banglalink

AN ANALYSIS OF INTEGRATED MARKETING STRATEGY OF THE PACKAGES SO FAR CONDUCTED AND OF NEAR FUTURE BY BANGLALINK

AN ANALYSIS OF INTEGRATED MARKETING STRATEGY OF THE PACKAGES SO FAR CONDUCTED AND OF NEAR FUTURE BY BANGLALINK I.

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study Recently mobile became a necessity from passion to our customers. “Be Mobile” is a slogan of all the firms to pursue the customers to buy one. Customers are also very enthusiastic to get a mobile and they are very cautious in buying decision. They switch almost instantly from one brand to another brand. So it is a problem for the management to attract and retain the customers. Moreover government is also imposed VAT, which deteriorate the whole situation for the marketers. Marketers are using complex and ambiguous offers to the customers to dazzle their eyes. So the marketer gets the response from the customers who can overwhelm the customers by the worthwhile offers.

Objective of the Report Objective of this report is to give a general idea about the organization, business and operations of banglalink, An Orascom Telecom Company and to provide information about the market position and measure the customer’s preferences in various packages and services.

Company Overview Orascom Telecom Launches Banglalink™ GSM in Bangladesh on February 13th, 2005.Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (“Orascom Telecom”) is a leading mobile telecommunications company operating in nine emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia having a total population under license of approximately 520 million with an average penetration of mobile telephony of 5%. Orascom Telecom operates, GSM networks in Algeria ("Djezzy"), Egypt ("MobiNil"), Pakistan ("Mobilink"), Iraq ("IraQna"), Bangladesh ("Banglalink"), Tunisia ("Tunisiana"), Congo Brazzaville ("Libertis"), Democratic Republic of Congo ("Oasis") and Zimbabwe ("Telecel Zimbabwe"). Orascom Telecom had over 11 million subscribers as of September 2004.

Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (“OTH”) announces the launch of GSM mobile services in Bangladesh by its wholly owned subsidiary which operates under the name Banglalink™. OTH expects its subsidiary to invest over US$ 200 million in expanding its network coverage and capacity and deploying its services during the coming years.

In September 2004, OTH acquired a mobile services company in Bangladesh with a nationwide GSM license valid until 2011. Since then, OTH has installed new management, upgraded the network and re-branded the company as Banglalink.

Banglalink has rapidly deployed new network infrastructure, set up a distribution network and points of sale, and designed complete commercial plans to offer high quality voice and data telecommunications services at competitive prices to the people of Bangladesh.

Report preview

The report is divided into two different parts. First part of the report is the organization part, which will give a general picture of the organization i.e. banglalink which is a concern of Orascom Telecom Holding, operating in Bangladesh. The departments of banglalink are briefly described. Moreover, the products and services are elaborately explained in this part. The other part is the project part, is assigned by the intern supervisor to fulfill the requirement of the internship. The topic is - “An analysis of integrated marketing strategy of the packages so far conducted and of near future by banglalink�.

In this part, exploratory research was conducted by the researcher to the management personnel. The findings of exploratory research are illustrated. Then the hypothesis was developed. Furthermore, an extensive survey was accomplished on the customers and management personnel. The data are interpreted with charts. Last but not least, the hypotheses were tested by different statistical tools.

Finally, all the findings that were encountered by the researcher are marked. The researcher realized some recommendations and that are also written down in the paper.

II.

ORGANIZATION PART

Telecommunications services in Bangladesh are provided principally by the Bangladeshi Telegraph and Telephone Board (the BTTB), the incumbent state owned fixed line operator, with respect to fixed-line services, and by five GSM mobile operators, Sheba (Banglalink), GrameenPhone (the market leader), TM International Bangladesh Ltd. (AKTEL), Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. (CityCell) and Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. (Teletalk), a subsidiary of BTTB. Following the acquisition of Banglalink, SingTel acquired a minority stake in the number three operator based on market share, the only CDMA-based operator.

A.

Introduction

Orascom Telecom Holding purchased 100% of the shares of Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Limited in September 2004. OTH operates a GSM network in Bangladesh and provides a range of prepaid and postpaid voice, data and multimedia telecommunications services.

1.

License.

Banglalink license is a nationwide GSM license that will expire in November 2011. It was acquired for US$ 60 million and re-branded and launched its services under Banglalink in February 2005.

2.

Commercial, Marketing and Sales. Sheba re-branded its operation under the trade name Banglalink shortly after it was acquired by OTH. Banglalink provides its subscribers with basic voice services, messaging services and value-added services.

Banglalink offers a prepaid and postpaid telephony service. Banglalink has entered into international roaming agreements with approximately 15 operators, which Banglalink expects will be implemented in the near future. Banglalink provides customer support through a 24-hour a day, seven day a week call center in one location, staffed by more than 35 operators.

Banglalink sells its mobile telecommunications services through indirect channels and Banglalink-owned shops. Banglalink has agreements with 10 exclusive national distributors. In addition to this indirect channel, Banglalink owns and operates two shops, which also act as a point of service and support its customers.

3.

Vision."Banglalink understands people's needs best and will create and deliver appropriate communication services to improve people's life and make it easier" 4.

Values.

Banglalink aims to understand peoples' needs best and develop appropriate communication services to improve peoples' life and make it simple. All of the work is aimed towards meeting their vision. All members of the Banglalink family are highly passionate individuals, fully committed to achieving the vision that has set by them. Customers' needs matter most to them- making their life simple and improving it is all they want. To ensure their vision is achieved, they have set a few values, they want to be: Straight Forward Reliable Innovative Passionate All the Banglalink family members have one thing in common- a passion to serve.

They want to go that extra mile, so that customers can have the best possible service investing in the future.

5.

Making a difference. The biggest barrier today for people is the cost of handsets. Management of banglalink realized the main barrier of buying a mobile and wanted to persuade the consumers by providing handset at lower price. As per their comments -“We will strive to lower the total cost of owning a mobile. We are here to help make a difference in people's lives by providing affordable and reliable connectivity solutions. We will strive to connect people and link their lives by listening to them and by understanding their needs. We are here to help you speak your language”.

B.

Organization Framework

1.

Profile of CEO “Mr. Lars P. Reichelt”. Mr. Lars P. Reichelt has over 14 years experience in wireless from startup to mature businesses. He is a seasoned executive and has lead several wireless ventures to success.

Prior to assuming his position as Managing Director & CEO of Banglalink, Mr. Reichelt has held positions as CEO of Telefonica 3G Mobile in Zurich, Head of Wireless for Yahoo! Europe in London, Chief Operating Officer & Managing Director of mobile operator ONE in Vienna, COO of CEKOM GSM in Prague, and Senior Consultant with Monitor Company in London and Cambridge, MA. He is founder of RA Ltd. Zollikon, Switzerland, an advisory company for wireless; he is Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of UCPmorgen AG, one of Europens leading wireless ASPs; he also serves on the advisory board of Freude GmbH, one of Austriaâ leading advertising agencies, and is a Board Member of the Porsche 356 Club, Switzerland.

Mr. Reichelt graduated from St. Gallen University (HSG), Switzerland in Business Administration & Organizational Development.

2.

Departments of Banglalink. There are around eight departments in banglalink.

The brief description of these departments are as following: a.

Sales. The sales department is responsible for all the sales activities of the organization. The department led by Mr. Hassan Samy, Director Sales. This department is divided into four divisions: Direct Sales, Corporate Sales, Distribution Sales and Sales Support.

Direct Sales: This is the prime team in the department, consisting of more than 66 employees. The direct sales division operates three sales booths, run by its own employees. The first booth is located in Gulshan 2, on the 4 th Floor of its head office, the second booth is in Motijheel, while the third booth in Chittagong. The purpose of these booths is to sell directly to its customers, together with its distributors/dealers. It helps the company stay in close touch with its customers and get faster and more reliable feedback from the sales force. Now company is in the process of establishing more sales point, named BANGLA POINT all over the country.

Corporate Sales: Corporate Sales is a comparatively small team compared to direct and distribution sales. They are yet to launch any packages, although they have recently started selling to public call offices (PCO) through Flora Computer Systems.

Distribution Sales: This is the largest team in the department. Consisting entirely of male employees, this department is responsible for managing the sales activities and ensuring that sales targets are met by the company’s six distributors (Ring Bangladesh, Lipro, Asimpex, Butterfly, Propel, Deens & Deshlink).

Sales Support: This team is the smallest of all the four teams.

Nevertheless, they form an integral part of the department by providing logistical support to the other three teams. b.

Marketing.

The Marketing team also consists of several teams, which includes PR & Communications, VAS, Loyalty & Retention and International Roaming. The teams all report to Omer Rashid, the Marketing Director.

The Loyalty & Retention team is responsible for the designing of the special offers launched from time to time in an attempt either to increase customer base or to increase ARPU. The VAS division is responsible for the continuously adding valuable services to provide a complete solution to existing customers, for example, for making conference calling & ring tone/logo downloads possible. These two teams together are in charge of making the customers experience with the network more satisfying.

PR & Communication is responsible for designing and developing all promotional materials for the marketing of any new product/package and any other activities. They coordinate and work directly with the advertising agency

and other vendors. While other companies have an entire department for promotions and branding, at Banglalink™ this division, consisting of only a handful of people is responsible for this task. c.

Human Resources. Aside from recruiting and training employees, the HR department is also responsible for disseminating internal communication to all users and in the process of developing compensation packages for its employees, such as medical insurance under the group plan, life insurance and running several activities such as the Vaccination Program for all.

Training activities are continuously taking place to develop and hone the skills & knowledge of the personnel, such as the English Language & MS Project Courses for selected employees and conducting a GSM Orientation session for all employees, especially the Sales, Marketing & Customer Care Departments who have to deal with customers. d.

Customer Care.

Rumana Reza, the only female director in the organization, is the head of the Customer Care department. This too is segmented, consisting of the Customer Care division itself, and then there is Care Line, Credit Management Unit and the Support Services Unit. They are responsible for handling customer queries and providing solutions to any problems faced by the subscribers. This department is located in Tigers Den at Gulshan-1. e.

IT & Billing. The IT & Billing department, as is evident from the name, is in charge of all the hardware, software and program requirement of the other departments. They also generate the bills for the company subscribers (post-paid). f.

Administration.

Apart from the Administration division, the department also consists of the Legal division and the Project Management Office. g.

Finance.

The finance department is the largest department at the head office with an entire floor devoted to their needs. They consist of the Procurement & Cash Management divisions among many others. h.

Technical.

This department is located at Hosna Tower in Gulshan – 1, but many work off site, taking care of BTS or BSCs. The various divisions of this particular department include Access Network, Core Access, O&M, Rollout & CTO. C.

Products

1.

Regular package. Banglalink offered prepaid packages at lowest price for the first time in our country in their inaugural period. That package roused huge excitement to the customers. People waited in queue for long time to get this SIM with hand set.

Then they launched various packages within short interval of time. Many services have been provided by banglalink at shortest possible time. Now they are trying to increase the services under VAS (value added services). The product and services offered by banglalink is elaborated below:

Pre-paid M2M: This is the package with which Banglalink™ made a huge splash in the Bangladesh mobile industry on February 12 th of this year. The product had then been bundled with a handset and six scratch cards networth Tk. 1,800. The entire package had been priced at only Tk. 3,400, meaning that the handset would cost a

consumer only Tk. 1,400 (a M2M SIM is priced at bTk. 200, the lowest in the industry).

The launch offer had allowed Banglalink™ to expand its subscriber base very quickly.

Within one week of its launch the subscrier base had grown to 100,000 from a mere 30,000 and to over 300,000 in just one and half month (an astounding 900% growth).

Presently, the company is selling only SIM at a price of Tk. 200, the lowest in the industry. However, ever since the end of the launch offer, sales has been significantly down compared to previous sales levels. Tk. 20 airtime is pre-loaded into the SIM so that the customer can start conversing immediately.

Pre-paid Standard. The Standard SIM allows a subscriber to make and receive local, BTTB, NWD and ISD calls. It costs Tk. 1,499, a price which had been nearly 60% lower than competition at the time of launch on March 29, 2005. Currently, even though it is still the lowest in the industry, it is just Tk. 1 less than GP’s corresponding package. However, since it has Tk. 320 airtime pre-loaded into the SIM, it can be said that the SIM costs only Tk. 1,179, significantly lower than other copmetitors.

2.

Ladies First

Women care and women connect, and that is why women always have a greater need to talk and to listen. When women get together, they talk about feelings and relationships, their work, and their family. Women often call each other to keep up to date.

Conversing is an important part of their lives. Women hold the society together and keeps empathy flowing. More knowledge and information is disseminated through their communication than any other human media.

But, there had never been a particular focus on women's need to talk and to listen from operators around the world. It has never been recognized as a core need, let alone being facilitated through products or services. For the first time in Bangladesh, Banglalink has taken the bold step to pay a tribute to women, and created a product exclusively to meet their need to talk and to listen.

"Ladies first" is the Banglalink offer that specifically focuses on women, and makes their lives easier, efficient and comfortable. This is an offer only for women, an offer no woman can refuse. For Banglalink, this is not just a product offer, but more of an acknowledgment of the contribution that women of Bangladesh make to the society, the nation, and all of us. a.

Ladies First Pre-paid Rates:  Lowest peak-hour rate to any mobile at Tk. 2.25/30 sec  Lowest off peak-hour rate to any mobile at Tk. 0.98/30 sec  Your time: special day-time rate to any mobile between 12pm-3pm at Tk. 1.50/30 sec  Calls to any banglalink number all day at Tk. 1.25/30 sec  FnF: call one banglalink number for Tk. 0.98/30 sec, all day  SMS to any banglalink number for Tk. 1.00/sms

Unlike all other operator banglalink with this package is offering its consumers the opportunity to talk more with lesser tariff.

Table:1 LADIES SPECIAL RATE PLAN Outgoing Peak (7am-12pm & 3pm-11pm) Banglalink to Banglalink

Tk.1.25/30 sec

Banglalink to Others

Tk.2.25/30 sec

Off peak (11pm-7am) Banglalink to any mobile

Tk.0.98/30 sec

Your Time Banglalink to Banglalink

Tk.1.25/30 sec

Banglalink to others

Tk.1.50/30 sec

FRIENDS & FAMILY (1 NUMBER) Banglalink to Banglalink

Tk.0.98/30 sec

SMS Banglalink to Banglalink

Tk.1.00/SMS

Banglalink to others

Tk.1.75/ SMS

Ladies first!

       

Horoscope Beauty Tips Cooking Tips Health Tips Home Management Tips Child Care Tips Cinema & Drama Schedule First Aid

Tk.1.00/SMS

Source: Secondary

o o

b.

 Calls to BTTB, BTTB charge will be added for standard  BTTB incoming rate for standard and M2M plus 1st minute free Tk.0.996/30 second Ladies first! Friend and Family number:     

Tk.1.00/30 sec throughout the whole day and night Customer can select any one banglalink number as your friends and family to call at above price Friends and family number can changed 1 time every three months and 4 times per year After change of 4 times Tk.25 is applicable for each change No charge is applicable for each activation/delete/add excluding the extra allowed changing charge

c.

Ladies first! Value Added Service (VAS).

Except for talking there are some more ways of interacting that one can enjoy with a mobile connection. To fulfill that need banglalink has came up with some more VALUE ADDED SERVICES that we are calling VAS. As a value proposition, you can enjoy the following value added service with special rate: • Horoscope • Beauty Tips • Cooking Tips • Health Tips • Home Management Tips • Child Care Tips • Cinema & Drama Schedule • First Aid d.

Discount on Shopping.

The customers of the package will enjoy a discount in the following shops for any purchases made: • Beauty parlor • Boutique shops • Handicraft shops • Departmental shops/ cosmetics shops How to get the discount: • Type shop code and send to 333

You will receive the % of discount at that particular store Please show the message you receive from banglalink to the shop keeper

• •

Table:2: Shop Code Group LADIES FIRST

Shop Name

Shop Code

Code

Tangail Saree Kutir

TAN

333

Priyo Super Shop

PRI

333

Total Care

TOT

333

Mayasir

MAY

333

Kumudini

KUM

333

Source: Secondary Data 3.

Upper Class.

They say that "only the smart or the wealthy know how to save money!". Well, with call and control the smart money is with Banglalink. With Call & Control, the newest package from upper class, one can get the ideal combination of a post-paid connection with pre-paid control and flexibility.

With the lowest monthly fee on your bill, you will enjoy post-paid tariffs that are charged through pre-paid scratch cards. This allows you to benefit from the much lower call charges and SMS rates of upper class, all the services that come with the upper class package and yet you are in total control because you determine how much money you spend on calls by using scratch cards.

There is no validity periods for the Call & Control scratch cards and you will never be barred - provided your monthly fee payments are made on time. But with monthly fees as low as Tk. 50 for M2M or Tk. 125 for Standard that should not be a problem.

Post-paid M2M. The post-paid M2M SIM is similar to the pre-paid one; the difference lies in the fact that the subscriber can his/her bill after usage rather than before. The difference between Banglalink™ ™’s post-paid lines and its competitors is that banglalinks SIMs do not cost anything. Subscribers just have to pay a certain security deposit, which is also lower than its counterparts, and can avail the facility. For an M2M connection the deposit amount is merely Tk. 500. The Banglalink™ connections also allow subscribers 125% credit limit where all other counterparts allow only 100%.

Post-paid M2M+.

Similar to an M2M connection, customers have to pay only Tk. 500 security deposit to become an M2M+ subscriber. Subscribers just pay only Tk. 100 more in monthly line rent (Tk. 250 instead of Tk. 150) to avail the T&T incoming facility.

Post-paid Standard. The standard connection offers subscribers two options. They can either pay only Tk. 1,000 security deposit and get a connection with T&T incoming & outgoing, and NWD facilities. For the other option, subscribers pay Tk. 2,500, which

would allow them to make ISD calls in addition to the other facilities. The monthly line rent is Tk. 350 only.

When the post-paid connections were initially launched, the new subscribers were allowed to purchase a connection by paying only a security depost. As a special offer, they were not charged any amount for the connection. However, now that two months promotion period is over, customers are required to pay an additional minimal amount for the connection. a.

Benefits of Call & Control: • Lowest monthly line rent in the market, as low as Tk. 50 for m2m & Tk. 125 for standard connections • Dedicated sales & customer care service. Purple Carpet treatment and dedicated upper class customer services (just dial 100) • Pre-paid scratch cards to talk as much as customer like and yet control their spending.

• Unlimited validity period for Call & Control scratch cards • Value added services can be enjoyed at lower upper class rates.

• Never get barred. Off-peak rates for peak hours on Fridays • No credit limit or security deposit required discerning customer, the customer that wants special attention, the customer that appreciates the little touches in life. It is much more than just a price plan - it is an overall different experience with different services designed to make life just that little bit easier and it also includes very competitive pricing.

b.

Specifically upper class offers: Special attention: You will see purple carpets at selected banglalink™ sales outlets and most banglalink™ customer care centers. Also all upper class customers can access a dedicated hotline (100) with specially trained service representatives.

Help with configuring your handset to suit your way of using it, help copying the numbers from your old handset or old SIM and setting up your personal assistant with your greeting and explaining how to make it work best for you.

Golden numbers, ie. special numbers with certain number combinations that you like, or customized numbers, ie. numbers that resemble your existing mobile number and all that changes is the pre-fix supply is limited.

Call back service (a world exclusive): You just send an SMS with the text "Call back" to 120 and our upper class customer care representatives call you back rather than you holding the line. A delightful service that works 24 hours, seven days a week.

Easy bill inquiry: Just send an SMS with the text "Bill" to 121 and almost instantly you get your details for your outstanding bill and the unbilled amount to date. You wouldn't want to drive a car without a fuel gauge either.

Big SIM - more numbers, more messages, more applications essentially giving upper class customers up to 1000% more storage than the most commonly used SIM cards in Bangladesh (Big SIM will be avaible end of August.

International Roaming : 110 Countries, 250 Operators and you can be reached on your number. Tested, tried and it works (including SMS).

All of the above can be had with two different subscriptions models, either with bundled minutes, where you pay one monthly package price and you get a certain amount of minutes all inclusive; or you pay a monthly subscription fee and pay for the number of minutes at the end of the month.

Bundled minutes packages: tailor made bundles of 200 minutes, 350 minutes or 600 minutes, where you can change your bundles according to your needs and the pricing per minute is as low as tk. 2.25.

Discounts on monthly fees increase automatically with usage, ie. when call more than Tk. 1400 a month, his/her monththly fee goes down by 50% and if he/she calls more than Tk. 1900 he/she don't pay any monthly fee. A bit like getting an upgrade to first class without asking.

4.

Be-Linked.

It’s a new offer and got huge attraction to the customers.

Most of the dealers and distributors fall in short of SIM at the first day. Be-linked is launched by the tag line –Misti Komola. Orange was distributed at the first day to the inhabitants of the Dhaka city. a.

The value proposition at a glance: • Lowest peak-hour rate to other networks at Tk. 2.20/30 sec • Lowest off peak-hour rate to any mobile at Tk. 0.98/30 sec • Your morning: special day-time rate to any mobile between 07 am to 10 am at Tk. 1.50/30 sec • Calls to any Banglalink number all day at Tk. 1.25/30 sec

•

FnF: call one Banglalink number for Tk. 1.1/30 sec from 07am to 11 pm.

SMS to any Banglalink number for Tk. 0.99/sms b.

Be-linked rate plan. Be- linked rate plan is given below in table three.

Table: 3 "be-linked rate plan Outgoing Your Morning (07am -10 am) Banglalink to Banglalink

Tk.1.25/30 sec

Banglalink to Others

Tk.1.50/30 sec

Peak (10 am - 11 pm) Banglalink to Banglalink

Tk.1.25/30 sec

Banglalink to Others

Tk.2.2/30 sec

Off Peak (11 pm - 07am) Banglalink to Banglalink

Tk.0.98/30 sec

Banglalink to Others

Tk.0.98/30 sec

FRIENDS & FAMILY (1 Banglalink Number) Your Morning ( 07am -10am)

Tk 1.1/30Sec

Peak (10 am -11pm)

Tk 1.1/30Sec

Off Peak (11pm- 07 am)

Tk.0.98/30 sec

SMS Banglalink to Banglalink

Tk.0.99/SMS

Banglalink to Others

Tk.1.75/ SMS

 Cricket  News  Joke

Tk.1.00/SMS

Source: Secondary Calls to BTTB, • BTTB charge will be added for standard BTTB incoming rate for standard and M2M plus • 1st minute free • Tk.0.996/30 second c.

Be-linked 1 Friends and Family number • •

Tk 1.1/30 sec at 07 am to 11 pm & 0.98/30sec from 11pm to 07 am.

You can select any 1 Banglalink number as your friends and family to call at

• • •

d.

above price Friends and family number can change 1 times every three months & four times per year.

After change of 4 times Tk.25 is applicable for each change No charge is applicable for each activation/delete/add excluding the extra allowed changing charge

How to activated/change FnF number

Just call to no 121 and follow the instruction • •

e.

Your friend and family number will be activated instantly You can also change the friends and family number instantly

Be-linked package value added service: Table:4-News Service Service

Syntax

Short code

Breaking News

Nb

636

News Headlines

Nh

636

Finance News

Fn

636

BBC News

Bbc

636

Reuters News

Reu

636

CNN Breaking News

Cnnb

636

CNN World News

Cnnw

636

CNN Sports News

Cnns

636

CNN Technology News

Cnnt

636

CNN USA News

Cnnu

636

CNN Finance News

Cnnf

636

World News

Nw

636

Entertainment News

Ne

636

Sports News

Ns

636

Technology News

Tn

636

Service

Syntax

Short code

Cricket Update

Ckt

636

Bangladesh Score

Ckt ban 636

India Score

Ckt ind 636

Pakistan Score

Ckt pak 636

Australia Score

Ckt aus 636

Cricket Update

Sri-Lanka Score

Ckt sri

636

South Africa Score

Ckt sou 636

Zimbabwe Score

Ckt zim 636

West Indies Score

Ckt wes 636

Jokes Service

Syntax

Short code

Jokes

Jk

636

Source: Secondary f.

Other details: Free Tk.20 talk time valid for three days 30 second pulse from the start Scratch card availability: • Tk.150 with 75 days validity • Tk.300 with 181 days validity

Tk.600 with 366 days validity 5.

Installment Package.

Government imposed tax on every SIM. It is 900 on every SIM. So the purchase cost is more and consumers need a fixed amount which is hard to pay. The management of banglalink makes it easier by initiating installment system. A consumer can buy a SIM by 300tk only.

•

I' Pack - Easy To Buy, Easy To Pay Banglalink i' pack offers you the comfort of buying Banglalink Pre-Paid connection by paying connection fees and Government tax over a short period of time in installments.

Pay a down payment and pay the rest over 5 to 8 months depending on the type of connection. a.

The i' pack plan is given below: Table: 5-How to buy an i-pack Package Down Monthly payment installment

Number of Total installments payment

M2M

Tk.350

Tk.150

5

Tk.1,100

M2M Plus

Tk.350

Tk.150

7

Tk.1,400

Standard Tk.899

Tk.150

8

Tk.2,099

Source: Secondary b.

Terms and Conditions: • Installment money will be deducted automatically from the customer's account after each 30 days.

• 1st installment will start after 30 days of first call • Connection will be deactivated in case of shortfall in balance during the installment payment.

• • •

This offer is valid for all Pre-Paid connections.

No guarantee or post-dated check is required for buying the connection.

Two color photographs are required for purchasing the connection.

c.

Pre-Paid M2M plus. Banglalink Pre-Paid M2M Plus is a unique product to suit people'sn need.

Pre-Paid M2M Plus gives: • •

Mobile to mobile (incoming and outgoing) facility and T&T incoming facility

T&T incoming rate: • 1st minute free • Tk.1.00/30 second in peak and Tk.0.50/15 second in off peak hour.

The offer is lowest one in Bangladesh. A customer can get a SIM with a handset only by 2500 tk only. The remaining money will be given by 5 installments.

6.

High value PCO. A subscriber has to buy eight connections to be a high value user. It needs 200,000 tk to buy those eight lines. Moreover, the subscriber has to pay minimum this amount. It seems to be a restriction for the customer. But he/she get the lower tariff rate facility. He gets the facility to talk at only 1.5 tk/m. Furthermore, every second pulse is applicable for his business.

7.

PCO (Public call offer).

Customer has a restriction to pay the bill of tk.

7763 with VAT in every month. Here, he gets 3250 minute free in this amount. The call rate is tk.2.39 per minute. Call rate reduces at tk.2.30 above this minute. Moreover, 30 second puls system is applicable from first minute.

8.

CU (Commercial User).

It is a new package for the business. The PCO subscribers are automatically migrated to this package in the first day of the new month. Call rate is 2.30 tk/m at a flat rate. No restriction is given as free minute system.

But a customer has to make use of tk.3000 in every month. A customer has to pay tk.250 as line rent.

9.

Bundle and Other Packages.

There are three type of bundle. Every bundle has four types of connection. Those are briefly described below.

Table 6: Bundle and Other Packages Monthly Bundle Free Monthly Fee Package Name Call Facility (without Credit Limit Minute VAT) (On-net & Offnet airtime) Banglalink 200 M2M 650 650 200 minutes Banglalink 200 M2M plus 700 700 200 minutes M2M + T&T Banglalink 200 750 1,500 200 minutes Local, NWD M2M + T&T Banglalink 200 750 2,500 200 minutes Local, NWD, ISD Banglalink 350 M2M 950 950 350 minutes

Banglalink 350 Banglalink 350 Banglalink 350 Banglalink 600 Banglalink 600 Banglalink 600 Banglalink 600

M2M plus M2M + T&T Local, NWD M2M + T&T Local, NWD, ISD M2M M2M plus M2M + T&T Local, NWD M2M + T&T Local, NWD, ISD

1,000

1,000

350 minutes

1,050

1,500

350 minutes

1,050

2,500

350 minutes

1,350 1,400

1,350 1,400

600 minutes 600 minutes

1,450

1,500

600 minutes

1,450

2,500

600 minutes

Source: Secondary 10.

Black and Orange (1200). The rate of this package is given below.

Table7: Rate of black and orange package CALL TYPE

Outgoing call Incoming call

SMS

Source: Secondary

Peak Hour (8:00 - 20:00)

Off Peak Hour (20:00 - 23:00) 1st 30 sec. 1.13 then 0.57/15 sec.

1st 30 sec. 1.13 then 0.57/15 sec.

1st 30 sec. 1.13 then 0.57/15 sec. + T&T charge Free 1st Minute Free then 1.00/30 sec.

M2M (Banglalink to 1st 30 sec. 1.74 Banglalink) then 0.87/15sec.

M2M (Banglalink to 1st 30 sec. 1.74 others) then 0.87/15sec.

M2 T&T 1st 30 sec. 1.74 then 0.87/15sec. + T&T charge M2M Free From T&T 2M 1st Minute Free then 1.00/30 sec.

SMS to Banglalink 1.00/message SMS to Others operators 1.75/Message SMS to Push Pull service 2.00/Message SMS to International 2.00/Message SMS to Premium service 9.00/message VMS retrieval 1st 30 sec. 1.13 1st 30 sec. 1.74 then 0.57/15 then 0.87/15sec. sec.

Call Conference As per out going call

Late Night Hour (23:00 - 8:00) 1st 30 sec. 0.48 then 0.24/15 sec.

1st 30 sec. 0.74 then 0.37/15 sec.

1st 30 sec. 0.74 then 0.37/15 sec. + T&T charge Free 1st Minute Free then 0.50/30 sec.

1st 30 sec. 0.48 then 0.24/15 sec.

11.

Professional. It is an offer for professional like doctor, engineer and other service holder. Banglalink made a relationship with Eastern Bank Limited to launch this offer. Those who have a bank account like short term deposit or fixed deposit can gat this package. The connection is like call & control. If any body use then he will pay. No use no pay. No line rent is required for this package.

D.

Value added services • • • • • • • • • • • •

Voice Mail Service (VMS) Short Messaging Service (SMS) Ring Tone Download Logo Download SMS (Text, Quotes & Jokes, Cricket update, Horoscope, Emergency ...)

Conference Call Ring Tones SMSemail SMSadda Picture Messages International SMS Song Dedication

1.

Instant Recharge (i-Top from Banglalink).

Subscribers can just register with Banglalink i'top-up. i'top-up is the easy to use service that lets a subscriber transfer in an instant any balance amount starting from as low as Tk. 10 and up to Tk. 150 from your phone to that of another.

2.

Registration.

To transfer balance, first register by sending the SMS breg to 4242.

Now you are registered. You will receive an SMS that will contain a PIN number and confirm registration. The PIN is important to remember for future balance transfer transactions.

3.

Balance Transfer.

A registered subscriber can then transfer balance by simply writing btr, followed by the PIN number, the mobile to which the balance is to be transferred, and the amount that is to be transferred. A subscriber just needs to be registered once.

As an example, if your PIN is 1234, and you want to send Tk 100 to 0191184436, you will have to write and send SMS to 4242.

After a successful transfer, both sender and recipient will receive confirmatory messages.

One can get detailed information about i'top-up by writing help and sending to 4242.

4.

Validity Period.

• •

•

Any amount that is transferred with i'top-up carries a validity period of two days.

However, if a customer already had some validity in his account, then the higher of the two validities (his own validity and the 2 day validity from balance transfer) will remain applicable.

A deactive subscriber can receive balance and get 2 days validity

5.

Banglalink i-bubble.

Banglalink launches for the first time in Bangladesh i'bubble (Voice message). Through this service, Banglalink customers may send a message as Voice instead of text. Subscribers will be able to record voice messages and send it.

This will eliminate the typing interface problem used in text-based SMS and replace it with a fast and easy-to-use voice based interface. Moreover, it will overcome the language barrier of SMS. Service Charge Tk. 3/voice (excl. of VAT); * 2 minutes, voice recording & instruction. Tk. 3 for each 2 minutes. * Voice messages can be sent to other operators.

6. T-adda.

First time ever on a Pre-Paid Connection T-adda: talk with your friends together…wherever, whenever T-adda (Conference Call) service enables Banglalink's prepaid and postpaid subscribers to call more than one person in one call (including the initiator) at the same time. All the parties in a conference call will be connected together and they can talk to each other through the party originating the call.

Who will benefit from the service?

Businessmen, professionals and even regular users are benefited from the service for better communication and time management.

How to make a conference call?

1. Make a call, 2. While the first call is on the line, dial second number.

3. After connecting to the second number you can join both numbers together by doing the following; a. Press the button 3 and press on dial, to join the caller on hold and start conference call.

4. To add additional numbers to your conference call (more than 5), follow steps 2 to 3.

7.

• •

No registration or application required.

Enjoy T-adda with Banglalink and other network.

•

Charge/fees: Normal airtime rate apply for each of the T-adda calls separately.

•

Maximum number of persons who can be connected by T-adda is 5-10 depending on the handset model.

International SMS.

Currently Banglalink covers 640 operators in 171 countries

Charges : • Sending an International SMS costs you only Tk. 2.00 per SMS + 15% VAT • International SMS service is available to all (Postpaid and prepaid) Banglalink subscribers.

• Receiving International SMS is absolutely FREE. • No activation fee is required for availing International SMS. 8.

Logo

Banglalink phone offers to Customize the mobile with a unique logo reflecting one’s style.

Operator logos are currently available for Nokia and Siemens handsets.

LOGO

Table 8:

The Logo’s

Nokia Code

Siemens Code

Send to

oplogo 1053

oplogo 101053

444

oplogo 1054

oplogo 101054

444

oplogo 1055

oplogo 101055

444

oplogo 1056

oplogo 101056

444

oplogo 1057

oplogo 101057

444

oplogo 1058

oplogo 101058

444

oplogo 1059

oplogo 101059

444

oplogo 1060

oplogo 101060

444

BANGLALINK

Source: Secondary 9.

Picture Message.

A banglalink subscriber using Nokia hand set can send picture message through banglalink network to any operator. The picture message are available in four broad heads:

   

EMOTION MISC ROMANCE VALENTINE

Some examples are given below: Picture Message

Code

Send to

1001

444

1002

444

1007

444

1008

444

1009

444

1031

444

1036

444

1037

444

EMOTION

MISC

ROMANCE

VALENTINE

10.

Short Messaging Service. Short Message Service (SMS) is a value added service where one can send message via text. You can share your feelings; memorable events with another Banglalink mobile without making any phone call. SMS allows you to send and receive text messages from your own Banglalink mobile handset to any other Banglalink mobile handset. The highest characters of any message are 160.

SMS Advantages     

Easy to Send Cost Effective No Activation charge No Monthly charge No Incoming charge

11 Song Dedication Over IVR. Banglalink launches for the first time in Bangladesh Song

dedication service over IVR (Interactive Voice Response). Through this service, Banglalink customers may dial a short number 4226, select a song from the list of available category of songs and send it to another number immediately or in a specific time and date. A customer may also add his (her) personal voice message to be sent with the song. Currently available songs are: 1. Bangla songs I. Band songs (L.R.B., Nagarbaul, Miles, Artcell…etc) II. Modern songs (Habib, Mousumi bhoumik, Akbar…etc) III. Love songs (Bachelor, Winning, Khaled…etc) IV. Instrumental (Ai mon tomake, Jechelo…etc) V. Special occasion songs (Holud bato, Bangladesh…etc) 2. English songs I. Rock & POP songs (Bonjovi, Back street boys, JLo…etc) II. Reggae songs (Bob Marley, UB 40…etc) III. Love songs (Chris de Burgh, Leo Sayer, Jone Danver, Lobo…etc) IV. Instrumental & Jazz songs (Kenny G , Billy Stuart, Fourplay…etc ) V. Special occasion songs (George Harrison, Spice Girls…etc) 3. Hindi songs I. Film & Modern songs (KK, Jisam, Dhoom…etc) II. Gazzal & Classic (Kishor Kumar, Pankaj, Lata…etc ) III. Love songs (RHTDM, Lucky Ali, DDLG…etc ) IV. Instrumental (Rangela, Roja, Taal…etc) V. Special occasion songs (Viva, Models…etc) Call Rates: Tk. 9/min. (excluding VAT); Dedication FREE, charges apply for browsing only.

E. CCD (Customer Care Department) Customer Service Introduction Banglalink Customer Service Center (CSC) offers a dedicated 24 / 7 service to answer all your queries. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. Any queries you may have about: • subscribing for a new connection • any form of account information • coverage details • product information • value added services etc Customers can call to the following numbers: 1. From their Banglalink number: 121 (free for postpaid subscriber) 2. From PSTN: 02 988 8370-1 or 02 986 2324-6 Banglalink CSC is devoted to make certain that all your queries are answered without delay, serving for your convenience.

Address of Customer Care Centers

Dhaka 1. Rangs Arcade, Gulshan North C/A, Dhaka1212 2. Shapla Chottor, Motijheel Chittagong Lalkhan BazarCDA Avenue, Chittagong 4000 Sylhet Level 03, Liakat Bhavan, Jallarpar, Zindabazar, Sylhet 3100 III.

INTRODUCTION OF THE PROJECT

B.

Background

Bangladesh is an attractive market for mobile services due to its large and highly concentrated population, very low penetration of telecommunications services, and high growth in mobile subscribers. With approximately 140 million inhabitants, it ranks as the eighth most populous country in the world and is among the most densely populated. Regarding the Banglalink launch, Mr. Naguib Sawiris, Chairman and CEO of OTH noted, “Bangladesh is well suited for OTH’s ongoing expansion into emerging markets, and their preparation for the challenges of providing top quality services nationwide is solid. They are confident that Banglalink will repeat the success story of Mobilink in Pakistan” C.

Management Problem

Intelligent and rigorous attempts are required to identify customer’s preferences in mobile industry. Marketers have to predict the intention of customers to various attempts. Research can provide the necessary information to the marketers. That’s why the intern is going to conduct a research, how the strategies worked and which strategy will work better in future. Moreover, the intern will try to bring the preference between pre-paid and post paid services and among prepaid services.

D.

Research Problem

The research problem is to identify the reason why customer’s preferences vary among various packages and which marketing strategy persuades them intensely.

E. Problem Statement An Analysis of Integrated Marketing Strategy of the Packages so far Conducted and of near Future by Banglalink F. Scope The research is limited within Dhaka and some specific packages.

G. Limitation The research might have following limitations:  In this survey, convenient probability sampling is carried out and the proportion of respondent is very low in comparison with more than 9 (nine) lack subscribers.

 Banglalink launched more than 33 packages. Most of them were under Small and Medium Entrepreneur (SME) package. Moreover, most of the business package (SME) were failed to fulfill the target. That’s why the packages were withdrawn from the market. So, the scope of the researcher is limited to some successful packages like regular package, ladies first, be-linked, PCO.  Shortage of time is one of the limitations of the research. If more time would be available, the research findings could be more exact and precise.

H. Exploratory Research The exploratory research has carried out to define the problem more precisely through different techniques of the exploratory research like Experience Study and Secondary Data analysis. Moreover, a small scale survey has been conducted to get accurate and precious information of research topics. Furthermore, it helps to identify the course of action, to develop the hypothesis and also notice the major factors of the research problem so that the ultimate purpose is filled up. During this research phase, some of the target personnel have been selected with the help of some respondents who have some initial information and links with them. Some specific questions have been asked in a very modest manner at non-structured and non-disguised questioning.

Questionnaires are prepared after discussion with some researchers and some related research study.

Moreover the questions have limited to some packages. Banglalink launched more than 33 packages. The packages that were launched under SME were failed in most of the cases. As a result, the packages were withdrawn from the market. So the researcher worked on only following packages.



“Ladies First” Pre-paid: "Ladies first" is the exclusive Banglalink offer that specifically focuses on women, and makes their lives easier, efficient and comfortable.

It offers lowest peak and off peak tariff, one FnF numbers, a substantial number of VAS etc. This package was one of the most successful packages which make banglalink highly competitive in the market.



“Be-Linked” Pre-paid: It offers lowest peak-hour rate to other networks at Tk. 2.20/30 sec, one FnF numbers, off-pick facility under “Your Morning” facility and a substantial number of VAS etc. Call rate of be-linked is lowest in the country.



“Upper Class” Post Paid: With Call & Control, the newest package from upper class, one can get the ideal combination of a post-paid connection with pre-paid control and flexibility. It offers lowest monthly line rent in the market and unlimited validity period.Value added services can be enjoyed at lower upper class rates and there are offpeak rates for peak hours on Fridays. Upper class has many options like Upper class 200, 300, 600 and 1200.



P.C.O.(Public Call Office): This is the package for the busenessman. It offers a flat rate of Tk. 2.00/min. Banglalink captured huge market to the SME businessman. It earns 2.5 million in the month of November only from this package. SME business men demand more facility from banglalink. That’s why new package CU (commercial user) is launched in December.

1.

Checklist.

Check list is one of the main tools for asking relevant questions to collect the primary data. It will help to define the problem statement precisely. As the preliminary research is unstructured, the checklist will guide the researcher to conduct the research in a very systematic way by identifying the problem precisely.

Check list for management:

   

Marketing strategy of packages Which one get priority among tariff, cost, VAS About i- pack About PCO

Check list for customers:



SIM Cost, lower tariff rate, pulse, which one they

want.

    2.

Why prefer Ladies First Why prefer Be – linked Which one prefer (Ladies First / Be- linked) About PCO

Exploratory Research Findings  Regular package: It is the first package offered by banglalink. Price of this package was Tk. 3400.Following things were given by banglalink with that package. Management persuaded customers by providing hand set with connection at lowest market rate. Value added services like 100 SMS were given free with that package. Most of the management personnel responded that lowest price influenced customers to buy this package.

This Regular package got huge attraction from subscribers because they got a hand set with lowest price. Many customers did not use their SIM but they bought the package only for handset. It seems that banglalink’s strategy was failed. But the management told that they were highly successful. The brand got its familiarity by this package. Now people are willing to activate the SIM with lowest tariff. Management are getting the feedback from CCC (Customer Care Center) that customers are coming to activate the old SIM that they got with first package.  I-pack: Government imposed tax on every SIM. It is 900 tk. on every SIM. So the purchase cost is more and consumers need a fixed amount which is hard to pay. The management of banglalink makes it easier by initiating installment system. A consumer can buy a SIM by 300tk only in installment system. Rest of the money will be paid by installment.

• Installment money will be deducted automatically from the customer's account after each 30 days.

• 1st installment will start after 30 days of first call • Connection will be deactivated in case of shortfall in balance during the installment payment.

• This offer is valid for all Pre-Paid connections.

•

Now 3 installment has been removed because the SIM of ladies first and be- linked is only tk.300.

Management claimed that the installment system helped to increase the sales.

When consumers are worried about the higher payment for tax, the installment system made it easier to buy a SIM.  Ladies First: Management personnel of banglalink thought that lower SIM cost; lower call rate and FnF are the main causes to increase the banglalink subscribers. It is the most successful package of banglalink in regard of bringing attention of customers. People were highly attracted to this package and its sales are increasing day by day.  Be-linked: It’s a new offer and got huge attraction to the customers. Belinked is launched by the tag line –Misti Komola. Orange was distributed at the first day to the inhabitants of the Dhaka city. Lower call rate, lower SIM cost and value added services are the main causes to sell be-linked SIM. In view of management of banglalink, be-linked helped banglalink to retain the attraction of customers where Ladies first helped to create the appeal. Now people can buy the SIM of banglalink only by 132tk. lowest call rate and other facility of be-linked helped banglalink to increase its subscribers rapidly.  Upper class: It is for post –paid customers. They feel somewhat status to use the package.

Bundled minutes packages: tailor made bundles of 200 minutes, 350 minutes or 600 minutes, where you can change your bundles according to your needs and the pricing per minute is as low as tk. 2.25.

Huge amount of subscribers of banglalink use post paid connection because of lower call rate. It is a reverse picture of our country. Because other operators have maximum subscribers on pre-paid connection. Again 5 minutes T&T incoming free is also got huge attraction of subscribers.  (Public Call Office) PCO Package: The most successful service of banglalink is PCO package. Main portion of revenue comes from this package.

Other mobile operator mimics this package and banglalink face some challenge in this business package. Management now going to launch new PCO with more facility.

- A customer can deposit Tk. 10000 or 20000 or more. He can use or call up to security deposit.

- A customer gets 3250 minute in every month which price is Tk. 7763 with 15% VAT - Call rate is tk.2.38 per minute within this limit.

- If he/she use more than 3250 minute then the rate is tk.2.30/minute.  Customers have huge expectation on banglalink. They want network facility, minimum cost and various VAS (Value Added Services). They also give a lot to the banglalink. The subscriber of banglalink is 1 million within only 10 month. It is a record in Bangladesh

 Future Strategy: Banglalink have a plan to achieve two million subscribers by the end of June 2006. They are trying to provide new packages that will attract the customers. In February 2006, they will offer another new pre-paid package. They are expecting this package will increase the sales volume in a big amount.

The strategy of door to door selling is extremely successful. They will emphasize on this strategy.

They also want to be more customer responsive. That’s why they are establishing customer care center in different districts. To be more customer responsive, banglalink will establish 100 bangla points all over the country as soon as possible.

I.

Secondary Data Analysis

The data, used to prepare the report, has been collected from the internal data base system of Banglalink. The Management of Banglalink also helped in this purpose. The leaflets, various magazines also assisted in this purpose. Moreover, the website is rich enough to provide necessary information. But the data are changing regularly.

Therefore, the intern has taken a time-line to conduct the research.

J.

Research Objectives

1.

Broad Objective The broad objective of the project is to analyze and identify the success and failure of various marketing strategy for packages and preferences of customers in different packages.

2.

Specific Objective • • • • • •

To determine which marketing strategy is extremely effective.

To determine whether customers treat call rate to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM. To determine whether subscribers use ‘Ladies First’ because of lower call rate.

To identify whether the subscribers use ‘Be Linked’ because of lower call rate.

To determine that Ladies First and Be Linked are equally preferable To determine the scope of business packages to the customers.

3.

Research Questions Questionnaire (To the Management) 1) Which factor you emphasize more to attract the customer? a. SIM Cost b. Lower tariff rate c. Network d. VAS e. Availability of the product Justification: This question will reveal the preference of the management to persuade the consumers. An answer of specific objective one will be acquired from this answer.

2) Which strategy you have exercised for regular package?

Justification: This question will reveal the attitude of the management of how they wanted to get access in market. This will answer the specific objective one.

3) What marketing strategies you have taken for Ladies First Package?

Justification: The answer of this question will disclose the strategy for the Ladies First package. This question will also reveal whether the market segment (Ladies) is properly done or not. This will also justify the specific objective three.

4) Do you think the product - Upper class – is competitive in the market? Is it successful?

Justification: This question will reveal the information whether the organization policy of banglalink was matched with the marketing strategy not.

5) Do you think the business package (PCO line) is a successful one? If yes, then what is the magic behind its success?

Justification: The answer will help to determine the special package for SME (small and medium entrepreneurs) subscribers is successful or not. This will also justify the specific objective six.

6) What steps have you taken to increase the market share of banglalink and what have you decided to take in future?

Justification: This question will lead to identify the steps taken by the management to increase the market share of banglalink. The answer of the question will also find the future steps from the management side to take in maintaining the growth opportunity of the telecommunication sector in future. This is related to specific objective one.

Questionnaire (To the Customers) 1) Why do you prefer the SIM of bangla link?

Justification: The answer of the question will detect the intrinsic demand of customers.

2) Why do you prefer “Ladies First”?

Justification: Here the respondent has given to choose from some options. The answer of the question will identify why customers prefer “Ladies First” package. This will also answer the specific objective three.

3) Why do you prefer “Be-linked (Misti komola)”?

Justification: Here the respondent has given to choose from some options. The answer of the question will identify why customers prefer “Be Linked” package. The specific objective four will be justified by this the answer.

4) If you are given to migrate to “Ladies First” or “Be linked”, which one will be your first choice?

Justification: The answer of the question will determine the preference between two successful prepaid packages of banglalink. Specific objective five will be justified by the answer.

5) If you are a PCO user, what facility you want in future?

Justification: PCO was a successful package for banglalink. But now the PCO users are struggling to survive in the market. To determine which facility banglalink should provide to the PCO users, this answer of this question will be useful. Specific objective six will be justified by the answer.

4. Hypothesis Formulation Hypothesis # 1 Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 65% of the management personnel treat lower call rate to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 65% of the management personnel do not treat tariff to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM. Hypothesis # 2 Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 75% of the consumers treat tariff to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 75% of the consumers do not treat tariff to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM. Hypothesis # 3 Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 70% of the subscribers use ‘Ladies First’ because of lower call rate.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 70% of the subscribers do not use ‘Ladies First’ because of lower call rate.

Hypothesis # 4 Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 75% of the subscribers use ‘Be Linked’ because of lower call rate.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 75% of the subscribers do not use ‘Be Linked’ because of lower call rate.

Hypothesis # 5 Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, Ladies First and Be Linked are equally preferable.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, Ladies First and Be Linked are not equally preferable.

Hypothesis # 6 Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 80% of the PCO subscribers think that call rate must be reduced to survive in the market to do business.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 80% of the PCO subscribers think that call rate must not be reduced to survive in the market to do business.

K. Benefits of the Study The importance of this research paper can’t be measured by any scale. This research paper can assist in various ways. Firstly, the acquired knowledge in all over MBA program is implemented in the research activities. Moreover, this paper searched for the reasons how banglalink achieved a higher growth in telecommunication sector, which marketing strategy helps them to reach in to the mind of the subscribers.

L.

Research Methodology

The research objective guides what should be the research methodology. The research will begin with the exploratory research of various types like the experience study, secondary data analysis and the depth interview. Before that the target population and sampling method, sample size will be determined. The data collected from exploratory research, therefore, will be investigated to formulate some hypothesis, which will be tested to reach in a decision as the part of the conclusive research.

1.

Target Population. The target population can be identified very simply because the users of banglalink SIM can be easily found. Management of banglalink who related to determine the marketing strategy and the subscribers are the target population of this research.

2.

Sampling Method.

The sampling method will be non- probability sampling because the research will focus on the management who are directly related with the service. In this case the sampling technique will be judgmental sampling so that researcher can easily form a convenient sampling from the population elements because the researcher believes that the sample element will be the right representative of the population. The customers are taken conveniently in the Motijheel customers care. a.

Sample Size Determination Sample size for customers. In determining the sample size, the following formula has been used:

(

n = z 2 × p × q × N ÷ e 2 × ( N − 1) + z 2 * p * q

)

Where, n = number of items in sample; Z = confidence level in standard error units; p = estimated proportion of successes; q = (1 - p), or proportion of failures; e = proportion of maximum allowance for error between the true proportion and sample proportion; N = Population size Sample size for the customers: The total population of the Ladies First Package is 1,000,000. Assuming a simple random sample that 50 percent of the respondents (p) could response and with 80 percent confidence level (Z = 1.28) and that the sampling error will not be greater than 20 percent, the calculated sample size for a finite population of 1,000,000 becomes 40.

Sample size for Ladies First package: The total population of the Ladies First Package is 300,000. Assuming a simple random sample that 50 percent of the respondents (p) could response and with 80 percent confidence level (Z = 1.28) and that the sampling error will not be greater than 20 percent, the calculated sample size for a finite population of 300,000 becomes 10. But for the perfection of the research the researcher took the sample size 30.

Sample size for Be-linked package: The total population of the Be-linked Package is 250,000. Assuming a simple random sample that 50 percent of the respondents (p) could response and with 80 percent confidence level (Z = 1.28) and that the sampling error will not be greater than 20 percent, the calculated sample size for a finite population of 250,000 becomes 10. But for the perfection of the research the researcher took the sample size 30.

Sample size for Upper class package: The total population of the Upper class package is 20,000. Assuming a simple random sample that 50 percent of the respondents (p) could response and with 80 percent confidence level (Z = 1.28) and that the sampling error will not be greater than 20 percent, the calculated sample size for a finite population of 20,000 becomes 10. But for the perfection of the research the researcher took the sample size 30.

Sample size for PCO package: The total population of the Be-linked Package is 15,000. Assuming a simple random sample that 50 percent of the respondents (p) could response and with 80 percent confidence level (Z = 1.28) and that the sampling error will not be greater than 20 percent, the calculated sample size for a finite population 15,000 becomes 10. But for the perfection of the research the researcher took the sample size 30.

Sample size for management. In determining the sample size, the following formula has been used:

(

n = z 2 × p × q × N ÷ e 2 × ( N − 1) + z 2 * p * q

)

Where, n = number of items in sample; Z = confidence level in standard error units; p = estimated proportion of successes; q = (1 - p), or proportion of failures; e = proportion of maximum allowance for error between the true proportion and sample proportion; N = Population size For the population of marketing and sales personnel, the population size as collected from the company is 120. Assuming a simple random sample that 50 percent of the respondents (p) could response and with 80 percent confidence level (Z = 1.28) and that the sampling error will not be greater than 20 percent, the calculated sample size for a finite population of 120, becomes 30.72 which is equivalent to 31.Here it is taken 30 by researcher.

3.

Data Collection Method. The data was collected through direct questionnaire to the management and to the customers. The questions to the management are open ended and customers told their preference and likings through close-ended question.

4.

QuestionnaireQuestionnaires are designed to collect the basic information that is directly related to the research problem. The questions are unstructured in case of exploratory research of the research problem. The structured questionnaires are designed to test the hypothesis in case of conclusive research. The open-ended questions of the exploratory research enable the respondents to express general attitude and opinion regarding the problem. These unstructured questions also will help to develop the structured question in the conclusive part of the research. a.

Pretest.

The testing of the questionnaire on a small sample of respondents is very important to identify and eliminate potential problems. The best questionnaires have been improved by this pre-testing. The questionnaires are pre-tested by consulting some of the management personnel and customers.

b.

Finalizing the Questionnaires. After the pretest, the final questionnaires will be prepared. There are two sets of separate questionnaires for the management and customers. Questionnaires are made in English but the interviews, in some cases, will be conducted in Bengali. The answers of the respondents are listened carefully and main points are written down.

M.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

1.

Objective -1. To determine which marketing strategy is extremely effective.

Related Question 1. Question number 1 is directly related to the objective. The question was which factor you emphasize more to attract the customers? Here the respondent was given to choice from four following alternatives.  SIM Cost  Lower Call rate  Network  VAS (value added services  Availability of the product Collected Data.

Table 9: Collected data from management that persuade customer Items

Frequency

SIM cost Lower call rate

3 21

Network

5

VAS(value added services)

1

Availability of the product

0

Source: Primary Source Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is obvious that out of 30 respondent 3 prefer SIM cost, 21 prefer lower call rate. Network is preferred by 5 personnel. Where VAS is prioritize by only 1 personnel.

Figure 1. Management’s preference to persuade customers

Management preference to persuade customer

VAS 3%

Availability of the product 0%

Netw ork 17%

SIM cost 10% Low er call rate 70%

Source. Primary Interpretation.

From the graph and data it is easily claimed that 10 percent think that customer buy SIM because of its lower cost. But maximum of the respondent, 70 percent likes to influence the customers by lower call rate. 17 percent thinks that network facility should be most important factor to influence the customers.

Moreover, Question no. 2 to 7 is also related to the objective 1. The researcher wanted to reveal the thought of management personnel about various marketing strategy of packages by asking those questions. Those responses are elaborated and interpreted below.

Related Question 2. Question no. 2 was, if you think Regular package is a successful package, how you have made it? Respondent had to choice from following options.  SIM and hand set at lowest cost.  Lower Call rate by providing free minute  Availability of network  VAS Collected Data.

Table 10. Responses of management about regular package Items Frequency SIM and hand set at lowest cost.

16

Lower Call rate by providing free minute

11

Network

3

VAS(value added services)

0

Source: Primary Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is obvious that out of 30 respondent 16 thinks lowest cost of hand set and SIM persuades to buy banglalink SIM. 11 of the respondents told about lower call rate by free minute in banglalink to banglalink.

Figure 2. How regular package was made successful

How regular package got its success Network Facility 10%

VAS 0% SIM and hand set at lowest cost 53%

Lower call rate 37%

Source: Primary Interpretation.

From the graph and data it can be easily claimed that 53 percent of the management personnel thinks SIM and hand set at lowest cost influenced the customers to buy a banglalink SIM. 37 percent told about the lower call rate where a subscriber could talk 55 minutes free with another banglalink subscriber.

Related Question 3. Question no. 4 was, Which Marketing strategies have influenced the customers to buy “Ladies First” Package? Respondents had to choose from following alternatives.  Lower SIM Cost  Lower Call rate  Lower call rate at 12pm – 3pm (tk 3 to all operator)  Lower call rate at 11pm -7am(tk. 1.96 to all operator)  Network  VAS (value added services like FnF, i-top, i- voucher)  Effective promotional effort Collected Data.

ItemsTable 11. Responses of management about Ladies Frequency first Lower SIM Cost

customer

6

Lower Call rate than other operator Lower call rate at 12pm – 3pm (tk 3 to all operator)

4 6

Lower call rate at 11pm -7am(tk. 1.96 to all operator)

4

Network facility

0

VAS (value added services like FnF, i-top, i- voucher)

6

Effective promotional effort

4

Source. Primary Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is obvious that out of 30 respondents, lower SIM cost, lower call rate at 12 to 3 pm., and VAS is equally preferred by the management personnel. In every category, six of the respondents told about those reasons. Lower call rate than other operator is the reason for the success of Ladies first, it was told by four of the respondents. Effective promotional effort is a good reason for increasing sales. It was told by four of the respondents.

Figure 3. Responses of management about Ladies first

Management response about Ladies first

VAS (value added services like FnF, i-top, ivoucher) 20%

Netw ork facility 0% Low er call rate at 11pm -7am(tk.

1.96 to all operator) 13%

Effective promotional effort 13%

Low er SIM Cost 21% Low er Call rate than other operator 13% Low er call rate at 12pm – 3pm (tk 3 to all operator) 20%

Source. Primary Interpretation.

From the Pie chart it can be told that management believe that lower SIM cost, lower call rate at 12pm – 3pm (tk 3 to all operator), VAS (value added

services like FnF, i-top, i- voucher) is most important factor that motivated the subscribers to buy a Ladies First SIM. Those three causes got equal response that is 20 percent. Effective promotional effort is a cause of success. 13 percent of the respondents told about that. Moreover, lower Call rate than other operator is a significant reason that persuaded the subscribers to buy a Ladies first SIM. It was told by 13 percent of the respondent.

Related Question. Question no. 6 was, Which Marketing strategies have influenced the customers to buy “Be- linked” Package?  Lower SIM Cost  Lower Call rate than other operator  Lower call rate at 7 am – 10am  Lower call rate at 11pm -7am  Network  VAS (value added services like FnF, i-top, i- voucher)  Effective promotional effort Collected Data.

Table 12. Responses of management about Be-linked Items

Frequency

Lower SIM Cost

5

Lower Call rate than other operator Lower call rate at 7am. – 10am (tk 3 to all operator)

4 7

Lower call rate at 11pm -7am(tk. 1.96 to all operator)

3

Network facility

0

VAS (value added services like FnF, i-top, i- voucher)

4

Effective promotional effort Source. Primary

7

Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is obvious that out of 30 respondents, seven of the respondents told about effective promotional effort. Again, seven of the respondents told about lower call rate at 7am to 10 am. Lower SIM cost is a significant factor to but a SIM. It was told by five of the respondent. Lowest SIM cost plays a good motivational role to buy a SIM which was told by five of the respondents.

Figure 4. Responses of management about Be-linked

Managements response about Be-linked

Effective promotional effort 23%

Lower SIM Cost 17%

VAS (value added services like FnF, i-top, ivoucher) 13%

Network facility 0%

Lower call rate at 11pm 7am(tk. 1.96 to all operator) 10%

Lower Call rate than other operator 13%

Lower call rate at 7am. – 10am (tk 3 to all operator) 24%

Source. Primary Interpretation.

From the Pie chart it can be told that 24 percent of the management believes lower call rate at 7am to 10am plays a significant role to buy a Be-linked SIM. Then 23 percent of the management believes that effective promotional effort is a motivation to buy a Be-linked SIM. Moreover, 17 percent of the management personnel thought lower SIM cost is a key factor to buy a SIM. Related Question. Question no. 8 was, do you think the business package (PCO line) is a successful one? If yes, then what is the magic behind its success?  First available business package  Lower call rate  5 minutes T&T incoming free  30 sec pulse from First minute, then 15 sec pulse Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is evident that out of 30 respondents, twelve of the respondents told PCO is a first business package which was available for businessman. Many small entrepreneurs engaged in cell phone business

by PCO package. Then nine of the respondents told about lower call rate for its success.

Figure 5. Responses of management about PCO package

Management response about PCO 30 sec pulse from First minute, then 15 sec pulse) 13%

5 minutes T&T incoming free 17%

First available business package 40%

Lower Call rate 30%

Source: Primary Interpretation.

From the Pie chart it can be told that 40 percent of the management personnel think that first availability as a business package is the main factor to buy a PCO SIM. Then lower cal rate is an aspect to buy a PCO SIM, which was told by 30 percent of the respondents.

2.

Objective -2. To determine whether customers treat call rate to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM. Related Question. It was asked to the customers. Question number 2 is directly related to the objective. The question was why do you prefer the SIM of banglalink?  Lesser SIM Cost  Lower call Rate  Network  VAS (value added services)  15 Sec. Pulse  Others (please specify)… … … … …

Collected Data.

Table 14. Responses of customers about banglalink SIM Items Lesser SIM Cost Lower call rate Network facility VAS(value added services) 15 Sec. Pulse Others (please specify)… … … … …

Source. Primary

Frequency 18 96 0 3 3 0

Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is obvious that out of 120 respondent 18 prefer because of lesser SIM cost, 96 prefer because of lower call rate.

Figure 6: Responses of customers about banglalink SIM Why customers prefer banglalink SIM 15 Sec. Pulse 2.5%

Others 0%

Netw ork f acility 0% Lesser SIM Cost 15% VAS(value added services) 2.5%

Low er call rate 80%

Source.Primary Interpretation.

From the graph and data it is easily claimed that 15 percent customer buy SIM because of its lower cost. But maximum of the respondent, 80 percent likes to buy banglalink SIM because of its lower call rate 3.

Objective -3. To determine whether subscribers use ‘Ladies First’ because of lower call rate.

Related Question. It was asked to the customers. Question number 4(a) is directly related to the objective. The question was why do you prefer “Ladies First”?  Lower SIM Cost  Lower Call Rate  Pulse system  FnF facility  Lower rate at Off peak time Collected Data.

Table 15. Responses of customers about Ladies first Items

Frequency

Lesser SIM Cost

3

Lower call rate Pulse system

22 0

FnF facility

3

Lower rate at Off peak time

2

Source. Primary

Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is obvious that out of 30 respondents, twenty two of the respondents favor Ladies first SIM because of its lower call rate. Three of them like because of its lower SIM cost.

Figure 7. Responses of customers about Ladies first

Why customers prefer ladies first

Low er rate at Off peak time 7%

Lesser SIM Cost 10%

FnF f acility 10%

Pulse system 0%

Low er call rate 73%

Source. Primary Interpretation.

From the graph and data it is easily claimed that 10 percent customer buy Ladies first SIM because of its lower cost. But maximum of the respondent, 73 percent likes to buy banglalink SIM because of its lower call rate.

Again question no. 4(b) is related to this objective. The question was, is the reduced call rate at 12 to 3 pm extremely useful for you? 80 percent of the customers told that it is extremely useful for them.

4.

Objective -4. To identify whether the subscribers use ‘Be Linked’ because of lower call rate.

Related Question. It was asked to the customers. Question number 5 a) Why do you prefer “Be-linked (Misti komola)”?  Lesser SIM Cost  Lowest Call Rate  Pulse system  FnF facility  Lower call rate at off peak time

Collected Data.Table 16: Responses of customers about Be-linked Items Lesser SIM Cost Lower call rate Pulse system FnF facility Lower rate at Off peak time Source. Primary

Frequency 3 23 0 2 2

Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is obvious that out of 30 respondents, twenty three of the respondents favor Be-linked SIM because of its lower call rate. Three of them like because of its lower SIM cost.

Figure 8. Responses of customers about Be-linked

Why customers buy be linked

Pulse system 0%

FnF facility 7%

Lower rate at Off peak time 7%

Lesser SIM Cost 10%

Lower call rate 76%

Source.Primary Interpretation.

From the graph and data it is easily claimed that 10 percent customer buy Be-lined SIM because of its lower cost. But maximum of the respondent, 76 percent likes to buy banglalink Be-linked SIM because of its lower call rate.

5.

Objective -5. To determine that Ladies First and Be Linked are equally preferable Related Question. It was asked to the customers. Question number 6 is related to this objective. The question was, If you are given to migrate to “Ladies First” or “Be linked”, which one will be your first choice? Please rank according to your choice. (1 for first choice and 2 for the second) Collected Data.

Table 17. Responses of customers about preference between ladies first and Be-linked Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is obvious that out of 40 respondents, twenty three of the respondents favor Be-linked. They ranked as 1.

Seventeen of the respondents ranked Ladies first as 1.

Figure 9: Responses of customers about preference between ladies first and Be-linked

Preference of Be-linked and Ladies First 25

23

20

23 17

17

15

Be- linked

10

Ladies first

5 0

1

2

Source: Primary Interpretation.

From the graph and data it is easily claimed that 57.5 percent customer prefer Be-linked as their first choice. Seventeen of the respondents rank belinked as 2.

6.

Objective -6. To determine the scope of business packages to the customers.

Related Question. It was asked to the customers. Question number 8 is related to this objective. If you are a PCO user, what facility you want in future?  Reduce free bundle from 3250 minutes  Lower tariff rate  Reduce pulse time from 1st minute  Introduce cash card to pay bill Collected Data.

Table 18. Responses of customers about PCO package Items Frequency Reduce free bundle from 3250 minutes 3 Lower call rate 24 st Reduce pulse time from 1 minute 0 Introduce cash card to pay bill 3 Source. Primary

Analysis Technique. Calculators are used to for arithmetic calculation and spreadsheet, statistical software are use to calculate the required value and to draw the Pi chart.

Findings.

From the frequency of the collected data, it is obvious that out of 30 respondents, twenty four of the respondents told that call rate must be reduced to survive in the market.

Figure 10. Responses of customers about PCO package

What is prefered by PCO users Introduce cash card to pay bill 10% Reduce pulse time from 1st minute 0%

Reduce free bundle from 3250 minutes 10%

Lower call rate 80%

Source. Primary Interpretation.

From the graph and data it is easily claimed that 80 percent of the PCO users demand to reduce the tariff rate to survive in the market. To introduce cash card was told by the 10 percent PCO subscribers.

N. Hypothesis Testing 1.

Hypothesis One Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 65% of the management personnel treat lower call rate to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 65% of the management personnel do not treat tariff to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM. Ho: p >= 0.65 H1: p < 0.65 And assuming the significance level, Îą = 0.05 In the survey, 30 management personnel were surveyed and found that the total 21 of them were complying with lower call rate.

Thus the value of sample proportion is, p = 21/30 = .70 P = 0.70

q = 0.30 n = 30, sample size The value of standard error of the proportion, σ p = √ {(p HO x q HO )/n} = √ {(.65 x .35)/30} = 0.0872 The test statistic z can be calculated as follows: Z = (p - pHo)/ σp = (.7 -.65)/.0872 = .574 Here the observed value of Z is .574 and from the table of normal distribution critical value of z is found at 95% confidence level, - 1.64 Since it is a one tailed test and the observed z value is within the accepted region, z (crit)-1.96 <z (ob) 0.574.Therefore the null hypothesis is accepted.

Figure 11: Illustration of Management personnel’s thought to persuade customers.

Accepted region

Rejected Region 0.45 area

z= -1.64

0.50 area

0.574

Source: Primary Thus, it is proved that at least 65% of the management personnel treat lower call rate to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM

2.

Hypothesis Two Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 75% of the consumers treat tariff to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 75% of the consumers do not treat tariff to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM. Ho: p >= 0.75 H1: p < 0.25 And assuming the significance level, α = 0.05 In the survey, 40 customers were surveyed and found that the total 31 of them were complying with lower call rate.

Thus the value of sample proportion is, p = 31/40 = .775 P = 0.775 q = 0.225 n = 40, sample size The value of standard error of the proportion, σ p = √ {(p HO x q HO )/n} = √ {(.75 x .25)/40} = 0.0684 The test statistic z can be calculated as follows: Z = (p - pHo)/ σp = (.775 -.75)/0.0684 =0.365 Here the observed value of Z is .365 and from the table of normal distribution critical value of z is found at 95% confidence level, - 1.64.

Since it is a one tailed test and the observed z value is within the accepted region, z (crit)-1.96 <z (ob) 0.365.Therefore the null hypothesis is accepted.

Figure 12: Illustration of Customer’s Preference to buy a banglalink SIM

Accepted region

Rejected Region 0.45 area

z= -1.64

0.50 area

0.365

Source: Primary Thus, it is proved that at least 75% of the customers prefer lower call rate to be one of the main considerations for purchasing banglalink SIM

3.

Hypothesis Three Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 70% of the subscribers use ‘Ladies First’ because of lower call rate.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 70% of the subscribers do not use ‘Ladies First’ because of lower call rate.

Ho: p >= 0.70 H1: p < 0.30 And assuming the significance level, α = 0.05 In the survey, 30 customers were surveyed and found that the total were complying with lower call rate.

Thus the value of sample proportion is, p = 22/30 = .73 P = 0.73 q = 0.27 n = 30, sample size The value of standard error of the proportion, σ p = √ {(p HO x q HO )/n} = √ {(.70 x .30)/30} = 0.0837

22 of them

The test statistic z can be calculated as follows: Z = (p - pHo)/ σp = (.73 -.70)/0.0837 =.358 Here the observed value of Z is .358 and from the table of normal distribution critical value of z is found at 95% confidence level, - 1.96.

Since it is a one tailed test and the observed z value is within the accepted region, z (crit)-1.64 <z (ob) 0.358.Therefore the null hypothesis is accepted.

Figure 13: Illustration of Customer’s preference to buy ladies first SIM

Accepted region

Rejected Region 0.45 area

z= -1.64

0.50 area

0.358

Source: Primary Thus, it is proved that at least 70% of the customers prefer lower call rate to be one of the main considerations for purchasing a Ladies first SIM 4.

Hypothesis Four

Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 75% of the subscribers use ‘Be Linked’ because of lower call rate.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 75% of the subscribers do not use ‘Be Linked’ because of lower call rate.

Ho: p >= 0.75 H1: p < 0.25 And assuming the significance level, α = 0.05 In the survey, 30 customers were surveyed and found that the total 23 of them were complying with lower call rate.

Thus the value of sample proportion is,

p = 23/30 = .76 P = 0.76 q = 0.24 n = 30, sample size The value of standard error of the proportion, σ p = √ {(p HO x q HO )/n} = √ {(.75 x .25)/30} =0.079The test statistic z can be calculated as follows: Z = (p - pHo)/ σp = (.76 -.75)/0.079 =.127 Here the observed value of Z is .127 and from the table of normal distribution critical value of z is found at 95% confidence level, - 1.64 Since it is a two tailed test and the observed z value is within the accepted region, z (crit)-1.64 < z (ob) 0.127.Therefore the null hypothesis is accepted.

Figure 14: Illustration of Customer’s preference to buy Be-linked SIM

Accepted region

Rejected Region 0.45 area

z= -1.64

0.50 area

0.127

Source: Primary Thus, it is proved that at least 75% of the customers prefer lower call rate to be one of the main considerations for purchasing a be-linked SIM 5.

Hypothesis Five Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, Ladies First and Be Linked are equally preferable.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, Ladies First and Be Linked are not equally preferable.

Related Question. Question no. 6 is related to this hypothesis. Here respondents were asked to rank from two factors such as Ladies First and Be-Linked.

Collected Data.

Table 19: Determining the preference of Ladies first and Belinked Rank Be- linked Ladies first Total 1 2

23 17

17 23

40 40

Total

40

40

80

Primary Here degreeSource: of freedom is, {(row-1) * (column -1)} = (2-1) * (2-1) =1 Rank 1 2 Total

Rank 1 2

Be-linked fo fe 29 20.00 11 20.00 40

Ladies First fo fe 11 20.00 29 20.00 40

Be-linked ( f 0 − fe) 2 [ ] fe 4.05 4.05

Total 40 40 80

Ladies-first ( f 0 − fe) 2 ] fe 4.05 4.05

[

At  = 5%, DF=1, χ2=3.841 [critical value] ( f 0 − fe) 2 2 χ =∑ fe =16.2 Since the observed chi square [X2 (obs)] is greater than the tabular chi-square [X2 (tab)], X2 (obs) 16.2 > X2 (tab) 3.841 Figure 15: Determining the preference of Belinked and Ladies first

Accepted Region

3.841 Source: Primary

Therefore the null hypothesis cannot be accepted.

16.2

Therefore, it can be concluded that ladies first and Be-linked package is not equally preferable to the customers though both are valued by the subscribers.

6.

Hypothesis Six Null Hypothesis (H0): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 80% of the PCO subscribers think that call rate must be reduced to survive in the market to do business.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): At 95% confidence level it can be said that, at least 80% of the PCO subscribers think that call rate must not be reduced to survive in the market to do business.

Ho: p >= 0.80 H1: p < 0.20 And assuming the significance level, α = 0.05 In the survey, 30 customers were surveyed and found that the total 24 of them were complying with lower call rate.

Thus the value of sample proportion is, p = 24/30 = .80 p = 0.80, q = 0.20 n = 30, sample size The value of standard error of the proportion, σ p = √ {(p HO x q HO )/n} = √ {(.80 x .20)/30} = 0.073 The test statistic z can be calculated as follows: Z = (p - pHo)/ σp = (.80 -.80)/0.073 =0 Here the observed value of Z is 0 and from the table of normal distribution critical value of z is found at 95% confidence level, - 1.64 Since it is a one tailed test and the observed z value is within the accepted region, z (crit)-1.64 < z (ob) 0 1.64.

Therefore the null hypothesis is accepted.

Figure 16: Illustration of PCO subscriberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preference to lower call rate

Accepted region

Rejected Region 0.45 area

z= -1.64

0.50 area

0

Source: Primary Thus, it is proved that at least 80% of the PCO subscribers told that lower call rate must be reduced to survive in the market.

Findings The following findings have been realized by the researcher through survey: o

1.

Survey Findings a) Maximum of the management personnel (70%) likes to influence the customers by lower call rate. 10 percent think that customer buy SIM because of its lower cost and 17 percent thinks that network facility should be most important factor to influence the customers. )b 53 percent of the management personnel think that SIM and hand set at lowest cost influenced the customers to buy a banglalink SIM. 37 percent told about the lower call rate where a subscriber could talk 55 minutes free with another banglalink subscriber. )c 40 percent of the management personnel think that first availability as a business package is the main factor to buy a PCO SIM. Then lower cal rate is an aspect to buy a PCO SIM, which was told by 30 percent of the respondents. )d Management believe that lower SIM cost, lower call rate at 12pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3pm (tk 3 to all operator), VAS (value added services like FnF, i-top, i- voucher) is most important factor that motivated the subscribers to buy a Ladies First SIM. Those three causes got equal response that is 20 percent. Effective promotional effort is a cause of success. 13 percent of the respondents told about that. Moreover, lower Call rate than other operator is a significant reason that persuaded the subscribers to buy a Ladies first SIM. It was told by 13 percent of the respondent.

)e 24 percent of the management personnel believe lower call rate at 7am to 10am plays a significant role to buy a Be-linked SIM. Then 23 percent of the management believes that effective promotional effort is a motivation to buy a Be-linked SIM. Moreover, 17 percent of the management personnel thought lower SIM cost is a key factor to buy a SIM. )f 40 percent of the management personnel think that first availability as a business package is the main factor to buy a PCO SIM. Then lower cal rate is an aspect to buy a PCO SIM, which was told by 30 percent of the respondents. )g Maximum of the customers (80%) likes to buy banglalink SIM because of its lower call rate. 15% customers buy Banglalink SIM because of its lower cost. )h If the customers were given to choose between be-linked and ladies first, then 57.5 percent customer prefer Be-linked as their first choice and 42.5 percent customer prefer ladies first as their first choice . )i 10 percent customer buys Ladies first SIM because of its lower cost. But maximum of the respondent, 73 percent likes to buy banglalink SIM because of its lower call rate. )j 10 percent customer buys Be-lined SIM because of its lower cost. But maximum of the respondent, 76 percent likes to buy banglalink Be-linked SIM because of its lower call rate. )k 80 percent of the PCO users demand to reduce the tariff rate to survive in the market. To introduce cash card was told by the 10 percent PCO subscribers.

2.

General Findings a) Management brings diversification in their packages. Many packages were launched for various groups like ladies, professionals, and small businessman. The main strategy of banglalink is not to continue a package for long time. They always try to provide new innovative packages. )b They emphasizes on covering the whole country. But before covering the whole area it tries to increase the subscribers by launching the diversified products by lower cost. )c The door to door sell project is very successful. They will continue this strategy.

Recommendations Though banglalink is in a growing position, it needs to introduce some steps to retain its existing customers and increase the customers. Those are given below: o

a) Variety of packages is the main key to increase the sales volume. But customer feels ambiguity to buy the package. They have to compare the packages. It is hard to find the most advantageous one. So, the management of banglalink should think about this aspect.

)b They should provide more attention on network. Though 61 districts are on network facility but they should focus on the thanas. The network should be such that all inch of the country can be webbed. )c Customers like to buy a package which offers lower call rate. Management of banglalink also aware of that. They should continue this strategy to influence the customers buy offering lower call rate than market. )d They have to be ready for upcoming competitors which will come in near future. The promotional activities are very important to increase the subscribers. It was also conceded by the management. The promotional activities of ladies first and Be- linked was very successful. So, the upcoming package should get such promotional effort. )e The business package like CU and PCO is in hard competition. So, rate of those business packages must be reduced.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Kotler. Philip, Ang. Hoon Swee, eds., "Marketing Management - An Asian Perspective", 2nd Ed., Singapore, Prentice Hall, 1999.

Lesikar. V. Raymond, Pettit. D. John, Jr. eds., "Basic Business Communication", 8th Ed., Singapore, McGraw-Hill Irwin, 1996.

Levin. I. Richard and Rubin. S. David, "Statistics for Management", 7th Ed., New Delhi, Prentice Hall of India, 1999.

Zikmund. G. William, "Business Research Methods", 4th Ed., Orlando, The Dryden Press, 1994.

Reports/Manual All booklet and Liflet of Banglalink.

Website www.banglalinkgsm.com