Strategic analysis

Of
Reliance
communications
 Reliance communications

1. COMPANY INFORMATION

Reliance - India's largest business house

Reliance – Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, an offshoot of the Reliance Group founded by
Shri Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002), ranks among India‘s top three private sector
business houses in terms of net worth. The group has business interests that range
from telecommunications (Reliance Communications Limited) to financial services
(Reliance Capital Ltd) and the generation and distribution of power (Reliance Energy
Ltd).

Reliance – ADA Group‘s flagship company, Reliance Communications, is India's largest

private sector information and Communications Company, with over 40 million
subscribers. It has established a pan-India, high-capacity, integrated (wireless and wire
line), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network, to offer services spanning the
entire infocomm value chain.

Other major group companies — Reliance Capital and Reliance Energy — are widely
acknowledged as the market leaders in their respective areas of operation.
What Reliance is all about?

 Reliance Energy Ltd.

 Reliance Mutual Fund
 Harmony
 Reliance Communications
 Reliance Life Insurance
 Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group
 Reliance General Insurance

2. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

RELIANCE COMMUNICATION

2.1 OVERVIEW

―A dream come true‖

The Late Dhirubhai Ambani dreamt of a digital India — an India where the common man would have access to
affordable means of information and communication. Dhirubhai, who single-handedly built India‘s largest private
sector company virtually from scratch, had stated as early as 1999: ―Make the tools of information and
communication available to people at an affordable cost. They will overcome the handicaps of illiteracy and lack of
mobility.‖

It was with this belief in mind that Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocomm) started laying 60,000
route kilometers of a pan-India fibre optic backbone. This backbone was commissioned on 28 December 2002, the
auspicious occasion of Dhirubhai‘s 70th birthday, though sadly after his unexpected demise on 6 July 2002.

Reliance Communications has a reliable, high-capacity, integrated (both wireless and wire line) and convergent
(voice, data and video) digital network. It is capable of delivering a range of services spanning the entire infocomm
(information and communication) value chain, including infrastructure and services — for enterprises as well as
individuals, applications, and consulting. Today, Reliance Communications is revolutionizing the way India
communicates and networks, truly bringing about a new way of life.

2.2.1 VISION:
―We will leverage our strengths to execute complex global-scale projects to facilitate leading-edge information and
communication services affordable to all individual consumers and businesses in India.‖

We will offer unparalleled value to create customer delight and enhance business productivity. We will also generate
value for our capabilities beyond Indian borders and enable millions of India's knowledge workers to deliver their
services globally.‖

2.2.2 India’s leading integrated telecom company

Reliance Communications is the flagship company of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) of companies. Listed
on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange, it is India‘s leading integrated telecommunication
company with over 40 million customers.

Our business encompasses a complete range of telecom services covering mobile and fixed line telephony. It
includes broadband, national and international long distance services and data services along with an exhaustive
range of value-added services and applications. Our constant endeavour is to achieve customer delight by enhancing
the productivity of the enterprises and individuals we serve.

Reliance Mobile (formerly Reliance India Mobile), launched on 28 December 2002, coinciding with the joyous
occasion of the late Dhirubhai Ambani‘s 70th birthday, was among the initial initiatives of Reliance Communications.
It marked the auspicious beginning of Dhirubhai‘s dream of ushering in a digital revolution in India. Today, we can
proudly claim that we were instrumental in harnessing the true power of information and communication, by
bestowing it in the hands of the common man at affordable rates.

2.2. PRODUCT LINE

CHART: 1
 Fig: 1

Reliance uses C.D.M.A. ( Code Division Multiple Access ) technology for its wireless
communication service which is used for Mobile as well as Fixed line services. C.D.M.A.
is known for better voice quality and higher data throughput across the air interface at
low operating cost .

2.1.1 RELIANCE MOBILE

Fig: 2
  POSTPAID

FEATURES OF POSTPAID

a)1 INDIA- Now call any phone, anywhere in India for just ONE RUPEE per min.

b) My Plans- Presenting a range of Postpaid plans designed to fit every lifestyle .So go
ahead get on to Local gossip , chat for hours on STD , get close to your group or jest get lost in
new horizon.

c) Joy Plans- Reliance Mobile postpaid is a joy to use. Our postpaid plans help you save on
costs. Take your pick from a wide choice of plans with economical tariff rates, according to your
use and budget.

d) On-net Talk time Pack- Get 1,000 minutes of FREE talk time. That‘s right. Now, you can
enjoy the first 1,000 minutes of calling to all Reliance mobiles and fixed wireless phones and
terminals (FWP/T) in your circle, absolutely free!

e) Get Started Kit- Do not be tied down by a particular handset or phone number. Now set
yourself free with the new ‗Get started kit‘ from Reliance Mobile.

f) Bill Payments- Introducing convenient bill payments. Now pay your bills directly from your
credit card or bank account, and save precious time.

g) INMARSAT- Save up to 70 per cent on calls to satellite phones. Reliance exclusively offers
its subscribers significant savings — up to 70 per cent depending on the type of terminal and
the location — for voice calls made to any Inmarsat number.

 PREPAID

FEATURES OF PREPAID

a) Prepaid Tariffs- Choose the tariff plan that suits you needs.
 b) E-Recharge- Now you can recharge your prepaid with any amount, from Rs.10 to
Rs.10,000. So don't let your budget stop you. Choose a recharge value that suits you and stay
mobile.

c) 1INDIA- Introducing 1 INDIA recharge options of 1 day, 1 week and 1 month validity.

d) Get Started Kit- Gone are the days when you were bound by a particular handset and a
certain phone number. You can now set yourself free with the new Get Started Kit from
Reliance Mobile.

e) Chat & Play - Now you can recharge your prepaid with any amount, from Rs.10 to
Rs.10,000. So don't let your budget stop you. Choose a recharge value that suits you and stay
mobile.

 Reliance HELLO
Reliance landline:

Fig: 3

FEATURES

A complimentary bouquet of features

a) Next-Gen caller ID: Reliance Landline displays the name and/or number of a waiting caller
while you are in the middle of a conversation. It allows you the flexibility to choose between two
calls or switch from one caller to another.
b) Mobile phone features: Now enjoy all the interactive benefits of a mobile phone. Store and
recall numbers from the phone book, check the history of missed / dialed / received calls.
What‘s more, you can also use the history menu to make fresh calls.

c) Delayed hotline: You can program your Reliance Landline to automatically call a predefined
number by lifting the receiver and holding it for seven seconds.

d) Navigation keys: Using the navigation keys on Reliance Landline you can activate phone
features like delayed hotline, line locking, etc — now you need not remember complicated
feature codes and cumbersome procedures. You can also set your preferred ring tone, ringer
volume and LCD contrast.

e) Remote phone management: You can lock or unlock the STD/ ISD facility or hotline settings
on your Reliance Landline, remotely from anywhere, from any tone / DTMF phone.

Plus, you get host of other interesting features like speaker phone, 3-way conferencing, quick
dialing, and many more.

 Fixed Wireless Phone

Fig: 4

Benefits:

a) No wires attached

Get on the wireless connectivity bandwagon. And straight away become immune
to cuts in the cable, rains etc. Carry the set along with you when you move from one
room to another or when you shift your home/office.
 b) Wireless Internet (Reliance Net connect)
The FWP has an in-built modem for high speed internet connectivity. Surfat speeds up
to 115 kbps. What‘s more, you do not need a separate ISP connection for operating the
set.

c) Mobile Phone's Features

Enjoy all the features of a mobile phone: SMS, In-built caller line identification, voice
mail, 99-number phone book, speaker phone, a choice of many ringtones, etc.

d) City Mobility
You can use your FWP anywhere within your city and still receive and make calls, at no
extra cost.

 FIXED WIRELESS TERMINAL(FWT)

Fig: 5

Fixed terminal, limitless benefits

BENEFIT

e) Great Savings
Unbelievably low call rates. Substantial savings on ISD calls.

f) Zero Effective Rentals

Value of free calls almost equivalent to monthly plan charges.
 g) Parallel Connection Facility
Two voice ports to connect two telephone instruments to be used as parallel connections.

h) No Wires Attached
Wireless connectivity-immune to cable cuts, rains etc. Carry it along when you shift your
home/office.

i) Wireless Internet (Reliance Net connect)

In-built modem for high speed Internet connectivity at speeds of upto 115 kbps. No separate
ISP connection required.

j) State-of-the-art features
Three-way Call Conferencing, Speed Dialing, Hotline, Call Restrict/Call Lock, Call Wait/Call
Hold, Call Divert, Alarm and Caller Line Identification enabled.

 Reliance broadband.

Fig: 6
 Fig: 7

2.3 COMPETETORS

2.3.1 BSNL

Fig: 8

The Grand Daddy of all Operators, The State owned B.S.N.L. was the first to launch
P.C.O. service across the country under the guidance of Sam Pitroda who
revolutionized the telecom industry in India. Besides its nationwide presence, it enjoyed
the first mover advantage and had no competition for almost a decade. The advent of
private operators made BSNL pull up its socks but still has an edge over others in the
market.

2.3.2 TATA INDICOM

Fig: 9

Pay Telephony Business Unit (PTBU) is a strategic business unit of Tata Teleservices Limited
and has been the first private and branded player in the payphone industry in the country. It
provides its services under the brand name of Tata. Starting with 5 circles in 2000 it has a
nationwide presence in 20 circles and over 200 towns across the country today. Tata also uses
C.D.M.A. wireless technology as used by Reliance but with a much smaller infrastructure which
is concentrated in only a few states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

2.3.3 AIRTEL

Fig: 10

Airtel, the Basic phone service of Bharti emerged as the first private competitor in the
basic phones market. Though using Landline phones (copper-wire circuitry) the
service turned out to be a welcome break from the inefficient government owned
operators.

3. STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF THE COMPANY

3.1. ANSOFF’S MATRIX

The Ansoff product-market matrix helps to understand and assess business

development strategy. It has two dimensions, products and markets. Four different
growth strategies can be formulated and any business can choose which strategy to
employ, whether purely or as a mix. The strategies are

 Market Penetration
 Market Development
 Product Development
 Diversification

Reliance FWT PCOs can be categorized as product development. Product development

involves selling new products in existing markets.
 MARKET PRODUCT

PENETRATION DEVELOPMENT

Penetrating the market for Product A, B, Introduction of new

C, D wherever leadership is
facilities, customer friendly
there.
service, attractive
MARKET DIVERSIFICATION
instruments etc.
DEVELOPMENT The company may try providing
consultancy for Telecom infrastructure
Introducing the Product B, C, D in newer
markets(New territorial region creation in developing countries in Middle
East,
within the country)
South Asian regions.

Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh

TABLE: 1

 Fixed Wire line Phones

3.3 PEST ANALYSIS

POLITICAL ECONOMICAL
Permission of FDI (100%) India’s Per Capita holds higher tele-
New Telecom Policy 1999 density potential
Recommendations Of TRAI for Increasing demand for telephony
growth in WLL phones strong association between service
Policy changes for public-private sector growth and telecom
partnerships development
Unified Access Licensing Scheme

SOCIAL TECHNOLOGICAL
High purchasing power of people. growth of telecommunications
new sources of employment infrastructure
welfare enhancing consequences shortage of telephone lines and
improved access in the fields of high telephone charges
education, healthcare, Last Mile Connectivity
governance Technological innovation in the
form of CDMA and 3G.

TABLE: 2

The PEST analysis is a useful tool for understanding market growth or decline, and as
such the position, potential and direction for a business. A PEST analysis is a business
measurement tool. PEST is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social and
Technological factors, which are used to assess the market for a business or
organizational unit.
3.4 SWOT Analysis

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT OF ORGANISATION

STRENGTHS WEAKNESS
Highest commission structure (RIL- Hesitation among PCO owners in
30%, MTNL 15-18%) among adopting relatively new technology in
national long distance operators. landline segment.
State of art wireless technology. Resentment among business class due
Hassle free installation. to billing problems with RIM.
No security deposit Connectivity problems in some remote,
Brand name “Reliance”. rural areas of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh.
Sales backed by extensive customer
Callousness on the part of LBA will
care and after-sales services.
effect customer satisfaction
Prepaid PCO system, therefore,
hassle free billing mechanism

SWOT ANALYSIS

OPPURTUNITY THREATS
Curre nt te le-density o f Ind ia is only Pitted against well-entrenched
9.15%. 90.85% o f peop le still player like MTNL / BSNL which
depend o n PCO s fo r their
co mmunicatio n needs.
control approximately 85% of PCO
The co mpo und a nnua l gro wth rate market in metros, 90% of PCO
of PCOs is 25 %. market in urban, semi-urban areas
Curre ntly there are 16.55 lacs PCOs and nearly 100% in rural areas.
in Ind ia, wa iting to be churned. Entrance of new players like Bharti
Custo mer service standards o f its and TATA Teleservices
ma in co mp etitor M TNL / BSN L is
not very sa tisfacto ry Perceived saturation in PCO
Prob le ms o f b illing in po st-paid market.
systems TRAI's impending regulations

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT OF ORGANISATION

CHART- 2
 4. ANALYSIS OF COMPANY STRATEGY

4.1 PORTERS’s FIVE FORCE MODEL

SUPPLIER POWER
High Competition

Concentration of Suppliers

BARRIERS TO ENTRY THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES

RIVALRY
High Initial Costs Moderate High Switching High (Price Sensitive Market)
Costsrowth
Government Regulations
Low Exit Barriers High Switching Costs
Specialty Assets Required
High Switching Costs

Low Concentration Ratio

BUYER POWER

High Bargaining Power

High Switching Costs

CHART: 3
5 ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVE POSITION

5.1 BCG MATRIX

BCG matrix is based on the product life cycle theory that is used to explain how different
products should be prioritized in a company‘s portfolio. It has two dimensions: market
share and market growth. The two dimensions are used to create a quadrant matrix in
which all the products in a company‘s product portfolio are categorized into the four
categories. This analysis helps avoid a strategy mistake made frequently that is of
measuring the performance of different products on the basis of a single criteria e.g.
generic growth rate. This framework assumes that an increase in relative market share
will result in an increase in generation of cash.

5.1.1 STARS

These are high growth products which have a large market share in fast growing
industries. In case of reliance Communications its FWT services can be called stars
since they have a share of 21% of the market and are growing at the rate of 9%. This
service contributes 18% of total revenues and justifiably accounts for a large percentage
of total investment. Continuous investments should be undertaken by the company to
expand market share of WLL services because this could lead to them becoming cash
cows for the company in the future.

5.1.2 CASH COWS

These are the products which are leaders in markets which are slow growing but the company
has a large share of the market. As a result these products generate large amounts of cash and
profits but because of the slow rate of growth of the market investments in these products
should be kept low. These products are the foundation for a company and provide the cash
required to turn question marks into market leaders. In context of Reliance its cellular services
are growing at 4% p.a., are the cash cow which form the foundation of the company.

5.1.3 DOGS

These are the products in which the company has a small share in a slow growing market. As a
result their contribution to overall revenues is limited and they can turn into cash traps because
of money tied up in a business which has limited potential. Therefore the company should be
beware of expensive turnaround plans and should try to divest in these products. In case of
reliance its fixed line services can be called the dog for the company.

5.1.4 QUESTION MARKS

These are the products that are growing rapidly and thus consume large amounts of cash, but
because they have a low market share they don‘t generate much cash. But if proactive
measures are not undertaken to increase the market share they degenerate into dogs after
years of cash consumption. Therefore the company should aim at either investing heavily to
increase market share or sell off to generate whatever cash it can. In case of Reliance there are
a number of products which can be put into this category for example ISPs and LPCs and WLL
PCOs.

A major limitation of this model is that it assumes market growth rate to be the only factor of
industry attractiveness and relative market share to be the only indicator of competitive
advantage. Therefore it ignores the strategy where a business might use a ―dog‖ to gain a
competitive advantage in other business units.
 STAR QUESTION MARK

 Fixed Wireless phone

 Fixed Wireless Terminal Phone  PCOs
 ISP and Broadband Services
 GSM cellular service.

CASH COWS DOGS

 Cellular Services  Fixed Wire line Phones

 Reliance India Card
 Recharge Coupons

TABLE: 3

6. STRATEGIES ADOPTED

6.1 SEGMENTATION

6.1.1 Geographic

Geographic segmentation divides markets into different geographical units. There are
four main cellular segments

Metro – the metropolitan areas of Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, and Chennai are under this
category of telecommunications circles and continue to lead.
Category A circles – mostly analogous to the states of India, comprising Andhra
Pradesh, Maharashtra, (category a leaders) Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Category B circles – mostly analogous to the states of India, comprising Uttar Pradesh
(east and west), Punjab (category B leaders), Rajasthan, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya,
Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Category C circles – mostly analogous to the states of India, comprising Bihar, Orissa,
North-East Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar
Islands

In context of Reliance PCOs, the company is specifically targeting non metros,

highways, commercial areas in metros, small townships and low income clusters in
urban areas for e.g. urban villages and industrial areas.

6.1.2 Demographic

In demographic segmentation, the buyers are divided into different groups on the basis
of variables such as their age, family size, family life-cycle, gender, income, occupation,
education, religion, race, generation, nationality and social class. Consumer wants,
preferences and usage rates are often associated with demographic variables. The
relevant categories that can be identified for Reliance PCOs are senior citizens,
unemployed youth, small shop owners, kirana stores and existing PCOs owners

6.2 TARGETING

Reliance Communications current targeting approach is a mass-marketing method that

tries to address the needs of the entire market and widen its subscriber base. In mass
marketing, the seller engages in mass production, mass distribution, and mass
promotion of one product to all its buyers. Mass marketing creates the largest potential
market, which leads to the lowest costs, which in turn can lead to lower prices and
higher margins.

Reliance successfully implemented this strategy and while it did help Reliance in expanding its
customer base, its strength and spread remained limited to the Category C regions (See table
2). The apparent popularity of Reliance Communications in this category is due to its positioning
in the market as a “Common Man’s Phone”. Dhirubhai Ambani had dreamed of “Roti, Kapda,
Makaan aur Mobile” which clearly reflects the strategy, adopted by Reliance. The low-tariff
plans, low fared prepaid and postpaid offers have brought Reliance close to the price conscious
people.

They focus on few key aspects while promoting -

Next Generation technology

Widely available (Able to connect 90% of India‘s population)
Low tariff rates to attract a wide customer base
Range of handsets offered with Reliance connections (Black and white handsets, colour
handsets with camera, video camera phone, camera watch phone, PDA colour phone)
Special offers for making calls to the Gulf, USA and Canada

6.3 POSITIONING

Positioning can be defined as the act of designing the company‘s offering and image to
occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market. The positioning of the target
has to be such that a majority of the target market segment identifies with it.
7. 4 P’S OF MARKETING

7.1 THE FIRST “P” PRODUCT

The action plan of launching a new product includes a decision on the four Ps of
product, place, price, and promotion as well as the three Ps of services namely people,
processes and physical evidence. Also it is not a pure product or a pure service that is
being marketed. In terms of product Reliance is offering tangible good with
accompanying services, with the handsets being tangible goods and their mainstay
being the services. Now we can make this tangible on the basis of place, people, price,
and communications material.

Historically the thinking was that a good product will sell for itself. However there are no
bad products anymore in today‘s highly competitive markets. Therefore it‘s inevitable
now for a company to ignore on the various aspects of a product. We have tried to
analyze the product of Reliance Communications i.e. ‗WLL‘ on the basis of following
parameters:

Quality

When we talk about the quality of any telecom service we basically focus on following
aspects:
Voice quality-

The Voice quality in CDMA based Networks is much superior as compared to GSM
Networks. Therefore Reliance WLL has a technological edge over its GSM
counterparts.

Data Transfer Rate-

The Data rates throughput available to a WLL user using a 3G handset, being provided by
Reliance is much higher than the data rates provided by the GSM Operators using GPRS, a 2.5
G technology inferior to Reliance 3rd Gen technology. So for a layman, it may mean that
watching a Video Clipping or a multimedia application on a CDMA Handset will be much more
fun as compared to the present day GPRS Services

Strong Optical Backbone-

Reliance, being an operator with Pan India presence, and possessing a strong optical Backbone
spread across the country, is expected to deploy and provide next generation telecom services
quicker and cheaper than any other private operator in the country.

APPEARANCE

Appearance and design, however, still remains the user's first turn-on trigger. Reliance WLL
phone come as a refuge to the market as they are targeting the various segments of the society.
The low end model starts for as low as Rs. 2000 and the range goes up to Rs. 30000. The
various phone models available are quality phones being manufactured by the top firms like
Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and LG etc.

BRAND

Reliance Communications is the outcome of the late visionary Dhirubhai Ambani's (1932-2002)
dream to herald a digital revolution in India by bringing affordable means of information and
communication to the doorsteps of India's vast population. Reliance Communications Ltd., an
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises group company, is India's largest private information and
communications services provider, with a subscriber base of over 11 million. Reliance
Communications has established a pan-India, high-capacity, integrated (wireless and wire line),
convergent (voice, data and video) digital network, to offer services spanning the entire
Communications value chain.

SERVICE

Reliance Communications network is a pan India, high capacity, integrated (wireless

and wire line) and convergent (voice, data and video) digital network, designed to offer
services that span the entire Communications value chain - infrastructure, services for
enterprises and individuals, applications and consulting. The network is designed to
deliver services that will foster a new way of life for a New India.

SUPPORT

The major focus for any company in the service sector is how satisfied their customer is
with the service being provided by the company. The service doesn‘t end with by selling
the phone to the customer but also solving the concern, difficulties, queries and
complaints of the customer. Reliance Communications has some innovative features
like R-World apart from the usual customer support services being provided by other
telecom players. Reliance has a 24 by 7, 365 days a year, customer service in ten regional
languages to ensure consumers have a smooth experience.

7.2 THE SECOND “P” PRICE

How much are the intended customers willing to pay? Here we decide on a pricing strategy - do not let
it just happen! Although competing on price is as old as mankind, the consumer is often still sensitive
for price discounts and special offers. Price has also an irrational side: something that is expensive
must be good. Permanently competing on price is for many companies not a very sensible approach.
Reliance India Mobile has revolutionized the Indian mobile telephony market through
unique pricing models. In fact, thanks to Reliance‘s innovative pricing, tariffs in India
have fallen across the board by over 70 per cent, making it the world's lowest-cost
mobile market today. India was the world's highest cost market in the nineties.

As of now, RIM has concentrated in terms of its pricing in the economy to medium value
segment. The products with high and good value have not been very successful. But
that was partly because at that time, reliance was more than just a service provider,
dealing in handsets and post paid plans and selling customized solution. Now, with a
maturing market, as people are moving to upgrades reliance seriously needs to look
into the high value segment. By high value we mean high quality and high price
segment. A high service in terms of not just the value adding features but also the
quality of your basic services. Airtel has projected itself as a service provider with
superior network coverage. Reliance has had issues in the past with its billing and also
its traffic congestion which has left many customers complaining. And as they look to
expand into new segments that are more life style focused and brand conscious,
negative word of mouth publicity is the last thing they would want. Side by side, they
also need to look for the latest offerings in the market to lure and retain customers. The
first movers advantage they had accrued is now eroded as the competitors have come
out with similar features and services like internet surfing, cricket scores and multimedia
content in both GSM as well as CDMA segments. So reliance needs to heavily invest in
developing new and unique differentiating features and products to project itself as the
better option to the upwardly mobile youth. Like Airtel‘s Blackberry initiative. Even
though Airtel is fighting reliance bitterly in terms of the least priced services to the
consumers, having a high end limited sales volume product in its range gives it a
superior image because of its aspiration power in the minds of the affluent youth.

In terms of the market pricing is concerned, RIM is faced with a unique situation.
Although it is aiming for market penetration, the usual low pricing strategy will not be
very successful as all the rivals are offering services at a very competitive rate and
drastic undercutting will only lead to erosion of profit margins. Also the market is
growing rapidly and further lowering of prices will not fuel the growth further.
SCHEMES:

TARIFF PLAN FW FW FW FW FW FW
150 290 02
03 04 600

RENTAL(RS./MONTH) 150 290 500 1000 1500 600

CLIP CHARGES 50 - - - - -

FREE CALL UNITS 50 150 450 1000 1750 2000

FREE 60 180 495 1000 1575 600

TALKTIME(RS/MONTH)

RATE PER CALL UNIT 1.20 1.20 1.10 1.00 0.90 0.30:TO RELIANCE

RS/CALL UNIT 1.10:OTHERS

SECURITY FEE 2800 2800 2800 2800 2800 2800

TABLE: 4

Amount of sales (per month): FWP/I Phone

AREA FWP(SALE IN UNIT) I FONE(SALE IN UNIT)

MAYUR VIHAR 25 20

ADHCHINI 20 20

GREEN PARK 30 25
SAKET 25 25

PREET VIHAR 25 20

TABLE: 5

7.3 THE THIRD “P” PLACE

Available at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities? Some of the
revolutions in business have come about by changing Place. We have focused on
different attributes related to reliance place strategy in successfully removing the
bottlenecks associated with the timely availability of its products through a nationwide
network of Web Worlds.

7.3.1 LOCATIONS

Reliance Web World is a countrywide network of retail outlets offering a host of state-of-
the art communication and information services along with food and beverages in a
modern ambience. It probably is also the world's largest network of public access
broadband centre. A total of 240 Web Worlds are operational in 111 cities and towns
across India. The number of Web Worlds in this network will further increase to cover
nearly 700 towns and cities. All Web World outlets have three components: Customer
Convenience Centre, Broadband Centre and Gourmet Café.

7.3.2 CHANNEL MEMBERS-

The following are the desirable features for sales people:

Competence First and foremost is the competence of the sales force. Reliance has had
billing problems in the past and competent handling of all customer
complaints will be of utmost importance.
Courtesy RIM has exclusive retail outlets, which can be monitored, but newer
expansion plans will mean selling through other retailers for prepaid
cards.

Credibility This is a major issue as the previous policies were not very transparent
and this has generated a negative perception for Reliance.

Responsibility Problems of area distribution between different franchises

Communication Continuous communication is needed for promoting newer policies and

promotion schemes. Higher flexibility given to franchisees in offering
customized plans.

7.3.3 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Reliance‘s FWT PCOs are distributed through a network local business associates
(LBA). Every district is divided into a number of zones each of which is headed by a
zone PCOs lead. In every zone there is a point of sales, the LBA who acts as the
interface between the company and the local PCOs operator. The LBA gets in contact
with existing and potential PCO owners and after they decide to take a PCO
connection from Reliance, he helps to arrange for the entire package which consists of
the phone instrument, FWT, billing machine, telephone booth and patch panel antenna.

7.3.5 MARKET COVERAGE

Reliance is the second largest player in FWT market which is growing at fast rate of
5.5%. The Lead player in the market is Tata Teleservices. But Reliance has shown
major improvement in the market coverage and has grown its share from 34.15% in
April‘05 to 37.12% in Oct.‘05.
7.4 THE FOURTH “P” PROMOTION

(How) are the chosen target groups informed or educated about the organization and its
products? This includes all the weapons in the marketing armory - advertising, selling,
sales promotions, Public Relations, etc. While the other three P's have lost much of
there meaning in today's markets, Promotion has become the most important P to focus
on.

Since it‘s a highly competitive sector therefore Reliance had to work really hard on its
promotional schemes in order to grab the market share.
But the most important tool that Reliance should really be considering is the sales
promotion as a strategy to reach out to a mass audience and grab attention. And also to
arouse the interest of the target segment in the product this strategy will be very useful.
Just like what Nokia did sometime back for the N-gage and what the two wheeler
companies have been successfully doing for a long time, RIM should come up with road
shows as soon as they come out with their newer models to generate curiosity in the
minds of the people. Online games as suggested should be an important feature of the
mobiles and online one to one competitions can be organized for promotional schemes.
This is nothing new for Reliance Communications as they had done this for the
promotion of their Web world broadband services also. Partnering with KBC like game
shows will also be a big draw as Airtel have successfully demonstrated. Another charm
for the youth is the concerts, technology fares etc and organizing these as well as
partnering as sponsors with such events in colleges and expos can also are used to
draw attention.
 Fig: 11

8. CURRENT MARKET SCENARIO FOR WLL PHONES IN

INDIA

8.1 CDMA Mobile Segment

CDMA subscriber‘s base grew 5.7% mom to 14.49mn with Tata contributing a chunk of
additions in subscriber base. Tata witnessed a whopping 20.6% mom growth in
subscriber base, touching the 2.5mn mark. Reliance witnessed a sluggish 3.2% growth
in the month of October. However, it maintained its market leadership with a total
subscriber base of 11.78mn.

CDMA subscriber data

Group
Subscribers as of Additions Subscribers as of
Company
September'05 In Oct October'05 (%)Growth
Reliance
11,414,478 366,888 11,781,366 3.2
Tata
2,055,865 423,265 2,479,130 20.6
HFCL
60,292 542 60,834 0.9
Shyam
28,182 43 28,225 0.2
MTNL
154,301 (11,296) 143,005 (7.3)
Total
13,713,118 779,442 14,492,560 5.7

Source: AUTSP Table: 6

Market share of CDMA operators CDMA share of net additions

Graph: 1 Graph: 2
8.2 Fixed Wireless Terminals (FWT)

FWT continues to be one of the fastest growing segments with 5.5% mom growth. Tata
maintained it leadership position in FWT segment with 61% market share amongst
private players. In net additions, too, Tata led with 55% share. However, Dot‘s latest
ruling removing FWT service from the ambit of basic service and instead terming it a
‗limited mobile service‘ liable to ADC levy may be a serious blow to the growth of this
segment.

Group
Subscribers as of Additions Subscribers as of
Company
September'05 In Oct October'05 (%)Growth
Tata
3,219,643 158,437 3,378,080 4.9
Reliance
1,921,692 128,972 2,050,664 6.7
Bharti
23,999 (265) 23,734 (1.1)
HFCL
33,043 1,753 34,796 5.3
Shyam
26,915 232 27,147 0.9
Total
5,225,292 289,129 5,514,421 5.5

Fig: 12

We compared the above figures with the figures of March‘05 and realized that reliance
market share has gone up from 34.15% to 37.2% in six months which shows that there
is both potential in the market as well as in the company itself to increase its market
share further.
 Fig 13

Initiatives:

Introduction of Low cost telephony by launching Free Incoming service which took the telecom
market by storm

Achievements:

Brought the mobile phone to the common man by introducing Monsoon Hungama and Happy
Diwali offers in 2003

Milestones:

Became the second largest Mobile service in the country with more than 1 crore subscribers
within 2 years of launch.
Channel

Initiatives:

Introduced the Dhirubhai Ambani Entrepreneur scheme to involve the middle class to partner
Reliance and profit from it.

Achievements:

Built enduring relationships with people cashing in on the name of Reliance.

Milestones:

Elevated dealers to the position of business associates giving them more importance and
responsibilities which formed the backbone of the channel.

Costs

Initiatives:

Low cost telephony ringing the mobile in the ears of the common man.

Achievements:

Instrumental in bringing down call rates across the entire mobile phone sector.

Milestones:

Still riding the crest of the tide with large volumes of subscribers and subsequent high returns

Service

Initiative:

Spread a network of Reliance Web worlds and Web world Express providing One-Stop shops
for all customer needs.

Achievements:
A dedicated sales and service staff took care of the customers and led to efficient management
despite swelling subscriber figures

Milestones:

Web world home to a variety of Virtual courses, Gaming Zones and Video conferencing facilities
.First one of its kind in the country

Systems

Initiative:

Introduction of C.D.M.A.1X. Technology into the Indian market on a large scale which resulted
in high quality wireless service at low costs. Add to that a 60000 km fiber optic backbone
network.

Achievements:

Combining of Data and Voice service done on an extensive scale with C.D.M.A. 1X technology.
Instrumental in bringing Mobile to the remotest corners of the country (Regulations not
withstanding)

Milestones:

Reliance possesses 74 Mobile Switching Centres (MSC s) and about 7200 Base Transceiver
Subsystems (BTS sites), providing a 98.6% Quality of Service (QOS) rating for areas under
coverage.

Brand

Initiative:

India‘s most reliable brand added another dimension by entering the telecom market. Its name
preceded Reliance but the brand name Communications came into prominence.

Achievements:
Kar Lo Duniya Mutthi Mein, having the world in your palms, caught the imagination of people
and launched Reliance India Mobile.

Milestones:

Ek Soch thi, Ek Sapna Thaa, Dhirubhai‘s dream of a call at the cost of a postcard was realized
and entire India called out Mujhme Hai Wo Baat.

9. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

We were more concerned about the factors that influence the consumer before choosing any
new connection or switching from the present connection. We rated the different attributes on
the scale of (1-5). We found the following results.

Attribute importance (1-5)

4.50
4.40
4.30
4.20
4.10
4.00
3.90
3.80
3.70
3.60
3.50
3.40
Network Easy voice quality customer Billing
Coverage availability care system

The Network Coverage was the factor that concerned the people to the greatest extent.
However the factors like the Billing System and the Voice Quality were also important. These
factors were the desired attributes by any user.
 Calculated Ratings on 5 Point Scale

4.50
4.00
3.50 Reliance
3.00 Airtel
BPL
2.50
Idea
2.00
Hutch
1.50 BSNL
1.00 Tata indicom
0.50
0.00
Network Easy
voice customer Billing
Coverag availabili
quality care system
e ty
Reliance 3.75 3.56 2.50 3.88 2.81
Airtel 3.64 3.46 2.46 3.93 3.08
BPL 4.00 3.00 3.00 4.00 3.00
Idea 3.20 3.60 3.80 3.80 4.00
Hutch 3.80 3.80 3.40 3.00 3.75
BSNL 4.16 3.89 3.05 2.89 3.53
Tata indicom 4.00 3.00 4.00 3.00 2.00

Graph: 6

This showed that Voice Quality and Billing System were the two areas where Reliance had
performed pretty badly against its competitors. We came to know that the Billing System by
Reliance is said to have many discrepancies. Here Reliance really needs to work upon.
 The Road Ahead

P.B.O. The new age P.C.O. From Reliance

Reliance Communications Ltd is looking at the successful public call office (PCO) model
for delivery of e-governance initiatives to the rural areas.

In the nextgen PCO, Reliance will use broad band to deliver the services, and will be
aptly named Public Broadband Office (PBO). Prakash Bajpai, president, Reliance
Communications, said the G2C (government to consumer) initiative on e-governance
will popularize the use of broad band. However, he neither had the time-frame for
Reliance‘s projected PBO nor the investments needed.

―The PBO will need applications like e-mail, transactions, filing of returns, sales tax or
excise duty filing or any other work requiring government interaction. Additionally, we
will have to persuade government for spectrum availability and dedicated carriers for
data will be needed. Investments will be needed for the creation of base stations, too,‖
Bajpai said. Meanwhile, pushing its broad band service offering, Reliance
Communications will add another eight products to its existing 12. The new products, to
be launched in another two months time, will include collaborative services and
consumer Internet.

The bouquet of collaborative products will include audio video and web conferencing
services while consumer offerings would include health, games recreation

In an effort to improve its customer care services, the telecom services provider is set to
launch Web World Express (WWE). These franchised outlets will initially attend to
customer care issues and then expand to include broad band services.
 Reliance Netway:Broadband TV at your home

As far as the broadcast sector is concerned however, it is Reliance's broadband plans,

Ethernet broadband 'Netway' for the home user in particular, that is the focus of
attention.

Netway is still nearly a year away from

commercial launch, clarifies Khanna, though a
"test run" of the service that "has no parallel
anywhere in the world except in Italy on a very
small scale" is already on at the Reliance
centre in Jamnagar, Gujarat. 3,000
households of Fig: 15

Reliance employees at the Jamnagar oil refinery have been wired up for this purpose,
says Khanna.

In another two months, the testing process will move up a gear when 5,000 homes of
Reliance Communications employees (there are 15,000 of them working in DAKC
alone) get wired up.

Suffice to say that what Reliance is committing

to give its home user customers is 100 mbps
bandwidth routed through a prototype set top
box that will triple up as a TV remote, a phone,
a keyboard and even a karaoke microphone.

Reliance's set-top-box

Fig: 16

With this kind of bandwidth capacity, the question is of course what is the sort of content
that will be made available for home users. According to the literature provided, aside
from the obvious high speed Internet which also offers Voice over IP telephony, there
will also be movies on demand, music on demand and digital TV. A vast library of
movies with multiple language subtitles as well as an extensive music listing is being
compiled at the moment. Netway is also promising interactive TV with over 160
channels

Reliance Data Center

Reliance Data Centers are truly world class Level 3 IDC facilities with a total area of
205000 sq. ft. located at the sprawling Reliance Communications Headquarter campus,
Navi Mumbai and at Bangalore. Reliance's data center project further includes setting
up of world-class data centers in 6 major cities in India covering approximately 5,00,000
sq.ft. area in the next 2 years

The Data Centers has been internationally benchmarked with respect to physical and
network security, infrastructure, facilities, network connectivity and its operations, which
achieves and surpasses the Level 3 world standards. The Data Centers are connected
to Reliance's country wide optic fiber based IP network with terabytes of capacity having
points of presence at more than 700 cities. The data centre is further connected to 52
countries including US, UK, Mid-east and Asia-Pac through Flag Telecom backbone
(Reliance Communications‘s group company), other undersea cable systems and are
having private peering relationship with the largest Tier 1 ISPs and public peering at
more than 15 Internet Exchange points across the globe. There also exists peering
relationship with domestic ISPs on STM-1 bandwidth levels.
Recommendations

 Reliance has for long been perceived as the common man‘s phone. It needs
to come out of the mid-segment trap by catering to the high end subscribers
who bring in larger arpu

 It is highly important to retain customers as sooner or later the market will

saturate and the low call tariffs will prompt subscribers to switch operators

 With uniform number across operators being a possibility in the near future,
existing subscribers will be inclined to move to an operator offering better
service, it is highly recommended that Reliance pulls up its socks and
improves its service quality which is lacking in certain areas like network
coverage and billing

 Reliance has the most extensive private network in the country and needs to
consolidate its position by improving its standards and living up to its famous
brand name