Impact of Customer Satisfaction of Broadband and 3g Services in Delhi”

World telecom industry is an uprising industry, proceeding towards a goal of achieving two third of the world’s telecom connections. Over the past few years information and communications technology has changed in a dramatic manner and as a result of that world telecom industry is going to be a booming industry. Substantial economic growth and mounting population enable the rapid growth of this industry.

The world telecommunications market is expected to rise at an 11 percent compound annual growth rate at the end of year 2010. The leading telecom companies like AT&T, Vodafone, Verizon, SBC Communications, Bell South, Qwest Communications are trying to take the advantage of this growth. These companies are working on telecommunication fields like broadband technologies, EDGE(Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) technologies, LAN-WAN inter networking, optical networking, voice over Internet protocol, wireless data service etc.

Economical aspect of telecommunication industry: World telecom industry is taking a crucial part of world economy. The total revenue earned from this industry is 3 percent of the gross world products and is aiming at attaining more revenues. One statistical report reveals that approximately 16.9% of the world population has access to the Internet.

Present market scenario of world telecom industry: Over the last couple of years, world telecommunication industry has been consolidating by allowing private organizations the opportunities to run their businesses with this industry. The Government monopolies are now being privatized and consequently competition is developing. Among all, the domestic and small business markets are the hardest.

GLOBAL SCENARIO

Until the 1980s the world telecommunications systems had a simply administrative structure. The United States telephone service was supplied by a regulated monopoly, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T). Telegraph service was provided mainly by the Western Union Corporation. In almost all other countries both services were the monopolies of government agencies known as PTTs (for Post, Telephone, and Telegraph). In the United States beginning in 1983, AT&T agreed in a court settlement to divest itself of the local operating companies that provided basic telephonic service. They remained regulated local monopolies, grouped together into eight regional companies.

AT&T now offers long distance service in competition with half a dozen major and many minor competitors while retaining ownership of a subsidiary that produces telephonic equipment, computers and other electronic devices. During the same period Great Britain’s national telephone company was sold to private investors as was Japan’s NTT telephone monopoly. For telegraphy and data transmission, Western Union was joined by other major companies, while many multinational firms formed their own telecommunications services that link offices scattered throughout the world. New technology also brought continuing changes in the providers of telecommunication. Private companies such as Comsat in the United States were organized to provide satellite communication links within the country.

Around the world we are witnessing remarkable changes to the telecoms environment. After years of debate, structural separation is now taking place in many parts of the world including Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and some European markets. Structural separation or at least full-blown operational separation is required to advance the entire industry and to create new business opportunities and innovations which will benefit our society, our economy and ultimately our industry.

The focus is also shifting away from broadband to what it can actually achieve. Next Generation Telecommunications better describes this new environment and is essential for the emerging digital economy. Important services that depend on NGT include tele health, e-education, e-business, digital media, e-government and environmental applications such as smart utility meters.

In order to meet this burgeoning consumer demand for NGT applications, we are seeing increasing investment in All-IP Next Generation Networks and fiber networks. A proper inventory of national infrastructure assets is required if we want to establish an efficient and economically viable national broadband structure for these services. In the developing markets, next generations telecoms will take the form of wireless NGNs (ie, LTE/WiMAX).

These are some of the elements of the broader ICT revolution that is unfolding before our very eyes. We are right in the midst of the transition from old communications structures (mainly one-way streets) to new structures that are fully-interactive and video-based.

One of the drivers behind the industry changes are the declining revenues experienced by the telcos in their traditional markets. Over the past 10 years or so, fixed-line operators have been affected by deregulation, a severe industry downturn, declining prices and major inroads by mobile services. In addition, people are drifting to other forms of communication, such as email, online chat, and mobile text messaging instead of the traditional phone.

This has also led to an increased need for bandwidth, which in turn has revived the submarine cable sector. In recent times there have been many cable build-out announcements around the world, and some major systems are again being constructed. Over 25 systems are expected to be built over the next two to three years and network upgrades are also on the agenda for some existing systems.

It is clear that the mobile industry is also undergoing profound changes. The saturated developed markets are forcing the industry to find new revenue streams and we are now seeing other organizations such as media companies, content providers, Internet media companies and private equity companies becoming involved in this market.

For the time being however, voice will remain the killer application for mobile with some data services included as support services and niche market services. 4G (ie, WiMAX/LTE) is the real solution for mobile data and by 2015 it is expected that the majority of mobile revenues will come from data.

With the Internet economy, digital media and other telecommunications activities becoming further established, the need for modern and efficient infrastructure is becoming more critical.

INDIAN OVERVIEW

Today the Indian telecommunications network with over 375 Million subscribers is 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 teledensity of the Country has increased from 18% in 2006 to 63% in December 2012, showing a stupendous annual growth of about 50%, one of the highest in any sector of the Indian Economy. 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. India has emerged as a major base for the telecom industry worldwide. Thus Indian telecom sector has come a long way in achieving its dream of providing affordable and effective communication facilities to Indian citizens. As a result common man today has access to this most needed facility. The reform measures coupled with the proactive policies of the Department of Telecommunications have resulted in an unprecedented growth of the telecom sector.

The thrust areas presently are:

1. Building a modern and efficient infrastructure ensuring greater competitive environment.

2. With equal opportunities and level playing field for all stakeholders.

3. Strengthening research and development for manufacturing, value added services.

4. Efficient and transparent spectrum management

5. To accelerate broadband penetration

6. Universal service to all uncovered areas including rural areas.

7. Enabling Indian telecom companies to become global players.

Recent things to watch in Indian telecom sector are:

1. 3G and BWA auctions

2. MVNO

3. Mobile Number Portability

4. New Policy for Value Added Services

5. Market dynamics once the recently licensed new telecom operators start rolling out

6. Services.

7. Increased thrust on telecom equipment manufacturing and exports.

8. Reduction in Mobile Termination Charges as the cost per line has substantially reduced

9. Due to technological advancement and increase in traffic.

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. Telephone, whether fixed landline or mobile, is an essential necessity for the people of India. This changing phase was possible with the economic development that followed the process of structuring the economy in the capitalistic pattern. Removal of restrictions on foreign capital investment and industrial de-licensing resulted in fast growth of this sector. At present the country’s telecom industry has achieved a growth rate of 14 per cent.

Till 2000, though cellular phone companies were present, fixed landlines were popular in most parts of the country, with government of India setting up the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, and measures to allow new players country, the featured products in the segment came in to prominence. Today the industry offers services such as fixed landlines, WLL, GSM mobiles, CDMA and IP services to customers. Increasing competition among players allowed the prices drastically down by making the mobile facility accessible to the urban middle class population, and to a great extent in the rural areas. Even for small shopkeepers and factory workers a phone connection is not an unreachable luxury. Major players in the sector are BSNL, MTNL, Bharti Teleservices, Hutchison Essar, BPL, Tata, Idea, etc. With the growth of telecom services, telecom equipment and accessories manufacturing has also grown in a big way.

Indian Telecom sector, like any other industrial sector in the country, has gone through many phases of growth and diversification. Starting from telegraphic and telephonic systems in the 19th century, the field of telephonic communication has now expanded to make use of advanced technologies like GSM, CDMA, and WLL to the great 3G Technology in mobile phones. Day by day, both the Public Players and the Private Players are putting in their resources and efforts to improve the telecommunication technology so as to give the maximum to their customers.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study is limited to analyzing the various internet (postpaid and prepaid) services of Broadband and 3G services offered by various players telecom players in the international market. Study objective is to examine the various factors which play their part in causing major dissatisfaction for the customers. The study considered the urban area of Delhi state (including NCR region). The sample under consideration consisted of 50 people randomly chosen living in Delhi. RESEARCH METHDOLOGY

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation.

The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.” 1) Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to gain new knowledge.” 2) Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from the known to the unknown.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL FOR THE REPORT

1. Study Design: Descriptive as the study attempts to determine and analyze the various factors behind customer satisfaction of broadband and 3G Services in Delhi taking into account key telecom companies namely Tata,Reliance,Airtel,MTNL,MTS,Vodaphone,Idea and AIRCEL. 2. Data: Primary

3. Research Instrument: Constructed Questionnaire using 5 point Likert Scale 4. Sample Size: 50
5. Sample Design: Convenience/Non-Probability Sampling
6. Data Processing Procedure & Analysis: Analysis portion for each question included: • Calculation of Mean, Standard Deviation and Variance for each question based on both nominal & ordinal data using SPSS 20(Statistical Package for Social Sciences).

• Calculation of Percentages of frequencies for every question.

• Graphic Representation of the respondent’s responses on the bases of the percentages calculated.

• Interpretation of the responses with reasoning as applicable.

7. Setting: Delhi and NCR

8. Outline Of Proposed Chapters:

• Introduction
• Research Methodology
• Literature Review
• Data Analysis and Interpretation:
• Important Findings
• Conclusion
• Recommendations

9. Hypothesis Formulation:

LITERATURE REVIEW

• Cygnus Business Consulting & Research Pvt. Ltd. (2008), in its “Performance Analysis of Companies (April-June 2008)” has analyzed the Indian telecom industry in the awake of recent global recession and its overall impact on the Indian economy. With almost 5-6million subscribers are being added every month, and the country is witnessing wild momentum in the telecom industry, the Indian telecom industry is expected to maintain the same growth trajectory.

• Internet service providers in India, Rao (2000), provide a broad view of the role of an Internet service provider (ISP) in a nascent market of India. Building local content, foreknowledge of new Internet technologies, connecting issues, competitiveness, etc. would help in their sustainability.

• The role of technology in the emergence of the information society in India, Singh (2005), describes the role that information and communication technologies are playing for Indian society to educate them formally or informally which is ultimately helping India to emerge as an information society.

• T.H. Chowdary (1999) discusses how Telecom reform, or demonopolization, in India has been bungled. Shaped by legislation dating back to the colonial era and post Second World War socialist policies, by the mid-1980s India realized that its poor telecommunications infrastructure and service needed reform. At the heart of the problem lay the monopoly by the government’s Department of Telecommunications (DOT) in equipment, networks and services. The National Telecom Policy 1994 spelt out decent objectives for reform but tragically its implementation was entrusted to the DOT. This created an untenable situation in which the DOT became policymaker, licenser, regulator, operator and also arbitrator in disputes between itself and licensed competitors. He discusses the question: ‘Why did India get it so wrong? and What India should do now?

• Thomas (2007), in his article describes the contribution made by telecommunications in India by the state and civil society to public service, this article aims to identify the state’s initial reluctance to recognize telecommunications provision as a basic need as against the robust tradition of public service aligned to the postal services.

• Horrigan (2005) stated that the intensity of online use is the critical factor in understanding the home broadband adoption decision and suggests the intensity of internet use is a function of connection speed and years of online experience.

• Horrigan (2007) found that younger age, higher education and income, and urban living share of population may lead to higher level of broadband adoption.

• According to Randall Stross (2009) right to use a fast Internet connection is very important and it is considered as a legal right of the people in some countries. It also stated that, it is possible that new broadband infrastructure might result in greater facilities-based competition in the broadband market, in which case “souped up” broadband might be subject to competitive pressures that result in lower prices for consumers.