Business Potential of Data Solutions

work voltage of information Solutions1. AUTHORISATIONThe device employment potence of selective development solutions in the Kolkata SME foodstuff has been d mavin during my pass Internship program at Vodafone India during February to May of 2011, as a grooveamential fulfilment of the want of PGPM program of IBS Kolkata.2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThe sp terminate Internship Program at Vodafone India was a commodious instructing experience for me. The communicate was kinda interesting as the telecommunicationmunicationmunicationmunicationmunicationmunication pains is a exceedingly evolving sedulousness in India with utmost(prenominal) opposition and jalopys of changes happening.The suffer would non father been a restrained line for me without the process of lots of people. I would uniform to mention Mr. Saugat Kumars ( high society guide) help at Vodafone with respect to aidable picture show to the telecom labor. He had disposed(p) me arrant(a) insight into the dynamics of the telecom industry and as well facilitated realistic delineation by dint of variety of activities. I would as well same(p) to agnize Mr. Siddhartha Kars ( tradeing manager) focussing regarding shutdown formulation, questionnaire designing and chalking out a plan towards efficient executing of the regurgitate. Also, at that place were a lot of another(prenominal) people at Vodafone, who helped me to record this industry and work through my project.In the academic front, I would exchangeable to mention the support of my faculty guide Prof. Bhaskar Basu and my SIP coordinator Dr. Subir Sen. They ease up circulaten me constant guidance throughout my project regarding academics and SIP formalities.most importantly, I am g localiseful to my family who had been always supportive and encouraging in either told my give noticeeavors.3. TABLE OF CONTENTS4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAs part of my Summer Internship Program of IBS Kolkata, I got an opportunit y to do an assignment at Vodafone India. The project was Business potential of info solutions in the Kolkata SME trade. Vodafone is one of the chancellor telecom companies orbicularly and acquiring an opportunity to work there helped me deduct a lot of exposure in the corpo localise land.The telecom is a high volume industry in India with lot of competition. The telecom industry in India is divided into 23 circles and around 14 telecom dish providers argon bring outly operating in these circles. The most giving among the function providers atomic proceeds 18 Vodafone, Airtel, opinion Communication, Tata Tele go, BSNL, MTNL, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Uninor etc. The telecom products and work behind be broadly classified into voice and information. The data solutions chiefly allow data cards, Blackberry serve, peregrine earnings, internet leased line and wireline wideband. Vodafones pipeline operations atomic design 18 broadly classified into production line and consumer variabilitys. My project was in the logical argument divider and was focused into the SME grocery store of Kolkata. For Vodafone, a SME gild is typically a aliment caller with annual turn everywhere ranging from 10 to 250 crore rupees. The SME grocery store of Kolkata is super diversified with companies ranging from sundry(a) industries, which include manufacturing, engineering, IT/ ITES, healthc atomic number 18, education, hospitality, financial serve, travel tourism, logistics, precise estate, affair (whole sellers/ retailers), pharmaceuticals, etc.In the initial phase of my summer internship at Vodafone, I was required to do secondary look active the telecom industry ( both(prenominal) national and global). From the secondary research, I learnt a great steal about the major(ip) telecom companies, telecom products services, exploitation of telecom technologies and the tonality useable issues of the telecom industry. Next I was given exposure t o region operations through tele- selling, visiting SME lymph glands, traveling with the gross gross sales team, visiting distri notwithstandingors of the community and foodstuff mapping. The plain stitch exposure helped me to exact a feel of the food marketplace at the basic train. This exposure juveniler proved to be hugely undecomposed when I started doing market surveil.The methodology of the project was to do a market research on a prototype (consisting of SME companies in the Kolkata bea). For quantify constraints, the prove surface was kept at 65. Questionnaire was designed and market survey was conducted. comp demiseium was done on the data collected, ranging from SME confederation profiles, market size of the sample with respect to different products, knob apprehension regarding various(a) attributes of telecom service providers, competition among service providers and future SME market implications.From the initial abstract it was gear up tha t the SME invitees are highly demanding with respect to honour they are getting and the court-ordered injury of the products. They were highly awake(predicate) of their clienteles balance to supplant operations and knew very advantageously what kind of products would add value to their railway line operations. Regarding data solutions, radio(prenominal) data has huge potential in the coming stratums.The whole project helped me to learn a lot about the telecom industry and also get exposure to the sales marketing operations of a MNC bon ton like Vodafone.5. INTRODUCTIONThe telecommunication Industry has evolved a great oerlay oer the past both decades. Advancement in communication and reading engineering science has changed the industry structure dramatically. Earlier our communication demand were curtail to landline sounds. But now roughly everybody has a officious phone connection. smooth phones consider changed our lives immensely. It has given us the pow er of communication anytime anywhere. At present the industry is going through trem annihilateous transformation with the convergence of telecommunication, information technology and computer technology and thus making grand resources of information available in the palm of our hands. wireless internet is the in style(p) tr demolition in the industry with the advent of 3G technology and in the long experimental condition there should be information boom, with gradual advancement towards LTE (long terminal organic evolution) and 4G. wireless internet boom has already been experienced outside India generally in North American, European and South East Asian markets. It has entered India quite late with roll out of 3G and is judge to create huge force in our social and professional lives.This project is unaccompanied concerned with the line potential of data solutions. Before going deep into the project al down(p) me give a brief conceit about the telecommunication indus try, telecommunication technologies, major telecom players and various products services.5.1. TELECOM INDUSTRY marketplace SCENARIO5.1.1. globose SCENARIBy the extirpate of 2010, there was an approximately 5.3 one one one thousand thousand one cardinal million million million million mobile cellular subscriptions universe of discoursewide, including 940 trillion subscriptions to 3G services.Access to mobile ne tworks is now available to 90% of the world existence and 80% of the population living in rural sports stadiums. stack are wretched rapidly from 2G to 3G platforms, in both demonstrable and create countries. In 2010, 143 countries were offering 3G services commercially, correspondd to 95 in 2007.Towards 4G a look of countries assimilate started to offer services at even higher wideband urges, moving to next generation wireless platforms they include Sweden, Norway, Ukraine and the United States. officious cellular offset is slowing worldwide. In create c ountries, the mobile market is move overing saturation takes with on come 116 subscriptions per deoxycytidine monophosphate inhabitants at the halt of 2010 and a marginal growth of 1.6% from 2009-2010.At the same time, the underdeveloped world is change magnitude its dowery of mobile subscriptions from 53% of sum up mobile subscriptions at the lay off of 2005 to 73% at the discontinue of 2010.In the develop world, mobile cellular insight rates was expected to reach 68% at the displace of 2010 chief(prenominal)ly driven by the Asia and Pacific region. India and mainland chinaware wholly were expected to add over 300 trillion mobile subscriptions in 2010.In the African region, perceptiveness rates would reach an estimated 41% at the abrogate of 2010 (compared to 76% globally) leaving a significant potential for growth.The chip of meshing users has doubled betwixt 2005 and 2010.In 2010, the bite of profit users would slip by the two billion mark, of which 1.2 billion would be in developing countries.A number of countries, including Estonia, Finland and Spain have declared ingress to the network as a legal right for citizens.With more than(prenominal)(prenominal) than 420 million profits users, China is the largest Internet market in the world.While 71% of the population in developed countries are online, only 21% of the population in developing countries are online. By the finis of 2010, Internet user discernment in Africa would reach 9.6%, out-of-the-way(prenominal) behind both the world average (30%) and the developing untaught average (21%).While in developing countries 72.4% of households have a TV, only 22.5% have a computer and only 15.8% have Internet devil (compared to 98%, 71% and 65.6% respectively in developed countries).At the end of 2010, one-half a billion households worldwide (or 29.5%) would have irritate to the Internet.In some(prenominal) countries, including the Republic of Korea, Netherlands and Sweden, m ore than 80% of households have Internet access, almost all of them through a wideband connection.The number of people having access to the Internet at home has growthd from 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.6 billion in 2010.There has been strong growth in frosty (wired) wideband subscriptions, in both developed and developing countries. At the end of 2010, unbending (wired) broadband subscriptions would reach an estimated 555 million globally (or 8% cleverness), up from 471 million (or 6.9% penetration) a year earlier.Despite these promising campaigns, penetration aims in developing countries remain low 4.4 subscriptions per 100 people compared to 24.6 in developed countries.The developing worlds apportion of improve (wired) broadband subscriptions is growing steadily. By the end of 2010, the developing world would account for an estimated 45% of global subscriptions (up from 42% fivesome years earlier).Africa still lags behind when it comes to fixed (wired) broadband. Al though subscriptions are increasing, a penetration rate of less than 1% illustrates the challenges that persist in increasing access to high-speed, high-capacity internet access in the region.With the rapidly increasing high-bandwidth content and applications on the Internet, there is a growing demand for higher-speed connections. For example, at the minimum broadband speed of 256 kbps, downloading a high-quality movie takes almost 1 days compared to 5 minutes at a connection speed of 100 Mbps.With increase in gross domestic product per capita, the propensity to consume increases and thus increases the availability of various services. In the above figure, gross domestic product per capita and the penetration level of broadband services are mapped once against each other. Countries like USA, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Canada have high per capita GDP and the broadband penetration is also high in these countries. South Korea has comparatively low per capita GDP but very high broadband penetration. On the other hand, UAE and Saudi-Arabian Arabia have comparatively high per capita GDP, but their broadband penetration is low. Brazil, Russia and China have comparatively low per capita GDP and their broadband penetration is also low. India is nowhere in the picture in basis of broadband penetration.Data business is seeing a steady growth crosswise global markets. In 2010, data taxation generated per endorser is highest in US Canada followed by atomic number 74ern Europe, Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe.According to Vodafone, the future of telecom business lies in the mobile data category with majority of the revenue share being generated from there. In 2014, an estimated $337bn revenue will be generated from mobile data business, almost $138bn increase from 2010.India and China are the two emergent economies with square(p) number of mobile customers and still having average mobile penetration level at 45% and 54% respectively, thus makin g them highly mercenary markets for mobile phone service providers.With a high GDP growth, market customers growth and potential for SIM penetration, India is a high value market. call up number trade Share of telecommunication Service Providers Globally (by number of subscribers)(www. discernledge dish-script.com)Globally, China sprightly is in the first position (522m subscribers), followed by Vodafone (333m), Telefonica (202m), America Movil (201m) and Telenor (172m). ii Indian companies Bharti Airtel (125m) and Reliance Communication (100m) are in the top 15 list.5.1.2. Indian SCENARIOThe number of telephone subscribers in India increase from 671.69 million in Jun-10 to 723.28 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a sequential growth of 7.68% over the preliminary behind as against 8.11% during the QE Jun-10. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth of 42.09% over the same tail of die hard year. The overall tele-density in India has reached 60.99 as on 30th family line 2010.Subscription in urban Areas grew from 452.59 million in Jun-10 to 487.07 million at the end of Sep-10, fetching the Urban Tele-density from 128.20 to 137.25. Rural subscription change magnitude from 219.09 million to 236.21 million, and the Rural Tele-density increase from 26.43 to 28.42. The share of Rural subscribers has change magnitude slightly to 32.66% in total subscription from 32.62% in Jun-10. somewhat 66.83% of the total net additions have been in Urban areas as compared to 63.47% in the prior quarter. Rural subscription recorded a decline in rate of growth during the quarter, from 9.18% in Jun-10 to 7.81% in Sep-10. Rate of growth for Urban subscription increased marginally from 7.61% in QE Jun-10 to 7.62% in QE Sep-10.With 52.21 million net additions during the quarter, total wireless (GSM + CDMA) subscriber base registered a growth of 8.21% over the preceding quarter and increased from 635.51 million at the end of Jun-10 to 687.71 million at the end of Se p-10. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth over the same quarter of last year is 45.79%. radio Tele-density reached 57.99.Wireline subscriber base further declined from 36.18 million at the end of Jun-10 to 35.57 million at the end of Sep-10, bringing down the wireline Tele-density from 3.06 in Jun-10 to 3.00 end of Sep-10.Internet subscribers increased from 16.72 million at the end of Jun-10 to 17.90 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a quarterly growth rate of 7.02%. Top 10 ISPs unneurotic hold 95% of the total Internet subscriber base. design of broadband subscribers increased from 9.47 million at the end of Jun-10 to 10.30 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a quarterly growth of 8.79% and Y-O-Y growth of 42.93%. The growth in the number of Broadband subscribers during the quarter and also on Y-O-Y basis is more or less similar to the growth in the overall telephone subscriber base.Share of Broadband subscription in total Internet subscription increased from 56.7% in Jun-10 to 57.6% in Sep-10. 86.89% of the Broadband subscribers are using Digital indorser run along (DSL) technology.Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for GSM-Full Mobility service declined by 10.16%, from Rs.122 in QE Jun-10 to Rs.110 in QE Sep- 10, with Y-O-Y decrease of 33.1%.ARPU for CDMA full mobility service declined by 1.34%, from Rs.74 in QE Jun-10 to Rs.73 in QE Sep-10. ARPU for CDMA has declined by 17.5% on Y-O-Y basis.GSM subscription continues to grow at a faster rate. At the end of Sep-10, GSM subscribers constituted 84.12% of the wireless market.The GSM subscribers were 578.49 million at the quarter terminus Sep-10 as against 527.62 million at the end of the previous quarter, showing a growth of 9.64%. Bharti with 143.29 million subscribers continues to be the largest GSM mobile operator, followed by Vodafone (115.55 million).The CDMA subscriber base increased to 109.22 million during the quarter ending Sep-10 from 107.88 million at the end of previous quarter, thereb y showing a growth rate of 1.23%. Reliance with 55.29 million subscribers continues to be the largest CDMA mobile operator. However, in hurt of net additions during the quarter, Sistema added the highest number of subscribers (1.54 million), followed by Tata (1.20 million), rest of the service providers recorded decline in subscribers. exercise grocery Share of Telecom Service Providers (GSM) in India (by number of subscribers in million, 2010)(www.trai.gov.in)5.2. Indian TELECOM INDUSTRY5.2.1. INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY exampleTRAIThe Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator found in 1997 by the brass of India to regulate the telecommunications business in India.DoTThe Telecom kick and the Department of Telecommunications are trustyfor policy formulation, licensing, wireless spectrum management, administrative supervise of PSUs, research and development and standardization/validation of equipment etc.WPCThe Wireless homework and Co-ordination (WPC) fly of the Ministry of Communications, created in 1952, is the National Radio Regulatory Authority trustworthy for frequency Spectrum Management, including licensing and caters for the needs of all wireless users (Government and Private) in the country. It exercises the statutory functions of the central Government and issues licenses to establish, maintain and operate wireless stations. WPC is divided into major sections like Licensing and normal (LR), New Technology class (NTG) and Standing Advisory commission on Radio Frequency Allocation (SACFA). SACFA makes the recommendations on major absolute frequency apportioning issues, formulation of the frequency allocation plan, making recommendations on the various issues tie in to International Telecom Union (ITU), to sort out problems referred to the mission by various wireless users, etc.TDSATTDSAT (Telecom Disputes resolve appellant Tribunal) was situated up in May 2000 by the presidency of India. The TDSAT was set up so that it can adjudicate over disputes that arise in the telecommunication firmament. TDSAT was established with the view to protect the interest of the consumers and service providers of the telecommunication sector and also to encourage and ensure the growth of the telecommunication sector. The various functions of TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) are that it can adjudicate any disputes that arise in the midst of a group of consumers and service providers, a licensee and a licensor, and also between two or more than the service providers.5.2.2. INDIAN TELECOM CIRCLESThe Indian telecom sector is divided into 23 circles which are as followsBusiness probable of Data Solutions in the Kolkata SME securities industryPage 1Soumya Santa Dwari10BSP0611PGPM 2010 12, IBS KolkataAndhra PradeshAssamBihar and JharkhandChennaiDelhi NCRGujaratHaryanaHimachal PradeshJammu KashmirKarnatakaKeralaKolkataMadhya Pradesh ChhattisgarhMaharashtra and Goa (except Mumb ai)MumbaiNorth EastOrissaPunjabRajasthanTamil Nadu (except Chennai)UP(E)UP(W)West Bengal (except Kolkata)Business Potential of Data Solutions in the Kolkata SME MarketPage 1Soumya Santa Dwari10BSP0611PGPM 2010 12, IBS Kolkata(www.vodafone.in)6. VODAFONEVodafone Group plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in capital of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom. It is the worlds largest mobile telecommunications company measurable by revenues and the worlds second-largest measured by subscribers (behind China Mobile), with around 341 million relative subscribers as of November 2010. It operates networks in over 30 countries and has pardner networks in over 40 additional countries. It owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the second largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers.The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones.Its primary list is on the London melodic phrase Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalization of approximately 92 billion as of November 2010, making it the third gear largest company on the London Stock Exchange. It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.Vodafones operations are categorized in two divisionsConsumer This division caters to the B2C market and primarily operates like a FMCG company.Business This division caters to the B2B market and operates more like a corporate services company.Vodafone Indias Business division is practicable in 9 circles. Vodafones Business division operates through marketing sales team and service team. The marketing sales team again operates throughKAM (key account manager) They give direct and highly customized service to the corporates and government and are meant for organizations having annual turnover greater than rupees 100 crores.Channel helper CP is responsible for giving service to small organizations having ann ual turnover less than rupees 100 crores.7. VODAFONE SWOT ANALYSIS8. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT IN draftWe have to explore the SME market of Kolkata region and identify client needs in terms of data solutions. We also need to compare Vodafone with its competitors in terms of product offerings in the areas of business data solutions for the SME segment. Finally, we need to appreciate the business potential of the Kolkata SME segment in terms of data solutions for Vodafone, both at present and in the near future.9. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECTTo take a chance go steady the requirement of data solutions in Kolkata SME base (business sector particular(prenominal) data solution requirements).To estimate the market size of data solutions in the Kolkata SME base.To compare the data solutions of Vodafone with its competitors.To forecast future product/ service requirements in Kolkata SME base.10. KOLAKATA SME MARKETThe Kolkata region is largely composed of SME companies rather than large MNCs. For Vodafone, a SME would typically be a company, whose annual turnover is in the kitchen range of rupees 10 to 250 crores. Vodafone (Kolkata circle) has divided Kolkata region into 6 zones CBD 1 (central business territory), CBD 2, North, South, Howrah and Hoogly. The main ducking of SME business in Kolkata is in the central business district area comprising of Dalhousie, BBD Bag, Esplanade, Central Avenue, Burrabazaar, AJC Bose Road, Chowringhee, Park Street, Park Circus, Camac Street, Shakespeare Sarani, Sarat Bose Road, Minto Park, etc. A lot of SME companies in Kolkata will also fall in the IT/ ITES category, which are in general laborious at Sector V, Salt Lake and Rajarhat New Town.Typical features of a SME would beSmall workforceUnorganizedWill look for more value for moneyLess buying power compared to corporatesKey closing shaper would be one or two individuals for all operations11. VODAFONE PRODUCTS functionThe various products and services of Vodafone that we are dealing with are as followsWireless Data Solutions (2G/ 3G) Data Cards/ USB Dongles Blackberry Plans Vodafone Mobile associate inflexible Line Voice Data shape to gondola Solutions Telemetry Solutions fomite bring in/ People Tracking/ Asset Tracking Solutions Security Solutions come out SMSprice Free NumbersAudio/ Video ConferencingVPN ( realistic private network)GVN (global virtual number)/ synergistic SMS3G specialized products Office in a Box (1 3G simcard, 1 fixed line slot, 4 slots LAN + Wi-fi) Wi-mi (1 3G simcard, 5 Wi-fi connections)12. SUMMARY OF THE form makeInitially, we did secondary research on global Indian telecom market, evolution of telecom technologies, SME market, latest trends in the telecom industry (3G, 4G, Machine to Machine solutions, LTE) and various telecom products services.Next, we were given field exposure in terms of tele-marketing, traveling with FOS (Fleet on Street) team, visiting SME clients, visiting company railway line partners a nd market mapping.Next, we designed questionnaire keeping in mind the project objectives.Finally, we conducted market survey.The development that we achieved by doing the above tasks are of tremendous value for the operation of our project. It not only gave us an insight into how we were going to approach the project but also an invaluable ground level market exposure. From the field exposure we got a clear picture about the micro level sales operations of the telecom business, the Kolkata SME market overview and most importantly the squeezable skills of client handling. The learning outcomes of the activities undergone are briefly described below.Activity development Outcomes tributary ResearchGot an overview of the telecom sector (global national)Became aware of the major telecom companiesCame to know about the various telecom products servicesLearnt about the evolution of telecom technologiesAlso learnt about the latest trends in the telecom industryGot an idea of the SME se ctor business structureTele MarketingLearnt the art of sales frameLearnt about telephone etiquetteGot an idea of how to communicate to a business clientLearnt about how to influence a potential customer and decision a dealTraveling with FOSGot an idea about the basic level sales and client handling operations of a telecom companyGot practical experience of face to face business negotiationsLearnt about how to keep business relationship with clientsChannel Partner visitsLearnt about the sales dispersal of a telecom company in the B2B sectorGot an idea of the operations of a channel partnerLearnt about how company and channel partner operations are integratedSME client visitsGot a feel of the Kolkata SME companiesBecame aware of the client expectations from a telecom service providerGot an idea of the clients perception of Vodafone and its products servicesLearnt about how to professionally handle clients and responsibly execute tasksMarket single-valued functionExploration of t he Kolkata business areas and identification of prospective clientsBusiness Potential of Data SolutionsBusiness Potential of Data Solutions1. AUTHORISATIONThe project Business potential of data solutions in the Kolkata SME market has been done during my Summer Internship Program at Vodafone India during February to May of 2011, as a partial fulfillment of the requirement of PGPM program of IBS Kolkata.2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThe Summer Internship Program at Vodafone India was a great learning experience for me. The project was quite interesting as the telecom industry is a highly evolving industry in India with intense competition and lots of changes happening.The project would not have been a smooth run for me without the help of lots of people. I would like to mention Mr. Saugat Kumars (company guide) help at Vodafone with respect to practical exposure to the telecom industry. He had given me thorough insight into the dynamics of the telecom industry and also facilitated practical expos ure through variety of activities. I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Siddhartha Kars (marketing manager) guidance regarding project formulation, questionnaire designing and chalking out a plan towards effective execution of the project. Also, there were a lot of other people at Vodafone, who helped me to understand this industry and work through my project.In the academic front, I would like to mention the support of my faculty guide Prof. Bhaskar Basu and my SIP coordinator Dr. Subir Sen. They have given me constant guidance throughout my project regarding academics and SIP formalities.Most importantly, I am grateful to my family who had been always supportive and encouraging in all my endeavors.3. TABLE OF CONTENTS4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAs part of my Summer Internship Program of IBS Kolkata, I got an opportunity to do an assignment at Vodafone India. The project was Business potential of data solutions in the Kolkata SME market. Vodafone is one of the premier telecom companies glo bally and getting an opportunity to work there helped me gain a lot of exposure in the corporate world.The Telecom is a high volume industry in India with lot of competition. The Telecom industry in India is divided into 23 circles and around 14 telecom service providers are presently operating in these circles. The most prominent among the service providers are Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance Communication, Tata Teleservices, BSNL, MTNL, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Uninor etc. The telecom products and services can be broadly classified into voice and data. The data solutions primarily include data cards, Blackberry services, mobile internet, internet leased line and wireline broadband. Vodafones business operations are broadly classified into business and consumer divisions. My project was in the business division and was focused into the SME market of Kolkata. For Vodafone, a SME company is typically a company with annual turnover ranging from 10 to 250 crore rupees. The SME market of Kolka ta is highly diversified with companies ranging from various industries, which include manufacturing, engineering, IT/ ITES, healthcare, education, hospitality, financial services, travel tourism, logistics, real estate, trading (whole sellers/ retailers), pharmaceuticals, etc.In the initial phase of my summer internship at Vodafone, I was required to do secondary research about the telecom industry (both national and global). From the secondary research, I learnt a great deal about the major telecom companies, telecom products services, evolution of telecom technologies and the key operational issues of the telecom industry. Next I was given exposure to field operations through tele-marketing, visiting SME clients, traveling with the sales team, visiting distributors of the company and market mapping. The field exposure helped me to get a feel of the market at the basic level. This exposure later proved to be hugely beneficial when I started doing market survey.The methodology of the project was to do a market research on a sample (consisting of SME companies in the Kolkata area). For time constraints, the sample size was kept at 65. Questionnaire was designed and market survey was conducted. Analysis was done on the data collected, ranging from SME company profiles, market size of the sample with respect to different products, client perception regarding various attributes of telecom service providers, competition among service providers and future SME market implications.From the initial analysis it was found that the SME clients are highly demanding with respect to value they are getting and the price of the products. They were highly aware of their businesss end to end operations and knew very well what kind of products would add value to their business operations. Regarding data solutions, wireless data has huge potential in the coming years.The whole project helped me to learn a lot about the telecom industry and also get exposure to the sales market ing operations of a MNC company like Vodafone.5. INTRODUCTIONThe Telecom Industry has evolved a great deal over the past two decades. Advancement in communication and information technology has changed the industry structure dramatically. Earlier our communication needs were restricted to landline phones. But now almost everybody has a mobile phone connection. Mobile phones have changed our lives immensely. It has given us the power of communication anytime anywhere. At present the industry is going through tremendous transformation with the convergence of telecommunication, information technology and computer technology and thus making vast resources of information available in the palm of our hands. Wireless internet is the latest trend in the industry with the advent of 3G technology and in the long term there should be information boom, with gradual advancement towards LTE (long term evolution) and 4G. Wireless internet boom has already been experienced outside India mainly in N orth American, European and South East Asian markets. It has entered India quite late with roll out of 3G and is expected to create huge impact in our social and professional lives.This project is only concerned with the business potential of data solutions. Before going deep into the project let me give a brief idea about the telecommunication industry, telecommunication technologies, major telecom players and various products services.5.1. TELECOM INDUSTRY MARKET SCENARIO5.1.1. GLOBAL SCENARIBy the end of 2010, there was an approximately 5.3 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide, including 940 million subscriptions to 3G services.Access to mobile networks is now available to 90% of the world population and 80% of the population living in rural areas.People are moving rapidly from 2G to 3G platforms, in both developed and developing countries. In 2010, 143 countries were offering 3G services commercially, compared to 95 in 2007.Towards 4G a number of countries have start ed to offer services at even higher broadband speeds, moving to next generation wireless platforms they include Sweden, Norway, Ukraine and the United States.Mobile cellular growth is slowing worldwide. In developed countries, the mobile market is ambit saturation levels with on average 116 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants at the end of 2010 and a marginal growth of 1.6% from 2009-2010.At the same time, the developing world is increasing its share of mobile subscriptions from 53% of total mobile subscriptions at the end of 2005 to 73% at the end of 2010.In the developing world, mobile cellular penetration rates was expected to reach 68% at the end of 2010 mainly driven by the Asia and Pacific region. India and China alone were expected to add over 300 million mobile subscriptions in 2010.In the African region, penetration rates would reach an estimated 41% at the end of 2010 (compared to 76% globally) leaving a significant potential for growth.The number of Internet users has do ubled between 2005 and 2010.In 2010, the number of Internet users would surpass the two billion mark, of which 1.2 billion would be in developing countries.A number of countries, including Estonia, Finland and Spain have declared access to the Internet as a legal right for citizens.With more than 420 million Internet users, China is the largest Internet market in the world.While 71% of the population in developed countries are online, only 21% of the population in developing countries are online. By the end of 2010, Internet user penetration in Africa would reach 9.6%, far behind both the world average (30%) and the developing country average (21%).While in developing countries 72.4% of households have a TV, only 22.5% have a computer and only 15.8% have Internet access (compared to 98%, 71% and 65.6% respectively in developed countries).At the end of 2010, half a billion households worldwide (or 29.5%) would have access to the Internet.In some countries, including the Republic of K orea, Netherlands and Sweden, more than 80% of households have Internet access, almost all of them through a broadband connection.The number of people having access to the Internet at home has increased from 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.6 billion in 2010.There has been strong growth in fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions, in both developed and developing countries. At the end of 2010, fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions would reach an estimated 555 million globally (or 8% penetration), up from 471 million (or 6.9% penetration) a year earlier.Despite these promising trends, penetration levels in developing countries remain low 4.4 subscriptions per 100 people compared to 24.6 in developed countries.The developing worlds share of fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions is growing steadily. By the end of 2010, the developing world would account for an estimated 45% of global subscriptions (up from 42% five years earlier).Africa still lags behind when it comes to fixed (wired) broa dband. Although subscriptions are increasing, a penetration rate of less than 1% illustrates the challenges that persist in increasing access to high-speed, high-capacity internet access in the region.With the rapidly increasing high-bandwidth content and applications on the Internet, there is a growing demand for higher-speed connections. For example, at the minimum broadband speed of 256 kbps, downloading a high-quality movie takes almost 1 days compared to 5 minutes at a connection speed of 100 Mbps.With increase in GDP per capita, the propensity to consume increases and thus increases the availability of various services. In the above figure, GDP per capita and the penetration level of broadband services are mapped against each other. Countries like USA, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Canada have high per capita GDP and the broadband penetration is also high in these countries. South Korea has comparatively low per capita GDP but very high broadband penetration. On the other hand, UAE and Saudi Arabia have comparatively high per capita GDP, but their broadband penetration is low. Brazil, Russia and China have comparatively low per capita GDP and their broadband penetration is also low. India is nowhere in the picture in terms of broadband penetration.Data business is seeing a steady growth across global markets. In 2010, data revenue generated per subscriber is highest in US Canada followed by Western Europe, Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe.According to Vodafone, the future of telecom business lies in the mobile data category with majority of the revenue share being generated from there. In 2014, an estimated $337bn revenue will be generated from mobile data business, almost $138bn increase from 2010.India and China are the two emerging economies with substantial number of mobile customers and still having average mobile penetration level at 45% and 54% respectively, thus making them highly lucrative markets for mobile phone service provi ders.With a high GDP growth, market customers growth and potential for SIM penetration, India is a high value market.Figure Market Share of Telecom Service Providers Globally (by number of subscribers)(www.knowledgebase-script.com)Globally, China Mobile is in the first position (522m subscribers), followed by Vodafone (333m), Telefonica (202m), America Movil (201m) and Telenor (172m). Two Indian companies Bharti Airtel (125m) and Reliance Communication (100m) are in the top 15 list.5.1.2. INDIAN SCENARIOThe number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 671.69 million in Jun-10 to 723.28 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a sequential growth of 7.68% over the previous quarter as against 8.11% during the QE Jun-10. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth of 42.09% over the same quarter of last year. The overall tele-density in India has reached 60.99 as on 30th September 2010.Subscription in Urban Areas grew from 452.59 million in Jun-10 to 487.07 million at the end of Sep-10, taking the Urban Tele-density from 128.20 to 137.25. Rural subscription increased from 219.09 million to 236.21 million, and the Rural Tele-density increased from 26.43 to 28.42. The share of Rural subscribers has increased slightly to 32.66% in total subscription from 32.62% in Jun-10.About 66.83% of the total net additions have been in Urban areas as compared to 63.47% in the previous quarter. Rural subscription recorded a decline in rate of growth during the quarter, from 9.18% in Jun-10 to 7.81% in Sep-10. Rate of growth for Urban subscription increased marginally from 7.61% in QE Jun-10 to 7.62% in QE Sep-10.With 52.21 million net additions during the quarter, total wireless (GSM + CDMA) subscriber base registered a growth of 8.21% over the previous quarter and increased from 635.51 million at the end of Jun-10 to 687.71 million at the end of Sep-10. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth over the same quarter of last year is 45.79%. Wireless Tele-density reached 57.99.Wir eline subscriber base further declined from 36.18 million at the end of Jun-10 to 35.57 million at the end of Sep-10, bringing down the wireline Tele-density from 3.06 in Jun-10 to 3.00 end of Sep-10.Internet subscribers increased from 16.72 million at the end of Jun-10 to 17.90 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a quarterly growth rate of 7.02%. Top 10 ISPs together hold 95% of the total Internet subscriber base.Number of Broadband subscribers increased from 9.47 million at the end of Jun-10 to 10.30 million at the end of Sep-10, registering a quarterly growth of 8.79% and Y-O-Y growth of 42.93%. The growth in the number of Broadband subscribers during the quarter and also on Y-O-Y basis is more or less similar to the growth in the overall telephone subscriber base.Share of Broadband subscription in total Internet subscription increased from 56.7% in Jun-10 to 57.6% in Sep-10. 86.89% of the Broadband subscribers are using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology.Average Reve nue Per User (ARPU) for GSM-Full Mobility service declined by 10.16%, from Rs.122 in QE Jun-10 to Rs.110 in QE Sep- 10, with Y-O-Y decrease of 33.1%.ARPU for CDMA full mobility service declined by 1.34%, from Rs.74 in QE Jun-10 to Rs.73 in QE Sep-10. ARPU for CDMA has declined by 17.5% on Y-O-Y basis.GSM subscription continues to grow at a faster rate. At the end of Sep-10, GSM subscribers constituted 84.12% of the wireless market.The GSM subscribers were 578.49 million at the quarter ending Sep-10 as against 527.62 million at the end of the previous quarter, showing a growth of 9.64%. Bharti with 143.29 million subscribers continues to be the largest GSM mobile operator, followed by Vodafone (115.55 million).The CDMA subscriber base increased to 109.22 million during the quarter ending Sep-10 from 107.88 million at the end of previous quarter, thereby showing a growth rate of 1.23%. Reliance with 55.29 million subscribers continues to be the largest CDMA mobile operator. However, in terms of net additions during the quarter, Sistema added the highest number of subscribers (1.54 million), followed by Tata (1.20 million), rest of the service providers recorded decline in subscribers.Figure Market Share of Telecom Service Providers (GSM) in India (by number of subscribers in million, 2010)(www.trai.gov.in)5.2. INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY5.2.1. INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY FRAMEWORKTRAIThe Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator established in 1997 by the Government of India to regulate the telecommunications business in India.DoTThe Telecom Commission and the Department of Telecommunications are responsiblefor policy formulation, licensing, wireless spectrum management, administrative monitoring of PSUs, research and development and standardization/validation of equipment etc.WPCThe Wireless Planning and Co-ordination (WPC) Wing of the Ministry of Communications, created in 1952, is the National Radio Regulatory Authority responsible fo r Frequency Spectrum Management, including licensing and caters for the needs of all wireless users (Government and Private) in the country. It exercises the statutory functions of the Central Government and issues licenses to establish, maintain and operate wireless stations. WPC is divided into major sections like Licensing and Regulation (LR), New Technology Group (NTG) and Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocation (SACFA). SACFA makes the recommendations on major frequency allocation issues, formulation of the frequency allocation plan, making recommendations on the various issues related to International Telecom Union (ITU), to sort out problems referred to the committee by various wireless users, etc.TDSATTDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) was set up in May 2000 by the government of India. The TDSAT was set up so that it can adjudicate over disputes that arise in the telecommunication sector. TDSAT was established with the view to protect t he interest of the consumers and service providers of the telecommunication sector and also to encourage and ensure the growth of the telecommunication sector. The various functions of TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) are that it can adjudicate any disputes that arise between a group of consumers and service providers, a licensee and a licensor, and also between two or more than the service providers.5.2.2. INDIAN TELECOM CIRCLESThe Indian telecom sector is divided into 23 circles which are as followsBusiness Potential of Data Solutions in the Kolkata SME MarketPage 1Soumya Santa Dwari10BSP0611PGPM 2010 12, IBS KolkataAndhra PradeshAssamBihar and JharkhandChennaiDelhi NCRGujaratHaryanaHimachal PradeshJammu KashmirKarnatakaKeralaKolkataMadhya Pradesh ChhattisgarhMaharashtra and Goa (except Mumbai)MumbaiNorth EastOrissaPunjabRajasthanTamil Nadu (except Chennai)UP(E)UP(W)West Bengal (except Kolkata)Business Potential of Data Solutions in the Kolkata SME Marke tPage 1Soumya Santa Dwari10BSP0611PGPM 2010 12, IBS Kolkata(www.vodafone.in)6. VODAFONEVodafone Group plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the worlds largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the worlds second-largest measured by subscribers (behind China Mobile), with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of November 2010. It operates networks in over 30 countries and has partner networks in over 40 additional countries. It owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the second largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers.The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones.Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalization of approximately 92 billion as of November 2010, making it the third largest compa ny on the London Stock Exchange. It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.Vodafones operations are categorized in two divisionsConsumer This division caters to the B2C market and primarily operates like a FMCG company.Business This division caters to the B2B market and operates more like a corporate services company.Vodafone Indias Business division is operational in 9 circles. Vodafones Business division operates through marketing sales team and service team. The marketing sales team again operates throughKAM (key account manager) They give direct and highly customized service to the corporates and government and are meant for organizations having annual turnover greater than rupees 100 crores.Channel Partner CP is responsible for giving service to small organizations having annual turnover less than rupees 100 crores.7. VODAFONE SWOT ANALYSIS8. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT IN BRIEFWe have to explore the SME market of Kolkata region and identify client needs in terms of data soluti ons. We also need to compare Vodafone with its competitors in terms of product offerings in the areas of business data solutions for the SME segment. Finally, we need to evaluate the business potential of the Kolkata SME segment in terms of data solutions for Vodafone, both at present and in the near future.9. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECTTo find understand the requirement of data solutions in Kolkata SME base (business sector specific data solution requirements).To estimate the market size of data solutions in the Kolkata SME base.To compare the data solutions of Vodafone with its competitors.To forecast future product/ service requirements in Kolkata SME base.10. KOLAKATA SME MARKETThe Kolkata region is largely composed of SME companies rather than large MNCs. For Vodafone, a SME would typically be a company, whose annual turnover is in the range of rupees 10 to 250 crores. Vodafone (Kolkata circle) has divided Kolkata region into 6 zones CBD 1 (central business district), CBD 2, Nor th, South, Howrah and Hoogly. The main concentration of SME business in Kolkata is in the central business district area comprising of Dalhousie, BBD Bag, Esplanade, Central Avenue, Burrabazaar, AJC Bose Road, Chowringhee, Park Street, Park Circus, Camac Street, Shakespeare Sarani, Sarat Bose Road, Minto Park, etc. A lot of SME companies in Kolkata will also fall in the IT/ ITES category, which are mainly concentrated at Sector V, Salt Lake and Rajarhat New Town.Typical features of a SME would beSmall workforceUnorganizedWill look for more value for moneyLess buying power compared to corporatesKey decision maker would be one or two individuals for all operations11. VODAFONE PRODUCTS SERVICESThe various products and services of Vodafone that we are dealing with are as followsWireless Data Solutions (2G/ 3G) Data Cards/ USB Dongles Blackberry Plans Vodafone Mobile ConnectFixed Line Voice DataMachine to Machine Solutions Telemetry Solutions Vehicle Tracking/ People Tracking/ Asset Tra cking Solutions Security SolutionsBulk SMSToll Free NumbersAudio/ Video ConferencingVPN (virtual private network)GVN (global virtual number)/ Interactive SMS3G specialized products Office in a Box (1 3G simcard, 1 fixed line slot, 4 slots LAN + Wi-fi) Wi-mi (1 3G simcard, 5 Wi-fi connections)12. SUMMARY OF THE WORK DONEInitially, we did secondary research on global Indian telecom market, evolution of telecom technologies, SME market, latest trends in the telecom industry (3G, 4G, Machine to Machine solutions, LTE) and various telecom products services.Next, we were given field exposure in terms of tele-marketing, traveling with FOS (Fleet on Street) team, visiting SME clients, visiting company channel partners and market mapping.Next, we designed questionnaire keeping in mind the project objectives.Finally, we conducted market survey.The learning that we achieved by doing the above tasks are of tremendous value for the execution of our project. It not only gave us an insight into how we were going to approach the project but also an invaluable ground level market exposure. From the field exposure we got a clear picture about the micro level sales operations of the telecom business, the Kolkata SME market overview and most importantly the soft skills of client handling. The learning outcomes of the activities undergone are briefly described below.ActivityLearning OutcomesSecondary ResearchGot an overview of the telecom sector (global national)Became aware of the major telecom companiesCame to know about the various telecom products servicesLearnt about the evolution of telecom technologiesAlso learnt about the latest trends in the telecom industryGot an idea of the SME sector business structureTele MarketingLearnt the art of sales pitchLearnt about telephone etiquetteGot an idea of how to communicate to a business clientLearnt about how to influence a potential customer and close a dealTraveling with FOSGot an idea about the basic level sales and client ha ndling operations of a telecom companyGot practical experience of face to face business negotiationsLearnt about how to keep business relationship with clientsChannel Partner visitsLearnt about the sales distribution of a telecom company in the B2B sectorGot an idea of the operations of a channel partnerLearnt about how company and channel partner operations are integratedSME client visitsGot a feel of the Kolkata SME companiesBecame aware of the client expectations from a telecom service providerGot an idea of the clients perception of Vodafone and its products servicesLearnt about how to professionally handle clients and responsibly execute tasksMarket MappingExploration of the Kolkata business areas and identification of prospective clients