Amid fierce and cut-throat competition, excellent customer care is the key
for operators to increase revenue. However, the survey reveals that customers
are not very happy and satisfied with customer care services offered by various
telecom operators. At best, customer care services can be called pathetic.
Subscribers of various mobile networks witnessed the problem of an increase in
the average waiting time to speak to a customer care executive due to the
ever-increasing subscriber base. Accessibility of the customer care
representative (CCR), the ability and courtesy shown by them, the time taken and
the appropriateness of the CCR are the parameters used in this survey to measure
the services offered by different operators.
On the customer care front, no cellular operator has even touched the TRAI
benchmark of 90%. But BPL emerged the winner in this category with 89.4%
satisfaction, followed by Aircel with 88.8%. The performance of other operators
on the customer care front has been pathetic. Thus, there is a lot of scope for
improvement in this category of customer satisfaction.
Billing
With rapidly increasing mobile bills, subscribers are now giving more
importance to billing. During the survey, different parameters are used to
measure the billing integrity of the operator, ie, integrity of the operator in
charging you for the calls made, timelineness of receiving the bill and its
completeness, and resolution of billing disputes if any and the solution
provided. In this category, Aircel has scored the highest with 93%, whereas BPL
and MTNL are on the second spot with satisfaction levels of 92% and 92.2%,
respectively. With changing demands and needs, subscribers have become more cost
conscious. Mobile operators should focus on resolving billing complaints so that
everyone benefits in the long run.
Value Added Services
The ever-increasing subscriber base has had a negative impact on the average
revenue per user (ARPU) for operators. And to compensate for the falling ARPU,
mobile operators shift their focus to value added services. The growth drivers
of the VAS market are declining ARPU, commoditization of voice, and brand
differentiation. As the subscriber is maturing, the mobile phone is not used
only for voice communication but it doubles as a music player, an Internet
surfing device, for reading newspapers, and checking bank balance.
Keeping in mind the importance of value added services in terms of revenue
potential, operators are doing pretty well in this category. Unlike many other
categories where operators have failed to reach the TRAI benchmark, most
cellular operators have touched the 90% benchmark in this category.
While MTNL, BPL, Aircel, Idea, and Bharti Airtel crossed the 90% benchmark in
the value added services segment, MTNL topped the charts leaving behind bigwigs
such as Airtel and Vodafone. But we cannot compare MTNL with Airtel and Vodafone
because while MTNL operates only in two metros-Delhi and Mumbai-Airtel has
footprints in all the twenty-three telecom circles, and Vodafone operates with a
significant presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, and the
US. BPL is on the second position with 94.8% satisfaction whereas Aircel and
Idea are on the similar position with 93.5% and 93% level, respectively.
On the VAS front, SMS remains the most popular mobile service feature. But
service providers also need to focus on other services in the VAS bouquet.
3G
Unfortunately, recall about 3G services has been very disappointing in 2007
when compared to 2006.
While around 61% of subscribers were aware of 3G services in 2006; in 2007,
the level of awareness has fallen to 53.6%. This is not a good indicator by any
standard. Regarding perception, 3G is viewed as personal organizer, mobile
Internet access device, mobile music system/camera/video player, live wireless
TV system, and smart all-purpose remote.
On the usage intention front, 3G is viewed as online calendar, diary, and
notepad, real-time information downloads, on-demand TV, radio, games and movies,
maps and traffic updates, train/air/bus schedule, mobile banking, mobile-based
email, and yellow pages. But the overall result is not satisfactory. A lot of
innovation is needed to enhance awareness about 3G services.
Retention
Retention is another problem area for most operators. Despite the fact that
around 8 mn subscribers are added each month, operators have not been able to
retain subscribers. The main reason behind this is the dissatisfaction of
customers-it seems that operators no longer consider the subscriber as the king.
To increase retention, operators need to pull up their socks on the customer
care and the user satisfaction front.
Arpita Prem
arpitap@cybermedia.co.in
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