptop or PC
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Number of people using internet. Average monthly usage of internet Monthly expenditure of internet of the people. Number of different occupation & age category using internet Number of people aware about the data card Number of data card users Number of people favoring different categories of data card. Number of people aware about the Vodafone data card. Purpose of using internet. Primary Data is collected throw question as related to data card from deferent area of retailers & users (Customer) from deferent retailing shops colleges, outlets.

Secondary data

Review of literatures is used to get relevant theories. Printed literatures are articles and books in telecom sectors providing data card .

Homepages are used for information about competitors. The information about the different product launched by different players along with their tariff plans, cost ,etc. were collected from different websites .

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Data Collection-

The survey was done in noida city from sector 20,sector 19 ,sector 18(atta market. The retailers & customer of data card were interviewed.

The Final Survey:-phase 2

The final survey helped us to collect data on main influencers towards the purchase data cards, Benefits that are most important for each segment of customers, Comparative brand and benefit perceptions, Trade-offs between price and quality, Preferred points of purchase, Consumer's position within the Needs Hierarchy Model (Awareness, Knowledge, Liking Preference, Commitment land conviction with respect to won an competitive brands and consumer satisfaction.

Brand Recall- A sample of customers, which is representative of the noida city population, was surveyed and unaided recall of the brands by these customers was recorded. It was observed that Reliance data cards had the highest.

Consumer behavior towards Internet data Card:35

when consumer purchase internet data card they perform certain sequence of tasks: searching for information about different products, evaluating the sealer natives, and transacting the chosen alternative. However, the family and friends has great impact on these activities.

Problem recognition:- The starting point is feeling the need or recognition of a problem. The need for accessing internet at anywhere can trigger the recognition of a need or problem.

Can have significant impact by encouraging customers to begin the information search process

Information Search:- Once customers identify the need they may seek information about retailers or products to help them satisfy. Customer search regarding internet data card could be limited because its a specialty product. Our analysis has shown that in terms of Internet data card customer mostly refer to family and friend as reference group. These reference groups affect buying decision offering information like price, tariff plan availability and so forth. Providing rewards for specific purchasing behaviors for instance friends could appreciate that you could access internet at anywhere if you are carrying a laptop. By identifying and
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affiliating with reference groups, consumers create, enhance, and maintain their self-image. Customers who want to create an image of mobile, technologically updated person as well as want to be seen as members of a higher social class might buy internet data card from Reliance or other competitors products.

Product Evaluation:- During this stage, consumers process different product information and make a final value judgment. The multi attribute model provides a useful way for summarizing how customers use the information they have about alternative brands of internet data card. From our consumer behavior analysis we have found out that on this stage customer evaluate data card on its several attributes like price, net speed, tariff plan which come along with, looks etc and they also decide which attributes are most important for them. The multi attribute model shows that how consumer gives weights of importance to the various attributes of a data card. Example multi attribute model which is actually has been taken from one of our questionnaire shown that how a consumer gives importance to different product attributes of data card. No.

Attributes/Benefits Rating

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1. Price

2. User friendly

3. Net Speed

4. Installation

5. Durability

6. Tariff plan

7. after sales service

We can see that consumer is giving more importance to net speed and signal strength. So marketer should put more focus of highlighting these two attributes.

Purchase Activity: -

Its not necessary that customer will always

purchase a brand or data card with evaluation. The data card offering benefits (having the highest evaluation) may not be available in the store, or the customer may feel that the risks outweigh the potential. During purchasing customer also may feel that their data card might not be able to
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meet their expectations. Therefore retailer should ensure that their salespersons are knowledgeable enough and they are also skilled presenter of their product, otherwise it could raise confusion in customers mind during purchasing of data card, reducing the actual and perceived time of purchasing.

Post Purchase Activities:- As we know buying process doesnt end when a customer purchase a product. From focus group interviews we have come to know that after making a purchase of data card, customer evaluate their experience on the basis of net speed, signal strength amount of money they have spent. Customers often feel that service providers do not deliver what they promise. They feel players should present the terms and conditions and tariff plans/schemes in clear terms. Mentioning every small detail regarding the tariff plans must be included in the bill. For example, if a company intends to collect an advanced monthly rental from customers, then it has to mention that in its tariff plan, so that customers are not shocked when they see a 56 bill that includes monthly advance rentals as well. This kind of practice might keep customers away from going for a particular brand.

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Marketing Strategy:-

Segmentation:- In the wireless data card market there exist different categories of customers who have different needs and are willing to pay different amount for the product that meets their demand. Introduction of upgraded version of wireless data card for instance Vodafone recently launched wireless data card specially meant for those who frequently travel abroad would help Vodafone identify the needs of the customers and take advantage of the segment which has not yet been targeted by the company. Price sensitivity, importance of attributes, point of purchase decision makers and customers influenced by additional features are the factors on which we will segment the upgraded internet data card market.

Market research
The conclusions from the survey help us in identifying the positioning of the Upgrade version of wireless data card.

Target market:- The target market has been identified as the customers who are concerned about the attributes of the internet data card but are not willing to shift from the current price band to a higher price band.

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Competitor Brands:-

The upgrade data card will be competing with brands like Tataphoton plus, airtel 3G and Reliance,vodafone.

Choice Criteria:-

As per our findings the 3 factors on grouping attributes post factor analysis that contribute to the data card Purchase decisions are:

Factor 1 Product attributes (Net speed, Signal Strdengh, Ease of Use).

Factor 2 Price Sensitivity (Price, Tariff plans And Offers/ Discounts).

Factor 3 Pointy of Purchase (Availability in stores and package Design)

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Graphs and chart

1) Which mobile handset are you currently using (company name & model no.) ?
Total = 100

If the availability of the mobile phone is low, then the probability of having an internet connection connected to it getting more less, this fact shows that only 100% out of 100 are having mobile phones with them and highest of the population is using nokia handsets. .

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2)

Which service provider are you currently using for your data card?

Total = 100

Here through the survey we concluded that nearly 35% population is

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using reliance connection for their surfing and net use i.e. 35 people

out of 100 , next comes airtel with 20% population

3) Which type of connection are you using? Total=100 Here when the question related to type of connection used is survey the result was that around 63% population i.e.63 people are using
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prepaid connections for their net use and around 37 people out of 100 are using postpaid connections.

4) Which technology are you using for your data card?

Total = 100

Here when respondent were asked about the technology for their data card around 68% population out of 100 replied that they used 2g technology for their surfing and 32 replied about 3g , this shows that people are not that aware about 3g technology.

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5) If user of 2g technology, then you are planning to shift to 3g in near future? Total=68

Here The total no. of people ready to shift to 3g are 44 and who are not ready are 18 are 6 people didnt responded anything to the shift

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6) Are you satisfied with the services provided by your service provider? Total =100 when the users of 2g and 3g technology wee asked about the satisfaction level of their data card technology nearly 48 % responded no and showed willingness to know about other brands while 52 users responded yes that they are satisfied with their service

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7) Have you ever used 3g technology for your networking purpose in your data card? TOTAL = 100 HERE when the respondent were asked about the 3g technology they have used or not nearly 32 out of 100 responded yes and 68 responded no that they have never used 3g technology.

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8) How much interested you are with the news of 3g?

Total=100

when respondent were asked about how excited they are about 3g technology nearly 29 responded very positivily 38 responded normally 17 responded not very positive and 16 responded negivily

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9) Rate the following 3g services according to your preference 1 for lowest and 5 for highest TOTAL = 32 WHEN users of 3g were asked about the preference for 3g data card highest no. of people ranked high speed internet as the prime preference and gaming as the lowest .

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10) For what purpose do you want to use 3g multimedia services Total=32 When the users of 3g data card were asked about the using purpose for their data card maximum replied for the daily surfing ,enquiry purpose and business purpose while lowest replied for the communication purpose

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recommendation and conclusion

Findings
As nokia and Samsung according to the survey are among the prime used mobile handsets among micromax,spice sony erisson and others smart

,nokia at

and Samsung provides cheap prices which in the

multimedia to prime

handsets

influences net easily and at low cost. Due launch of Airtel 3G and reliance market it awareness is high in the market people are less used in market and percentage of positive

using its connection for net use more as compared to tata ,bsnl and Vodafone are between

consumer

so

less

respondent of internet data card are there. Mostly youth and working class people use net for their daily use enquiry and for their business use

Most of the respondents emphasis on the high speed internet and rank gaming as the lowest purpose for using net and using 3g technology

Customers want bundling of services with quality network and low tariffs. There is a large scope for increasing revenues in 3G through Various source of media.
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 Network connectivity and tariff rates are the major concern for customers to switch their mobile operator.

Customers are willing to pay for new product having good brand images Companys distribution network is not as much large as other operators.

Company adopts reactive advertisement strategy.

Recommedation

On the basis of survey , it came out that most of the people are aware of Airtel 3G services and reliance, even the retailer are aware about the scheme of Airtel 3G and because of which it is making good position market but in some area like near sector 126 , atta market, people are little bit unaware ,even retailer are having less information about the secheme and hence they are not able to give information about the schemes to customer Company can consolidate its position by persuading customers to increase internet usage on mobile and provide high speed. Most of the respondents use social networking websites along with browsing internet.

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To increase its awareness in market company should adopt promotion strategy i.e company should segment the market of 3G by analysis of certain parameters: Demographic factors Gender: male ,female Age : 15-20 , 20-25, 25-30, above 30

Psychographic factors Lifestyle

The Company like aircel,bsnl,Vodafone and others should target the market to increase it sales by advertisement through media,by adopting canopy and

Van activity Company should take care of Tariff rates and validity as this strategy ,may help company to attract more and more customer towards 3G plans and it will easily penetrate in Noida market at top position then any other operators

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REFERENCES:-

Frost & Sullivan (2007), Telecom Marketing Research

Banka Sanjoy (2006), An Applied Catalyzing Indias New Economy

Naresh K. Malhotra Jain Rekha (2001),Mergers andOrientation

Fortis Investments (2006), A Acquisitions in Indian Telecom Industry

Philip Kotler (2001), Marketing Management

http://www.capitaline.com/

http://www.oecd.org/
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http://www.wikipedia.org/

http://www.dot.gov.in

http://www.legalserviceindia.com

http://www.ibef.org/

http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/ http://www.trai.gov.in/

http://www.domain-b.com/ http://www.financialexpress.com

http://www.perry4law.wordpress.com/ http://www.emeraldinsight.com/

http://www.pib.nic.in/

http://www.rcom.co.in

http://www.search.epnet.com/

http://www.vodafone.in

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 http://www.airtelworld.com

http://bsnl.co.in http://www.tataindicom.com

http://www.airtel.in http://www.ibef.org/industry/telecommunications.aspx

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-ByIndustry/Telecom/GSM-CDMA-players-maintain-subscribergrowth-momentum/articleshow/4281903.cms

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090404/868/ttc-dot-directs-banon-usage-of-chinese.html

http://www.netweavermagazine.com/archive/Volume_02_ (2006)/Issue_02_(Spring)/v2i2 a09.cfm 92

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annexture 1

Questionnaire on 3g
Name Gender Age Profession

1) Which mobile handset are you currently using (company name & model no.) ?

2) Which service provider are you currently using for your data card?

Airtel Vodafone
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Bsnl Tata Reliance Other

3) Which type of connection are you using?

Postpaid Prepaid

4) Which technology are you using for your data card?

2g 3g

5) If user of 2g technology, then you are planning to shift to 3g in near future?

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Yes No Dont know

6) Are you satisfied with the services provided by your service provider? No Yes

7) Have you ever used 3g technology for your networking purpose in your data card? Yes No

8) How much interested you are with the news of 3g?

Yes ,very Yes,little

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Yes,some No

Only For 3g technology users

9) Rate the following 3g services according to your preference 1 for lowest and 5 for highest

1 5

High speed internet

Video calling

Live tv

Online gaming

Video movies Downloading

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Gps for navigation purpose

10) For what purpose do you want to use 3g multimedia services

Entertainment Communication Daily life information enquiry Business other

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case study
Intex Launches 3G Wireless Data Card

Mumbai -India, February 21, 2012: Intex Technologies, pioneer in Technology & IT Products, announced the launch of its first 3G wireless data card. This card aims to provide users with multiple benefits- from web access, browsing, e-mailing, social networking, sharing of photographs, downloading and uploading heavy files to music downloads and video streaming on-the-go; all in all, a pleasurable experience! With its unmatched downloading speed up to 7.2Mbps and up to 5.76Mbps uploading speed, this sleek card can be effortlessly slipped into the USB slot of a laptop or other devices for high-speed 3G wireless connectivity for Internet and phone calls. It is also compatible with GPRS enabled SIM cards on a 2G platform. An added feature of the data card is that it allows users to send and receive messages along with managing phone book through the laptop/ PC.

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Commenting on the launch, Mr. Vikram Kalia, GM- Product Management, Intex Technologies said, "INTEX 3G wireless data card strengthens Intex's commitment to bring a digital revolution by transforming the way Indians communicate, conduct business and get entertained. The data card allows the users to access internet whenever and wherever they want without having to worry about Wi-Fi hotspots or the exorbitantly priced tariffs of hotels, etc. In today's world, being connected 24/7 has become a necessity, a way of life. Keeping this in mind, Intex has launched this card with wireless access on both 2G & 3G Sim, making seamless and continued connectivity a reality for its customers." Intex plans to soon tie up with the 3G service providers to offer attractive combo offers and make this service popular in India. This 3G data card will be available at both IT and Telecom Channel Partners and also at INTEX SQUARES (exclusive retail stores), across the country. Attractively priced at Rs 2820, the USB card/stick supports micro SD card up to 16 GB and runs on most of the available operating systems- Windows, XP, Vista Win 7, Mac OS and Linux. Intex Technologies (India) Ltd.

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Synopsis

2G AND 3G DATA CARD SERVICES IN TELECOM SECTOR

Project objective
To study the evolution stages evolved at 1g TO 3G

The different telecom operaters dealing in 3g and 2g services

TO STUDY THE CUSTOMER PERCEPTION ABOUT 2G AND 3G SERVICES IN

INDIA TO STUDY THE DIFFERENT TARRIFF OFFERINGS BY DIFFERENT OPERATORS 65

 TO STUDY THE MARKET SHARE OF DIFFERENT OPERATORS

TO STUDY THE RETAILER PERCEPTION ABOUT 2G AND 3G SERVICES IN

INDIA
TO STUDY VARIOUS FACTOR WHICH INFLUENCE CONSUMER TO

CHOOSE A PARTICULAR SERVICE

MATERIAL AND METHODS

RESEARCH TYPE: PRIMARY RESEARCH AND EXPLORATORY

SAMPLE SIZE: 100

DURATION : 3 MONTHS SURVEY AREA: NOIDA DATA TYPE: PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION METHOD: QUESTIONAIRE AND INTERVIEWS DATA COLLECTION TOOL: WILL BE DECIDED AFTER DATA COLLECTION

Brief summary
PROJECT IS BASED ON THE DATA CARD PENETRATION IN NOIDA CITY

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