Measuring and analyzing the customer satisfaction of international roaming service in grameen phone

Measuring and analyzing the customer satisfaction of International Roaming service in Grameen Phone Bangladesh

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Grameen Phone is the largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh. Currently, it is the only international Roaming service provider in Bangladesh. This International Roaming (IR) service enables a GP subscriber to use the same mobile abroad in other operator’s network.

International Roaming department of Customer Management Division of Grameen Phone carry outs all the operational, technical and business function for IR with direct help form technical, IT and Sales and Marketing division.

The subscriber of International Roaming service is all frequent foreign travelers who are mainly from SEC A of the society. They pay a premium for this premium service. However, GP has never carried out any study to understand the satisfaction level of these valued clients.

Now, as GP has established roaming agreement with most of the leading operators in the world and as new competition is just a matter of time, this study on consumer satisfaction was carried out to measure and understand the satisfaction level of the consumer.

Satisfaction is the relationship between consumers expected and perception about service received. This satisfaction has been described in the text as combination of 5 different gapsone consumer gap and four as service provider’s gap. For this study, the model followed was the one used by Norizan, A Kassim and Chad, Perry (2003) for understanding the customer satisfaction in Malaysian mobile market. A questionnaire was developed for this study with focus on the five dimension of mobile phone service namely customer service, service coverage, quality of line, billing integrity and customer service outlet. Based on this question IR subscriber were interviewed faces to face, over phone and through email.

The usage, attitude as well as satisfaction of the IR consumers varied widely thus they were categorized into three different segment as Corporate users, SME/ Professional users and individual/ occasional users. The service mostly used was making and receiving call to and fro Bangladesh and sending /receiving SMS while roaming. The consumers felt that they were well informed on most of the issues relating to IR service though the actual knowledge level is low. They complained about the quality of line as several efforts were required to make a call. Subscribers mostly think that the tariff rate is too high and must be lowered. Bill payment of IR is viewed as a subscriber-unfriendly process as it is collected in GP sales center / head office only but not in any bank. Yet, the subscriber did not receive much of

customer service because the personnel in hotline of CMD are not well informed on the IR service and the line is too busy and expensive.

Analyzing the findings of this survey it was felt that there is a huge customer gap. The customers must be informed properly before he/she starts using this service. The first level of service provider gap or not knowing what the consumer want is obvious. GP did not have clear idea about the service mostly used and high tariff rate. The second level of service provider gap that is not having the right mix of service is common in IR service of GP. Absence of exclusive SMS roaming and prepaid roaming is result of this. The 3rd Provider gap, not delivering the service standard caused poor satisfaction. It was found that because of SS7 failure the roaming service was unavailable 1094 minute during last 7 months and roamers didn’t get the right information from customer relations during this crisis periods.

This has also contributed in increasing the 4 th provider gap that is not matching performance with promise.

Both technical and business process steps are required to retain the consumer with desired satisfaction level. The recommendations are introduction of several technology namely GPRS, redundant signaling link (SS7) ,Optimal Call Routing ( OCR) to assure uninterrupted service at low cost. Along with this auto-debit for bill collection, exclusive SMS roaming, prepaid roaming

and dedicated hotline for IR should be introduced. At times, the service

acquisition process must be made easy by reducing the number of documents and amount of deposit required.

Grameen Phone certainly has an edge over its competitors with IR. Since this is the premium service from GP, the recommendations must be implemented shortly. Otherwise the rate of churn (switch to other operator) will rise and the ARPU (average revenue per user) will fall.

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Origin of the Report: Four years BBA program is the building up of the theoretical knowledge about business administration, which is the base of practical knowledge. A semester for BBA project program is an attempt to provide business students an orientation to a real life business situation in which we can observe and evaluate the use and applicability of the theoretical concepts which were taught in the classrooms. As per norm, this report is the requirement of the fulfillment of the project program. This report “Measuring and analyzing the customer

satisfaction of International Roaming service in Grameen Phone Bangladesh” is the out come of 3-months project at the International Roaming unit at the Customer Management Division of Grameen Phone Ltd. During this period I was assigned with the jobs related to the present campaign regarding evaluating the satisfaction level of international roaming subscribers. I have prepared this project with the mentioned topic, which was suggested and supervised by my academic supervisor Kazi Khaled Shams Chisty, Assistant Professor of East West University.

1.2 Objectives: 1.2.1

Broad Objectives: •

To discuss about telecommunication sector in Bangladesh.

•

To present a background and introduction of Grameen Phone Ltd.

•

To focus on the business operations of the company.

•

To measure, understand and analyze the current level of consumer satisfaction of the International Roaming Service of Grameen Phone.

•

Identify the findings of analysis and recommend based on the findings.

•

To provide information about my responsibilities while working as an internee.

1.2.2

Specific Objectives: •

To identify present consumer perception about IR service from GP.

•

To understand the present satisfaction level of inbound roamers.

•

To measure the present satisfaction level of outbound roamers.

•

To identify the consumer satisfaction of IR on following satisfaction dimension 

Customer service.



Service coverage



Billing Integrity



Quality of Line



Customer service outlets.

•

To analyze the level of satisfaction and recommend ways to raise this level.

1.3

•

To have Knowledge on Grameen Phone Ltd. and Mobile industry.

•

To improve corresponding and report writing ability.

•

To fulfill requirement of the project program.

Scope:

The scope of the study is limited within telecommunication business in Bangladesh and also limited within the organization of Grameen Phone Ltd. The scope of this report is limited only to the GP International Roaming subscribers and major roaming partners roaming in Bangladesh.

1.4

Limitations: •

The company does not have sufficient source of secondary data as they are so much aware to secure their information and collecting of data was not smooth.

•

Analyzing financial data is much more confusing and complicated than any other data.

•

I was assigned in a unit where the job was related to the International Roaming on which they had done a confidential research for the organization. Therefore, it was difficult for me to accumulate these confidential data.

•

This research was contained only 10 questions, which were designed by Marketing Research Department. For this reason, I cannot make further questions and as a result, my findings were limited within these questions.

•

Being a student, this type of report preparation was expensive.

•

As the roaming subscribers were mainly busy professionals, their level of accessibility was low. So, the sample size was limited to 120 only.

•

Some hindrances in accessing the restricted documents.

•

Satisfaction of the inbound roamers was not covered comprehensively due to absence of sampling frame.

1.5. Methodology: 1.5.1. Type of Research

The nature of this research is exploratory and both quantitative and qualitative methods are used. After formulating the problem statement, a detailed background study is conducted.

From the broad objectives, specific objectives are developed centering on single concepts.

The research requires primary data to meet the specific objectives.

Types and Sources of Information 

Primary data:

Primary data is collected from three sources: 1. Existing International Roaming subscribers of Grameen Phone Bangladesh.

2. Customer Relation Department IR team.

3.

•

Sales force of IR.

Secondary Data:

Comprehensive Literature review including all the text, references and journals in marketing was conducted prior to the study Secondary information was collected from the internal reports, manuals and other publication of GP and GSM Association.

1.5.2. Sampling Method 

Population

: Both Inbound and Out bound roamers of GP.



Sampling Frame

: List of IR subscriber.



Sampling Element



Sample Unit

: Individual clients.



Sampling Method

: Quota Sampling.



Sample Size: The consumer group was divided into three different age and sex groups

: Distinctive individual consumer.

and a particular number would be interviewed from each group totaling 120.

1 2 3

Consumer Group Corporate users SME/ Professionals Individual/ occasional users

Sample Size 10 10 30

Total

50

Contact and Data Collection Method The respondents were contacted in their place, office or while they visit GP office.

Here, information was collected through interviewer administered questionnaire method for direct interview in person or over phone. Questionnaire was also e-mailed to the consumers for their response. Inbound roamers were interviewed while they called the CMD or came to GP office for service.

The questionnaire contains several questions with close and open ends accommodating additional quarries for understanding the opinion of the respondents and having an insight into the matter.

1.6. Research Model followed: The research on consumer satisfaction in service sector has been very common. This study looked into the common models followed for service quality and customer satisfaction measurement for over all service sector and specifically telecommunication sector.

The literature about the relationship between overall satisfaction and repurchase intentions or loyalty has been conflicting (Brown, Churchill & Peter 1993; LaTour & Peat 1979; Mitall, Rose & Baldasare 1998; Oliva, Oliver & Bearden 1995; Oliva, Oliver & Macmillan 1992).

Some literature assumed that the relationships between attribute-level performance and overall satisfaction and repurchase intentions are symmetrical and linear (LaTour & Peat 1979). That is, attribute-level performance has a direct impact on repurchase intentions (Brown, Churchill & Peter 1993; Mitall, Rose & Baldasare 1998). In contrast, other literature assumes these relationships may be asymmetrical and nonlinear (Oliva, Oliver & Bearden1995) - overall satisfaction and overall repurchase intentions are affected asymmetrically by performance/disconfirmation (Mitall, Rose & Baldasare 1998). The reason could be that overall satisfaction/dissatisfaction has affective consequences on repurchase intentions so that repurchase intention does not move in the same way as satisfaction does (Oliver 1993) ‘the probability of repurchase was not isomorphic with either positive or negative service experiences’ (Feinberg et al. 1990, p 113). In turn, consider the role of expectations in the construction of satisfaction. The extent to which a service fulfils a person’s desires may play a role in shaping his or her feelings of satisfaction because of the impact of disconfirmation of expectations on satisfaction (for example, Olshavsky & Spreng 1989; Spreng, MacKenzie & Olshavsky 1996; Westbrook 1980). Failure to consider the extent to which a service fulfils a person’s desires has led to logical inconsistencies, such as predicting that a customer who expects and receives poor performance will be satisfied (LaTour & Peat 1979; Spreng, MacKenzie & Olshavsky 1996). Hence, expectations appear to be important in formulating levels of satisfaction, and so how these standards of expectation influence satisfaction formation are important for managers when determining customers’ needs and wants. We developed a main model of how these expectations may

affect satisfaction and retention based on dimensions developed in stage one of the research described below, shown in Figure 1. The core relationship is between overall satisfaction and retention, that is, repurchase intentions (Brown, Churchill & Peter 1993; LaTour & Peat 1979; Mitall, Rose & Baldasare 1998; Oliva, Oliver & Bearden 1995; Oliva, Oliver & Macmillan 1992). Another aspect of the model is the use of confirmation or disconfirmation of expectations in the construction of satisfaction noted in the literature referenced above.

That is, expectations are presumed to be important in formulating levels of satisfaction.

A more parsimonious model was suggested for the competing model (Hair et al. 1995). Some previous researchers have investigated only performance levels in their models (for example, Anderson, Fornell & Lehmann 1994; Anderson & Sullivan 1990; Churchill & Superman 1982; Tse & Wilton 1988). For them, performance level was not mediated by confirmation/disconfirmation of expectations in the construction of satisfaction. Hence, a similar approach was taken in developing the competing model, that is, the competing model removes confirmation/disconfirmation of expectations completely from the framework of Figure 1. Moreover, it parsimoniously has performance directly affecting satisfaction but not retention. That is, overall performance affects overall satisfaction that affects overall retention.

Customer satisfaction is the relation between Expected (E) and Perceived (P) value of the service, where

Value=

Benefits Price

=

Outcome + Process Price + Cost of acquisition

Here, P<E means Dissatisfaction P=E means Satisfaction P>E means Delight The satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a consumer for a service depends on 5 gaps. The wider the gap, the higher the dissatisfaction. Therefore, the service providers strive to breeze this gap. These gaps are 1. Customer gap: Not knowing what the service actually is.

2. Provider gap 1: Not knowing what the customer wants 3. Provider Gap 2: Not having the right service design and standard 4. Provider gap 3: Not delivering the service standard 5. Provider gap 4: Not matching performance with promises

So, far there has been no standard model for measuring customer satisfaction in the telecommunication industry. Based on the above models and theories Norizan Mohd Kassim, and Chad Perry ( 2003) of Southern Cross University developed a model with the following Five dimensions of satisfaction in telecommunication industry – i.

Customer service,

ii.

Service coverage,

iii.

Billing integrity,

iv.

Quality of line and

v.

Customers service outlets.

Later this model was tested in Malaysia, one of the most competitive and growing market in the world.

This project on customer satisfaction in International Roaming service of GP used the same model.

Customer Satisfaction = α +β1 customer service + β2 service coverage, + β3 billing integrity + β4 quality of line + β5 Customers service outlets,

1.7. Analysis Technique Basically this research is of exploratory nature and our sampling was non-probabilistic too.

As a result most of the analysis is descriptive. Here, interval scales is used to measure the opinion of the respondents. Several statistical and analytical methods and tools were used for analyzing the gathered information from the survey. All statistical analysis was done using SPSS Statistical Software and MS Excel. I have used percentage table and present it in graphical format.

2.0 Telecommunication Industry 2.1. Telecommunication Industry in Bangladesh:

The telecommunication sector in Bangladesh is poised for rapid growth in the coming years.

The concept of mobile telephony has become largely familiar and phenomenal in Bangladesh from the early 90s. The sector, particularly which of mobile phones, is one of the fastest growing areas of the economy. The growth potentials will continue to remain robust for the foreseeable future.

There are five telephone operators in Bangladesh at the moment. Among them one is Government owned telephone operator: Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) and the other four are privately owned companies namely Grameen Phone Ltd. Telecom Malaysia International Bangladesh (IMIB), Orascom, and Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. (PBTL).

2.1.1 Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board: Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) is the lone state owned fixed-line telephone operator in the country. In Bangladesh BTTB operates basic telephone services, the national transmission network, and the international gateway. The rest four private operators including GP have to depend on BTTB to connect to the fixed telephone lines and to the international gateway.

However, the only government telephone service provider BTTB provides a very poor service quality in comparison to the private ones. The present scenario shows that the number of mobile phone subscribers is more than the fixed line ones. That is private sector telephone operators occupy more position in the market than Government sector. During the last five years the growth of the mobile phone sector outstripped that of the fixed line telephones.

As of May 2002, there were about 600,000 fixed line subscribers and nearly 80,000 mobile phone subscribers in the country. The distribution of the fixed line telephones was also skewed. About 40000 fixed-line phones in the capital city Dhaka, 80,000 in Chittagong and the rest were spread among the district towns and other areas. Virtually there were no telephone connections in the rural areas where more than 80% of the total population live. At the end of 2002, the scenario has changed a little bit but still BTTB is not able to connect most of the places in the rural Bangladesh though they are introduced BTTB cellular phone.

The reason behind this is, this service is only valid in Dhaka city,

2.1.2 Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd.: Among the other four mobile phone operation companies who are running their businesses in the private sector, Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. (PBTL) is the pioneer. IN 1990 Hutchison Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. was formed as a joint venture of Bangladesh Telecom (BTL) and Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong. The company began their operations as the analog cellular operator using the CDMA technology in 1993. In 1996 this company was renamed as pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. (PBIL) with brand name of City Cell. At present the ownership of PBTL belongs to the Pacific Telecom Ltd. a concern of the Pacific Group and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. a Hong Kong based diversified multinational conglomerate.

Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited has redefined the telecom business through marketing innovation, Unique BTTB connectivity, continuous technological up gradation & the highest standard of service to their customers proving that â&#x20AC;&#x153;we value your money, and treasure customer relationship.â&#x20AC;?

2.1.3 Telecom Malaysia International Bangladesh: TM International (BD) Ltd. (TMIB), branding it's services "AKTEL" is in operation in Bangladesh since 1997. It is a company incorporated in Bangladesh with the objective of offering the state-of -art and modern telecommunications services to the people of Bangladesh at competitive prices. TMIB received license to operate GSM cellular phone services in Bangladesh in 1996. TMIB, a joint-venture company formed between Telecom Malaysia Berhad holding 70% of the equity capital and 30% local shareholding by M/s A. K. Khan & Co., Limited.The success story started with the commercial launch of AKTEL services in Bangladesh in November 15, 1997. It was not only a service launching ceremony but also worked as renewal of friendship between two brotherly countries - Malaysia & Bangladesh. The ceremony gathered ministers and dignitaries of both the countries where they had an opportunity of exchanging views of bilateral trade and cultural interests.

As at March 2004, TMIB has a total of 442 staffs composed of locals and expatriates to serve more than (Prepaid - 3,21,880 & Postpaid-1, 50,000) thousand customer base. Presently TMIB offers GSM digital cellular services in all divisional Headquarters and all major big districts. Beside the basics cellular phone services, the company provides several Value Added Services (VAS) to its customers like Voice mail, SMS, MMS, Tele-info, and Tele Ramadan within 2005.

2.1.4 Banglalink: 2.2.4.1 Vision To become the leading customer focused information and Communication Company.

Banglalink was previously known as “Banglalink.”

"Sheba" means service in Bengali.

Inspired by the service above all culture, Banglalink was incorporated on June 25, 1995 as an private limited company. It is a joint venture effort between Integrated Services Limited (ISL) Bangladesh and Technology Resources Industries (TRI) Malaysia.

The equity holding of the joint venture company is: Technology Resources Industries: 51% Integrated Services Limited: 49% Figure: Equity holding of the Banglalink Equity Holding of Banglalink

1 2 49%

Integrated Serv ices Limited

1 51%

2

Technology Resources Industries

Recently, an Egyptian Giant Telecom Company “Orascom” bought off Banglalink.

Banglalink was granted the Rural Telecom License for the period of 25 years starting from June 8, 1994. The license allows Banglalink to provide all kinds of telecommunications service except telegraph and telex. The license covers 195 thanas in the southern part of Bangladesh with about 55 millions population.

Based on the experience in the rural telecommunication project, coupled with the expertise of the partners, Banglalink was further entrusted by the Government of Bangladesh to operate nation wide, GSM cellular mobile in November 1996. The license covers a period of 15 years

effective from November 11, 1996.

Both licenses were awarded through international tender, which has placed Banglalink in a unique position in the telecommunications sector in Bangladesh.

Banglalink is committed to grow with the nation in realization of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision to make communication as basic necessity and within reachable by all levels of the people.

2.1.5 GrameenPhone Ltd.: GrameenPhone Ltd. is a joint venture of four different companies in four different countries.

The details of the company are discussed in the later parts.

2.1.6 Industry Analysis: Huge demands, combinations of competitive markets, private ownership, and foreign investment have created an environment for rapid growth in the cellular industry in Bangladesh. The growth in the cellular industry is contributing very positively in the local economy. Lots of job opportunities have been created for the country where thousands of people are jobless. Moreover, cellular network all over the country has built a basic communication infrastructure for the country, which will definitely attract FDI in the country.

Finally, it can be said that mobile phone now a days has become a necessary rather than a luxury.

At present the telecom market in Bangladesh is comprised of 3,089,311 phone connection of which about 25% i. e. 730,000 phone connections are provided by the fixed line network, Bangladesh telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB). The four mobile operators provide the remaining 75% i.e. about 2,359,311 connections. The market share of the mobile phone operators in Bangladesh up to March 2004 is as follows: Table 2: The number of subscribers and the market share of the mobile phone operators.

Service Provider GrameenPhone Ltd. Telecom Malaysia International

No. Of subscriber 1,512,311 475,000

Market Share 64.10% 20.10%

Pacific Bangladesh Telecom

315,000

13.40%

Ld Banglalink Total

57,000 2,359,311

2.40% 100%

Market Share of Mobile Phone Operators Pacific Bangladesh T elecom Ld 13%

Banglalink 2%

T elecom Malaysia International 20%

GrameenPhone Ltd. 65%

GrameenPhone Ltd.

Telec om Malaysia International

Pac ific Bangladesh Telecom Ld

Sheba Telecom

Source: Internal Source, 2004

3.0 GrameenPhone at a Glance 3.1 The Organization in Brief: GrameenPhone Ltd. is the market leader in the telecommunication sector in Bangladesh.

With the beginning of 2004 the company completed its seventh year of business. The company achieved remarkable success during this period. It is now able to say that it has the largest network, the widest coverage, the biggest subscriber base and more value added services than any other mobile phone operators in Bangladesh. GP has a very strong competitive position in the telephone industry in the country.

3.1.1 Name, Location and Organizational History: The full name of the company is GrameenPhone Ltd. It is a private limited company. The Head Office is situated at Gulshan in Dhaka. There are six sales and info centers situated two in Dhaka and one in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal and Sylhet each. One dealer, 350

distribution outlets and 2600 scratch card distribution outlets are spread all over the country.

For an extensive bill collection network, GP has build relationship with 250 branches of 15 banks situated throughout the country.

The Ministry of post and Telecommunication of the Government of Bangladesh offered GrameenPhone a nationwide digital cellular license on November 28, 1996. Grameen Phone launched its services in Bangladesh on 26 March 1997, the Independence Day of Bangladesh.

It has taken lease of railway fiber optics on September 1997 for 20 years. The service of the company is spread in all over Bangladesh and also in 49 foreign countries through 127 international roaming partner operators.

3.1.2 Founders: GrameenPhone Ltd. is a unique joint venture of four companies: Grameen Telecom, Telecom AS, Marubeni Corporation and Geophone Development Corporation.

3.1.3 Vision: The vision of GrameenPhone Ltd. is â&#x20AC;&#x153;To be the leading provider of telecommunication services all over Bangladesh with satisfied customers, shareholders and enthusiastic employeesâ&#x20AC;?

3.1.4 Objective: GrameenPhone Ltd. has a duel objective to receive an economic return on its investments and to contribute to the economic development of Bangladesh through telecommunication. This is why GrameenPhone, in collaboration with Grameen Bank and Grameen Telecom, is aiming to place one phone in each village to contribute significantly to the economic benefit of the poor. It is on the way to bring a total revolution in the telecommunication field. By attaining the success factors, GrameenPhone would like to be recognized as a reliable, honest and committed company to its valued subscribers and stakeholders.

3.1.5 Strategy: The basic strategy of GrameenPhone Ltd. is for the overall coverage of both urban and rural areas. It builds continues coverage, cell after cell, with an intention to bring the whole country under its network. Though the priority of the intensity of coverage varies from area to area, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied through the whole country.

Presently it has network coverage in 57 districts around the country including all six divisional headquarters, with 749 base stations in operation.

3.1.6 People: The young, dedicated and energetic employees have made the enormous growth of GrameenPhone possible. The people of the company belong to both sexes and minority groups in Bangladesh being well represented. They all know in their hearts that GrameenPhone is more that phones. This genuine sense of purpose gives them the dedication and the drive of producing, in about seven years, the biggest coverage and the highest subscriber base in the country. The talents and the energy of its people are among the keys of both of its core and distinctive competencies. GrameenPhone knows it well and treats its employees accordingly.

3.1.7 Technology: Global System for Mobile or GSM technology is the most widely accepted digital system in the work currently used by over 860 million people in 172 countries. GrameenPhone uses GSM 900 technology. GSM brings the most advance developments in cellular technology at a reasonable cost by spurring severe competition among manufactures and driving down the cost of equipment. Thus by using this technology, consumers get the best for the least.

3.1.8 Achievements: As a telecommunication service provider GrameenPhone Ltd. plays a very important role in the economic development of Bangladesh. National Board of Revenue (NBR), Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Bangladesh Telephone and telegraph Board (BTTB) and Bangladesh Railway (BR) are Government bodies that are directly or indirectly benefited by GrameenPhone Ltd. By bringing electronic connectivity to rural Bangladesh, GrameenPhone is brining the digital revolution to the doorsteps of the poor and unconnected. Grameen bank borrowers are engaged in a business by providing valuable phone service to their fellow villagers. For them mobile phone is a weapon against poverty.

The growth trend of the number of subscribers of GrameenPhone Ltd. is a unique example in

the telecommunication field in Bangladesh. The total number of GP subscribers at present is approximately 6 million. This is really a fabulous achievement in such a short period of business history.

3.2. Products and Services of GrameenPhone Ltd.: Telephone sector is a service-oriented sector. GrameenPhone offered various types of new and innovative telephone services to both the urban and rural people of Bangladesh during the last six years. The GP-GP or mobile-to-mobile service, the EASY and EASY Gold prepaid service, the village phone programs are among its largest innovations. Besides these largest ones GrameenPhone also introduced a number of value added services like the news update service, international roaming facility, Voice Mail Service, Text Mail Service, fax and data transmission services, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP service etc.

The company is the pioneer in most of its services. Handsets or the phone-set and the SIM Cards are the only physical products provided by the company. GrameenPhone is able to reach telephones in many remote areas of the country and also connects those areas with the far foreign countries. The prime services provided by GrameenPhone are broadly categorized in the three types- the post-paid service, the pre-paid service and the village phone program.

3.2.1 Post Paid Service: Under the post paid service GrameenPhone has two products.

3.2.1.1 GP-GP National: GrameenPhone introduced the GP-GP or mobile-to-mobile service in June 1998. Faced with limited interconnection channels with the fixed-line telephones of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, the company took the step of lunching a totally new concept in the country, the mobile-to-mobile service. This service went on to become a very successful product and now accounts for over 472,143 subscribers. GP-GP national connects to all GrameenPhone mobile and to other mobile, subject to interconnection agreement with other mobile operators, within Grameen Phoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coverage area. This product has a credit limit of Tk. 1000 on airtime usage without any security deposit. There are no incoming charges but recently TNT incoming facilities have been introduced where first 5 minutes are free and from the sixth minutes TK. 1 is charged for every minute.

3.2.1.2 GP Regular: GP regular is another addition of post-paid products of GrameenPhone. This phone can connect all mobiles within the home zone and all GP mobiles throughout GPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coverage area as well as all BTTB fixed line telephone connections. It has National Roaming facility. The GP-GP post-paid service holders that are both GP Regular and GP-GP National subscribers enjoy a number of GSM Features and Value Added Services:

The GSM Features: GrameenPhone subscribers enjoy the following GSM features without bearing any additional costs: i) Caller ID: Display of the phone number of an incoming call in your handset before the call is answered. ii) Call Waiting: While talking to the first caller, you will hear a special tone informing you about the second call on the line. At that moment you can put the first caller on hold and talk to the second caller. iii) Call Conference: Receiving calls from multiple callers can be supplemented by joining these multiple callers so as to enable them to talk to each other. You will be able to communicate with a group consisting of maximum five callers. This feature depends on handsets. iv) Call Divert: Call Divert lets you redirect or re-route your call to another Grameen Phone mobile or any other fixed (if you have BTTB connectivity) or mobile phone.

v) Call Barring: It enables you to restrict certain types of calls to be made from your mobile. This feature is especially important for security purposes.

The Value Added Services:

The following additional services are available upon request:

(i)

Voice Mail Service (VMS):

•

VMS is a unique answering machine.

•

It provides clients with a personal electronic mail box in GP’s voice mail center.

•

It records your personalized greetings as well as stores your incoming voice messages.

•

It records incoming voice messages if you are Outside GP’s coverage area or Busy or Simply switched off your mobile.

•

It provides 24-hour automatic secretarial service

•

Make you available to your calling party anytime.

(ii) Short Message Service (SMS): •

SMS in your mobile acts like an advanced pager.

•

You can send and receive text messages of up to 160 characters, directly, from one GP mobile to another GP mobile.

•

Voice Message Service also have been introduced recently.

(iii) Fax and Data Service (currently available only to corporate clients): •

You can use your mobile Phone attached to a computer to send faxes or transfer data.

•

No need to have connection with a fixed line.

•

You can use this service even when you are on the move within GP’s coverage area.

(iv) Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Service: WAP provides easy, secure access to the Internet in text format through the mobile phone within the GP coverage area. Recently Internet and Multimedia Media Message Service (MMS) have been introduced.

3.2.2 Pre-Paid Service: GrameenPhone became the first mobile phone operator in the country to introduce the prepaid service in the field of mobile phone in September 1999. The company named the service “EASY” pre-paid service”. This product was offered in March 2000. At present the number of GP pre-paid subscribers is 4,816,256.

Introduction of Grameen Phone’s new EASY Pre-Paid Service is another development of mobile telephony in Bangladesh. EASY have National Roaming facility and a flat airtime charge of Tk. 6 per minute and no incoming charge. It’s very economic. It frees the subscriber from the hassles of paying bills, security deposits and line rents. But it contains nearly all services available in other GP products. To start with, subscribers have to buy the EASY Starter Kit that contains a pre-activated SIM card and a handset. A Green EASY card worth of Tk. 300 is provided free with The Starter kit.

EASY features:

3.2.3

•

No monthly bills

•

Flat rate of Tk. 6 per minute.

•

No security deposits

•

No incoming charge

•

No monthly access fees

•

No waiting for activation

•

Instant connection

•

EASY Voice Mail Service, free of monthly rents

•

EASY cards of four different colors with four different values.

•

National roaming facility

•

GSM features like caller ID and call divert to Voice Mail Service.

Village Phone Program:

The Village Phone program is another innovative GP initiative launched in collaboration with Grameen Telecom, a sister concern of Grameen Bank, which provides micro-credit only to the rural poor. GP utilizes Grameen Bank borrowers to retail telecom services in the rural

areas. Leveraging on Grameen Bank borrowers reduces the distribution costs of Grameen Phoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rural services, contributing to the profitability of this segment.

Introduced in 1997, this unique service provides telecommunication services in remote rural areas where no such facilities existed before. Moreover, it also provides an opportunity for the village phone operators as they can utilize GP mobile with a subsidized rate (half of the original rate) and can be engaged in a business with mobile phones. In this way PG helps the poor villagers through generating a source of income. The average bill of the village phone subscribers was TK. 5000 as of June 2002; therefore, village phone is a great help for the village people, specially the poor village women From the inception phase, village phone program is facing a continuous growth trend. As of March 2004, there are more that 53,620 village phones in operation around the country spread over 21500 villages in 335 Upazilas of 57 districts. The village phones in operation presently provide access to telecommunication facilities to some 40 million people in remote, rural areas.

The GSM Association at GSM Congress in Cannes, France gave the â&#x20AC;&#x153;GSM in Community Awardâ&#x20AC;? the village phone program in February 2000. It also received the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management Bronze Award for community service in 1998. Two research studies have found that the introduction of village phones has made a tremendous social and economic impact in the rural areas among the rural people.

One of the studies was jointly conducted by Jahangirnagar University and the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn in Germany. The Tele Commons Development Group (TDG) of Canada for the Canadian International Development Agency conducted the other study.

3.2.4

Additional Services:

Besides the above-mentioned prime services GrameenPhone has a lot of additional services to help its customers in different ways. Some of them are:

(i)

News Up-Date Service:

A news update service was introduced in 2001 in cooperation with tow leading national newspapers of the country. The GP subscribers can now get a tow-minute update of the latest news. Another latest addition of GP is the Push-Pull service that provides phone numbers of many important things like taxi, hospitals etc. (ii) International Roaming Facility: The subscribers of GP regular service can use their mobile phones in many foreign countries with the international roaming facility. GrameenPhone has international roaming agreements with more than 127 mobile phone operators in 51 countries whose subscribers can also use their mobile phones when they are in Bangladesh.

(iii)

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System:

An automated telephone inquiry service was introduced in 2001. The system is known as INSTA â&#x20AC;&#x201C;CARE. It has an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) mechanism to handle calls from the subscribers in a systematic way, reducing the waiting period. It is operative round-theclock. This service provides information in both Bengali and English concerning different customers; queries about GP services like monthly bills, coverage area, sales package etc. (iv)The Contributions to Sports: GrameenPhone had been provides service to aid the sports sector and held the sports lovers as well. It announced the latest sores of the Asian Cricket Cup held in Dhaka and the Cricket Word Cup held in South Africa. Having a lot of sport spirit, GrameenPhone actively participated for the Development of cricket in the country, especially for youth development program of cricket. GP recently entered into an agreement to sponsor the Premier Cricket League for the next three years starting this year.

(v) The Contributions to the Society: When there was an outbreak of Dengue fever in the city in 2001, Grameen Phone announced medical information time to time. It is the only Telephone Company from Bangladesh working for the development of primary education for children. GP also renders cooperation to a number of cultural activities. Recently the company has sponsored a charity musical

program for the students of Jahangirnagar University who were victim of a road accident when going to the study tour in India.

3.2.5

Product Wise Subscriber Base:

The total number of subscriber in GrameenPhone Ltd. is close to three quarter million. The most popular product in GP is the EASY pre-paid which is more than half million. The present number of subscribers of GrameenPhone products (up to March 2004) is shown below in a graphical form.

Table: Product wise number of subscribers of GP products: Type

No. of

GP

GP Post GP-GP

Village

Regular

Paid

Prepaid

Phone

65,621

132,400

1,260,670

53,620

Total

1,512,311

Subscribers

Source: Internal Records Product wise number of subscribers of GP products

No. of Subscribers

1400000

GP Regular

1200000

GP Post Paid

1000000 800000

GP-GP Prepaid Village Phone

600000 400000 200000 0 1

2

3 Type

4

5

The Shareholders of GrameenPhone Ltd. contribute their unique, in-depth experience in both

telecommunications and development from four concerns of the globe. International shareholders bring technological and business expertise while the local shareholder provides a presence throughout Bangladesh and a deep understanding of Bangladeshi economy. All the four shareholders are dedicated to Bangladesh and its struggle for economic progress.

They have a deep commitment to GrameenPhone Ltd. and its mission to provide affordable telephony to the entire population of Bangladesh.

3.3.1

Telenor AS:

Telenor AS owns 51% share of GrameenPhone Ltd. It is the state-owned Telecommunication Company in Norway, a country with one of the highest mobile phone densities in the world.

It is almost the oldest and diversified telecom companies in the world operating since 1885. It has played an important role in development of cellular communications, particularly, but not exclusively, GSM technology. Telenor operates its business in 12 countries of the world. It is using the expertise and competence, both technological and business, gained from its home and international markets to venture GrameenPhone and flourish an emerging market like Bangladesh.

3.3.2

Grameen Telecom:

Grameen Telecom is the second largest shareholder of GrameenPhone Ltd. owing 35% share.

It is a not-for-profit organization and a sister concern of Grameen Bank, the internationally recognized financial institution dedicated to poverty alleviation through collateral-free small loans for the poor in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Grameen Bank has an extensive rural network and understanding of the economic needs of the rural population. Grameen telecom, with the help of Grameen Bank, administers the village phone services to the villagers and trains them regarding all service-related issues. Its objectives are to provide easy access to telephones in rural Bangladesh as well as introduce a new income-generating source for the poor villagers.

3.3.3

Marubeni Corporation:

One of the Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading trading companies, Marubeni Corporation, is holding 9.5% share of GrameenPhone Ltd. It is involved in operations encompassing import, export and offshore trading, the development of material resources and retail marketing of finished products. It

has major investments in numerous developing countries throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the rapidly industrializing ASEAN countries, Marubeni is investing much into infrastructure projects, including telecommunications and resource development. Marubeni’s investment in GrameenPhone directly correlates to its overall aim of becoming a value creating company.

3.3.4

Gonofone Development Corporation:

Holding 4.5% shares of Grameen Phone Ltd., Gonofone Development Corp. is one of the major contributors of the present status of Grameen Phone. It is early 1994, Iqbal Quadir, an investment professional, established Gonophone Development Corp. in New York with funding from Joshua Mailman who had been making investments in socially responsible businesses. Gonophore’s sole purpose was to organize what is now GrameenPhone, implementing some of Iqbal Quadir’s ideas.

3.3.5

Preference Shareholders:

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector-lending arm of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Commonwealth Development Corporation, holds preference shares of three percent each.

3.4 SWOT Analysis: Strengths and weaknesses are the micro environmental factors influencing a business which are within the organization. Opportunities and threats are the micro environmental factors that influence all the firms in the industry. They are present in the whole industry.

The following figure shows the strengths and opportunities that GrameenPhone Ltd. enjoys as well as weaknesses and threats that the company faces.

Figure: SWOT Analysis: Strength Coverage International roaming Distribution Channels Pre-Paid service Low price handsets with quality and variability Lease of Fiber-Optic cable from BR

Threat

Opportunity Unmet demand Possibility of further network expansion Increasing interconnection with BTTB Favorable Regulatory Authority Possibility of innovative products and services

Introduction of BTTB mobile phones Aggressive marketing by competitors Possibility of new entrances using GSM Technology.

Better relationship of competitors with regulatory body.

Weakness Billing inflexibility Growing customer dissatisfaction Lack of follow-up from customers Deviation from original business plan Marketing plan.

4. Main company strategies In order to reach company goal for the long term GP have set their objectives related to their stakeholders for the short term and the long-term period. For Customers (mainly SME) and share holders GPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long term objective is to have 80% of customers satisfied and churn level less than 7% due to expansion of core network elements and increase coverage to all districts (130,000 sq. kms) .GP will achieve 85% service level according to Automatic Call Detector report and network performance will be according to set criteria and list of Grade of Service.

And they will be the no. 1 choice with a market share of 54% due to low start up cost and number of products simplified to 4 and 575 Points of Sales. GPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shareholders will be satisfied due to positive financial results, good net result, and the fact that GP has had a successful IPO. The short term objective is to have 65% of customers satisfied and churn level is less than 3% due to expansion of core network elements and increase coverage to 55 districts and 77% service level according to Automatic Call Detector report, network performance according to

set Grade Of Service.

4.1. Competencies GP is well positioned to serve the telecommunications needs of Bangladesh, due to its strengths in a number of key areas: •

Financial Backing – through financial strength of investors and lenders.

•

Wide Coverage – GP currently covers 74% of the country’s population, the widest coverage of all mobile operators. Full coverage (95%) is expected in 2004.

•

Distribution – GP has by far the largest number of points-of-sale of all operators, selling through 250 dealers, outlets, individual agents and 3 Info centers all over the country.

•

Operational Excellence – in every aspect, ranging from product innovation and quality of service to billing and 24hrs/7 days customer care.

•

Partnership – with domestic and international companies.

•

Accesses to Technological know how

4.1.1. Marketing Strategy 4.1.2. Branding GP is committed to build on its already strong brand equity, and the company has already achieved a high level of recognition after being only for three years in the market.

4.1.3. Promotions GP uses frequent campaigns to drive subscriber growth. The campaigns are based on promotional pricing and take place roughly every other month.

4.1.4. Coverage GP has the largest and fastest growing mobile network in Bangladesh, with 514 base stations and around 1120 cells all over the country.

4.2. Success Factors In order to be successful and preferred by Grameen Phone’s most important stakeholders i.e. small & medium enterprises, individuals, Village Phone users and sub-lease clients of transmission capacity and Managing Director of GrameenPhone, the Marketing team will be

recognized by the following success factors. If these factors are investigated by the division and initiated then they will get preference by all and their work will be successful: 

Wider Coverage



Wide Distribution Network



Low start-up cost



Competitive tariff



Achievement of sales target

Apart from the main success factors, in order to be successful in relation to GP’s owners/shareholders they will also focus on increasing the subscriber base, Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) that will increase company value. They have to build good brand value among all segments and be more organized for better reporting. .

4.3. GRAMEEN PHONE’S GROWTH Today, GrameenPhone owns 58% market share of the total mobile phone operators.

Subscribers

Number of

Subscriber forecast of GP 2001-2005

Year

2500000

Total

2000000

Pre

1500000

Pos t

1000000 500000 0

2001

2002

2003

Years

2004

2005

According to the revised plan for 2001-2005 the total subscriber base at the end of 2005 is forecasted to be 2.05 million.

4.4. Management Team and Working Divisions of GP: GrameenPhone places a high value on human resource development and the contributions made by its employees. They persevere to maintain a productive and harmonious working environment in the whole organization. GP always continues with its efforts to improve the efficiency of its employees and align them to the right positions with well-defined

responsibilities.

Because of the rapid expansions of GP’s networks and enormous growth of its subscriber base, the company has increased its workforce to 832 persons till the beginning of 2004.

GrameenPhone has successfully hired some key senior managers who were recruited on the basis of their professional expertise and experience. In order to cape up with the dynamic nature of the company’s business, initiatives are always taken to restructure and reorganize the company’s existing set up. It always evolves standardized management systems and procedures across functional divisions, focusing in particular, on the effective integration and assimilation of all the organizational units.

Seven functional divisions do the internal organization functions of GrameenPhone Ltd. and five departments’ .The divisions are:

1) Customer Management Division 2) Finance Division 3) Sales and Marketing Division 4) Information Technology Division 5) Human Resources Division 6) Corporate Affairs Division 7) Technical Division

QuickTimeâ&#x201E;˘ and a Photo - JPEG decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Figure: GrameenPhone Organ gram The departments are: 1) Procurement Department 2) Fiber Optic Department 3) Revenue Assurance Department 4) Information Department 5) Internal Audit Department

Among them, their respective Directors head the seven divisions. The Assistant General Manager heads the procurement department. The seven Directors and the AGM Procurement have to report directly to the Managing Director. The heads of the other four departments directly report to the Managing Director too.

4.5.

Customer Management Division (CMD):

Customer Relations Division is the bridge between the customers and the company. People here are always serving the clients. A total of 210 people in this division providing customer service are strengthening the relationship of GP with its valued customers. This division can be subdivided into three major parts-call center, billing department and trainee development department.

Call center responds to customers' query 150 to 190 people working in shifting basis in call center provide 24 hours service to the customers through telephones. They receive queries and complaints related to GP service and network, solve them, provide different types of information to the clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; etc.

Billing department is mainly responsible for billing customers for the service and collecting the revenue from them. This department works with the help of its eight units. The units are distribution unit, general banking unit, bank reconciliation unit, bank communication unit, collection unit, credit recovery unit, fraud management unit and revenue assurance unit.

Trainee development department arranges all sorts of in-house and overseas training programs for the employees. Experts from within the GP family conduct in-house training programs. These programs include orientation for new employees, team-building workshops, customized training for the senior managers on management style, motivation, and project management and handling difficult situations. Many GP employees are sent to foreign countries for overseas training, workshops and seminars. All the organization and formalities concerning these programs are done through this department.

4.5.1

Finance Division:

Finance Division is broken down departments such as finance department, company affairs, payroll and taxation department, accounting and reporting department and revenue accounting department. The present number of employees working in the entire finance division is 67.

Finance department of finance division has two units. One is LC, insurance and international roaming unit that deals with the tasks related to opening of letter of credits, doing insurance for the assets, collecting international roaming bills etc. The other is banking, cash and fund management unit.

Company affairs, payroll and taxation department is a sensitive part for the company because people here are maintaining the correspondence between GP and the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication (MOPT) This department does preparation of payroll statements, bank advises, salary perquisite etc. It also prepares accounts and financial statements for tax and audit, ensures tax deduction and treasury deposits for tax, VAT register and deduction at source. It ensures work permit and foreign loan registration, prepares quarterly report to National Board of Revenue (NBR).

Accounting and reporting department is subdivided into two units-external reporting and regional coordination unit and asset and inventory management unit. Important tasks of accounting and reporting department are preparation of budget and budgetary control, preparation of statements regarding invoices and suppliers, maintenance and upgrade of fixed assets through a software name â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Scalaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, reporting of fixed assets periodically and annually, coordination with inter departmental activities, etc.

The tasks of revenue accounting department are bank reconciliation and keeping bank documents, bank collection and management of cash from info centers, revenue reporting and monthly revenue analysis based on billing documents etc.

4.5.2 Corporate affairs and HR Division: Personnel and Organization Division can be considered as the blood of the organization. A total of 45 people engaged in this division and it is consisted of three different departments.

They are information technology (IT) department, human resource (HR) department and administration department.

Information technology department support for IT equipment of the employees and provides constant service to employees if any IT problem occurs. So this department is responsible for connecting all desktops and portables, keeping data security, managing electronic mails, handling and mail and internet related issues and problems, connecting the GP officials

among themselves and with the outside world through PABX System etc.

Human resource department plays a very important role in the functioning of the organization. The main tasks of this department are employee recruitment, selection, transfer, promotion, training, performance appraisal, manpower planning etc. Different divisions send their personnel requirement to HR department. Then HRD sets target, prepare recruitment planning and go for the recruitment process. When an employee is recruited a separate employee file is opened comprising of all information of the particular employee which is regularly upgraded by HRD. This department is also responsible for performance appraisal, manpower planning etc. Different divisions send their personnel requirement to HR department. Then HRD sets target, prepare recruitment planning and go for the recruitment process. When an employee is recruited a separate employee file is opened comprising of all information of the particular employee which is regularly upgraded by HRD. This department is also responsible for performance appraisal of employees that is very important for the confirmation, increment, promotion, transfer of employees. This is done through job analysis, setting up of performance standard and appraisal interview.

Administration department of GP encourages developing leadership quality, maintaining congenial and healthy working environment, keeping harmony instead of discords and ensuring full decentralization in the organization. Different functions of this department are transportation management, arrangement of meetings, seminars, cultural programs etc. recruitment and management of the security guards and cleaners, delivery of stationery goods to the employees, management of mails of the employees and maintaining other communications.

4.5.3

Sales and Marketing Division:

Sales and marketing division has the opportunity to have direct interface with the customers.

The number of employees working in this division is 118. This division is subdivided into tow part-sales department and market communication department.

The responsibilities of the part or the sales department includes instant delivery of products and services, maintaining relationship with dealers, serving the corporate clients with extra care, follow up existing subscribers and building relationship with new and existing subscribers. One of the most important tasks of sales department is sales-forecast.

The second part or market communication department has two major task areas-market

communications and branding. This is an innovative department of GrameenPhone Ltd. This department deals with the innovation of new products and packages, adding new features to the existing products, pricing the products, analysis of competitors activities, doing promotional activities, dealing with different types of advertisements, conducting market surveys and find out market conditions etc.

4.5.5

Technical Division:

The Technical Division can be considered as the brain of the organization. This division has the highest number of employees, which is 197 at present. This division is split into three parts-planning department, implementation department and operations department. People working in planning department build the technology while people working in operations department maintain the technology. Implementation is between the two. Most of the people in the technical division are from the engineering and technological educational background.

People in planning department are responsible for planning the network and equipment, taking decision about new expansion, enhancement and up-gradation and closely monitoring network performance. They are also engaged with BSC (Base Station Controller) and MSC (Mobile Switch center) related planning, timely supply of equipment, making roaming agreements with other countries and negotiating with home owners for building base stations on the roofs. This department has three parts: switch planning, radio planning and transmission planning.

The people of implementation section are responsible for the construction and acquisition of base station room, antenna pipe, and power supply etc., installation of new base station hardware, start-up and pilot operation of base station. it has also three parts: site acquisition, civil works and roll-out.

Operations department is responsible for smooth operations and maintenance of the network.

Their main tasks are operation, maintenance and overall management of the networks, fault detection and fault handling of networks. This department always closely monitors the network performance.

4.5.6

Procurement Department:

Procurement department is responsible for the procurement of all sorts of assets and inventory. People in this division go for invitation of bids, select the supplier offering the right price with quality products and do the purchase. The division also ensures that the goods have reached the warehouse. After this, procurement division approves the final bills of the supplier and sends it to the finance department.

4.5.7 Information Department: Information department is managing the efficient flow of information. It is responsible to manage the relationship with media and newspapers, publish news bulletins regarding different events of the company. It is also publishes monthly newsletters of GP.

4.5.8

Internal Audit Department:

People in this department are engaged in conducting internal audit to keep all the documents up to date. Internal audit provides help for the external auditors. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a continuous checking process within the organization.

4.5.9

External Co-Ordination and Legal Department:

This department is responsible for looking after the regulatory obligation and legal finding of the company. The people here take care of the legal issues that continuously arise handling both external and internal legal matters.

4.6 Government Benefits from GrameenPhone Ltd.: The services of GrameenPhone have been serving the country over the last six years since its inception on March 26, 1997.

Along with the there other cellular operations in the country, GrameenPhone has established the concept that the mobile phone is not just a status symbol in the hands of the well to do. It is rather a tool in the hands of the general people to achieve economic growth for the nation.

GrameenPhone as a service provider also enriches the National Treasury in many different ways. Since its inception up to March 2004, GrameenPhone has contributed BDT 19,865

million to the Government Exchequer in direct and indirect taxes.

This monetary value does not include the economic growth that GrameenPhone has achieved due to its enormous number of subscribers and the largest market share. The impact of this achievement on the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy could be even larger.

4.7 Future Targets of GrameenPhone Ltd.: GrameenPhone Ltd. is a company with ever-increasing growth trend from the very inception phase. At present, in the 7th year of its operations GP has achieved a subscriber base of more that one and half million. The company has a number of plans for the forthcoming future.

NO. OF EMPLOYEES

DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYEES AT DIFFERENT DIVISIONS 200 150 100 50

Technical

148 147 90

Marketing & Sales

100

Customer Care .

63 45

Finance Personnel and Organization Others

0 DIVISIONS

Within 2006, GP has the target to reach a subscriber base of 20,000,000. Within that year the company is intended to cover 60 districts of the country. With this target GP will be able to cover almost 70% land area and 80% population of the country. Taking all the probable threats in the industry under consideration, Including the introduction of BTTB mobile phone connection, GP is intended to keep its market share at least 60% by 2006.

5. International Roaming 5.1. INTRODUCTION: International Roaming is a facility, which enables subscribers of one cellular operator to avail mobile communication service while visiting other countries; provided his home operator has a roaming partnership with any mobile (cellular) phone operator in that country. Almost all

the GSM operators are offering International Roaming facility to its subscribers nowadays.

5.1.1

Types of Roaming (MS/SIM) and Utility

There are two types of Roaming: i.

MS Roaming: When you can take your SIM as well as your own handset.

ii.

SIM Roaming: When you take your SIM card only and use a handset of the visited network. This is because of the incompatibility of different GSM handset because of different

frequency

bands

(GSIVI

900/1800/1900)

or

technologies

(GSM/CDMA/TDMA) used in different operators' networks/countries.

5.1.2

Utility of Roaming

It provides excellent opportunity to generate revenue. Roamers usually make international calls, which are expensive and thus contributing more to operators.

All over the world, the roaming traffic exceeds the expectations. Many networks have 10% revenue earnings from the roamers. The foreign subscribers who will be using GP's network (roaming) are not GPs own subscribers; GP do not have any expenditure to generate this subscriber base. Thus roaming provides opportunity to make money out of other operators' subscriber base. And, again, the network that is used for roaming is not a dedicated network for roaming; this is the existing network. When it comes to the manpower, almost the old existing organizational structure and existing manpower (only a small additional manpower is required).

Apart from this, by offering roaming, GP would make the life of the roamers much easier in foreign land. This issue would have a greater impact on GP's local market share too.

To summarize the benefits of roaming, we can say that: • Roaming generate huge extra revenue • International roaming has become a major contributor to operators' earnings all over the world • Extra cost for this extra revenue is small, compared to other costs • It is an excellent marketing tool to grab local and global market share

5.1.3

Types of Roamers (Inbound & Outbound)

Roamers can be classified into two categories: Outbound & Inbound Outbound Roamer (Out- Roamer): A subscriber of a GP who visits a foreign country with International Roaming facility, and can use Roaming Partner's network Inbound Roamer (in- Roamer): A subscriber of a Roaming Partner who comes to Bangladesh with International Roaming facility, and can use GP network 5.2. THE PRE- REQUISITES FOR INTERNATIONAL ROAMING Provided that the operator has the network equipment supports, there are only four major pre-requisites for starting roaming operations: •

Membership of GSIVI MoU Association

•

Establishment of SS7 signaling link

•

TAP (Transfer Account Procedures) exchange procedure

•

Roaming Agreements according to standardized GSM MoU Association's PRDs (Permanent Reference Documents).

5.3. THE FUNCTIONS OF IRD, S&M 5.3.1 Pre- Commercial Launch Activities: Negotiating & Signing of IRA (IR Agreement) GSM MoU Documents to Follow AA12: Main agreement. In this international GSM roaming agreement is included general terms & conditions for GSM International Roaming & Annexes. General terms like - parties, introduction, definition, annexes, scope of the agreement, arbitration, etc.

AA1 3: International Roaming Agreement - Common Annexes. It is just an elaboration & descriptive information of common annexes of AA:12. It contains, e.g., agreement management principles, services, billing & accounting, information on TAP, etc. It has some technical information also. The role of DCH is also explained here. Settlement procedure, exchange of SIM card & other tests are included in this part.

AA14: International Roaming Agreement - Individual Annexes. It has a vast & specific description about one's (one party) network parameters, services etc. It maintains specific job & contact persons for roaming.

•

C7 Signaling Link & SIM Card Exchange

•

International Roaming Expert Group (IREG) Test

•

Transferred Account Data Interchange Group (TADIG) Test

•

Commercial Launch

5.3.2 Post- Commercial Launch Activities: •

Coordination with Internal Related Divisions/Departments

•

Coordination with Roaming Partners

•

Coordination with GSMA

•

Coordination with External Related Parties

5.3.3 Subscription Selling, Marketing •

Policy Development

•

Selling, and selling coordination

5.4. CONTRIBUTION AND PROSPECT OF INTERNATIONAL ROAMING The growth in the number of tourists/visitors is about 12%. Around 3 lakh people visit Bangladesh for different purposes every year. There are a lot of troubles to make an ISD call for a visitor. If we have roaming agreements, then we will be able to earn a lot of revenue from it. All over the world, the roaming traffic exceeds the expectations. Many networks have as high as 10% of their total revenue from the roamers. But in Bangladesh it can even be 15% for various reason, such as •

Geographically Bangladesh is located in a very suitable place.

•

Trading is increasing, so that the usage of telephony is also increasing.

•

Bangladesh is having a lot of foreign investments.

•

The Govt. bodies are highlighting tourism as a promising industry.

5.5. GPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s benefit from international roaming -GP achieved the highest market (GSM) share in Bangladesh (near about 75%); it will encourage other operators to make roaming agreements with GP. GP is committed to provide countrywide coverage. This element plays an important role in the roaming partners' evaluation process. GP is a progressive company: committed to quality service and adopting new technologies to facilitate the service.

If GP could be the first operator (who has signed a roaming agreement) other foreign operators will be interested to sign roaming agreement with GP. By this way GP will be able to serve its interest by roaming.

6.

Findings from Project

6.1.

Expectation vs. Perception of consumer

6.1.1. Frequency of use: The usage of this service is dependent on the rate of foreign travel of the subscriber. So, this rate varies from consumer to consumer. Though the consumers are all from the SEC A of the society, the rate of usage varied widely. One a quarter was the highest frequency of usage (29%), followed by once a month for 22.5% users and 2/3 times a year for 21% subscriber.

Usage Frequency 1/ >1/month Percentage 14 3 of user 0 17 14.17

month 18 8 1 27 22.5

1/ quarter 10 19 6 35 29.17

2-3/ year 3 13 9 25 20.83

1/year 0 2 14 16 13.33

Since, the total user group was divided into three segments; it was found that the usage frequency varies significantly. While the Corporate users use it most frequently, the individual users use it just occasionally.

User Frequency 40 Percentage of user

35 30

Series1 Series2 Series3 Series4 Series5

25 20 15 10 5 0 >1/month

1/ month

1/ quarter

2-3/ year

1/year

Time

6.1.2. Pre-purchase information: Pre-Purchase information is very important in setting the expectation of the consumer. The research found that while network coverage, handset and tariff information was available, this rate for customer services and services available was low.

co ve ra C H u ge st ow om in to co th e Se C T rS se m e al ar rv pa vi le e l i i s f rv ng ct fI tib iti ic e i n s n ce a le fo g a n e pro ha r C c m ce ou v ail tw on nd a a d nt or tio ta ur se ry bl e k ct n e t

or k

N et w or k

N et w

Information on

Pre-purchase Information

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 Percentage informored

Here, the table above might portray a very high level of consumer awareness and education, the fact is not that positive. It was found that the consumers have partial knowledge about the services and different necessary topics.

6.1.3. Service used: International Roaming Service has many features but the service mostly used is making phone call to Bangladeshi followed by receiving call from Bangladesh and Sending / receiving SMS.

Percentage of user

Service mostly used 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Sending/ Receiving SMS Receiving calls from Bangladesh Making calls to Bangladesh

Corporate

SME/ Individual Professional User segment

Here, the corporate users used it mostly in making calls and receiving calls. SMS is not very popular among this group because they find SMS time consuming. Among the individual users SMS is very popular because of its low cost.

6.1.4. Quality of Line in Foreign Network: The quality of line in foreign land was found satisfactory, though the number of effort increased in calling Bangladesh. The consumers could not readily recall the average number of call, but it seemed that they exaggerate.

Quality of Network

Call to a 3rd Country Average effort/ successful call

Call to Bangladesh Call inside the foreign country

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

The number of effort for calling to a 3rd country was astonishing low. This may be because the rate of such call is really low.

6.1.5. Call Quality: Grameen claims to have the best network in Bangladesh. The International Roaming network is a combination of GP and RP’s network where few other technical issues are included. Most of the subscribers (33%) thought that the line was clear most of the time while 9% thought it was clear all the time. However, 32% felt it was hazy some time and 18% thought it was hazy most of the time. Here, though very little, remarkably, 8% felt that the line was two bad to continue communication.

Call Quality

clear sound all the time 8%

9%

clear sound most of the time

18%

hazy sound some of the time

33%

hazy sound most of the time

32%

too bad to continue a conversation

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative

•

Clear sound all the time

5

9

9

Percent 9

•

Clear sound most of the 4

8

8

17

18

18

35

32

32

67

time •

Hazy sound some of the 9 time

•

Hazy sound most of the time

16

•

Too bad to continue a 16

33

33

100

100

100

conversation 50

Total=

Table: 6.1.5 Call Quality6.1.6. Perceived Tariff Rate: The corporate users mostly felt that the tariff is very high or somewhat fair. However, a significant portion felt that the rate is still exorbitant. Here, Around 8% consumer perceived that the tariff rate is almost economic or just economical.

Perceived Price Level

Too exorbitant

3%

22%

Vary High

47%

Fair enough

8%

Almost economic

20%

Just economical

Frequency

Percent

Valid

Cumulative Percent 47

•

Too exorbitant

23

47

Percent 47

•

Vary High

10

20

20

67

•

Fair enough

4

8

8

75

•

Almost economic

11

22

22

97

•

Just economical

2

3

3

100

50

100

100

Total=

Table: 6.1.6 Perceived Price Level

6.1.7. Customer Care service: In customer service it was seen that the consumer mostly doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use the service because they are unaware of it (23%) or the cost is high for call to hotline (20%). A significant number was called but they were not very happy with the service provider. The lack of technical knowledge about the customer service provider is obvious.

6.1.8. Bill Payment: The process of bill payment in GP office is viewed too much of a hassle by the subscriber.

Here, if the payment is being paid only in some selected points, not in bank then it is regarded as a great hassle. Moreover, it is had to be paid in dollar.

6.1.9. Suggestion from the users: Respondents pointed out the various problems they faced with GP's service and they gave recommendations regarding how to solve the problem. The suggestions are listed in the following order: 1. Bill should be accepted in Banks or should be auto debited.

2. Billing format should be more clear and precise. For example, for the convenience of the customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; better understanding SDR (Statutory Drawing Right), TAKA1 and Tk. 2 conversion should be clear.

3. Call forwarding option must be added.

4. Missed call alert while switched of is necessary.

5. Friends and family number options, better, if in effect.

6. WAP should also be in use while roaming.

7. Calling procedure should be clear before IR service is launched for a customer. Here, the economic numbers or especial procedures like that of Thailand must be informed before.

6.2.

ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:

The respondents seemed mostly in the middle of high and no satisfaction. 33% are somewhat satisfied while 25% respondents are mostly dissatisfied. Here, 19% are mostly satisfied and 18% are not satisfied at all. However, 5% are highly satisfied.

Current Satisfaction level

19

highly s atis fied

5

18

m os tly s atis fied s om ewhat s atis tied m os tly dis s atis fied not s atis fied at all

25 33

Frequency

Percent

Valid

Cumulative

5

Percent 5

Percent 5

•

Highly Satisfied

3

•

Mostly Satisfied

9

18

18

23

•

Somewhat satisfied

•

Mostly dissatisfied

16

33

33

56

•

Not satisfied at all

13

25

25

81

9

19

19

100

50

100

100

Total=

Table: Current Satisfaction Level As described in the literature review part this low satisfaction have resulted from several gaps. These gaps are described and analyzed below.

6.2.1. Customer Gap: Not knowing the service offered Customer gap is the ignorance or absence of the consumer about the service consumed.

This creates false perception and expectation about a service. The customer gap seemed to be quite high, though the data for pre-purchase information might be conflicting with this. The pre-purchase information was largely disseminated, as shown in the data, but consumers are never ready to admit their ignorance makes it hard to breeze the gap.

Now, the international roaming is a new service in Bangladesh and a lot of technicality of GSM technology is interconnected with this, consumer knowledge level can be such low

resulting in dissatisfaction.

Major Customer gap: 1. Not knowing the billing procedure especially while receiving call.

Call type Roaming Bill For making All charges

Local Bill Nil

Remarks

local/ domestic calls ISD calls All charges Nil For receiving Foreign operator’s GP Airtime (incoming)

incoming charge (if +

calls

any)

BTTB ‘Re-routing-ISD call’ in the

International

+ Other charges e.g. call

applicable)

tax

Local Bill

charge - For receiving any BTTB

GP service charge & (from foreign

- ISD calls are stated as

calls,

GP’s

(if Bangladesh to incoming

normal

charge

in

visiting

addition to GP Airtime will

network)

be applied in the Local Bill

+ VAT

- No incoming & other charges will be imposed in Roaming Bill portion if incoming charge is free from

foreign

operator’s

end.

2. Not knowing about the calling procedure.

3. Not knowing the Customer Contact points.

4. Not knowing the bill payment system with auto-debit.

5. Unnecessarily high tariff in India and USA. 6.2.2. Provider gap 1: Not knowing what the customer wants The service provider, GP in this case, doesn’t have a clear idea of what the consumer wants. Thus this gap emerged and increases, which includes:

1. Demand for exclusive SMS (Short Message Service) Roaming for the individual and SME/professional clients.

2. Expected low tariff rate. Here, per minute call rate is not perceived high but the initial deposit of Tk 20 thousand equivalent dollars makes it high.

3. Demanded continuous Service assurance in foreign land away from home.

4. Prepaid roaming service can be introduced as a caution for cost control.

6.2.3. Provider Gap 2: Not having the right service design and standard •

Not having exclusive SMS roaming service with low or no initial deposit.

•

Not having the latest technology to reduce call charge e.g. Optimal Call Routing (OCR) facility.

•

Not having redundant Signaling link (link between to operator) to assure uninterrupted service.

•

Not having prepaid roaming service.

•

Not having Auto-debit facility that will collect the bill automatically from credit card.

6.2.4. Provider gap 3: Not delivering the service standard •

Signaling service (link between to operator) being down on several times of the year makes roaming below standard service.

•

The personnel in direct customer contact don’t know the technical details of international roaming service which frustrates the subscribers.

•

Absence of latest technology e.g. GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) makes it impossible to be with the world level of international roaming service.

6.2.5. Provider gap 4: Not matching performance with promises 1. Promised uninterrupted service in all networks is not assured. The signal is down on several times cutting the total IR out of order. Now, a customer buys the

service to keep in touch from foreign land and if he is out of connection due to signal link being down, the dissatisfaction must to unlimited.

Here is a description of the roaming link being down during last seven months.

Sl No.

Event Time Clear Time 12:48 Hours on

1

2

on 4

5

2004.

4.00 Hrs.

at BTTB & France Telecom.

International Roaming link was down due to Roaming Signaling

2.12 Hrs.

link down.

Roaming link was down due to

2.00 Hrs.

23-04- 19:25 hours on 23-04-2004

down.

Roaming signaling link was down due to maintenance work

23-01- 20:05 hours on

2004 23-01-2004.

11:03 hours on

1.4 hours.

19-12- 18:31 hours on

2003 19-12-2003.

18:05 hours

Explanation International Roaming link was

01-12- 19:00 hours on

2003 01-12-2003.

16:24 hours on

3

10-10- 14:12 Hours on

2003 10-10-2003 15:00 hours on

Duration

problem at France Telecom end.

International Roaming link was

8.22 Hrs.

down due to LCMW problem.

2. Promised 24 hours of customer service is not available in right quality.

7.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Although it is not possible to instantly satisfy customer needs, GP should try to work on the major problems that they are facing and trying to improve their services gradually.

7.1. Premium Customer service: 7.1.1. Introduce exclusive SMS roaming Given the popularity SMS among the young generation and the high use of it among the individual users an exclusive SMS roaming should be introduced. Here, a roamer must be

able to keep these following points in mind: 1. Different rate SMS incoming and outgoing while roaming.

2. Dollar and Taka conversion with SDR. 3. The mode of convenient payment either with scratch card or with cash.

7.2. Comprehensive Service coverage, 7.2.1. Introduce Latest Roaming technology GP must introduce the latest technology in the world. Best choice could be GPRS i(General Packet Radio Service), the updated version of present technology in use. It is the newly used technology in GSM world. (GPRS) enabled networks offer: o 'always-on', higher capacity, o Internet-based content and o Packet-based data services.

GPRS Provides: o

Color Internet browsing

o

E-mail on the move

o

Powerful visual communications

o

Multimedia messages and location-based services

7.3. Assure Billing integrity 7.3.1. Implement Economic technology: OCR is Optimal Call Routing. It is solution for roaming call routing used by the leading operators to generate economic call. It is concerned with Call to Inbound Roamers

generated from Bangladesh. At times it is concerned with a Roamer-to-Roamer Call.

Implementation of OCR can be of great benefit to both GP and its subscribers. The benefits are described below:

Benefit of OCR Call Scenario Charging Principal MT-Call: InRoamer receives a calls from BGD (from A flat rate over the existing airtime Local Sub or another InRoamer) MO-Call: InRoamer Calls another InRoamer in BGD

50% of the IDD Rate

7.3.2. Introduce prepaid roaming: Introduction of prepaid roaming will give the users control over cost. At times it will get a new segment of the market since the prepaid users will have access to International Roaming in that case. Available solutions for pre-paid roaming are: A survey was conducted among the Live Roaming Partners of GP in May 2003. 76 RPs replied. Of them, 51 offers pre-paid roaming (67%). The result is based on that survey data. o

Figure: Popularity of different Prepaid Roaming Technology Comparison of the options:

Platform Knowledge Base

Source of Knowledge Action Plan

Technical USSD

Division,

Moderate knowledge on CallInternet, Routing and charging

Preliminary (or almost no) CAMEL knowledge on Call Routing and charging

Documents provided by Vendors Technical

Arrange a presentation with Technical Division

Division,

Internet,

Search for alternative

Documents provided by sources of knowledge vendors

7.4. Quality of line 7.4.1. Implement Uninterrupted Roaming Service: Signaling Service popularly known as SS7 is required to make roaming calls. Present Service Agreement was signed in November 1998.Today 202 Roaming Partners are connected in 71 countries including 5 operators in North America.78.80 Millions MSU are exchanged in during March’03 –Feb’04.Number of Roamers and data volume both are increasing but Currently only one Signaling Link of France Telecom is in use. This is vulnerable to breakdown. So GP needs a stand by or redundant signaling link •

to avoid roaming service failure due to link breakdown because: –

1094 minute of Link Down during last 7 month

–

Loss of revenue in every single second.

–

Dissatisfaction of Customer, Roamer & Roaming Partners.

–

Poor service Image both home and abroad.

•

Ensure Roaming Signaling @ 100%.

•

Traffic Load Sharing etc.

7.5. Roaming Focused Customers service outlets.

8.5.1. Introduce Auto-debit service for bill collection.

With this subscribers can forget the hassle of visiting GP office for paying your international roaming bills. They will Avail AUTO-DEBIT and let GP auto collect it from your International Credit Card. This AUTO-DEBIT facility will automatically debit your international roaming bill from your International Credit Card when the bill is invoiced.

7.5.1.Exclusive hotline for IR: International Roaming service because of its exclusiveness, high price and technical

complications must have an exclusive hotline for it. It will be attended by a group of CRD people having sound knowledge in International Roaming of GP. Hot Line Proposal for IR Users

Short Code 1111 2222 3333 4444 Roaming Mobile 5555

R2 Lin k

Telephone Line with ACD group number 79991 PABX System

Mobile switch Dhaka Technical Part

CALL CENTER

8

Conclusion

Launching on 26th March 1997, only three and a half years back with around 5,000 subscribers by June and almost 18,000 subscribers by the end of 1997, today, GrameenPhone has more than 5,288,397 subscribers. Grameen Phoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s number of subscribers has grown rapidly, as its coverage areas are increasing throughout the country. GrameenPhone is the largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh in terms of coverage and market share.

Bangladesh is one of the least penetrated mobile communication markets in the world. But over the past few years this rate has increased gradually. The addressable market for mobile communication in Bangladesh is estimated to be 70 million subscribers. We estimate an average usage per subscriber of US$ 28 per month for post-paid users as compared to US$ 26 in year 2003 and US$ 12 per month for our pre-paid users as compared to US$ 11 in 2003 in our addressable market for year 2005. Till now, GrameenPhone has invested around 500 million US dollars, which positions GrameenPhone as one of the largest private sector investors in the country.

International Roaming is the most premium service in GSM world. So it should be branded equally. Here, to increase and sustain consumer satisfaction or delight, if possible, the cost of acquisition of this service must be reduced so that the consumers can easily avail the service though a premium price. At times, the 5 gaps described above must be bridged properly.

Today GrameenPhone has around 3500 subscribes for International roaming service. Being the only IR service provider GP has 100% control on the inbound roamers. Since, the market intelligence indicates launching of IR from competitors in Bangladesh, the issue of customer satisfaction must be addressed with proper care and sincerity. Otherwise, the rate of Churn will go up and ARPU (Average Revenue per user) will go deep down, not only in IR but in GP as a whole.