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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 8, Issue 9, September 2017, pp. 889–897, Article ID: IJCIET_08_09_099 Available online at http://http://www.iaeme.com/ijciet/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=8&IType=9 ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

A MODEL ANALYSIS FOR THE

PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES OF CELL

PHONE SUBSCRIBER IDENTITY MODULE

(SIM) CARDS

D. Prasanna Kumar

Associate Professor, Department of Management, K L University, Vaddeswaram, Guntur District, AP, India

K. Rajyalakshmi

Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, K L University, Vaddeswaram, Guntur District, AP, India

SS. Asadi

Associate Dean Academics & Professor3, Department of Civil Engineering, K L University, Vaddeswaram, AP, India

ABSTRACT:

It is an extensive study on how the subscriber identity module (SIM) markets

through strategies and how the companies has been able in tackling the present tough

competition and how it is coping up by the allegations of the quality of its products.

This contains the basic marketing strategies that are used by the different companies

of manufacturing process, technology, production policy, advertising, collaboration,

export scenario, future prospect and government policies. It includes some of the key

salient features of market trend issues. In today’s world of cutthroat fierce

competition, it is very essential to not only exist but also to excel in the market.

Primary data collected from 100 Respondents by structured interviews and secondary

in this collected through news articles, journals, magazine, peer reviews and

published databases. Based on the data collected suggestions and recommendations

given to companies to promote their own promotional strategies.

Key words: Technology, Promotional techniques, Subscriber identity module.

Cite this Article: D. Prasanna Kumar, K. Rajyalakshmi and SS. Asadi, A model analysis for the promotional techniques of cell phone subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 8(9), 2017, pp. 889–897. http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=8&IType=9

A model analysis for the promotional techniques of cell phone subscriber identity module (SIM) cards


1. INTRODUCTION:

The telecom industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India. India has nearly 200 million telephone lines making it the third largest network in the world after China and USA. With a growth rate of 45%, Indian telecom industry has the highest growth rate in the world. History of Indian Telecommunications started in 1851 when the first operational land lines were laid by the government near Calcutta (seat of British power). Telephone services were introduced in India in 1881. Telecom sector was considered as a strategic service and the government considered it best to bring under state's control. Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. A marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and other elements; identifies the firm's marketing goals, and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources.

The first wind of reforms in telecommunications sector began to flow in 1980s when the private sector was allowed in telecommunications equipment manufacturing. In 1985, Department of Telecommunications (DOT) was established. In 1986, two wholly government-owned companies were created: the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in metropolitan areas. In 1990s, telecommunications sector benefited from the general opening up of the economy. National Telecom Policy (NTP) 1994 was the first attempt to give a comprehensive roadmap for the Indian telecommunications sector. In 1997, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was created. TRAI was formed to act as a regulator to facilitate the growth of the telecom sector. New National Telecom Policy was adopted in 1999 and cellular services were also launched in the same year.

Cellular services can be further divided into two categories: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). The GSM sector is dominated by Airtel, Vodafone-Hutch, and Idea Cellular, while the CDMA sector is dominated by Reliance and Tata Indicom. Opening up of international and domestic long distance telephony services are the major growth drivers for cellular industry. Cellular operators get substantial revenue from these services, and compensate them for reduction in tariffs on airtime, which along with rental was the main source of revenue. The reduction in tariffs for airtime, national long distance, international long distance, and handset prices has driven demand.

1.1 Industry profile of the telecommunications market

The Indian mobile economy is growing rapidly and will contribute substantially to India’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to report prepared by GSM Association (GSMA) in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).The liberal and reformist policies of the Government of India have been instrumental along with strong consumer demand in the rapid growth in the Indian telecom sector. Driven by strong adoption of data consumption on handheld devices, the total mobile services market revenue in India is expected to touch US$ 37 billion in 2017, registering a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.2 per cent between 2014 and 2017, according to research firm IDC. India's mobile subscriber base is expected to cross 500 million! Subscribers by the end of FY2015 from 453 million subscribers at the end of FY2014. According to a study by GSMA, smart phones are expected to account for two out of every three mobile connections globally by 2020 making India the fourth largest smart phone market. The broadband services user-base in India is expected to grow to 250 million connections by 2017.

D. Prasanna Kumar, K. Rajyalakshmi and SS. Asadi


1.2 Government Initiatives

The government has fast-tracked reforms in the telecom sector and continues to be proactive in providing room for growth for telecom companies. Some of the other major initiatives taken by the government are as follows:

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed the telecom companies or mobile operators to compensate the consumers in the event of dropped calls with a view to reduce the increasing number of dropped calls.

• With a view to encourage consolidation in the telecom sector, the Government of India has approved the rules for spectrum trading that will allow telecom companies to buy and sell rights to unused spectrum among themselves. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, gave its approval to the guidelines on spectrum sharing, aimed to improve spectral efficiency and quality of service, based on the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

• The Central Government’s several initiatives to promote manufacturing in the country, such as ‘Make in India’ campaign appears to have had a positive impact on mobile handsets manufacturing in the country. Companies like Samsung, Micromax and Spice had been assembling handsets in the country already. Xiaomi and Motorola, along with Lenovo have also started assembly of smart phones in India. Firms like HTC, Asus and Gionee too have shown interest in setting up a manufacturing base in the country.

• The Government of India plans to roll out free high-speed Wi-Fi in 2,500 cities and towns across the country over the next three years. The program entails an investment of up to Rs 7,000 crore (US$ 1.06 billion) and will be implemented by state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study will try to analyze how cell phone SIM cards keeps hold of its market because of its great marketing strategies with the following objectives:

• To identify the factors considered by the companies in making the marketing strategies for their business and to attract new customers

• To suggest them effective marketing strategies to get success in the current competitive environment in the telecommunication industry

3. METHODOLOGY

Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. A marketing strategy should be centered on the key concept that customer satisfaction is the main goal. Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organization's energies and resources on a course of action which can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. A marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and other elements; identifies the firm's marketing goals, and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources.

First we will review the existing literature concerned with how SIM cards of the companies’ keeps hold of their market because of their great marketing strategies. Once we through with the subject we will have a better understanding of it. A thorough research will be



conducted among the executives in the companies. The primary as well as secondary data collection method will be used in this research.

Data Used:

To conduct this research work the researcher has taken data from the 100 respondents through primary sources.

Primary Data:

Primary data will be collected by structured interviews. Executives will be interviewed with the help of questionnaire. The questionnaire will be close ended question and analyzing quantitative data will be presented with the help of bar graphs.

Secondary Data:

The secondary data in this research will be collected through news articles, journals, magazine, peer reviews and published databases. A comprehensive of the collected data will be presented with the help of tables, charts and graphs.

3.1 Formulation of Hypothesis

• Null Hypothesis (H0): The adopted promotional strategies are not affective to the companies.

• Alternative Hypothesis (H1): The adopted promotional strategies are affective to the companies.

• Null Hypothesis (H0): Promotional strategies are not positively related to the firm’s turnover (number of sales).

• Alternative Hypothesis (H1): Promotional strategies are positively related to the firm’s turnover (number of sales).

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

According to the above methodology, Gender, Age group, Annual income, Educational qualification and Occupation has been considered from the respondents, in these following observations has been carried out in Table:1,2,3,4,5.



Interpretation: From the above tables, we observed that, there is more number of male respondents. Clearly that out of 100 respondents 70% of them are men and 30 % of them are women.

Table 2 gives the more number of the employees belongs to the age group of 20-30. Clearly that out of 100 respondents 20% are 18-20, 45% are 20-10 and 25 % are 30-40, 10% are above 40 years.

Table 3 shows that annual income of 100 respondents, 21% earn from 0 -2 lakhs, 43% earn between 2 – 4 lakhs ,32 % earn between 6 – 8 lakhs, 4% earn more than 8 lakhs.

Table 4 clearly shows the educational qualification of the 100 respondents, 1% completed SSC, 60% completed undergraduate and 39% are postgraduates.

Table 5 clearly shows the employee occupational information of 100 respondents, 2% are store manager, 61% sales manager, 27% are marketing executive, 10% others.

The respondents of different variables which influence the usage of SIM cards are represent in table:6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15.

From the above data Interpretation

• Most of them use the prepaid connections .It can be inferred that 43% use post-paid and 56% use prepaid.



• Airtel is the best service provider. It can be inferred that 63% use Airtel, 17% use Idea, 10% use Vodafone and 10% use BSNL.

• The time period of the employees using particular network is 30% are using from less than 3 months, 24% from 6-10 months, 18% from 3-6 months, 22% from 1-2 months and 6% more than 3 years.

• The warm and helpful behaviour of customer care executives in providing service is appealing and it showed that 22% are professional and prompt ,26% not responding ,29% are warm and helpful and 23% are lazy and slow.

• Low connections charge is best users attraction to the quality of airtel.20% say good network,40% say low connections charge,20% say best customer service, 0% say good coverage ,20 % say special offer.

• Customers feel that the tariff rates are competitive enough and the data showed that10% say they are high, 60% say competitive, 30% say medium, 0% say they are low.

• Most of the customers prefer Airtel over the other networks and the table 12 gives that 14% have chosen tata, 44%have chosen airtel,17 % choose reliance , 14% choose BSNL, 14% choose Vodafone.

• The network coverage is good in the cities comparatively and the data shows that 15% in remote area, 13% in hill stations, 42% in the city, 25% outskirts and 5% underground

• The mobile data is a good scheme provided and it shows that 22% say for SMS, 19% for talk time, 13% for festival schemes, 27% for mobile data and 9%say others.

• Customers need to wait only for 3 -5 minutes and it shows that 27% for up to 1 minute, 28% for 3 -5 minutes, 19% for 2 minutes, 15% for 6-10 minutes and 11% for 11 minutes and more.

Graphical representation of the above study is shown in the following figures



• Most of the employees prefer prepaid to post-paid connection.

• It is found that very few females are using the network provider.

• The key reason behind the employees using this cellular network is the influence of the retailer

• The customer care executives are being warm and helpful.

• Low charge connections are attractive to the customers.

• The customers feel only satisfied with the service providers.

• The customers feel that the tariff rates are competitive enough only.

• The frequency of the services is found to be very low.

• It is found that customers think some of the private service providers as best providers of the network, so the promotional strategies implemented have been helpful in organizations success.



5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

On the basis of the primary research and secondary research, the following recommendations can be concluded:

• Lowering the tariff plans of service providers will increase more competition.

• Bringing more up gradation in VAS for the betterment of the users.

• Improvement of network infrastructure in both the urban and the rural areas.

• Reducing the STD and ISD charges for the users.

• Companies can provide new and different schemes to their customers.

• The telecom operators should take less time for the solving customer’s queries.

• Majority of the operators focus on the special occasions to launch new schemes but they can also launch schemes on weekly or monthly basis to attract new customers.

• Customer care executives should concentrate more on pre-paid connections for the price sensitive customers and post-paid connections for business class people or high class people. They should use their media tools accordingly.

• They should concentrate more on the attributes like talk-time facility, network, voice clarity etc apart from SMS, VAS and schemes.

• They should focus more on VAS like GPRS facilities, games, astrology, and music for young people and business news for business people.

• There is a need for the company to withheld these customers as it is always a good idea to have the existing customers rather than going for the new ones.

• New customer relationship activities should be implemented.

• The reason behind more number of people choosing prepaid connections need to be identified.

• More attractive schemes with good offers should be adopted, so as to attract the female customers.

• Only the retailer cannot be the attractive connection for adopting the service, so other factors such as advertisements and in-store promotional activities need to be encouraged as well.

• The customer care executives should be warm and helpful as always and should be more responsive to the employees.

• Other attractive factors such good coverage; good network, better customer services and special offer should be made more attractive so that they can retain more number of customers.

• The customers should be made to feel more satisfied when compared to the present situations.

• The tariff rates need to be made more customers friendly.

• Customers need to be motivated to use the 4G technology.

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