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Airtel - Positioning (And Repositioning)
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BACKGROUND NOTE Contd...
Through the Airtel brand, Bharti set many benchmarks for the
Indian cellular industry. It was the first cellular operator to set up cellular
showrooms. The company opened its first showroom ‘Airtel Connect'in Delhi, in
late-1995. Airtel Connect was a one stop cellular shop where customers could
purchase handsets, get new connections, subscribe to various value-added
services and pay their mobile bills.
Bharti was also the first cellular company to install a second mobile
switching
center in April 1997. The company was the first to provide roaming cellular
services and other value-added services such as
Smart mail, Fax, Call hold, Call
waiting and Information services (Refer Table II).
Bharti was the first
company to launch an online e-commerce portal that enabled customers to make
online payments. It also provided them with information regarding cellular
services and the features of handsets manufactured by various companies, along
with their price. On account of such initiatives, during the late-1990s, Airtel
was named the ‘Best Cellular Service'in the country, and won the
‘Techies'award for four consecutive years (1997-2000).
However, it was not very easy for the company to build Airtel brand. The
tariff
rates charged by the government were quite high. Cellular players has little
choice but to impose high call charges on their customers. Airtime rates were as
high as Rs 16 per minute as against Rs 1.20 for landline communication.
Thus, all players targeted the premium sector, which could afford the rates.
Airtel was also positioned in the premium category, aimed at the elite class of
the society. Though industry observers felt that this limited its
market and
that Bharti could have focused on increasing customer awareness (by explaining
to them the various advantages of cellular phones), Bharti thought otherwise. As
per a company source, the
strategy might not have worked as the value delivered
by cellular phones during that phase did not match the cost.
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Continued....
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switching center: The central switch that controls the entire operation of a cellular system. It is a sophisticated computer that monitors all cellular calls, keeps track of the location of all cellular-equipped vehicles traveling in the system, arranges hand-offs and keeps track of billing information. By operating multiple switching centers, cellular service providers can increase the efficiency of their operations significantly.
Techies
awards: Techies awards are given to the best companies,
technologies and products in the IT and Communication industry in
India. These awards were instituted in 1996, by the group that
publishes three IT magazines - Computer World, PC World and
Informations Communications World. |
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