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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AMONG B2B CUSTOMERS OF RELIENCE
COMMUNICATION IN TAMILNADU
PTOJECT GUIDE
DR. P. MOHAN SUYAMBURAJ,
PROFESSOR,
THIAGARAJAR SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, MADURAI
BY
ANAND NATARAJAN S
ANANTHI.I
ANUP KANNAN G
EGBERT PRADESH DE PATRIC
EVANGELIN

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CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction:
Customer satisfaction has been used as key performance indicator, not only in relation to
marketing but also in broader economic and management contexts. Customer satisfaction is the
crucial factor which is used to measure the company’s internal and external performances and
assigning funds to each and every activity. Thus achieving the right service quality is important
as it is the driving force for customer satisfaction. Service is a key factor for customer
satisfaction although this is not the only factor which is responsible for customer satisfaction.
This paper investigated the factors influencing customer satisfaction in Telecom Industry. It also
concentrates in finding the customer satisfaction rating of Internet Service Providers by
enterprises. The enterprise customers of Reliance Communication were selected as the basis of
this study. The scope of the study is limited to the Wire line services offered by Reliance
Communications.
1.2 Importance of the Study:
Today the Indian telecommunications network with over 375 Million subscribers is the
second largest network in the world after China. India is also the fastest growing telecom
market in the world with an addition of 9- 10 million monthly subscribers. The Department of
Telecommunications has been able to provide state-of-the-art world-class infrastructure at
globally competitive tariffs and reduce the digital divide by extending connectivity to the
unconnected areas. Thus Indian telecom sector has come a long way in achieving its dream of
providing affordable and effective communication facilities to Indian citizens. The reform

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measures coupled with the proactive measures of the Department of Telecommunications have
resulted in an unprecedented growth of the Telecom sector. India's telecom sector has shown
massive upsurge in the recent years in all respects of industrial growth. From the status of state
monopoly with very limited growth, it has grown in to the level of an industry.The intensive
competitive environment makes it essential for the Reliance Communication to retain its
profitable customer base by increasing their satisfaction levels.
1.3 Objectives of the Study:
 To understand the enterprise’s organisation buying behavior for Telecom services
 To identify the factors influencing customer satisfaction in the Telecom industry
 To determine the satisfaction level of enterprise customers of Reliance Communication

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CHAPTER II – INDUSTRY AND ORGANISATION PROFILE
2.1 Telecommunication Industry:
Indian telecom sector is more than 165 years old. Telecommunications was first
introduced in India in 1851 when the first operational land lines were laid by the government
near Kolkata, although telephone services were formally introduced in India much later in 1881.
The Indian telecom sector was entirely under government ownership until 1984, when the private
sector was allowed in telecommunication equipment manufacturing only. The government
concretized its earlier efforts towards developing R&D in the sector by setting up an autonomous
body – Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) in 1984 to develop state-of-the-art
telecommunication technology to meet the growing needs of the Indian telecommunication
network.Until the late 90s the Government of India held a monopoly on all types of
communications – as a result of the Telegraph Act of 1885.
At present India is the world’s second-largest telecommunications market. The telecom
industry in India is likely to contribute US$ 400 billion to the country’s gross domestic product
(GDP) and has the potential to generate about 4.1 million additional jobs by 2020. The
telecommunications industry attracted foreign direct investments (FDI) worth US$ 59,796
million from April 2000 to January 2014, an increase of 6 per cent to the total FDI inflows in
terms of US. India’s global system for mobile (GSM) operators added 4.14 million rural
subscribers in January 2014, taking the total to 285.35 million. The Government of India has
approved the Empowered Group of Minister's decision on spectrum pricing. The Group had
endorsed the Telecom Commission's proposal to fix reserve price for the 1,800 megahertz (MHz)
and 900 MHz spectrum bands. Liberalized FDI policy in telecommunication has been proposed

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in the Union Budget 2014-15 to attract large investments. In addition, the states will partner in
development so as to enable the Centre to focus on telecommunications besides other sectors.
Wire line subscriber base declined from 28.59 million at the end of February, 2014 to
28.49 Million at the end of March, 2014. Net reduction in wire line subscriber base was 0.11
million at the decline rate of 0.37%. The share of urban subscribers has increased from 78.99%
to 79.09% whereas share of rural subscribers has decreased from 21.01% to 20.91%. The
graphical presentation of market share of all service providers as on 31st March, 2014 is given
below.
Service Provider wise Market Share as on 31st March 2014 (Wire line)
2.2 Reliance Communication:
Reliance Communications Ltd. (commonly called RCOM) is an Indian broadband and
telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is India's second

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largest telecom operator, only after BhartiAirtel. It is world's 15th largest mobile phone operator
with over 150 million subscribers. Established in 2004, it is a subsidiary of the Reliance Group.
The company has five segments: Wireless segment includes wireless operations of the company;
broadband segment includes broadband operations of the company; Global segment include
national long distance and international long distance operations of the company and the
wholesale operations of its subsidiaries; Investment segment includes investment activities of the
Group companies, and Other segment consists of the customer care activities and direct-to-home
(DTH) activities.
In India, RCOM mainly provides wireless telecom services to the consumer segment. It
also provides voice, long distance services and broadband access to enterprise customers. In
addition, it includes managed internet data centers and direct to home business as well. Indian
operations has been further categorized into voice, non-voice and others segments. Voice
segment constitutes business generated mainly from the wireless customers and 1.2 million wire
line customers. The Others segment constitute activities such as managed internet data centers
and direct-to-home business etc. RCOM provides gamut of services in mobile and fixed wireless
voice, data, and value added services for individual consumers and enterprises. RCOM are now
the only player in the country offering both GSM and CDMA services on a nationwide basis. As
on date, RCOM have rolled-out 3G services in all the 13 circles where RCOM have won 3G
spectrum, covering over 333 towns. RCOM not only provide telecom connectivity to the mass
market consumer segment but also, as an Integrated Telecom Service Provider, it offer total
telecom solutions to our Corporate, SME & Solo customers. RCOM portfolio of products
includes mobile handsets, fixed wireless phones/terminals, tablets, high-speed internet data cards
and Blackberry services. RCOM primary brands are Reliance Mobile for the mobile portfolio of

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services, Reliance Hello for the fixed wireless portfolio of services, Reliance Pro and Reliance
Pro3 for CDMA wireless data services and Reliance 3G for 3G Services. It offers a unique
wireless multimedia experience under the brand Reliance Mobile World. RCOM also offer
public calling office (“PCO”) services over our wireless network through independent retail
operators of such facilities. Additionally, it provides connectivity for devices such as point of
sale terminals, lottery terminals, and ATM terminals.
RCOM are also India’s first DTH Player to offer Consumer Loyalty Program. This is the
first time in Indian DTH industry’s history that the consumer will get rewarded for long term
association. For every rupee spent on Reliance Digital TV subscription, the consumer will now
earn reward points which can be redeemed against various Reliance Digital TV services. During
the past 12 months, there has been a significant enhancement in the already stable product
quality. RCOM Set Top Box (STB) Failure Rate is 0.7%, which is amongst the best
internationally & by far the best in India. After the great success of our revolutionary Zero Plan
offering with Apple iPhones in India, it have extended our first of its kind offering in the Indian
Telecom industry to other smart phones partners such as HTC and Nokia.
2.2.1 Products and services:
Voice Products: E1 DID, Centrex, PBX trunks, One Office Duo, Toll free, Audio conferencing,
and fixed line phones.
Data products: VPN, leased lines, IPLCs, Ethernet, video conferencing, Remote Access VPN
and broadband internet.

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Strengths
• Largest consumer base in India.
• Largest company by market capture
in India.
• It has Strategic alliance with leading
companies like Nokia.
• It operates across 19 countries in the
world.
Weakness
• It could not capture rural market yet.
• According to TRAI customer
complaint rates are high.
• Improper implementation of
rebranding strategy.
Opportunities
• Global telecommunications and new
technology brands see Airtel as a key
strategic player in the Indian market.
• Explore rural market.
• Acquisition of smaller companies as
they cannot stand by their own.
• Increase the consumer base.
Threats
• Quality of service.
• TRAI regulations on auctions of
spectrum.
• Price competition from BSNL and
Reliance.
Airtel
Strengths
• Low Cost Service Provider.
• Fast Activation Process.
• Provide data services through fiber
wire line.
Weakness
• Branding image, Distribution
problem.
• Customer Support is very poor.
• Lack of competitive strength.
Opportunities
• Introducing latest and low cost
technology.
• Aggressive Move into the Rural
Market.
• Overseas Investments.
Threats
• New entrant's low price offering
• Quicker Than Expected Slowing of
Growth in the Indian Marketplace
Reliance
2.3 Market Dynamism:
SWOT ANALYSIS OF AIRTEL
SWOT ANALYSIS OF RELIANCE

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Strengths
• Competitive pricing policy.
• Provides good and a self-motivated
work environment to its employees.
• Corporate culture of mutual respect
and maintains solid partnerships
with its customers.
Weakness
• Investing too much in R&D but its
marketing skills are below average.
• It is losing its customers because the
competitors are chasing close behind.
Opportunities
• Improve the marketing skills.
• Establish a world-wide knowledge-
broadcast system via internet.
• Strengthen and expedite research &
development to deliver products of
top international standards.
Threats
• External factors like political
instability and economic instability
• Market saturation in term of
business opportunities available in
the conventional telecom business.
BSNL
SWOT ANALYSIS OF BSNL

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CHAPTER III – ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER
3.1 Buying Criteria:
The enterprise customers of Reliance Communication were contacted and interviewed
with open ended questions to understand the procedures and the criteria for the selection of
telecom service providers in their organization. Some of the important attributes that have been
mentioned to be looked on while procuring a new telecom service are:
 Competitive price for the service requested, considering the distance between endpoints
or from premises to carrier POP
 Quick order processing and rapid provisioning after order is completed
 Service Quality, Functionality and Performance
 Availability and Reliability
 Customer service, support and trouble-shooting problems
 Fast restoration of service after an outage
 Rapid re-provisioning to accommodate moves and changes and to add or delete end
points
 Reputation of brand
3.2 Customer Satisfaction:
The intense competition in the telecom industry makes it essential for the telecom
operators to satisfy the customers in order to maintain long term relationships with them. The
factors that influence customer satisfaction in the Telecom industry have been identified using a
survey. The survey respondents are the enterprise customers of the Reliance Communication.

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The results corresponding to the factors influencing customer satisfaction and customer
satisfaction ratings provided by the enterprise customers are given below:
S.No Factor Influencing Customer Satisfaction
Internet Service Providers (Ratings)
Airtel BSNL Reliance Tata Vodafone
1 Network Presence 3.85 3.38 3.95 4.1 3.95
2 Customer Support 3.69 2.25 3.65 4.07 3.67
3 Billing System 3.15 2.75 4.05 3.86 3.58
4 Key Account Management 3.23 2.75 3.85 3.86 3.75
5 Response time 3.54 3.13 3.40 3.71 4.58
6 Future Consideration 4.08 3.00 3.60 3.43 4.25
7 Recommend to other customers 3.69 2.88 3.60 3.93 3.83
8 Overall rating 3.60 2.88 3.73 3.81 3.89
1
2
3
4
5
R
a
t
i
n
g
Service Provider
4.1 Network Presence
1
2
3
4
5
R
a
t
i
n
g
Service Provider
4.2 Customer Support
1
2
3
4
5
R
a
t
i
n
g
Service Provider
4.3 Billing System
1
2
3
4
5
R
a
t
i
n
g
Service Provider
4.4 Key Account Manager

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1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Network
Presence
Customer
Support
Billing
System
KAM Response
time
Future
Consideration
Recommend
to other
customers
R
a
t
i
n
g
Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction Rating of RCOM Customers
The results of the study showthat Reliance has strong network presence when compared
to other Internet Service Provider. Reliance has a well-developed SAP software module for
Accounting System which helps customer to prepare their invoice and billing easy. The result
indicates that the Customers are satisfied with the Billing system of Reliance Communication.
1
2
3
4
5
R
a
t
i
n
g
Service Provider
4.5 Response time
1
2
3
4
5
R
a
t
i
n
g
Service Provider
4.6 Overall rating

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Key account management helps to develop relationship between the buying and selling
organizations which improve customer satisfaction and help ensure customer retention. Reliance
customer are satisfied with the Key account Manager. Handling customer-complaint effectively
leads to customer satisfaction. The effects of perceived losses arising from transactions or service
failures on duration times are directly weighed by prior satisfaction. Reliance customer support
representative lacks knowledge in trouble shooting a problem. Customers are satisfied with Tata
support service when compared to other Internet Service Providers.
The duration of the service provider-customer relationship also depends on whether
customers experienced service transactions or failures. The response time to solve the trouble
ticket takes long period, so the Reliance customers are unsatisfied with the trouble ticket solving.
The response of the study showed that the 90% of the Reliance Customer will consider RCOM
services on account of future requirement. Since customers weigh satisfaction heavily,
organizations should focus on customers in the early stages of the Service failures - if customers'
experiences are not satisfactory, the relationship is likely to be very short.
Unfortunately, organizations with good prior service levels will suffer more, when
customers perceive that they have suffered a loss arising from a service encounter due to the
existence of contrast effects. However, experienced customers are less sensitive to such losses
because they tend to weigh prior satisfaction levels heavily.
3.3 Key Findings:
Customers expect both the key account manager and the organization which she/he
represents to have integrity. As with any sound relationship, it is important that the key customer
be able to trust the provider and its representative. 70% of the sample survey responded that the

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Key Account Manager of RCOM has sound relationship with the internal members and key
customers. It is concluded that network presence, customer support; Key Account Manager and
Billing System are the key factors contributing towards customer satisfaction in Telecom
Industry.Furthermore, customer services also impact the customer satisfaction regarding any
service provider. The customer services staff should be good enough to handle the customers’
complaint regarding any service. Keeping the findings of this research it is very obvious that the
RCOM should continue to emphasize on Customer support and Response time to trouble shoot a
problem for consumer satisfaction in telecom industry.Since network presence also influences
customer satisfaction. The problem of coverage in which the customers are not able to gain
services from any of the service provider can compel the customers towards Service Provider
switching in order to get the coverage in any particular area.

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CHAPTER IV – CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 Conclusion:
This study gave a broad overview of the enterprise’s buying behavior with respect to the
telecom services and the factors that has to be looked upon by Reliance Communication to
satisfy and maintain long-term customer relationships. This result accomplished the importance
of Key Accounts. Key accounts typically receive premium customer service in order to
maximize customer satisfaction. It is an attempt to increase the satisfaction and retention of those
customers who are best able to help the provider organization meets its strategic goals. Further,
key account management is used to help organizations that provide products and services to
focus more attention on those customers and potential customers that can best positively impact
their bottom line.
4.2 Recommendations:
 An increasingly popular approach to marketing and customer service in many
organizations is to identify key customer accounts that generate a significant proportion of
revenue and assign them special attention and management. We are recommending Key Account
Manager to concentrate on potential customers that will yield the highest return on investment
for the key account management efforts.
 The quality of staff and its impact on the quality of customer service are vital in
gaining a competitive advantage. Thus, employees should be viewed as the organization’s most
valuable asset and treated as internal customers. We recommend Reliance Management to treat
employees as customers which could give the organization a competitive edge.

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 The customer representative and technical team members should be trained periodically
to improve their coordination level. Reliance Management should concentrate on internal
coordination between customer representative and technical team which are future consideration
factor and recommendation to members about reliance products.
4.3 Limitations:
The study was restricted to only those clients who were related to Reliance
Communications’ products. The sample size was limited, so the results obtained from the study
may not be generalized for the whole population. The time period of the study was not sufficient
to measure the consumer’s response effectively and reach to a more valid conclusion. Many of
the respondents may not have given the correct information due to personal bias.

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Issue 1, p45. 21p.
Websites
www.trai.gov.in
www.rcom.co.in
www.cci.in

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