A Comparative Analysis of Customer Service Provided by Cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSP) in Mumbai Region Thesis Submitted to Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil University, Department of Business Management In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Submitted by BHARAT BHUSHAN CHAUDHARY (Enrollment Number: DYP-PhD -066100005) Research Guide Prof. Dr. Vijay Wagh Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil University, Department of Business Management CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai - 400614 January 2012 i A Comparative Analysis of Customer Service Provided by Cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSP) in Mumbai Region ii Declaration by the Candidate I declare that the thesis entitled “A Comparative Analysis of Customer Services Provided by Cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSP) in Mumbai Region” submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management at the Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil University, Department of Business Management is my original work and the thesis has not formed the basis for the award of any degree, associateship, fellowship or any other similar titles. Place: Navi Mumbai. Date: 20.1.2012 Signature Signature Signature Research Guide Head of Department of Student iii Certificate This is to certify that the thesis entitled “A Comparative Analysis of Customer Services Provided by Cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSP) in Mumbai Region” submitted by Shri BHARAT BHUSHAN CHAUDHARY a bonafide research work for the award of the Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management at the Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil University, Department of Business Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management and that the thesis has not formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or any other similar title of any University or Institution. It is also certified that the thesis represents an independent work on the part of the candidate . Place: Navi Mumbai Date: 20.1.2012 Signature of Head of department Signature of Guide iv Acknowledgements I am indebted to Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil University Department of Business Management, which has accepted me for Doctorate program and provided me with an excellent opportunity to carry out the present research work. I offer my sincere gratitude to my research guide, Professor Dr. Vijay Wagh, who supported me throughout my research with his patience and knowledge while allowing me the freedom to work in my own way. I attribute the quality of my research work to his encouragement and effort and without him this research work would not have been completed. My sincere thanks to Professor Dr. R Gopal, Director, Dean and HoD, Department of Business Management who relentlessly encouraged me in completing this research work in time. I am also thankful to Professor Dr. Pradeep Manjrekar, Head of the Research Extension for his constant support in this research work. Finally, I thank my parents and siblings for supporting me throughout all my studies. Last but not the least a big thank you to Ms. Sarita; my wife without her support I would be a very different person today, and it would be certainly impossible to complete a PhD. Special thanks to my son Anurag and daughter Akansha for their tolerance and cooperation. Place: Mumbai Date: 20.1.2012 Signature of the student v Contents Chapter Sub Chapter Name Page No. title No. No. Declaration iii Certificate iv Acknowledgements v Contents vi List of Abbreviations 1 List of Tables 4 List of Figures 11 Executive Summary 12-25 Chapter-I 1 Introduction to Cellular Mobile Service 26-59 1.1 Introduction 27 1.2 Evolution of Telecom Services in India 28 1.3 Segments of Telecom Service 33 1.4 Telecom Service Areas 35 vi 1.5 Cellular Mobile Services 38 1.6 Postpaid and Prepaid Services 43 1.7 Growth in Cellular Mobile Service 43 1.8 Market Share of GSM and CDMA 45 1.9 Structure of the Telecom Sector in India 45 1.10 Radio Frequency Spectrum. 51 1.11 Generations of Mobile Service 52 1.12 Indian Telecom Laws. 53 1.13 SWOT Analysis of the Telecom Industry 58 Chapter-II 2 The Process of Providing CMTS 60-87 2.1 CMTS License 61 2.2 Allotment of Spectrum 61 2.3 Service Roll out Plan 63 2.4 Service Marketing Mix for CMS 68 2.5 Challenges in Segmentation 69 2.6 Market Strategy 72 2.7 Market Research 73 2.8 Buissness Models Employed by CMSPs 74 2.9 Life cycle of CMS 77 2.10 Commercial Launch of CMS 83 2.11 Appointment of Sales Channel 83 2.12 Monitoring QoS and Security Issues 87 vii Chapter-III Literature Review Part-I 3 Study of TRAI Service Quality Standards 88-109 3.1 Literature review on Service Quality 89 3.2 Regulations on QoS for CMS 92 3.3 Fault Incidence and Repair 96 3.4 Network Performance 97 3.5 Billing Complaints 97 3.6 Customer Perception of CMS 98 3.7 Review of QoS Benchmark by TRAI 99 3.8 Customer Perceptions of CMS after review 104 3.9 Response Time for assistance after review 104 3.10 Customer Helplines 105 3.11 Evolution of Quality of Experience 105 Chapter-IV Literature Review Part-II 4 Study of Customers Expectations 110-141 4.1 Literature Review on Customer Service 111 4.2 Growth of the Service Sector in India 112 4.3 Service Triangle of Marketing 114 4.4 Evolution of Service Quality 116 4.5 SERVQUAL Scale 120 4.6 Service Quality Studies in Telecom 136 viii 4.7 Customers’ Expectations from CMSP 138 4.8 Customers’ Perception of CMS 140 Chapter-V 5 Cellular Mobile Service in Mumbai Region 142-162 5.1 Introduction 143 5.2 History of Mumbai 143 5.3 Geographical Location of Mumbai 144 5.4 Qualitative Analysis of Customer Service 147 5.4.1 M/s Vodafone Ltd 147 5.4.2 M/s Bharti Airtel Ltd 151 5.4.3 M/s Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) 154 5.4.4 M/s Reliance Communications Limited 156 5.4.5 M/s Loop Mobile Ltd 158 5.4.6 Mahanagar Telecom Nagar Ltd 159 5.6 Problems faced by CMSPs 162 Chapter-VI 6 The Research Methodology 163-172 6.1 Introduction 164 6.2 Problem Statements 164 6.3 Objectives Of Study 165 6.4 Deficiencies in TRAI Standards 166 6.5 Benefits of the Study 166 6.6 Importance of the Study 167 ix 6.7 Research Hypothesis 168 6.8 Data Collection 168 6.9 Sample Plan 169 6.10 Research Tools and Techniques 171 6.11 Scope of the Study 172 Chapter-VII 7 Measurement of Service Quality and 173-198 Customer Expectations 7.1 Introduction 174 7.2 Selection of Measurement Scale 175 7.3 Validation of the Modified Scale 178 7.4 Measurement of customers Perceptions and 189 Expectations 7.5 Comparative Analysis of the Customer 195 Service in Mumbai Chapter-VIII 8 Review of Price Management 199-217 8.1 Introduction 200 8.2 Pricing Approach of CMSP 201 8.3 Price Regulations 202 8.4 Price and Demand Elasticity 203 8.5 Cost of Provisioning CMS. 204 8.6 Pricing of CMS 205 x 8.7 Role of TRAI in Pricing 209 8.8 Disruptive Pricing 213 8.9 Comparative Analysis of Price 215 Management for CMSPs 9 Chapter-IX Review of Product Management 217-230 9.1 Introduction 218 9.2 Concept of Product in the CMS 220 9.3 Challenges in developing New Products 222 9.4 Quality Function Deployment in Product 223 development 9.5 Product Management 225 9.6 Product Mix in CMS 226 9.7 Comparative Analysis of Product 227 Management for CMSPs Chapter-X 10 Review of the Physical Evidence 229-241 10.1 Introduction 230 10.2 Servicescape Effects on Customer Behavior 234 10.3 Environmental Dimensions of the Servicescape 237 10.4 Understanding the Servicescape Effects 238 10.5 Customers Feedback on the Servicescape 239 10.6 Comparative Analysis of Physical Evidence 240 xi for CMSPs Chapter-XI 11 Review of Promotion Management 242-256 11.1 Introduction 243 11.2 The Communication Process 244 11.3 Promotional Methods used by CMSPs 245 11.4 Promotion Targets 247 11.5 Objectives of Marketing Promotions 248 11.6 Promotion mix for CMS 249 11.7 Comparitive Analysis of the Promotion for 256 CMSPs 12 Findings 258-274 12.1 Introduction 259 12.2 Process of providing CMTS 259 12.3 Study of the Service Quality Standards 261 12.4 Customers Expectations 263 12.5 Performance of the Customer Service and 267 Expectations 12.6 Gaps in the Quality of Customer Service 269 12.7 Comparative Analysis of the 271 Customer Service 12.8 Suggestions to bridge the gap 274 Chapter-XIII xii 13 Conclusions and Recommendations 275 13.1 Conclusions 276 13.2 Recommendations 277 13.3 Limitations 278 13.4 Future scope for Research 279 Bibilography 280 Questionnaire xiii Glossary of the terms used SNo Abbreviation Full Form 1. 1G First Generation 2. 2G Second Generation 3. 3G Third Generations 4. ADB Asian Development Bank 5. ADC Access Deficit Charge 6. AHP Analytical Hierarchy Programming 7. ARPM Average Revenue Per Minute 8. ARPU Average Revenue Per User 9. ASSOCHAM The Associated Chambers of Commerce of Industry of India 10. AUC Authentication Centre 11. AGR Adjusted Gross Revenue 12. BOP Balance of Payment 13. BPL British Physical Laboratory 14. BSC Base Switching Centre 15. BSNL Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited 16. BSO Basic Service Operators 17.