Introduction to Telecommunication

A telephone company, also known as a Telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications

operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP) (more precisely
a telecommunications service provider or TSP) that provides telecommunications services such
as telephony and data communications access. Many telephone companies were at one time
government agencies or privately owned but state-regulated monopolies. The government
agencies are often referred to, primarily in Europe, as PTTs (postal, telegraph and telephone
services). Telephone companies are common carriers, and in the United States are also
called local exchange carriers. With the advent of mobile telephony, telephone companies now
include wireless carriers, or mobile network operators. Most telephone companies now also
function as internet service providers (ISPs), and the distinction between a telephone company
and an ISP may disappear completely over time, as the current trend for supplier convergence in
the industry continues. In 1913, a telephone trust ended and more than 20,000 independent
telephone companies were able to use the trunk lines of Bell Telephone Company. The Bell
Telephone Company, a common law joint stock company, was organized in Boston,
Massachusetts on July 9, 1877, by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene
Hubbard, who also helped organize a sister company — the New England Telephone and
Telegraph Company. The Bell Telephone Company was started on the basis of holding
"potentially valuable patents", principally Bell's master telephone patent #174465. The two
companies merged on February 17, 1879, to form two new entities, the National Bell Telephone
Company of Boston, and the International Bell Telephone Company, soon after established by
Hubbard and which became headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Theodore Vail then took over
its operations at that point, becoming a central figure in its rapid growth and commercial success.
The National Bell Telephone Company merged with American Speaking Telephone
Company on March 20, 1880, to form the American Bell Telephone Company, also of Boston,
Massachusetts. Upon its inception, the Bell Telephone Company was organized with Hubbard as
"trustee", although he was additionally its de factopresident, since he also controlled his
daughter's shares by power of attorney, and with Thomas Sanders, its principal financial backer,
as treasurer. The American Bell Telephone Company evolved into the American Telephone &
Telegraph Company (AT&T), at times the world's largest telephone company. The Bell Patent
Association (February 27, 1875 – July 9, 1877, a name later assigned by historians), was not a

1
corporate entity but a trusteeship and a partnership. It was established verbally in 1874 to be the
holders of the patents produced by Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson.
Approximate one-third interests were at first held by Gardiner Greene Hubbard, a lawyer and
Bell's future father-in-law; Thomas Sanders, the well-to-do leather merchant father of one of
Bell's deaf students (and who was the first to enter into an agreement with Bell) and finally by
Alexander Graham Bell. Hubbard later registered some of his shares with two other family
members. An approximate 10% interest of the patent association was later assigned by its
principals to Bell's technical assistant Thomas Watson, in lieu of salary and for his earlier
financial support to Bell while they worked together creating their first functional telephones.
The verbal patent association agreement was formalized in a memorandum of agreement on
February 27, 1875. The patent association's assets became the foundational assets of the Bell
Telephone Company. Alexander Graham Bell's fiancée Mabel Hubbard was the indirect source
of the Bell Telephone Company's early commercial success after his creation of the telephone.
The U.S. Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 brought Bell's newly invented telephone
international attention. Exhibition judges Emperor Dom Pedro II of the Empire of Brazil and the
eminent British physicist William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) recommended his device to the
Committee of Electrical Awards, which voted Bell the Gold Medal for Electrical Equipment,
helping to propel him to international fame. Bell also won a second Gold Medal for his
additional display at the exposition, Visible Speech —developed earlier by his equally famous
father Alexander Melville Bell. Pivotally, late in the evening moments after the main group of
tired judges and newspaper reporters had quickly looked over and derided Bell's telephone
display, Emperor Dom Pedro, who was straggling, entered the fair's Education Building where
Bell's two displays were located. As the main group started moving on to the next exhibit to be
reviewed, Dom Pedro came upon the displays and called out to Bell in his booming voice: "What
are you doing here?" The emperor had met Bell before in Boston while visiting schools for the
deaf in the United States. "....it was around seven o'clock when the 50-person delegation of
judges, scientists, reporters and other officials arrived at the Department of Education. Tired and
hungry, they hardly looked at the telephone, made some jokes at Bell's expense, and wanted to
leave the exhibition quickly when suddenly, Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil from 1840 to
1889, with his wife Empress Theresa and a bevy of courtiers, entered the room. Dom Pedro
recognized Bell and exclaimed "Professor Bell, I am delighted to see you again!" The judges at

2
once forgot their tiredness and wondered who this young inventor was who was a friend of an
emperor. Dom Pedro had once visited Bell's class of deaf-mutes at Boston University and
initiated the first Brazilian school for deaf-mutes in Rio de Janeiro.".... ....The judges stayed the
next three hours with Bell. Bell's telephone became the star of the centennial...." "On a hot
Sunday afternoon, June 25th, Sir William Thompson (later Lord Kelvin) and many other
distinguished guests inspected the exhibits. Few paid much attention to Bell, tinkering with his
crude instruments. At last the party approached his booth. Among them was Dom Pedro de
Alcantara, the Emperor of Brazil. He had met Bell a few weeks previously in Boston and spoke
to him as an old friend.” "Dom Pedro had met Alec at a school for the deaf in Boston. When the
emperor greeted Alec, the judges took note. They wanted to see what the emperor's friend had
invented." "The centerpiece of the emperor's trip was the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.
There, Dom Pedro II sought out a young, relatively obscure teacher at the School of the Deaf
named Alexander Graham Bell, with whom he had exchanged letters." "But just then there
happened an amazing thing. Into the room walked Dom Pedro, the Emperor, followed by his
retinue. With arms outstretched he strode straight to the young inventor. "Professor Bell", he
exclaimed, "I am delighted to see you!""

Startled by the emperor's enthusiastic response to Bell's telephone demonstration—during which

the emperor exclaimed "My God! It talks!", the crowd of judges and press members became
energized and vied to take turns communicating with Bell over his invention. Bell, who was then
a full-time teacher, had not plan to exhibit at the fair because of his heavy teaching schedule and
preparation for his student's examinations. He went to Philadelphia only at the stern insistence of
Mabel Hubbard, his then-fiancée and future wife and who was an expert multilingual lip
reader, deaf since age five. Mabel had understood Bell's reluctance to go to the exhibition and
display his works, so she secretly bought his train ticket to Philadelphia, packed his bag, and then
took the unknowing Bell to Boston's train station, where she told her shocked fiancé that he was
going on a trip. When Bell started arguing, Mabel turned her sight away from him and became
literally deaf to his protests. In 1879 Gardiner Hubbard founded the International Bell Telephone
Company in order to promote sales of its telephone equipment throughout Europe. During his
tour of the continent, the Belgian government offered him the greatest financial incentives to
establish his European subsidiary's headquarters in their country. The International Bell
Telephone Company (IBTC) shortly evolved into a holding company for its various telephone

3
service and production divisions, with its major manufacturing arm being the Bell Telephone
Manufacturing Company (BTMC), which was founded in Antwerp, Belgium, on 26 April
1882. BTMC was created as a joint venture by the International Bell Telephone Company of
New York and the Western Electric Company of Chicago, Illinois. BTMC then established
la Compagnie Belge du Téléphone Bell (Bell Telephone Company of Belgium) in the same year
as its Belgian operating subsidiary for telephone service, one of several companies that provided
such service in the country, the others having evolved principally from telegraph carriers.BTMC
eventually came under complete ownership by Western Electric, and also established other
divisions as national companies across Continental Europe and Russia.Western Electric was
itself later majority owned by the American Bell Telephone Company, returning indirect control
of BTMC back to the Bell organization.

4
 An overview of Indian telecom industry

India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone
users (both fixed and mobile phone) with 1.206 billion subscribers as on 30 September 2017. It
has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom operators and hyper-
competition among them. India has the world's second-largest Internet user-base. As on 30
September 2017, there were 324.89 million internet subscribers in the country.

Major sectors of the Indian telecommunication industry are telephone, internet and television
broadcast Industry in the country which is in an ongoing process of transforming into next
generation network, employs an extensive system of modern network elements such as
digital telephone exchanges, mobile switching centers, media gateways and signaling at the core,
interconnected by a wide variety of transmission systems using fiber-optics or Microwave radio
relay networks. The access network, which connects the subscriber to the core, is highly
diversified with different copper-pair, optic-fiber and wireless technologies. DTH, a relatively
new broadcasting technology has attained significant popularity in the Television segment. The
introduction of private FM has given a fillip to the radio broadcasting in India.
Telecommunication in India has greatly been supported by the INSAT system of the country,
one of the largest domestic satellite systems in the world. India possesses a diversified
communications system, which links all parts of the country by telephone, Internet, radio,
television and satellite.

Indian telecom industry underwent a high pace of market liberalization and growth since the
1990s and now has become the world's most competitive and one of the fastest growing telecom
markets. The Industry has grown over twenty times in just ten years, from under 37 million
subscribers in the year 2001 to over 846 million subscribers in the year 2011. India has
the largest mobile phone user base with over 1183.04 million users as of September 2017. It has
the world's second-largest Internet user-base with over 324 million as of September 2017.

Telecommunication has supported the socioeconomic development of India and has played a
significant role to narrow down the rural-urban digital divide to some extent. It also has helped to
increase the transparency of governance with the introduction of e-governance in India. The
government has pragmatically used modern telecommunication facilities to deliver mass
education programmes for the rural folk of India.

5
According to London-based telecom trade body GSMA, the telecom sector accounted for 6.5%
of India's GDP in 2015, or about ₹9 lakh crores (US$140 billion), and supported direct
employment for 2.2 million people in the country. GSMA estimates that the Indian telecom
sector will contribute ₹14.5 lakh crores (US$220 billion) to the economy and support 3 million
direct jobs and 2 million indirect jobs by 2020.

6
 Introduction to Reliance Jio

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited or Jio is an LTE mobile network operator in India. It is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra that
provides wireless 4G LTE service network (without 2G/3G-based services) and is the first
'VoLTE-only' (voice over LTE) operator in the country which lacks legacy network support
of 2G and 3G, with coverage across all 22 telecom circles in India. The services were first beta-
launched to Jio's partners and employees on 27 December 2015 on the eve of 83rd birth
anniversary of late Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of Reliance Industries, and later services were
commercially launched on 5th September 2016.

Jio shares spectrum with Reliance Communications. The sharing deal is for 800 MHz band
across seven circles other than the 10 circles for which Jio already owns. In September 2016, Jio
signed a pact with BSNL for intra-circle roaming which would enable users of the operators to
use each other's 4G and 2G spectrum in national roamingmode. In February 2017, Jio announced
a partnership with Samsung to work on LTE - Advanced Pro and 5G.

Products:

JioPhone

On 21 July 2017, Jio introduced its first affordable 4G feature phone, powered by KaiOS, named
as JioPhone. The price announced for it is ₹0 with a security deposit of ₹1500 which can be
withdrawn back by the user by returning the JioPhone at Jio stores only after three years. This
phone was released for beta users on 15 August 2017 and pre-booking for regular users started
on 24 August 2017.

4G broadband

The company launched its 4G broadband services throughout India in September 2016. It was
slated to release in December 2015 after some reports said that the company was waiting to
receive final permits from the government. Jio offers fourth-generation (4G) data and voice
services, along with peripheral services like instant messaging and streaming movies and music.
The company has a network of more than 250,000 km of fiber optic cables in the country, over
which it will be partnering with local cable operators to get broader connectivity for its

7
broadband services. With its multi-service operator (MSO) licence, Jio will also serve as a TV
channel distributor and will offer television-on-demand on its network.

LYF smartphones

In June 2015, Jio entered into an agreement with domestic handset maker Intex to supply 4G
handsets capable of voice over LTE (VoLTE). However, in October 2015, Jio announced that it
would be launching its own mobile handset brand named LYF. On 25 January 2016, the
company launched its LYF smartphone series starting with Water 1, through its chain of
electronic retail outlets, Reliance Retail. Three more handset models have been released so far,
namely Water 2, Earth 1, and Flame 1.

Jionet WiFi

Prior to its pan-India launch of 4G data and telephony services, Jio has started providing free Wi-
Fi hotspot services in cities throughout India including Surat, Ahmedabad in Gujarat,
and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Indore, Jabalpur, Dewas and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh,
select locations of Mumbai in Maharashtra, Kolkata in West Bengal, Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh,
Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Mussoorie in Uttarakhand, Collectorate's Office in Meerut, and at MG
Road in Vijayawada among others.In March 2016, Jio started providing free Wi-Fi internet to
spectators at six cricket stadiums hosting the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 matches. Jionet was
made available in Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai), Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra
Stadium (Mohali), Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association
Stadium (Dharamshala), Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bengaluru), Feroz Shah Kotla (Delhi),
and Eden Gardens (Kolkata) in India.

Jio Apps

In May 2016, Jio launched a bundle of multimedia apps on Google Play as part of its upcoming
4G services. While the apps are available to download for everyone, a user will require a Jio SIM
card to use them. Additionally, most of the apps are in the beta phase. Following is a list of the
apps:

MyJio - manage Jio account and digital services associated with it.

JioTV - live TV channel service

JioCinema - online HD video library

8
JioChat - instant messaging app

JioMusic - JioMusic Helps In Listening The Music In Different Languages And To Save Offline

Jio4GVoice (earlier, JioJoin) - VoLTE phone simulator

JioMags - e-reader for magazines

JioXpressNews - news and magazine aggregator

JioSecurity - security app

JioCloud - cloud-based backup tool

JioMoney Wallet - online payments/wallet app

JioSwitch - To transfer content Between Android To Android, Android To iOS, Android To

JioPhone, iOS To JioPhone, iOS To iOS And JioPhone To JioPhone

JioNet - connect to JioNet Wi-fi

Affordable 4G phones

Reliance Jio has teamed up with Google to manufacture affordable 4G handsets. These phones
will run exclusively on Jio network. The two companies are also working on developing
software for smart-TV services. Both were expected to launch in 2017.[63]

JioFi

Jio has also launched Wi-Fi routers by the name JioFi.

Branding and marketing

On December 24, 2015, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan was appointed as Jio's brand
ambassador.

Pokémon Go

Location-based AR game Pokémon Go was launched in India in December, 2016 in

collaboration with Jio in which hundreds of Jio stores and other Reliance marts and shopping
malls like Reliance Trends and Reliance Digital became Sponsored PokéStops and Gyms.

Reception of Jio Prime

9
By July, 125.5 million Jio customers had opted for Jio Prime. The last date for registration to Jio
Prime membership was 31 March 2017. This was extended until 15 April 2017 along with an
introduction of a new offer, "Jio Summer Surprise", which gave customers three months of free
services. On 6 April 2017, TRAI advised Jio to withdraw this offer.

10
 History of Reliance Jio

In June 2010, Reliance Industries (RIL) bought a 96% stake in Infotel Broadband Services
Limited (IBSL) for ₹4,800 crore (US$740 million). Although unlisted, IBSL was the only
company that won broadband spectrum in all 22 circles in India in the 4G auction that took place
earlier that year. Later continuing as RIL's telecom subsidiary, Infotel Broadband Services
Limited was renamed as Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) in January 2013.

In June 2015, Jio announced that it would start its operations all over the country by the end of
2015. However, four months later in October, the company's spokesmen sent out a press release
stating that the launch was postponed to the first quarter of the financial year 2016–2017. Later
in July, a PIL filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO called the Centre for Public Interest
Litigation, through Prashant Bhushan, challenged the grant of pan-India licence to Jio by the
Government of India. The PIL also alleged that Jio was allowed to provide voice telephony along
with its 4G data service, by paying an additional fees of just ₹165.8 crore (US$25 million) which
was arbitrary and unreasonable, and contributed to a loss of ₹2,284.2 crore (US$350 million) to
the exchequer. The Indian Department of Telecom (DoT), however, refuted all of CAG's claims.
In its statement, DoT explained that the rules for 3G and BWA spectrum didn't restrict BWA
winners from providing voice telephony. As a result, the PIL was revoked, and the accusations
were dismissed.

Beta launch

The 4G services were launched internally to Jio's partners, its staff and their families on 27
December 2015. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who is also the brand ambassador of Jio,
kickstarted the launch event which took place in Reliance Corporate Park in Navi Mumbai, along
with celebrities like musician A R Rahman, actors Ranbir Kapoor and Javed Jaffrey, and
filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani. The closed event was witnessed by more than
35000 RIL employees some of whom were virtually connected from around 1000 locations
including Dallas in the US.

Commercial launch

The company commercially launched its services on 5 September 2016. Within the first month,
Jio announced that it had acquired 16 million subscribers. This is the fastest ramp-up by any

11
mobile network operator anywhere in the world. Jio crossed 50 million subscriber mark in 83
days since its launch, subsequently crossing 100 million subscribers on 22 February 2017. By
October 2017 it had about 130 million subscribers.

Alliance

In February 2016 Jio announced a global alliance of Mobile Network Operators which include:

BT Group

Deutsche Telekom

Millicom

Orange S.A.

Rogers Communications

MTS

Telia Company

Telecom Italia

12
 Logo Design

The Reliance Industries Limited logo was designed by Mr. Vitthal Varia, Ahmedabad. In 2014
the logo was name jio itself but Ambani told in press conferance with logo designer that each
company should have a logo, jio’s logo means connecting world with high speed internet and
that thet might be changing soon.

JIO is a mirror reflection of the word OIL and the logo throws light on the Reliance’s journey
from Oil and Petroleum exploration to the world of Telecom & Data mining.

--

13
 SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is the overall evaluation of the company or an individual.

 Strengths

 Weaknesses

 Opportunities

 Threats

SWOT analysis of Reliance Jio can be done as follows:

STRENGTHS

1) Strongest Customer Acquisition strategy – Reliance Jio probably has the best customer
acquisition strategy till date. The brand offered their services for free for 3-6 months to
all their users. This resulted in millions of users using Reliance Jio and resulted in one of
the best customer acquisition strategy in the history of telecom.

2) Strong customer base – Jio boasts of a whopping 100 million subscribers in the first 170
days of its launch a record which no other provider has been able to register. This has
also made Reliance Jio India’s largest Internet Service Provider.

3) Technology – Jio currently uses the latest 4 G LTE technology which is one of the
world’s best technologies for the future. This is supported by Voice over LTE which
makes it scalable and supportive of 5G and 6 G technologies which are expected to be the
future in wireless communication.

4) Strong backing of parent company Reliance Industries: Reliance Industries is a credible

brand which echoes with Indian sentiments and has high trust amongst customers. The
association of Jio with Reliance acts as a core strength.

5) Brand Management – The reason for the huge customer base of Reliance Jio is the brand
management strategies that it has adopted. The right promotion backed by lucrative offers
and credible brand ambassadors like ShahRukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan have
helped in building connectivity with the customers.

14
 6) Fast and wide network – Reliance Jio has a presence in all 22 telecom circles in India and
is known to be a robust and fast network with zero connectivity issues

7) Multiple offerings under a single name – Reliance Jio offers a variety of services like
movies, games, shopping, chats, and messenger etc. giving the customer a lot of options
to choose from.

WEAKNESSESS

1) Late entry into the market- Reliance Jio has made a late foray into the market which
already had established players like Airtel and Vodafone who had occupied a place in the
minds of the customer.

2) Activation Issues – Reliance Jio faced numerous gestation issues owing to not being able
to contain the huge volumes of customers it had acquired. On such was delays in SIM
Card activation during the period that followed its launch.

3) Pricing Controversies – Reliance Jio was criticised for having lowered its prices beyond
what was ethical to penetrate into the market and this stirred allegations like corruption
and money laundering against them.

4) Too many freebies – Reliance Jio currently offers many services for free and this was one
reason for share increase in sales. However, the company may not be able to afford all of
them in the long run which may affect the business negatively.

5) Data connection poor – The data connection is many times poor from Reliance Jio and
the range is less causing slower loading speeds in selected regions.

OPPORTUNITIES

1) Future driven technology – Reliance Jio uses VoLTE 4G network which is scalable to
accommodate

2) 5G and 6G technologies- This offers numerous avenues to Jio or future expansion of

bandwidth.

3) Apps – Reliance Jio has VoLTE which has a lot of scope in terms of bandwidth. Thus,
they can offer apps to customers which are chargeable or even free initially and pay per
use later.

15
 4) Competitive Pricing Strategies – Reliance Jio prides itself on being a low-cost Internet
service provider and mobile operator. This can be used as
a positioning to target more markets and grow their market share since most of their
competitors’ cannot afford their prices.

5) Expansion to other countries – Currently Reliance Jio is operational only in India. There
is, however, a lot of scope for expansion to foreign countries at least in the neighboring
regions

THREATS

1) Risk of loss of customers – Customers prefers Jio primarily because of the low prices that
they offer. At a stage when the company increases its price there may be a loss of
customers.

2) Removal of free services – Jio currently is associated with a lot of freebies. Once these
are removed there may be a drop in sales for the company.

3) Criticism and negative image – Reliance Jio has been embroiled in a lot of controversies
from the time it was started. These have resulted in a negative brand image for the
company.

4) Poor Code of ethics – Many of the strategies adopted by Reliance Jio such as the low
pricing, free bandwidth and market penetration strategies have been showcased as
unethical and this may affect the goodwill of the business in the long run.

16
 Introduction to Airtel India

Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and second largest provider
of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription
television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel, with Bharti
Hexacom and Bharti Telemedia providing broadband fixed line services and Bharti Infratel
providing telecom passive infrastructure service such as telecom equipment and telecom
towers. Bharti Airtel Limited is part of Bharti Enterprises and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.
Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco Gold Certification. It also acts
as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company
has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, with a connection to Singapore. As of
December 2017, Airtel has 290.11million subscribers with a market share of 24.7% in the Indian
telephony market. Airtel was named India's second most valuable brand in the first ever Brandz
ranking by Millward Brown and WPP plc. Airtel operates in all telecom circles of India. Airtel is
the largest operator in rural India, with 290.11 million subscribers as of December 2017.

3G

On 18 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel paid the Government of
India ₹122.95 billion (US$1.9 billion) for spectrum in 13 circles, the most amount spent by an
operator in that auction. Airtel won 3G licenses in 13 telecom circles of
India: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh
(West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, and Jammu &
Kashmir. Airtel also operates 3G services in Maharashtra & Goa and Kolkata circles through an
agreement with Vodafone and in Gujarat and Punjab through an agreement with Idea. This gives
Airtel a 3G presence in all 22 out of 22 circles in India. Airtel is fined by DoT 3.50 billion for
not stopping offering 3G Services through Roaming Pacts outside its Licensed Zones in Seven
Circles. On 20 September 2010, Bharti Airtel said that it had given contracts to Ericsson
India, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Huawei Technologies to set up infrastructure for
providing 3G services in the country. These vendors would plan, design, deploy and maintain
3G–HSPA (third-generation, high-speed packet access) networks in 13 telecom circles where the
company had won 3G licences. While Airtel awarded network contracts for seven 3G circles to
Ericsson India, NSN would manage networks in three circles. Chinese telecom equipment

17
vendor Huawei Technologies was introduced as the third partner for three circles. Airtel
launched 3G services in Bangalore on 24 January 2011. On 27 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G
in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. On 27 July 2011, 3G services were launched
in Kerala's 3 largest cities – Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. Airtel 3G services are
available in 200 cities through its network and in 500 cities through intra-circle roaming
arrangements with other operators. Airtel had about 5.4 million 3G customers of which 4 million
are 3G data customers as of September 2012. Airtel has 3G licence in all 22 circles.

4G

On 19 May 2010, the broadband wireless access (BWA) or 4G spectrum auction in India ended.
Airtel paid ₹33.1436 billion (US$510 million) for spectrum in 4 circles: Maharashtraand Goa,
Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata. The company was allocated 20 MHz of BWA spectrum in
2.3 GHz frequency band. Airtel's TD-LTE network is built and operated
by ZTEin Kolkata and Punjab, Huawei in Karnataka, and Nokia Siemens Networks in
Maharashtra and Goa. On 10 April 2012, Airtel launched 4G services through dongles and
modems using TD-LTE technology in Kolkata, becoming the first company in India to offer 4G
services. The Kolkata launch was followed by launches in Bangalore (7 May 2012), Pune (18
October 2012), and Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula (25 March 2013). Airtel obtained 4G
licences and spectrum in the telecom circles of Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Mumbai after
acquiring Wireless Business Services Private Limited, a joint venture founded by Qualcomm,
which had won BWA spectrum in those circles in the 4G spectrum auction. Airtel launched 4G
services on mobile from February 2014. The first city to get the service was Bangalore. Airtel
has started their 4G services in Karnal and Yamunanagar in Haryana on 16 June 2015. Airtel 4G
trials has been started in Delhi from 18 June 2015. Airtel had 1,20,000 4G subscribers as of May
2014. As of March 2016, Airtel provides 4G coverage in 350 cities in 15 circles. Airtel extended
its 4G network to 15 km off India's coastline, following a request by the Indian Navy.

VoLTE

On 3 November 2016, The Economic Times reported that Airtel had awarded a ₹402 crore
(US$60 million) contract to Nokia to implement Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE)
technology on the operator's network nationwide. Airtel had previously awarded a smaller
contract to Nokia for trial of VoLTE technology in select circles in early 2016. Airtel subscribers

18
will be able to place VoLTE calls in areas covered by LTE. If LTE is not available in the area,
the call will fall back to 3G or 2G. Airtel launched VoLTE services in early 2017.

Project Leap

On 30 November 2015, Airtel announced the launch of a network transformation programme

called Project Leap. Under the programme, the company will invest ₹60,000 crores over the next
3 years to upgrade its network across India. Airtel will deploy over 160,000 base stations
nationwide, and also expand its mobile broadband coverage to over 500,000 villages. Under
Project Leap, Airtel will introduce several technologies such as small cells, carrier aggregation
solutions, WiFi hotspots, and several different spectrum bands to improve network coverage in
indoor areas. The company will also deploy more than 5,50,000 km of domestic and
international fiber, and upgrade its legacy networks and base stations over the three-year period.
Airtel Broadband will also benefit from Project Leap. The ISP's maximum offered speed will rise
from 16 Mbit/s in 2016 to 50 Mbit/s when after the programme is implemented. On 14 June
2016, Airtel launched the Open Network initiative under Project Leap. The Open Network
service allows users to view Airtel's mobile network coverage and signal strength across India, in
addition to network site deployment status. This was first launched on a trial basis in December
2015, before its official launch in June 2016. In February 2016, Airtel deployed LTE
Advanced carrier aggregation technology in Kerala. Carrier aggregation combines the capacities
of TD-LTE (2300 MHz spectrum band) and FD-LTE (1800) enabling better spectrum utilization
and efficiency. The network achieved data speeds of up to 135 Mbit/s.

Airtel Money

Airtel has started a new mCommerce platform called Airtel Money in collaboration with Infosys
and SmartTrust (now Giesecke & Devrient). The platform was launched on 5 April 2012, at
Infosys' headquarters in Bangalore. Using Airtel Money, users can transfer money, pay bills and
perform other financial transactions directly on the mobile phone. It has an all-India presence.
Certain charges are levied per Airtel Money transaction.

SmartDrive

SmartDrive is navigation app exclusive to Airtel customers. The app features voice-based turn by
turn navigation, traffic updates, and approximate travel time based on current conditions. The

19
app was launched on 12 September 2012. At the time of launch, it was available only
in Bangalore, Mumbai and NCR. Services are currently available in Chennai. Service was
expanded to Pune and Hyderabad by December 2012.

iPhone

The iPhone 3G was rolled out in India in 2008 by Airtel. However, high prices and contract
bonds discouraged consumers and it was not as successful as the iPhone is in other markets of
the world. Airtel introduced the iPhone 4 on 27 May 2011 and the iPhone 5 on 2 November
2012.

V-Fiber

Airtel launched its V-Fiber service in October 2016. V-Fiber combines fiber technology and
vectorization to deliver data speeds up to 100 Mbit/s through existing infrastructure.

IPTV

Airtel Broadband launched its IPtV service in 2009. On 31 August 2016, the company shut down
the service, and offered its 50,000 subrcibers a free upgrade to Airtel Digital TV. The company
stated that the move was part of its strategy to focus on a single television service.

20
 History of Airtel
In 1984 Sunil Mittal started assembling push-button phones in India, which he earlier used to
import from a Taiwan company, Kingtel, replacing the old fashioned, bulky rotary phones that
were in use in the country then. Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) was incorporated and entered
into a technical tie up with Siemens AG of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button
phones. By the early 1990s, Bharti was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom
gear. He named his first push-button phones as 'Mitbrau'. In 1992, he successfully bid for one of
the four mobile phone network licences auctioned in India. One of the conditions for the Delhi
cellular license was that the bidder have some experience as a telecom operator. So, Mittal
clinched a deal with the French telecom group Vivendi. He was one of the first Indian
entrepreneurs to identify the mobile telecom business as a major growth area. His plans were
finally approved by the Government in 1994 and he launched services in Delhi in 1995, when
Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) was formed to offer cellular services under the brand name
AirTel. Within a few years Bharti became the first telecom company to cross the 2 million
mobile subscriber mark. Bharti also brought down the STD/ISD cellular rates in India under
brand name 'Indiaone'. In 1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired control of JT Holdings, and extended
cellular operations to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 2000, Bharti acquired control of Skycell
Communications, in Chennai. In 2001, the company acquired control of Spice Cell in Calcutta.
Bharti Enterprises went public in 2002, and the company was listed on Bombay Stock
Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. In 2003, the cellular phone operations were re-
branded under the single Airtel brand. In 2004, Bharti acquired control of Hexacom and entered
Rajasthan. In 2005, Bharti extended its network to Andaman and Nicobar. This expansion
allowed it to offer voice services all across India. Airtel launched "Hello Tunes", a caller ring
back tone service (CRBT), in July 2004 becoming to the first operator in India to do so. The
Airtel theme song, composed by A.R. Rahman, was the most popular tune in that year.

In May 2008, it emerged that Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying the MTN Group, a
South Africa-based telecommunications company with coverage in 21 countries in Africa and
the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that Bharti was considering offering US$45
billion for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be the largest overseas acquisition ever by an
Indian firm. However, both sides emphasise the tentative nature of the talks, while The

21
Economist magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying up," as MTN has
more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage. However, the talks fell
apart as MTN Group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the
new company. In May 2009, Bharti Airtel again confirmed that it was in talks with MTN and the
companies agreed to discuss the potential transaction exclusively by 31 July 2009. Talks
eventually ended without agreement, some sources stating that this was due to opposition from
the South African government.

In 2009, Bharti negotiated for its strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the network
infrastructure for the fixed line business. Later, Bharti Airtel awarded the three-year contract
to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up an Internet Protocol access network across the country. This
would help consumers access internet at faster speed and high quality internet browsing on
mobile handsets.

In 2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In June 2010, Bhartil
acquired the African business of Zain Telecom for $10.7 billion making it the largest ever
acquisition by an Indian telecom firm. In 2012, Bharti tied up with Wal-Mart, the US retail giant,
to start a number of retail stores across India. In 2014, Bharti planned to acquire Loop
Mobile for ₹7 billion (US$110 million), but the deal was called off later.

Bharti Airtel Limited ("Airtel"), the world's third largest mobile operator with operations in 20
countries across Asia and Africa, said that its Treasury division has been adjudged as a highly
commended winner of the Top Treasury Team (Asia) Awards at the Adam Smith Asia Awards
2015.

22
 Logo Design

On 18 November 2010, Airtel re-branded itself in India in the first phase of a global re-branding
strategy. The company unveiled a new logo with 'airtel' written in lower case. Designed by
London-based brand agency, The Brand Union, the new logo is the letter 'a' in lowercase, with
'airtel' written in lowercase under the logo. On 23 November 2010, Airtel's Africa operations
were re-branded to 'airtel'. Sri Lanka followed on 28 November 2010 and on 20 December 2010,
Warid Telecom re-branded to 'airtel' in Bangladesh.

Logo of Airtel before 2010:

23
 SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is the overall evaluation of the company or an individual.

 Strengths

 Weaknesses

 Opportunities

 Threats

SWOT analysis of Airtel India can be done as follows:

STRENGTH

1) Renowned Telecom company- With its 19+ years of rich experience in telecom industry
this MNC had travelled far to become world’s 3rd largest telecom operator overseas
with operations in nearly 20 countries.

2) High Brand Equity- It is one of the pioneer brands in telecommunication having a

high brand recall and with a whopping subscriber base.

3) Extensive infrastructure- With the formation of Indus tower & due to its partnership with
Idea & Vodafone, the infrastructure of Airtel has extended in all parts of the country
resulting into nationwide penetration.

4) Strategic Alliances- The Company has top notch stakeholders,

namely Sony Ericsson, Nokiaand singtel, and the recent one being Apple. Such strategic
alliances boost the brand equity and the bottom line of the company.

5) Torchbearer of the telecom Industry- With its number 1 spot due to its excellent services
in developing economies, Airtel has interconnected the life of people in a highly efficient
way. Thus, where Vodafone is an external entrant, Airtel is a leading nationwide player
in India and the torchbearer of the telecom industry in India.

WEAKNESSESS

1) Outsourced Operations- Outsourcing operations helped Airtel in lowering its cost. But on
the other hand, they are running the risk of being dependent on some other companies
which may affect its operations.

24
 2) Venturing into African operations- Although it’s been 4 years that Airtel has acquired
Zain’s Africa business, but Airtel is still struggling to turn around the unit which was
bought at a whoppy 9 billion dollars.

3) High Debt- With its acquisitions turning out to bad investment, and credit being high and
margins being low, Airtel group is under high debt. Airtel does not have as deep pockets
as Vodafone.

OPPORTUNITIES

1) Strategic Partnership- Partnering with smart phone companies is going to be a

smart strategy as far as MNP (mobile number portability in India) is concerned. This will
ensure fixed cash flows in the future and a higher customer base.

2) Market Development- With fierce competition in the telecom industry & shrinking
margins, venturing out in new markets/developing economies will prove fruitful for the
company.

3) VAS- VAS (Value Added services) is going to future of the telecommunication industry
& by specializing itself in this vertical Airtel can differentiate itself in highly competitive
market. With introduction of unique services, Airtel can avail higher margins.

4) Untapped geography of the current market- Although it is currently providing 3G & 4G

services, but these services are limited to specific geographical locations. Expansion of
these services to most of its regions will help the company get more margins and
customers.

5) LTE- The whole wireless world is moving towards LTE (long term evolution or 4G).
LTE for mobile broadband can be a good solution for India where fixed broadband
penetration is otherwise low. Airtel has taken the lead with this version of LTE in 4 cities,
but deployment needs to catch up pace. Despite a weak LTE ecosystem in India, Airtel
should portray itself as the embracer of that technology. The company lacks nationwide
3G license with spectrum in 13 out of 22 telecom service areas. Airtel’s LTE network for
mobile broadband is still confined to only 4 cities in India.

THREATS

25
1) Government Regulatory Framework- With the auction of spectrum & change in the
government policies on a regular basis, it is a potential threat to the stability & existence
of this industry thereby affecting the players.

2) Competition- Price war in the home market and declining margins due to this is adversely
affecting the overall business of the group.

3) MNP (Mobile number portability)- MNP gives the customer independence to change the
service provider while retaining the number and as Airtel charges are premium over other
service providers, it can see slump in subscriber base in the next fiscal year with PAN
India MNP applicable from May 3rd 2015.

26
 Theoretical framework

Impact of Reliance Jio

Reliance Jio disturb the telecom industry with its free services, and kept the pressure on
competitors by announcing lower data plans and free voice calls and roaming starting on 1 April
2017. The share market also pays for its aggressive entry in telecom sector and RIL has jumped
13% in a week. Reliance Jio has crossed 10 crore subscribers. Now question is that how many
subscribers will convert in to paying consumers? Many analysts say the number would be 50%.
Reliance Jio’s average revenue per user would be high than competitors around Rs150. Company
expecting average revenue per user is Rs227 in 2018-19 with more than 50% subscribers will opt
Rs303 plan, while other on Rs149 plan. At an average revenue per user Rs227 company will
need 11.1 crore consumer to reach breakeven point. But if company further reduces prices due to
competition, it will need more consumers to reach breakeven point. If 50% of company’s
subscribers remain stick to Jio, it will create serious repercussions for competitors. On other hand
jio consumers who has also attach to other companies would reduce usage, as the result other
companies would face decrees in average revenue per user. Aggressive ad campaign of reliance
Jio may also affect the industry’s scenario. It will difficult for other player to grow their
consumer base and it will lead to high promotional expenses. Other important challenge is drop
in pricing power of telecom companies. Because of aggressive pricing of Jio, other companies
have no choice to reduce their prices. If other players fail to match the Jio’s offer, their market
share will go down and if they reduce rates, revenue will decree. It is for the first time since
2008-09 that the annual revenue of Indian telecom companies turns down to Rs 1.88 trillion in
2016-17 and will decline more to Rs 1.84 trillion in 2017-18. The annual revenue is probable
recover to Rs1.87 trillion in 2018-19. Reliance Jio’s extreme capitalism strategy, reflected in
large capital deployment, has a massive effect on the industry. This is forcing number 2 player
(Vodafone) and number 3 (Idea) to consider a merger. Possibly company is trying an acute
endgame to become a super- dominant player in telecom industry. Indian telecom sector is going
through a change in completion, before there is competition regarding cheaper rates of voice
calls and rooming but now the struggle is shifted over data packs, fastest speed, latest technology
and cheaper rates. The telecom industry directly employed 2.2 million people. New

27
circumstances could lead to 30% job losses in next 12 to18 months due to automation of
teleservices to cut costs.
“Airtel’s profitability margin is expected to contract 300 basis points, while that of Idea-
Vodafone and the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications could contract by 500 basis
points. Synergies from Idea Cellular Ltd.’s merger with Vodafone, however, could limit the
margin contraction”, S&P Global said.
Reliance Jio has caused the revenue shares of the competition to drop by 7% percent in the next
two quarters. Combined with demonetization, there has been a huge fall in the income of
incumbents since most of their customers are prepaid. Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are constantly
coming with offers to counter Jio’s Happy New Year Offer. At least two offers a week! Airtel
probably has come up with more than 20 offers since Jio’s launch!!Idea posted a consolidated
net profit of Rs91.46 crore in the quarter ended 30 September, compared with Rs762 crore a year
ago! India’s third-largest telecoms operator, Idea Cellular Ltd, on Monday posted an 88% slump
in second-quarter profit, as revenue fell on cheaper voice and data plans rolled out to counter the
competition. Jio has completely turned the industry on it’s head. it has been one of the changing
forces that has put a halt to rising data costs and increased mobile penetration in second tier
towns and rural areas. Jio is one one the best things to have happened in 2016.

Airtel seen most aggressive to match Reliance Jio Prime offer

As Reliance Jio moves to open up its prime membership from April 1, Bharti Airtel is seen to be

the most aggressive rival to match its prices, a research report has said. Citi Research, a part of

the Institutional Group, which also comprises the Citibank, says that all the incumbent telecom

operators have moved to meet the Jio challenge, in various degrees, though Idea Cellular and

Vodafone India have been behind Airtel in aggressiveness. “We visited exclusive outlets of

Bharti, Vodafone and Idea in Mumbai to compare price plans with Jio’s Prime offer. While all

have responded, their plans don’t appear to be marketed as aggressively and currently appear

more as a tool to reduce churn,” the report said. “Further, their reluctance to fully match Jio is

likely due to the latter’s intention to remain aggressive, combined with their concerns on revenue

28
protection. Bharti, as market leader, is not only taking the lead to counter Jio but appears to be

the most aggressive. It is followed by Idea and lastly Vodafone. Further tariff action would be

contingent upon Jio’s user traction,” it added. As part of Jio’s Prime Offer unlimited voice (off-

net/on-net) and 2GB per month is given at Rs 149 and unlimited voice (off-net/on-net) and 1 GB

data per day is available at Rs 303. In addition, the company is also giving freebies — cashback

and additional data on earlier payment for prime offer. Bharti Airtel is offering unlimited on-net

voice and 300 MB per month for Rs 146 and unlimited off-net/on-net calls and 1 GB data per

day for Rs 349.“Data was initially split equally between day and night time but now these limits

have been removed. This plan, across incumbents, comes closest to Jio’s Rs 303 offer,” the

report said.

Idea Cellular is offering unlimited on-net voice and 300 MB per month for Rs 148 and unlimited

off-net/on-net calls and 1 GB per day for Rs 348. Data is split equally between day and night

time (11pm-6am). While Vodafone India is offering unlimited on-net voice and 300 MB per

month for Rs 146 and unlimited off-net/on-net calls and 20 GB per month for Rs 345 but only

10GB of each month’s allowance can be used in the same month. Therefore, from second month

onwards, subscribers can use 20GB — 10GB of the previous month and 10GB of the ongoing

month. “Apart from the prime offers, Jio has also stated that it would offer 20 per cent more data

allowance compared to incumbents’ highest selling tariff plans,” the report said. “The

incumbents appear to be trying to stave off further rounds of price cuts and while we expect Idea

and Vodafone would match Bharti in near future, our conversation with incumbents’ highlight

they are now in wait-and-watch mode; further reaction would depend upon Jio’s user traction,” it

added.

29
 Research Design

Exploratory research conducted for a problem that has not been clearly defined.
Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data collection method and
selection of subjects. It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution.
Exploratory research often relies on secondary research such as reviewing available literature
and/or data, or qualitative approaches such as informal discussions with consumers, employees,
management or competitors, and more formal approaches through in-depth interviews, focus
group sand projective methods.

1.Primary Data

Primary data was collected from various people and their opinion and information for the
specific purposes of study helped to run the analysis. In essence, the questions asked were
tailored to elicit the data that will help for study. The data was collected through questionnaire to
understand their experience and preference towards their loyal company.

2. Secondary Data

To make primary data collection more specific, secondary data will help to make it more
useful. It helps to improve the understanding of the problem. Secondary data was collected from
various sources such as different business websites and published papers.

Importance of Study
In the present scenario the rivalry between telecommunication companies has inflated. The
companies are struggling a lot to keep up their market share and to improve turnover, for which
they have to know their position in the market also the opinion and loyalty of their customers and
the retailers when compared to their competitors. Hence, comparative analysis is very important
and useful to the company. By the use of comaparitive analysis the companies can understand
their position and strength, also it can be used to understand the strategies the competitors are
using to increase their sale volume. Therefore, we felt the need for the study.

30
 OBJECTIVE

 To compare the performance of Bharati Airtel and Reliance Jio.

 To analyze the service provided by Bharati Airtel and Reliance Jio.
 To study the marketing strategies of Bharati Airtel and Reliance Jio.
 To understand the role of telecommunication in Ch ennai.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

As there is a neck to neck competition between Reliance Jio and Airtel India, the Situation
demands a market analysis through the Retailers and Customers which gives overview of the
market in quantitative terms. The area selected is city of Chennai, India, mainly, though
responses from customers of other cities and states have been included as well. The purpose of
this project is to explore the competitive position of Reliance Jio with Airtel India, and also to
understand 4G and LTE use pattern of the customers while studying the retailer’s expectations. It
is important to know whether the preferences of the customers depend on the area they are from.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 The duration of study is one month which is not sufficient for in depth study.

 The study exposes the balance sheet and other valuable information about the company
the investors may find it difficult to invest, therefore, resulting in lesser inflow of funds.

31
 Review Of Literature
Rajiv Makhni

It is very difficult to compete with Jio as they have invested ₹150000 Crores during
2010 to 2016 for developing infrastructure without having any profit. It’s not easy
to build such a big sector in India in one go because it requires huge amount and
long period of time. Existing competitors like Airtel is already suffering from huge
debt so it’s not easy for them to invest that much huge amount in a short period of
time.

Navin Rai

Jio will attract low quality customers who will jump to other networks once the
freebies end. But reliance doesn’t believe so. It is offering 4G data which means it
occupies the primary sim sloth in the 4G smart phones. Now assumed that Jio
reaches 75% of its planned subscriber base out of 100 million. So by the end of the
year, it ends up with 75 million subscriber base. India’s total 4G users are said to
touch a mark of 143 million by the end of the year. So within 3 months of it’s
official launch, Jio would have acquired more than 50% of the market share. Even if
many subscribers leave the service of Jio, Reliance still would be left with
significant market share.

Anurag Thakur

As we saw in 2012-13, India is 150 th in the world in mobile broadband as well as

quality. And Jio has really been convinced to change this position.

Ritu Kumar

32
Well, the verdict is pretty simple. If one is looking for great 4G speed at
competitive prices, than Reliance Jio offers just that.

Mahesh Babu

Jio has been dictating market terms since it launched operation, first keeping the
service free and charging normally for data. In fact, Jio introduced the concept of
daily data allocation with prepaid and post paid plans, something all other operators
were quick to follow. However, these daily data plans by Jio, Airtel and the likes
are mostly concentrated at users who want 1GB or 2GB data per day, but only a few
such plans cater to the requirements of subscribers needing more data than that.

Mittal Soni

Since Reliance Jio is backed by its parent company with a pan -India 4G spectrum, it
is here to stay for a long time. Free voice calls and cheap data tariffs offer might
not seem sustainable in the long run, but one mustn’t forget that Jio derives its
strength from RIL’s balance sheet, sitting on a cash pile of nearly ₹91000 crore.
Similarly, although Bharati Airtel will take a significant hit but being the
incumbent market leader & having presence in all circles shall survive. Consumers
will get maximum benefit from this data war.

Seth et al (2008) analyzed that there is relative importance of service quality

attributes and showed that responsiveness is the most importance dimension
followed by reliability, customer perceived network quality, assurance,
convenience, empathy and tangibles. Liu (2002) found that the choice of a cellular
phone is characterized by two attitudes: attitude towards the mobile phone brand on
one hand and attitude towards the network on the other.

33
Muller (1990) in his a research focuses that the success of the mobile commerce
can be attributed to the personal nature of wireless devices. Adding to this are its
unique features of voice and data transmission and distinct features like
localization, feasibility and convenience. The sust ained growth of the mobile
commerce around the world has been more because of the transfer of technology
according to the needs of local geography.

World Telecommunication Development Report (2002) explains that network

expression in India was accompanied by an increase in productivity of telecom staff
measured in terms of ratio of number of main lines in 69 operation to total number
of staff.

Narinder K Chhiber ( 2008) the mobile telecommunication technology is evolving

rapidly in the world as more peopl e demand mobile services with longer bandwidth
and new innovative services like connectivity anywhere, anytime for feature like
T.V., Multimedia, Interoperability and seamless connectivity with all types of
protocols and standards, while the 3G 75 services are yet to fully come up. Serious
discussion on 4G has started .WLAN hot spot have made inroads along with 3G to
offer an alternative form of mobile access.

34
 1. Age of Respondent
AGE No. of Respondent % Percent
20-25 41 78.8%
25-35 7 13.5%
35-45 4 7.7%

Out of 52 respondents 78.8% of the respondent’s age are within 20-25 because most of the 4G
users are youngsters, and 7% are between 25-35 and 35-40 7.7% of the respondent.

35
 2. Gender

Gender No. of Respondents %Percentage

Male 20 39.2%
Female 31 60.8%
Prefer not to say

Out of 51 respondents 60.8% of the respondents are female, 39.2% are Male and 0% preferred
not to say.

36
 3. Use of 4G handset

Answer No. of Respondents %Percentage

YES 50 96.2%
NO 2 3.8%

Out of 52 respondents 96.2% have 4G handset and 3.8% don’t have 4G handset.

37
 4. Mobile operator

Operator No. of Respondents %Percentage

Airtel 30 58.8%
Vodafone 9 17.6%
Idea 1 2%
Jio 11 21.6%

Out of 51 respondents 58.8% use Airtel, 21.6% use Jio, 17.6% use Vodafone and 2% use
Idea.

38
 5. Data Speed

Operator No. of Respondents %Percentage

Airtel 33 63.5%
Vodafone 7 13.5%
Idea 1 1.9%
Jio 11 21.2%

Out of 52 respondents 63.5% believe that Airtel has better data speed, 21.2% believe that
Jio has better data speed, 13.5% believe that Vodafone has better data speed and 1.9%
believe that Idea has better data speed.

39
 6. Data plans

Operator No. of Respondents %Percentage

Airtel 20 38.5%
Vodafone 7 13.5%
Idea 1 1.9%
Jio 24 46.2%

Out of 52 respondents 38.5% believe that Airtel has better data plan, 46.2% believe that Jio has
better data speed, 13.5% believe that Vodafone has better data speed and 1.9% believe that Idea
has better data speed.

40
 7. Satisfaction

Operator No. of Respondents %Percentage

Airtel 27 51.9%
Vodafone 8 15.4%
Idea 2 3.8%
Jio 15 28.8%

Out of 52 respondents 51.9% have better satisfaction with Airtel, 28.8% have better satisfaction
with Jio, 15.4% have better satisfaction with Vodafone and 3.8% have better satisfaction with
Idea.

41
 8. Problem with mobile operator

Operator No. of Respondents %Percentage

Airtel 9 19.6%
Vodafone 15 32.6%
Idea 6 13%
Jio 16 34.8%

Out of 46 respondent 34.8% had problem with Jio, 32.6% had problem with Vodafone, 19.6%
had problem with Airtel and 13% had problem with Jio.

42
 9. Price Satisfaction

Operator No. of Respondents %Percentage

Airtel 20 38.5%
Vodafone 8 15.4%
Idea 2 3.8%
Jio 22 42.3%

Out of 52 respondent 42.3% had better price satisfaction with idea, 3.8% had better price
satisfaction with Vodafone, 15.4% had better price satisfaction with Airtel and 38.5% had better
satisfaction with Jio.

43
 10.Better network connectivity after introduction of Jio

Answers No. of Respondents

Strongly Agree 14
Agree 20
Neutral 14
Disagree 2
Strongly Disagree 4

Out of 54 respondents 14 strongly agree that after introduction of Jio they receive better network
connectivity, 20 strongly agree that after introduction of Jio they receive better network
connectivity, 2 disagree that after introduction of Jio they receive better network connectivity,4
strongly disagree that after introduction of Jio they receive better network connectivity,14 are
neutral about it.

44
 11.Effect of promotional activity in purchasing decision

Answers No. of Respondents

Strongly Agree 10
Agree 18
Neutral 18
Disagree 3
Strongly Disagree 3

Out of 52 respondents 10 strongly agree that promotional activities has impact on purchasing
decision, 18 agree that promotional activities has impact on purchasing decision, 3 disagree that
promotional activities has impact on purchasing decision, 3 strongly disagree that promotional
activities has impact on purchasing decision,18 are neutral about it.

45
 12.Airtel’s data speed excellency

Answers No. of Respondents %Percentage

Strongly Agree 13 25.5%
Agree 21 41.2%
Neutral 10 19.6%
Disagree 3 5.9%
Strongly Disagree 4 7.8%

Out of 51 respondents 13 strongly agree that Airtel’s data speed is excellent,21 agree that
Airtel’s data speed is excellent,3 disagree that Airtel’s data speed is excellent,4 strongly agree
that Airtel’s data speed is excellent and 10 are neutral about it.

46
 13. Jio’s data speed Excellency

Answers No. of Respondents %Percentage

Strongly Agree 4 7.7%
Agree 17 32.7%
Neutral 17 32.7%
Disagree 8 15.4%
Strongly Disagree 6 11.5%

Out of 52 respondents 4 strongly agree that jio’s data speed is excellent, 17 agree that jio’s data
speed is excellent, 8 disagree that jio’s data speed is excellent,6 strongly disagree that jio’s data
speed is excellent and 17 are neutral.

47
 Findings

 People are showing more interest n buying 4G handsets.

 Customers prefer better data speed even though it is more expensive.
 Airtel has not lost his consumer loyalty even after the introduction of Jio.
 Airtel is leading in the market with better customer satisfaction, higher data speed and
proper customer services.
 Even with its excellent data plans Reliance Jio is not able to capture the market share due
to bad network and low network coverage.
 Undoubtedly Airtel and Jio made a huge impact on customers as they’ve captured a big
share of market.
 Airtel and Jio both promoted their brand extensively hence, increasing their customer
base.
 Other mobile network operators must up their gain to retain or increase their share in the
market.

Suggestions

Reliance Jio must focus on rural areas to get people’s attention, not only that Jio must
exterminate the problem of calling congestions and call drop. It would help if the mobile
operators try to build a good relationship with all the retailers, praise recognize and honor them
for better work. Both the network operators can get feedback from existing customer and take
that as a reference for making a new customers. In this regard Airtel should come up with better
data plans and excellent customer services.

48
 Conclusion

The study consisted comparison between two major telecommunication giants in India, Airtel
India and Reliance Jio. The groundbreaking introduction of Reliance Jio caused tremendous
impact on Airtel as well as other networks, which compelled them to reduce the cost of their
plans to retain their customers. From the above data we concluded that even though Reliance Jio
received huge customer base at the time of introduction, the customers were not loyal and
switched to other networks as soon as the freebies got over, but we cannot ignore the
transformation that reliance Jio has brought into tele-communication in India. India’s tele-
communication network has grown to be 2nd largest in the world with 1.2billion subscribers as
on 30th September 2017.

49
 Bibliography

https://www.scribd.com/document/346083449/Project-Report-on-Jio-vs-Airtel

http://www.academia.edu/31877609/Project_Report_on_AN_ANALYTICAL_TUDY_OF_LAU
NCH_OF_JIO_SIM_ON_OTHER_COMPITITOR_IN_WEST_NAGPUR_CITY_.._Project_Gu
ide

https://www.slideshare.net/MITALISONI3/reliance-jio-vs-airtel?qid=70687ae4-5bdb-443f-bc77-
8c3518b2d5c1&v=&b=&from_search=1

https://www.slideshare.net/MitaliSinha2/airtel-vs-reliance-jio

https://www.slideshare.net/NavinRai10/jio-review-of-literature

https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jioreviewofliterature-161120071834/95/jio-review-of-literature-
1-638.jpg?cb=1479626330

https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jioreviewofliterature-161120071834/95/jio-review-of-literature-
2-638.jpg?cb=1479626330

https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jioreviewofliterature-161120071834/95/jio-review-of-literature-
3-638.jpg?cb=1479626330

https://www.slideshare.net/NavinRai10?utm_campaign=profiletracking&utm_medium=sssite&u
tm_source=ssslideview

https://amritt.com/industries/telecommunication/top-telecommunication-companies-in-india/

https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-of-reliance-jio/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/swot-analysis-reliance-jio-nishit-kumar/

https://www.slideshare.net/AdilHussain49/impact-of-reliance-jio-on-telecom-sector

https://www.ndtv.com/news/images/gadgets/airtel-new-logo.jpg?output-quality=70&output-
format=webp

50
 Questionnaire

A REPORT ON COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN TELECOM GIANTS

AIRTEL INDIA AND RELIANCE JIO

1. Name

_____________________________

2. Age

a. 20-25
b. 25-35
c. 35-40

3. Gender

a. Male
b. Female
c. Prefer not to say

4. Do you have 4G handset

a. Yes
b. No

5. Which mobile operator do you use?

a. Airtel
b. Vodafone
c. Idea
d. Jio

6. Which mobile operator has higher data speed?

51
 a. Airtel
b. Vodafone
c. Idea
d. Jio

7. Which mobile operator gives better data plan?

a. Airtel
b. Vodafone
c. Idea
d. Jio

8. Which mobile operator are you satisfied with?

a. Airtel
b. Vodafone
c. Idea
d. Jio

9. Have you encountered any problems with mobile operator? If Yes, by which one

a. Airtel
b. Vodafone
c. Idea
d. Jio

10. In terms of pricing, which mobile operator are you satisfied with?

a. Airtel
b. Vodafone
c. Idea
d. Jio

11. Your experience of network connectivity has improved after introduction of Jio

a. Strongly Agree

52
 b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly Disagree

12. Promotional activities by mobile operator has impacted your purchasing decision

a. Strongly Agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly Disagree

13. Airtel’s 4G speed is excellent

a. Strongly Agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly Disagree

14. Jio’s VoLTE speed is excellent

a. Strongly Agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly Disagree

53