A SUMMER TRAINING REPORTON

BRAND PROMOTION AND CHANNEL SALESOF RELIANCE DATA-CARD

INRELIANCE COMMUNICATION LTD

(1st May 2010-30th June 2010 )

SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OFREQUIREMENT OF

POST GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED BYPravin Gattani

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Pravin Gattani has successfully completed his/ her project titled “Brand Promotion and Channel Sales of Reliance Communication ” at Reliance Communication during the academic year 2009-2010 in partial fulfillment of the requirement PGP at Indira School of Career Studies, Wakad, Pune.

Prof.P.K.Divakaran Internal Guide Executive Director Prof.ISCS, Wakad,,Pune

Students’ DeclarationI, Mr /Ms PRAVIN GATTANI. hereby declare that the Project Work titledBrand Promotion and Channel Sales is the original work done by me and submitted to the INDIRA INSTITUTE CAREER STUDIES,WAKAD in partial fulfillment of requirements for the award of Post Graduate in Management (Area of specialisation) is a record of original work done by me under the supervision of Mr. NITIN PAWAR. of RELIANCE COMMUNICATIONLTD.

Date: 30/06/2010

Signature of the Student:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all I would like to thank the Management at Reliance Communication Ltd. for giving me the opportunity to do my Two-month project training in their esteemed organization. I am highly obliged to Mr. NITIN PAWAR for granting me to undertake my training at Reliance Communication, Place Pune. I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. NITIN PAWAR (Deputy Sales Manager), who has been provided me with guidance, inspiration, perspective and stimulating discussion, throughout the writing of this report. His constant review and excellent suggestions throughout the project are highly commendable. A study like this can not be completed without help from other persons and therefore I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. M.V KULKARNI, (Internal project guide ) to provide me crucial guidance in the analytical part of this Project. My heartfelt thanks go to all the executives who helped me gain knowledge about the actual working and the processes involved in various departments.Finally, we would like to thank our friends and family member for giving us constant support and encouragement.

Sr.no Content Page no

1. Certificate of guide 2

2. Student declaration 4

3. Executive summary 6

4. History of reliance communication 7

5. An analysis of reliance communication 12

6. Reliance net connect 16

7. 4p’s of reliance communication 25

8. An overview of internet an wireless wireless connectivity

26

9. Research methodology 29

10. Research approach 30

11. Research process 31

12. Problem identification 34

13. questionnaire 35

14. Data analysis an interpretation 38

15. Conclusion 50

16. Recommendation 51

17. Reference 52

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Growth on the Data Cards. Especially happen when business travelers,

academicians as well as other professionals need to access emails and

corporate applications as well as personal requirements during urgent

trips and travels. Now, what kind of a company enters an industry with

competitors already entrenched? Which ones actually succeed? The

answer to both the questions is Reliance Infocomm now known as

Reliance Communication. Reliance Infocomm is a confident and smart

company that was able to enter a saturated and highly competitive

industry, and emerge at the top. The cut-throat competition in the

telecommunication sector of India posed a great threat to the

development of Reliance Infocomm. When Late Dhirubhai Ambani charted

out the mission for Reliance Infocomm in late 1999 he had a clear game

plan to position itself on the platform of affordable as well as world class

information and communication service highlighting unparalleled value to

create customer delight and enhance business productivity. The project

aims to identify the problems faced by Reliance Communication in the

internet data card market. and to also understand the satisfaction level of

channel partner. and various promotional activities that channel partner

are doing to promote reliance data card. We have suggested a marketing

plan for Reliance data card along with other suggestions for Reliance

Communication to face the competition in the near future and the long

run.

History of Reliance Communication

Dhirubhai Ambani (1932-2002) started the Reliance Commercial Corporation in a 350 Sq. Ft.

room with a telephone, one table and three chairs. The primary business of Reliance

Commercial Corporation was to import polyester yarn and export spices. He started his first

textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad in the year 1966 (The Origin Of 2007). After success in

the textile industry Reliance slowly ventured into petroleum, petrochemicals, energy,

finance, engineering and telecommunication sectors. Reliance was the first Indian company

to be listed in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2003. RIL emerged featured in the 2007 Fortune

Global 500 list of the world's largest corporations at rank 269 (500 2007). Dhirubhai Ambani

charted out the mission for Reliance Infocomm in late 1999. He saw that information

technology had the capacity to accelerate the growth of Indian economy leaving behind its

backwardness and underdevelopment. From 1999 to 2002 Reliance Infocomm built the fiber

backbone for India — 60,000 kilometers of fiber optic spreading across the entire country.

Reliance Infocomm was started on December 28, 2002 (Communications, Reliance

Communications 2009). After the death of Dirubhai Ambani, there was a rift between his

sons, Mukesh and Anil Ambani. Finally the company was split between the two brothers.

Anil Ambani acquired Reliance Infocomm, which is now known as Reliance Communications.

Reliance Communication is now a part of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG).

Reliance Communications is the flagship company of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group of

companies. Launched as Reliance India Mobile in December 2002, it started its commercial

operations in May 2003 with one million customers in 92 cities. This organization was the

result of the dream of Dhirubhai Ambani to – “Make the tools of information and

communication available to people at an affordable cost [and] they will overcome the

handicaps of illiteracy and lack of mobility”. Currently, Reliance Communication spans the

entire telecommunication services covering mobile and fixed telephony. Apart from plain

vanilla voice services, it provides broadband, national and international long distance

services and data services along with an exhaustive range of value-added services and

applications. Further, the company sells communications and digital entertainment products

and services through its chain of Reliance Web World retail outlets. Today, Reliance is a

service provider of both CDMA and GSM technologies.

The Vision

The vision of the company is as follows:

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.

(Communication, Reliance Communication 2006)

Mission

The mission of company is as follows: The mission statement of the company was, “Karlo

duniya muthi mein.” It is the mission of the company to become number one in the field of

telecommunication and provide high quality products and services at the cheapest possible

price.

About Sh. Dhirubhai Ambani

Few men in history have made as dramatic a contribution to their country’s economic

fortunes as did the founder of Reliance, Sh. Dhirubhai H Ambani. Fewer still have left behind

a legacy that is more enduring and timeless.

As with all great pioneers, there is more than one unique way of describing the true genius

of Dhirubhai: The corporate visionary, the unmatched strategist, the proud patriot, the

leader of men, the architect of India’s capital markets, the champion of shareholder

interest. But the role Dhirubhai cherished most was perhaps that of India’s greatest wealth

creator. In one lifetime, he built, starting from the proverbial scratch, India’s largest private

sector enterprise. When Dhirubhai embarked on his first business venture, he had a seed

capital of barely US$ 300 (around Rs 14,000). Over the next three and a half decades, he

converted this fledgling enterprise into a Rs 60,000 crore colossus—an achievement which

earned Reliance a place on the global Fortune 500 list, the first ever Indian private company

to do so. Dhirubhai is widely regarded as the father of India’s capital markets. In 1977,

when Reliance Textile Industries Limited first went public, the Indian stock market was a

place patronized by a small club of elite investors which dabbled in a handful of stocks.

Undaunted, Dhirubhai managed to convince a large number of first-time retail investors to

participate in the unfolding Reliance story and put their hard-earned money in the Reliance

Textile IPO, promising them, in exchange for their trust, substantial return on their

investments. It was to be the start of one of great stories of mutual respect and reciprocal

gain in the Indian markets. Under Dhirubhai’s extraordinary vision and leadership, Reliance

scripted one of the greatest growth stories in corporate history anywhere in the world, and

went on to become India’s largest private sector enterprise. Through out this amazing

journey, Dhirubhai always kept the interests of the ordinary shareholder uppermost in mind,

in the process making millionaires out of many of the initial investors in the Reliance stock,

and creating one of the world’s largest shareholder families.

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 77 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 endeavor 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.

We endeavor to further extend our efforts beyond the traditional value chain by developing

and deploying complete telecom solutions for the entire spectrum of society.

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD

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 Infrastructure Limited).

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

private sector information and Communications Company, with over 77 million subscribers.

It has established a pan-India, high-capacity, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent

(voice, data and video) digital network, to offer services spanning the entire infocomm value

chain.

Other major group companies — Reliance Capital and Reliance Infrastructure — are widely

acknowledged as the market leaders in their respective areas of operation.

CHAIRMAN'S PROFILE Anil D. Ambani

Regarded as one of the foremost corporate leaders of contemporary India, Shri Anil D.

Ambani,48, is the chairman of all the listed companies of the Reliance ADA Group, namely

Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy and Reliance Natural Resources

limited.

He is also Chairman of the Board of Governors of Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information

and Communication Technology, Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat.

Till recently, he also held the post of Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance

Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest private sector enterprise.

Anil D Ambani joined Reliance in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer, and was centrally

involved in every aspect of the company’s management over the next 22 years. He is

credited with having pioneered a number of path-breaking financial innovations in the

Indian capital markets. He spearheaded the country’s first forays into the overseas capital

markets with international public offerings of global depositary receipts, convertibles and

bonds. Starting in 1991, he directed Reliance Industries in its efforts to raise over US$ 2

billion. He also steered the 100-year Yankee bond issue for the company in January 1997.

He is a member of:

Wharton Board of Overseers, The Wharton School, USA

Central Advisory Committee, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission

Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

Board of Governors Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

An analysis of Reliance Communication

Michael E. Porter studied a number of businesses and introduced a structure enumerating

three strategies: low-cost leadership, differentiation and focus (Daft 2007). According to

Porter an organization either adopts low-cost or differentiation strategy to compete and

position them in the market. But it can be seen Reliance have successfully adopted Porter’s

both strategies.

Low-Cost Leadership Strategy

Reliance Infocomm launched into the market with a package called the Dhirubhai Ambani

Pioneer Offer which provided with the lowest airtime rates and value added services for

free. Reliance Infocomm reduced the rates of outgoing calls, while the competitors charged

at rates as high as Rs.7 (US$0.15) per minute. All incoming calls were free. Three strategies

helped in cutting call costs. Firstly, Reliance charged a higher rental, Rs.600 (US$13.3) per

month, compared to the rest of the providers. But users received about 400 minutes of free

talk time, while the competitors offered none. Since the incoming calls were free the user

could utilize the entire 400 hundred minutes to make calls. Secondly, Reliance Infocomm

reduced the pulse 20 rates to 15 seconds from the earlier one minute. For a user this meant

more control over the costs, while for Reliance, it meant higher volumes of calls. The lower

pulse levels allowed the low income users to pass on information through short duration

calls. Thirdly, Reliance Infocomm ensured that calls to any Reliance phone in India were

charged at Paise 40 (0.8 US cents) a minute, a rate which people could not even imagine

before that time. For Reliance Infocomm this meant faster adoption of Reliance services

across India, because of the very low long distance rates, made possible by low costs, since

the calls would be carried entirely through the Reliance owned network, thus avoiding profit

sharing with any other carrier. Value added services like voice mail, call waiting, call holding,

call divert, call identification and call conferencing were charged at a premium by all the

other players in the market. Reliance Infocomm offered all these services free of charge. In

addition all text messaging was offered free of charge.

Differentiation Strategy

Reliance Infocomm used exceptional service and new technology to distinguish their

services from the others. They were the first providers to use WLL, a lower frequency band,

and CDMA technology. Using CDMA helped Reliance Infocomm to accommodate large

number of users, which they would have not been able to do otherwise. Since they did not

have to pay heavily for the license for WLL they were able to charge low rates. Thus utilizing

the new technology helped them gain low costs. When most other mobile operators

focused exclusively on the provision of mobile services, Reliance Infocomm started offering

all the services which could utilize their network and other resources optimally. Apart from

the basic mobile services, Reliance Infocomm currently offers landline, broadband Internet,

leased line, VPN (Virtual Private Network), IPLC (International Private Leased Circuit),

Centrex and IDC (Internet Data Centre) services. Thus Reliance Infocomm was able to use

innovation to reduce the cost of their services. Differentiation and low-cost strategies went

hand in hand for Reliance Infocomm.

Organization Structure

Reliance in the beginning used the modular structure. Reliance Industries, the parent

company of Reliance Infocomm, is the largest private sector corporation in India with stakes

in petroleum, petrochemicals, engineering, and finance. This scale of operations provided

great leverage as the company ventured into telecommunications. Reliance Infocomm, in

the initial stages, shared all Reliance resources to ensure cost effectiveness in every service

that it provided. Reliance Infocomm operated out of existing Reliance Industries offices and

utilized the capital and personnel resources to the extent possible. Reliance Engineering

Associates Ltd, an associate company, made sure that the engineering and manpower costs

were maintained at the bare minimum. In developed countries human resource costs

account for 22 per cent of a companies’ operating cost as against 5 per cent in India. But

Reliance Infocomm utilizes all their internal resources in large numbers which further

reduces the cost. Later Reliance Infocomm centralized most of its operations. 80 per cent of

Reliance Infocomm’s administration and operation is centralized. Compared to the best

telecom networks in the world they have deployed only half the number of people per

1,000 lines making their human resources the highest productive resource. Reliance also

exploited the extensive petroleum distribution channels that it had set up in promoting and

distributing Reliance Infocomm services.

External Environment

By December, 2001 the user base of mobile users in India had grown to around 5 million. By

the time Reliance Infocomm was launched it had grown to around 12 million. Two other

service providers, who had entered the mobile market late, could not cope up with the

competition, and were taken over by other global service providers. Thus it can be seen that

the mobile market in India beforeReliance Infocomm was growing at a rapid pace, but was

highly competitive and companies who could not keep up had to exit the market. Reliance

Infocomm entered such a market and emerged as India's largest mobile service provider,

within 7 months of commercial launch Communication, Reliance Communications 2006).

At present Reliance Communication is in a very unstable and complex environment.

Everyone in the market is seeking to expand and increase theirsubscriber base. Service

providers are adding at an average of a million subscribers every month. New mobile

technologies such as 3G, EDGE, and WIMAX are being introduced in India. The providers try

their best to incorporate the new technologies in their services as soon as possible.

Global Expansion

Within the first year of launch Reliance Infocomm entered the world markets. Its first step

into global expansion was the purchase of UK based, Flag Telecom for$207 million, on

October 16, 2003 (Telecom 2003). Flag Telecom is a leading provider of international

wholesale network transport and communications services. By taking over Flag Telecom,

Reliance Infocomm acquired its established customer base of more than 180 leading

operators, including all of the top ten international carriers (Telecom 2003).It entered the

US markets by purchasing Yipes Holdings Inc. for 300 million dollar cash on July 16, 2007. It

bought 100% shares of Yipes Holdings Inc. By cash. Yipes is based in San Fransisco. It is a

provider of managed ethernet and application delivery services, thus it offered Reliance an

opportunity to tap a fast-growing market. Yipes had coverage to 14 metro cities in the

United States, which Reliance plans to expand to 30 and also take it to Asia, Europe, Africa

and the Middle East (ANI 2008) .

Information as a Weapon

To understand the market better than its competitors and provide superior

service, all while growing at a swift pace Reliance Infocomm used information technology as

a strategic weapon. To start with, it laid 60,000 kilometers of optical fiber network across

India. The only way to manage the challenges was to establish a scalable and adaptable

decision-support system (DSS) right away.

They started their DSS even before their sales side was launched.

Ethics & Culture

Reliance defines what is right and what is wrong, and then proposes doing the right thing.

Reliance Infocomm believes that any business conduct can be ethicalonly when it rests on

the nine core values of honesty, integrity, respect, fairness, purposefulness, trust,

responsibility, citizenship and caring (Communications, Code Of Conduct 2008).

Reliance Netconnect

IntroductionReliance Communication erstwhile Reliance Infocomm always remained technological,

market leader in CDMA mobile business. Its high brand awareness, market acceptance as a

technological, economical leader in various segment of mobile business and high brand

equity were compelling reason to penetrate and develop entire value chain of the both

mobile and broadband based business.

1x Data Card

Netconnect High Speed 1x service offers you hi-speed wireless Internet access across India in

over 24000 towns & 6 lakh villages, as well as along major highways, railway routes, airport

lounges and remote locations. Access internet and e-mail on the move at a speed that's upto

four times faster than dial up. Reliance's cutting edge CDMA 1x network can give you high-

speed Internet access, at speeds up to 144kbps. Reliance offers High Speed 1x service

through a suite of Reliance Net connect products like PCMCIA and USB Modem data cards as

well as data cables for mobile phones and fixed wireless phones. These can be used to

connect to the Internet from your laptops as well as desktops.

Features - Uninterrupted high-speed wireless Internet connectivity, across 24000 towns, 6 lakh

villages and counting.

Better surfing speeds, with download speeds up to 144 kbps

Upto four times faster speeds than dial up.

SMS and voice services.

One-time installation of the software without the need to change the dial-up

configuration

Hassle-free connection

Connect instantly (No line busy / waiting tone)

Easy to remember username / password (your phone / card number).

No roaming charges for data connectivity.

Reliance Netconnect High Speed 1x service enables a user to surf the Internet without being

tied down to a landline from any location – truly anywhere, anytime internet access.

The Reliance network advantage

This remarkable service virtually converts the whole of India into a wireless hot spot.

24000 towns and 6 lakhs villages and counting

On highways, rail routes, airport lounges and remote locations.

Tariff plans

5 Hour

Pack

10 Hour Pack 25 Hour

Pack

Unlimited

Pack

Prepaid Data RCV (in Rs.) Rs. 111/- Rs. 202/- Rs. 404/- Rs. 801/-

Validity (in Days) 0 0 30 30

Free SMS 50 100 300 300

Minutes of usage (If entire

usage is in Peak Hours)

300 600 1500 Unlimited

Minutes of usage (If entire

usage is in Off Peak Hours)

600 1200 3000 Unlimited

System Requirements

Hardware

Pentium, Celeron, AMD processor with 333 MHz or above.

Minimum requirement of 64 MB RAM.

CD ROM drive.

USB Port.

Operating System

Windows 7

Windows Vista

Windows XP

Windows 2000

Windows Me

Windows 98 SE

Networking Software

Dial-up networking 1.3

Dial-up adapter (for Windows 98 SE) and TCP/IP as a part of

network configuration.

IE 5.5 or above / Netscape 7.1 or above

Netconnect Broadband+ -

Nationwide coverage will ensure Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ coverage in 62

major cities and seamless integration with High Speed 1x for National coverage.

Please note that day/night classification of a particular session will be done on basis

of session start time i.e. If the session starts in Peak time/Day Usage (6 AM to 10

PM), it would be classified as a day session and if the session starts in Off-peak

time/Night Usage (between 10 PM to 6 AM), it would be classified as night session.

Minimum guaranteed speed on Netconnect Broadband+ is 256 Kbps subject to

technical feasibility.

Netconnect Broadband Post-paid tariff Plans

20 times faster internet with speed upto 3.1 mbps on move.

Wireless broadband for laptops and Desktops.

Seamless hi-speed network across 24000 towns and 6 lacs for deposits.

Pay Rs. 2299/- to get a Netconnect Broadband+ USB Modem and get

Life time Validity

Tariff Plan Monthly

Rental

Free Usage

Bundled/Month

Extra

Usage

Roaming

Anytime/Day

Usage

Night

Usage

Broadband+ Pay as

you go

Rs. 299/- Nil Nil Rs. 1 /

MB

Nationwide*

Broadband+ 512 MB Rs. 499/- 512 MB Nil 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 10GB @

Night

Rs. 499/- Nil 10 GB 50 p

/Min

Nationwide

Broadband+ 1 GB Rs. 650/- 1 GB Nil 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 2 GB Rs. 750/- 2 GB Nil 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 3 GB Rs. 850/- 3 GB Nil 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 1 GB day,

10 GB Night

Rs. 849/- 1 GB 10 GB 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 2 GB day,

10 GB Night

Rs. 949/- 2 GB 10 GB 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 3 GB day,

10 GB Night

Rs.

1049/-

3 GB 10 GB 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 5 GB Rs.

1099/-

5 GB Nil 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 10 GB

City

Rs.

1099/-

10 GB Nil 50 p /

MB

Citywide

Broadband+ 5 GB day,

10 GB Night

Rs.

1298/-

5 GB 10 GB 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 10 GB

day, 10 GB Night City

Rs.

1298/-

10 GB 10 GB 50 p /

MB

Citywide

Broadband+ 10 GB Rs.

1250/-

10 GB Nil 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 10 GB

day, 10 GB Night

Rs.

1449/-

10 GB 10 GB 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Broadband+ 15 GB Rs.

1750/-

15 GB Nil 50 p /

MB

Nationwide

Day usage - 6 AM to 10

PM ; Night Usage - 10 PM

- 6 AM

Time based plans

Plan Name Monthly usage Extra usage Monthly tariff

Daily 60 1800 mins 0.50 per minute Rs. 500/-

Daily 120 3600 mins 0.50 per minute Rs. 750/-

Day & Night plan 3600 mins/day & 5400 mins/night 0.50 per minute Rs. 950/-

Netconnect Broadband Prepaid tariff Plans

Pack Price Validity

Broadband+ 300MB Pack Rs. 250/- 30 Days

Broadband+ 700MB Pack Rs. 500/- 30 Days

Broadband+ 1GB Pack Rs. 715/- 30 Days

Broadband+ 3GB Pack Rs. 935/- 30 Days

Broadband+ 5GB Pack Rs. 1,210/- 30 Days

Broadband+ 10GB Pack Rs. 1,379/- 30 Days

Broadband+ 15GB Pack Rs. 1,925/- 30 Days

Broadband+ 6GB Pack Rs. 1,500/- 90 Days

Broadband+ 15GB Pack Rs. 3,000/- 180 Days

Net Connect Comparison

Dial-up DSL GSM

EDGE

CDMA

1X

Competition

Wireless

Broadband

Netconnect

Broadband+

Mobility No No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Max.

Downlink

Speed (in

Kbps)

56

(Uplink+

Downlink)

2000

(Uplink+

Downlink)

238 144 2400 3100

Max. Uplink

Speed (in

Kbps)

238 144 144 1800

Avg.

Downlink

Speed (in

Kbps)

25

(Uplink+

Downlink)

400

(Uplink+

Downlink)

30 30 400 500

Avg. Uplink

Speed (in

Kbps)

30 30 30 400

Time to

download 5

Mb file

27 min 1.7 min 22

min

22 min 1.7 min 1.3 min

Time to

upload 5 Mb

file

27 min 1.7 min 22

min

22 min 22 min 1.3 min

Applications

Email Average Very

Good

Average Average Very Good Very Good

Internet Average Very

Good

Average Average Very Good Very Good

Video

Download

Poor Good Average Average Good Very Good

Video

Conference/

Chat

Very Poor Good Very

Poor

Very

Poor

Very Poor Very Good

VoIP Very Poor Good Very

Poor

Very

Poor

Poor Very Good

Upload

Photo

Poor Good Average Average Average Very Good

Send Large

Email

Attachments

Very Poor Good Poor Poor Poor Very Good

Wireless

Coverage

Area

No. Of Cities NA NA Very

few

National < 5 56

Within the

city

NA NA Limited Very

Good

Limited Very Good

No. of

Towers

NA NA < 10000 26000 < 300 4200

Reliance Data Card - an insight

Reliance data card has been developed as technologically superior. Reliance's cutting edge

CDMA2000 1X technology offers pan-India coverage. Internet can be assessed in 2200

towns across in India soon to be increased to 5700 towns. These can be used to connect to

the Internet from laptops as well as Desk top PCs.

Features:

Uninterrupted high-speed wireless Internet connectivity

Better surfing speeds, with download speeds up to 144 kbps

High download speed of heavy email attachments

One-time installation of the dial-up software without the need to change

the dial-up configuration

Hassle-free connection

Connect instantly (No line busy / waiting tone)

Easy to remember username / password (your phone / card number)

4 P’S OF RELIANCE COMMUNICATION

PackagingWith data card as a utility product in India, the packaging, Point of purchase plat a minor

role in consumers’ mind while deciding which product to buy. The Reliance PCMCIA card has

been designed and packaged with an old Reliance Infocomm’s green and blue theme in

mind .The USB modem comparatively looks much futuristic. It comes in black in colour,

overall new look of the new USB modem is attractive enough to grab the attention of

customer at Point of Purchase.

Price:Reliance Netconnect has dropped their prices on new data cards purchased because their

competitor [Tata] has offered free 2 months internet services. According to the new pricing

Reliance USB Modems would now be available from 2299 Rs. rather than the old pricing of

2850Rs. This price drop is for a limited time also comes with a 2 months unlimited internet

usage for free. The best part of Reliance Netconnect is that they don’t charge which on

roaming andalso have an excellent network services.

Pricing of USB Modems:USB Modem for Laptops & Desktops: 2299 Rs.

PromotionData card is a specialty product .That is why promotional activities are mainly focused

around in store promotional activity as well as other medium like print media, hoarding and

posters. Reliance data card doesn’t have any brand ambassador as of yet. But, for the data

card not been much of advertisements.

BundlingBundling has always been the norm for reliance data card. This is mostly due to the fact that

consumers have to purchase tariff plan with all data cards. There is always at least one trade

promotion across both data cards throughout the year.

An overview of internet and wireless connectivity

Definition of InternetThe Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks

that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a

"network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and

government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as

electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other resources

of the World Wide Web (WWW).

Common uses of the InternetE-mail

World Wide Web

Remote Access

Collaboration

Streaming Media

File Sharing

Voice Telephony

Driving growth of internet data card

Growing businesses in all segments, necessity to access emails and corporate applications

during urgent business trips and the urge for some entertainment while on the move are

some drivers increasing the demand for data card usage. Apart from these factors, as the

name of Tata Indicom's data card, 'Plug 2 Surf', suggests, ease of use with plug and play

factor is also a driver for growth.

SP Shukla, president, Personal Business, Reliance Communications, says that faster surfing

and higher download speeds, convenience of surfing the Internet while on the move, simple

to use, and affordable tariffs are among the key reasons for the data card growth, in both

the laptop and desktop segments.

Wireline broadband connections are yet to penetrate the vast semi-urban and rural parts of

the country where entrepreneurs, officials, students, etc have the need to surf the Internet

for various purposes. Though the laptop penetration in these areas has not made a

significant mark, desktop penetration is comparatively more.

With data cards offering convenient access to the Internet, a number of companies have

started to tie up with service providers to avail bulk network connections for their

employees on the go and allow them to utilize their time during business travels. Since data

cards can be used with desktop also, it cuts down the office infrastructure costs as well.

With the data card segment witnessing steady growth, affordability will go up, which, in

turn, will drive growth. “As the data card growth increases, speed evolves and prices come

down, affordability will go up and more users can begin to think of data card as an

affordable solution,” says an Airtel spokesperson. And growth of mobile telephony in India

has created users with specific needs like m-commerce that require wireless Internet,

driving the wireless data card growth. Once the concept of mobile wallet and its applications

hit the market in India in the near future, the wireless data card segment is also expected to

witness an exponential growth.

Apart from this, Internet charges in costly hotels are very high. With the availability of data

cards and USB modems, frequent business travellers who stay in costly star hotels can

access the Internet and corporate applications on their laptops and avoid using the Internet

facility at hotels, saving on high Internet charges.

The Deterrents

All players are competing with each other to give affordable tariff rates for their data cards.

But still the rates are very high when compared to countries like the UK. In the UK, wireless

broadband connection through 3G technology costs about £10 per month and that too with

a data download speed faster than 256 Kbps. International travelers who have used data

cards with faster speed are not satisfied with data cards and USB modems services offered

in India. So, in India, data cards mean accessing a bare minimum net connectivity only for a

sizable population. That is why it is said that data cards have not exactly taken off in India.

Research Methodology

In application of market research the research has to go through several steps or stages and

these steps are following.

Step l:Defining the Problem:

Defining the problem is the most important part of the market research process, because

wrong definition misdirects research. The type of the research to be carried out, the

questions to be raised, and the sampling procedure to be followed and the data to be

collected, all depend on the current understanding of the problem.

RCOM is having tough competition in the market with other players, There are many

factors, which influence the buyer for purchasing the DATACARD. One of these factors is

sales and promotional activities as well.

A major step in the conduction of marketing research is the decision regarding the nature of

research design we are selecting for the purpose of our study. This covers research designs

that are intended to produce accurate descriptions of variables relevant to the decision

being faced, without demonstrating that some relationship exists between variables.

Decision makers very often choose or are willing to accept descriptive data, which would

permit only inferences to be drawn about causation.

Here 1 am using cross-sectional design to produce a picture of the phenomena in which the

decision maker is interested -for example, the market shares of various firms, consumer

preference regarding Datacard offered by rcom, etc.

Research Approaches

Primary data can be collected in five ways: Observation, Focus groups, Surveys, Behavioral-

data, and Experiments.

Observation research

Fresh data can be gathered by, observing the relevant actors and settings.

Focus group research

A focus group is a gathering of six to ten people who are invited to spend a few hours with a

skilled moderator to discuss a product, service, organization, or other marketing entity. The

moderator needs to be objective, knowledgeable on the issue, and skilled in-group

dynamics. Participants are normally paid a small sum for attending. The meeting is typically

held in pleasant surroundings and refreshments are served.

Survey research

Surveys are best suited for descriptive research. Companies undertake surveys to learn

about people's knowledge, beliefs, preferences, and satisfaction, and to measure these

magnitudes in the general population.

Data Sources: The researches can gather secondary data, primary data, or both. Secondary

data are data that were collected for another purpose and all e g some-where. Primary

data are gathered for specific purpose or for a specific research project. the needed data

do not exist or are d a t e d , i n a c c u r a t e , i n c o m p l e t e , or unreliable, the researcher

will have to collect primary data. Most marketing research projects involve some primary

data collection.

Similar is the case in my project. For the purpose of my study I have collected primary data

in the form of:

1) Nature of Data, and

2) Its function in the ultimate interpretation and analysis.

Types of data

• Demographic

• Sociological Psychographics

• Behavioral

Here I am going to analyze the opinions that how people perceive something what they

believe about it and what those believes signify. The most potent form of opinions tends to

be attitudes, which are mental sets of pre-dispositions to act in some manner.

Research Instruments

Marketing researchers have a choice of two main research instruments in collecting

primary data: Questionnaires and mechanical devices.

Questionnaires

A questionnaire consists of a set of questions presented to respondents for their answer.

Because of its flexibility, the questionnaire is by far the most common instrument used to

collect primary data. Questionnaires need to be carefully developed, tested, and debugged

before they are administered on a large scale. In preparing a questionnaire, the professional

marketing researcher carefully chooses the questions and their form, wording, and

sequence. The form of the question asked can influence the response. Marketing

researchers distinguish between closed-end and open-end questions. Closed-end questions

pre-specify all the possible answer. Open end-questions provide answers that are easier to

interpret and tabulate. Open-end questions often reveal more because they do not

constrain respondents, answers. Finally, the questionnaire designer should exercise care in

the wordings and sequencing of questions.

RESEARCH PROCESS

Sampling and determination of sample size

Sampling Plan: After deciding on the research approach and instruments, the marketing

researcher must design a sampling plan. This plan calls for three decisions:

1. Sampling Unit: The first question that arises when you decide to survey is: Whom to

survey? The marketing researcher must define the target population that will be sampled.

The target population for my survey was Channel Partners of RCOM Ltd. and my sampling

frame was PUNE 2.

2. Sample Size: Next important question arises: What is the size of population to be

surveyed? Large samples give more reliable results than small samples. However, it is not

necessary to sample the entire target population or even a substantial portion to achieve

reliable results. A total of 100 interviews were conducted in PUNE 2 region in different

locations.

3. Sampling Procedure: The other most important question in research is : How to chose the

respondents? To obtain a representative sample of the population, a probability sample of

the population should be drawn. Probability Sampling allows the calculation of confidence

limits for sampling error. Three types of probability sampling are described below, part A.

When the cost or time involved in probability sampling is too high, marketing researchers

will take Non probability sampling. Below, part B, describes three types of non-probability

sampling. Some marketing researchers feel that non-probability samples are very useful in

many circumstances, even though they do not allow sampling error to be measured.

Stratified random sample - The population is divided into mutually exclusive group (such

as age groups), and random samples are drawn from each group.

Cluster (area) sample - The population is divided into mutually exclusive groups (such as

city block), and the researchers draw a sample of the groups to interview.

Non Probability sample

Convenience sample - The researcher selects the most accessible population member.

Judgment sample - The researcher selects population members who are good prospects

for accurate information.

Quota sample - The researcher finds and interviews a prescribed number of people in

each of several categories.

I have conducted the convenience sampling in PUNE 2 region

Data source

To meet with Channel Partners and asked to fill structured questionnaire and no

secondary data was collected .Personal interviewing is the most versatile method. The

interviewer can ask more questions and record additional observations about the

respondent, such as dress and body language. Personal interviewing takes two forms. In

arranged interviews, respondents are contacted for an appointment. Intercept interviews

involve stopping people at a shopping mall or busy street corner and requesting an

interview.

Step 3: Collect the Information

The data collection phase of marketing research is generally the most expensive and most

prone to error. The information collected should be both accurate and relevant as per as

the requirements of research project. Depending on the requirement, the researcher has

to work out a suitable data collection method. Data Collection Methods can broadly be

classified into two major categories listed below:

• Primary Methods: When a researcher directly collects data then this method is known

as primary method e.g. interview and questionnaire methods.

• Secondary Methods: The data are termed secondary data when they were not originally

collected for use in the research project under consideration, they were collected rather for

use by some other person or for some other project.

Problem Identification

Problems for Research;

To find out the consumer preference of Data card among various data card

manufacturers.

To study the market share and growth of RCOM, and to suggest the strategy to

increase it further

Evaluating the growth of RCOM Channel Partner

Satisfaction Level of Channel Partner

Various promotional activities that Channel Partners are doing to promote RCOM

product to survive among competitors

How much focused dealer is towards RCOM.

QUESTIONNAIRE

1.Which data card do you sell in market?

USB Modem

PCMCIA

Both.

2. In your opinion which data card do customers prefer?

USB Modem

PCMCIA

3.How many brand of data card do you sell?

Only1

2 brand

2to5 brands

More than 5

4. In your opinion which brand do customers prefer?

RELIANCE

TATA PHOTON

MTS

IDEA

BSNL

ANY OTHER

5. Which data card is having more demand?

RELIANCE

TATA PHOTON

MTS

IDEA

BSNL

ANY OTHER

6.what is average monthly demand of reliance datacard?

Upto 10

10-20

Above 20

7.Are you agreed that customers are best product seeker?

strong agreed

agreed

Disagreed

Cant’say

8.In present scenario which one is the most important factor for customer which affect their purchase decision?

Price

Net speed

Tariff plan

Availability in stores

Offers/discounts

9. Does the availability of product affects purchase decision?

Yes

No

10. Which factor you consider as most important for selling DATACARD?

profit margin

service

Brand

Customer preference

10.Does the large number of product makes customer confused?

Yes

No

11. Monthly sales

RELIANCE

TATA PHOTON

MTS

IDEA

BSNL

ANY OTHER

NAME:

OCCUPATION:

AGE:

Data analysis and interpretation

1.Which data card do you sell in market?

USB Modem

PCMCIA

Both

Column1 Column2

USB Modem 96PCMCIA 4Both 0

Interpretation: USB modems are the preferred choice of customers in today’s market condition, whereas PCMCIA connections are outdated and no more used by the customers.

2. In your opinion which data card do customers prefer?

USB Modem

PCMCIA

Column1 Column2

USB Modem 98PCMCIA 2

Interpretation: USB Modems are the only choice by customers, as it is of high speed and modern.

3.How many brand of data card do you sell?

Only1

2 brand

2to5 brands

More than 5

Column1 Column3

Only1 182 brand 322to5 brands 40More than 5 10

Interpretation: Most of the retailers sell and promote 2-5 brands in an outlet. Following which is retailers preferring 2 big brands in their outlets.

4. In your opinion which brand do customers prefer?

RELIANCE

TATA PHOTON

MTS

IDEA

BSNL

ANY OTHER

Column1 Column2

RELIANCE 28TATA PHOTON 39MTS 16IDEA 6BSNL 5ANY OTHER 6

Interpretation: According to the responses given by the retailers surveyed, TATA PHOTON is the most preferred brand, followed by RELIANCE.

5. Which data card is having more demand?

RELIANCE

TATA PHOTON

MTS

IDEA

BSNL

ANY OTHER

Column1 Column2

RELIANCE 37TATA PHOTON 26MTS 18IDEA 6BSNL 5ANY OTHER 8

. Interpretation: The most demanded brand according to the retailers, is RELIANCE. It shows that RELIANCE is having a remarkable presence in the market, it is well established as a brand having 37% of market share

6.what is average monthly demand of reliance datacard?

Upto 10

10-20

Above 20

Column1 Column2

upto 10 3010-20 44more than 20 26

Interpretation: 44% of the retailers responded that they sell 10-20 RELIANCE DATA CARDS per month, whereas 30% of them said that they sell upto 10 RELIANCE DATA CARDS per month, and rest 26% responded that they sell more than 20 data cards per month.

7.Are you agreed that customers are best product seeker?

strong agreed

agreed

Disagreed

Cant’say

Column1 Column2

Strongly Agreed 4Agreed 37Disagreed 26Can't say 33

Interpretation: 37% of the respondents said, yes they agree that customers are best product seekers. Whereas, 33% of the respondents said “they can’t say whether the customers are best product seeker or not.” This creates a dilemma situation for the interpretation whether it says that customers are totally best product seeker or not.

8.In present scenario which one is the most important factor for customer which affect their purchase decision?

Price

Net speed

Tariff plan

Availability in stores

Offers/discounts

Column1 Column2

Price 32Net Speed 42Tariff Plans 12Availability in outlets 10Offers/discounts 4

Interpretation: The NET SPEED is the main factor, which influence customers in purchase decision. After considering the sufficient speed customers focus over the PRICE factor.

9. Does the availability of product affects purchase decision?

Yes

No

Column1 Column2

Yes 63No 37

Interpretation: Major part of the respondents, i.e. 63% says that availability of the product in the outlet at the point of time is responsible for purchase decision. It can be interpreted that customers prefer to see the product at the time of purchase, that influences purchase decision.

10. Which factor you consider as most important for selling DATACARD?

profit margin

service

Brand

Customer preference

Column1 Column2

Profit Margin 45Service 30Brand 15Customer Preference 10

Interpretation: Retailers said that they prefer promoting the BRAND which provides maximum PROFIT MARGIN, after which they promote the BRAND which is having better service quality.

10.Does the large number of product makes customer confused?

yes

no

Column1 Column2

Yes 57No 43

Interpretation: Retailers said that large number of products confuse the customer, on the contrary it gives them option to choose among a vide range of products available in the market.

11. Monthly sales

Column1 Column2 RELIANCE 14MTS 9BSNL 3TATA PHOTON 19IDEA 4ANY OTHER 3

Interpretation: TATA photon is the most sold Internet Service Provider, followed by RELIANCE and MTS.

CONCLUSION:

RCOM is the market leader in the feild of datacard. It is number two

company and it hopes to be number one in coming years.But to become

number one company have to improve its advertising policy.Reliance can

get more market share in datacard by increasing the expenditure on

advertising.undoubtebly rcom is the leader in after sales service but to

cope up with this cutthroat competition Rcom should improve in other

feilds too. Corporate image of Rcom is pretty good as compared to

MTS,IDEA etc.

Reliance has been very successful in its strategy of upgrading the

consumer in the mobile business segment. Reliance has made sure that it

makes its consumers move up the product chain by introducing new,

technologically superior products and phasing their PLC very well. But

sadly, this approach is missing in the wireless data card segment. Though

there are 3 variants, there has been no effort made to communicate to

the consumer of the superior quality and attributes. Hence, we suggest

that Reliance adopt its “upgrading the consumer” strategy for the internet

data card segment also. This up gradation has 2 main advantages We can

fully leverage the Product life cycle and the individual phases of the

products in different markets We can make the consumer loyal to the

brand over his lifetime.

Recommendation:

Reliance having several types of tariff plan but it would have

improved network connectivity along with aggressive promotional

strategies’ be an unbeatable advantage in upgrading the

consumer throughout his lifetime and also making him brand loyal

in the process.

The margin given to channel partners by reliance is less than the

other competitors. So channel partners try to convince customer

to buy competitors product.

Also it should work towards improvement of its after sale service.

Main complain of channel partners towards reliance is service

problem.

Also reliance data card is not compatible in windows 7.So it should

sort out these problem.

Also many channel partners complain about no credit period

available.Reliance should have atleast 7 days credit period for its

channel partner.

Reference:

www.reliancecommunication.com

www.google.com

www.reliancenetconnect.com