Study On 3G Data Card Usage Trends

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A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF CONSUMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS RELIANCE NETCONNECT+

(A CASE STUDY OF “VISAKHAPATNAM”)

A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO GITAM UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE

OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED BY RAJESH. A

1225110102

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF PROF. M.V. RAM PRASAD

GITAM INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

(A NAAC accredited ‘A’ grade institution)

GITAM UNIVERSITY

(Declared as Deemed to be University U\s 3 of the UGC Act, 1956) VISAKHAPATNAM.

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DECLARATION

I, Rajesh Aluru hereby declare that this project report is the record of authentic work carried out by me in Reliance Communications, Visakhapatnam during the academic session of MBA 3rd Trimester 2011. I have completed my project under the guidance of Prof. M.V. RAM PRASAD, GITAM Institute of Management, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam. I hereby declare that this project report has not been submitted to any other University or Institute for the award of any degree/diploma. VISAKHAPATNAM Rajesh.A DATE: 1225110102

MBA – 3rd Trimester GITAM Institute of Management

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CERTIFICATE BY GUIDE

This is to certify that Mr. Rajesh Aluru (Regd. No. 1225110102) is a bonafide student of GITAM University. He has prepared and submitted a project report titled “A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF CONSUMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS RELIANCE NETCONNECT+” in Reliance Communications, Visakhapatnam. This Project report is in partial requirement for the award of MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, for the academic year 2010-2012 under my supervision & guidance.

VISAKHAPATNAM PROF. M.V. RAM PRASAD DATE:

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT No work can be done in vacuum; the accomplishment of this project would have not been possible individually without the assistance and valuable support from various sources. As a student of GITAM Institute of Management, I am indebted to the learned faculty members of the institute. As a pupil of Prof. K. Siva Rama Krishna (Dean & Principal), Prof. P. Sheela (Vice- Principal) & Mrs. K.V. Uma Devi (Programme Co-ordinator) I pay my gratitude and respect for their hard work, support and meticulous attention at every stage of my education in the institute. I also thank Prof. M. V. Ram Prasad, whose mentoring, guidance and encouragement enabled me to complete this report in a fruitful manner. I am highly grateful to Ram Prasad Sir who supported me by teaching, guiding and providing different materials needed for the project. I extend my special thanks to Mr. K. Chinappa Reddy, CEO Vizag Cluster, Reliance Communications, Vizag and Mr. Shafi Shaikh, Team Lead (Data & Devices) for selecting me and guiding me throughout this project. I am thankful to all my faculty members for their guidance regarding the subject matter of the training, their explanation regarding different technical terminology related to the topic, which helped me understand the main philosophy of the project. At last, I am thankful to my friends, family for all the direct and indirect support extended to me during the project work.

Rajesh. A 1225110102

MBA 3rd Trimester GITAM Institute of Management

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TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Page No. Introduction 7

USB Description 8

History of USB 9

Reliance USB Net Connect + 9

SECTION 2: METHODOLOGY Importance of the Study 11 Objectives of the Study 11 Scope of Study 12

Research problem 12

Research methodology 12 SECTION 3: ORGANISATION PROFILE Reliance Communication 15

Competiton 16 TATA Photon+ 16

MTS MBlaze 17

3G USB Net Providers 17

SECTION 4: ANALYSIS

Observation and Analysis 19

SECTION 5: FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS & CONCLUSIONS

Findings 24 Limitations 24

Suggestions 24 Conclusions 25

Annexure Questionnaire 27

Bibliography 29

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Section- 1

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

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INTRODUCTION In the globalised world we live in today, the internet offers immense opportunities for people & businesses to grow and prosper. A computer without an internet connection is like a mobile phone without a sim. With technology changing rapidly & increased awareness among consumers, Internet service providers (ISP’s) are increasing infrastructure capacities to offer better speeds and aggressive marketing to provide consumers with different schemes and offers. This study aims to know the customer perception towards the use of Reliance Net Connect devices with respect to its primary competitors, TATA Photon & MTS MBlaze. The objective of this project is to analyse customer tastes & preferences & the customer satisfaction levels of Reliance Net Connect and its competitors in market namely MTS MBlaze & Tata Photon in the CDMA category and IDEA, AIRTEL & BSNL in the 3G GSM Category. My study will be based on the consumer perception about the internet service provided by these companies focussing primarily on the CDMA category. The scope of study is limited to the city of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

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WHAT IS UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS (USB)? In information technology, Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a serial bus standard to connect devices to a host computer. USB was designed to allow many peripherals to be connected using a single standardized interface socket and to improve plug and play capabilities by allowing hot swapping; that is, by allowing devices to be connected and disconnected without rebooting the computer or turning off the device. Other convenient features include providing power to low-consumption devices, eliminating the need for an external power supply; and allowing many devices to be used without requiring manufacturer-specific device drivers to be installed. USB is intended to replace many varieties of serial and parallel ports. USB can connect computer peripherals such as mice, keyboards, PDAs, gamepads and joysticks, scanners, digital cameras, printers, personal media players, flash drives, and external hard drives. For many of those devices, USB has become the standard connection method. USB was designed for personal computers, but it has become commonplace on other devices such as PDAs and video game consoles, and as a power cord between a device and an AC adapter plugged into a wall plug for charging. As of 2008, there are about 2 billion USB devices sold per year, and about 6 billion total sold to date.[1] The design of USB is standardized by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), an industry standards body incorporating leading companies from the computer and electronics industries. Notable members have included Agree (now merged with LSI Corporation), Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Intel, NEC, and Microsoft. USB Universal Serial Bus

Year created: January 1996 Created by: Intel, Compaq, Microsoft, Digital, IBM, Northern Telecom Width in bits: 1 Number of devices: 127 per host controller Capacity 1.5 to 480 Mbit/s (0.2 to 60 MByte/s)

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HISTORY The USB 1.0 specification was introduced in 1994. USB was created by the core group of companies that consisted of Intel, Compaq, Microsoft, Digital, IBM, and Northern Telecom. Intel produced the UHCI host controller and open software stack; Microsoft produced a USB software stack for Windows and co-authored the OHCI host controller specification with National Semiconductor and Compaq; Philips produced early USBAudio;and TI produced the most widely used hub chips. USB was intended to replace the multitude of connectors at the back of PCs, as well as to simplify software configuration of communication devices. The USB 2.0 specification was released in April 2000 and was standardized by the USBIF at the end of 2001. Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Lucent (now LSI Corporation since its merger with Lucent spinoff Agree Systems), Microsoft, NEC, and Philips jointly led the initiative to develop a higher data transfer rate, 480 Mbit/s, than the 1.0 specification of 12 Mbit/s. The USB 3.0 specification was released on November 17, 2008 by the USB 3.0 Promoter Group. It has a transfer rate of up to 10 times faster than the USB 2.0 version and has been dubbed the Super Speed USB. Equipment conforming with any version of the standard will also work with devices designed to any previous specification (a property known as backward compatibility).

Reliance USB Net connector Reliance Netconnect+ Advantage

Wireless broadband for laptops and desktops

SPEED - Download speeds up to 3.1 Mbps and upload speeds up to 1.8 Mbps

MOBILITY – Access Internet anywhere anytime. Simply plug and play

COVERAGE - Connectivity across 24,000 towns and 6 lacs villages, as well as along major highways, railway routes, airport lounges and remote locations in India

The Reliance Net connector is a simple plug and play option for Laptops and Desktops. The wireless broadband recorded the fastest uploads at a speed of up to 1.8 Mbps and download speeds of upto 3.1 Mbps. Further the Indian telecom major offers a seamless network across 24000 towns and 4.5 lakh villages.

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SECTION 2

METHODOLOGY

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IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

• This type of study helps organization to differentiate between realistic & unrealistic customer expectations.

• It helps the organization to delight the customer. • This study helps determine the factors responsible for increase in

customer expectations. • It helps the organization to know what customers expect actually. • It helps the organization to set benchmarks & standards. • It may help the organization to deliver the desired level of service • It helps the organization to set the quality control goals. • It helps avoid vague or undefined service designs.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This research is conducting for knowing the customer perceived satisfaction towards the service quality of Reliance Netconnect +. Reliance was the first Telecom Company in India to start this service. It presently enjoys a significant market share owing to the Early Mover Advantage. So with the help of Gap Model the emphasis on the research is to know the gap of perceived Service Quality and the actual Service Quality of the Reliance Netconnect+. The objective of this research may be as follows:-

• To know whether customer is satisfied by the service quality of Reliance Netconnect+.

• To know whether Reliance Netconnect+ service quality is up to the mark according to the industry standards.

• To know the gap between perceived customer satisfaction and the customer expectations towards the service quality of Reliance Netconnect+.

• To search the factors that will help Reliance Netconnect+ exceed customer expectations.

• To know how Reliance Netconnect+ may reach or exceed customer expectations.

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SCOPE OF STUDY The scope of this study is limited to the geographical area of the city of Visakhapatnam and includes suburbs of Visakhapatnam like Gajuwaka & Gopalapatnam.

RESEARCH PROBLEM The research problem is a crucial part of any Research activity. It is often said that if the nature of the problem is clear, half the problem is solved. The main problem in this type of study is that it is a tough task to accurately measure the gap between customer expectations and the services of Reliance Netconnect+ across a country as large as India. The quality of service often varies from circle to circle Therefore it becomes difficult to ascertain the exact zone of tolerance.

• Not knowing what customers expect actually. • It is hard to convince the customers to give fair response. • It is tough to measure the exact customer satisfaction levels. • Few customers may have expectations that may be either higher or lower

than the standards set by the organization or Industry standards.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY USED IN THE STUDY

Research methodology is a description, explanation and justification of various methods of conducting research. TYPE OF RESEARCH USED IN THE STUDY CONSUMER RESEARCH Consumer research is a unique subset of marketing research, which merits the utilization of specialized research methods that collect customer data and also enhances the company’s relationship with its customers. Really, marketing research comprises a form of applied sociological study, which concentrates on understanding the behaviours, whims and preferences, mainly current and future, of consumers in a market based economy.

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SAMPLING The sampling plan for the study decides the work area that is the population, which has to be surveyed. A Brief idea about the sampling for this research consisting of its different parameters is given below: TYPE OF SAMPLING METHODS USED IN THE STUDY JUDEGEMENTAL SAMPLING In this type of the sampling the researcher uses his judgment to select population members who are good source for accurate information. SAMPLING UNIVERSE This study is conducted in Visakhapatnam and suburban areas. So it will be true for Visakahapatnam region as follows. SAMPLE SIZE In this study the sample size is of 100 people due to time constraint METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION The research was carried out through survey method with the help of a QUESTIONNAIRE consisting of close ended question. Due to its flexibility, questionnaire method is ideally suited for collection of primary data.

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SECTION 3

ORGANISATION PROFILE

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RELIANCE COMMUNICATIONS

Reliance – Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, an offshoot of the Reliance Group founded by Shri Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002), ranks among India’s top three private sector business houses in terms of net worth. The group has business interests that range from telecommunications (Reliance Communications Limited) to financial services (Reliance Capital Ltd) and the generation and distribution of power (Reliance Infrastructure Limited).

Reliance – ADA Group’s flagship company, Reliance Communications, is India's largest private sector information and Communications Company, with over 100 million subscribers. It has established a pan-India, high-capacity, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network, to offer services spanning the entire infocomm value chain.

VISION By 2015, be amongst the top 3 most valued Indian companies,providing Information,

Communication & Entertainment services, and being the industry benchmark in Customer Experience, Employee Centricity and Innovation. MISSION

RCOM will create world-class benchmarks by:

• Meeting and exceeding Customer expectations with a segmented approach.

• Establishing, re-engineering and automating Processes to make them customer centric, efficient and effective.

• Incessant offering of Products and Services that are value for money and excite customers.

• Providing a Network experience that is best in the industry.

• Building Reliance into an iconic Brand which is benchmarked by others and leads industry in Intention to Purchase and Loyalty

• Developing a professional Leadership team that inspires, nurtures talent and propagates RCOM Values by personal example

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COMPETITORS PROFILE Reliance communications faces competition in the CDMA Internet Providers category from TATA Photon+ and MTS MBlaze.

TATA TELESERVICES LTD Tata Teleservices Limited spearheads the Tata Group’s presence in the telecom sector. The Tata Group includes over 90 companies, over 350,000 employees worldwide and more than 3.5 million shareholders. Incorporated in 1996, Tata Teleservices is the pioneer of the CDMA 1x technology platform in India. It has embarked on a growth path since the acquisition of Hughes Tele.com (India) Ltd [renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] by the Tata Group in 2002. It launched mobile operations in January 2005 under the brand name Tata Indicom and today enjoys a pan-India presence through existing operations in all of India’s 22 telecom Circles. The company is also the market leader in the fixed wireless telephony market. The company’s network has been rated as the ‘Least Congested’ in India for six consecutive quarters by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India through independent surveys. The Tata Teleservices Limited bouquet comprises four other brands as well—Virgin Mobile, Walky (which is the brand for fixed wireless phones), the Photon family (the company’s brand that provides a variety of options for wireless mobile broadband access, and T24. Today, Tata Teleservices Ltd, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd, serves over 84 million customers in more than 450,000 towns and villages across the country, with a bouquet of telephony services encompassing Mobile Services, Wireless Desktop Phones, Public Booth Telephony and Wireline Services and enterprise solutions.

SISTEMA SHYAM TELESERVICES (MTS)

Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL) is the fastest growing telecom company in the competitive Indian market, with over 11 million voice subscribers and over 7 lakh mobile broadband customers. SSTL has tied up with Mobile TeleSystems OJSC, a JSFC Sistema company of Russia, to bring the globally acclaimed telecom brand – “MTS” to India.

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Millward Brown in its 2011 report on Most Valuable Global Brands has ranked MTS 80th with a brand value of $10.9 billion.

Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (SSTL) is a joint venture between Sistema {LSE: SSA} of Russia, the Russian Federation and the Shyam Group of India. The Russian Federation holds a 17.14% stake in the company. Sistema is the majority shareholder with a 56.68% stake, Shyam Group holding a 23.98% stake and the remaining 2.2% being held by the public.

• MTS, the mobile telecom service brand of SSTL, has over 11 million customers’ in India.

• MBlaze, the high-speed mobile broadband service, launched in November 2009 has clocked over 700,000 satisfied mobile broadband customers in a very short span of time.

• SSTL was the FIRST telecom company in India to launch mobile broadband internet services with speeds up to 3.1 Mbps in the state of Jharkhand in April 2010.

OTHER COMPETITORS Apart from MTS & TATA several GSM companies are now launching USB Internet Devices using the 3G technology. IDEA, Airtel & Vodafone are some private competitors, while BSNL remains a dominant Government affiliated Service Provider.

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SECTION 4

ANALYSIS

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OBSERVATION

1. Which broad band net connector are you using.? Consumer Response Frequency In Percentage (%) Reliance Netconnect+ 40 40 TATA Photon + 50 50 MTS MBlaze 7 7 Others 3 3

INFERENCE: Among the 100 sample size considered for the survey, the above data indicates that TATA Photon+ enjoys the maximum no. of users. The data considered was for those subscribers who had an active USB based net connector for a minimum period of 4 months. 2. Is your broad band net connector giving you fast access? Consumer Response Frequency In Percentage (%) Yes 30 30 No 60 60 Sometimes 10 10

40

50

7

3

Market Share

Reliance Netconnect+

TATA photon+

MTS Mblaze

Others

30

60

10

Access Speed

Yes

No

Sometimes

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3. Are you satisfied with your Present Service provider? Consumer Response Frequency In Percentage (%) Yes 43 43 No 54 54 Partly 3 3

INFERENCE: As the Chart above indicates most Service provider companies faced the problem of dissatisfied subscribers. The following chart is perhaps an indicator for the reasons behind subscribers not being satisfied. USB based net connectors are yet to match their wired counterparts in terms of both speed & tariff. 4. What are the important features you look for in a Net Connector? Consumer Response Frequency In Percentage (%) High Speed 72 72 Economic tariff 25 25 Ease of Use 3 3

0

10

20

30

Reliance Netconnect+

Tata Photon+ MTS Mblaze Others

Satisfied

Not satisfied

72

3

25

Determinants to buy

Speed

Ease of use

Economy

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INFERENCE: 72% of all respondents said speed is a primary determinant to buy a USB Net Connector. 5. Is there any difficulty faced while using broad band net connector? Consumer Response Frequency In Percentage (%) Yes 27 27 No 45 45 Partially 28 28 6. Is net connector successful in the Rural Areas? Consumer Response Frequency In Percentage (%) Yes 21 21 No 45 45 Partially 34 34

INFERENCE: Most of the participants in the survey are urban dwellers. As such t E efficiency of USB based Net connectors in rural areas remains an untested area. Reliance has good network coverage but MTS and several others have no coverage outside urban centres. 7. Do you think Land Line based broad band schemes are more economic? Consumer Response Frequency In Percentage (%) Yes 77 77 No 23 23 Partially 0 0

21

45

34

Rural Area Efficiency

Yes

No

Partially

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INFERENCE: 77% of all users perceive that USB net connectors are more expensive to buy and cost more per month than a fixed wire landline based internet connection. As per market tariff rates as on 1.06.2011 this perception is found to be true is almost all cases. 8. Do you think that use of the broad band net connector improves your work efficiency? Consumer Response Frequency In Percentage (%) Yes 81 81 No 3 3 Partially 16 16

INFERENCE: 815 of all respondents believe that a USB based net connector offers greater mobility leading t better work efficiency. Its utility value is clearly established. Hence the data reveals that as a product the USB net connector offers great potential and opportunity to the telecom companies in future.

Economy

YES

NO

PARTIALLY

81

3 16

Work Efficiency

Yes

No

Partially

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SECTION 5

FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS & CONCLUSIONS

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FINDINGS

• Reliance Communications, has lost the early mover advantage losing its market leader status to TATA Photon+

• 72% of all respondents said speed is a primary determinant to buy a USB Net

Connector

• 60% of respondents were not satisfied with the speeds of their USB Net Connectors.

• 54% of respondents expressed a desire to shift to another Service Provider

LIMITATIONS

• It depends on the customer willingness to give good and fair response. • Results of this study and findings are applicable only for Visakhapatnam

city and nearby areas. The results may be different in other parts of India. • The sample size considered was 100 owing to Time constraints;the

results were extrapolated. • Absence of professional researchers was another limitation of the study.

SUGGESTIONS

• Reliance Communications should focus on emerging markets especially in rural areas where its infrastructure gives it an edge over others.

• Focus on marketing & awareness programmes to show the utility value of

a USB Net Connector for first time buyers

• Focussing on existing wired Broadband customers especially business people to show the utility value of USB net Connector as an additional device to be used while travelling.

• Trying to achieve Economies of scale to bring tariff rates down further to

be more competitive.

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• Reliance should try to expand its prepaid user base by poaching subscribers from TATA, MTS by offering better tariffs and schemes as this is a intensely

• competitive area.

• To ensure product differentiaton by adopting unique designs, colours and features like memory card slots, wi-fi routers etc to target specific segments of markets like youth, office goers, business men etc.

• Offer additional roaming benefits especially international roaming

features for business travellers.

CONCLUSION In terms of Product differentiation there is very marginal difference between Reliance Netconnect+ and its competition. The speeds are not comparable to the speeds of fixed landline based broadband providers. However Reliance Communication has several advantages over its competitors

• Ready availability of Infrastructure • Capital Infusion capacity • Strong Pan-India presence of distribution channels

The competition from 3G based service providers is negligible today but it will increase in future. The need of the hour is to bring down prices, increase speeds and provide qualitative features like designs, colours etc in the USB Dongles that will ensure product differentiation and diversification which will be the major success determinants in future.

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ANNEXURE

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QUESTIONNAIRE

This questionnaire is prepared to study the project titled “The comparative study of the consumer satisfaction towards broad band services provided by Reliance and Tata Indicom U.S.B. net connector” as a compulsory part of M.B.A. program. NAME:-……………………………………………………. AGE :- ……………………………………………………... GENDER :- ……………………………………………….. CONTACT No :- …………………………………………………………. 1. Which broad band net connector are you using.? (a) Reliance Netconnect (b) Tata Indicom Photon. (c) MTS MBlaze (d) Other: 2. Is your broad band net connector giving you fast access? (a) Yes (b) No (c) Some times 3. Are you satisfied with your Present Service provider? (d) Yes (e) No (f) Partly 4. What are the important features you look for in a Net Connector? (a) High speed. (b) Economic Tariff (c) Ease of Use 5. Is there any difficulty faced while using broad band net connector.? (a) Yes (b) No (c) Partially 6. Is net connector successful in the Rural Areas.? (a)Yes (b)No (c)Partially

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7. Do you think Land Line based broad band schemes are more economic? (a)Yes (b)No (c)Partially 8. Do you think that use of the broad band net connector improves your work efficiency? (a)Yes (b)No (c)Partially 9. Do you have any suggestion for the improving service quality of net connector? ○ ……………………………………………………………………………… ○ ……………………………………………………………………………… ○ ……………………………………………………………………………… ○ ……………………………………………………………………………

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Online resources

• www.wikipedia.com • http://reliancenetconnect.co.in • http://www.tataphoton.com/ • http://www.mtsindia.in

2. Marketing management – Philip Kotler

3. Research methodology – C.R. Kothari

4. Strategic management & Business Policy – Prof. K. Siva Rama Krishna