CONTENTS

COMPANY PROFILE THEME OF AKTEL VISION MISSION OBJECTIVES DIVISION OF AKTEL SEGMENTATION TARGETING POSITIONING SWOT ANALYSIS CORE COMPETENCE OF AKTEL CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP PRODUCT PRICE PLACE PROMOTION

COMPETETORS
CONCLUSION

COMPANY PROFILE
TM International (Bangladesh) Limited (TMIB), a joint venture company of Telecom Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., of Malaysia and A. K. Khan & Company Ltd. of Bangladesh has started its commercial operation in Dhaka, the Capital city of Bangladesh as a GSM 900 cellular phone operator on 15th November 1997 the tremendous success in Dhaka. TMIB has started its operation in Chittagong in March 26, 1998. TMIB uses the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications as the digital cellular system, which is fully featured with services like Basic Telephony, Data and Value Added Services, (VAS). TMIB has an integrated and fully computerized Customer Care Billing System (CCBS), which supports virtually all subscriber-related functions.

Theme OF AKTEL
AKTEL always strives to uphold the dictum Customer First.

Vision
To obtain the leadership position in telecommunication company of Bangladesh.

Mission
AKTEL aims to achieve its vision through being number one not only in terms of market share, but also by being an employer of choice with up-to date knowledge and products geared to address the ever changing needs of our growing nation. To provide total customer satisfaction as the company strives to become the most preferred GSM cellular service provider in Bangladesh. TMIB will achieve this through developing people, products, and services of the highest quality and meeting the needs of its customers, employees, shareholders and the country people. 1. Roaming Facility

2. GPRS facilities 3. Cheaper Standard connection 4. E-Fill Facility. 5. Center. Both way T&T connectivity 6. More customer care center. 7. Easier tariff structure 8. Lower Tariff rate 9. T&T incoming availability in mobile plus 10. Night Bird Talk Plan 11. Provide low call rate. 12. Provide more connectivity. 13. Introduce more trade oriented sale promotion for dealers. 14. As a multinational company AKTEL should more contribute on society to increase its visibility and acceptance among the people. 15. Ensure complain box in every customer care. 16. Offer the connection with locative hand set at a lower price. 17. Engage with related diversification business. (With mobile phone) 18. AKTEL should ensure the service before making any promise to the subscribers. (EFill problem) 19. Built customer relationship

Division of AKTEL
There are five divisions in AKTEL. Such As:

Human Resource division

Marketing division Technical division IT division Finance division

SEGMENTATION
CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION
Individual businessman, entrepreneur professional and established organizations are the main customers of TM. They have also a target to take students and low income groups with their introduction to Mobile-to-Mobile and prepaid services. They serve the market more accurately their target market will be further segmented based on

Segmentation

Demographic

Geographic

Psychographic

Demographic Segmentation
Variables
Age

Segmentation Base
Above18

Gender

Both Male & Female

Family Size

Any Family Size

Family Life Style Nuclear family, Joint family or Any other Marital Status Both Married & Unmarried

Income

5000+

Education

Any Education (Basic Knowledge of use Cellular Phone)

Occupation

Students, Small Entrepreneur, Employed, Corporate user, Farmer

Geographic Segmentation
Variables
States (Coverage)

Segmentation Base
Dhaka & Chittagong highly potential & focusing states & other Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barishal.

Region (Coverage)

All Districts

Target Market

Urban, Sub-urban, Rural

Psychographic Segmentation

Variables

Segmentation Base

Social Class

Upper Class-Corporate, Individual Corporate, Post paid Middle Class-Pre paid, uddokta (Call seller) Mass people-Prepaid

Life Style

Integrated, Demanding, Emotional, Belongers, Passionate, Devotee

Targeting
They have to take some steps to achieve second position.Choosen steps are: PREPAID CONNECTION: AKTEL offering low price to get a connection because they are trying to collect more users their brand.

AKTEL UDDOKTA: We choose this step to attach call sell market and busy user.

EROSTOGATE CUSTOMER: This package design to postpaid user.

Market Share
Competitors' performance
TMIB was the third entrant in the market and it possesses 13% of the cellular market of the country. The following Pie Chart depicts the operator wise market share in Bangladesh as at December 2008:

Market shares Grameen Bangla Link Aktel Citycell Others

Percentage 56% 17% 15% 5% 7%

Network positioning:
Network positioning Grameen Phone Bangla Link Aktel Citycell Warid
Coverage 95% 86% 88% 72% 66%

Price positioning
Price positioning Grameen Bangla Link Aktel Citycell Warid
Prepaid Price 900tk 900Tk 98tk 1600 (with Hand Set) 300tk

SWOT ANALYSIS

Internal Analysis

Strength GSM Technology Better reputation Effective human resources Quality top management Quality Billing system Quality Customer Care system Expertise and experience of parent company Better liaison with foreign GSM operators Long range strategic planning Market research unit Strong dealer network Good reputation

Weakness Poor coverage than the competitors Not enough channels with BTTB Absence of human resource policy Shortage of human resource in help line Package-pricing are more expensive and less attractive

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External Analysis
Threat Unstable political culture Recession in the economy Non co operative telecommunication regulatory body Growing middle class population Opportunities Public sector unable to meet demand Product with very long life cycle New technology

THE MARKETING MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS

While going through the existing situation in the market it is being found that AKTEL GM has the following problems in their marketing management section. Those are Service Problem & problem in frequency, which is a major problem currently AKTEL is facing. AKTEL has the unavailability of international roaming and also has SMS problem. Their facility for SMS is not up to the level of their major rivalry like GrameenPhone. Unavailability of prepaid card which shows there lacking in marketing and sales inefficiency. There major competitor GrameenPhone has better distribution of their pre paid cards than AKTEL has. Lack of attention to the customers is another marketing management problem. Currently whatever customer care they are providing is not sufficient for their existing

customers. If they do not increase the customer service, they would be unable to cover their increasing customers as well. New package is offered to the new customers only whereas their old customers do not get facility of this package. Even though AKTEL promised to provide TNT facilities to some consumers, they have no yet kept their promise.

CORE COMPETENCE OF AKTEL:

AKTEL has some distinct core competence over its competitors. These unique core competences easily made the company different over the competitors. To survive in that hyper competitive business world AKTEL contentiously developing its core product, which is Sim, service and innovating more core competence.

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Some Distinct Core Competence Of AKTEL

Lower call rate. Pulse facilities. F&F facilities. AIR (AKTEL) l International Rooming) service Extensive promotional activities. Energetic workforce. Proper guidelines from the parent company (Telecom Malaysia) Public relations. Bus Branding.

GPRS (Global Pocket Radio Service) facilities. Actually core competence is something, which is dynamic in nature. On the other hand telecommunication industry is in a hyper competitive situation. Everyday each of the company trying to come up with something new over the computations so what is our core competence today may not be tomorrow. That is why Aktel should innovate more and more core competence to protect future, company rivalry and the company also should maintain the present core competence very carefully. Because core competence does not come over night

Customer Relationship
Customers are the heart of the business. Because they are the people for whom the company stand for. That is why AKTEL has great responsibilities for its customer that should be maintained in a contentious way.

Proposed Customer relationship building strategy for Aktel:

Direct main to post paid subscribers for event programs. Arranging free concert for AKTEL subscribers. Special gift offer at the direct sell. Celebrating AKTEL Eid fair. Arranging AKTEL technology Fair. Bye one SIM take a ticket of Water kingdom or Fantasy Kingdom. Encourage customer to make complain.

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Public relationship
The bottom line of public relationship is to increase visibility for any goods and services. So that can be a strong tool for AKTEL to share the mind of the consumer. In terms of public relationship Aktel can ensure the following measures: As a multinational company public relationship would be a great why for Aktel to share the mind of the people. Because people is the core of any business. That is why much depends on the well consideration of the people regarding any company. So to spread its brand image to each and every spread its brand image to each and every corner of the country Aktel can introduce a numbers of public relation promotional tools to increase its visibility.

Proposed Public relationship building strategy

AKTEL tree plantation program. AKTEL Acid victim fund. AKTEL IT scholarship. AKTEL ZATRA Utshab for the rural people. AKTEL flood victim foundation. AKTEL life guard/boat in the ferry. AKTEL striker hunter (Football) program. AKTEL puppet show for the rural people. AKTEL blood donor association. AKTEL lifeguard in the sea beach. Provide worm cloth to the rootless people at winter. Form a helping fund for the village school going children. Introduce scholarship for the poor students of villages. Donate a strong amount of money at the moment of natural disaster like drought, flood.

MARKETING PRODUCT MIX PLANNING

PRODUCT AKTEL emphasizes on continuous improvement of quality. They reposition slow moving products to different target markets. They are always branding AKTEL with all packages with a GSM services. PRICE Necessary changes in tariff structure and changes in charges in terms and conditions. Penetration pricing is done by the company in the face of competition Skimming policy is also adopted where possible.

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PLACE AKTEL makes an effective use of distribution AKTEL Makes product and service delivery system more effective and time consuming AKTEL provides wider distribution network to make service more accessible accessible

PROMOTION The company publishes brochures with all necessary information and does press advertisements. They will do television commercials in future, and also make billboards.

Products and Services from AKTEL

AKTEL has the following categories of product:

Post-paid (Mobile to Mobile) Mobile Plus (Mobile to Mobile + BTTB incoming) Pre-Paid(Pure) Pre-Paid Plus(Mobile to Mobile + BTTB incoming) AKTEL Standard (Local) AKTEL Standard (NWD) AKTEL Standard (ISD)

Pre-paid
Ashal Phone- Pre-Paid Standard (BTTB Both-way Connectivity) Ashal Phone provides both way connectivity with any mobile and land phone Worldwide (NWD/ISD). Its pre- activated SIM card with pre-loaded amount ensuring the instant access. Charge is unique for worldwide roaming. Its registration cost is minimum. No deposit is required here.

Pre-Paid Mobile Plus (BTTB Incoming)

Its provide exclusive nationwide mobile-to-mobile connection facility. It allows both BTTB and global incoming facility. It has no monthly line rent and no incoming charge.

Mobile Link- Pre-Paid Mobile to Mobile

Its provide outgoing and incoming facilities from any mobile number of any operators. It has no monthly line rent and no incoming charge . 14

Additional features for Pre-paid

Voice Mail Service (VMS) Short Message Service (SMS) 24 Hours computerized Customer Service Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP) Call Forwarding / Diverting Call waiting / Holding

Post-Paid
Standard- Post-Paid (BTTB Both-way Connectivity)
It provides both way BTTB outgoing and incoming facilities. It also provides zonalsubscription with national roaming facility. Subscriber enjoys both NWD and IDD outgoing call facility by increasing the security deposit. Its monthly rent is Tk.500.

Post-Paid Mobile Plus (BTTB Incoming)

Its provide exclusive nationwide mobile-to-mobile connection facility. It allows any incoming call from BTTB number and it gives global incoming facility. It has no incoming charge and its monthly rent is Tk 250.

Post-Paid Mobile to Mobile

It allows both Outgoing and Incoming facilities from any mobile number of any mobile operators. It also provides nationwide roaming facility. It has no incoming charge and monthly rent isTk.200.

Additional features for Post-paid

Voice Mail Service (VMS) Short Message Service (SMS) 24 Hours computerized Customer Service Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP) Call Forwarding / Diverting Call waiting / Holding Itemized Bill

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PRICE
TARIFF SREUCTURE:
Tariff for Pre-Paid Connection:
Call category Out going Call Destination Mobile to Mobile Time Band Peak & Off-pick Call rate* per 30 Sec (in BDT) Standard 08:00-23:00 3.5 Mobile Link 3.5

Tariff for Post-Paid Connection:

All figures in Tk. per min* Out going to AKTEL AKTEL F'n'F Other Mobile BTTB Incoming from Any Mobile BTTB Peak 8am - 8pm 3.50 1.50 4.00 4.00+BTTB Free First minute Free 2.00 1.50 1.00 1.50 3.00 Off-Peak 2.50 Night Bird 1.50 1.50 1.50 8pm - 12am 12mn - 8am

3.00+BTTB 1.50+BTTB Free Free

* All rates exclude VAT

Operator
AKTEL

TechnologyDate of launching
GSM November97

Ownership

Equipment Suppliers

Nos of subscribers
150000

GRAMEEN PHONE

GSM

April97

70%Telecom Malaysia, 30% Alcatel, AK khan Ericsson 51% Telenor, Ericsson 35%Grameen Telecom, 9.5% Marubini 4.5% Gonofone

810000

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CITY CELL

CDMA

August93 September98

BANGLALINK GSM

50% Pacific Group, 50%FarEast Telecom 50% TRI(Malaysia) 50% ISL(Bangladesh)

Motorolla N/A

98000 35000

Product Feathers:

Call category Out going

Call Destination Nobile toMobile

Time Band 08:00-23:00 23:00-08:00 08:00-23:00 23:00-08:00 08:00-23:00 23:00-08:00 08:00-23:00 23:00-08:00 Off-Peak 2.50 1.50 3.00 Free 1.50

Incomimg

Peak & Off-pick NBTP Mobile to PSTN Peak & Off-pick NBTP Mobile to Mobile Peak & Off-pick NBTP PSTN to Mobile Peak & Off-pick NBTP Peak 8am - 8pm 3.50 1.50 4.00 4.00+BTTB Free First minute Free 2.00

call rate* per 30 Sec (in BDT) Standard Moblile Link 3.5 3.5 1.25 1.25 3.50+PSTN Charge Not Allowed 1.25+PSTN Charge Not Allowed Free Free Free Free 1.00 Not Allowed 0.50 Not Allowed Night Bird 1.50 1.50 1.50 Free 1.00

All figures in Tk. per min* Out going to AKTEL AKTEL F'n'F Other Mobile BTTB Incomimg from Any Mobile BTTB

8pm - 12am 12mn - 8am

3.00+BTTB 1.50+BTTB

PLACE
NETWORK COVERAGE OF AKTEL
Network coverage by Aktel within the Dhaka city is good enough. But Specially in Chittagong AKTEL covers the most. From Teknaf to Tetulia AKTEL established an uninterrupted network link. Customers have few complains regarding the network coverage within the city. But there are certain areas within the city where the frequency is so low that phone cannot be connected e.g. Dhaka University.

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Expansion of network coverage is needed. There are some areas within the country where there is barely any network coverage. Even though the company claims that they have network coverage throughout the 61 districts of the country but problem remains. In order to solve this crucial problem company should increase the number of BTS. The existing BTS cannot cover the wide range of areas in Network gets over loaded during the off peak- hours and again during the Night Bird Talk Plan, which starts from 12 am- 8 am. In that time every one tries to get connected, which makes the network overloaded.

DISTRICT WISE COVERAGE OF AKTEL:

Dhaka
Dhaka

Sylhet
Sylhet

Barisal
Barisal

Khulna
Khulna

Rajshahi
Rajshahi

Chittagong
Chittagong

Narayanganj Gazipur Narsingdi Munshiganj Manikganj Brahmanbaria Chandpur Comilla Tangail Mymensingh Netrakona Sherpur Jamalpur Kishoreganj Gopalganj Faridpur Sariatpur Rajbari Madaripur

Moulavibazar Jhalakati Habiganj Patuakhali Sunamganj Pirojpur Barguna Bhola

Jessore Magura Jhenaidah Khustia Satkhira Bagerhat Chuadanga Meherpur Narail

Bogra Rangpur Dinajpur Lalmonirhat Kurigram Nilphamari Thakurgaon Naogaon Natore Sirajganj Pabna Capainawabganj Joypurhat Panchagarh Gaibandha

Feni Coxs Bazar Noakhali Laksmipur

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PROMOTION
Brochures with all necessary information press advertisements, television commercials in future, and Billboards.They are also sponsoring many events.Aktel has an agreement with star Cineplex at Bashundrara city. In the big occasions like Pohela Boishak they are arranging fair and selling their product at a special price. AKTEL ads at the sail of boat. AKTEL billboard at the bank of the river. Put AKTEL billboard at sent martin island. AKTEL hospital for rural people.

Overall Recommendations to be followed:

Introducing more customer care center around the country for customer convenience. Introduce more Trade oriented sales promotion for dealers. Arranging mobile fair frequently in major cities of the country. Resolve network difficulties through installing more towers around the country. Introducing AKTEL Credit card for the corporate clients. Engage with related diversification business. (With mobile phone) Introduce a separate brand management unit to nurture the Brand. Co-branding efforts should be image building and usage increasing as well. Like, SMS sending to Indian Idol over Hutch phones. Offer the connection with locative hand set at a lower price. Ensure efficient control over dealers and use its own workforce for distribution. Introduce several motivational tools for dealers. Ensure smooth procurement process Arrange several event programs like Gajal, Fashion show for the corporate clients in a consistent way. Introduce some below the line marketing strategy. As a multinational company AKTEL should more contribute on society to increase its visibility and acceptance among the people. Introduce a separate Brand management unit to nurture the brand. Introduce more brand image like AKTEL brand car. Replace Aktel slogan at the highway mile indicator. AKTEL should ensure the service before making any promise to the subscribers. (E- Fill problem) Aktel should Encourage its customer to make any complain to the company (Take every complain as a gift for the company)

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Arrange the promotional tools based on the each and every segmented market like (Barisal, Dhaka, Khulna, Sylhet, Chittagong) culturally adopted. Introduce novelty offer contentiously. Think about the brand extension based on the segmented market. Ensure complain box in every customer care. Introduce AKTEL mobile institute. Serving centre to resolve E-fill difficulties for Dealers and as well as customers. Arranging tanning programs for the dealers for get too more familiar with the business. Profitable package should be introduced only for the students. Sponsoring several programs like talk show to increase image and visibility for the company. Should lowering the fully dependency on dealers and ensure the use of company peoples for distribution of its core products. Strong control on the authorized outlets and non-traditional channels. Arrange tanning programs contentiously for the customer care executives. More social contribution through free tree providing to the rural peoples, arranging seminar on HIV, donating in several NGOs. More branding like AKTEL Transportation to increasing visibility. Lowering the SMS charge in special days like Friend Ship days, Valentine day, Eid Days, Christmas day. Ensure T&T incoming with the all the existing AKTEL pre paid connection. Develop the network infrastructure with other operators especially with BANGLA LINK. Introducing a special day as AKTEL day and celebrate the day overall the country.

PROPOSED EXTENDED FOUR PS

As a service oriented business AKTEL has a great implication on extended four Ps those are People, process and physical evidence. So along with the traditional four ps company need to nurture the extended four ps.

People
People are the key of any service-oriented business. That is why the quality of the people (work force) has a great importance for AKTEL. Especially the front person who deals with the clients directly they need to well trained and positive attitude to the customer. That

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is why for Aktel the customer care people have a great role to make the service as efficient as possible by the eye of the consumer. Or subscribers.

Process
Process simply implies the way of providing service. In light of Aktel customer care center process of providing service can be a great issue. To provide the service efficiently there should be a systematic process for Aktel so that customer or subscribers do not fell unhappy regarding the service.

Physical evidence
Physical evidence all has a great importance in extended four ps. In light of AKTEL customer care center can be a great source of showing the physical evidence. For customer convenience AKTEL should introduce more signage, more artistic exterior and interior design to increase the visibility of the company.

COMPETETORS
Here are some brief history and background of the three competitors of AKTEL.

A. Grameen Phone Ltd

Garmeen Phone (GP) has been established to provide high-quality GSM cellular service at affordable prices. Grameen Phone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on November 28, 1996. The Company launched its service on March 26, 1997.Grameen Phone's basic strategy is coverage of both urban and rural areas. GP's primary goals are to serve the mass market. By serving mass market company wants to achieve economies of scale and healthy profits. In addition, GP has positioned itself to Your University 2009 Page 1 4 capitalize on the declining prices of handsets, making its goal to serve the general public realistic. The foreign shareholders are from Norway, Japan, and the United States. Telenor ,which owns 51% of GP is the state-owned telecommunication company in Norway operating since 1885. Grameen Telecom is the second largest shareholder owning 35% of GP, has been established by Grameen Bank. Marubeni Corporation is one of the largest general trading and investment companies in Japan. This company owns 9.5% of GP. Gonofone Development Corp. which owns 4.5% of GP, is a telecommunications development company based in New York. At present GP has coverage in 50 districts of Bangladesh. All Six divisional towns of the

Country Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, and Barisal & Sylhet are in Grameen Phone's coverage now. Grameen Phone's network is divided into six zones according to divisional borders.

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B. Sheba Telecom
Sheba Telecom was incorporated on June 25, 1995 as a private limited company. It is a Joint venture effort between Integrated Services Limited (ISL) Bangladesh and Technology Resources Industries (TRI) Malaysia. The equity holding of the joint venture Company is, Technology Resources Industries 51% and Integrated Services Limited 49. Sheba Telecom was granted the Rural Telecom License for the period of 25 years starting From June 8, 1994. The license allows Sheba Telecom to provide all kinds of Telecommunications service except telegraph and telex. The license covers 195 thanas in the southern part of Bangladesh with about 55 millions population. Based on the experience in the rural telecommunication project, coupled with the Expertise of the partners, Sheba Telecom was further entrusted by the Government of Bangladesh to operate nation wide, GSM cellular mobile in November 1996. The license Covers a period of 15 years effective from November 11, 1996. Both licenses were Awarded through international tender, which has placed Sheba Telecom in a unique Position in the telecommunications sector in Bangladesh. Sheba Telecom is committed to grow with the nation in realization of the countrys vision to make communication as basic necessity and within reachable by all levels of the people.

C. CityCell
Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited has redefined the telecom business through marketing innovation, Unique BTTB connectivity, continuous technological up gradation & the highest standard of service to our customers proving that we value your money, and treasure customer relationship .PBTL has consistently set the benchmark of the telecom industry in Bangladesh: First to launch Mobile phone in the Sub-continent First to adopt CDMA technology in the sub-continent. First ever private wireless network in Bangladesh. First to connect Cox's Bazaar to rest of the world. Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited technological upgradation has constantly been setting standard for other service provider in the country. We upgraded our network from the AMPS to the state of art CDMA technology. Now we can boast of the SDH microwave network connecting area between Dhaka - Chittagong and Dhaka - Sylhet. PBTL has constantly given its customer more that one reason to be proud of, while the innovation & up gradation in network has resulted in the lowest fault rate in the country. CityCell's sales & customer service team has won many hearts through their efficiency, skill & customer focus attitude.

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WHATS NEXT
Information obtained from the secondary sources has given a clearer idea about the organization. Our preconception towards AKTEL has been modified after the interview with the management. This will in turn help us to reconstruct our questionnaire to find out the nature and solution of problems regarding AKTELs service. From the discussion with AKTELs management we obtained some information which will lead us to rethink about the opportunity of AKTEL. New information about AKTELs future plan that we were being exposed to are: AKTEL is planning to setup three more Customer Service Centre in Dhanmondi, Uttara and Motijheel Previously we have mentioned that AKTEL does not provide International Roaming Service but from the discussion it has been found that they are going to include International Roaming service in their Service Plan by September. Currently AKTEL has 20 Agents throughout the country. They are planning to expand 20 more agents by 1st May. By 14th April AKTEL is going to provide 24 hours customer service. Till now information that we gathered, was from the point of view of AKTELs management. In the next step we will try to acquire customers perception about AKTEL through the questionnaire. Questionnaire will be based on the problems that we previously found from the first phase and also the future plan that we have came to know from the secondary data.

CONCLUSION
After all the analyses from the secondary data we have found the stronger base for conducting our next phase of research which is primary data analysis through questionnaire survey. The marketing department of AKTEL assured us to give possible cooperation regarding the next part of the research. Our satisfaction as researchers will come when we will be able to complete the research successfully without any difficulties. We hope that our report will become inspiration for the fellow students who will read and learn from it.

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