Shuvajit Bhattacharjee

1 Background of the Report Topic chosen for my internship program is “Survey of customer Satisfaction on GrameenPhone of Cell Phone Company.” I got the ample opportunity to do my internship at GrameenPhone Company, which maintains a dual purpose: to receive an economic return on its investments and to contribute to the economic development of Bangladesh where communications can play a critical role. I was assigned duty attached to the Customer Relations Division [CRD] during my internship in Grameen Phone Ltd., where side by side in between performing my assigned duty; I worked for data collection and preparation of my Internship Report. As the name and approach reveal, the CRD deals with the functions relating to customer service after the sales occurs. Grameen Phone Ltd., the leading telecommunications service provider in the country, provides a full range of after – sales services to its valued subscribers. Prime functions and activities of the GP Customer Relations Division [CRD] caters to all after sales services starting from activation of subscriptions, all customer contacts [ Centralized Call Centre, Regional Customer Relations Centre’s and Centralized Customer Communication] billing , bank communication, bill collection through different banks all over the country, help line service etc. including maintenance of databases of the customers and other after sales services, to the satisfaction of the customer. In my internship program, I have tried to determine and appraise the satisfaction level of GP service holder. Internship Report on GP 2 Introduction The present world is the world of information technology. Mobile phone is the revolutionary invention of science. This mobile has enriched our communication network. It has been possible to communicate from one corner to another by its contribution. Mobile phone is one of the important wonders of modern science. The standard of living of men has been changed by the contribution of this technology. At the beginning Telegraph was only one medium of communication. Alecgunder invented telephone in 1876. As a result, it has been possible to send the human voice to the remote. Electric sign is flown through the wire of both the telegraph and telephone. At the beginning of last century wireless was invented by Marcony which occurred revolutionary change in the communication. Consequently the necessary of adding wire by receiving & transferring not needed. In case of telephone it is set up one place which is not transferable, so problem occurs. In this situation mobile phone takes the place of telephone to overcome the problem. “Mobile Phone Service” is another name of silent revolution in Bangladesh. Mobile phone service is keeping important role in removing the digital divide. Mobile phone is contributing active role in receiving and sending information in the villages. Bangladesh enters the mobile world through the City Cell Company in 1993. In that time the cost of a connected mobile phone required more than one lac Tk for a mobile holder. Mobile phone was like a dream among the normal or middle income group from-. Later Grameenphone, Robi (Former Aktel), Banglalink (Former Sheba World) and Warid got license from government. There are some barriers working to regulate the mobile service rapidly in Bangladesh. Mainly high import duty. The mobile companies are to pay tax at the high rate in importing mobile set or machinery. For this reason the growth of this sector is being hampered. If import duty is reduced than the mobile phone Internship Report on GP 3 companies will be able to sale the mobile phone at the cheap rate and provide better customer service than the previous level. In today’s Bangladesh, there is no perfect alternative of Grameenphone. It is now on the flow of developing its program so rapidly that it seems that this company is going to capture the master market of mobile phone in our country. Therefore, no doubt, its future prospect is bright. From the discussion it can be said that the rapid growth of the mobile sector is highly possible and for this government assistance or backing needed. 1.1 Statement of the problem At present there are six mobile phone operators and one state-run fixed line operator providing telecommunication service in Bangladesh. Operators have used different strategies to penetrate in to this huge unmet market. Little research study on the telecom sector with particular emphasis on the cellular industry of Bangladesh has been carried out so far that can provide substantial market information about this rapidly growing industry. The market intelligence of respective operator companies reaches out to gather relevant information, which remains highly confidential and exclusive from one another. Under the above circumstances, the problem statement would be “Grameenphone wants to know about the satisfaction of customer toward Grameenphone packages and its effects on Grameenphone.” 1.2 Purpose of the study The objective as follows: Primary Objective: The primary objective of this report is to fulfill the requirement of MBA program contains three month internship. For this reason I had to be surveyed so that I can have some practical job related experience along with all academic knowledge. Internship Report on GP 4 Secondary Objective: The study was conducted to achieve the following objectives:  To gain a relationship between theoretical and practical learning and real life situation of Grameenphone Limited.  To know the history of the Grameenphone Limited (GP).  To know about overall operation of Grameenphone Limited.  To understand the major activities.  To analyze the year wise performance.  To know about the rules and regulations of the operator.  To know about present possession of Grameenphone Limited in competitive market.  To study existing operator customers relationship.  To evaluate customers’ views about the services offered by Grameenphone Limited.  To determine the importance of various customers services of Grameenphone Limited and customers’ satisfaction level with the existing services.  To introduce new products / services ideas which are profitable and demandable and already provide competitors operator in the telecommunication sector.  SWOT analysis of Grameenphone Limited (GP).  Some recommendations. 1.3 Scope of the report This study will deal with the overall customer satisfaction of Grameenphone Ltd. At the same time, the study will focus on the Bangladesh’s telecommunication system as well. That means what the GP does in their overall customer service operation compare to the practice of the modern telecommunication system and customer demand. And this report will focus on the most of the services of Grameenphone Ltd. Internship Report on GP 5 1.4 Significance of the report From the organization part we came to know that Grameenphone is the market leader in the mobile telecommunication sector of Bangladesh. Their growth rate is very high. But in this age free market and of competition, it is very difficult to keep up the leading edge intact. Companies need to come up with new ideas to remain in healthy competition for business development. They need to maintain the optimum level of their customers’ satisfaction. So, it is very important for Grameenphone to assess whether their customers are satisfied or not. If the customers are not satisfied, GP can identify and specify the areas of dissatisfaction and take necessary actions to remove / redress the dissatisfactions. Hence, I decided to work on this topic. 1.5 Literature review In doing research I took help from many writers and editors which are mentioned below: Sk. Akram Uddin (2009) measured the customer satisfaction of cell phone user on Dinajpur and Rangpur district. He has measured the satisfaction level on only five factors card duration, call rate, network coverage, t & t facility and bill payment system, of all the mobile operators of Bangladesh. Md. Shariful Islam (2007) found out the attitude and policies of the mobile phone companies about customer satisfaction. He has emphasized only the policies of mobile phone companies for customer satisfaction. Nazrul Islam et al (2005) measured the job satisfaction of Bank officers in Bangladesh. He has explained mainly three issues Internship Report on GP 6 1. Relative importance of job satisfaction. 2. The impact of bank type, work experience, age and sex difference on the attitudes toward job satisfaction. and 3. Differentiate the level of satisfaction between private and public bank officers in Bangladesh 1.6 Limitations of the study Every work has some limitations and this study is not out of them. At the time of performing the research work I faced some problems. Those are:  As, I had more dependence on the primary sources, so there might be some level of inaccuracy with those collected information. Though, adequate verification and cross- checking was used, to minimize the error level.  Confidential information regarding past profit or strategic decision, financial information was not accurately obtained. Alike all other mobile operators, Grameenphone is also very conservative and strict in providing those information. In those cases, I have relied upon some assumptions, which in result have created certain level of inaccuracy. Still, I had tried my best in obtaining that sensitive information, as much as possible.  Next, many of the analysis on the obtained data are based upon my sole interpretation. This result might bring some biases, as lack of knowledge and depth of understanding might hinder me to produce an absolute, authentic and meaningful report  Time constraint was another limitation restricting this report from being more detailed or analytical. The Relationship Mangers at the operation or strategic level of the concerned department are awfully busy with meeting their targets. So, it was very difficult for me to get them free and obtain some practical ideas regarding their expectation and opportunities regarding my topic. Internship Report on GP 7 Research Methodology Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood how research is done scientifically. Methodology means a set of methods and principles used to perform a particular activity. Research design Sampling method  Sampling Unit and Area: My sampling unit could be those subscribers of Grameenphone Ltd. whose are related to Business Solution. Respondents will be selected from each sample unit on the basis of their concentration to make the study more relevant.  Sampling size: This survey will be limited within 105 people.  Sampling procedure: The method of choosing sample would be Probability sampling where random sampling is easier method to understand.  Contract method: Over telephone and face-to-face interview. Survey instrument Study approach will be survey type:  Questionnaire: The instruments will be questionnaire survey. To gather data the researcher used questionnaires. The questionnaire survey is the most effective method to collect data for this study for the following reasons1. Respondent’s anonymity can be maintained. 2. The researcher has conducted survey on 105 respondents. It will not be possible to conduct personal interview because of time limitation. Therefore, questionnaire survey will be the most appropriate one for this study. 3. The postal system of the country is very slow. Hence, mail survey will be too time consuming to be feasible for this study. 4. The internet facility is not widespread in our country. Therefore, online survey will also be inappropriate for this study. 5. In most of the studies conducted on the variables of the current study, the researchers used questionnaire survey for their study. Internship Report on GP 8  Mechanical instruments: Printed questionnaires and personal interviews are treated as the main instruments for data collection. In many times, the telephonic interview was handy for collecting data. Data collection The information incorporated in this report has been gathered from primary and secondary sources. Apart from this, a review of related circular and office circular as well as face-to-face interview of the executives, officials and clients were carried out. Primary Sources  Face-to-face conversation with the respective officers and staff of the Office.  Informal conversation with the subscribers.  Relevant files and documents study as provided by the concerned officers.  Practical work exposures from the different desks of the department. Secondary Sources  Unpublished data received from the office.  Annual Report.  Office record.  Different paper of the office.  Various books, periodical seminar papers, training papers, manuals, web site etc. related to the topic. Measurement and Scaling I used 5 point Likert scale to measure the relative importance of customer service factors and to measure the customer satisfaction level. The minimum point is 1 which indicated strongly disagree; the maximum point is 5 which indicated strongly agree. Internship Report on GP 9 Data analysis SPSS computer software is used to analyze the collected data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted for measuring whether consumer opinions are statistically significant or not for each attribute. Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMR) was also conducted to specify the statistical result and look for individual differences for specific suggestion. ANOVA helps to explain whether each attribute is statistically significant for all brands and DMR test used for actual prediction. According to the test, means in same column are not considered as significantly different but same means in different columns are considered significantly different. Statistical tools and techniques will be used to analyses the data as per the need of the study. Collected information was processed with the aid of MS Excel computer software. Detailed analysis, working variables, variables, future projections and working definitions are incorporated in the report. Internship Report on GP 10 Mobile operators in Bangladesh Grameenphone is to compete mainly with five other mobile operators. Of them Pacific Bangladesh (City Cell) uses the CDMA system while ROBI, Banglalink and Warid Telecom are competing with same technology (GSM) as Grameenphone. The competitive environment that Grameenphone is placed into is shown in the following tables: 1. Table: Mobile operators of Bangladesh at a glance Operator Technology Date of Launching Ownership City Cell CDMA Grameen phone GSM ROBI GSM Banglalink GSM Teletalk GSM Warid Telecom GSM August 1993 45% SingTel 31.43% Pacific Motors Ltd. 23.57%-Far East Telecom March 26, 62%- Telenor 1997 38%-Grameen Telecom NOV-1997 60%-Telcom Malaysia September- 50%-TRI 1998 (Malaysia) 50%-ISL (Bangladesh) March 31, 2005 May 10, 2007 Equipment Supplier Motorola, Huwai No. of Subscribers( end of 2009) appro. 2.35 Million Ericson 18 Million Alkatel 99,000 N/A 32,000 Thakral, Techvally, Roskon, Sech, Ericson, Motorola 2.5 Million (Connected 1.7Million) Internship Report on GP 11 Different strategy and slogan of different Mobile operators Mobile operator City Cell Grameenphone ROBI Banglalink Teletalk Warid Strategy Proven dependability Communication for everybody Modernity (Not available) Slogan I will be there Connects and Cares Clearly Ahead Sets you free Amader Phone be heared Grameenphone Limited: An overview About Grameenphone Grameenphone (GP) has been established to provide high-quality GSM cellular service at affordable prices. Grameenphone has a dual purpose:  To receive an economic return on its investment  To contribute to the economic development of Bangladesh telecommunications can play a critical role. Internship Report on GP where 12 Historical Background Grameenphone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on November 28, 1996. The Company launched its service on March 26, 1997, the Independence Day of Bangladesh. In 1996, Bangladesh was preparing to auction off private cell phone licenses to four companies. So at the behest of Dr. Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Bank’s founder) but completely independent of Grameen Bank, a not-for-profit private company called Grameen Telecom was created. Grameen Telecom, in turn, created a forprofit company called Grameen Phone, found a foreign partner, and put in a bid; Grameen Phone received one of the four licenses. Grameen Phone’s total capitalization was US$120,000,000, including around US$50 million from IFC/CDC, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It also received US$60 million in equity from the four Grameen Phone private partners. These were the Norwegian Telenor with a 51% share, Marubeni of Japan with a 9.5% share, and the American Gonophone at 4.5%. Grameen Phone’s fourth partner is Grameen Telecom (with 35%), and Grameen Telecom borrowed US$10.6 million from the Open Society Institute to set up Village Phone. Grameen Phone launched service in urban Dhaka on March 26, 1997. It makes its profits by serving wealthier urban customers. But from the point of view of the Grameen family and its strong anti-poverty mission, the for-profit, urban-only Grameen Phone exists for only one reason: To fund, with its profits, the extension of cell phones into rural Bangladesh in order to provide entrepreneurial opportunity to Grameen Bank members through Village Phone. As Dr. Yunus puts it, "Grameen Phone is merely what we need to do Grameen Telecom’s Village Phone." Three important and interesting structural aspects of operation on the largest scale are: First, that the not-for-profit Grameen Telecom actually owns the for-profit Grameen Phone. The reason for this structure is that Grameen wants Grameen bank Internship Report on GP 13 members-- impoverished women who borrow from Grameen Bank-- to become owners of the profit-making Grameen Phone. Second, once GP becomes profitable, GT will sell its GP shares to GB members. Third is an understanding-- not made explicit in any legally binding contract but arrived at in the shareholders’ agreement-- that after 6 years of GP operation, Telenor and GT will actually switch ownership positions: Grameen Telecom will sell it’s 35% share to Telenor and Telenor will sell its 51% share to Grameen Telecom, which will thus become the dominant partner and true manager of the system. Grameen Phone is thus an unofficial, non-traditional form of Build, Operate, and Transfer. "Grameenphone" might have been born in Bangladesh, but soon it is likely to join the international cellular jargon. GSM MoU Association at GSM World Congress in Cannes where many villagers made their first-ever call using pre-paid, recently rewarded rural cellular marketing, by Vodaphone in South Africa. "Grameenphone,” the unique cellular operator from Bangladesh, also made an impressive presentation at Cannes. Founding Partners of Grameenphone Grameenphone is a joint venture company comprising of: Telenor – A state-owned telecommunication company from Norway. It has a long history of successful cooperation with other operators in Russia, Hungary, Montenegro, Ireland, Bangladesh, Greece, Germany, Germany, Australia, Malaysia etc. Grameen Telecom - A sister concern of Grameen Bank. It was established by Grameen Bank to organize and assist those Grameen bank borrowers who wish to retail telephone services in the rural areas. Marubeni Corporation – A leading investment and trading company from Japan. Internship Report on GP 14 Gonofone Development Corporation – A New York-based telecommunication development company having investments in many companies in USA, Russia and other parts of Europe. These four companies own shares of Grameenphone in the following manner Company Telenor Grameen Telecom Marubeni Percentage of share (%- Corporation Gonofone 4.5 Percentage of share (%) 10% 35% Telenor 5% 50% Grameen Telecom Marubeni Corporation Gonofone Figure 1 Share holders of Grameenphone Ltd. Mission, Vision, Objectives & Strategies of Grameenphone  Company Vision “WE ARE HERE TO HELP” Internship Report on GP 15 We exist to help our customers get the full benefit of communications services in their daily lives. We want to make it easy for customers to get what they want, when they want it.  Company Values Make it easy We're practical. We don't over complicate things. Everything we produce should be easy to understand and use. No waste. No jargon. Because we never forget we're trying to make customers' lives easier. Keep Promises Everything we set out to do should work, or if you don't get it, we're here to help. We're about delivery, not over promising - actions not words. Be Inspiring We are creative. We strive to bring energy into the things we do. Everything we produce should look good, modern and fresh. We are passionate about our business and customers. Be Respectful We acknowledge and respect local cultures. We do not impose one formula worldwide. We want to be a part of local communities wherever we operate. We believe loyalty has to be earned. Objectives of the Grameenphone Grameenphone basic strategy is coverage of both urban and rural areas. The Company has devised its strategies so that it earns healthy returns for its shareholders and at the same time, contributes to genuine development of the country. In short, it pursues a dual strategy for good business and development. Serving the mass market is one of GP's primary goals. By serving the general public as opposed to niche markets. Company plans to achieve economies of scale and healthy profits. At the same time, service to the general public means connectivity to Internship Report on GP 16 a wider population and general economic development of the country. In contrast to the "island" strategy followed by some companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links, Grameenphone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. While the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout Gramophone’s network. Company Strategy The basic strategy of Grameenphone is to cover both the urban and rural areas. In contrast to the "island" strategy followed by some companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links; Grameenphone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. While the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout Grameenphone network. Ten Years of Empowering People Pioneers of Mobile Telephony Grameenphone has been a pioneer in introducing new products and services in the local market. Grameenphone introduced an innovative mobile-to-mobile product. The ‘GP to GP’ connection went on to become one of the fastest selling products in the market. The first segment offering catering to the needs of the business community, Business Solution, was introduced in January 2006. Widest Network Coverage The Grameenphone network now covers more than 95 percent of the country’s population, up from around 50 percent two years earlier. During the same period, the company also introduced a range of enabling services and the entire network now EDGE/GPRS enabled. Fresh investment of over BDT 21 billion have been made during the year to ensure a quality network. A record number of 2651 base stations were rolled out while the core network switching and transmission capacities were increased substantially to keep up with the subscriber growth. Committed Customer service Internship Report on GP 17 Grameenphone has always been committed to provide quality after-sales service to its customers. It was the first company to set up a24-hour Call Center in the country in i999.There are now more than 600 Grameenphone Customer Service desks in operation around the country. Beyond Business: Connective Villages Grameenphone’s first community service initiative was Village Phone Program, started on the same day the commercial service was launched in1997. Typically a village woman, also borrower of Grameen Bank, finances a mobile trough micro-credit and earns money by offering a phone service in their communities. It has also substantially empowered women from rural households to make a living for themselves and their families. Products at a Glance of Grameenphone Ltd. The products of Grameenphone can be characterized as: 1. Post Paid 2. Pre-Paid Post Paid The concept of Post-paid services is to pay that you consume. This is the one kind way of service giving. Remain all time in communication no duration problem is available. Some Special Feature of Post-paid service  Pay for that you use.  Easy to pay the bill.  No card validity problem.  BTTB connectivity.  Lower rate for BTTB incoming & out going.  No waiting for activation.  Instant connection.  International Roaming Facility. Internship Report on GP 18 Pre-Paid Pre-paid means may before the service is received. Grameenphone pre-paid service is another development of mobile telephony in Bangladesh. Pre-Paid Features  No Monthly Bills  No Security Deposits  No monthly Access Fees  No Waiting for Activation  Instant Connection  Easy reload facilities through Cards of Different Values and Flexi Load.  International Roaming Facility.  GSM Features likes Caller ID and Call Divert to Voice Mail Service.  Internet Facility. Pre-paid 1. Smile Mobile to Mobile (M to M). 2. Smile PSTN Smile prepaid has been designed to keep you smiling. It brings you great rewards and benefits, amazing rates, and exciting new features and this is just the beginning of a happy story.  Grate Start-up Offer  Attractive Group Talk rate  Low call rates  Amazing Savings  Great F&F rates  Great Convenience Different Categories of Product Business Solution Internship Report on GP 19 The first segmented offering catering to the needs of the business community, Business Solutions was introduced in January 2006. Business Solutions is a complete, quality business communications service from Grameenphone designed especially for the business community in Bangladesh. Our Business Solutions team is here to help provide you with customized telecommunications solutions through consultation with you. At office or on the move stay connected through Business Solutions. 1. Business Solution Pre-Paid. 2. Business Solution Post-Paid. Post-Paid 1. Xplore Package 1 2. Xplore Package 2 With the new Xplore postpaid, discover the pleasure of doing much more. Packed with a treasure of new features and facilities it keeps you in touch with your loved ones and gives you access to unlimited information and entertainment. Benefits at a glance of Xplore Package  Post-paid product with BTTB (Local, NWD, ISD and Economy ISD) connectivity.  No Monthly Access Fee/ Monthly Line Rent.  Enjoy free incoming call from BTTB.  Attractive Start-up Offer with Free VAS.  No on-net/off net, simple flat and low Tariff  Low Weekend Tariff  Reduced rate on three F&F numbers  Altra Zoom  Economy ISD (012 )  SMS Roaming  Breakfast News Internship Report on GP 20  Pre activated EDGE Service  GSM features (Caller ID, Call divert, Call barring, Call Hold, and Call waiting)  Flexible credit policy  Pay your bills from anywhere using Flexi Load  Wide collection of value added service (SMS, EDGE, Welcome Tune, Voice Mail, and Voice SMS  International Roaming facility. Djuice Djuice Services Welcome Tune Sing along, friends! Djuice has bought “Welcome Tunes”, shudhu tomader jonno! Voice SMS Now you will be able to send Voice messages in any language to your near and dear ones. Balance Transfer Transfer any amount between Tk.50 to Tk. 200 from your mobile to your friend’s mobile. Flexi load Reload your pre-paid account with any amount starting from Tk. 10 to Tk. 10,000. Call Management Services Enjoy call conferencing, call waiting, call barring and call forwarding without any additional activation fee. Logo & Ring tone SMS Chat Chat your heart out with Djuice chat service. Dictionary Get word meanings, synonyms and antonyms on your Djuice mobile. Internship Report on GP 21 Beauty Tips Get beauty tips from the most prominent beauticians. Music Top Chart Get the latest billboard and MTV Indian charts. Movie Chart Movie mania is on. Get the latest movie top charts. Existing Services of Grameenphone 1. Own Established Sales Center Grameenphone Centers are one-stop shops designed especially for our needs. They call these Grameenphone centers as their Flagship sales and service point. We find these centers with their professional sales and service people to solve our problems. Whether we wish to pay a bill, change a subscription, buy a new connection or replace a mobile phone, Grameenphone Centers can provide us all this and more under one roof. Furthermore, many activities and campaigns all round the year make GPC a happening place; for example “the Grameenphone centre Nokia campaign” So whenever we stop by, we would observe some activity or the other. They invite us to visit us at any one of the 68 Grameenphone Centers. Currently it is operated in selected cities, and with many more new shops in different regions opening soon. 2. Communication or Network Coverage Grameenphone has covered maximum network area than those of the other mobile companies of Bangladesh. Grameenphone has established its network coverage in the sixty three (63) out of the sixty four (64) districts of Bangladesh. 3. Repair Service: GP has established enough service centers. To solve the problem related with the defective set and SIM. GP provides repair service in their own service centers at convenient places so that the customer can get the required service in anytime. They have own service center in all greater districts. Internship Report on GP 22 Dealers and distributors are also giving these services beside those the service centers so that the customer can get the services according to their needs. These centers are being opened six day in a week. At first the customer was being provided from Sunday to Thursday but now GP is providing the repair services from Saturday to Thursday. 4. Bill Payment System: GP has made contract with many banks to collect the bill of post-paid subscribers. Now the twenty banks are collecting bill through three hundred forty five branches. As a result the customers are getting more facilities than before. 5. International Roaming Facilities Grameenphone has made agreement with more than hundred roaming operators of fifty countries of five continents. GP is trying to increase the number of roaming agreement countries day by day which will give more facilities to the customers of international roaming. 6. T & T facilities GP is providing the T&T facility to the prepaid customers except some cases. GP Regular and Polly Phone can provide this service (T&T incoming and out going facilities). 7. Other Facilities Messaging Services Its various messaging services allow us to communicate smarter, faster, more efficiently and more cost-effectively on the go. SMS Internship Report on GP 23 Fast and affordable messaging through SMS. Send a SMS to any mobile phone in Bangladesh and to more than 115 countries with their international SMS service. Voice SMS It is possible to save time and personalize our message through the voice SMS. This service provides the flexibility to record it up to 30 seconds of audio, so even if we desired number is unreachable, our message will reach out live. Voice Mail When we are unreachable or unable to answer our calls within 20 seconds, the service will automatically divert the call to our voice mail. We will receive a SMS notifying that we have a message and we may retrieve it at a convenient time. MMS (Multimedia Message Service) The MMS service provides to the take pictures customize it with animation, music, video clips and send it across the globe within seconds. Cell e-Mail Send emails without a computer. With cell e-mail, we have the facilities to e-mail any GP number through an SMS and email any PC across the globe. SMS Plus Stay updated through SMS plus – the service allows us to update and receive information on daily sales (or any defined updates) through SMS reporting. SMS Banking Enjoy hassle-free account updates from renowned banks like Standard Chartered Bank, BRAC Bank, Bank Asia, etc. Internship Report on GP 24 SMS Information Service When we can’t find the time to check up on the latest news, share market information, currency exchange status or directory information, their SMS information service can update us. Mobile Profiling Enhance corporate profile by installing the company logo and corporate tune as ringtone on all employee phones. High Speed Data Service Grameenphone’s high speed mobile coverage, powered by EDGE, lets to enjoy a series of services like e-mailing, downloading, and browsing. If we move out EDGE coverage the phone automatically switches to GPRS, ensuring the connection without any interruption. Moreover, our EDGE enable phone functions as a wireless data modem when we connect it to any laptop. Mobile Data Transfer We can easily transfer data to share among the colleagues, access servers when moving in a remote area, and even connect to the internet from our own PC by using our mobile network. Mobile Fax It’s just like having our own traveling office! All of we need a computer notebook business solutions mobile phone, a cellular data card and a connector. Then we can send faxes as well as retrieve it from any available fax machine. Mobile Internet Internship Report on GP 25 With this service we can access a number of mobile Internet sites such as yahoo mail, hotmail, google, and msn, for news services, travel information, sports updates. Mobile E-mail Their mobile e-mail is designed such a way that we never far from our business. Access our office e-mail, corporate address book, and view business appointments. Mobile email lets us to use our mobile as we would our computer. Call Services Relax, go anywhere in the country, we will always be connected with the colleagues or other through Business Solutions connection. Business Solutions has wide network coverage for assured connectivity and the technical expertise to ensure business moves as smoothly as one want it to. We have full access to all mobile, fixed phone and international numbers; so sit back and enjoy call features that make it more than just a call. Benefit Plan Get free minutes to talk with near and dear ones, based on committed usage. This unique plan for Business Solutions postpaid connections allows subscribers to commit a minimum usage per month; based on committed usage, we can enjoy free minutes to talk to our F&F and CUG numbers. For example, if we commit Tk. 2,500 usage per month, we can enjoy a special flat rate and 250 free minutes of talk-time. ♀ The agreement will be signed at a company level regarding the benefit plan. ♀ Clients can choose from long ranges of benefit levels i.e. committed usage per subscriber per month. ♀ The benefit levels can be changed after two months, upon receiving written request from a client. ♀ Clients may even return to the general Business Solutions tariff plan if they wish. F & F Numbers Internship Report on GP 26 We can enjoy special tariffs for 3 special numbers (F&F) of choices 24 hours a day on both pre-paid and post-paid connections. Business Hour Rate Experience cost, effective tariffs during busiest time of the day. Make the calls at lower rates from 9am till 6 pm. Closed User Group (CUG) Rate Closed User Groups (CUG) feature gives you lower call rates when you make calls within your defined company connections. Certain conditions apply for this feature. . Call Divert This service allows to automatically diverting incoming calls to another mobile number whenever we are unable to receive a call, too busy, or simply unreachable. Value Added Services We can use our mobile phone for many other purposes than making voice calls. With Grameenphone’s VAS, we can use our mobile phone to:  Send and receive text messages, picture messages, voice messages  Download ring tones, logos, wallpapers  Obtain news updates, cricket score updates  Browse the Internet and also send and receive e-mails  Transfer data and send fax  Participate in competitions and vote for our opinions We will be able to use all these services whenever we need them, wherever we are. All of we need is to have a GP mobile phone to get these services.   Messaging Services Information Alerts Internship Report on GP 27  Data Transfer  Fax  Entertainment Services  Browsing the Internet  Send and receive e-mails  Download Contents  Customize our Handset  Participate in Competitions  Vote our Opinions Other available services in Grameenphone Center  Postpaid SIM replacement  Postpaid reconnection  Postpaid Migration  Billing Address change  Itemized Bill  Bill / usage / payment information  Product information  Death case  Duplicate paper  Signatory change  Refund  Adjustment  Ownership transfer  Wrong account posting  Complain & query handling  Bar / unbar  Refund  Signatory change (for company phone only)  Password unblock Internship Report on GP 28  SIM check  Temporary disconnection  Permanent disconnection  Technical problem  Faulty SIM Replacement (both pre and post paid  International Roaming.  Welcome tunes configuration  VSMS ( Voice SMS)  Thank you bonus  Welcome tunes configuration  Edge configuration  Dual claim  Voice mail  Password unblock  Edge related services Market Scenario of Telecommunication in Bangladesh Internship Report on GP 29 We exist to our customers get the full benefit of communication service in their daily lives. We want to make it easy for customers to get what they want, when they want. This is the vision of Grameenphone. The main priority of Grameenphone is to make the lives easier and they also focused that their customer can get their product in a convenient way. Internship Report on GP 30 Presenting the Survey Results (According to the attached Questionnaire.) 1. I use GrameenPhone because it is the best! Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 13% 51% 31% 5% 0% 2. I use GP mobile as it has additional features in comparison to other operators. Internship Report on GP 31 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 29% 63% 8% 0% 0% 3. Price of GrameenPhone’s different package is affordable. Internship Report on GP 32 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 4% 49% 13% 23% 11% 4. I am satisfied with the service (quality of airtime and network availability) of GP. Internship Report on GP 33 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 9% 26% 24% 30% 11% 5. Whenever I want to have a GP connection, I can get it. Internship Report on GP 34 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 23% 28% 17% 19% 13% 6. After sales service of GP (Info Centers) is satisfactory. Internship Report on GP 35 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 4% 13% 26% 30% 27% 7. GP helpline is very helpful in meeting my queries and other needs. Internship Report on GP 36 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 9% 36% 14% 23% 18% 8. Billing rate of GP is low. Internship Report on GP 37 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 3% 18% 14% 37% 28% 9. GrameenPhone is very sincere in providing me quality service on a continuous basis. Internship Report on GP 38 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 6% 22% 19% 34% 19% 10. If another company comes up with the same features, I will still remain loyal to GP. Internship Report on GP 39 Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 12% 19% 24% 35% 10% Some Representative ‘Additional Comments’:  Helpline is not so easy to reach. Internship Report on GP 40  Behavior of helpline officers is quite rough.  Helpline gives support to solve our problems.  Info Centers take a whole day to solve a small problem, it is too crowdy.  After BTTB introduces mobile phone, GP may certainly lose its market.  Country-wide roaming facility is exciting!  WAP service is very helpful.  We want access to BTTB.  Pre-Paid connections are very difficult to avail.  Billing rate should be reduced, it is too high!  GrameenPhone does not think about the subscribers, their main intention is to make money.  Sales agents are charging extra money from the buyers.  Revisions of the billing rates are appreciate-able.  Good Luck, GrameenPhone!! Analysis of the Survey Internship Report on GP 41 1. Analysis of the Results: As mentioned for several times, GrameenPhone is the leading company in the mobile telecommunication industry of Bangladesh. It has been successful to build a superior image in comparison to the other operators. In other words, GP has a clear advantage over the competitors. GrameenPhone has some additional features in comparison to its competitors. It is playing a vital role to increase the subscribers of GrameenPhone. Another important thing is that GP users are mostly satisfied with the initial price of GP connections and hand-sets. Because, before GP’s introduction to the market, mobile phones were totally out of reach to the major part of the current market. Moreover, GrameenPhone subscribers are happy with the country-wide network. But overall, GP users are not satisfied with service of the company. Many important factors are acting as reasons behind this overall dissatisfaction. Quality of airtime and network availability is not satisfactory. GrameenPhone connections are not always available. This is especially true for the Pre-Paid service. (Very recently, after conducting my survey, situation has been changed slightly). Sometimes, the subscribers need to pay extra money to get this service. The info centers of GP are very important for some after-sales services. But, these have shortage of capacity. Rajshahi Info Centers are located at Uposhore, and Alluproty but this can’t fill-up total customer needs. The GP helpline is also an important customer care tool. But it is also in shortage of capacity. Subscribers need to spend significant amount of time to reach the customer care. Behavior of the helpline CROs (Customer Relations Officers) is also questionable. But if we think from their end (CROs) it is too tough to handle a large numbers of subscribers with a smiling face continuously. Again the problem is capacity. Most of the subscribers are not happy with the billing rate of GrameenPhone. They think it is too high in the context of Bangladesh. But they are still using the service as Internship Report on GP 42 they do not have any alternative to switch. If anyone comes up with lower price, GP might face challenge. Another significant dissatisfaction of the GP users is that most of the GP connections are mobile to mobile. They do not have access to BTTB. But it is important for many subscribers to get this service. Most alarming thing is that most of the GrameenPhone users are not loyal towards the company. If BTTB or any other company comes up with same sort of services, the GP subscribers might switch to that company. 2. Applying the GAPs Model of Service Quality Customer perceptions are subjective assessments of actual service experience. The following figure correspond to two concepts: customer expectations and customer perceptions--that play a major role in service marketing. Customer expectations are the standards of or reference points for performance, against which service experiences are compared, and are often formulated in terms of what a customer believes should or will happen. Expected Service GAP Perceived Service Figure: The Customer GAP The sources of customer expectations consists of market controllable factors (such as pricing, advertising, sales promises) as well as factors that the marketer has limited ability to affect (innate personal needs, word-of-mouth communications, competitive offerings). In a perfect word, expectations and perceptions would be identical: customers would perceive that they receive what they thought they would and should. Internship Report on GP 43 Customer satisfaction is well depended on how successfully the companies can reduce or close the gap, as shown in the above figure. In broad sense, the process of closing the customer gap can be subdivided into four ‘company gaps,’ discrepancies within the organization that inhibit delivery of quality service. Company gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect Reasons:  Inadequate marketing research orientation.  Lack of upward communication.  Inefficient relationship focus. Company gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards Reasons:  Absence of customer-driven standards.  Inadequate service leadership.  Poor service design. Company gap 3: Not delivering to service standards Reasons:  Deficiencies in human resource policies.  Failure to match supply and demand.  Customer not fulfilling roles. Company gap 4: Not matching performance to promises Reasons:  Ineffective management of customer expectations.  Over promising.  Inadequate horizontal communication. Coming back to my project, I tried to find out the four company gaps of GrameenPhone, considering the data that I have attained through survey and secondary research. GrameenPhone’s Company Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect Internship Report on GP 44 GrameenPhone does extensive marketing research on a continuous basis. Moreover, there is always bottom-up communication, which enables GP to better understand what customers expect; because the low-end officers deal the customers and they better understand what customers expects. So, I reach to the conclusion that GrameenPhone has no ‘company gap 1’ at present. GrameenPhone’s Company Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards From the survey results and my personal observations, I found few areas that I identified as gap 2.  Billing rate of GrameenPhone is very high in the context of Bangladesh. Although it is not playing disturbing role at present, it can emerge as a problem if any competitor reduces its billing rate keeping other features intact.  There is a high demand for BTTB accessible mobile phones. Currently this product is offered by GrameenPhone but the price is high. As the competitors are offering this product at a lower price, GP is loosing its market share.  In Rajshahi, there is only one info center which is located at the West Northern portion of the city. For the south-end people, it is a difficult job to travel all the way and spend significant time sacrificing his/her personal working hours. This is a considerable problem that creates gap.  Improper quality of airtime and network availability is also a problem for GrameenPhone. But as the experts give opinion, it is not abnormal in a network which is going through a massive development process. GrameenPhone’s Company Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards This gap is also significant at GrameenPhone. This gap is very important, because it occurs when a company sets a standard but not deliver as per the standard. From my observation, some areas of gap 3 are: Internship Report on GP 45  It takes too much time to reach the helpline at the pick hours (Roughly 10 AM to 2 PM in the working days). As the subscribers need to pay TK 4 per minute even when they are waiting in the Que., it is a source of dissatisfaction for them.  It is expected to get good and polite behave from the helpline officers. But, as found from the survey results, the subscribers of GrameenPhone do not get appropriate behavior form the helpline. This can be an alarming problem for GP. Because it is very easy to lose a customer in a competitive market.  Rajshahi info center lacks capacity. It is very much time consuming to avail service their. But such services are expected to be availed at a least possible time.  Most of the GP subscribers are not well educated. They are not equipped enough to handle the mobile phone appropriately. This lack of knowledge of the subscribers creates problems for GrameenPhone. They assume their inability as GP’s poor service. Internship Report on GP 46 Recommendation 4. Recommendations to close the GAPs I designed my recommendations aiming to close the gaps between customers’ expectations and perceptions regarding GrameenPhone’s service. My recommendations are:  GrameenPhone should provide connections that have access to BTTB at lower price. It is perceived as an essential feature by a significant portion of the subscribers.  GP should earn flexibility to be able to reduce the bill, if necessary. But currently they should reduce the billing rate as others are offering lower than them.  There should be an information center at the southern side of the capital city.  Network development should be steady. GP should never sell connections excess to its capacity.  Capacity of the helpline should be increased in the pick hours.  The Customer Relations Officers of the helpline should be well trained to improve their behavior and quality of service.  Capacity of the Rajshahi info center should be increased to reduce the stress of the subscribers.  Different programs should be taken to educate the subscribers regarding different essential features of mobile phone.  GrameenPhone should take extensive program to build a positive image among their users. In this process they should try to eliminate the misconceptions of the users regarding GP. Internship Report on GP 47 Conclusion 5. Conclusion I would like to start the conclusion part by restating the hypothesis of my study. My hypothesis was, “Although GrameenPhone is leading the market of mobile telecommunication industry with a sharp distance, and their customers are not fully satisfied with the company’s services. If GP does not take care of these dissatisfactions and another company enters the market with similar offers, it will be difficult for GrameenPhone to keep the current market share intact.” From the analysis of the survey results and GAPs Model, it is clear that GP’s subscribers are dissatisfied with different mode of services offered by the company. Moreover, the analysis indicated that the subscribers of GrameenPhone are not loyal towards the company. They clearly pointed that if another company comes with similar offer, they will not hesitate to switch. So, my hypothesis is proved as a valid one. But there was a condition in my hypothesis: ‘If GP does not take care of these dissatisfactions...’ Therefore, I recommended some courses of action. My observations make me believe that if GP follows these recommendations; it will enable them to achieve a sustainable distinct competitive advantage and to run smoothly with loyal subscribers & market leadership. Internship Report on GP 48 References 1. Kothary, C.R. (1999), Research Methodology, Wishwa prokashon, Second edition, sixteen reprints 2. Koontz, H. & Weihrich, H. (1988), Management, Mc Grow – hill book company, Newyork 3. Anderson, E.W. & Fornell, C. (1994), a framework for comparing customer satisfaction across individuals and product categories. Journal of Economic Psychology, Vol. 12, 267-86 4. Andreasen, A.R. (1985), Consumer responses to dissatisfaction in loose monopolies. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 12, 135-41. 5. Gro¨nroos, C. (1984), ``A service quality model and its market implications’’, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 36-44. 6. Teas, R.K. (1994), ``Expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: an assessment of a reassessment’’, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58 No. 1, pp. 132-9. 7. Annual Report of Grameenphone Limited -. Grameenphone Limited Web site: www.Grameenphone.com Acronyms GSM Global System for Mobile Communication CDMA Code Division Multiple Access GPRS General Packet Radio Service EDGE Enhance Data Rates for GSM Evolution SMS Short Message Service VMS Voice Mail Service SIM Subscriber Identity Module RIM Removable Identity Module WAP Wireless Application Protocol PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network Internship Report on GP