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INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 1.1 Introduction to Telecom Industry

The technology that gives a person the power to communicate anytime, anywhere has spawned an entire industry in mobile telecommunication. Mobile telephones have become an integral part of the growth, success and efficiency of any business/economy. The most prevalent wireless standard in the world today, is GSM. The GSM Association (Global System for Mobile Communications) was instituted in 1987 to promote and expedite the adoption, development and deployment and evolution of the GSM standard for digital wireless communications. The GSM Association was found as a result of a European Community agreement on the need to adopt common standard suitable for cross border European mobile communications. Starting off primarily as a European standard, the Group Special Mobile as it was then called, soon came to represent the Global System for Mobile Communications as it achieved the status of a worldwide standard. GSM is today, the worlds leading digital standard accounting for 68.5% of the global digital wireless market. The Indian Government when considering the introduction of cellular services into the country, made a landmark decision to introduction the GSM standard, leapfrogging obsolescent technologies/standards.

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Indian Telecom Industry

At 110.01 million connections ' Indian Telecom Industry' is the fifth largest and fastest growing in the world. The subscriber base has grown by 40% in 2005 and is expected to reach 250 million in 2007. Over the last 3 years, two out of every three new telephone connections were wireless. Consequently, wireless now accounts for 54.6% of the total telephone subscriber base, as compared to only 40% in 2003. Wireless subscriber growth is expected to grow at 2.5 million new subscribers every month in 2007. The wireless subscriber base skyrocketed from 33.69 million in 2004 to 62.57 million in FY 2004 -2005. The wireless technologies currently in use ' Indian Telecom Industry ' are Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). There are primarily 9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile services in 19 telecommunication circles and 4 metro cities, covering more than 2000 towns across the country. And the numbers are still growing for ' Indian Telecom Industry '. Telecom Industry in India ' is regulated by 'Telecom Regulatory Authority of India' (TRAI). It has earned good reputation for transparency and competence. Three types of players exists in ' Telecom Industry India ' community

State owned companies like - BSNL and MTNL. Private Indian owned companies like - Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices. Foreign invested companies like Hutchison-Essar, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Escotel, Idea Cellular, BPL Mobile, Spice Communications etc.

The Indian Telecom Industry service is not confined to basic telephone but it also extends to internet, broadband (both wireless and fixed), cable TV, SMS, IPTV, soft switches etc. The bottlenecks for ' Indian Telecom Industry ' are:

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Slow reform process: - Low penetration. Service providers bears huge initial cost to make inroads and achieving break-even is difficult. Huge initial investments. Limited spectrum availability and interconnection charges between the private and state operators.

The Government Broadband Policy 2004 aims at 9 million broadband connections and 18 million internet connections in 2007. Indian Telecom Industry ' is currently expected to contribute nearly 1% to India's GDP which is heartening and estimated to grow further and brighten the ' Scenario of Indian Telecom Industry '.

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1.2 Introduction of various cellular operators

Introduction The Indian Telecommunications network with 110.01 million connections is the fifth largest in the world and the second largest among the emerging economies of Asia. Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world and represents unique Opportunities for U.S. companies in the stagnant global scenario. The total subscriber base, which has grown by 40% in 2005, is expected to reach 250 million in 2007. According to Broadband Policy 2004, Government of India aims at 9 million Broadband connections and 18 million internet connections by 2007. The wireless Subscriber base has jumped from 33.69 million in 2004 to 62.57 million in FY2004- 2005. In the last 3 years, two out of every three new telephone subscribers were wireless subscribers. Consequently, wireless now accounts for 54.6% of the total telephone subscriber base, as compared to only 40% in 2003. Wireless subscriber growth is expected to bypass 2.5 million new subscribers per month by 2007. The wireless technologies currently in use are Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). There are primarily 9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile services in 19 telecom circles and 4 metro cities, covering 2000 towns across the country. BSNL On October 1, 2000 the Department of Telecom Operations, Government of India became a corporation and was renamed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). BSNL is now Indias leading telecommunications company and the largest public sector undertaking. It has a network of over 45 million lines covering 5000 towns with over 35 million telephone connections. The state-controlled BSNL operates basic, cellular (GSM and CDMA) mobile, Internet and long distance services throughout India (except Delhi and Mumbai). BSNL will be expanding the network in line with the Tenth Five-Year Plan (1992-97). The aim is to provide a telephone density of 9.9 per hundred by March 2007. BSNL, which became the
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Solapur University third operator of GSM mobile services in most circles, is now planning to overtake Bharti to become the largest GSM operator in the country. BSNL is also the largest operator in the Internet market, with a share of 21 per cent of the entire subscriber base

BHARTI Established in 1985, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit, ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi, first private basic telephone service provider in the country, first Indian company to provide comprehensive telecom services outside India in Seychelles and first private sector service provider to launch National Long Distance Services in India. Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting investments in telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate telecom services across India. Bhartis operations are broadly handled by two companies: the Mobility group, which handles the mobile services in 16 circles out of a total 23 circles across the country; and the Infotel group, which handles the NLD, ILD, fixed line, broadband, data, and satellite-based services. Together they have so far deployed around 23,000 km of optical fiber cables across the country, coupled with approximately 1,500 nodes, and presence in around 200 locations. The group has a total customer base of 6.45 million, of which 5.86 million are mobile and 588,000 fixed line customers, as of January 31, 2004. In mobile, Bhartis footprint extends across 15 circles. Bharti Tele-Ventures' strategic objective is to capitalize on the growth opportunities the company believes are available in the Indian telecommunications market and consolidate its position to be the leading integrated telecommunications services provider in key markets in India, with a focus on providing mobile services.

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RELIANCE INFOCOMM Reliance is a $16 billion integrated oil exploration to refinery to power and textiles conglomerate (Source: http://www.ril.com/newsitem2.html). It is also an integrated telecom service provider with licenses for mobile, fixed, domestic long distance and international services. Reliance Infocomm offers a complete range of telecom services, covering mobile and fixed line telephony including broadband, national and international long distance services, data services and a wide range of value added services and applications. Reliance India Mobile, the first of Infocomm's initiatives was launched on December 28, 2002. This marked the beginning of Reliance's vision of ushering in a digital revolution in India by becoming a major catalyst in improving quality of life and changing the face of India. Reliance Infocomm plans to extend its efforts beyond the traditional value chain to develop and deploy telecom solutions for India's farmers, businesses, hospitals, government and public sector organizations. Until recently, Reliance was permitted to provide only limited mobility services through its basic services license. However, it has now acquired a unified access license for 18 circles that permits it to provide the full range of mobile services. It has rolled out its CDMA mobile network and enrolled more than 6 million subscribers in one year to become the countrys largest mobile operator. It now wants to increase its market share and has recently launched pre-paid services. Having captured the voice market, it intends to attack the broadband market. IDEA Indian regional operator IDEA Cellular Ltd. has a new ownership structure and grand designs to become a national player, but in doing so is likely to become a thorn in the side of Reliance Communications Ltd. IDEA operates in eight telecom circles, or regions, in Western India, and has received additional GSM licenses to expand its network into three circles in Eastern India -- the first phase of a major expansion plan that it intends to fund through an IPO, according to parent company Aditya Birla Group.
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1.3 Objectives of the study.

1. To know the awareness of Aircel Pocket Internet in Mumbai city. 2. To study the various plans of Aircel Pocket Internet 3. To know the internet usage level among respondents 4. To study the problem faced by respondents towards Aircel Pocket Internet 5. To suggest improvements to Aircel Pocket Internet if any

1.4 Scope & Limitation

1. 2. 3. The study is restricted to Aircel Pocket Internet The present research is restricted to the Mumbai city (Western line) only The project was undertaken from 8st June to 27 July, 2009.

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1.5Research Methodology
Data Types and Sources Primary Data: Primary data can be obtained by communication or by observation. Communication involves questioning respondents either verbally or in writing. This method is versatile, since one needs only to ask for the information; however, the response may not be accurate. Communication usually is quicker and cheaper than observation. Observation involves the recording of actions and is performed by either a person or some mechanical or electronic device. Observation is less versatile than communication since some attributes of a person may not be readily observable, such as attitudes, awareness, knowledge, intentions, and motivation. Observation also might take longer since observers may have to wait for appropriate events to occur, though observation using scanner data might be quicker and more cost effective. Observation typically is more accurate than communication. Personal interviews have an interviewer bias that mail-in questionnaires do not have. For example, in a personal interview the respondent's perception of the interviewer may affect the responses. Secondary Data: Before going through the time and expense of collecting primary data, one should check for secondary data that previously may have been collected for other purposes but that can be used in the immediate study. Secondary data may be internal to the firm, such as sales invoices and warranty cards, or may be external to the firm such as published data or commercially available data. The government census is a valuable source of secondary data. Secondary data has the advantage of saving time and reducing data gathering costs. The disadvantages are that the data may not fit the problem perfectly and that the accuracy may be more difficult to verify for secondary data than for primary data.
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Solapur University Research instrument Questionnaire Design: The questionnaire is a structured technique for collecting primary data in a marketing survey. It is a series of written or verbal questions for which the respondent provides answers. A well-designed questionnaire motivates the respondent to provide complete and accurate information. The survey questionnaire should not be viewed as a stand-alone tool. Along with the questionnaire there is field work, rewards for the respondents, and communication aids, all of which are important components of the questionnaire process. Form of Question Response Questions can be designed for open-ended, dichotomous, or multichotomous responses.

Open-ended responses are difficult to evaluate, but are useful early in the research process for determining the possible range of responses. Dichotomous questions have two possible opposing responses, for example, "Yes" and "No". Multi-chotomous questions have a range of responses as in a multiple choice test.

Sampling Plan
a. Sample unit: It is the basic unit containing the population to be sampled. The sample units were the customers using Aircel Pocket Internet in Mumbai city b. Sampling Method: Sampling method used was Random Sampling c. Sample Size :

Total number of respondents surveyed was 100

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Solapur University 1.6 Significance of the study The study will help the organization to know the opinion about customers to Aircel Pocket Internet. This will help Aircel to offer plans as per the respondents expectations and improve their connectivity so as to increase their customer base in some of the areas where there is problems to connectivity. This will help Aircel to improve its market share and be competitive.

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COMPANY PROFILE 2.1 About Aircel

Aircel is a mobile phone service provider in India. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout Kerala, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Andhra Pradesh, Assam, North East India, Orissa, West Bengal (including Kolkata), Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh & Mumbai. Aircel was founded by NRI businessman C Sivasankaran. [1] Aircel is a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Apollo Hospital Enterprise Ltd of India. It is Indias seventh largest GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 18 million. It has a market share of 6.3% among the GSM operators in the country. As on date, Aircel is present in 17 telecom circles (including Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, North East, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Delhi) and with licences secured for the remaining 10 of the 23 telecom circles, the company plans to become a pan-India operator by 2009. Additionally, Aircel has also obtained permission from Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide International Long Distance (ILD) and National Long Distance (NLD) telephony services. It is also a category A ISP. Aircel Business Solutions (ABS), part of Aircel, is an ISO 9000 certified company. ABS is a registered member of WiMAX forum both in the Indian and International Chapters. ABS product range includes enterprise solutions such as Multi Protocol Label Switching Virtual Private Networks (MPLS VPNs), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Managed Video Services on wireless platform including WiMAX. Aircel has won many awards for its services. Aircel got the highest rating for overall customer satisfaction and network quality in 2006 by Voice and Data. Aircel was rated as the top mid-size utility company in Business Worlds List of Best Mid-Size Companies

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Solapur University in 2007. Moreover, Aircel has been selected as the best regional operator in 2008 by Tele.net.

Aircel are one of the sponsors of the Indian Premier League Cricket Team Chennai Super Kings captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It is also the sponsor for Professional Golf Tour of India from 2009 onwards. Competitors Aircel is the seventh largest carrier in India. Its competitors are (in order of customer totals): Airtel Reliance Communications Vodafone Essar BSNL Idea Cellular Tata Teleservices

Aircel Ltd

Type Founded Headquarters Key people Industry Products Website

Private 1999 Chennai, India Gurdeep Singh, COO Telecom Mobile Telecommunication operator www.aircel.com

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2.2 Brief History of Organization

About Maxis Malaysia

Maxis Communication Berhad (Maxis) is the leading mobile communications service provider in Malaysia with a subscriber base of 10.1 million as of Quarter 1 2008.

Maxis was granted communications licenses to operate a nationwide GSM900 mobile network, a domestic fixed network and an international gateway in 1993, and commenced mobile telecommunications operations in August 1995, and fixed line and international operations in early 1996.

Maxis mobile service is offered under the Maxis brand for postpaid and Hotlink for prepaid. Maxis launched its 3G service Maxis3G in July 2005, and in September 2006 became among the worlds first to use HSDPA, a high-speed upgrade of the 3G network, for a large scale rollout of residential broadband services.

Maxis growth story and track record of bringing innovation, excellent customer experience and value to stakeholders has won the company many awards over the years.

Recently, Maxis was recognized by Frost & Sullivan as Service Provider of the Year (Malaysia) at the Malaysia Telecoms Awards 2008 and as Mobile Operator of the Year (Malaysia) at the Asian Mobile News Award 2008 in Singapore.

The readers of The Wall Street Journal Asia have rated Maxis as Malaysia's most admired company in The Wall Street Journal Asia 200 survey in 2006. Maxis & Aircel Maxis completed the acquisition of its 74 percent interest in Aircel in March 2006. Aircel is among the fastest growing GSM mobile operators in India with a total subscriber base of 12.5 million as of July 2008.
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Solapur University Aircel currently operates in 10 of the 23 telecom circles in India with a collective population of approximately 370 million. Aircel has ambition to be a pan-India mobile player and services will be rolled out to the remaining 13 telecom circles in the coming months. Aircel has licences and spectrum holdings to operate mobile GSM services in all telecom circles and it also holds licences to operate domestic and international long distance services in India. Aircel currently also provides WiMax services in the top 30 cities in India.

Maxis in Indonesia Indonesian Partner of Maxis: PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler (NTS) NTS in Indonesia operates under the AXIS brand with the mission to provide quality, affordable and simple GSM and 3G mobile services to all Indonesians. Services were commercially launched in April 2008 and as of July 2008 AXIS had approximately one million subscribers. AXIS now has coverage in most main areas of Java and northern Sumatra. Going forward, AXIS will move rapidly to expand its network and services to the rest of Indonesia. Maxis Vision & Values 1. Simple We aim to keep everything we do as simple as possible. For example, customers understand what it is we are telling them because we do it in a way that is straightforward and easy to understand. We make things simple for everyone, including ourselves. Keeping things simple also means that everything we say is said in a clear direct tone of voice that is friendly and human. 2. Trustworthy Trust is crucial in every successful relationship and this is true between customers and Maxis, just as it is true between the company and its employees. All

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Solapur University good relationships are built on trust which inspires confidence, and, assurance, conviction and reliance. To be trustworthy is a way of life 3. Creative Creativity defines us and therefore differentiates us from our competition. It inspires not only our communication style, but also how we answer the phone, design our stores, and deal with challenges. Creative runs through everything we do and everything we say, it's in our DNA.
Aircel in India

Aircel has a strong regional presence in the Southern and Eastern parts of India. As of end August 2007, Aircel has operations in 9 of the 23 telecom circles of India - Chennai, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar - and plans to launch its 10th circle in Kolkata during December 2007.

Having received mobile licenses for all the remaining 14 circles in November 2006, Aircel is now poised to become a pan-India telecom player. Aircel is expected to expand its operations via the commercial launch of the new circles (in a phased manner) as and when the spectrum is received from the Government of India. Aircel is still awaiting spectrum allocations for 13 of the new circles. Additionally, Aircel has obtained approval from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide International Long Distance (ILD) and National Long Distance (NLD) telephony services.

Aircels network provides 2G and GPRS services, and is fully EDGE enabled. It has also successfully concluded 3G trials on its network. Aircel is amongst the first to pioneer WiMax in India. In December 2006, it became the first operator in India and amongst the few in the world to provide pan-city WiMax coverage. The WiMax services are targeted at the SME and enterprise markets. Aircel has since extended its WiMax coverage to the top 30 cities across India. Aircel currently have 1,700 personnel, with an additional outsourced workforce of 1,300 personnel.
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Mission Mumbai The Aircel D Factor ..Where D Stands For.. Differentiator vs. competition on products, services, channel management, & new distribution model. Disruptive for competition on their bottom lines/profits, not through just pricing but through innovative benefits to trade & consumers. Dynamic on defining the new rules of overall Industry Business Dynamics. Demolish Competition Share in the Market by hitting hard where it hurts the most, through mind-blowing, innovative, & engaging trade schemes. Delight for the consumers in terms of delivering a error-free network & host of value for money services.

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2.3 Products Aircel Prepaid

Aircel allows you to speak as much as you want to. Find a tariff plan that fits your usage and budget best. Whats more, get a whole bouquet of value-added services to go with it. With easy recharge options, you will never run out of validity again. Add to that our widespread network allows you to get the best cellular experience possible. So get connected and be a part of the Aircel family today! Prepaid Product Aircel Lifetime SUK

SUK Construct:

Maximum Retail Price Rs99/Inbuilt Talk Time Rs10/Inbuilt Validity Lifetime#

#Lifetime validity will be disconnected in case of no outgoing / recharge for any continuous period of 6 months with at least Rs. 200 every 6 month. Tariff Proposition 1, 2, 3 Local 1st Minute 2 Minute 3 Minute
rd nd

National Re 1.5 Re 1 75p

National (On Net) Re 1 75p 75p

Re 1 50p 30p

SMS Tariff

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Solapur University SMS Local National International Rate Cutter Options MRP
Rs19 Rs29 Rs 33 Rs 39 Rs 49 Rs 59 Rs 69

Rs./SMS 1.00 1.50 5.00

Benefits Aircel Nights: 1500 Aircel Aircel minutes Between 11pm 7 am. Validity: 1 month. Local calls @ 50p. Validity: 1 month. STD Pack: Aircel STD @ 50p & Other STD @ Re1 Validity: 1 month. SMS Pack: 400 local/national SMS free. Validity: 1 month. Global Calling: US & Canada Rs1.5, China & Far East Rs4, Our Neighbors & Gulf Rs7. Validity: 1 month. Local STD Calling: Local calls @ 50p, Aircel STD - 50p & STD Others Re1. Validity: 1 month. On-net Calling: 1000 on-net minutes free Validity: 1 month.

Rate Cutter 225 (SME Plan)

MRP Rs225

Benefits Tariff Validity: 1 Month Unlimited Aircel- Aircel Local Minutes & SMS free Local calls 50p STD Re1- All India & To Aircel 50p Local & National SMS 50p

Roaming
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Prepaid Roaming Description INCOMING OUTGOING CALLS Local calls to all phones STD calls to all phones ISD calls US, Canada, UK (Fixed), Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia Gulf, UK (Mobile), SAARC, Africa, Rest of the World Select Islands * Inmarsat/Iridium (Satellite numbers) ** SMS SMS MO - National (per SMS) SMS MO - International (per SMS) Composite Charges (Rs. / Min) 1 1 1.5 9.49 12.28 52.29 502.29 1.5 5

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Aircel Postpaid
Aircel offers you postpaid plans which are tailor-made to suit your calling needs. You can now explore the world of limitless possibilities by subscribing to an Aircel postpaid plan! Our customer care is always ready to help and support to ensure you an exciting and a trouble-free experience. Not only that, you also get a host of exciting value-added services along with your postpaid connection.

The various plans of Aircel Postpaid are:

Talk Mumbai 50 Talk Mumbai 200 Talk Mumbai 300 Talk India 1000

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2.4 VAS from Aircel

Aircel Pocket Internet Voice Station Subscription Services Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) Missed call alerts Dialer Tunes Live Astrology Doctor On call

Aircel Pocket Internet Aircel brings you the world in your palm i.e. on your GPRS/WAP enabled mobile handset. You just need to get connected to http://myaircel.com once you are connected to internet on your mobile. Pocket Internet is operators landing WAP portal wherein you will get multiple goodies like: Aircel Menu having Sports, Fun, Email, Applications, Music, Astrology, etc. based infotainment content VAS Content Download Yahoo One Search Facebook Make My Trip Bhojpuri Special

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Aircel Menu Be it Astrology or sports, music or movies, games or videos, get everything on your finger tips now with Pocket Internet. You just need to click on Menu on your Pocket Internet homepage i.e. http://myaircel.com on your GPRS/WAP enabled handset, wherein you will find various options like: Games, Movies, Music, Pictures, Videos, Sports, Fun, Religious, Email, Application & Astrology. Choose your favorite category from the options above which best suit your mood & enjoy a world of fun & entertainment on your mobile.

VAS Content Download

Aircel Pocket Internet brings you a whole gamut of Value Added Services to entertain you anytime anywhere with the best of downloadable content at affordable charges. VAS content available on Pocket Internet includes: Wallpapers Ringtones, MP3 Songs Games Videos Themes Animations Latest blockbuster movie content Free internet videos link

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Solapur University Yahoo One Search Yahoo One Search is a search engine on your mobile. This is present on Pocket Internet homepage wherein you can get various search result based on people, place, music, sports, news, lifestyle and much more. Results are segmented into various categories as given below: Partner Downloads (Aircel VAS Content) News Articles Web Images Websites Mobile Websites More results like Photos & Images Wikipedia Yahoo Answers Facebook Facebook is a social utility that connects you with your friends, relative & anyone who is registered & has profile on Facebook. This is very similar to Orkut. Here on Pocket Internet you will get the mobile version of facebook which is easy to access & user friendly for customers. To enter the world of Facebook you will need to sign up using your email id or phone no. or existing Facebook customer can directly login with their user id & password. With Facebook you can do various activities being online like: Chat Send messages Browse profiles Share your pictures
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Make My Trip Make My Trip helps you to plan your travel on the go. Gone were the days when one would require travel agents for get their booking done during travel. Now you can plan a lot of think through Make My Trip on your Pocket Internet homepage. With Make My Trip on your mobile, now you can book below utilities through your credit card: Air Tickets Book Hotels Hire A Cab Bhojpuri Special To the rising demand of regional content on Pocket Internet, we bring you dedicated bhojpuri content which will give you the flavor of authentic culture of UP & Bihar. The categories & content available under Bhojpuri Special are as follows: Bhojpuri Collection Bhojpuri Hits Bhojpuri Pop Bhojpuri Tones Bihari Pop Album

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2.5 Organizational Chart

Chairman & Managing Director

Lead Director Telecom

President & CEO

President Mobile Services

President Telemedia Services

President Enterprise Services

Director Customer Service

Director Supply Chain Director Human Resources Director Technology CFO & Director Strategy

Director Marketing & Communication

Director Customer Service & IT Director Legal & Regulatory

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THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Marketing Research System: Marketing research as the systematic design collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company. Marketing managers often commission formal marketing studies of specific problems and opportunities they may request a market survey products preference test, sales forecast by region or an advertising evaluation. A company can obtain marketing research in a number of ways. Most large companies have their own marketing research departments. Marketing Research Process: Effective Marketing Research involves the six steps: 1. Define the problem and research objectives. 2. Develop the research plan. 3. Collect the information. 4. Analyze the information. 5. Present the findings. 6. Make the decision. Step-1: Define the problem, the decision alternatives and the research objectives: Marketing management must be careful not to define the problem too broadly or too narrowly for the marketing researches. Marketing manager who instructs the marketing researcher to find out the information. Management and marketing researches are ready to set specific research objectives. Not all the research projects can be this specific. Some research is exploratory - its goal is to shield light on the real nature of the problem and to suggest possible solutions to new ideas. Some research is descriptive it seeks to have
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Solapur University certain magnitudes. Some research is casual its purpose is to test a cause and effect relationship. Step-2: Develop the research plan: The second stage for marketing calls for developing the most efficient plan for gathering the needed information. The marketing manager needs to know the cost of the research plan before approving it. Designing a research plan calls for decisions on the data sources, research approaches, research instruments, sampling plan and contact methods. Data sources: The researchers can gather secondary data, primary data or both. Secondary data are data that were collected for another purpose and already exist somewhere. Primary data are data freshly gathered for a specific reason or for a specific research project. Researchers usually start their investigation by examining the secondary data to see whether the problem can be partly or wholly solved without collecting costly primary data. Secondary data provide a starting point for research an offer the advantages of low costs and ready availability. When the needed data do not exist or are dated, inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable, the researcher will have to collect primary data collection. The normal procedure is to interview some point individually or in-group. Research Approaches: 1. Observational research: - Fresh data can be gathered by observing the respondents behavior. 2. Focus- group research:- A focus group is a gathering of 6-10 people who are invited to spend few hours with a skilled moderator to discuss a product, service organization or other marketing entity. 3. Survey research:- Surveys are best suited for descriptive research. Companies undertake surveys to learn about peoples knowledge, benefits, preferences and satisfaction and to measure these magnitudes in general population.

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Solapur University 4. Behavioral data:- Customers leaves traces of their purchasing behavior in store, catalog purchase and customer databases. Much can be learned by analyzing these data. 5. Experimental research:- the purpose of experimental research is to capture cause and effect relationships by eliminating explanations of the observed findings. Research instrument:Marketing research has a choice of 4 main instruments. 1. Questionnaire:A questionnaire consists of a set of questions presented to respondents. It is used for collecting primary data. It needs to be carefully developed tested and debugged before they are administered on a large scale. Marketing questionnaire has close ended and open ended questions. 2. Psychological tools:Marketing researchers can prove buyer deeper beliefs and feelings using psychological tools such as laddering techniques, depth interviews. Laddering techniques means researcher ask the questions rapidly upon receiving the respondents answer. Depth interviews involves going deeply into the thoughts that individual may have about product or service. 3. Qualitative measures:This method is used for gauging consumers opinion because consumer actions do not match their answers to survey questions. New tools such as video, pagers and informal interviewing will help marketers to overcome these limitations. Sampling plan After deciding on the approach and instruments, marketing researcher must design a sampling plan. This calls for 3 decisions.
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Solapur University 1. Sampling unit:- Who is to be surveyed? The marketing researcher must define the target population that will be sampled. 2. Sample size:- How many people should be surveyed? Large samples give more reliable results than small samples. But it is not necessary to sample the entire population. Sample of less than 1% of population can often provide good reliability. 3. Sampling procedure:- How the respondents should be chosen? There are two types for it Probability sample methods - allows the calculations of confidence limits for sampling errors and non probability samples are very useful even though they do not allow sampling errors to be measured. 4. Contact methods:- Once sampling plan has the subject should be contacted: mail, telephone, personal or interviews. Step-3:- Collect the information The data collection phase of marketing research is generally the most expensive and most prone to error. The data is collected through various contacting methods. Data collection methods are rapidly improving by computers and telecommunications. Now the data is collected through telephones and immediately data is recorded on computers. So the bias answers are reduced. There are more advanced techniques to collect the information. Step-4:- Analyze the information The researcher tabulates data and develops frequency distributions. Averages and measures of dispersion are computed for major variables. They will also apply some advanced techniques and decision models in hope of discovering additional findings. Step-5:- Presents the findings The researcher should present findings that are relevant to the major marketing decisions facing management. Step-6:- Make the decision

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Solapur University The managers who commissioned the research need to weigh evidence. That knows that findings could suffer from a variety of errors. If there is less confidence in findings, then manager may even decide to study the issues further do more research. The decision is theirs, but hopefully research provided them with insight into the problem.

DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

Table No.1:- Graph showing since how long respondents are using Aircel

The above graph gives the information that since how long the respondents are using Aircel. It is observed that 41% of the respondents are using Aircel since 3 months and same number of respondents are using since 1 month whereas 18% of the respondents are using Aircel since 2 months.

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Table no.2:- Table showing awareness towards Aircel Pocket Internet among respondents

Particulars YES NO

No. of respondents 100 0

The above table gives the information about the awareness towards Aircel Pocket Internet among respondents. It is observed that 100% of respondents are aware about Aircel Pocket Internet.

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Table no.3:- Graph showing sources of awareness towards Aircel Pocket Internet

The above graph gives the information about the sources of awareness towards Aircel Pocket Internet. It is observed that 31% of the respondents came to know about Aircel Pocket Internet through their friends whereas 25% of the respondents came to know through television and others like stalls, hoardings and boardings. 11% of them came to know through dealers and 8% through newspaper.

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Table no.4:- Graph showing awareness about various plans of Aircel Pocket Internet

The above graph gives the information about the awareness towards various plans of Aircel Pocket Internet. It is observed that 64% of the respondents are aware of various plan of Aircel Pocket Internet and 36% of the respondents are not at all aware about various plans of Aircel Pocket Internet.

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Table no.5:- Graph showing various tariff plan used by respondents

The above graph gives the information about the various tariff plan used by the respondents. It is observed that 96% of the respondents are using Rs. 98 plan which gives the validity for 1 month and 4% of the respondents are using Rs.14 plan which gives the validity for 3 days and none of the respondents are using Rs. 5 plan which is of 1 day validity.

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Table no.6:- Graph showing access point of Aircel Pocket Internet

The above graph gives the information about the access point of Aircel Pocket Internet. It is observed that 55% of the respondents use Pocket Internet through their mobile whereas 39% of the respondents use both i.e. through mobile and laptop/PC and 6% of them use through PC/Laptop.

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Table no.7:- Table showing ranking given to various parameters for using Aircel Pocket Internet Particulars Price Speed Connectivity 1 24 126 96 2 16 108 120 3 315 * 60 65

*Weighted average method The above graph gives the information about major reasons for using Aircel Pocket Internet. It is observed that the respondents gave the highest rating to price and then to speed and lastly to connectivity.

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Table no.8:- Table showing respondent satisfaction towards Aircel Pocket Internet

Particulars YES NO

No. of respondents 91 9

The above table gives the information about respondents satisfaction towards Aircel Pocket Internet. It is observed that 91% of the respondents are satisfied with Aircel Pocket Internet while 9% of the respondents are not satisfied with Aircel Pocket Internet.

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Solapur University

Table no.9:- Graph showing overall rating to Aircel Pocket Internet

The above graph gives the information about overall rating to Aircel Pocket Internet. It is observed that 45% of the respondents rated Aircel Pocket Internet as very good whereas 41% of the respondents rated as good, 8% of them as excellent and 6% of them as poor.

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Solapur University

FINDINGS
1. It is observed that 41% of the respondents are using Aircel from 3 months and same number of the respondents are using from 1 month while 18% of them are using Aircel from 2 months as Aircel was launched in Mumbai in April, 2009. 2. It is observed that 100% of respondent were aware about the Aircel Pocket Internet. 3. As to the source of awareness it was observed that 31% of the respondents came to know about Aircel Pocket Internet through their Friends and only 8% of them came to know through newspapers. 4. It is observed that 64% of respondents are aware about the various plans of Aircel Pocket Internet while 36% of the respondents are not at all aware because they havent seen any of the advertisement regarding various plans of Aircel Pocket Internet. 5. It is observed that 96% of the respondents are using Rs.98 plan for 1 month while 4% of the respondents are using Rs.14 plan for 3 days and non them are using Rs.5 plan. 6. It is observed that 55% of the respondents are using the Aircel Pocket Internet on their mobile phones and 39% of them are using on both i.e. on mobile and laptop/PC while only 6% of them are using on laptop/PC. 7. It is observed that 91% of the respondents are satisfied with Aircel Pocket Internet while 9% of the respondents are not satisfied because of the connectivity and network problem.

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SUGGESTION
1. As to the source of awareness regarding Aircel Pocket Internet through newspaper is only 8% as compared to the other sources so the company should try to increase its advertisement through newspapers so as to reach to common people. 2. As 36% of the respondents are not at all aware about various plans of Aircel Pocket Internet, the company should try to increase awareness regarding various plans of Aircel Pocket Internet through proper advertising of various plans. 3. As 96% of the respondents using Rs.98 plan for 1 month validity while only 4% of the respondents are using Rs.14 plan for 3days and none of them are using Rs.5 plan, so the company should come up with new plan of Rs.5 or Rs.14 with an extended validity in order to increase its market share. 4. As only 6% of the respondents are accessing Pocket Internet through laptop/PC because there is a problem for getting the GPRS setting while connecting it to laptop/PC, so the company should provide GPRS setting easily by SMS to the respondents. 5. As 9% of the respondents are not satisfied with Aircel Pocket Internet because of network and connectivity, the company should try to improve is connectivity and network problem in the areas like

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