Study On Quality Of Service

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Head-Department of Management

Panipat Institute of Engineering & Technology

70th km milestone Vill- Pattikalyana

Samalkha-Panipat

Haryana-132102

[email protected]

Mr.Manish Jha

Sr. Asst.Professor-Department of Management

Fairfield Institute of Management & Technology

Kapashera – New Delhi

[email protected]

Abstract:

The research is based on the quality of services that are being offered by various mobile service providers and the level of satisfaction that the customers experience. The government launched the mobile phone services and opened it for the private operators nearly 10 years back. With this move of the government many big and small companies ventured into the business. But as we move on today, nearly after 10 years only half of the companies are surviving in the industry. The number was also increased which was a thousand subscribers in 1995 to less than a million in 1998. Today mobile service providers serve nearly 60 million customers adding 2.5 million subscribers per month. But the rate of addition of new subscribers is equalized or balance with the number churn rate of the companies. According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Mobile telephony service providers have failed to meet the set customer satisfaction benchmarks. An attempt to meet churn rate problem companies are constantly trying to come up with new ideas and plans to retain their original customer and attract new customer. The objective of the study is to assess the quality of service provided by basic and cellular mobile service providers and Customer satisfaction surveys for assessing the customer perceptions of the service. The aim of this research is to measure Overall satisfaction, network availability, billing problems and customer care services, usage, selection criteria. Authors have used chi-square and Anova to test all the parameters.

Keywords: Service, Quality, Customer, Telecom, Mobile

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Evolution:

Advanced mobile services combine the innovation potential of computing, data communications, and the wireless industry. Emerging mobile data services and mobile computing will enhance the existing services by blending the extraordinary innovation potentials of the wireless, computing and digital information industries. In an increasing number of countries, including all of Western Europe, parts of Asia, and many developing countries, mobile is more widespread than fixed telephone service. Network operators are currently upgrading their networks to platforms that provide higher bandwidth and will support more advanced multi-media applications. Evolutions of the present "second generation" (2G) of mobile services, often termed "2.5G" services, can provide up to 171.2 kbps and are better suited to deliver mobile data applications, including basic internet access.

1.2 Need for the Study:

TRAI collects performance-oriented data from various service providers on a quarterly basis to monitor the growth trend in the sector and to decide upon pro-active and suo motto measures to fuel the growth of the telecom services in the country. The survey also covers an assessment of the level of satisfaction with the services received by subscribers of these telephone service providers. The study aims to provide inputs to testify few of such postulates in order to provide the service providers / producers fresh insights on the consumer behavior. The aim of study is to objectively understand the behavior of mobile phone users in Delhi and further capture their satisfaction level that is influenced by various technical and non technical factors.

1.3 Consumers’ Satisfaction – An Analysis:

The study assesses the satisfaction level of consumers encompassing quality of technical service, quality and operational aspects of gadgets; and social /psychological costs due to unsolicited promotional calls/SMSs etc. The analysis in this chapter throws light on the consumption behavior of the mobile phone users in Delhi and covers the aspects like usage pattern of the mobile phone services, assessment of the level of satisfaction, preference for various attributes and functionalities of gadgets etc.

2.0 DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The government launched the mobile phone services and opened it for the private operators nearly 10 years back. And at that time many big and small companies ventured into the business. Today, nearly after 10 years we find only half of them surviving in the industry. The industry has seen many ups and downs like regulatory uncertainties, policy upheavals, technology disruptions and accompanying many legal tussles. The industry is clearly divided between GSM and CDMA operators with the GSM users accounting to 80 percent of the 60 million subscribers. Bharti, Hutchison Essar and BSNL are driving the GSM business, while Reliance and Tata Teleservices remain the only two significant players in the CDMA space. Cellular services have become affordable with declining service cost and the advent of low-cost phones or handsets. This makes the Indian market one of the largest from the prospective of the service providers. But the rate of addition of new subscribers is equalized or balance with the number churn rate of the companies. And one of the main reasons is believed as Mobile telephony service providers (both GSM and CDMA operators) across the spectrum have failed to meet the customer satisfaction benchmarks set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). In areas like overall satisfaction, network availability, billing and customer care, mobile subscribers — irrespective of which service they use — are not ready to give even 80 per cent marks, let alone the Trai pass marks of 90-95 per cent for various parameters. The aim of the study is to measure the satisfaction levels of users of various mobiles in the city of Panipat & Karnal. The study assesses the satisfaction level of consumers encompassing quality of technical service and how it affects the consumer behavior in choosing the mobile operators. The analysis of this study throws light on the consumption behavior of the mobile phone users in Panipat & Karnal and covers the aspects like usage pattern of the mobile phone services, assessment of the level of satisfaction, preference for various attributes and functionalities of services provided.

3.0 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In today's competitive market, the purpose of a firm should be read as "creating loyal customers". Therefore, for sustainable competitive advantage, a firm should be able to create and retain customers. One of the necessary conditions for this is that a firm's offerings must be able to meet customers' needs and wants. For product planning and development, a firm needs to know what customers want from a product Rahman, (2004). According to Sureshchandar et al., (2002) the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has received considerable academic attention in the past few years. But the nature of the exact relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction (especially in the way the two constructs have been operationalized) is still shrouded with uncertainty. Result of a study on service loyalty by Caruana, (2002) indicates that customer satisfaction does play a mediating role in the effect of service quality on service loyalty. The effects of a number of demographic indicators on service loyalty are also reported. Byung-Suh Kang et al., (2007) investigated the effects of service quality on customer satisfaction in education service industry, with the focus being on those customers who have decided to switch their service providers. Reports on the perceived effectiveness of different measurement approaches by benchmarking techniques Edgett & Snow, (1997) currently in use in the financial services industry, by determining how informative management finds them, by isolating measurement approaches which are the most useful, and by identifying measurement approaches which are still needed. A study on managing service quality by Robledo, (2001) compares four different methods for measuring service quality within an airline setting. Six instruments are used to measure the service quality of three international airline companies. The validity and reliability of the six different models is examined: it is concluded that unweighted SERVPEX methods are superior to the others. Studies on service quality and customer satisfaction by Santouridis & Trivellas, (2010) revealed that Customer service, pricing structure and billing system are the service quality dimensions that have the more significant positive influence on customer satisfaction, which in turn has a significant positive impact on customer loyalty. Customer satisfaction is regarded as a prerequisite for establishing long-term, profitable relations between company and customer, and customer contact employees are key to nurturing this relationship Evanschitzky et al., (2012). Empirical findings of a study by Pollack, (2008) on nature of the service quality and satisfaction relationship Satisfiers exhibit initially no relationship with satisfaction, but after the acceptable level of quality (i.e. inflection point) has been reached, become positively related. Dissatisfies follow initially a positive relationship path with satisfaction but after the inflection point exhibit no relationship, or at best a significantly weakened one, with satisfaction. The mediating role of switching costs is found to have adequate statistical support and the other direct linkages are also found to be valid Edward & Sahadev, (2011) the findings suggest that service firms may benefit from pursuing a combined strategy of increasing customer satisfaction and switching costs both independently and in tandem, depending upon the product-market characteristics.

4.0 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:

Study on service quality and its impact on customer satisfaction in the telecom sector with reference to mobile service providers.

Hypothesis:

H1 = quality of service has an impact on customer satisfaction in the mobile service industry.

H2 = quality of service does not have any impact on customer satisfaction in the mobile service industry.

The sample unit includes all the existing and potential users of different mobile services from Panipat and Karnal. The study will be restricted to 100 respondents, Convenience sampling has been used for this purpose.

4.1 Contribution of the study:

Determination of the best service provider in the industry.

Find out the quotient of brand – loyalty and impact of brand in the market amongst the customers.

Analyze the depth of influence the advertisements exert over the consumer’s behaviour and choice.

5.0 PROFILE

5.1 RESPONDENT PROFILE:

5.1.1 Gender Profile:

Table 5.1.1 Showing the gender profile of respondents:

Gender

No. Of Respondents

Percentage Of Respondents

Male

50

50

Female

50

50

Total

100

100

Interpretation:

From the above tabulated data, it can be inferred that the gender profile of the respondents includes 50 males i.e., 50% of the respondents and 50 females i.e., the remaining 50% of the respondents.

5.1.2 Age Profile:

Table 5.1.2 Showing the age profile of respondents:

Age

< 18 Years

19-45 Years

> 45 Years

Total

Male

0

48

2

50

Female

5

40

5

50

Total

5

88

7

100

5.2 INDUSTRY PROFILE:

Table 5.2.1 Showing the categorization of respondents on the basis of brand usage and preference:

Airtel

Hutch

Bsnl

Spice

Reliance

Tata

Indicom

Total

Male

9

11

10

5

6

9

50

Female

9

11

5

10

9

6

50

Total

18

22

15

15

15

15

100

We can infer from the above data that Hutch leads the market with maximum users (22%) followed by Airtel (18%), and the rest of the operators have (15%) market share.

6.0 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Table 6.1.1 Showing the details of the respondents are mobile users are not:

User

Yes

100

No

0

Table 6.1.2 Showing the details of the respondent’s service providers:

Operators

Number

Airtel

18

Hutch

22

BSNL

15

Spice

15

Reliance

15

Tata Indicom

15

Interpretation:

The above chart shows the details of the total database of the respondents who have participated in our research. The highest number of respondent we could find was for the Hutch Operator with 22 respondents followed by Airtel with 18 and rest of the operators BSNL, Spice, Reliance and Tata Indicom 15 each.

Table 6.1.3 Showing the details of number of hours the respondents spent using their mobile phones:

Hours

Number

<1hr

27

1-2hrs

16

2-4hrs

49

> 4hrs

8Interpretation:

The above table shows the details of the number of hours the respondents spend on cell phone in a day. And from the above graph it can be concluded that the major number of them i.e. 49 % of them fall in the category of 2-4 hours of duration of usage. This is followed by low usage category who use less than 1 hour which is 27% of total respondents. 16% of the respondents fall in the category of users who use for 1-2 hours and rest of the 8% of respondents come under the last category of user who use more than 4 hours in a day.

Table 6.1.4 Showing the details of the ranks given by the respondents for the following attributes:

SERVICE IMPORTANCE

Rank

Network

Plans

Easy Recharge

Additional Offers

Tunes

Coverage

Roaming Facility

Rank1

46

35

3

2

0

10

4

Rank2

28

23

9

4

1

32

3

Rank3

9

22

25

14

1

22

8

Rank4

11

6

26

12

3

16

26

Rank5

3

11

18

31

10

12

15

Rank6

2

2

15

28

19

4

29

Rank7

1

1

4

9

66

4

15

Interpretation:

The above table and graph show the importance of seven attributes network, plans, easy recharge, additional offers, caller tunes, coverage and roaming facility as ranked by the respondents.

Network: In the network bar we can see that 46% of the respondents ranked it as 1st, 28% ranked it 2nd, 9% ranked it 3rd, 11% ranked it 4th, 3% ranked it 5th , 2% ranked it 6th and 1% ranked it 7th.

Plans: In the network bar we can see that 35% of the respondents ranked it as 1st, 23% ranked it 2nd, 22% ranked it 3rd, 6% ranked it 4th, 11% ranked it 5th, 2% ranked it 6th and 1% ranked it 7th.

Easy Recharge: In the network bar we can see that 3% of the respondents ranked it as 1st, 9% ranked it 2nd , 25% ranked it 3rd , 26% ranked it 4th , 18% ranked it 5th , 15% ranked it 6th and 4% ranked it 7th.

Additional Offers: In the network bar we can see that 2% of the respondents ranked it as 1st, 4% ranked it 2nd, 14% ranked it 3rd , 12% ranked it 4th , 31% ranked it 5th , 28% ranked it 6th and 9% ranked it 7th.

Tunes: In the network bar we can see that 0% of the respondents ranked it as 1st, 1% ranked it 2nd , 1% ranked it 3rd , 3% ranked it 4th , 10% ranked it 5th , 19% ranked it 6th and 66% ranked it 7th.

Coverage: In the network bar we can see that 10% of the respondents ranked it as 1st, 32% ranked it 2nd , 22% ranked it 3rd , 16% ranked it 4th , 12% ranked it 5th , 4% ranked it 6th and 4% ranked it 7th.

Roaming Facility: In the network bar we can see that 4% of the respondents ranked it as 1st, 3% ranked it 2nd, 8% ranked it 3rd , 26% ranked it 4th , 15% ranked it 5th , 29% ranked it 6th and 15% ranked it 7th.

Interpretation:

From the above two graphs we can say that Network, Plans, Roaming, Additional Offers are the important attributes while Tunes is the last attribute which is relevant for the user.

Table 6.1.5 Showing the details of the satisfaction levels of the respondents for the call drop issue:

CALL DROP

Very Frequently

8

Frequently

12

Sometimes

68

Never

12

Interpretation:

From the above graph we can conclude that 68% of the respondents say they sometimes have the problem of call drop and followed by 12% each of frequently and never category.

Table 6.1.6 Showing the details of the satisfaction levels of the respondents for the wrong number:

Wrong Number

Very Frequently

3

Frequently

10

Sometimes

65

Never

22

Interpretation:

From the above graph we can conclude that 65% of the respondents say they sometimes have the problem of wrong numbers and followed by 22% never category.

Table 6.1.7 Showing the details of the satisfaction levels of the respondents for the connectivity:

CONNECTIVITY

Very Frequently

9

Frequently

25

Sometimes

46

Never

20Interpretation:

From the above graph we can conclude that 46% of the respondents say they sometimes have the problem of connectivity and followed by 25% frequently category and 20% never category

Table 6.1.8 Showing the details of the respondent opinion about the customer care services offered by the operators:

CUSTOMER CARE

Solve

48

Listen but do not follow

31

Gives Feedback

15

No Response

6

Interpretation:

From the following graph and table can be said that majority of the respondents feel that some way or the other the customer care services pay attention to the issues of the customers.

 

Highly

Somewhat

Neither nor

Somewhat Dissatisfied

Highly Dissatisfied

VAS

12

51

32

4

1

Bill Time Allotted

8

19

2

3

1

Roaming Facility

33

27

25

12

3

Customer Care Service

19

42

20

15

4Table 6.1.9 showing the details of the satisfaction levels of various attributes measured on a Likert Scale:

Table 6.1.10 When the averages of the ranking values are taken the table is as follows:

VAS

TIME FOR BILL

ROAM

CUSTOMER CARE

2.73

3.03030303

2.87

2.73

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that most of the post-paid respondents are satisfied with the time given for them to pay their bills and followed by Roaming, VAS and Customer Care Services offered by the operators. All of them nearly have the same level of average satisfaction.

Table 6.1.11 Shows the frequency of the respondent to switch the operator:

Operator switching

No

56

Once

38

Twice

3

>2

3

Interpretation:

The above pie chart shows that 56% of the respondents have not switched their service provider in the last 1 year, 38% of the respondents have switched the service provider once and 3% of the respondents have switched their service providers twice or more than 2 times.

Table 6.1.12 Shows various reasons for switching the service provider:

Connectivity

Bill issue

No package

No CC serv

Attrac plan

I

30

4

18

5

22

II

17

16

16

12

18

III

15

18

22

9

15

IV

5

21

18

24

11

V

12

20

5

29

13

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that most of the respondents feel that connectivity problem (2.89) is the major issue for switching the operator.

6.2 Correlation Analysis:

Table 6.2.1 Shows the correlation between time spent on phone and age groups:

Usage

Age

Usage

1

Age

0.130435

1

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that there is a strong correlation between time spent on phone and age groups and the analysis proves that maximum value for correlation is for age group 19-45 which tells that the respondents in this age group spent maximum time on phone.

Table 6.2.2 Shows the correlation between time spent on phone and gender:

USAGE

GENDER

USAGE

1

GENDER

-0.01157

1

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that there is weak correlation between the time spent on phone and gender as the education level among the respondents was very high so the time people spent on mobile do not depend upon their gender.

Table 6.2.3 Shows the correlation between operator switching and other reasons.

 

Oprtr Switching

Con_Reas

Bill_Issue

No Package

No_Cc

Attrt_Plan

Operator Switching

1

CON_REAS

-0.083581666

1

Bill Issue

-0.104945004

0.3312

1

No Package

-0.050718563

0.0517

0.2984

1

No Customer Care

-0.09952018

0.1453

0.25175

0.4003

1

Attractive Plan

0.028317488

0.1753

0.2423

0.1203

0.3274

1Interpretation:

It can be inferred that that maximum positive value of correlation is between the operator switching and the attractive plans being offered by the other operators which is the strongest reason of the respondent for switching the operator and the other attributes follow in order as follows: No package plan with existing provider, Connectivity problem, No proper customer care services, Billing issues.

Table 6.2.4 Shows the correlation between the operator selection and the quality of service of customer care executives:

 

Operator

Cust Care Executives

Operator

1

Customer Care Executives

0.036722815

1

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that there is a strong correlation between operator selection and the quality of service of customer care executives which means that customer care selection is very important for a service provider.

Table 6.2.5 When a correlation is taken between the operator and the customer care services offered by the operator the values are as follows:

Operator

Cust Care Executives

Operator

1

Cust Care Executives

-0.036722815

1

Interpretation:

It can be concluded that the operator selection and the service provided by the customer care executives is negatively correlated and so it has no effect on the selection of the operators

6.3 CHI SQUARE ANALYSES:

Table 6.3.1.a Shows the test of dependence between operator selection and Value added services:

 

highly satisfied

somewhat

nietiher nor

dissatisfied

highly dissatisfied

0

0

 

Airtel

0

5

11

2

0

0

0

18

Hutch

0

5

12

5

0

0

0

22

Bsnl

2

8

4

1

0

0

0

15

Spice

0

7

8

0

0

0

0

15

Reliance

2

6

5

2

0

0

0

15

Tata

0

1

11

3

0

0

0

15

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

4

32

51

13

0

0

0

100Chi square value = 25.6 @ 15 df

Table values = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that since the observed value is greater than the table value so we can say that the value added services is dependent on the selection of the service provider.

Table 6.3.1.b Shows the test of dependence between operator selection and roaming facility:

Question B

 

highly satisfied

somewhat

neither nor

Dissatisfied

highly dissatisfied

0

0

 

Airtel

2

2

8

6

0

0

0

18

Hutch

2

10

6

4

0

0

0

22

Bsnl

1

4

5

5

0

0

0

15

Spice

3

7

3

2

0

0

0

15

Reliance

1

2

3

9

0

0

0

15

Tata

3

0

2

10

0

0

0

15

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

12

25

27

36

0

0

0

100Chi square value = 29.25 @ 15 df

Tabulated value = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that the observed value is more than the tabulated value so we can say that the roaming facility is dependent on the operator selection.

Table 6.3.1.c Shows the test of dependence between operator selection and customer care services:

Question B

 

highly satisfied

somewhat

neither nor

dissatisfied

highly dissatisfied

0

0

 

Airtel

1

2

10

5

0

0

0

18

Hutch

4

4

10

4

0

0

0

22

Bsnl

5

3

3

4

0

0

0

15

Spice

2

5

6

2

0

0

0

15

Reliance

2

5

6

2

0

0

0

15

Tata

1

1

7

6

0

0

0

15

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

15

20

42

23

0

0

0

100

Chi square value = 16.35 @ 15 df

Tabulated value = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that the customer care services are independent of the operator selection

Table 6.3.2.a Shows the test of dependence between operator selection and call drop down:

Question B

 

very frequently

frequently

sometimes

never

0

0

0

 

Airtel

5

11

2

0

0

0

0

18

Hutch

5

14

2

1

0

0

0

22

Bsnl

1

11

3

0

0

0

0

15

Spice

0

9

3

3

0

0

0

15

Reliance

0

12

1

2

0

0

0

15

Tata

1

11

1

2

0

0

0

15

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

12

68

12

8

0

0

0

100

Chi square value = 20.14 @ 15 df

Tabulated value = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that the call drop down is independent of the operator selection.

Table 6.3.2.b Shows the test of dependence between operator selection and wrong numbers:

Question B

 

very frequently

frequently

sometimes

never

0

0

0

 

Airtel

2

14

1

1

0

0

0

18

Hutch

5

12

4

1

0

0

0

22

Bsnl

4

10

1

0

0

0

0

15

Spice

4

10

1

0

0

0

0

15

Reliance

5

9

1

0

0

0

0

15

Tata

2

10

2

1

0

0

0

15

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

22

65

10

3

0

0

0

100

Chi square value = 8.6 @ 15 df

Tabulated value = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that calls from wrong numbers is independent of the operator selection

Table 6.3.2.c Shows the test of dependence between operator selection and billing issues :

Question B

 

very frequently

frequently

sometimes

never

0

0

0

 

Airtel

13

4

0

1

0

0

0

18

Hutch

13

7

1

1

0

0

0

22

Bsnl

9

1

4

0

0

0

0

14

Spice

14

1

0

0

0

0

0

15

Reliance

8

1

0

5

0

0

0

14

Tata

6

5

2

0

0

0

0

13

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

63

19

7

7

0

0

0

96

Chi square value = 42.8 @ 15 df

Tabulated value = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that the observed value is more than the tabulated value so we can say that billing issues is dependent on the operator selection.

Table 6.3.2.d Shows the test of dependence between operator selection and connectivity problem during peak hours:

Question B

 

very frequently

frequently

sometimes

never

0

0

0

 

Airtel

6

12

0

0

0

0

0

18

Hutch

5

7

8

2

0

0

0

22

Bsnl

2

8

2

3

0

0

0

15

Spice

0

4

7

4

0

0

0

15

Reliance

5

9

1

0

0

0

0

15

Tata

2

6

7

0

0

0

0

15

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

20

46

25

9

0

0

0

100

Chi square value = 37.11 @ 15 df

Tabulated value = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that the observed value is more than the tabulated value so we can say that connectivity problem during peak hours is dependent on the operator selection.

Table 6.3.2.e Shows the test of dependence between operator selection and billing issues:

Question B

 

very frequently

frequently

sometimes

never

0

0

0

 

AIRTEL

13

3

2

0

0

0

0

18

HUTCh

10

8

3

1

0

0

0

22

BSNL

5

8

1

1

0

0

0

15

SPICE

10

4

1

0

0

0

0

15

Reliance

8

4

1

2

0

0

0

15

Tata

8

4

2

1

0

0

0

15

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

54

31

10

5

0

0

0

100

Chi square value = 12.01 @ 15 df

Tabulated value = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that billing issues is independent of the operator selection

Table 6.3.2.f Shows the test of dependence between operator selection and promotional calls:

Question B

 

very frequently

Frequently

sometimes

never

0

0

0

 

Airtel

5

6

5

2

0

0

0

18

Hutch

3

7

4

6

0

0

0

20

Bsnl

2

8

4

1

0

0

0

15

Spice

1

5

7

2

0

0

0

15

Reliance

7

5

2

1

0

0

0

15

Tata

3

6

3

3

0

0

0

15

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

21

37

25

15

0

0

0

98

Chi square value = 17.11 @ 15 df

Tabulated value = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that promotional calls is independent of the operator selection

Table 6.3.3 Shows the test of dependence between the service provider and the overall experience of the respondent:

 

Very Frequ

Freq

Sometimes

Never

0

0

0

 

Airtel

1

8

6

2

1

0

0

18

Hutch

1

10

7

4

0

0

0

22

Bsnl

0

6

7

2

0

0

0

15

Spice

2

5

8

0

0

0

0

15

Reliance

0

5

9

1

0

0

0

15

Tata

2

2

8

3

0

0

0

15

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 

6

36

45

12

1

0

0

100

Chi square value = 18.6 @ 15 df

Tabulated value = 25 @ 15 df

Interpretation:

It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that the experience of the respondent influences the selection of the operator.

6.4 ANOVA:

Table 6.4.1 Shows the test the test between age group and the mobile service provider:

H0: There is no significant difference between age group and the mobile service provider selected.

H1: There is significant difference between age group and the mobile service provider selected.

Source of Variation

SS

df

MS

F

P-value

F crit

Rows

747.4444

2

373.7222

72.96095

1.09E-06

4.102821

Columns

13.77778

5

2.755556

0.537961

0.743951

3.325835

Error

51.22222

10

5.122222

Total

812.4444

17

 

 

 

 

F (72.9)>Fcrit (4.1)

Interpretation:

The F value is greater than the critical value. So, we accept H1 and we can say that there is significant difference among the age groups while selecting the mobile service providers.

Table 6.4.2 Shows test between occupation of respondent and mobile service provider:

H0: There is no significant difference between the occupation of respondent and the service provider selected.

H1: There is significant difference between the occupation of respondent and the service provider selected.

Source of Variation

SS

df

MS

F

P-value

F crit

Between Groups

167.445

1

167.445

90.89544

5.7E-18

3.888853

Within Groups

364.75

198

1.842172

Total

532.195

199

 

 

 

 

F (90.9)>Fcrit (3.9)

Interpretation:

The F value is greater than the critical value. So, we accept H1 and we can say that there is significant difference among the occupation of the respondents in selecting the mobile service providers.

Table 6.4.3.a Shows test between the selection of service provider and the satisfaction provided by the value added services offered by them:

H0: There is no significant difference between the selection of service provider and the satisfaction provided by the value added services offered by them.

H1: There is significant difference between the selection of service provider and the satisfaction provided by the value added services offered by them.

Source of Variation

SS

df

MS

F

P-value

F crit

Between Groups

17.405

1

17.405

9.91795

0.00189

3.888853

Within Groups

347.47

198

1.754899

Total

364.875

199

 

 

 

 

F (9.91)>Fcrit (3.88)

Interpretation:

The F value is greater than the critical value. So, we accept H1 and we can say that there is significant difference in the selection of service provider and the value added services offered by them.

Table 6.4.3.b Shows test between the selection of service provider and the satisfaction provided by the roaming facility offered by them:

H0: There is no significant difference between the selection of service provider and the satisfaction provided by the roaming facility offered by them.

H1: There is significant difference between the selection of service provider and the satisfaction provided by the roaming facility offered by them.

Source of Variation

SS

df

MS

F

P-value

F crit

Between Groups

10.125

1

10.125

4.998504

0.026486

3.888853

Within Groups

401.07

198

2.025606

Total

411.195

199

 

 

 

 

F (4.99)>Fcrit (3.88)

Interpretation:

The F value is greater than the critical value. So, we accept H1 and we can say that there is significant difference in the selection of service provider and the roaming facility offered by them

Table 6.4.3.c Shows test between the selection of service provider and the satisfaction provided by the customer care services offered by them:

H0: There is no significant difference between the selection of service provider and the satisfaction provided by the customer care services offered by them.

Source of Variation

SS

df

MS

F

P-value

F crit

Between Groups

17.405

1

17.405

8.848409

0.003298

3.888853

Within Groups

389.47

198

1.96702

Total

406.875

199

 

 

 

 H1: There is significant difference between the selection of service provider and the satisfaction provided by the customer care services offered by them.

F(8.84)>Fcrit(3.88)

Interpretation:

The F value is greater than the critical value. So, we accept H1 and we can say that there is significant difference in the selection of service provider and the customer care services offered by them.

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

The highest number of respondent we could find was for the Hutch Operator with 22 respondents followed by Airtel with 18 and rest of the operators BSNL, Spice, Reliance and Tata Indicom 15 each. The total numbers of post-paid respondents were 33 and a pre-paid respondent was 67. Major number of respondents i.e. 49 % of them fall in the category of 2-4 hours of duration of usage. This is followed by low usage category who use less than 1 hour which is 27% of total respondents. 16% of the respondents fall in the category of users who use for 1-2 hours and rest of the 8% of respondents come under the last category of user who use more than 4 hours in a day. We have shown the importance of seven attributes network, plans, easy recharge, additional offers, caller tunes, coverage and roaming facility as ranked by the respondents. 68% of the respondents say they sometimes have the problem of call drop and followed by 12% each of frequently and never category.

65% of the respondents say they sometimes have the problem of wrong numbers and followed by 22% never category. 63% of the respondents say they never have the problem of billing issues and followed by 19% sometimes category. 46% of the respondents say they sometimes have the problem of connectivity and followed by 25% frequently category and 20% never category. 54% of the respondents say they never have the problem of call barring issues and followed by 31% sometimes category and 10% frequently category. 37% of the respondents say they sometimes have the problem of promotional call and followed by 25% frequently and never 21%. More or less all the respondents had some level of opinion similar with respect to the promotional calls. The majority of the correspondents fall in the category with partial knowledge with 61%, followed by fully aware category with 34% and the last category of 5% forming the no knowledge category. It can be said that more or less majority of the respondents are aware about the various schemes activated to their number. Majority of the respondents feel that some way or the other the customer care services pay attention to the issues of the customers.

It can be inferred that most of the post-paid respondents are satisfied with the time given for them to pay their bills and followed by Roaming, VAS and Customer Care Services offered by the operators. All of them nearly have the same level of average satisfaction. It can be inferred that 53% of the respondents give rank 1 (most favorable) to connectivity, 30% give rank 2, 3% give rank 3 and 2% each give rank 4 & 5. In case of selecting an advertisement 5% respondents rate it as 1st, 5% give rank 2, 6% give rank 3, 22% give it rank 4 and majority of respondents i.e 62% prefer it as least important giving rank 5. While selecting a plan 39% people prefer it as most important whereas 3% prefer it as least important. While selection of a brand 40% of the people gave it as rank 4 and only 3% people have given it rank 1. In the case of customer care service 36% people have given it rank 3 while only 3% feel it as most important. It can be inferred that 78% of the respondents feel that their roaming gets activated in few hours, 17% feel that it takes more than a day, 4% feel that 3 days are required for their roaming to get activated and 1% respondents feel that their roaming do not get activated. It can be inferred that 63% of the respondents like to pay their bill by cash, 13% would like to pay it card, 10% by cheque, 11% would like to make online payments and 3% would like to pay it through ATM’s. 56% of the respondents have not switched their service provider in the last 1 year, 38% of the respondents have switched the service provider once and 3% of the respondents have switched their service providers twice or more than 2 times.

SUGGESTIONS

Individuals irrespective of age, income, occupation and gender tend to greatly rely on the services provided by service provider which forms a lasting image in the mind of the customers which influences their preferences. Hence the prime focus must be on improving the quality of services provided by operator to make it more effective. Network, additional offer and call plans are the main features that go into consideration while selecting the service provider. Hence, the mobile operator should maintain the quality of these services provided must and highlight the same. Brand loyalty is high among cell phone users. Hence, through providing new and attractive offers they can attract customers, the focus must be to tap potential customers and satisfy existing customers. Main problem faced by consumers were call drop down and promotional call on their number thus this necessitate mobile service operator to take some serious steps to overcome these problems. A main reason for switching an operator by the customer was found to be availability of attractive plans with the competitive operators. Thus an attempt should be made by the operators to provide range of attractive offers to retain their existing customers. With growing technology the service providers must also cater the needs of the customers by adapting to the new technologies to better serve the customers. From the above research we can conclude that the satisfaction level of the user is depend on the kind of services provided by the service providers. The services expected by the subscribers are more or less dependent upon the age group, gender and the occupation to which they belong. Research showed that while selecting a mobile service provider, customer occupation profile do not play any role. From the survey it was inferred that overall experience of respondent is dependent on the service provider.