PROJECT REPORT
ON
“A STUDY ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR OF HATHWAY
BROADBAND SERVICES, BANGALORE”
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF BACHELOR OF
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT DEGREE COURSE OF BANGALORE
UNIVERSITY
2010-2011
BY
SANDEEP.B
Reg No.08YAC08165
UNDER GUIDANCE OF
MS. RAJANI KORAH
GAIN MORE KNOWLEDGE
REACH GREATER HEIGHTS
PRESIDENCY COLLEGE, KEMPAPURA, HEBBAL,
BANGALORE-560024
DECLARATI0N
I hereby declare that this titled as “A STUDY ON CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR OF HATHWAY BROADBAND SERVICES,
BANGALORE” is my original work under the guidance of Ms.Rajani
Korah, towards the partial fulfilment of the requirements for BBM course of
Bangalore University. This has not been submitted earlier for award of any other
degree by Bangalore University or any other University.
DATE:
NAME: SANDEEP.B
PLACE: BANGALORE
REG NO: 08YAC08165
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives me tremendous pleasure in bringing out this project ENTITLED “A
STUDY ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR OF HATHWAY BROADBAND
SERVICES, BANGALORE” taken up during my final year BBM degree
course.
I am thankful to Mr. MUDDU VINAY Principal and Mr. PRADEEP SHINDEY
Head of Dept of Presidency College for granting me permission for this work
and the help extended to me during the course of this project.
I express my deep gratitude and indebtedness towards my guide MS. Rajani
Korah for her valuable guidance and assistance through stimulating discussion
during the course of this project work.
I am deeply indebted to Mr.Ashoka Reddy, Sales Manager of Hathway Cable
and Datacom Ltd.,for giving me the opportunity to undertake this project work
in their esteemed company. Their valuable guidance has been at most useful.
Last but not the least I would like to thank my parents, friends and all other
respondents for co-operating with me in this work during my study and making
this a successful one.
NAME: SANDEEP.B
REG NO: 08YAC08165
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CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains introduction to Marketing,
Meaning, Definition, Importance and other relevant
aspects of Consumer Behaviour , the theoretical
background to Telecom Industry till date.
CHAPTER 2- RESEARCH DESIGN
 Statement of problem
 Objectives of study
 Scope of study
 Operational Definitions
 Research Methodology
 Tools of Data collection
 Sample Design
 Plan of Analysis
 Limitations of the study
 Overview of Chapter scheme
CHAPTER 3- COMPANY PROFILE
This chapter contains the historical background of
the company, company vision, objectives, and
SWOT analysis.
CHAPTER 4- DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
Analysis and interpretation from the data collected
through questionnaires, Tables and graphs
representing it.
CHAPTER 5- SUMMARY OF FINDINGS,
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter contains the findings drawn from the
study.
CHAPTER – SUGGESTIONS
This chapter consists some suggestions to the
company.
ANNEXURE
This chapter contains Questionnaire.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Name of the books, author, magazines, websites.
1-38
39-51
52-81
82-121
122-127
128
INDEX OF THE TABLES
TABLE
NO
1.
TABLE NAMES
PAGE NO
Table showing the profile of the respondents based
on age
82
2.
Table showing the profile of the respondents based
on gender
84
3.
Table showing the occupation of respondents
86
4.
Table showing the annual income group of
respondents
88
5.
Table showing the respondents awareness of
Hathway broadband service
90
6.
Table showing the sales promotional techniques
which attracts customers
92
7.
Table showing the number of broadand connections
respondents using
94
8.
Table showing the respondents monthly expenditure
on broadband
96
9.
Table showing the broadband plan of the respondents
98
10.
Table showing the respondents rating the Hathway
service provider
100
11.
Table showing the factors responsible for buying
Hathway broadband connection
102
12.
Table showing the source of awareness of Hathway
104
13
Table showing the satisfaction level of respondents
with respect to after sales service
106
14.
Table showing the frequency of breakdown of the
broadband
108
15.
Table showing the respondents opinion and level of
satisfaction about the company taking action towards
complaints lodged by the customers
110
16.
Table showing the respondents opinion about the
major barriers for purchase of broadband service
112
17.
Table showing the respondents willingness to pay
more for high speed internet
114
18.
Table showing the respondents usage of broadband
technology
116
19.
Table showing primary usage of broadband
application
118
20.
Table showing any respondents issues with Hathway
broadband pricing
120
INDEX OF THE GRAPHS
GRAPH
NO
1.
GRAPH NAMES
PAGE NO
Graph showing the profile of the respondents based
on age
83
2.
Graph showing the profile of the respondents based
on gender
85
3.
Graph showing the occupation of respondents
87
4.
Graph showing the annual income group of
respondents
89
5.
Graph showing the respondents awareness of
Hathway broadband service
91
6.
Graph showing the sales promotional techniques
which attracts customers
93
7.
Graph showing the number of broadand connections
respondents using
95
8.
Graph showing the respondents monthly expenditure
on broadband
97
9.
Graph showing the broadband plan of the
respondents
99
10.
Graph showing the respondents rating the Hathway
service provider
101
11.
Graph showing the factors responsible for buying
Hathway broadband connection
103
12.
Graph showing the source of awareness of Hathway
105
13
Graph showing the satisfaction level of respondents
107
with respect to after sales service
14.
Graph showing the frequency of breakdown of the
broadband
109
15.
Graph showing the respondents opinion and level of
satisfaction about the company taking action towards
complaints lodged by the customers
111
16.
Graph showing the respondents opinion about the
major barriers for purchase of broadband service
113
17.
Graph showing the respondents willingness to pay
more for high speed internet
115
18.
Graph showing the respondents usage of broadband
technology
117
19.
Graph showing primary usage of broadband
application
119
20.
Graph showing any respondents issues with Hathway
broadband pricing
121
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
Marketing is the process of performing market research, selling products and/or
services to customers and promoting them via advertising to further enhance
sales. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business
communication, and business developments. It is an integrated process through
which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their
customers and for themselves.
Marketing is used to identify the customer, to satisfy the customer, and to keep
the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded
that marketing management is one of the major components of business
management. Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets
caused by mature markets and overcapacities in the last 2-3 centuries. The
adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from
production to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of
staying profitable.
The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends
on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired
satisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, an
organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfy
these more effectively than competitors.
An orientation, in the marketing context, related to a perception or attitude a
firm holds towards its product or service, essentially concerning consumers and
end-users. Throughout history, marketing has changed considerably in time with
consumer tastes.
Contemporary approaches
Recent approaches in marketing include relationship marketing with focus on
the customer, business marketing or industrial marketing with focus on an
organization or institution and social marketing with focus on benefits to
society. New forms of marketing also use the internet and are therefore called
internet marketing or more generally e-marketing, online marketing, search
engine marketing, desktop advertising or affiliate marketing. It attempts to
perfect the segmentation strategy used in traditional marketing. It targets its
audience more precisely, and is sometimes called personalized marketing or
one-to-one marketing. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to be broad in
scope, because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes
marketing done via e-mail and wireless media.
Customer orientation
A firm in the market economy survives by producing goods that persons are
willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital
for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern. Many
companies today have a customer focus (or market orientation). This implies
that the company focuses its activities and products on consumer demands.
Generally, there are three ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach, the
market change identification approach and the product innovation approach.
In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic
marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer
research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product
itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always
the consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no reason to spend
R&D funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to
many products that were commercial failures in spite of being technological
breakthroughs. A formal approach to this customer-focused marketing is known
as SIVA (Solution, Information, Value, Access). This system is basically the
four Ps renamed and reworded to provide a customer focus.
The SIVA Model provides a demand/customer-centric alternative to the wellknown 4Ps supply side model (product, price, placement, promotion) of
marketing management.
Product
Solution
Price
Value
Place
Promotion
Access
Information
If any of the 4Ps were problematic or were not in the marketing factor of the
business, the business could be in trouble and so other companies may appear in
the surroundings of the company, so the consumer demand on its products will
decrease.
Organizational orientation
In this sense, a firm's marketing department is often seen as of prime importance
within the functional level of an organization. Information from an
organization's marketing department would be used to guide the actions of other
departments within the firm. As an example, a marketing department could
ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product,
or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing
department would inform the R&D department to create a prototype of a
product/service based on consumers' new desires.
The production department would then start to manufacture the product, while
the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing,
etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be
consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development,
production and promotion of the product. Inter-departmental conflicts may
occur, should a firm adhere to the marketing orientation. Production may oppose
the installation, support and servicing of new capital stock, which may be
needed to manufacture a new product. Finance may oppose the required capital
expenditure, since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.
Marketing research
Marketing research involves conducting research to support marketing activities,
and the statistical interpretation of data into information. This information is
then used by managers to plan marketing activities, gauge the nature of a firm's
marketing environment and attain information from suppliers. Marketing
researchers use statistical methods such as quantitative research, qualitative
research, hypothesis tests, Chi-squared tests, linear regression, correlations,
frequency distributions, poison distributions, binomial distributions, etc. to
interpret their findings and convert data into information. The marketing
research process spans a number of stages, including the definition of a problem,
development of a research plan, collection and interpretation of data and
disseminating information formally in the form of a report. The task of
marketing research is to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable,
valid, and current information.
A distinction should be made between marketing research and market research.
Market research pertains to research in a given market. As an example, a firm
may conduct research in a target market, after selecting a suitable market
segment. In contrast, marketing research relates to all research conducted within
marketing. Thus, market research is a subset of marketing research.
Market segmentation
Market segmentation pertains to the division of a market of consumers into
persons with similar needs and wants. For instance, Kellogg's cereals, Frosties
are marketed to children. Crunchy Nut Cornflakes are marketed to adults. Both
goods denote two products which are marketed to two distinct groups of
persons, both with similar needs, traits, and wants.
Market segmentation allows for a better allocation of a firm's finite resources. A
firm only possesses a certain amount of resources. Accordingly, it must make
choices (and incur the related costs) in servicing specific groups of consumers.
In this way, the diversified tastes of contemporary Western consumers can be
served better. With growing diversity in the tastes of modern consumers, firms
are taking note of the benefit of servicing a multiplicity of new markets.
Market segmentation can be defined in terms of the STP acronym, meaning
Segment, Target and Position.
Types of marketing research
Marketing research, as a sub-set aspect of marketing activities, can be divided
into the following parts:

Primary research (also known as field research), which involves the
conduction and compilation of research for a specific purpose.

Secondary research (also referred to as desk research), initially conducted
for one purpose, but often used to support another purpose or end goal.
By these definitions, an example of primary research would be market research
conducted into health foods, which is used solely to ascertain the needs/wants of
the target market for health foods. Secondary research in this case would be
research pertaining to health foods, but used by a firm wishing to develop an
unrelated product. Primary research is often expensive to prepare, collect and
interpret from data to information. Nevertheless, while secondary research is
relatively inexpensive, it often can become outdated and outmoded, given that it
is used for a purpose other than the one for which it was intended. Primary
research can also be broken down into quantitative research and qualitative
research, which, as the terms suggest, pertain to numerical and non-numerical
research methods and techniques, respectively. The appropriateness of each
mode of research depends on whether data can be quantified (quantitative
research), or whether subjective, non-numeric or abstract concepts are required
to be studied (qualitative research).
There also exist additional modes of marketing research, which are:

Exploratory research, pertaining to research that investigates an
assumption.

Descriptive research, which, as the term suggests, describes "what is".

Predictive research, meaning research conducted to predict a future
occurrence.

Conclusive research, for the purpose of deriving a conclusion via a
research process.
Marketing planning
The marketing planning process involves forging a plan for a firm's marketing
activities. A marketing plan can also pertain to a specific product, as well as to
an organization's overall
marketing strategy. Generally speaking, an
organization's marketing planning process is derived from its overall business
strategy. Thus, when top management are devising the firm's strategic direction
or mission, the intended marketing activities are incorporated into this plan.
There are several levels of marketing objectives within an organization. The
senior management of a firm would formulate a general business strategy for a
firm. However, this general business strategy would be interpreted and
implemented in different contexts throughout the firm.
Promotion (marketing)
Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix (product, price,
promotion, distribution). It is the communication link between sellers and buyers
for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's
purchasing decision. Fundamentally, however there are three basic objectives of
promotion. These are:
1. To present information to consumers as well as others
2. To increase demand
3. To differentiate a product.
There are different ways to promote a product in different areas of media.
Promoters use internet advertisement, special events, endorsements, and
newspapers to advertise their product. Many times with the purchase of a
product there is an incentive like discounts, free items, or a contest.
Marketing strategy
The field of marketing strategy encompasses the strategy involved in the
management of a given product. A given firm may hold numerous products in
the marketplace, spanning numerous and sometimes wholly unrelated industries.
Accordingly, a plan is required in order to effectively manage such products.
Evidently, a company needs to weigh up and ascertain how to utilize its finite
resources. For example, a start-up car manufacturing firm would face little
success should it attempt to rival Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Chevrolet, or any other
large global car maker. Moreover, a product may be reaching the end of its lifecycle. Thus, the issue of divest, or a ceasing of production, may be made. Each
scenario requires a unique marketing strategy. Listed below are some prominent
marketing strategy models.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
In order to develop a framework for the study consumer behaviour it is helpful
to begin by considering the evolution of the field of consumer research and the
different paradigms of thought that have influenced the discipline. As described
here, a set of dimensions can be identified in the literature, which can be used to
characterize and differentiate the various perspectives on consumer research.
It is argued that consumer behaviour itself emerged as a distinct field of study
during the 1960s; and is characterized by two broad paradigms, the positivist
and the non-positivist. The positivist paradigm encompasses the economic,
behavioural,
cognitive,
motivational/trait/attitudinal,
and
situational
perspectives; these perspectives are referred to as the traditional perspectives as
they pre-date the development of the non-positivist paradigm. The positivist
paradigm, which is still the dominant paradigm, emphasizes the supremacy of
human reason and that there is a single, objective truth that can be discovered by
science. This paradigm regards the world as a rational and ordered place with a
clearly defined past, present, and future. The assumption of rationalism is
therefore fundamental to the traditional perspective.
The opposing, non-positivist paradigm, envelops the interpretive and
postmodern perspectives, which have emerged more recently during the period
post-1980 to date. The proponents of this emerging perspective argue that
positivism overemphasizes the rational view and the ideology of a homogenous
social culture and thereby denies the complex social and cultural world in which
consumers live. This paradigm instead stresses, the importance of symbolic and
subjective experience and the idea that consumers construct meanings based on
unique and shared cultural experiences, and thus there can be no single unified
world view.
Unsurprisingly, the two paradigms differ in their views on the benefits derived
from consumption and the objectives that underscore consumer research. The
traditional, positivist perspective takes a very utilitarian approach to the benefits
from consumption. While the non-positivist perspectives place much greater
emphasis on the symbolic dimensions of choice. The objective of non-positivist
research endeavor is to achieve a better understanding of consumer behaviour
with no specific intent to influence consumer processes. Conversely, outcomes
of positivist research are directed toward advancing the goals of marketing
practice.
Consumer behavior theories
The term consumer behavior may be defined as the behaviour that consumer
displays in searching for purchasing, using, evaluating, producing, services and
ideas which they expect will satisfy their needs. In other words, “It is a study of
physiological, social, physical, behaviors of all potential customer as they
become aware of evaluation, purchase and consumption and tell other about
products and services”.
Consumer perception and consumer behavior
According to Rice (1993), perception is the initiator of behaviour. It can also be
seen as a process of information extraction. Perception is the process by which
an individual selects, organizes, and interprets information inputs to create a
meaningful picture (Kotler, 2000). Different people tend to perceive quite
differently even when they are exposed to the same reality. A set of factors, e.g.
individual responses, determine an individual’s perception process and lead to
individual differences. The most important is that people’s perceptions are often
more important than the reality in marketing (Kotler, 2000).
The study of customer behaviour provides a sound basis for identifying and
understanding the factors that influence consumers purchase on line. Schiffman
and Kanuk (2000) state that the behaviour that consumers display in searching,
purchasing, and evaluating products/services is those that they expect to fulfill
their needs. Although perception and behaviour are typically treated as two
completely separate phenomena, i.e. the input and output respectively, it has
been suggested that perception and behaviour are in fact two sides of the same
phenomenon and are closely related to each other (Rice, 1993). In order to
understand what customer perceive and how they act to affect their perceptions,
study of perception and behaviour should be treated as one integral part.
Consumer decision process
At present, the consumer decision process model has been well accepted. This
model of purchase as decision process is explained in more detail by Thorelli et
al.(1975). Thorelli’s decision model illustrates the type and shows there are a
series of semi-discrete steps which take place over time for the buyers and
purchasers.
Predispositions (Before Purchase)
According to Thorelli et al (1975), the prospective buyer possesses a certain
stock of cognitive content, including his own personality or self-concept,
attitudes and opinions both in general and on specific products, and stored
information and past experience. This stock has been formed as a result of his
interaction with his environment over time, and it will help determine the
environment in which he places himself in the future as well as influence his
perceptions of that environment.
Product Need
As a result of either cognitive activity or some environmental stimulus, the
buyer recognizes a need which is capable of being satisfied by a product or
service. In other words, the need is often triggered by internal or external
stimuli. Some authors also take this need recognition stage as the entry point.
Chaston (2001) argues that the potential consumer will not implement any of the
other steps in the buying process until need recognition has happened.
External Search
Thorelli et al (1975) describe that this stage represents all search of the external
environment for alternative solutions as well as for information helpful in
evaluating these alternatives. The search for information occurs on an internal
and external basis (Gilbert, 1999). The internal search for information from
previous experience might be relevant to the present purchase situation. The
extent and nature of external search for information likely in any given purchase
has been the subject of a great deal of research. When searching for information
in the external environment (e.g., friends and family), consumers focus on those
relevant attributes that are available and are diagnostic (Dick et al., 1990).
Evaluation of Alternatives
This stage consists of the physical and cognitive activities involved in
comparing alternatives on the basis of information gathered from external search
above.
According to Kotler (2000), the consumer arrives at attitudes toward the various
brands through an attribute evaluation procedure and most buyers consider
several attributes in their purchase decision. These attributes used by consumers
for evaluation are also called choice criteria. Jobber (2001) has made a good
summary of these choice criteria. In fact, consumers attempt to optimize the
trade-off between product benefits, product costs, the desired personal utilities
and other variables.
Purchase Activity
Purchase activity involves the actual final decision and physical activities
involved in making (or not making) the purchase. This stage includes the actual
transaction. However, as suggested by Kotler (2000), perceived risks of a
consumer can heavily influence his decision to modify, postpone, or avoid a
purchase decision. Therefore it is necessary for marketers to understand factors
that might provoke perceived risk in consumers and work out solutions to reduce
that.
Post Purchase Behaviour
This step is concerned primarily with the buyer’s use of the product purchased.
After purchasing the product, the consumer will experience some level of
satisfaction or dissatisfaction which will influence a consumers’ subsequent
behaviour. Dissatisfied consumers may abandon or return the product, they may
even complain to the other group (Kotler, 2000). It is clear that satisfactions and
dissatisfactions created by product performance will be important determinants
of attitudes and information stored as inputs to future purchase decisions.
Predispositions (After Purchase and Use)
This stage suggests that following the purchase process, the buyer (or nonbuyer) is left with cognitive content which may be quite different from that
which was present at the beginning of the process. Buyers may change their
attitudes, information and experience due to reasons of time and events. All of
these may serve to change substantially the nature of the decision process for
future purchases of the same type.
FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER BEHAVIOURConsumer behavior refers to the selection, purchase and consumption of goods
and services for the satisfaction of their wants. There are different processes
involved in the consumer behavior. Initially the consumer tries to find what
commodities he would like to consume, then he selects only those commodities
that promise greater utility. After selecting the commodities, the consumer
makes an estimate of the available money which he can spend. Lastly, the
consumer analyzes the prevailing prices of commodities and takes the decision
about the commodities he should consume. Meanwhile, there are various other
factors influencing the purchases of consumer such as social, cultural, personal
and psychological. The explanation of these factors is given below.
1. Cultural Factors
Consumer behavior is deeply influenced by cultural factors such as: buyer
culture, subculture, and social class.
• Culture
Basically, culture is the part of every society and is the important cause of
person wants and behavior. The influence of culture on buying behavior varies
from country to country therefore marketers have to be very careful in analyzing
the culture of different groups, regions or even countries.
• Subculture
Each culture contains different subcultures such as religions, nationalities,
geographic regions, racial groups etc. Marketers can use these groups by
segmenting the market into various small portions. For example marketers can
design products according to the needs of a particular geographic group.
• Social Class
Every society possesses some form of social class which is important to the
marketers because the buying behavior of people in a given social class is
similar. In this way marketing activities could be tailored according to different
social classes. Here we should note that social class is not only determined by
income but there are various other factors as well such as: wealth, education,
occupation etc.
2. Social Factors
Social factors also impact the buying behavior of consumers. The important
social factors are: reference groups, family, role and status.
• Reference Groups
Reference groups have potential in forming a person attitude or behavior. The
impact of reference groups varies across products and brands. For example if the
product is visible such as dress, shoes, car etc then the influence of reference
groups will be high. Reference groups also include opinion leader (a person who
influences other because of his special skill, knowledge or other characteristics).
• Family
Buyer behavior is strongly influenced by the member of a family. Therefore
marketers are trying to find the roles and influence of the husband, wife and
children. If the buying decision of a particular product is influenced by wife then
the marketers will try to target the women in their advertisement. Here we
should note that buying roles change with change in consumer lifestyles.
• Roles and Status
Each person possesses different roles and status in the society depending upon
the groups, clubs, family, organization etc. to which he belongs. For example a
woman is working in an organization as finance manager. Now she is playing
two roles,
one of finance manager and other of mother. Therefore her buying decisions will
be influenced by her role and status.
3. Personal Factors
Personal factors can also affect the consumer behavior. Some of the important
personal factors that influence the buying behavior are: lifestyle, economic
situation, occupation, age, personality and self concept.
• Age
Age and life-cycle have potential impact on the consumer buying behavior. It is
obvious that the consumers change the purchase of goods and services with the
passage of time. Family life-cycle consists of different stages such young
singles, married couples, unmarried couples etc which help marketers to develop
appropriate products for each stage.
• Occupation
The occupation of a person has significant impact on his buying behavior. For
example a marketing manager of an organization will try to purchase business
suits, whereas a low level worker in the same organization will purchase rugged
work clothes.
• Economic Situation
Consumer economic situation has great influence on his buying behavior. If the
income and savings of a customer is high then he will purchase more expensive
products. On the other hand, a person with low income and savings will
purchase inexpensive products.
• Lifestyle
Lifestyle of customers is another import factor affecting the consumer buying
behavior. Lifestyle refers to the way a person lives in a society and is expressed
by the things in his/her surroundings. It is determined by customer interests,
opinions, activities etc and shapes his whole pattern of acting and interacting in
the world.
• Personality
Personality changes from person to person, time to time and place to place.
Therefore it can greatly influence the buying behavior of customers. Actually,
Personality is not what one wears; rather it is the totality of behavior of a man in
different circumstances. It has different characteristics such as: dominance,
aggressiveness, self-confidence etc which can be useful to determine the
consumer behavior for particular product or service.
4. Psychological Factors
There are four important psychological factors affecting the consumer buying
behavior. These are: perception, motivation, learning, beliefs and attitudes.
• Motivation
The level of motivation also affects the buying behavior of customers. Every
person has different needs such as physiological needs, biological needs, social
needs etc. The nature of the needs is that, some of them are most pressing while
others are least pressing. Therefore a need becomes a motive when it is more
pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction.
• Perception
Selecting, organizing and interpreting information in a way to produce a
meaningful experience of the world is called perception. There are three
different perceptual processes which are selective attention, selective distortion
and selective retention. In case of selective attention, marketers try to attract the
customer attention. Whereas, in case of selective distortion, customers try to
interpret the information in a way that will support what the customers already
believe. Similarly, in case of selective retention, marketers try to retain
information that supports their beliefs.
• Beliefs and Attitudes
Customer possesses specific belief and attitude towards various products. Since
such beliefs and attitudes make up brand image and affect consumer buying
behavior therefore marketers are interested in them. Marketers can change the
beliefs and attitudes of customers by launching special campaigns in this regard.
INDUSTRY PROFILE
Indian Telecom Industry
The rapid growth in Indian telecom industry has been contributing to India’s
GDP at large. Telecom industry in India started to set up in a phased approach.
Privatization was gradually introduced, first in value-added services, followed
by cellular and basic services. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI),
was established to regulate and deal with competition (the service providers).
This gradual and thoughtful reform process in India has favored industry
growth. Upcoming services such as 4G and Wi Max will help to further augment
the growth rate. The Indian telecommunications industry is one of the fastest
growing in the world and India is projected to become the second largest
telecom market globally by 2010. This is evident from the facts of Telecom
Industry for example, India added 113.26 million new customers in 2008, the
largest globally. The country’s cellular base witnessed close to 50 per cent
growth in 2008, with an average 9.5 million customers added every month. This
would translate into 612 million mobile subscribers, accounting for a teledensity of around 51 per cent by 2012. It is projected that the industry will
generate revenues worth US$ 43 billion in 2009-10. In this report we have tried
to capture most of the areas of Telecom Industry. Major highlights of the report
are History of Telecom Industry, Current Industry Analysis, Role of TRAI,
Spectrum allocation, FDI Regulation, Competitive advantages, Outsourcing in
Telecom, Emerging Technologies, Latest Innovation, and Growth Trends,
Mergers and Acquisitions.
The Indian telecommunications has been zooming up the growth curve at a
feverish pace, emerging as one of the key sectors responsible for India's
resurgent economic growth. India has surpassed US to become the second
largest wireless network in the world with a subscriber base of over 300 million
in April, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The Indian Telecommunications network with 110.01 million connections is the
fifth largest in the world and the second largest among the emerging economies
of Asia. Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world and represents
unique opportunities for U.S. companies in the stagnant global scenario. The
total subscriber base, which has grown by 40% in 2005, is expected to reach 500
million in 2011. According to Broadband Policy 2004, Government of India
aims at 50 million broadband connections and 75 million internet connections
by 2011. The wireless subscriber base has jumped from 64 million in 2009 to 75
million in FY2010- 2011. In the last 3 years, two out of every three new
telephone subscribers were wireless subscribers. Consequently, wireless now
accounts for 54.6% of the total telephone subscriber base, as compared to only
40%. Wireless subscriber growth is expected to bypass 4 million new
subscribers per month by 2012. The wireless technologies currently in use are
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple
Access (CDMA).
RURAL TELEPHONY
Rural India had 76.65 million fixed and Wireless in Local Loop (WLL)
connections and 551,064 Village Public Telephones (VPT) as on September
2008. Therefore, 92 per cent of the villages in India have been covered by the
VPTs. Universal Service Obligation (USO) subsidy support scheme is also
being used for sharing wireless infrastructure in rural areas with around 18,000
towers by 2012. It is believed that of the next 250 million people expected to go
mobile; at least 100 million will come from rural areas. Though the rural mobile
penetration is highest in Punjab (20.69 per cent), followed by Himachal Pradesh
(17.09 per cent), Kerala (10.63 per cent) and Haryana (10.20 per cent), most
companies are now sweating it out by hard selling their products and services in
the rural areas of the region. As a result, the geographical coverage of mobile
telephony in India has gone up from 13 percent, a couple of years ago, to 39
percent now.
Evolution of the industry-Important Milestones
YEAR
1851
First operational land lines were laid by the government near Calcutta
(seat
of British power)
1881
Telephone service introduced in India
1883
Merger with the postal system
1923
Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT)
1932
Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Cable
Communication
Company (IRCC)
1947
Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies to form the
Posts, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT), a monopoly run by the
government's Ministry of Communications
1985
Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive
provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own
regulator (separate from the postal system)
1986
Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies:
the
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international
telecommunications
and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in
metropolitan areas.
1997
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created
1999
Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom Policy
is adopted.
DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL
2000
MAJOR INVESTMENTS
The booming domestic telecom market has been attracting huge amounts of
investment which is likely to accelerate with the entry of new players and launch
of new services. Buoyed by the rapid surge in the subscriber base, huge
investments are being made into this industry.
 The Russian government is likely to pick up equity amounting to US$ 670
million-US$ 700 million in Sistema Shyam Tele Services Ltd (SSTL), a
joint venture between Russia-based telecom major Sistema and Shyam
Group in India, by the end of this financial year. SSTL is also planning to
invest US$ 5.5 billion over the next 5 years in India.
 Norway-based telecom operator Telenor has bought a 60 per cent stake in
Unitech Wireless for US$ 1.23 billion.
 Japanese telecom major NTT DoCoMo acquired a 27.31 per cent equity
capital of Tata Teleservices for about US$ 2.6 billion in November 2008.
 Bahrain's Batelco has signed a deal to buy 49 per cent in Chennai-based
S-Tel, a GSM service provider, for US$ 225 million.
 BSNL, India's leading telecom company in revenue terms, will put in
about US$ 1.16 billion in its WiMax project.
 Vodafone Essar will invest US$ 6 billion over the next three years in a bid
to increase its mobile subscriber base from 40 million at present to over
100 million.
 Telecom operator Aircel, which launched GSM mobile services in
Bangalore in February 2009, plans to invest US$ 220.58 million over the
next year to set up base stations across the state.
Some deals are discussed in detail in industry consolidation section.
KEY TRENDS IN TELECOM INDUSTRY
Mobile Number portability
One of the most frequent definitions that prevail in the telecom circles for
number
portability
is:
"Number
portability
is
a
circuit-switch
telecommunications network feature that enables end users to retain their
telephone numbers when changing service providers, service types, and or
locations."
Why mobile number portability (MNP)? When fully implemented nationwide
by both wire line and wireless providers, portability will remove one of the most
significant deterrents to changing service, providing unprecedented convenience
for
consumers
and
encouraging
unrestrained
competition
in
the
telecommunications industry. In short, this is the best method to increase the
efficiency of the service provider by increasing the competition, thereby
ensuring better services in all respects.
From the subscribers’ perspective, this is a deceptively simple and very
welcome change, because they can change wireless service providers without
worrying about notifying friends, family and business contacts that their
wireless number is changing. In addition, being able to ‘port’ a number from one
provider to another eliminates the hassle and expenses of changing business
cards, stationery, invoices and other materials for businesses.
From the wireless carrier’s perspective the change is anything, but simple.
Virtually all of wireless carriers’ systems are affected. Especially any system
that relies on mobile identity numbers (MINs) or mobile directory numbers
(MDNs) will be affected. Examples of critical systems and processes that would
be affected are: billing, customer service, order activation, call delivery, roamer
registration and support, short messages service center, directory assistance,
caller ID, calling name presentation, switches, maintenance and CSC systems,
home location registers (HLRs), and visiting location registers (VLRs).
INDUSTRY UPDATES
Consolidation in Industry
Telecom players are looking to tap into global funds to finance their aggressive
growth plans. This will result in partnerships joint ventures and equity sellout to
foreign players. New license holders will continue to look to sell their stake at a
premium. New policies will seek to curb this license arbitrage. Smaller players
with operations in only a few circles will find in difficult to compete with the
nationwide players. The industry may see consolidation with these smaller
operators being acquired by the larger ones. “Unbundling of the corporation”
will continue as companies will seek f or economies of scale and lower startup
cost by infrastructure sharing. 3G and WiMax license will spur M&A and
partnership activity.
Idea Cellular’s Acquisition of Spice Telecom
There were three transactions as part of this acquisition; acquisition of shares of
Spice, a non-compete fee and a capital infusion of about Rs 7300 crores received
from TM International Bhd (TMI). With respect to shares, Idea acquired 40.8%
stake of Spice Communications at Rs 77.30 a share for Rs 2,716 crore. There
was a share swap in which Spice shareholders got 49 Idea shares for every 100
Spice shares held. An additional Rs 544 crore was paid to the promoters of
Spice group as 'non-compete fee'. The deal was strategically important for Idea
Cellular as it was looking forward to transfer itself into a pan-India telecom
service provider. The spectrum auctioned by GoI is a scarce resource nowadays
and cost a premium. Also there’s restriction by TRAI with respect to number of
operators per telecom circle. So it makes sense to acquire a small telecom
operator. Small players like Spice Telecom operating at only a few
circles(Karnataka and Punjab) will find difficult to compete with the nationwide
players in the long run. So it was a win-win deal for both companies.
Vodafone’s entry into India
Vodafone paid a discounted price of $10.9 billion in cash for acquiring the 52%
stake held by Hutchison Telecom International (HTIL) in Indian mobile firm
Hutch-Essar. HTIL declared a special dividend of 6.75 HK dollars per share
following the completion of the formalities. The final price was a reduction of
$180 million from the originally agreed price of $11.08 billion. Vodafone is the
largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world. The deal
gave them access to one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world.
Telenor-Unitech Deal
Norwegian Telecom major Telenor is in the process of acquiring controlling
stake of 67.25% in Unitech wireless via equity infusion. The enterprise
valuation of Unitech Wirelsss is about Rs 10,900 crore. As per the deal, Telenor
will infuse cash in four stages and at each phase, by increasing its stake in
Unitech Wireless. In the first phase, they got 33.5% ownership in Unitech
Wireless. In the second phase they completed the acquisition for a 49 per cent
stake in Unitech Wireless by paying Rs 1,130 crore for a further 15.5 per cent
stake in the company. The acquisition is expected to be completed by end of this
quarter.
TTSL – DoCoMo Deal.
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo acquired 26 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices
(TTSL). The Tata DoCoMo-branded GSM service has already started in
Southern India and gradually will be expanded nationwide. DoCoMo’s
international expansion plans have not always proven successful, with the firm
historically preferring to take small stakes in firms and then try to influence their
strategy. It has been less prepared to take majority stakes and impose its will, as
other leading carriers have chosen to do.
The difficulties faced by the firm in spreading its domestically successful imode service internationally typify the obstacles it has faced overseas.
WithTata, DoCoMo had said “participating proactively in TTSL’s management
by providing human resources and technical assistance to help realise improved
network quality and the possible introduction of leading-edge, value-added
services.”
Bharti-MTN deal (in talks).
Recently Bharti Airtel has re-started its audacious merger bid with MTN that
could create a $61-billion transnational telecom goliath with combined revenues
of $20 billion and over 200 million subscribers across Africa, Asia and Middle
East, will be among the world's 10 biggest telecom companies. The deal could
be win-win for both parties. Bharti is under pressure in its home country due to
severe competition and looking forward to spread its risk across geographies.
Meanwhile, the African telecom operator is also encountering some of the
problems that its counterpart in India is confronting. MTN may have higher
ARPUs (in the range of $12-20), but they are also falling fast.
FUTURE TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
In this section we have listed down the future technologies which are in
roadmap and are speculated to make an impact on current business model of
telcos.
IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)
IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a generic architecture for offering
multimedia and voice over IP services, defined by 3rd Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP). IMS is access independent as it supports multiple access types
including GSM, WCDMA, CDMA2000, WLAN, Wire line broadband and other
packet data applications. IMS will make Internet technologies, such as web
browsing, e-mail, instant messaging and video conferencing available to
everyone from any location. It is also intended to allow operators to introduce
new services, such as web browsing, WAP and MMS, at the top level of their
packet-switched networks. IP Multimedia Subsystem is standardized reference
architecture. IMS consists of session control, connection control and an
applications services framework along with subscriber and services data. It
enables new converged voice and data services, while allowing for the
interoperability of these converged services between internet and cellular
subscribers. IMS uses open standard IP protocols, defined by the IETF. So users
will be able to execute all their services when roaming as well as from their
home networks. So, a multimedia session between two IMS users, between an
IMS user and a user on the Internet, and between two users on the Internet is
established using exactly the same protocol. Moreover, the interfaces for service
developers are also based on IP protocols. Some of the possible applications
where IMS can be used are:
 Presence services

Full Duplex Video Telephony

Instant messaging

Unified messaging

Multimedia advertising

Multiparty gaming
 Video streaming

Web/Audio/Video Conferencing

Push-to services, such as push-to-talk, push-to-view, push-to-video
Effectively, IMS provides a unified architecture that supports a wide range of
IP-based services over both packet- and circuit-switched networks, employing a
range of different wireless and fixed access technologies. A user could, for
example, pay for and download a video clip to a chosen mobile or fixed device
and subsequently use some of this material to create a multimedia message for
delivery to friends on many different networks. A single IMS presence-andavailability engine could track a user's presence and availability across mobile,
fixed, and broadband networks, or a user could maintain a single integrated
contact list for all types of communications. A key point of IMS is that it is
intended as an open-systems architecture: Services are created and delivered by
a wide range of highly distributed systems (real-time and non-real-time, possibly
owned by different parties) cooperating with each other. It is a different
approach to the more traditional telco architecture of a set of specific network
elements implemented as a single telco-controlled infrastructure.
4G or Fourth Generation Networks
4G or Fourth Generation is future technology for mobile and wireless
communications. It will be the successor for the 3Rd Generation (3G) network
technology. Currently 3G networks are under deployment. Approximately 4G
deployments are expected to be seen around 2010 to 2015. The basic voice was
the driver for second-generation mobile and has been a considerable success.
Currently , video and TV services are driving forward third generation (3G)
deployment. And in the future, low cost, high speed data will drive forward the
fourth generation (4G) as short-range communication emerges. Service and
application ubiquity, with a high degree of personalization and synchronization
between various user appliances, will be another driver. At the same time, it is
probable that the radio access network will evolve from a centralized
architecture to a distributed one. The evolution from 3G to 4G will be driven by
services that offer better quality (e.g. multimedia, video and sound) thanks to
greater bandwidth, more sophistication in the association of a large quantity of
information, and improved personalization. Convergence with other network
(enterprise, fixed) services will come about through the high session data rate. It
will require an always-on connection and a revenue model based on a fixed
monthly fee. The impact on network capacity is expected to be significant.
Machine-to-machine transmission will involve two basic equipment types:
sensors (which measure parameters) and tags (which are generally read/write
equipment). It is expected that users will require high data rates, similar to those
on fixed networks, for data and streaming applications. Mobile terminal usage
(laptops, Personal digital assistants, hand helds) is expected to grow rapidly as
they become more user friendly. Fluid high quality video and network reactivity
are important user requirements. Key infrastructure design requirements include:
fast response, high session rate, high capacity, low user charges, rapid return on
investment for operators, investment that is in line with the growth in demand,
and simple autonomous terminals. The infrastructure will be much more
distributed than in current deployments, facilitating the introduction of a new
source of local traffic: machine-to-machine.
CHAPTER 2
RESEARCH DESIGN
INTRODUCTION
Hathway is a major cable television service operator in India that is based
in Mumbai. It has large operations in many cities, including Hyderabad,
Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. It has diversified into providing internet via cable
and was one of the first to do so in Chennai. In India, it was the first company to
provide internet using the CATV network. The company has a 51 percent stake
in Divya Bhasker's Bhasker Multinet and in Gujarat Telelinks P L. This gives it
a strong position in Gujarat CATV. In 2006, Hathway launched first cable
operator to launch a digital platform in India.
TITLE OF THE STUDY
“A Study on Consumer Behaviour of HATHWAY BROADBAND
SERVICES, Bangalore.”
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Consumer behavior is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when
they buy and why they buy. It blends elements from psychology, sociology,
socio-psychology, anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the
buyer decision-making process, both individually and in groups. It studies
characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics,
and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries
to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends,
reference groups, and society in general.
Problem recognition results when there is a difference between one's desired
state and one's actual state. Consumers are motivated to address this discrepancy
and therefore they commence the buying process.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 The objective of the study is to understand the consumer’ pre, post, during
perception of broadband connection and consumer buying behaviour and
attitude for Hathway Broadband services.
 To Analyzing the satisfaction level of customers towards Hathway
Broadband service.

To find out the consumer awareness and also creating an Awareness to
customers about the facilities in broadband connections and its new
products.
 To find out best sales promotional technique.
 To find out consumer needs and expectations.
 To understand the needs of different consumer segments.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study includes Consumers response and awareness towards the brand,
products and services of Hathway Broadband. The results are limited by the
sample size 100 numbers and therefore the opinion of only selected customers is
taken into consideration. Mainly this study is conducted in Bangalore and the
scope is limited.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
1. Consumer- A Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households
that use goods and services generated within the economy.
2. Consumer Behaviour- It is the study of when, why, how, and where
people do or do not buy a product.
3. Respondents- A person who replies to something, esp. one supplying
information for a survey or questionnaire or responding to an
advertisement.
4. Objective- An end that can be reasonably achieved within an expected
timeframe and with available resources.
5. Broadband- The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal of
greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal.
6. Service- A service is the intangible equivalent of an economic good.
REASEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research will be carried out in various phases that constitute an
approach of working from whole to part. It includes subsequent phases trying to
go deeper into the user’s psyche and develop a thorough understanding of what
a user looks for while buying a broadband service.
The first phase is completely internal where it is stormed over the most effective
route of action, considering that Hathway users in Bangalore are more in
number.
The second phase is with some respondents who will be interviewed with the
help of questionnaire keeping in mind the time and cost constraints.
TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION
The information relevant for study was drawn from Primary data
collected through survey method, which alone was not sufficient. Hence
Secondary data was collected to study successfully.
Sources of Data collection
 Primary data- In order to find out customer satisfaction regarding bikes
of Royal Enfield Primary Data was collected by personally visiting the
dealerships and showrooms. With the help of a well laid questionnaire, I
took the feedback from the customers who were coming for the services
of their broadband. As well as i contacted some of the customers through
tele calling by taking the data about the customers from the customer data
register of the dealership. I interviewed them and discussed with the
employees at Hathway which helped me to prepare the research Report.
 Secondary data- The Secondary Data collection involved internet
search, browsing magazines, newspapers and articles and papers related to
the two wheeler industry in India. Numerous Journals and books related to
the topic were also browsed to understand the dynamics of the industry.
SAMPLE DESIGN
The research was carried out in various phases that constituted an
approach of working from whole to part. It included subsequent phases trying to
go deeper into the user’s psyche and develop a thorough understanding of what
an user looks for while buying a broadband service.
For the consumer behviour study a sample of 100 persons was chosen from the
Bangalore city. The sample was judgmental and methodology was random
sampling.
Size of Sample
100
Sampling technique
Convenient Sampling method or
Random Sampling
Location from which samples were
taken
Bangalore city
Plan of Analysis
 Raw Primary data has been collected with help of questionnaire. The raw
data has been tabulated with the help of table. From the tables, concept,
analysis and inferences are drawn which in turn was used for
interpretation. Based on, these charts were prepared to better pictorial
understanding of the study.
 From the set of inferences and interpretation, conclusion have been drawn
which is followed by suggestions, keeping the objectives in mind
throughout the study.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Although all efforts were taken to make the result of survey as accurate as
possible the survey had the following constraints:
 Customers were not willing to give answers of the questions due to their
busy schedules.
 Few customers were not cooperating during the project survey. It was
quite difficult to collect necessary data.
 Due to the time constraint and other imperative workload during the
training period it could not be made possible to explore more areas of
concern pertaining to project study.
 The survey was carried out in some parts of Bangalore city, hence it
doesn’t reflect the entire market scenario DEL and DSL.
 This study is based on the prevailing customer’s satisfaction. But the
customer’s satisfaction may change according to time, fashion,
technology, development, etc.
 As per the population of the study is huge, the researcher has taken only
100 sample respondents.
 Method of data collection was through personal interview and therefore
bias becomes a major limitation.
 Owing to their pre occupation some customers were unable to answer the
complete questionnaire.
 Majority of the customer were too aggressive in nature.
OVERVIEW OF CHAPTER SCHEME
Chapter-1 Introduction- It’s all about the Introduction part. It mainly consists
of introduction to Marketing with its types, approaches, research and market
segmentation. Then comes introduction about Consumer Behaviour with its
steps, customer loyalty and concepts, handling customer complaints, how to deal
with dissatisfied customers and objectives of customer satisfaction program.
Later about Telecom industry till date, Indian telecom industry and its recent
trends.
Chapter-2 Research Design- It consists of the title of the study, statement of
problem, objectives and scope of the study, operational definitions, research
methodology, data collection, sample design, plan of analysis and finally the
limitations of the study.
Chapter-3 Company Profile- This chapter contains the historical background
of the company Hathway, company’s vision and objective, Hathway products,
organizational chart and SWOT analysis of Royal Enfield.
Chapter-4 Data Analysis and Interpretation- This chapter consists of the
analysis and interpretation from the data collected through questionnaires, tables
and graphs representing it.
Chapter-5 Findings and Conclusion- This chapter contains the findings drawn
from the study and final conclusion about the whole project. Also few
suggestions are posted.
Chapter-6 Suggestions- This chapter contains the suggestions given to the
company.
CHAPTER 3
COMPANY PROFILE
HISTORY OF THE HATHWAY COMPANY
India’s cable television industry has grown rapidly
since its inception almost twenty years ago, spurred
by
entrepreneurship
and
innovation
from
distribution platforms and content providers. Cable television is now established
as a mass medium for entertainment and information, available in more than 100
million consumer households across India. This represents 65 per cent of
television-owning homes in the country. According to the MPA report, India
remains the second largest market for cable television in the world, trailing only
China in terms of subscriber mass, and is amongst the highest in the world in
terms of subscriber penetration.
The India cable industry has grown from a highly fragmented industry to a more
organized industry with establishment of larger cable television operators.
Further, Cable TV will continue to be India’s dominant platform for pay-TV
distribution.
Competition from emerging digital direct-to-home or “DTH” satellite pay-TV
networks, which have grown in scale over the past five years is another key
trend in the Indian cable television industry. Concurrently, due to continued
growth of the national economy in real terms and rising household incomes
resulting in further enhanced affordability, there is increasing consumer demand
for more entertainment and information services from television distribution
networks and communications platforms. To benefit from this demand upswing,
incumbent cable operators are investing to upgrade existing distribution
infrastructure and technology by quickening the deployment of digital set top
boxes, consolidating last mile networks and offering new broadband and
interactive services. This gradual structural transformation is similar to what has
already been witnessed in
developed markets such as USA and Europe.
Internet services in India started with dial up access, where speeds were limited
to approximately 56 kbps. However, due to the growing popularity of certain
high bandwidth internet applications, such as internet telephony (introduced on
April
2002), music and video download as well as online gaming, internet services
providers (“ISPs”) started providing “always on” high speed internet access
with speeds starting from 64kbps. The Government recognizes that deeper
penetration of broadband and Internet is essential and will be the catalyst for
economic growth and modernization. India has approximately 16.18 million
internet households. Internet subscribers have grown at the average rate of 25 %
per annum over the last
five years. However, the total internet penetration in India is low and represents
less than 7 % of all households and this offers significant growth potential. As
per TRAI report broadband internet subscribers at 8.77 million comprise 54.2%
of internet subscribers on 31st March 2010.
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
We are the leading cable television services provider in India, as well as one of
the leading cable broadband services providers. We offer cable television
services across 125 cities and towns and high-speed cable broadband services
across 18 cities. We have won a number of awards for our cable television
services such as being named “Best cable operator of the year” by the Indian
Telly Awards in six out of the last seven years. Our Company has established
19 digital head-ends in the country.
We hold a pan-India ISP license and were the first cable television services
provider to offer broadband internet services. We are currently India’s largest
cable broadband services provider, with approximately 1 million two-way
broadband enabled homes passes, as on March 31, 2010. As of March 31, 2010,
our subscriber base constituted approximately 52 % of the total cable broadband
market in India.
In addition to our cable television and broadband service offerings, we also
generate advertising and airtime revenue from advertisements aired for and on
behalf of channels owned by third parties, such as the Hindi movie channel,
Cine Channel, and the music channel, I TV.
BUSINESS STRATEGY
PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND BROADBAND SUBSCRIBER
We have a track record of growth through the acquisition of smaller Multi
system Operator (MSO’s), Independent Cable Operator (ICO’s) and Local
Cable Operator (LCO’s). This consolidation has provided us with a strong
presence in the cable television market and a large analog subscriber base. On
such acquisition, when we convert secondary analog subscribers to primary
subscribers, we improve the quality of the connection by upgrading the “last
mile connection” and often are able to convert our analog subscribers into
digital subscribers. As a result, we are able to charge higher subscription fee.
We also focus on primary subscribers for cross-selling our broadband service,
which provides us with an opportunity to increase revenues from our broadband
services with a comparatively low capital expenditure. Our broadband
subscribers primarily comprise domestic households. We also provide services
to corporate subscribers.
ACQUISITIONS
Our growth strategy has been driven by the acquisition of majority interests in
established MSOs, ICOs and LCOs to expand our geographic reach. These
acquisitions have been funded through a combination of equity financing, debt
financing and internal accruals. Our strategy is to continue to acquire the “last
mile” connections from LCOs and selected MSOs and ICOs. These acquisitions
will be funded by the IPO proceeds received during the year.
DIGITALISATION
As a part of our strategy, we intend to focus on rolling out digital services to our
customers. Digital cable television requires a set top box to be provided to the
subscriber. The set top box is provided with an encryption technology which is
required to decode the encrypted signals transmitted by us. We purchase the set
top boxes and encryption technology from third party suppliers.
In addition to the set top boxes we also require smart cards and other digital
compression equipments and infrastructure such as fibre coaxial cable.
Typically, we provide the set top box to the end customers and seek to recover a
portion of the cost of such set top box from the end customers.
BROADBAND BUSINESS
India has low Internet penetration rate which offers a significant growth
potential over time. High speed broadband is available only in limited pockets
of larger cities. With our widespread cable infrastructure network of an
estimated 15000 kms, we have access to a large potential broadband subscriber
base. Switching from dial-up internet connections and personal computer
penetration are key factors affecting the increase in our broadband subscribers.
REGULATION
Our business is subject to regulation by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (“TRAI”), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (“MIB”), and
Department
of
Telecommunication
(“DoT”).
As
per
the
TRAI’s
recommendations dated August 5, 2010, it is proposed to implement digital
addressable Cable TV systems in India. Digital addressable systems will enable
consumers to watch high quality digital television channels of their choice on ala-carte basis. Also digital systems have the capacity to deliver many more
channels to the consumers than analogue cable. The said implementation is
proposed to be completed by December 31, 2013 starting with the subscribers
residing in metros.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The Authorised Share Capital of the Company has increased from Rs. 1,500
million to Rs. 2,000 million. During the year 11,501,788 Equity Shares of Rs.
10 each were issued on conversion of Fully & Compulsorily Convertible
Debentures (FCCD) as per the terms of the underlying agreements, at an
aggregate securities premium of Rs. 2,357,382,120. Further the Company also
came up with Initial Public Offer (IPO) of 20,000,000 Equity Shares of Rs. 10/each at a price of Rs. 240 including premium of Rs. 230 per share. The Shares
of the Company are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange Limited and The
National Stock Exchange of India Limited.
RISKS AND CONCERNS
MARKET RISK
We derive a significant portion of our subscription revenue from carriage and
placement fees. In the event of any decline in the growth of the broadcasting
business in India or if new channels are not introduced, our revenues may
decrease. Further, revenues from placement fees depend upon the availability of
frequencies. If the frequencies requested by a broadcaster has already been
provided to another, we may not be able to provide such broadcaster with the
same frequency, thereby adversely affecting our business and results of
operations. Our relationships with existing LCOs - To maintain our secondary
subscriber based, it is critical to maintain a healthy relationship with our LCOs
in order to avoid such LCOs from considering alternatives to our cable
television services; and Competition - Our cable television services business
faces competition from national cable television service providers as well as
providers of television services through alternative technology platforms, such
as DTH satellite television and IPTV. Our key competition for broadband
Internet access service is ADSL technology, provided by companies such as
BSNL/MTNL, Airtel, Tata Communication and Reliance.
INTEREST RATE RISK
As at March 31, 2010, all of our outstanding indebtedness, Rs. 3,995.26 million,
was subject to floating interest rates. As a result, our results of operations may
be materially affected by fluctuations in interest rates. We have not entered into
any hedging transactions with respect to interest rates. In the future, we plan to
incur fixed rate indebtedness rather than floating rate indebtedness.
HUMAN RESOURCES
An Orientation has been given to the personnel policy with emphasis on
performance. The Company believes that a motivated and empowered employee
base is essential in maintaining its competitive advantage. Thus the
management is dedicated to the development of the expertise and knowhow of
its employees and initiatives are taken to ascertain their levels of satisfaction.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
Statements in Management Discussion and Analysis describing the Company’s
objectives, projections, estimates and expectation may be “forward looking”
within the meaning of applicable laws and regulations. Actual results might
differ materially from those expressed or implied.
HATHWAY PRODUCTS
 BROADBAND INTERNET
Before Hathway appeared on the scene,
internet users were suffering the slow
speeds and unreliable connections that
dial-up modems could give. Hathway
Broadband Internet was the first Cable ISP
in India. Our high bandwidths allow users to
use the web the way it should be used, as a 365x24x7 business,
communications and entertainment medium. Hathway provides this service
through its cable network on a subscriber's PC / Corporate LAN using a cable
modem / router. Hathway's fibre-optic backbone and its state-of-the-art
Internet Node and Data Centre make our network capable of reliable Internet
service as well as digital TV transmission.
High-speed surfing is now possible. Remaining connected 365x24x7 without
going through the hassle of disconnections and logins is another powerful
advantage. Broadband also frees up the telephone which was hitherto, engaged
for the internet. For businesses, Hathway Broadband Internet comes as a
tremendous productivity enhancer. Based on the DOCSIS (Data Over Cable
Services Interface Specifications) protocol, it provides a level of security equal
to or better than that provided by dedicated-line network access services, like
the telephone, ISDN or DSL. DOCSIS is the de facto standard for all
Broadband Internet deployments across the world. Hathway's customer service
is localised to each city and always on call. The helpdesks are manned and
active round the clock. With reliability and high speeds at economical prices,
we've changed the way India accesses the World Wide Web. Hathway
Broadband Internet services are currently offered in Mumbai, New Delhi,
Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mysore
and Baroda.
BENEFITS
 ALWAYS ON SERVICE
 UP TO 50 TIMES FASTER THAN DIAL UP MODEM
 MULTIPLE COMPUTERS CAN BE CONNECTED ON A SINGLE
DSL LINE
 DEDICATED CONNECTION AND SPEED
 ALLOWS USE OF PHONE/INTERNET SIMULTANEOUSLY
 DIGITAL CABLE TV
It was not too long back that the phrase
'digital age' was something one only read in
magazines.
Not
anymore.
The
digital
revolution has transformed the way we live
and work today. And this is only the beginning. Hathway is ushering in the
benefits of new technologies into India. For the Cable TV viewer that means
many more choices, much more control and unmatched quality. Viewers
across the country can now enjoy their favourite programmes in stereophonic
sound and crystal clear images. The reasonable price of the equipment only
adds to the attraction.
More than 150 channels are on offer to begin with. They cover the entire
spectrum of television and radio programming including entertainment,
news, sports, movies and more. Interactive On-Screen Programming Guides
mean that program listings, advance information, reminders and parental
control are all available at your fingertips.
In the foreseeable future, one can expect the television to come out of its
existing avatar as a passive medium and enter the exciting new world of
electronic commerce and business. The technologies for this already exist
today and when complete convergence is achieved, Hathway will be at the
forefront of the revolution.
Digital Cable TV services have already been commercially launched in
Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad.The service
will reach other cities very soon.
 CABLE TV
Hathway is one of the fastest growing
Cable TV networks in the country. Our
partnerships with leading content providers
like STAR have given us the edge over our competition. Today we offer a
fantastic bouquet of over 90 channels to our subscribers.
We operate in fourteen cities, namely, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai,
Bangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik, Ludhiana, Jalandhar,
Vijayawada, Chandigarh, Mohali and Kanpur. Going forward, we propose to
extend our coverage to other towns and cities.
Technology has always been our strong suite. Hathway distributes its signals
through a world-class infrastructure backed with state-of-the-art head-ends
and a hybrid fibre-optic network. Being one of the largest Multi System
Operators (MSOs) comes with its fair share of responsibility. Millions of
subscribers count on us to bring them uninterrupted cable television day after
day, night after night. To that end, we have instituted one of the country's
best service and feedback mechanisms.
These best practices have been applauded and gone on to become the
benchmark for Cable TV operators across the country.
 CHANNELS
Hathway is a committed investor in the cause of Cable TV. We realize that
to grow the market and make our offering more attractive we cannot rely
solely on externals to provide rich content to our eager subscribers. That's
why we have launched under the Hathway umbrella, three channels that give
our viewers what they ask for. Cine Channel (CCC) was launched in 1998. It
is a movie-based entertainment channel that caters to audiences across the
board. The channel has upto 17 hours of programming daily with a library of
hindi movies and Film based programmes.
C-News, as the name suggests, is a dedicated news channel. Local news
capsules and live telecasts form a large part of its programming.
ITV is a unique dial-in interactive music channel. People can call in and pick
the song of their choice from a wide list of genres and album choices. The
channel has a very high viewership rating in its segment.
CORPORATE OVERVIEW
We at Hathway, are guided by a vision - "To be a single point access
provider bringing into the home and work place, the converged world of
information, entertainment and services." Being one of the largest Cable TV
services company of India , spurs us to be the best in whatever we do.
Established in 1995, Hathway provides quality Cable TV services in thirteen
cities across the nation. With fiber optic backbone across its networks and
state-of-the-art distribution set ups, we bring the digital age through Cable
transforming the way viewers receive information and entertainment.
Currently Hathway has three broad service areas.
Cable TV- Hathway currently provides cable TV services in the following
cities:
Mumbai, New Delhi , Chennai, Bangalore , Hyderabad , Pune, Nashik,
Ludhiana , Jalandhar , Vijaywada, Mysore , Chandigarh , Mohali & Kanpur.
Digital Cable TV - Hathway is the largest Cable TV service provider to roll
out Digital Cable TV services in cities viz: Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi ,
Pune, Bangalore , Hyderabad and will soon roll out its services in important
cities in Punjab.
Hathway Broadband Internet
-
"Pioneers
in
Broadband
Internet technology in India." Hathway Broadband Internet is the largest
Broadband Internet Service Privider (ISP) providing Broadband Internet
services in 13 cities across the nation:
Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai,
Bangalore , Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik , Ludhiana , Mysore and Baroda,
Aurangabad, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Trichy.
Entertainment - Hathway also has under its umbrella - Cine Channel
(CCC)-, a movie based entertainment channel, C-News, a local centric news
capsule, I TV-, a unique dial in interactive music channel and various local
channels like WIN Delhi , C-Hyderabad, C- Bangalore- .
AllianceHathway STAR Strategic Alliance
In September 2000 Hathway entered into a strategic alliance with one of the
largest content providers in the world, STAR. This alliance will see the launch
of enhanced and digital interactive TV all across the country enabling the
subscriber to access world-class broadband services on their TV sets.
VALUE AND SYSTEMS
Our Vision is "To be a single point access provider bringing into the home and work
place, the converged world of information, entertainment and services."
Hathway is one of the largest Cable TV service providers in the country and
provides an excellent platform for its employees to learn as well as to excel in
the field of communications, entertainment and cable TV technology.
We are a strong work force of above 2000 employees based across 13 locations
with professional expertise in the respective fields of Cable TV, Digital services
and Broadband Internet.
Continuous learning
Hathway's commitment to continuous personal and professional development
keeps us at the forefront in a fast-changing entertainment and information
industry. Our continuous learning process is built around a number of focused
employee development, personal improvement programmes along with job
related trainings for an overall growth of our employees.
While we work hard, we have fun too. We keep the fun alive within our
employees by organizing Annual Sports Day, Kid's Day for the employees'
children and various intra departmental meets. We also believe to give a
generous amount of independency to the employee to have a free hand in their
respective work.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
HATHWAY CABLE & DATACOM LIMITED
Details of Directors
Mr. Bharat Shah
- Chairman
Mr. Rajan Raheja
- Director
Mr. Akshay Raheja
- Director
Mr. Viren Raheja
- Director
Mr. K. Jayaraman
- Managing Director & Ceo
Mr. Vinayak Agarwal
- Director
Mr. Brahmal Vasudevan
- Director
Mr. Jagdishkumar G.
- Director
Mr. Uday Shankar
- Director
Mr. Sridhar Gorthi
- Director
Mr. Sasha Mirchandani
- Director
Mr. Devendra Shrotri
- Director
Executive Team
K. Jayaraman
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
Mr. K. Jayaraman is a Chartered Accountant and started his career in 1987 with
ICICI as Project Officer. Thereafter he also worked briefly with Citicorp
Securities.
He joined the Hathway Group in 1993 and worked with other Hathway Group
companies like H&R Johnson, Asianet Satellite Communications in senior
positions. Mr.Jayaraman is currently the MD & CEO of Hathway Cable &
Datacom Limited.
Milind Karnik
President-Finance & Company Secretary
Mr. Milind Karnik is a member of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of
India, the Institute of the Company Secretaries of India and the Institute of Cost
& Work Accountants of India. He also holds a Bachelors Degree in General
Laws.
Mr. Milind Karnik started his career in 1984-85 with leading audit firms such as
M/s. R. S. Mama & Co. and A. F. Ferguson, as Senior Auditor and Assistant
Audit Manager, respectively. In October 1985, he joined the Financial
Management Information System Department with Hoechst India Limited. In
1987, he was deputed as the Cost Controller of Agrochemicals Division. In
1988, he joined the Citicorp Group and has worked in various capacities
including Assistant Financial Controller & Company Secretary with Citicorp
Overseas Software Limited, Company Secretary with Citicorp Information
Technology Industries Limited and Chief Financial Officer & Company
Secretary with Citicorp Securities and Investments Limited.
In July 1996, he joined Birla Marlin Securities Limited as Chief Financial
Officer & Company Secretary. Later in June 1997, he joined Caspian Broking
(India) Limited as the Financial Officer & Company Secretary. He joined
Hathway in 1998 and is currently heading the finance, legal departments of
Hathway as a President, Finance, Legal and Company Secretary.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
Chairman &
Managing Director
Lead DirectorTelecom
President &
CEO
President
Mobile
Services
President
Telemedia
Services
President
Enterprise
Services
Director
Director
Customer Service
Supply Chain
Director
Director
Marketing
HR
Director
Director
Customer Service
& IT
Technology
Director
CFO &
Director
Legal & Regulatory
Strategy
cc
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY OF HATHWAY
At Hathway, CSR is a way of life. Each department and employee strives to be
sensitive to the stakeholders and environment within their work context.
Hathway encourages employees to take decisions and design business-linked
processes that are sensitive to communities and environment.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Hathway encompasses much more
than only social outreach programs. It is an integral part of the way Hathway
conducts its business. The essence of Hathway’s commitment to Corporate
Social Responsibility is embedded in the ‘Corporate Values’, which stem from
its deepest held beliefs. These Values are:
To be responsive to the needs of our customers
To trust and respect our employees
To continuously improve our services – innovatively and expeditiously
To be transparent and sensitive in our dealings with all stakeholders
We encourage our employees to take decisions and design business processes,
keeping in mind the following:
Ethics, fairness and being correct
Meeting and going beyond compliances and legal requirements
Showing respect and sensitivity towards stakeholders and communities,
and Nurturing the environment
We practice our CSR beliefs and commitments through a three-pronged
approach:
Engaging with stakeholders
Ensuring stakeholder sensitive policies and practices
Undertaking programs for our employees, community and environment
Hathway sensitizes its employees towards CSR issues at various forums. We
feel that it is important that each employee should understand the importance of
environmental, social and economical aspects while taking business decisions.
At Hathway, each employee is sensitized towards CSR issues and thus
operations at the ground level are influenced. Such sensitization exercises have
resulted in many socially and environmentally sensitive decisions on the
ground. For example, Confidence Plan for hearing impaired people, covers
noise-making DG sets at extra cost, investing in consumer awareness campaigns
to ensure safe use of mobile are some examples of the above.
EMPLOYEES OVERVIEW
We believe that one of the most important drivers of growth and success for any
organization is its people. At Hathway, our ‘Mantra’ for employee delight
focuses on 5 Ps – People, Pride, Passion, Processes and Performance.
Hathway has been recognized among the Best Employers in the Country for two
successive years – being 14th in 2003 & jumping ahead of several other large
conglomerates to an enviable position of the 2nd Best Employer in the Country
in 2004. This is a clear demonstration & acknowledgement of the robust,
progressive, people as well as business aligned Human Resource practices,
which the organization has developed and implemented remarkably in a little
time.
Hathway follows an “open door policy” to approach the management, which
helps resolve issues with mutual agreements. We encourage people to stand up
against any unfair treatment for which we have the Office of the Ombudsman,
where employees can raise any issues regarding business and workplace
conduct. Hathway ensures transparency through the various communication
policies, strategies and plans. . Regular Employee Communication Forums
provides a platform for the employees to raise issues that require resolution.
Our leaders strongly believe in facilitating and initiating activities that help
employees manage their health and well-being. Our focus always remains to
redefine leadership; we develop leaders who enable performance and inspire
their people to unleash their potential. Our people orientation reflects in our
vision of being “targeted by top talent”, and a key aspect of our business focus
“building a best-in-class leadership team that nurtures talent at every level.”
Employee friendly HR policies have been put in place, which amply reflect the
organization’s concern for its people. Some typical examples of these policies
and practices include a family-day at office, half day leave for birthdays, gifts
for anniversaries, compulsory 10 days off, festival celebration with family, no
official meetings on weekends, five day weeks, concierge services, call center
engagement programs etc. These “care” policies and practices are applied across
the organizational levels without any discrimination.
From self-management workshops to aerobics sessions, yoga classes to
provision of relaxation/meditation rooms, we ensure that every employee keeps
a check on his/her fitness. Tie-ups with leading health service organizations
enable our employees to undertake periodical health check-ups depending upon
their age. This facility is also extended to employee family members at
discounted rates. The company provides Flexible Group Mediclaim insurance to
all employees, covering all kinds of illnesses, accidents and hospital coverage
for serious ailments. Apart from these specific engagements, we regularly
organize health check up camps, eye check-up camps and stress management
sessions. Some of our offices have opened gymnasiums/fitness facilities to
ensure that the fitness fanatics do not have to worry about time constraints to
remain fit. At many of our locations, we have hired psychologists who
undertake
personal
counseling
sessions
for
employees.
Hathway offers a flexible compensation structure to its employees wherein the
employees have the flexibility to structure their fixed component of their
compensation according to their requirements within the ambit of legislation.
“Even a sweeper in the corporate office must understand that, if he does not
keep the office clean, the visiting shareholders could question the company’s
ability to manage a business if they cannot manage their premises well”
HATHWAY’S MARKETING ORIENTATION
 They take personal responsibility to "get" the answer for
any problem faced by the customer
 They anticipate customers' problems and take pro-active
steps to prevent them.
 They give answers to the questions & requests, quickly &
efficiently.
 They have a positive tone & manner while interacting with
customers.
 They end the interaction on a positive or a humorous notemaking the last 30 seconds count.
Hathway realizes that attracting people 'is easy but converting
them into loyal customers is hard, hence emphasis is on
maintaining a 'Smiling and a Friendly Atmosphere' to please and
retain the customer.
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
The pattern of telephone subscriber growth observed elsewhere
in the world reveals that the growth in the market is initially
slow followed by a sharp acceleration, but so far that has not
happened in India. As far as the Product Life Cycle is concerned
Indians are at the beginning of the maturity stage.
Introduction
Growth
Maturity
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Create Product
Maximize market
Maximize profits
Awareness & Trial
share
whole defending
market share
Strategies
Product
Offer a basic
Offer value added
Increase in number
product/ service.
services
of value added
services.
Price
Distribution
Charge cost- plus
Price to penetrate
Price to match or
market
best competitors
Build selective
Build Intensive
Build more
distribution
distribution.
intensive
distribution.
Advertising
Build product
Build awareness
Stress brand
awareness among
and interest in the
differences and
early adopters.
mass market
benefits.
Sales Promotion
Use heavy sales
Increase to build
Increase to
promotion to
and maintain
encourage brand-
entice people to
relationships with
switching.
subscribe.
customers.
SWOT ANALYSIS OF HATHWAY
STRENGTH
 Very focused on telecom.
 Leadership in fast growing
cellular segment.
 The only Indian operator, other
than VSNL, that has an
international submarine cable.
 IPTV
OPPORTUNITIES
 The fast-expanding IPLC market.
 Latest technology and low cost
advantage.
 Huge market.
 Low Broadband Penetration,
Rural Telephoney
WEAKNESS
 Price Competition from BSNL
and MTNL
 Untapped Rural market
THREATS
 Competition from other cellular
and mobile operaters.
 Saturation
point
in
Basic
telephony service
 New entry in digital tv.
CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS
AND
INTERPRETATION
TABLE No.1
TABLE SHOWING-THE PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS
BASED ON AGE
AGE
20-29
PERCENTAGE
OF REPONDENTS
24%
30-39
36%
40-49
26%
Above 50
14%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 24% of the respondents aged between 20 to
29, 36% between 30 to 39, 26% between 40 to 49 and only 14% aged above 50
years.
Interpretation
Age is not the criteria for the people who use Hathway. From this we can
conclude people of all ages are interested in using Hathway broadband services.
GRAPH No.1
GRAPH SHOWING-THE PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS
BASED ON AGE
3%
24%
31%
20-29
30-39
42%
40-49
Above 50
TABLE No.2
TABLE SHOWING-THE PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS
BASED ON GENDER
GENDER
MALE
PERCENTAGE
OF RESPONDENTS
64%
FEMALE
36%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 64% of respondents were male and female
respondents constituted just 36% of total responses.
Interpretation
It is clear that both males and females are interested in using Hathway
broadband as they are interested in E-commerce and social networking.
GRAPH No.2
GRAPH SHOWING-THE PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS
BASED ON GENDER
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Male
Female
Respondents
TABLE No.3
TABLE SHOWING- THE OCCUPATION OF RESPONDENTS
OCCUPATION
STUDENT
PERCENTAGE
OF RESPONDENTS
12%
GOVERNMENT
SERVICE
EX-SERVICEMEN
16%
PROFESSIONAL
40%
SELF-EMPLOYED
24%
TOTAL
100%
8%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 12% of the respondents were students
pursuing their graduation or post graduation studies and 40% were
professionals. 24% of the respondents were self employed, 8% were exserviceman and 16% belonged to government services.
Interpretation
It is clear that users are mostly Professionals and Self employed people because
without internet there is no business.
GRAPH No.3
GRAPH SHOWING-THE OCCUPATION OF RESPONDENTS
12%
24%
16%
8%
Student
40%
Govt. Service
Ex-servicemen
Professional
Self employed
TABLE No.4
TABLE SHOWING- THE ANNUAL INCOME GROUP OF
RESPONDENTS
INCOME GROUP
LESS THAN 1,20,000
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
20%
1,20,001-3,60,000
38%
3,60,001-7,20,000
26%
ABOVE 7,20,000
16%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 20% of the respondents had an annual
income of lesser than 1,20,000, 26% had income between 3,60,001 and
7,20,000, 16% earned more than 7,20,000 per annum and 38% had income
between 120001 to 3,60,000.
Interpretation
It shows that Hathway is placing their service in the appropriate price range. As
the people of income bracket between 1,20,001 and 3,60,000 can easily afford
this Broadband service.
GRAPH No.4
GRAPH SHOWING- THE ANNUAL INCOME GROUP OF
RESPONDENTS
16%
20%
26%
38%
Less than 120000
120000-360000
360000-720000
Above 720000
TABLE No.5
TABLE SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS AWARENESS OF
HATHWAY BROADBAND SERVICE
YES/NO
YES
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
84%
NO
16%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 84% of the respondents are aware of the
Hathway broadband service and 16% of the respondents are not aware of the
same.
Interpretation
It shows that majority of the respondents are aware of the service provided by
Hathway and are using it.
GRAPH No.5
GRAPH SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS AWARENESS OF
HATHWAY BROADBAND SERVICE
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Respondents
YES
42
NO
8
TABLE No.6
TABLE SHOWING- THE SALES PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES
WHICH ATTRACTS CUSTOMERS
PROMOTIONAL
TECHNIQUE
TELEVISION
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
44%
RADIO
6%
NEWSPAPERS
24%
BANNERS
12%
SALES PERSONS
14%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 44% of the respondents are attracted
towards Hathway services through television, 6% through radio, 24% through
newspapers, 12% through banners and 14% through sales persons.
Interpretation
It shows that most of the respondents are attracted towards Hathway services
through television.
GRAPH No.6
GRAPH SHOWING- THE SALES PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES
WHICH ATTRACTS CUSTOMERS
25
20
15
10
5
0
Television
Radio
Newspapers
Banners
Sales persons
Respondents
TABLE No.7
TABLE SHOWING- THE NUMBER OF BROADAND
CONNECTIONS RESPONDENTS USING
NO. OF
CONNECTIONS
ONLY 1
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
46%
2-3
36%
MORE THAN 3
18%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 46% of the respondents are using only one
connection, 36% of them are using 2-3 connections and 18% of them are using
more than 3 connections.
Interpretation
It clearly shows that majority of the respondents use atleast 2-3 connections as it
has financial edge over the rest and a superior edge placed substancially.
GRAPH No.7
GRAPH SHOWING- THE NUMBER OF BROADAND
CONNECTIONS RESPONDENTS USING
18%
46%
36%
Only 1
2 or 3
More than 3
TABLE No.8
TABLE SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS MONTHLY
EXPENDITURE ON BROADBAND
MONTHLY
EXPENDITURE
>250
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
12%
>500
32%
>750
46%
>1000
10%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 12% of the respondents spend more than
250 per month, 32% of them spend more than 500 per month, 46% of them
spend more than 750 per month and 10% of them spend more than 1000 per
month.
Interpretation
It shows that majority of the respondents are willing to spend between 500 and
1000 per month as Hathway provides superior broadband connection with
unmatched satisfaction.
GRAPH No.8
GRAPH SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS MONTHLY
EXPENDITURE ON BROADBAND
25
20
15
10
5
0
Respondents
>250
6
>500
16
>750
23
>1000
5
TABLE No.9
TABLE SHOWING- THE BROADBAND PLAN OF THE
RESPONDENTS
PLAN/TARIFF
LIMITED
DOWNLOAD PLANS
SPECIAL 24hrs
UNLIMITED
DOWNLOAD PLANS
NIGHT UNLIMITED
DOWNLOAD PLANS
TOTAL
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
40%
32%
18%
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 40% of the respondents use limited
download plans, 32% of them use special 24hrs unlimited download plans and
18% of them use night unlimited download plans.
Interpretation
It shows that majority of the respondents use both limited download plans and
special 24hrs unlimited downloadplans. This is because limited download
options is far expensive by all internet service providers(even competitors)
GRAPH No.9
GRAPH SHOWING- THE BROADBAND PLAN OF THE
RESPONDENTS
25
20
15
10
5
0
Respondents
Limited Download
Plans
20
Special 24 hrs
Unlimited
Download Plans
21
Night Unlimited
Download Plans
9
TABLE No.10
TABLE SHOWING- THERESPONDENTS RATING THE
HATHWAY SERVICE PROVIDER
RATING
POOR
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
8%
AVERAGE
16%
GOOD
52%
EXCELLENT
24%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 8% of respondents rate Hathway service
poor, 16% of them rate it average, 52% rate it good, 24% rate it excellent.
Interpretation
It clearly shows that majority of the respondents rate Hathway service as good.
Hathway is internationally acclaimed and known to provide quality service
during sales and after sales of the net connection.
GRAPH No.10
GRAPH SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS RATING THE
HATHWAY SERVICE PROVIDER
8%
24%
16%
Poor
Average
Good
52%
Excellent
TABLE No.11
TABLE SHOWING- THE FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR BUYING
HATHWAY BROADBAND CONNECTION
FACTORS
HIGH SPEED
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
34%
AVAILABILITY OF
SERVICES
VALUE ADDED
SERVICES
ECONOMIC CALL
RATES
DOWNLOADING
VOLUME
TOTAL
8%
4%
8%
46%
100%
Analysis
From the above table it is clear that 34% of respondents are attracted towards
high speed connection Hathway provides, 8% on the availability of services, 4%
on value added services, 8% on economic call rates and 46% on the
downloading volume.
Interpretation
It clearly shows majority of respondents rely on Hathway for their downloading
volume and high speed connection they provide.
GRAPH No.11
GRAPH SHOWING- THE FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR BUYING
BROADBAND CONNECTION
34%
46%
High Speed
8%
Availability of services
Value added services
8%
4%
Economic call rates
Downloading volume
TABLE No.12
TABLE SHOWING- THE SOURCE OF AWARENESS OF
HATHWAY
MEDIA
NEWSPAPERS
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
4%
MAGAZINES
12%
FRIENDS
34%
TV ADDS
10%
WEBSITE/BLOGS
14%
COMPANY
14%
OTHERS
12%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis-As we can see here the major promotional tool which is influencing
the customers are Friends which is around 34%, after that the source of
awareness among customers is a mixed response where in 14% each from
websites and company, 12% each from magazines and other sources, finally
newspapers consists only 4% and 10% from Television adds which is very poor.
Interpretation- It clearly shows that Advertisements are rarely recalled and
are highly ineffective amongst non Hathway users.
GRAPH No.12
GRAPH SHOWING- THE SOURCE OF AWARENESS OF
HATHWAY
18
17
16
14
12
10
8
6
6
4
2
0
7
5
2
7
6
TABLE No.13
TABLE SHOWING- THE SATISFACTION LEVEL OF
RESPONDENTS WITH RESPECT TO AFTER SALES SERVICE
SATISFACTION
LEVEL
EXTREMELY
SATISFIED
SATISFIED
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
26%
NOT AT ALL
SATISFIED
TOTAL
17%
57%
100%
Analysis
From the above table we can say that 26% of the respondents are extremely
satisfied, 57% of them are satisfied and 17% are not at all satisfied with respect
to after sales service of Hathway.
Interpretation
It is clear that majority of the respondents are very much satisfied with respect
to after sales service of Hathway.
GRAPH No.13
GRAPH SHOWING- THE SATISFACTION LEVEL OF
RESPONDENTS WITH RESPECT TO AFTER SALES SERVICE
60
50
40
30
20
Not at all satisfied
10
Satisfied
Extremely satisfied
0
Extremely satisfied
Satisfied
Not at all satisfied
TABLE No.14
TABLE SHOWING- THE FREQUENCY OF BREAKDOWN OF THE
BROADBAND
FREQUENCY OF
BREAKDOWN
VERY OFTEN
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
14%
RARELY
23%
NOT AT ALL
63%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table we can get to know that 14% of the respondents have the
problem of breakdown very often, 23% of them very rarely and 63% of them do
not have any breakdown problem at all.
Interpretation
It is very clear that frequency of the breakdown of the Hathway broadband
service is very less. This shows Hathway provides un interrupted internet
service.
GRAPH No.14
GRAPH SHOWING- THE FREQUENCY OF BREAKDOWN OF THE
BROADBAND
14%
23%
63%
Very often
Rarely
Not at all
TABLE No.15
TABLE SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS OPINION AND LEVEL
OF SATISFACTION ABOUT THE COMPANY TAKING ACTION
TOWARDS COMPLAINTS LODGED BY THE CUSTOMERS
YES/NO
PERCENTAGE
YES
73%
NO
27%
TOTAL
100%
RESPONSE FOR
SATISFACTION
YES
PERCENTAGE
NO
34%
TOTAL
100%
66%
Analysis-The above table shows that 73% of the respondents accept that the
company takes action towards the complaints lodged by the customers and 27%
disagree for the same. Also the satisfaction level is 66% by the respondents and
34% are not satisfied.
Interpretation-It
is clear that most of the respondents agree that the
company takes action towards the complaints lodged by the customers and also
the satisfaction level of the customers is very high. This shows Hathway checks
at the complaints registered by their customers on regular basis to maintain its
brand value.
GRAPH No.15
GRAPH SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS OPINION AND LEVEL
OF SATISFACTION ABOUT THE COMPANY TAKING ACTION
TOWARDS COMPLAINTS LODGED BY THE CUSTOMERS
80
70
60
50
No. of Respondents
40
30
20
10
0
Yes
No
Point of satisfaction
No
34%
Yes
66%
TABLE No.16
TABLE SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS OPINION ABOUT THE
MAJOR BARRIERS FOR PURCHASE OF BROADBAND SERVICE
BARRIERS
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
NETWORK
DEPLOYMENT
HIGH COST
36%
TECHNICAL
ISSUES
TOTAL
40%
24%
100%
Analysis
From the above table it shows that 36% of respondents believe that network
deployment is a major barrier for purchasing the broadband service, 24% of
them believe its high cost and 40% of them feel its technical issues.
Interpretation
It is clear that technical issues and pricing have a crucial influence in purchasing
the broadband service.
GRAPH No.16
GRAPH SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS OPINION ABOUT THE
MAJOR BARRIERS FOR PURCHASE OF BROADBAND SERVICE
Technical issues
No. of respondents
High cost
Network deployment
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
TABLE No.17
TABLE SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS WILLINGNESS TO PAY
MORE FOR HIGH SPEED INTERNET
YES/NO
YES
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
29%
NO
71%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table it shows that 29% of the respondents are willing to pay
more for high speed internet and 71% are unwilling.
Interpretation
It is clear majority of respondents are not willing to pay more for high speed
internet since they have better broadband services which give them a better
package.
GRAPH No.17
GRAPH SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS WILLINGNESS TO PAY
MORE FOR HIGH SPEED INTERNET
29%
Yes
No
71%
TABLE No.18
TABLE SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS USAGE OF
BROADBAND TECHNOLOGY
USAGE BY
WIRELESS
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
26%
DSL(Digital Subscriber
line)
CABLE MODEM
10%
TOTAL
100%
64%
Analysis
From the above table it shows that 26% of the respondents use wireless
technology, 10% use DSL and 64% use cable modem.
Interpretation
Majority of the respondents use cable modem as it is efficient for its cost.
GRAPH No.18
GRAPH SHOWING- THE RESPONDENTS USAGE OF
BROADBAND TECHNOLOGY
26%
Wireless
DSL
Cable modem
10%
64%
TABLE No.19
TABLE SHOWING-PRIMARY USAGE OF BROADBAND
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
BUSINESS
34%
PERSONAL
26%
E-COMMERCE
28%
EDUCATION/RESEARCH
12%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table we can say that it is a mixed response from the
respondents for the usage of broadband i.e. 34% for business, 26% for personal,
28% for E-commerce and 12% of them for education or research.
Interpretation
It is clear that Broadband service is used for every application.
GRAPH No.19
GRAPH SHOWING-PRIMARY USAGE OF BROADBAND
APPLICATION
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
No. of respondents
TABLE No.20
TABLE SHOWING- ANY RESPONDENTS ISSUES WITH
HATHWAY BROADBAND PRICING
YES/NO
PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
YES
32%
NO
68%
TOTAL
100%
Analysis
From the above table is shows that 32% of the respondents have issues with
Hathway broadband pricing and 68% of them don’t have any issues.
Interpretation
It clearly shows that majority of the respondents have no issues with the
broadband pricing and this shows that Hathway broadband service is
economical.
GRAPH No.20
GRPAH SHOWING- ANY RESPONDENTS ISSUES WITH
HATHWAY BROADBAND PRICING
Yes
No
32%
68%
CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
FINDINGS
1. Age is not the criteria for the people who use Hathway. From this we can
conclude people of all ages are interested in using Hathway broadband
services.
2. It is clear that both males and females are interested in using Hathway
broadband as they are interested in E-commerce and social networking.
3. It is clear that users are mostly Professionals and Self employed people
because without internet there is no business.
4. It shows that Hathway is placing their service in the appropriate price
range. As the people of income bracket between 1,20,001 and 3,60,000
can easily afford this Broadband service.
5. It shows that majority of the respondents are aware of the service
provided by Hathway and are using it.
6. It shows that most of the respondents are attracted towards Hathway
services through television.
7. It clearly shows that majority of the respondents use atleast 2-3
connections as it has financial edge over the rest and a superior edge
placed substancially.
8. It shows that majority of the respondents are willing to spend between
500 and 1000 per month as Hathway provides superior broadband
connection with unmatched satisfaction.
9. It shows that majority of the respondents use both limited download plans
and special 24hrs unlimited download plans. This is because limited
download options is far expensive by all internet service providers(even
competitors)
10.It clearly shows that majority of the respondents rate Hathway service as
good. Hathway is internationally acclaimed and known to provide quality
service during sales and after sales of the net connection.
11. It clearly shows majority of respondents rely on Hathway for their
downloading volume and high speed connection they provide.
12.It clearly shows that Advertisements are rarely recalled and are highly
ineffective amongst non Hathway users.
13. It is clear that majority of the respondents are very much satisfied with
respect to after sales service of Hathway.
14.It is very clear that frequency of the breakdown of the Hathway
broadband service is very less. This shows Hathway provides
uninterrupted internet service.
15.It is clear that most of the respondents agree that the company takes
action towards the complaints lodged by the customers and also the
satisfaction level of the customers is very high. This shows Hathway
checks at the complaints registered by their customers on regular basis to
maintain its brand value.
16.It is clear that technical issues and pricing have a crucial influence in
purchasing the broadband service.
17.It is clear majority of respondents are not willing to pay more for high
speed internet since they have better broadband services which give them
a better package.
18.Majority of the respondents use cable modem as it is efficient for its cost.
19.It is clear that Broadband service is used for every application.
20.It clearly shows that majority of the respondents have no issues with the
broadband pricing and this shows that Hathway broadband service is
economical.
CONCLUSION
The study has helped HATHWAY dealers to understand whether
the customers are satisfied or not. If not what are main reasons for
dissatisfaction of customer towards the dealer and what are the ways of
improving the satisfaction level of customer towards dealer.
We can conclude people of all ages are interested in using Hathway
broadband services, both males and females are interested in using Hathway
broadband as they are interested in E-commerce and social networking and
users are mostly Professionals and Self employed people because without
internet there is no business. majority of the respondents are aware of the
service provided by Hathway and are using it by getting attracted towards
Hathway services through television.
Majority of the respondents are willing to spend between 500 and
1000 per month as Hathway provides superior broadband connection with
unmatched satisfaction and are using 2-3 connections and also use both limited
download plans and special 24hrs unlimited download plans. Respondents rate
Hathway service as good and rely on Hathway for their downloading volume
and high speed connection they provide. Also advertisements are rarely recalled
and are highly ineffective amongst non Hathway users.
Frequency of the breakdown of the Hathway broadband service is
very less, most of the respondents agree that the company takes action towards
the complaints lodged by the customers and also the satisfaction level of the
customers is very high. Due technical issues and pricing have a crucial
influence in purchasing the broadband service and Broadband service is used
for every application.Finally respondents have no issues with the broadband
pricing.
CHAPTER 6
SUGGESTIONS
SUGGESTIONS
On the basis of research and analysis of the study conducted in Bangalore, I
would like to suggest the following key points to the company.
 During the study the fact becomes clear that the customer is not well
aware about all the products and services of Hathway. So through strong
advertisement, company should try to increase the awareness of the
Airtel services.
 The company should organize contests through Newspapers, Magazines
& announce suitable rewards accordingly.
 The company should provide new promotional schemes on a regular
basis to consumers to increase its market share.
 The company should provide economic plans to consumers to increase
its market share.
 The company should provide proper motivational schemes to the sales
executives.
 The company should try to build some feed back mechanism from the
customer to check the performance of the sales executives and to make
them loyal.
 The company should provide proper product knowledge to the sales
executives.
 The company should go ahead with aggressive marketing. They should
light competition on Pricing strategy.
(a) The company should look at the strategies of the competitive companies.
(b) The company should try its level best to keep the prices low as compared to
the competitors.
(c) The schemes should be updated as per the needs and occasions.
ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE
I am Sandeep. B, a final year BBM student from Presidency College. This
information is required for successful completion of my project ‘A Study on
Consumer Behaviour of Hathway Broadband Services, Bangalore.’ I request
you to kindly spare some of your time and fill the questionnaire below. Thank
you.
Name:
1. Age:
2. Gender :
Male
Female
3. Marital status:
Married
Single
4. Occupation:
Student
Government service
Professional
Self employed
Other
5. Annual Income:
Less than 1,20,000
1,20,001-3,60,000
3,60,001-7,20,000
Above 7,20,000
6. Are you aware of the Hathway Broadband services?
Yes
No
7. Can you suggest some sales promotional technique which attracts you?
Television
Radio
Banners
Sales person
Newspapers
8. How many Broadband connections are you using?
Only 1
2-3
More than 3
9. What is your monthly expenditure over your internet requirement?
>250
>500
>750
>1000
11. Which plan/tariff you are using?
Limited Download Plans
Special 24 hrs Unlimited Download Plans
Night Unlimited Download Plans
12. How will you rate the service of our service provider?
Poor
Average
Good
Excellent
13. When you buy broadband connection what do you look for in it?
High Speed
VAS (Value added services)
Downloading Volume (Unlimited)
Availability of services
Economic call rates
14. If given an option to you which brand of broadband service would you buy
now and why?
HATHWAY because ___________________________________
AIRTEL because _______________________________________
BSNL because ________________________________________
SIFY because ___________________________________________
RELIANCE ______________________________________________
OTHERS ___________________________________________
15. Have you seen Hathway broadband newspaper or magazine advertisement?
Yes
No
16. Do you take information from internet blogs?
Yes
If yes which blog:
No
17. Please specify your source of awareness of Hathway?
Newspapers
Magazines
Friends
TV Adds
Website/blogs
Company
Others
18. What is your satisfaction level with respect to our after sales service?
Extremely satisfied
Satisfied
Not at all satisfied
19. Frequency of breakdown of your broadband?
Very often
Rarely
Not at all
20. Do you agree that company takes action towards the complaints lodged by
the customers?
YES
NO
Are you satisfied with their replies?
YES
NO
21. Would you be willing to pay more for high speed internet service?
YES
NO
22. What are the major barriers for purchase of broadband by non-users?
Network Deployment
High cost
Technical issues such as network loading
Others
23. Which Broadband technology are you using?
Wireless
DSL(digital subscriber line)
Cable Modem
24. For which application do you use your broadband service more?
Business (e-mail, accessing corporate intranet)
Personal (web surfing, downloading music, Multimedia)
E-commerce Education/Research
25. Finally
do you have
Broadband pricing?
YES
Any suggestions
NO
any issues with the Hathway
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books Referred
 Marketing Management, 13th edition
- Philip Kotler.
 Survey Research Method
- Charles Babbie.
Magazines Referred
 "Hathway broadband" in "Books - Magazines" in Kalyan
Classifieds, India
Websites Referred
 www.google.com
 www.hathway.com
 www.wikipedia.org
 www.indiabroadband.net