The project report by Sumit Goyal focuses on the marketing strategies of Bharti Airtel, examining its competitive position in the telecom market and the importance of customer satisfaction. It details various strategies employed by Airtel, including product offerings, pricing policies, and promotional techniques, while also highlighting significant changes in the Indian telecom industry since the entry of Reliance Jio. The report concludes that understanding customer behavior and maintaining satisfaction is crucial for retaining existing customers and expanding business growth.

1. PROJECT REPORT
ON
MARKETING STRATEGIES
OF BHARTI AIRTEL
Submitted by:
Sumit Goyal
BBA 6th
Semester
Roll Number 18044773
Submitted to:
Prof. Subhpreet Kaur
GHG Khalsa College, Sudhar (Ludhiana)
P.G DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE & MANAGEMENT
G.H.G KHALSA COLLEGE, GURUSAR SADHAR
(AFFILATED TO PANJAB UNIVERSITY, CHANDIGARH)

3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness to Prof. Jaswant Singh,
Principal and Prof. Tejinderpal Singh, H.O.D, P.G. Department of Commerce &
Management of G.H.G Khalsa College, Gurusar Sadhar, for the encouragement given
to me to complete the project and for the facilities provided to me throughout the
project.
I am deeply thankful to Ms. Subhpreet Kaur (Incharge) for her
encouragement, affections, valuable guidance and kind cooperation that helped me to
complete this project successfully.
My special thanks to all respondents, without their co-operation my research
would not be realistic.
And last but not the least my Classmates for their valuable comments and
suggestions for making this Project a cherishable experience for me.
-Sumit Goyal

4. CERTIFICATE
I, Sumit Goyal, Roll no. 18044773 certify that the Project Report (BBA) titled
“A Study of Marketing Strategies of Airtel” is done by me and it is an
authentic work carried out by me at G.H.G Khalsa college. The matter
embodied in this project work has not been submitted earlier for the award of
any degree or diploma to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Signature of the Student
Date:
Place: Sudhar (Ludhiana)
Certified that the Project Report (BBA) entitled “A Study of Marketing
Strategies of Airtel” done by Sumit Goyal, Roll no. 18044773 is completed
under my guidance.
Signature of the Guide:
Name of the guide: Prof.Shubhpreet Kaur

5. PREFACE
In the present scenario, Marketing and sales is a major challenge for seasoned
professional. And it is no surprise that Marketing is a tough concept to understand.
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,
communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers,
clients, partners, and societyat large.
The project report consists of detailed Study of “MARKETING STRATEGIES OF
AIRTEL” A sincere effort has been made to analyze Overall working pattern of
Mobile Services by the Operator.
The report further provides information regarding Bharti Airtel, its financial position,
infrastructure with its product and services offered by them, , Pricing Policy and
Promotion and also Distribution Policy of Airtel. It is very important that trained
marketing professionals who are able to communicate specific features of the services
while selling the products. In the millennium all these activities would play a crucial
role in the overall development and maturity of the organization.
I hope that the research work made by me will be of great help to get the
comprehensive knowledge of the organization.

6. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The present business scenario is totally customer oriented. Each company faces stiff
competition from its competitors, each provides the best services at competitive rates.
As a result, customer has lot of choices to get the best with least cost. To face this
competition, it is very important to know customer’s behavior towards different
products and services.
This projectis aimed at understanding the “Marketing strategies of Airtel” and
its impact on the perception of Airtel Customers.
Research has showed that it is far more costly to win a new customer than it is to
maintain an existing one, and there is no better way to retain a customer than to
exceed his expectations. For this purpose, it is essential to know the level of customer
satisfaction.
The focus of my research was the measurement of customer satisfaction level
for the services provided by Bharti Airtel. I collected the feedback from the
Consumers to get their suggestions about the other products.
Finally, the results of this research verifies the fact that keeping the customer
satisfied is the best strategy to not only retains the existing customers but also to
expand the business to new horizons.

7. TABLE OF CONTENTS
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY ····························································· 1
INTRODUCTION············································································ 2
MAJOR CHANGES IN INDIAN TELECOM MARKET ······························· 4
CURRENT MARKET SITUATION ······················································· 6
TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA (TRAI) ······················· 7
LITERATURE REVIEW···································································· 9
ABOUT AIRTEL ···········································································15
DIFFERENT PRODUCTS & SERVICES BY AIRTEL ································ 19
TARIFF·······················································································24
SALES DEPARTMENT AND STRATEGY·············································25
MARKETING STRATEGY ADOPTED BY BHARTI AIRTEL ···············27
DIFFERENT STRATEGIES ······························································· 28
SEGMENTATION, TARGETING, POSITIONING STRATEGY OF AIRTEL ·····29
LOGOS USED BY AIRTEL TILL NOW ················································30
PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING ·················································32
AIRTEL’S PRICING STRATEGY························································33
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY···························································· 34
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY OF AIRTEL ·············································36
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ··························································37
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ··························································38
LIMITATIONS ··············································································39
SAMPLING TECHNIQUE·································································40
DATA ANALYSIS & FINDINGS ························································41
SWOT ANALYSIS ·········································································45
CONCLUSION ··············································································48
BIBLIOGRAPHY ···········································································49
ANNEXURE·················································································50

8. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objective behind this research project is to study about the importance and
development of telecommunication industry in today’s scenario.
To understand the Different Marketing strategies which are used by Bharti
Airtel to Survive in highly competitive Telecommunications market and different
services which are offered by Bharti Airtel.
An overview of the Indian telecommunication market is also given, along with
the growing LTE Market and challenges posed by strong competitors in India. A brief
introduction about Bharti Airtel has also been given, covering all the Products and
services provided by Bharti Airtel.
It also includes Indian market study, Bharti Airtel Corporate Study. Under this
research project following points about Bharti Airtel are being covered:
Market Situation
Product Policy and Planning
Competitive Situation
Market segmentation
Positioning
Pricing Policy
Promotional Strategy

9. INTRODUCTION
Telecommunication is the transmission of messages over significant distances
for the purpose of communication. In the modern age of electricity,
telecommunications has involved the use of electric means such as the telegraph and
telephone, microwave communications and fiber optics. Telecommunication services
have been recognized world-over as an important tool for socio-economic
development of a nation. It is one of the prime support services needed for rapid
growth and modernization of various sectors of the economy.
The telecommunication industry is vast and offers a wide range of career
opportunities on both the hardware and software fronts. These prospects include
functional jobs in mobile telephony internet protocol media systems, wireless
communications, GSM, GPRS and CDMA technology, VoIP, data networks and
optical networks amongst others.
Indian telecommunication sector has undergone a major process of
transformation through significant policy reforms. Driven by various policy
initiatives, the Indian telecommunication sector witnessed a complete transformation
in the last decade. It has achieved a phenomenal growth during the last few years and
is poised to take a big leap in the future also.
Telecommunications in India
India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by
number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone) with 1179.49 million
subscribers as on 31 February 2021. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world
enabled by Some mega telecom operators and hyper-competition among them. India
has the world's second-largest Internet user-base with 747.41 million broadband
internet subscribers in the country. Today it is the fastest growing market in the world
with 8.35 million monthly additions.
Major sectors of the Indian telecommunication industry are telephone, internet
and television broadcast industry in the country.

10. Telephone density in the country which is in an ongoing process of
transforming into next generation network. The access network, which connects the
subscriber to the core, is highly diversified with different copper-pair, optic-fibre 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 liberalisation and
growth since the 1990s and now has become the world's most competitive and one of
the fastest growing telecom markets.
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 awareness programmes for the
rural folk of India.
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 crore (US$130 billion),
and supported direct employment for 2.2 million people in the country. As per GSMA,
India is on its way to becoming the second-largest smartphone market globally by
2025 with around 1 billion installed devices and is expected to have 920 million
unique mobile subscribers by 2025 which will include 88 million 5G connections.
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. The Government has enabled easy market access to telecom
equipment and a fair and proactive regulatory framework, that has ensured availability
of telecom services to consumer at affordable prices.
The country is divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along state

11. boundaries). At present, there are 22 such Telecom Circles in India.
Private-sector and two state-run businesses dominate the telephony segment.
Most companies were formed by a recent revolution and restructuring launched within
a decade, directed by Ministry of Communications and IT, Department of
Telecommunications and Minister of Finance. The industry has witnessed exponential
growth over the last few years primarily driven by affordable tariffs, wider
availability, roll-out of Mobile Number Portability (MNP), expanding 3G and 4G
coverage, evolving consumption patterns of subscribers and a conducive regulatory
environment.
The deregulation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms have made the
sector one of the fastest growing and the top five employment opportunity generator
in the country. Foreign Direct Investment policy which increased the foreign
ownership cap from 49% to 100%.
Telecom tower in India is set to boom as its tenancy ration will increase
exponentially due to the expansion of 3G and 4G and the onset of 5G technologies.
5G is set to be a game changer for the telecom industry and is expected to yield
enormous economic opportunities over the next three to five years. India has the
potential to unlock $48.69bn through the deployment of 5G over the next four years.
MAJOR CHANGES IN INDIAN TELECOM MARKET
Post starting of the commercial operation of Reliance Jio in September 2016,
the telecom market saw a huge change in terms of falling tariff rates and reduction of
data charges, which changed the economics for some of the telecom players. This
resulted in exit of many smaller players from the market. Players like Videocon and
Systema sold their spectrum under spectrum trading agreements to Airtel and RCOM
respectively in 2016.
In February 2017, Telenor India announced that Bharti Airtel will take over all
its business and assets in India and deal will be completed in 12 months timeframe. In
May 2018, Department of Telecom approved the merger of Telenor India with Bharti

12. Airtel paving the way for final commercial closing of the merger between the two
companies. Telenor India has been acquired by Airtel almost without any cost.
In October 2017, Bharti Airtel announced that it would acquire the consumer
mobile businesses of Tata Teleservices Ltd in a debt-free cash-free deal.
Reliance Communications had to shut down its 2G and 3G services including
all voice services and only offer 4G data services from 29 December 2017, as a result
of debt and a failed merger with Aircel. In February 2019, the company filed for
bankruptcy as it was unable to sell assets to repay its debt. It has an estimated debt of
₹ 57,383 crore against assets worth ₹18,000 crore.
After bankruptcy of Rcom, Aircel also shut down its operations in many
unprofitable circles including, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh from January 2018. Aircel filed for bankruptcy in
the National Companies Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai due to huge competition
and high levels of debt.
Vodafone and Idea Cellular completed their merger on 31 August 2018, and
the merged entity is renamed to Vi. The merger created the largest telecom company
in India by subscribers and by revenue, and the second largest mobile network in
terms of number of subscribers in the world. Under the terms of the deal, the
Vodafone Group holds a 45.1% stake in the combined entity, the Aditya Birla Group
holds 26% and the remaining shares will be held by the public. However, Vi lost a
significant number of gross and active subscribers in the month of August 2020 after
the merger.
On 24 October 2019, the Government of India has announced revival package
for BSNL and MTNL which includes monetising assets, raising funds, TD-LTE
spectrum, voluntary retirement scheme for employees. Apart from package, the
Ministry of Communications has decided to merge MTNL with BSNL. After this,
MTNL became a subsidiary of BSNL.
With all this consolidation, the Indian mobile market has turned into a four-
player market, with Jio as the number-one player, with a market share of 35%, Airtel
India in second position, with market share of 29.8% and Vi, with revenue market
share of 24%. The government operator BSNL (incl. MTNL) is in the distant 4th

13. position, with an approximate market share of 10.4%.
CURRENT MARKET SITUATION
The Indian mobile market has turned into a four-player market, with Jio as the
number-one player, with revenue market share of 34.9%, Airtel India in second position, with
revenue market share of 28% and Vi, with revenue market share of 27%. The government
operator BSNL/MTNL is in the distant 4th position, with an approximate market share of
11%. So, The dominant players are Vi, Airtel, Jio, and BSNL.
The increase in Reliance Jio's subscriber base is largely at the cost of Vodafone Idea
Ltd, whose subscriber market share has declined consistently in last two years while Airtel
has been able to hold its market share. Airtel is India’s Largest Mobile Telecom Operator in
terms of Active Users.
According to Visitor Location Register (VLR), a key metric reflecting the number of
active subscribers on a mobile network, showed that 97.47% of the users were active for
Bharti Airtel, 90.61% for Vi and 78.16% for Jio.

14. TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA
(TRAI)
The entry of private service providers brought with it the inevitable need for
independent regulation. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was, thus,
established with effect from 20th February 1997 by an Act of Parliament, called the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, to regulate telecom services, including
fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central
Government.
TRAI's mission is to create and nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications
in the country in a manner and at a pace which will enable India to play a leading role in
emerging global information society.
One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy
environment which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition.
In pursuance of above objective TRAI has issued from time to time a large number of
regulations, orders and directives to deal with issues coming before it and provided the
required direction to the evolution of Indian telecom market from a Government owned
monopoly to a multi operator multi service open competitive market.
The directions, orders and regulations issued cover a wide range of subjects including
tariff, interconnection and quality of service as well as governance of the Authority.
The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000,
establishing a Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to
take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI. TDSAT was set up to
adjudicate any dispute between a licensor and a licensee, between two or more service
providers, between a service provider and a group of consumers, and to hear and dispose of
appeals against any direction, decision or order of TRAI.
TRAI Structure
 TRAI shall have, in addition to its chairman, at least two full-time members and not more
than two-part members, all appointed by the Central Government.
 The members should have special knowledge of, or professional experience in telecom,
industry, finance, accountancy, law, management and consumer affairs.
 Only those senior or retired Govt. officers can be appointed as members who have served
for at least three years as secretary/additional secretary to the Union or State Govts.

15. Powers and Functions of TRAI
The Powers and Functions of TRAI are mainly:
 To recommend the need for and timing of introduction of new service providers and
terms and conditions of the license to a service provider;
 To ensure technical compatibility and inter-connect between different service providers
and regulate their revenue-sharing arrangements;
 To ensure compliance with terms of license and revaluation of the same for non-
compliance;
 To lay down and ensure a time period for providing long-distance and local distance
circuits;
 To facilitate competition and promote efficiency in operations to promote the growth of
telecom services;
 To protect consumers’ interest, monitor quality of services, inspect equipment used in
networks and make recommendations about such equipment;
 To maintain a register of interconnect agreements and keep it open for inspection and to
settle disputes among the service providers in this respect;
 To give advice to the government on any matter related to the telecom industry. Levy
fees and charges for services and, ensure that universal service obligations are complied
with; and
 To perform any such other administration and financial function as may be entrusted to it
by the Central Government.

16. Literature Review
Marketing Strategies
Marketing strategy represents a key element of success for organizations. Executing
an effective marketing strategy is just as important as conceptualizing and creating it.
Through marketing strategy implementation firms employ scarce resources through
marketing capabilities in order to attain the set goals and targets. In order to illustrate the
value of marketing strategy and the process of implementation a detailed literature review
was performed. A total of (Number of Studies Depending On the References Count, After
Employee Deletion) studies on the topic of marketing strategy have been examined. The
meta-analysis uncovers two distinct but related features to marketing strategy content:
marketing strategy decisions and marketing strategy decision implementation. The literature
also suggests there is a relationship of marketing strategy, and marketing mix elements on
organizational performance, and emphasizes a further need to perform conceptual and
empirical studies. The originality and value of the review lies in the fact that marketing
strategy has been analyzed both in terms of its outcomes and as a process that does not yield
satisfactory results without effective implementation.
Company marketing strategy is an important and crucial constituent for the global
market. Marketing strategies can vary from country to country, brand to brand and
organization to organization. In order to achieve a satisfactory and adequate marketing
strategy which has a positive outcome on global and overall firm success, the marketing
department within a company should bear in mind all the different marketing mix strategies
that can influence the comprehensive result and the cumulative firm success. When launching
a product into foreign markets companies can use a conventional marketing mix or adapt the
existing marketing mix, to satisfy the country they are carrying out their business activities in.
the link between standardization/adaptation and company performance is complicated and
possibly influenced by other factors (Shilke, Reiman, Thomas, 2009, Solberg, Durrieu, 2008).
It should be emphasized that the influence of standardization/adaptation decisions of
international marketing strategy on company performance is named also as one of the most
topical research objects of international business (Griffith, Cavusgil, Xu, 2008).
Therefore inconsistent results of empirical research works and limited research
contexts confirm that the link between standardization/adaption decisions of international
marketing strategy and company performance are a topical object of scientific research

17. (Ryans, Griffith, White, 2003, Theodosiou, Leonidou, 2003).
The Conceptof Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy is a significant driving force that distinguishes the success of many
organizations not only by well-developed marketing strategies outlining where, when, and
how the firm will compete but also by their ability to execute the marketing strategy decision
options chosen (e.g. Day and Wensley 1988; Varadarajan 2010). The appropriate and
effectively implemented marketing strategies are required to productively guide the
deployment of the limited available resources via the firm’s marketing capabilities in pursuit
of desired goals and objectives (Black and Boal 1994; Varadarajan and Clark 1994). The
literature reveals two distinct but related features to marketing strategy content: marketing
strategy decisions and marketing strategy decision implementation. Hence, decision makers
responsible for the marketing strategy must select which available resources the firm should
deploy, where to deploy them appropriately, and set and signal priorities in terms of
achieving the various goals and objectives of the firm (Slater 1995). These marketing
strategies toward firm performance may be either formal, top-down strategies (Varadarajan
and Clark 1994) or emergent or improvisational strategies (Moorman and Miner 1998). A
firm’s marketing strategy content therefore involves explicit or implicit decisions regarding
goal setting, target market selection, positional advantage to be pursued, and timing to attain
firm performance (e.g., Day 1994; Varadarajan 2010).
MARKETING MIX
Marketing Mix is a strategy which a company uses to formulate a product/service
offering for its customers. Marketing mix strategy is created using the 4Ps of marketing -
Product, Place, Price, Promotion and 7Ps in case of service- Physical Evidence, People,
Process. The term is attributed to Neil Bordon. The term is named because it suggest how a
marketer mixes various elements (Product, Price, Place, Promotion etc.) in order to make a
relevant/just right offering to the customer.
The main objective of marketing mix strategy is to make the right product at correct
price at the right place with right promotion. The marketing mix is considered to be one of
the most important aspects of the marketing process. It plays a significant role in creating
value and satisfaction for the customer. In particular, the marketing mix or 4Ps (product,
price, promotion, and place) operates as the main forces when it comes to meeting the

18. demands of customer and creating a long, profitable relationship with them. In fact, the
traditional theoretical framework with regard to the implementation of marketing-
management process activities is based on the concept of the marketing mix (Festa, Cuomo,
Metallo, & Festa, 2016).
This strategy has been one of the popular marketing topics in business. Following are
the various elements in the marketing mix. There are two types of marketing mix-Product
Mix (4Ps) and Service Mix (7Ps).
PRODUCT MIX
When a company is offering products or goods, it comes under the purview of the
product marketing mix. It talks about the product strategies, pricing strategies, place where
the products are distributed and promotional strategies. Elements of a product mix can be
explained in detail as below:
1) Product : It is the main part of the offering, the product itself. It is most important aspect
of the mix. Product is something which has some functional value and can be used by the
customer to achieve something. A marketer needs to define his product very carefully
thinking about its value, its USP, features, competition etc.
Kotler and Armstrong describe a product as “ . . . anything offered to a market for
attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a need or want.” On the
contrary, a service can be defined as “. . .any activity or benefit that one party can offer to
another that is essentially intangible and does not result in ownership of anything” (Kotler &
Armstrong, 2012).
2) Price : Pricing the second most important element in our marketing mix. This is value we
will get in exchange for our product. This is what the customer will pay in return for the
utility of the product. Pricing is mainly determined by the cost of the product and also how
much the customer would be willing to pay. If we price it too high no one buys, if we price it
too low, company makes losses. So we have to devise the right pricing strategy to make the
mix perfect.
It is affected by the purchasing power of the customer and considered to be the critical
element in the buying decision. Price can be defined briefly as the amount the consumer must
exchange to receive an offering (Singh, 2012). Various factors affect the pricing strategy of

19. an organization, including the cost of materials, product differentiation, competition level,
market share, and the customer’s perceived value of the product (Davenport & Harris, 2007).
The product’s price in the SME sector in Al Buraimi is affected by many factors such as the
total cost, the profit margin, the product lifecycle, regulations, economic policies, and so on.
3) Place: Also called the Distribution. If we are making a product as the right price, that is
not enough, we need to make it available at the right place too. The customer mostly would
not come to you until and unless our product and price is unbeatable. The product needs to be
where customer is likely to buy. If we are soft drink manufacturer and the product is not
available in grocery stores, supermarkets, restaurants etc. then the first two elements are of no
use and the offering fails.
3) Promotion : Also referred to as Communication about the product. This is the 4th element
in marketing mix which means the communication done about the product to the customer.
Advertising on TV, print and digital media would come under promotion.
The promotion concept includes all marketing activities used to inform, persuade, and
remind the target market about a firm and its products or services, in such a way as to build a
favorable image in the mind of the customer (Sidhanta & Chakrabarty, 2010). In the same
context, Kotler and Armstrong (2012) defined promotion as human activities based on a
communication process that can be directed via personal selling points or indirectly via
advertising messages through the media.
Thus, the 4Ps are valid for every company, whether it is a product or a service company.

20. The above image shows the 4Ps of the marketing mix
SERVICE MIX
In case of a service brand like a restaurant, telecom service, hospitality etc, there are
additional points apart from the 4Ps. The additional Ps i.e. physical evidence, people and
processes are collectively known as the service marketing mix. These can be described as
below:
5) Physical Evidence : A service is intangible but there has to be a reassurance to the
customer that service happened. It can be a receipt of a service or may be an invoice.
Physical evidence should be positive meaning that customer should be assured that service
completed as expected.
6) People : These are the employees which help deliver the service e.g. delivery boy or a
cab driver. They may become the face of the service hence are very important that is why
very important to chose right people.
7) Process : The steps undertaken for completion/delivery of the service. The process is
very crucial. The process should not only consist of the positive path but should also should
consider the negative paths to address issues in the service delivery. e.g. Complain
management, reverse supply chain etc.
All these help in understand the marketing mix for a service based business.
REVIEW OF EXISTING LITERATURE
Business Standard (2012) states that plagued by increasing competition, the telecom
industry is adding more and more inactive subscriber, leading to saturation in the industry.
Increasing price competition and aggressive customer acquisitions by the telecom operators
could lead to saturation in the telecom industry, with the pace of subscriber addition not
likely to be as strong as before, points out a recent report on the sector by rating agency
ICRA.
Myilswamy, Ratheesh Kumar (2013) find that the postpaid and prepaid customer prefer to
use Airtel mobile service because of the features, Rent, Tower coverage, Talk time,
Advertisement and Corporate schemes. Finally the study suggests that by paying special
attention on these factors develop the business by satisfying the consumers.
Zafar (2013) examines the impact of the mobile service attributes like call rates, service

21. quality, service availability; promotion and brand image of both the gender’s purchasing
decision. The result reveals that the male and female consumers have different preference in
making the purchase decision to the avail mobile service. The study also discovers that the
female consumers are tough to satisfy than the male consumers.
Bansal & Bansal (2013) study revealed that most of the respondents were satisfied with their
current service provider but still some respondents want to shift their service provider. Call
charges wasthe main reason of changing the service provider followed by poor network and
poor customer care service.
Ratnesh & Kansal (2013) identified that customers’ loyalty and foster recommendation
(positive word of mouth) are depending on mainly four factors, i.e. customized value-added
services, convenience, network coverage and call tariff. Customers’ satisfaction with call
rates is significantly related with family income of users and availability of customer store is
significantly related with age of users.
Bhargav, A. et al. (2014) investigated the gap between customers’ expectations and
perceptions in telecom sector. The primary data was collected with the help of a consistent
questionnaire of service quality.
Zohaib Ahmad and Junaid Ahmad (2014) in their study titled “Consumer Purchase
Behavior in Cellular Service Sector” says that the dominant factors quality, price,
promotions, and social factors reflects the latest buying behavior of people or not. The study
reveals that the P. Vijay et. al., / International Journal of Management Research & Review
Copyright © 2016 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 1388 social factor is the most
dominating factor which determines the purchase behavior and basically reflects the societal
image of the consumers.

22. About Airtel (Bharti Airtel Ltd.)
Bharti Airtel Limited is Indian multinational telecommunications services
company, founded by Sunil Bharti Mittal in the year 1995. Bharti Airtel Limited is a
leading global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across
Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the
top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the
company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile
commerce, fixed line services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise services
including national & international long distance services to carriers.
Airtel had also rolled out its VoLTE technology across all Indian telecom
circles. It is the 2nd largest mobile network operator in India and the 2nd largest mobile
network operator in the world with over 457.96 million (45.79 crore) subscribers and
355 million subscribers in India. Bharti Airtel services under the Airtel brand and is
governed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.
Airtel's equipment is provided and maintained by Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia
Networks whereas IT support is provided by Amdocs. The transmission towers are
maintained by subsidiaries and joint venture companies of Bharti including Bharti
Infratel and Indus Towers in India.
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. The company also provides land-line
telephone services and broadband Internet access (DSL) in over 96 cities in India.
The company is structured into different strategic business units - Mobile, Digital
Tv, Telemedia, Enterprise. Bharti Airtel offers GSM mobile services in all the 22
telecom circles of India. Digital TV business provides DTH Tv services in India. The

23. Enterprise business gives end to end telecom solution to corporate customer and
national and international long distance services to Telco’s.
Airtel is listed in Bombay Stock exchange Limited (BSE) and National Stock
Exchange of India Limited (NSE).
Founder & Chairman Bharti Enterprises
International PresenceofAirtel:
Airtel is the one of the largest mobile operators in the world in terms of subscriber
base and has a commercial presence in 18 countries and the Channel Islands.
In The Indian Subcontinent: Airtel India In India, as Airtel Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, as
Robi in Bangaldesh.
Airtel Africa, which operates in 15 African countries: Chad, Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger,
Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

24. Corporate Structure Of Airtel
Bharti Airtel Ltd. introduced a new corporate structure in 2021, to focus on four
businesses - Digital, India, international and infrastructure businesses distinctly.
 Airtel Ltd. will hold all of its telecom businesses (mobile, broadband, and enterprise),
Airtel Payments Bank will remain as a separate entity under the parent.
 Bharti Telemedia Ltd., the 100% arm operating DTH services, will sit alongside Airtel
Ltd. for now but will eventually merge with it.
 All of the company’s infrastructure businesses (Nxtra and Indus Towers) and
international businesses will continue to remain in separate entities as they are currently.
This will now house all of the digital assets spanning Wynk Music, Airtel X stream,
Airtel Thanks, Airtel Ads, Airtel IQ, Airtel Secure, Airtel Cloud and all future digital
products and services. It will ultimately help the telecom operator to save money on licensing
and spectrum usage charges.

26. DIFFERENT PRODUCTS & SERVICES BY AIRTEL
Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony after Jio and
second largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of
broadband and subscription television services. Airtel provides 2G, 4G LTE, 4G+
mobile services, DTH, fixed line broadband and voice services depending upon the
country of operation.
Mobile Services
In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G VoLTE,
wireless services, etc. It is the second largest mobile network operator in India and the
second largest mobile network operator in the world. Airtel operates in all telecom
circles of India. Airtel operates in all telecom circles of India.
3G
Airtel launched 3G services in January 2011. By mid July 2011, Airtel 3G services
was available in over 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 license in all 23 circles.
In an event in 2019, Airtel confirmed that it will shut down their 3G network
all over India and re-farm the spectrum towards 4G by the year 2020. Then onwards
Airtel is providing only 2G and 4G connectivity in the country.
4G
Airtel launched 4G services on mobile from February 2014, becoming the first
company in India to offer 4G services. The first city to get the service was Bangalore.
Airtel had 95,173,000 4G subscribers as of June 2019. As of June 2019, Airtel
provides 4G coverage in all India in 22 circles. Airtel extended its 4G network to 15
km off India's coastline, following a request by the Indian Navy.

27. 5G
In January 2020, Bharti Airtel became the country's first telco to successfully
demonstrate & orchestrate LIVE 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad
city. Airtel 5G is capable of delivering 10x speeds, 10x latency and 100x concurrency
when compared to existing technologies.
In Feb 2021 - Announced partnership with Qualcomm to develop Open-RAN based
5G network.
Strong Network Coverage
Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtel’s world-class technology and
unbeatable network coverage that spans over 22 circles across the country.
Voice Mail
When your handset is switched off, or you‟re too busy to answer the phone, Airtel
Voicemail will answer your calls and record a message. The best part is that there's no
extra monthly cost for setting up Voicemail - you just pay for the phone call when you
use the service.
SMS (Short Messaging Service)
Send messages quickly and easily using text, if it's too noisy to talk or you don't have
much time. It's the way to share those interesting one-liners, important reminders and
rib-tickling jokes, with anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.
Airtel WiFi Zone
Airtel has launched a FREE WiFi services in India by the name Airtel WiFi
Zone through which users can enjoy Free Wi-Fi at 500+ locations across Airports,
Colleges, Hospitals, Corporate parks, Retail shops and many more locations.
All plans will be onsecure wireless broadband internet with unlimited usage and
will be session or time based. Users can use the service by finding a hotspot, selecting

28. airtel WiFi Zone', then login to start browsing. Airtel intends to partner with
establishments to set up hotspots which will be termed WiFi Hangout for an
establishment owner and WiFi Partner for the cafe and restaurant owners.
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.
Network Experience Centre
Airtel has a Network Experience Centre (NEC) which observes end to end customer
experience, in near real time, along with the standard network elements on Airtel's
operations. The NEC is located in Manesar, Haryana and went live on 31 October
2012. It is the first such facility in India and will be able to monitor Airtel's network
performance across mobile, fixed line, broadband, DTH, M-Commerce, enterprise
services, International Cable Systems and internet peering points from a single
location. It will monitor all Airtel and partner NOCs. In case of an emergency, the
NEC will enable the operator to prioritize actions to restore normalcy and reduce
resolutiontime.
Airtel Postpaid
Airtel welcomes you to a vibrant world of unlimited opportunities. More exciting,
innovative yet simple new ways to communicate, just when you want to, not just
through words but ideas, emotions and feelings. To give you the unlimited freedom to
reach out toyour special people inyour special way.
Easy Payment Options. Anytime Anywhere
You can choose from a host of convenient payment options only with Airtel. Walk

29. into any Airtel relationship centre and make your payments by cash or credit card.
Drop a cheque at any of the drop boxes for making payments or simply log on to My
Airtel section and pay instantly through your debit/credit card, netbanking.
Widest Roaming - National and International
Airtel's roaming service allows you tostay connectedand useyour mobile phone tomake
orreceive callsfromalmostanywhere inIndia and also over 160 countries, abroad.
Airtel Payments Bank
Airtel Payments Bank is an Indian payments bank, launched in January 2017
with an aim to make Payments cashless and seamless. The company is a subsidiary of
Bharti Airtel. On 11 April 2016, it became the first company to receive the payments
bank license from the Reserve Bank of India. Airtel Payments Bank is a 80:20
partnership between Bharti Airtel and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
It offers services like Bill Payments, UPI Payments, Bank Transfers etc. As of
January 2021, Airtel Payments Bank have over 30 Million Customers.
Digital TV Services (DTH)
Airtel DTH offer both standard and high definition (HD) digital TV services
with 3D capabilities and Dolby surround sound. It currently offers a total of 635
channels including 80 HD channels, international channels and many interactive
services like support for Google Assistant and Play Store Apps.
Airtel Broadband (Fiber)
Airtel launched its Fiber services in October 2016. This service was later renamed as
Xstream Fibre.
Airtel Xstream Fiber offers you with Fiber optic internet connection transforming
your daily broadband connection experience with high-speed internet. Airtel allows
you to enjoy the fastest broadband connection with the speed of up to 1 Gbps, in over
100 cities in the country.

30. This FTTH (Fiber to home) technology provides you with fully-dedicated Fiber
optic cable different internet packages, which connect up to 10 devices via a
professional Wi-Fi router modem. These internet packages offer faster HD video
streaming, heavy file downloads, and uploads.
Airtel IQ
Airtel IQ is a cloud communication suite that allows enterprises to deepen engagement
with customers through timely and secure communication. It helps in unifying
communication across various business practices - marketing, sales, customer service
and operations.
Cloud Computing and IOT
In April 2021, Airtel launches ‘Airtel IoT’ a 5G Ready Platform for the World of
Connected Things. Airtel IoT is built to massively simplify the digital transformation
journeys of enterprises. Airtel IoT is an end-to-end platform with the capability to
connect and manage billions of devices and applications in a highly secure and
seamless fashion.
Firstly, it offers you a wide range of connectivity technologies to connect your IoT
devices. Secondly, it provides you the capability to seamlessly manage these devices
through a user-friendly connectivity management portal- Airtel IoT Hub.

31. TARIFF
Airtel’s Most Popular Prepaid Plans (4G)
Airtel’s Broadband Plans (Xstream Fiber)

32. SALES DEPARTMENT AND STRATEGY
A. MajorAccounts (Direct Channel)
 Handles corporate (named and famed) accounts
 Forecasting of sales
 Mapping the accounts
 Providing after sales support to the subscribers.
 Maintaining call reports for records.
 Providing Feedback to the marketing department
B. IDC (indirect Channel)
 Handling distribution
 Maintaining recordsand levelcheckofthechannel partner
 Liaisoning between thechannel partnerand thecompany
 Target achievement
 Training the executives of the channel
C. Distribution Support
1. Logistics
 Monitor handset and SIM card requirements of channel partners and co-ordinate
with stores
 Settle areas of concerns such as incentive claims of channel partners
2. Rental
 Provide cellular services (SIM cards) on rent.
 Provide cellular phones on rent

33.  Useful for people visiting Delhi for a short interval.
3. Telesales
 Call customers and generate sales lead.
 Follow up with the customers, if they need any assistance
 Pass on the sales lead to the channel department.
4. Audit
 Consultant to the AirTel showrooms.
 Monitor the operations at the Airtel distribution outlet
 Organize trainings
5. Retail
 Locate shops to open retail counters.
 Monitor the retail counters.

34. MARKETING STRATEGY ADOPTED BY BHARTI
AIRTEL
Airtel follows a set of pre-defined values what they call as their ‘Air Culture’. Here
‘Air’ stands for – Alive, Inclusive and Respectful respectively.
Segmentation: Airtel has always believed in being customer centric. They have
geographically segmented the market in East, West, North, South & central. They
have also gone a step ahead and segmented the market in each region on the basis of
demographic variables like age, Income, Social groups, etc. From the demographic
data collected they run different campaigns as per the preferences of people in each
region. Thus trying to increase their base volume.
Competitive advantage: Airtel has tried maintaining its cost leadership by reducing
the operational costs and with the help of its unique business model – where their
daily operations are outsourced and core functions like finance, sales, marketing, and
management are retained.
First-mover advantage: Bharti Airtel has been aggressively competing with Jio, the
telecom arm of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). But Airtel did get the first-mover
advantage as it was Airtel who was the first telecom player to have launched 4G
services to the Indian crowd, and now even in 5G.
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Create product
awareness
Maximize market share Maximize profits
whole defending market share

35. DIFFERENT STRATEGIES
Product Offer a basic product/
service.
Offer value added
services
Increase in number of
value added services.
Price Charge cost- plus Price to penetrate
market
Price to match or best
competitors
Distribution Build selective
distribution
Build Intensive
distribution.
Build more intensive
distribution.
Advertising Build product awareness
among early adopters and
dealers.
Build awareness and
interest in the mass
market
Stress brand differences and
benefits.
Sales
Promotion
Use heavy sales
promotion to
entice peopleto
subscribe.
Increase to build and
maintain
relationships with
customers
Increase to encourage
brand-
switching.

36. Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning in the
Marketing strategy of Airtel
Segmentation is beneficial because of better predictability of the target consumer
group, minimization of risk exposure, better ability to fine-tune a product/service to
the requirement of target buyer and the resultant ease in designing a proper designing
marketing mix strategy.
In evaluating different market segments the company looks at two factors: The
overall attractiveness of the segments and the company's objectives & resources.
Airtel uses mix of segmentation strategies to segment its offerings like basic
Call /SMS plans, prepaid / Post-paid plans, VAS – Data, caller tunes etc. Apart from
geographically segmenting the market in East, West, North, South & central, the
market is also segmented in each region on the basis of demographic variables like
age, Income, Social groups.
Different geographic regions are handled independently and different
campaigns are run according to the preferences of people in each region. Airtel has
targeted the generation Z of 15-25 ages, generation X & baby Boomers by using
different campaigns over the period of time i.e. campaign like “Har Ek friend Jaruri
hota hai”/ “Jo tera hai wo mera hai” to target Gen Z and recently launched campaign
of “one touch internet”/ “Fastest 4G network by Ookla Speedtest” targeting Gen X &
baby boomers.
Airtel has been successful in top-of-the-mind recall amongst cellular phone
users and is enjoying a leadership position in most markets. After changing its logo it
has repositioned itself as Young, Energetic & International brand. It has evolved itself
as a torch bearer of the telecom industry in India.

37. LOGOS USED BY AIRTEL TILL NOW
Logo used by Airtel from 1994 to 2002
Logo used by Airtel until November 2010
CURRENT LOGO:
In November 2010, Airtel rebranded itself and 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.

38. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN MARKETING OF
AIRTEL
With the formation of Bharti Infratel for Indian Operations, Airtel has extended its
infrastructure in the extreme parts of the country for nationwide penetration, creating
competitive edge over other players in terms of low operational cost, better network
connectivity, coverage, low call drops & better customer service.
Airtel developed a sustainable advantage through its excellent network of telecom
towers. In many locations, newer entrants found it cheaper to rent Airtel’s existing
infrastructure rather than setup new towers. Also spending extensively on advertising &
promotions helped it sustain in this highly competitive Industry and emerge as a Market
leader in terms of “Active Users”.
Word of mouth is one of the strongest forms of promotions & Airtel has completely
leveraged that. Airtel is always known for its innovation and value for money for users.
It is to be noted that Airtel is facing Huge Competition from Jio which has formed a
digital ecosystem through its huge number of Apps and value added Services. Still, Airtel has
successfully managed to attain the Top Position in terms of Highest Average Revenue Per
User (ARPU) all because of the Focus of the Company on Quality instead of Quantity.
AIRTEL'S MARKETING ORIENTATION.
Since this is a high-involvement expensive product, the service provider has to
fully take care of the customers.
a) They take personal responsibility to "get" the answer for any problem faced by the
customer.
b) They anticipate customers' problems and take pro-active steps to prevent them.
c) They give answers to the questions & requests, quickly & efficiently.
d) They have a positive tone & manner while interacting with customers.
e) They end the interaction on a positive or a humorous note-making the last 30
seconds count.
Airtel realizes that “Attracting people is easy but converting them into loyal
customers is hard” hence the company’s emphasis is on maintaining a 'Smiling and a
Friendly Atmosphere' to please and retain the customer.

39. PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING
The product or service is the heart of the marketing mix. Without a product or a service
customers' needs cannot besatisfied.
The basic product promise by Airtel is mobility. Airtel's main marketing strategy is to
be a first mover all the time. It has recognized the significance of making the first move--
because in the field of Communication & Information Technology changes occur at a
tremendous pace.
Effective product segmentation has to be carried on continuously because basic
services can be and will be copied and in time become expected component of the product.
Airtel seeks to carry out this segmentation through provision of new information services and
making new facilities available. The product policy and planning depends on the stage of the
product life cycle. At present the cellular phone market has reached the maturity stage. Since,
the premium segment is nearing saturation the company targeting the upper middle and
middle-middle class. In order to do so Airtel is trying to optimize the price performance
package by offering suitable "product bundling".
This involves the selection of the suitable hardware (handset) and its software (its
services.) with reasonable price in order to deliver maximum price performance to its
customers. In addition, it offers free Airtime services and other concessions to make the prices
and thus the product more attractive. It has also opened a 24 hours customer service.
Only price doesn't serve as an effective differentiator, value added services become
the effective differentiator.
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
The pattern of cellophane subscriber growth observed elsewhere in the world reveals that the
growth in the market is initially slow followed by a sharp acceleration, but so far that has not
happened in India. As far as the Product Life Cycle is concerned. Indians are at the beginning
of the maturity stage.
Introduction Growth Maturity

40. AIRTEL’S PRICING STRATEGY
AIRTEL has realized that the Indian market is price sensitive. Airtel follows a
COMPETITIVE pricing strategy because of the huge competition in telecom segment
in India from competitors like Reliance Jio, Vodafone etc.
The pricing strategies of all telecom companies are monitored by Telecom
Regulation Authority of India (TRAI) to ensure fair prices are being charged to all
customers. Hence, despite regulation, the most important aspect in the pricing strategy
in the marketing mix of Airtel is based on competitive pricing strategy. Airtel provides
flexibility to its customer to choose and customize their plan according to their
preference and pay tariff according to chosen pack.
The aim of Airtel’s pricing strategy is customer retention by providing them
with combo offers to boost revenue. Airtel pricing strategies in broadband segment is
also of very low cost and attracts huge customer base to avail affordable plans. Airtel
faces tough competition in terms of price war with other telecom companies like
Reliance Jio and the customer loyalty for telecom companies is generally low and
entirely dependent on price of services, so Airtel offers its basic product like call, data,
SMS and other value-added services at a cheap rate.

41. PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Airtel marketing strategy is as
follows:
Airtel is an established and well-known brand in telecom sector. Airtel
organizes strong promotional campaigns for its services utilizing all media channels
from TV, print, events, social media etc. Hence the promotion strategy in the
marketing mix of Airtel is extremely comprehensive i.e. they do a 360 branding.
Airtel has used all the big celebrities to endorse their services like Shahrukh Khan, AR
Rehman, Sachin Tendulkar, Vidya Balan etc. Airtel also sponsors various events
like Cricket matches, Grand Prix etc under their community development programme
and brand promotion. Airtel has also got a good presence on social media like
Facebook, Twitter etc. Which it uses for its service promotion and solve queries of
customers. Airtel also engages in public relations like Education campaigns, girls
child awareness campaigns etc.
AD CAMPAIGNS BY BHARTI AIRTEL
Airtel’s Advt. campaigns have always been very creative & innovative. They have
done wonders for Airtel.
In 2002 music composer AR Rahman composed the Signature tune for Airtel. It was
one of the best pieces of work done on Airtel. The tagline for the ad being “Live
Every Moment”.
In 2003 Airtel came out with a campaign tagged “Express yourself”. It was named the
‘World’s Best Communications Brand of the year 2004’ at the World Communication
Awards 2004 in London.
In 2010 came “Endless Goodbye” which was also nominated as the best ad in Cannes
Festival.

42. In 2012 came its Game changer campaign “Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai”. This
campaign bought Airtel back to the limelight.
In 2015 we were introduced to the 4G Airtel Girl. This campaign was to announce
the launch of its 4G network and how they challenged it to be the fastest as compared
to other network providers. Their Tagline – “India’s First 4G Network”.
In 2016 they showed how Airtel 4G is not only the Fastest 4G Network in India but
available in more parts of the country than one would think.
2018 – Airtel takes a fresh approach with a bold and direct theme – “Sab Kuch Try
Karo, Fir Sahi Chuno” In this they are communicating with the audience and asking
them to decide which network is the best by trying all options themselves and not
merely on the basis of hearsay.

43. DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY OF AIRTEL
It has wide spread simple and effective channel structure. Company uses 2-Tier & 3-
tier distribution networksystem.
Under 2-tier distribution network, company appoints UD (urban distributors) & RS
(Rural Suppliers). UD distribute the items to retailers according to the demand &
transfer easy balance to retailer through FOS (Field officer Sales) SIM who work
under UD’s.
Under 3-tier distribution RS (rural supers) distributes the items to RD (Rural
Distributors) & transfer easy balance into RD’s SIM, who then distribute it to
Retailers.
Apart from all these company also uses Airtel Relationship centres under franchised
model & company officials for corporate sales. Each franchisee ordistributor canhave
any number ofdealersunder him as long as the person is approved by the Airtel
authority.

44. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research Design is the conceptual structure within which the research is
conducted. It constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of
Data. The success of the Research mostly depends on the methodology on which it is
carried out. Theappropriate methodology will improve the validity of the findings.
TYPE OF RESEARCH
Descriptive Research -
Descriptive research includes survey and fact-findings of different kinds. The major
purpose of descriptive research is description of the state affairs, as it exists at present.
Research Design of this research study will be Descriptive as it will describe facts
andother characteristics associated with consumers of Airtel’s cellular services and
market potential of Airtel.
The study is descriptive in Nature where the data is collected through well structured
Questionnaire and from the information taken from the Retailers and Customers.
DATA COLLECTION METHODS
There have been two sources of information for the collectionof Data:
a) Primary Sources - I met retailers of the Airtel company and have been able to get
first-hand information regarding the various product and services offered by the
company, its features and the buying patterns of the product. Their input has been
valuable.
b) Secondary Sources - Secondary source has played a vital role to play in this report.
A good amount of data has been collected from various published articles and reports
found in magazines and journals. Another vital source has been the Internet and
particularly the companies own website.
STATISTICAL TOOLS USED:

45. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Objectives:
 To study the importance and development of telecommunication industry in today’s
scenario.
 To understandthe various Marketing Strategies which Airtelhasadoptedto survive in
highly competitive cell phone industry.
 To make a comparative study of the major players in Indian Service Provider.

46. LIMITATIONS
Every attempt has been taken to make this Project error free and obtain meaningful
results but No study is completely flawless or inclusive of all possible aspects. I
believe that there will be chances for error on account of following limitations-
1. Respondent’s unavailability.
2. Shortage of time may become a constraint
3. Courtesy bias.
4. There may be errors due to biasness of respondents
5. Sample of 31 consumers may not represent the whole universe (population)
& we cannot draw inferences about the whole population on the basis of small
sample.

47. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
The sampling design mainly consists of the sample taken for the study along with
Sample Size: From the universe, sample size of 31 customers was selectedfor the
purpose of the study.
Sample Frame: The customers will be selected on a random basis from which the
respondents will beselected on convenience basis.
Sampling Method: Convenience sampling will be used, based on the willingness and
availability of therespondents. The study will be conducted on consumers with
different occupation.
Questionnaire Used for Data Collection is given in Annexure.

48. DATA ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
Q1. Which of these Mobile Service Provider do you Use actively? *
There is a tough Competition between Airtel and Jio in the current Indian Telecom
market. It was also seen in our Research as 38.7% of the Total Responses voted that they use
Airtel Actively and exactly same number of People responded that they are an active User of
Jio. Vodafone-Idea (VI) ranked behind Airtel and Jio, with just 19.4% people responding
that they use Vi actively. BSNL lagged far behind as just 3% of the total respondents
mentioned that they’re active user of the Company.
Q2. Which among the following Mobile Service Providers do you think has best
service in terms of Network Coverage? *
Airtel got an outright majority as more than 45% of the total respondents mentioned that
they think Airtel has best service in terms of Network Coverage. Jio ranked 2nd as around
39% of the respondents mentioned it has best Network Coverage. However, Vi & BSNL got
the worst response, as just 13% of the total respondents mentioned Vi to be having a good

49. network coverage. However, BSNL lagged in this parameter also as just 3% people voted in
its favour.
Q3. Which of these Mobile Service Provider do you think has best service in
terms of Internet Speed? *
Almost half of the Total Respondents were of the belief that Airtel has best Internet Speed
whereas approx. 1/3rd of the total respondents mentioned that Jio has best service in terms of
Internet Speed. It should be noted that just 39% of the respondents mentioned that they
actively use Airtel (in Q1) but over 48% of the total respondents mentioned that they think
Airtel has best Internet Speed. So, Many of the Active Users of Jio were dissatisfied with
their Operator’s Internet Service and were of the belief that Airtel has best Internet Speed.
Q4. Do you think that service provider has a genuine commitment to providing
Best Value for Money to its Users?
Highest Number of the Respondents were of the Opinion that Airtel has genuine
commitment to providing Best Value for Money to its Users To a Great Extent while second
highest number of respondents were of the Opinion that Jio has genuine commitment to

50. provide Best Value for money to Users. There was tough fight between the two but Airtel got
the majority by a slight Margin.
Highest number of people mentioned that BSNL is “not at all” committed to
providing Value for Money to its Users.
Q5. Do you think that service provider has a genuine commitment to creating a
modern and efficient communications?
Highest Number of the Respondents were of the Opinion that Airtel has genuine
commitment to creating a modern and efficient communications “To a Great Extent” and
second highest number of respondents were of the Opinion that Jio has genuine commitment
to create a modern and efficient communications. There was again a tough fight between the
two but Airtel got a clear majority. Highest number of people mentioned that BSNL is “not at
all” committed to create a modern and efficient communication system.
Q6. Do you find that the government’s telecom policyhas had the most radical
impact on the development of mobile service providers?
Most Respondents were of the Opinion that government’s telecom policies had a
radical impact on the development of mobile service providers like Airtel, Jio, Vi ‘to a great

51. extent’. However, Highest number of people mentioned that government’s telecom policy
had “no Impact at all” on the development of mobile service provider BSNL.
Q7. Do you find that these mobile service providers has the most exciting and
satisfying mobile standard?
Highest Number of the Respondents were of the Opinion that Airtel has the most
exciting and satisfying mobile standard while second highest number of respondents were of
the Opinion that Jio has the most exciting and satisfying mobile standard. There was tough
fight between the two but Airtel got the majority by a slight Margin.

52. SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is a framework for
identifying and analyzing the internal and external factors that can have an impact on
the viability of a project, product, place or person. Developed for business and based
on data from Fortune 500 companies, the SWOT analysis has been adopted by
organizations of all types as an aid to making decisions.
STRENGTHS
i. Second Biggest mobile service provider in India and third largest in the world:
Mobile phone subscribers are Increasing subscriber day by day. 2nd Highest number of
subscribers in India around 350 million. It covers around 24% of total subscribers in
India.
ii. Good Infrastructure: As we all know that Airtel is the oldest telecom company, so
the numbers of towers is high, is available all over the country, this the big advantage
of Airtel. For new technology or increasing capacity, requires advanced softwares and
minimum hardware up gradation.
iii. Good Brand image: Airtel in India is a Big Brand. Airtel is doing advertisement
through television, prints and others form of advertising mostly all parts of the India.
Various celebrities endorse Airtel.
iv. Good Network and reliable: Airtel (along with Vodafone) have one of the best
mobile networks in India. Airtel offer high quality of services as compare to other
companies.
v. Strategic Alliance with other stakeholders in Bharti Airtel includes Nokia, Ericsion
and Microsoft.
WEAKNESSES
1. High competition in the Market: As we all know that in India number of telecom
companies is increasing, there are more than 10 companies available in India. These

53. companies are providing cheaper rate tariff and all others plans. This is affecting
Airtel Market.
2. 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 Jio.
3. 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.
OPPORTUNITIES
 Untapped voice market: Despite of many customers in India, hundreds of millions
people are without phone. According to TRAI around 12% of total connection in
India is inactive. Airtel have to make strategy for this type of customers.
 Market Development: With fierce competition in the telecom industry & shrinking
margins, venturing out in new markets/developing economies will prove fruitful for
the company.
 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.
THREATS
 Mobile Number Portability : MNP gives independence to customer to change the
service provider while retaining the same number within the country. With similar
tariffs across various telecom and satisfaction with the current service provider
consumers are willing to change. The larger operators like Airtel, Vodafone are losing
many customers to the newer companies who attract these customers with their offer.
 Intense Competition: In the Telecom market is biggest threat for Bharti Airtel, as
other companies are providing very cheap tariff as compare to Airtel, so people are
switching to other companies.

54. (SWOT ANALYSIS OF BHARTI AIRTEL)
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
- Highest Number of Active Users
- Good Brand Image
- Good Infrastructure
- Good Network & Reliable
WEAKNESSES
- High competition
- High Debt
- Outsourced Operations
OPPORTUNITIES
- Untapped Voice market
- Introduction of 5G
- Value Added Services
THREATS
- Mobile Number Portability
- Intense Competition from Jio
- Luring offers from Other
Operators

55. CONCLUSION
Airtel is a telecom service providing company where customer satisfaction is together
goal and marketing tool. Today’s customers in the telecom industry, where lots of
offers are available, are harder to satisfy. They remain smoother, more challenging,
more price conscious, less forgiving and they are innovative by many more companies
with equivalent or better offers. The experiment is not only to produce satisfied
customers also to produce loyal and delighted customer.
From this research, It can be concluded that more than 70% of the Users who
are currently using Airtel were satisfied with the services of Airtel. Also, a Good no.
of users who were willing to switch from their respective subscribers showed interest
in Airtel. Hence, these statistics imply a bright future for the company. Airtel has done
a good job by improving its core competencies.
Airtel is working hard on its Research and development. This is one of the
main reasons why it is still on the top position in terms of the Number of Active Users
and Average Revenue Per User.
Airtel was the first Player to enter into 4G market, so Airtel has to take
advantage. Airtel has to Focus on the rural areas and expand the business in rural
areas.
Any business should have a vision, mission, objective and organizational
structure to succeed. For covering all these Criteria, Company needs to build up a
strategic plan through which it can reach its main goal point. The company should
maintain all major process also others factors.
There are several competitors in the market which are already working
rigorously with the similar Game Plan but whichever company properly implements
the plans, will be able to succeed in the long run.
This is a competitive and customer driven market. It is high time for Airtel to
satisfy and retain its existing customers. With the changing technological, economic
and political scenario, the telecom sector will face many ups and downs. To attain the
Top position in the Market, Bharti Airtel needs to build an Aggressive strategy to be
able to counter its Biggest Competitors Jio & Vi.

56. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Neeti Gupta, C N Sontakki, Marketing Management, Kalyani Publishers
 Shashi K Gupta, Praneet Rangi, Research Methodology, Kalyani Publishers
 Telecom Regulatory Authority ofIndia (TRAI) Official Data
https://www.trai.gov.in/
 TRAI Telecom Subscriptions Reports
https://www.trai.gov.in/release-publication/reports/telecom-subscriptions-reports
 Airtel India Official Site Information https://www.airtel.in/
 Jio Official Website https://www.jio.com/
 Vi India Offical Website https://www.myvi.in/

57. ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME: _________________________________ Age ____________________
Q1. Which of these Mobile Service Provider do you Use actively? *
 Airtel
 Jio
 Vodafone Idea
 BSNL
Q2. Which among the following Mobile Service Providers do you think has best service in
terms of Network Coverage? *
 Jio
 Airtel
 Vodafone Idea
 BSNL
Q3. Which of these Mobile Service Provider do you think has best service in terms of
Internet Speed? *
 Airtel
 Jio
 BSNL
 Vodafone Idea
Q4. Do you think that service provider has a genuine commitment to providing Best Value
for Money to its Users?
Not at All Some Extent Great Extent
Airtel
Jio
Vodafone Idea
BSNL

58. Q5. Do you think that service provider has a genuine commitment to creating a modern and
efficient communications?
Not at All Some Extent Great Extent
Airtel
Jio
Vodafone Idea
BSNL
Q6. Do you find that the government’s telecom policy has had the most radical impact on
the development of mobile service providers?
Not at All Some Extent Great Extent
Airtel
Jio
Vodafone Idea
BSNL
Q7. Do you find that these mobile service providers has the most exciting and satisfying
mobile standard?
Not at All Some Extent Great Extent
Airtel
Jio
Vodafone Idea
BSNL