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Company press release, March 18, 2004
New Delhi
According to the latest annual TNS Celltrack report, cellular service providers, Hutch and Aircel have captured top rankings in meeting customer expectations. While CDMA players Tata Indicom and Reliance Infocomm are still far below in the customers' reckoning - MTNL, the traditional cellular operator has appeared at the bottom of the heap.
The final tally for the top five performers among individual operators has Hutch leading with a TRI*M Index of 99 in Gujarat, the next three operators from Madhya Pradesh - Idea, Reliance Infocomm and BSNL lead with 93, 91 and 90 TRI*M scores respectively. Hutch, Mumbai figures in the fifth slot with a TRI*M score of 84. Reliance Infocomm has done extremely well in MP considering it's way below in the overall ranking. (See Annexure I)
TNS used its proprietary TRI*M Stakeholder Relationship Management System, wherein the TRI*M Index is a measure of the 'intensity of retention' and takes into consideration both the subscribers' level of satisfaction with the service provider as well as the level of retention and loyalty towards the service provider. The TRI*M Index of cellular phone subscribers at 70 is distinctly higher as opposed to CDMA subscribers, at 54. And inspite of the CDMA operators' ability to attract customers and grow the customer base substantially in 2003, the CDMA/ WLL operators have not been able to anticipate and meet customer expectations. TNS zeroed in on 4,921 mobile users using a structured questionnaire across the 13-telecom circles, covering both GSM and CDMA service providers. While the study covered about 75 elements of the subscriber-service provider relationship, the parameters were whittled down to 8 broad dimensions namely, network and coverage, value added services, company image, re-charging processes and procedures (among pre-paid), purchase process, billings and payments, tariffs and pricing and customer care/ helpline. Fieldwork for the study was conducted between November -December 2003 period.
Says Abraham Karimpanal, Vice President, Stakeholder Management Division, TNS India, "Looking at the performance of the cellular industry over time, we can see that the overall performance was continuously increasing until 2002. However, with the customer base almost doubling from 2002 to 2003, the TR*M Index marginally dropped from 72 to 70 - the service providers need to 'delight' the customers a lot more to retain them."
Interestingly, in case of the GSM service providers (cellular), customers seem satisfied with the 'ability to make and receive calls in any part of the city', however, the service providers have fallen short in meeting customers expectations when it comes to coverage within buildings, in basements or in lifts. The corporate image of the service provider continues to be an important aspect in driving retention and most service providers have been successful in building a positive and favorable image among the subscribers. 'Error free' and 'accurate' bills, being promptly delivered is something, the customers seem to be taking for granted and have little impact on retention. On the contrary, non-delivery on these could cause a lot of disgruntlement and unhappiness with the service provider. The customers still seem peeved with the amounts they have to pay for local and STD calls. The cellular industry has performed below average in various aspects related to 'customer care/ helpline'. These include 'time taken before someone attends to you', their 'ability to resolve complaints/ queries in the first instance', 'overall time taken to resolve complaints', call center personnel's ability to take decisions, 'knowledge of customer care personnel about tariff plans and schemes' and 'the promptness in taking action on complaints'.
In case of the CDMA subscribers, performance of the network is a key driver for building customer relationships as well. And while the subscribers seem satisfied with most aspects of the network, 'coverage while roaming' is something subscribers have to grapple with and is leading to discontent. The subscribers of CDMA services have a positive corporate image of their service provider particularly when it comes to 'a company that is financially strong' and 'being a company that is credible and you can trust'. And positive corporate image is impacting and leading to building stronger relationship with their subscribers. The efforts made by CDMA operators in lowering 'entry barriers' and facilitating the 'ease of acquisition', have been acknowledged by the subscribers. However, a big concern for CDMA subscribers was found to be in the area of 'billings and payments'. Subscribers seem upset with not receiving bills promptly and the bills not being accurate or error free. Also the way CDMA operators remind about dues and giving insufficient notice before debarring service for non-payment of dues is making customers extremely unhappy.
Celltrack started in 2000 has been a yearly track ever since. Like the earlier tracks, Celltrack-4 is designed to provide a contextual map for mobile operators in the country to compare their performance, benchmark their performance against competitors in their respective circle; as well as compare performance with the other cellular operators across the country. Celltrack study conducted by NFO has been re-christened TNS Celltrack in the aftermath of global merger between NFO WorldGroup and Taylor Nelson Sofres in 2004.
About TNS
TNS is a leading global provider of market information. We collect, analyse and interpret information to help our clients better understand the needs and wants of their customers. We provide research, advice and insight on market segmentation, advertising and communications, new product development, brand performance and stakeholder management. We are also one of the leading providers of social and political polling.
From our global network, which spans 70 countries, we provide local expertise and knowledge, together with internationally consistent information and analysis to multi-national organizations.
For details contact:
Madhurima Bhatia
Mobile 9811206662
madhurima.bhatia@tns-global.com