INDIRA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, PUNE

Project on

TELECOM SECTOR By B3 MBA-I (2010-12)

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GROUP B

MEMBER NAME AND THE R GRADE

SR.NO

NAME OF STUDENT

GRADES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Swapnil Mahajan Mayur Doshi Manish Kalgapurkar Sameer Hashmi Rakesh Jawale Ankush Kale Shrikant Maliwal Amruta Joshi Neha Sinha Rupali Bhure Quazi Nilesh Karle Nishkarsh Jaiswal Nikhil Katkhede Ajay Patahrudkar

A A A A A A A A A A A A A A B

Acknowledgement
If words are considered to be signs of gratitude then let these words convey the very same our sincere gratitude to Virgin Mobile India for giving necessary directions on doing this project to the best of our abilities.

We are highly indebted to Mr. Apurva Jain Astt. Manager who provided us with the necessary information and also for the support extended out to us in the completion of this report and his valuable suggestion and comments on bringing out this report in the best way possible.

We also thank Mrs. Madhavi Damle, Sr Lecturer, Indira Institute of Management, who has sincerely supportedus with the valuable insights into the completion of this project. We are grateful to all faculty members of IIMP and our seniors who have helped us in the successful completion of this project.

INDEX
Sr.No

Content
Macro analysis
Introduction to Telecommunication Government Policies Market structure Top companies in the World and India Current Trends And Technologies Recent Mergers and Acquisitions Related terms

Page No. 5 7 14 17 19 25 28 30 31 32 33 34 38 39 41 43 44 45 46 47 48

A)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 B) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Micro analysis
Virgin Company History Organizational Structure SWOT Analysis Financial Analysis 7 Ps of Virgin Mobile HR Policies Differentiation Strategy CSR Activities Awards And Significant Events Career Opportunities in Telecom Sector Career Opportunities in Virgin Mobile Questionnaire Conclusion And Suggestions Bibliography

INTRODUCTION TO TELECOMMUNICATION
The word telecommunication is derived from tele + communication (tele to or at a distance) meaning communicating over distance. Humans are social people and need to communicate with others. Since ancient times people were to trying to find out a ways to communicate with each over a distance. Some of the methods used for communication in history are Prehistoric: Fires, Beacons, Smoke signals 6th century BC: Mail 5th century BC: Pigeon post First attempt to build a commercial telecommunication system was made in 18 century in 1793 The Chappe brothers established the first commercial semaphore system between two locations near Paris.In seventeenth century attempts were made to develop electronic telecommunication systems. Industrial revolution along with scientific progress resulted in series of technological discoveries in electronic telecommunication. The timeline of these discoveries is as below 1843 - FAX invented by the Scotch physicist Alexander Bain. 1844 - Samuel Morse demonstrates the electric telegraph. 1866 - Permanent communication is established by wire from the United States to Europe with the completion of the second Atlantic telegraph cable. 1870 - Thomas Edison invents multiplex telegraphy. 1876 - Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone. 1876 - Edison invents the electric motor and the phonograph. 1877 - Western Union has first telephone line in operation between Boston. 1878 - First telephone directory, New Haven, CT, and had 21 listings. 1880 - American Bell founded. Bell spoke over a 1300-ft beam of light using his patented Photophone equipment.
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Somerville, MA and

1892 - Amon Strowger developed the dial telephone system to get the operator out of the system. 1907 - States start to regulate telecommunication firms. Mississippi was among the first. 1935 - First telephone call around the world was made. 1964- Fiber optical telecommunications started 1981- Analog cellular mobile phones come in existance 1983- Internet started. 1998- Satellite phones In India telephones were introduced in nineteenth century by british. Following are the important land marks in the history of Indian telecommunication sector.
y

1851 First operational land lines were laid by the government near Calcutta (seat of British power)

y y y y

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.1997Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created.

1999 Cellular Services are launched in India, New National Telecom Policy is adopted.

y 2000 DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL

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GOVERNMENT POLICIES

Liberalization
The process of liberalization in the country began with the announcement of the New Economic Policy in July 1991. Telecom equipment manufacturing was delicensed in 1991 and value added services were declared open to the private sector in 1992, following which radio paging, cellular mobile and other value added services were opened gradually to the private sector.

National Telecom Policy 1994

In 1994, the Government announced the National Telecom Policy which defined certain important objectives, including availability of telephone on demand, provision of world class services at reasonable prices, improving Indias competitiveness in global market and promoting exports, attractive FDI and stimulating domestic investment, ensuring Indias emergence as major manufacturing / export base of telecom equipment and universal availability of basic telecom services to all villages.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

TRAI was, thus, established from 20th February 1997 by an Act, called the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997, to regulate telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central Government. TRAIs mission is to create and nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications in the country in manner and at a pace, which will enable India to play a leading role in emerging global information society. One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment, which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition. In pursuance of above objective TRAI has issued from time to time a large number of regulations, orders and
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directives to deal with issues coming before it and provided the required direction to the evolution of Indian telecom market from a Government owned monopoly to a multi operator multi service open competitive market. The directions, orders and regulations issued cover a wide range of subjects including tariff, interconnection and quality of service as well as governance of the Authority.

Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)

The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000, establishing a TDSAT to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI. TDSAT was set up to adjudicate any dispute between a licensor and a licensee, between two or more service providers, between a service provider and a group of consumers, and to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction, decision or order of TRAI.

New Telecom Policy 1999

The New Telecom Policy, 1999 (NTP-99) was approved on 26th March 1999, to become effective from 1st April 1999. NTP-99 laid down a clear roadmap for future reforms, contemplating the opening up of all the segments of the telecom sector for private sector participation. Key features of the NTP 99 include:
y y y y

Strengthening of Regulator. National long distance services opened to private operators. International Long Distance Services opened to private sectors. Private telecom operators licensed on a revenue sharing basis, plus a one-time entry fee. Resolution of problems of existing operators envisaged.

Direct interconnectivity and sharing of network with other telecom operators within the service area was permitted.

y y

Department of Telecommunication Services (DTS) corporatised in 2000. Spectrum Management made transparent and more efficient.

All the commitments made under NTP 99 have been fulfilled; each one of them, in letter and spirit, some even ahead of schedule, and the reform process is now complete with all the sectors in telecommunications opened for private competition.

National Long Distance

National Long Distance opened for private participation. The Government announced on 13.08.2000 the guidelines for entry of private sector in National Long Distance Services without any restriction on the number of operators. The DOT guidelines of license for the National Long Distance operations were also issued.

International Long Distance

In the field of international telephony, India had agreed under the GATS to review its opening up in 2004. However, open competition in this sector was allowed with effect from April 2002 itself. There is now no limit on the number of service providers in this sector.

Universal Service Obligation Fund

Universal Service Obligation Fund was created on April 1, 2002.Subsequently, the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003 giving statutory status to the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) was passed by Parliament in December 2003. The Fund is to be utilized exclusively for meeting the Universal Service Obligation and the balance to the credit of the Fund will not lapse at the end of the financial year.

Unified Access Services

Unified access license regime was introduced in November2003. Unified Access Services operators are free to provide, within their area of operation, services, which cover collection, carriage, transmission and delivery of voice and/or non-voice messages over Licensees network by deploying circuit, and/or packet switched equipment.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Internet service was opened for private participation in. The Government in the public interest in general, and consumer interest in particular, and for proper conduct of telegraph and telecom services has decided to issue the new guidelinesfor grant of licence of Internet services on non-exclusive basis. Any Indian company with a maximum foreign equity of 74% is eligible for grant of licence.

Broadband Policy 2004

Recognizing the potential of ubiquitous Broadband service in growth of GDP and enhancement in quality of life through societal applications including tele-education, telemedicine, e-governance, entertainment as well as employment generation by way of highspeed access to information and web based communication; Government has announced Broadband Policy in October 2004. The main emphasis is on the creation of infrastructure through various technologies that can contribute to the growth of broadband services. These technologies include optical fibre, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines (ADSL), cable TV network; DTH etc. Broadband connectivity has been defined as Always On with the minimum speed of 256 kbps.

Investment Opportunities and Incentives

y

No industrial license required for setting up manufacturing units for telecom equipment.

100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is allowed through automatic route for manufacturing of telecom equipments.

Payments for royalty, lumpsum fee for transfer of technology and payments for use of trademark/brand name on the automatic route.

Foreign equity of 74% (49 % under automatic route) permitted for telecom services basic, cellular mobile, paging, value added services, NLD, ILD, ISPs - and global mobile personal communications by satellite.

y Full repatriability of dividend income and capital invested in the telecom sector.

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3G & Broadband Wireless Services (BWA)

The government has in a pioneering decision, decided to auction 3G & BWA spectrum. The broad policy guidelines for 3G & BWA had been issued on 1stAugust 2008 and allotment of spectrum has been planned through simultaneously ascending e -auction process by a specialized agency. New players would also be able to bid thus leading to technology innovation, more competition, faster roll out and ultimately greater choice for customers at competitive tariffs. The 3G will allow telecom companies to offer additional value added services such as high resolution video and multi media services in addition to voice, fax and conventional data services with high data rate transmission capabilities. BWA will become a predominant platform for broadband roll out services. It is also an effective tool for undertaking social initiatives of the Government such as e-education, telemedicine, ehealth and e-Governance. Providing affordable broadband, especially to the suburban and rural communities is the next focus area of the Department. BSNL & MTNL have already been allotted 3G & BWA spectrum with a view to ensuring early roll out of 3G & WiMax services in the country. They will pay the same price for the spectrum as discovered through the auction. While, Honble Prime Minister launched the MTNLs 3G mobile services on the inaugural function of India Telecom 2008 held on 11th December 2008, BSNL launched its countrywide 3G services from Chennai, in the southern Tamil Nadu state on 22nd February 2009.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) allows subscribers to retain their existing telephone number when they switch from one access service provider to another irrespective of mobile technology or from one technology to another of the same or any other access service provider. The Government has announced the guidelines for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Service Licence in the country on 1st August 2008 and has issued a separate Licence for MNP service w.e.f. 20.03.2009. The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has already issued licences to two global companies (M/s Syniverse Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and M/s MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.) for implementing the service. MNP is to be implemented in whole country in one go by 31.10.2010

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Targets Set By the Government

1. Network expansion
y

800 million connections by the year 2012.

2. Rural telephony
y y

200 million rural subscribers by 2012 Reduce urban-rural digital divide from present 25:1 to 5:1 by 2010.

3. Broadband
y y y

20 million Broadband connections by 2010 Broadband with minimum speed of 1 mbps. Broadband coverage for all secondary & higher secondary schools and public health care centres by the end of year 2010.

y y

Broadband coverage for all Grampanchayats by the year 2010 Broadband on demand is every village by 2012

4. Manufacturing
y

Making India a hub for telecom manufacturing by facilitating more and more telecom specific SEZs.

y y

Quadrupling production in 2010. Achieving exports of 10 billion during 11 th Five year plan.

5. Research & Development

y y y

Pre-eminence of India as a technology solution provider. Comprehensive security infrastructure for telecom network. Tested infrastructure for enabling interoperability in Next Generation Network.

8. International Bandwidth
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Facilitating availability of adequate international bandwidth at competitive prices to drive ITES sector at faster growth.

Policy Initiatives
The government has taken many proactive initiatives to facilitate the rapid growth of the Indian telecom industry.
y

100% foreign direct investment (FDI) is permitted through the automatic route in telecom equipment manufacturing

y y

FDI ceiling in telecom services has been raised to 74% Introduction of a unified access licensing regime for telecom services on a pan -India basis

y y

Plan to introduce mobile number portability in a phased manner The government is implementing a program of connecting 66,822 uncovered villages under the Bharat Nirman programme. The government will invest US$ 2 billion to set up 112,000 community service centres in rural India to provide broadband

connectivity in 2008-09.

Regulations governing telecom sector in India

The Indian telecommunications system continues to be governed by the provisions of following acts under these acts, the government was in-charge of policymaking and provision of services A. The Indian telegraph act, 1885 B. The Indian wireless telegraphy act, 1933 and C. The telecom regulatory authority of India act, 1997 Substantial changes have taken place in the telecommunications sector since 1992. ITA 1885 needs to be replaced with a more forward looking act.

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MARKET STRUCTURE
India is the fourth largest telecom market in Asia after China, Japan and South Korea. The Indian telecom network is the eighth largest in the world and the second largest among emerging economies. At current levels, telecom intensiveness of Indian economy measured as the ratio of telecom revenues to GDP is 2.1 percent as compared with over 2.8 percent in developed economies. Historically, the telecom network in India was owned and managed by the Government considering it to be a natural monopoly and strategic service, best under state's control. However, it has been suggested that privatization with competition works better than privatization without competition. In 1990's, examples of telecom revolution in many other countries, which resulted in better quality of service and lower tariffs, led Indian policy makers to initiate a change process finally resulting in opening up of telecom services sector for the private sector. The table below shows how rapidly Indian Telecom market is growing with more and more people going for mobile.
No. of lines in 1995

Country

Ranks (1995)

No. of lines in 2001

Ranks (2001)

(000) 159,735.2 62,292.0 42,000.0 40,705.7 32,400 29,411.4 25,018.9 24,845.0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

(000) 190,000.0 76,000.0 52,280.0 179,034.0 34,032.9 34,710.0 35,700.0 27,303.0 1 3 4 2 9 8 6 10

USA Japan Germany China France UK Russia Italy

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Korea, Rep. Canada Spain Brazil Turkey India

18,600.0 17,567.0 15,095.4 13,263.0 13,215.7 11,978.0

9 10 11 12 13 14

22,724.7 20,319.3 17,427.0 37,430.8 18,900.9 34,732.1

11 12 14 5 13 7

Source: World Telecommunication Development Report 2002, ITU If these stats are to be believed, by 2020, mobile would join food, clothing, shelter and education as the basic needs of man. India in 2020 will see competition among big firms offering innovative value-added services to capture market through creation of new digital needs and priorities. Regulatory environment will mature to allow maximum flexibility and freedoms to encourage innovation and expansion, consistent with this process of evolution.

Telecom Subscriber addition Company Wise distribution

The growth in subscribers was quite even in December as compared to previous months,even though Tata is still leading snapping close to 17.46% . Reliance Bharti and Vodafone were
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all between 14% to 15% range. Uninor, the new entrant has started making some headway in this Indian telecom market with 6.32% share of subscribers

The figure below shows the state wise distribution of subscribers.

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TOP 5 companies in the World

Rank
1 2 3 4 5

Operator
China Mobile Vodafone Group China Unicorn Telefonica America Movil

Subscribers (in millions)

532.9 333 284 264 201

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4. Top 10 companies in India

Rank
1 2 3 4

Operator
BhartiAirtel Reliance Communications Vodafone Essar Tata Indicom, Virgin Mobile India, Tata DoCoMo

Subscribers (in millions)

139.75 109.15 109.06 71.39

5 6 7 8 9 10

Idea Cellular BSNL Aircel Uninor MTNL MTS India

68.88 66.88 41.67 6.02 4.90 4.67

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CURRENT TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES

IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)
It 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, Wireline 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 Some of the possible applications where IMS can be used are:
y y y y y y y y y

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

High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)

It is a packet based technology for W-CDMA downlink with data transmission rates of 4 to 5 times that of current generation 3G networks (UMTS) and 15 times faster than GPRS. The latest release boosts downlink speeds from the current end-user rate of 384 kbps (up to 2 Mbps according to standards) to a maximum value according to standards of 14.4 Mbps. Real life end-user speeds will be in the range of 2 to 3 Mbps. HSDPA provides a smooth evolutionary path for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks to higher data rates and higher capacities, in the same way as Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) does in the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) world, using Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) or
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other antenna array techniques, and possibly asymmetric allocation of frequency spectrum in multi-carrier cells (e.g. a further 100% downlink packet session throughput increase by allocating an additional 5 MHz unpaired band).

HSDPA achieves its performance gains from the following radio features:

High speed channels shared both in the code and time domains Adaptive modulation and coding schemes: Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) and 16QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation). Hybrid Automatic Repeat request (HARQ) retransmission protocol. Short transmission time interval (TTI) Fast packet scheduling controlled by the Medium Access Control - high speed (MAC-hs) protocol in Node B. Fast scheduling

Mobile TV
It is the latest technology where the TV services are streamed on to the mobile or hand-held devices. There is lot of momentum in the area, even if there are a few commercial products so far. Already, many mobile operators offer a selection of television channels or individual shows, which are streamed across their third-generation (3G) networks. At the moment, mobile TV is mostly streamed over 3G networks. There are three main standards: DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handhelds) , favored in Europe; DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), which has been adopted in South Korea and Japan; and Media FLO , which is being rolled out in America. Watching TV using any of these technologies requires a TV capable handset, of course. Among the three technologies, DVB-H was officially adopted by ETSI (the European Telecommunications Standards Institute) as the standard for mobile TV services in Europe. Just as there are several competing mobile- TV technologies, there are also many possible business models. Mobile operators might choose to build their own mobile- TV broadcast networks; or they could form a consortium and build a shared network; or existing broadcasters could build such networks. Some channels will be given away for free, while others will be for paying subscribers only. The outcome will vary from country to country,
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depending on the regulatory environment and the availability of spectrum. In Italy, 3 bought Canale 7 to get its hands on its spectrum and its broadcaster's license; in Britain, Finland and America, the scarcity of spectrum makes shared networks most likely. DVB H is a terrestrial digital TV standard that uses less power in receiving client than DVBT (DVB Terrestrial), and allows the receiving device to move freely while receiving the transmission, thus making it ideal for mobile phones and handheld computers to receive digital TV broadcasting over the digiTV network (without using mobile phone networks at all) . Benefits of DVB-H: An approved standard for handheld equipment by ETSI (European Telecommunications Institute) with a high adoption rate worldwide DVB-H is an open industry standard that was developed by the DVB Project , an industry consortium and is currently being supported by leading companies throughout the wireless industry. It benefits from existing DVB-T infrastructure components, which reduces initial investments in many cases It provides the best user experience in the mobile environment, with an energy saving handset that is only on 10% of the time, program guide, soft handover and in-building coverage It offers an excellent, broadcast-quality picture, because the screen resolution is of a similar standard to VHS Battery consumption is reduced by 90% due to time-slicing technology DVB-H comes from the proven DVB standard used in Europe for standard DTV transmission with a low power mode for battery-powered devices. Efficient use of bandwidth enables up to 55 mobile channels plus scalability

Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)

It is a GSM phenomenon where an operator or company which does not own a licensed spectrum and generally without own networking infrastructure. Instead MVNOs resell wireless services under their brand name, using regular telecom operator's network

with which they have a business arrangements. Usually they buy minutes of use from the
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licensed telecom operator and then resell minutes of usage to their customers of MVNO. Slowly MVNO phenomenon is catching up in Asia and other parts of the world. An example for MVNO is Virgin Mobile. The company was the world's first Mobile Virtual Network Operator, launched in the UK in 1999. It does not maintain its own network, and instead has contracts to use the existing network(s) of other providers. In the UK, Virgin Mobile uses the T-Mobile network. In the US, the Sprint network is the carrier. In Australia, Virgin Mobile operates on the Optus network. In Canada, it uses the Bell Mobility network. These networks use different technology (GSM in the UK and Australia and CDMA in the US and Canada). In India company uses Tatas CDMA network to offer its services under the brand name Virgin Mobile. MVNO's have full control over the SIM card, branding, marketing, billing, and customer care operations. While sometimes offering operational support systems and business support systems to support the MVNO, the incumbent mobile operators most often keep their own OSS/BSS processes and procedures separate and distinct from those of the MVNO. MVNO Services

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)

It is a new suite of standard protocols for the network layer of the Internet defined by IETF to replace the current version of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). IPv6 is also called as Next Generation Internet Protocol or IPng. IPv6 is designed to be an evolutionary step from IPv4. It is a natural increment to IPv4. It can be installed as a normal software upgrade in internet devices and is interoperable with the current IPv4. Its deployment strategy is designed to not have any flag days or other dependencies. IPv6 is designed to run well on high performance networks (e.g. Gigabit Ethernet, OC-12, ATM, etc.) and at the same time still be efficient for low bandwidth networks (e.g. wireless). In addition, it provides a platform for new internet functionality that will be required in the near future. Mobile IPv6 Mobile IPv6 allows an IPv6 node to be mobile - to arbitrarily change its location on an IPv6 network - and still maintain existing connections. When an IPv6 node changes its location, it might also change its link. When an IPv6 node changes its link, its IPv6 address might also change in order to maintain connectivity. There are mechanisms to allow for the change in addresses when moving to a different link, such as stateful and stateless address auto
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configuration for IPv6. The key benefit of Mobile IPv6 is that even though the mobile node changes locations and addresses, the existing connections through which the mobile node is communicating are maintained.

4G or Fourth Generation
It 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. 4G deployments are expected to be seen around 2010 to 2015. 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, and handhelds) 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. NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced that high-speed packet transmission with 1 Gbps data rate in the downlink was achieved successfully in a laboratory experiment using fourthgeneration (4G) mobile communication radio access equipments.

The key enablers for the 4G are: Sufficient spectrum, with associated sharing mechanisms. Coverage with two technologies: parent (2G, 3G, WiMAX) for real-time delivery, and discontinuous pico cell for high data rate delivery.
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Caching technology in the network and terminals. OFDM and MIMO. IP mobility. Multi-technology distributed architecture. Fixed-mobile convergence (for indoor service). Network selection mechanisms.

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MERGERS AND ACQUISATIONS

The number of mergers and acquisitions in Telecom Sector has been increasing significantly. Telecommunications industry is one of the most profitable and rapidly developing industries in the world and it is regarded as an indispensable component of the worldwide utility and services sector. Telecommunication industry deals with various forms of communication mediums. Currently, a slew of mergers and acquisitions in Telecom Sector are going on throughout the world. The aim behind such mergers is to attain competitive benefits in the telecommunications industry. The mergers and acquisitions in Telecom Sector are regarded as horizontal mergers simply because of the reason that the entities going for merger or acquisition are operating in the same industry, which is telecommunications industry. In the majority of the developed and developing countries around the world, mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications sector have become a necessity. This kind of mergers also assists in creation of jobs. Both transnational and domestic telecommunications services providers are keen to try merger and acquisition options because this will help them in many ways. They can cut down on their expenses, achieve greater market share and accomplish market control. Mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications sector have been showing a prosperous trend in the recent past and the economists are advocating that they will continue to do so. The majority of telecommunication services providers have understood that in order to grow globally, strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions are the principal devices. Private sector investment and FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) have also boosted the growth of mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications sector. Over the last few years, a phenomenal growth has been witnessed in the number of mergers and acquisitions taking place in the telecommunications industry. The reasons behind this development include the following:
y y y

Deregulation Introduction of sophisticated technologies (Wireless land phone services) Innovative products and services (Internet, broadband and cable services)
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Economic reforms have spurred the growth in the mergers and acquisitions industry of the telecommunications sector to a satisfactory level. Mergers and acquisitions in Telecom Sector can also have some negative effects, which include monopolization of the telecommunication products and services, unemployment and others. However, the governments of various countries take appropriate steps to curb these problems. In countries like India, mergers and acquisitions have increased to a considerable level from the mid 1990s. In the United States, the mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications sector are going on in a full-fledged manner. The mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications sector are governed or supervised by the regulatory authority of the telecommunication industry of a particular country, for instance the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI. The regulatory authorities always keep a tab on the telecommunications industry so that no monopoly is formed.

Significant Mergers and Acquisitions in Telecom Sector

Following are the important mergers and acquisitions that took place in the telecommunications sector:
y

The takeover of Mobilink Telecom by Broadcom. This can also be described as a suitable example of product extension merger

y y y

AT&T Inc. taking over BellSouth The acquisition of eScription Inc. by Nuance Communications Inc. The taking over of Hutchison Essar by the Vodafone Group. Now it has become Vodafone Essar Limited

China Communications Services Corporation Ltd. taking over China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation

The acquisition of Ameritech Corporation by SBC (Southwestern Bell Corporation) Communications

y y y

The merger of GTE (General Telephone and Electronics) with Bell Atlantic The acquisition of US West by Qwest Communications The merger of MCI Communications Corporation with WorldCom
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Acquisition of majority stake by Bharti Airtel of Kuwait based ZAIN Telecoms African assets for a whooping $10.7 bn USD.

y y y

Airtels takeover of JT Mobile in Karnataka in 1999, Spice Cell in Kolkata in 2001 and Hexacom in 2004 Norway-based Telenor picked up a 74 per cent stake in the telecom company promoted by property developer Unitech, and the firm was renamed Unitech Wireless.

Bharti bought a 70 per cent stake in Bangladeshs fourth-largest operator Warid Telecom for $300 million.

IDEA Cellular Ltd. Acquired the entire share capital of Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd. 2007.

Hutchinson Essar promoted by the diversified Essar group of Ruias was acquired by Vodafone in 2008.

y In 2004 Reliance acquired Flag Telecom for Rs.950 cr./-. Benefits Provided by the Mergers andAcquisitionsin the Telecommunications Sector:y y y y y y

Building of infrastructure in a more convenient way Licensing options for mergers and acquisitions are often found to be easier Mergers and acquisitions offer extensive networking advantages Brand value Bigger client base Wide array of products and services

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RELATED TERMS
1. Synchronous Digital Hierarchy:
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy are standardized multiplexing protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams over optical fibre using lasers or light emitting diode (LEDs). Lower rates can also be transferred via an electrical interface. The method was developed to replace the Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) system for transporting larger amounts of telephone calls and data traffic over the same fiber wire without synchronization problems. Synchronous Digital Hierarchy were designed to transport circuit mode communication from different sources. The primary difficulty in doing this was that the synchronization sources of these different circuits were different. This meant that each circuit was actually operating at a slightly different rate and with different phase. SONET/SDH allowed for the simultaneous transport of many different circuits of differing origin within one single framing protocol.

2. Optical fiber
Fiber optics is the field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of optical fibers. An optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent fiber that acts as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. Optical fibers are widely used in fibre optic communication , which permits transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than other forms of communication. Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with less loss and are also immune to electromagnetics interference. Fibers are also used for illumination, and are wrapped in bundles so they can be used to carry images, thus allowing viewing in tight spaces. Specially designed fibers are used for a variety of other applications, including sensors and fibre lasers.

3.GSM(Global System for Mobile Communications):

GSM originally from is the most popular standerd for mobile telephony systems in the world. GSM is used by over 1.5 billion peopleacross more than 212 countries and territories.[ Its ubiquity enables international roaming arrangements between mobile phone operators, providing subscribers the use of their phones in many parts of the world. GSM
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differs from its predecessor technologies in that both signaling and speech channels are digital, and thus GSM is considered a second generation (2G) mobile phone system.

4.CDMA :
CDMA ( Code Division Multiple Access): It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service. It utilizes the DS-CDMA channel access method and the FDD duplexing method to achieve higher speeds and support more users compared to most Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) schemes used today.

5..Internet Protocol (IP):

The Internet Protocol (IP) is a protocol used for communicating data across a packet switched internetwork using the Internet protocol suit, also referred to as TCP/IP. IP is the primary protocol in the Internet layer of the Internet Protocol Suit and has the task of delivering distinguished protocol datagrams (packets) from the source host to the destination host solely based on their addresses.

6. 3G :
3G or 3rd Generation, is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunications services fulfilling specifications by the International Telecommunication Union. Application services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, mobile Internet access, video calls and mobile TV, all in a mobile environment. Compared to the older 2G and 2.5G standards, a 3G system must allow simultaneous use of speech and data services, and provide peak data rates of at least 200 kbit/s..

7. 4G:
4G refers to the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to 3G and 2G families of standards. The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service, non-backwards compatible transmission technology and new frequency bands. . The first was the move from 1981 analog (1G) to digital (2G) transmission in 1992. This was followed, in 2002, by 3G multi-media support, spread spectrum transmission and at least 200 kbit/s, soon expected to be followed by 4G, which refers to all-IPpacket-switched networks.
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VIRGIN COMPANY HISTORY

Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital organization founded by business tycoon Richard Branson.The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding company; however Virgin's business and trading activities date to the 1970s. The net worth of Virgin Group Ltd as of September 2010 is 5.01 billion. It consists of more than 400 companies around the world. Virgin Group operates from its headquarters at The School House, 50 Brook Green in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Although Branson retains complete ownership and control of the Virgin Brand, the commercial set-up of companies using it is varied and complex. Each of the companies operating under the Virgin brand is a separate entity, with Branson completely owning some and holding minority or majority stakes in others. Occasionally, he simply licenses the brand to a company that has purchased a division from him, such as Virgin Mobile USA, Virgin Mobile Australia, Virgin Radio and Virgin Music. The brand name "Virgin" arose when Branson and a partner were starting their first business, a record shop. They considered themselves virgins in business. The current Virgin logo was originally sketched on a paper napkin and remains largely unchanged since 1979.

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ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

Mangement Commitee General Manager Vice General Manager Senior Manager Manager
Assistant Manager Senior Executive Executive

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SWOT ANALYSIS of VIRGIN MOBILES

The comprehensive SWOT profile of Virgin Mobile provides you an in-depth strategic analysis of the companys businesses and operations.

1. STRENGTHS
- Strong brand name. - Variety of exports possibilities. - Existence of a powerful technical basis and building firms. - Tradition in industry and an availability of highly skilled labour force. - Superior product performance vs. competitors. - Right product, quality and reliability. - High budget and enough money for business.

2. WEAKNESSES
- Too loose supervision. - Sluggish communication. - Pessimistic attitude toward changes. - No positive motivation for self-development. - Lack of Customer-base in India

3. OPPORTUNITIES
-Can establish themselves in a monopolistic or oligopolistic situation with the help of huge advertising budgets. - Could expand to overseas. - Could seek better supplier deals. - Opportunities for training and retraining. 4.THREATS - Competitors are potentially robust to increase market share.
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- The media sector as a whole is extremely fast moving; therefore, the main threat is that Virgin mobile may fail to keep pace, thus losing its customer base to another more innovative company.

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
As Virgin Mobile India is not a listed company and operates as an MVNO hence its fianacial data are kept cofidential and not available to us.

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7Ps of VIRGIN MOBILES

1. Products

GSM Prepaid
with the GSM services. vBytes

The current updates are at your doorsteps It includes access to social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, MySpace.

CDMA
Prepaid vBytes The current updates are at your doorsteps It includes access to social networking sites with the CDMA services. like Orkut, Facebook, MySpace. DATAMAX vLink It provides Plug to surf with 1GB memory. vFlash Get a vFlash high-speed on-the-go broadband internet connection. FREAK OUT Vbelong vBelong gives you a chance to create your Virgin Mobile Vturk Presents one of kinds

personal groups and mobile sites for your assignment tailor made for you. Get a college or community. Now you can glimpse into the world of marketing! Take a

showcase your talent, create forums & blogs, step towards achieving the big career dream upload images, events, and do a lot more. of yours!

2. Price Virgin Mobile has a brand franchise with Tata Teleservices which has around 11 per cent market share in the Indian telecom market. GSM Doston-ka-network 20p/min for STD and local calls to any Virgin Mobile
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free SMS to any Virgin Mobile number across

number

India 100 free SMS / day to any other local mobile without any pack.

SMS packs at Rs 33

2000 local and national SMSs free for 30 days

SMS packs at Rs. 69

500 local and national SMS free daily for 30 days. 40p/min for local and 50p/min for STD calls

Daily rental of just Rs 1.5

Rs99 recharge

40p/min for local and 50p/min for STD calls for 90 days.

CDMA
15p/min on calls to Virgin Mobile numbers, 30p/min on other local calls 50p/min on STD calls.

3. Place Visit Virgin Mobiles around the world.

y y

It currently operates across 14 circles like Mumbai, Maharashtra, UP, Punjab and Haryana.

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4. Promotion: y

The target customer is the youth between the age group of 16-26 yrs. (Business std 12 Sept 2012).

The commercial advertisements like Car for sale, cousin in town, Salsa with Sasha, etc. are very prompt in attracting attention.

The company is in talks to tie up with 50 top brands in the country across sectors like apparel, restaurants, electronics and even consumer goods.

The entire marketing exercise could cost between Rs 150-200 crore, sources say. However, this spend will not be made by Virgin alone and contribution to these co-branding initiatives will come from the brands it associates itself with. Sources say this initiative is designed to help both Virgin and the other brands involved, to get mutual mileage.

5. People People come first for real Virgin Mobile India is based on the idea that If you keep your staff happy then the customer will be happy, and if you keep them happy then the shareholders are happy. Designation Chairman CEO Dy. CEO GM (Operations) Chief Officer, Handsets and VAS Name Richard Branson M. A. Madhusudan Jamie Heywood Sanjay Singh Deval Parikh Sir Richard Branson

6.

Process
a) Starting up with Virgin Mobiles : For a new customer filling up the form for SUK(startup kit) and submitting the necessary documents.
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b) Veri ication : Documents are sent to veri ication centre. c) The customer is given a new number and services are resumed. The customer selects a plan from arange provided by Virgin mobiles. d) After sales services : Customer Care centres are active 24 hrs on 125555.

7. Physical evidence.
y y y No of offices cross I i : personnel cities,

Current employee strengt : greater t an

Virgin Mobile branded services is enjoyed by customers in over towns and villages across India

y y y

Virgin Mobile 74,600

M services is available across

towns,

( tarter ser it) outlets

94,000 RCV(Recharge Card Voucher) outlets in Mumbai, Maharashtra

Think

atke

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HR POLICIES
y

The Virgin Groups overall brand identity is built upon the founder Richard Bransons philosophy which states that if you keep your staff happy then the customer will be happy, and if you keep the customer happy then the shareholders are happy.

Employees are encouraged to use their intuition to make decisions rather than a rational proces thus empowering them and providing them with autonomy. This way, decisions can be made more quickly without going through the hierarchy.

Management holds high expectations and as such they expect a high level of commitment, the acceptance of personal responsibility, and long hours of work when needed.

The organization has established an internal communications community. The function of this community is to ensure that all Virgin employees become versed with the customary affairs of the company as a whole. Moreover, The Virgin Village is a Group intranet site where employees are able to access information about the company, job opportunities, contacts, and other prevalent information.

Virgin has continually retained a strong underlying belief that it is their employees who deliver brilliant customer service; give the company its personality, shape its culture, and innovate. They are viewed as Virgins greatest asset and as such, management believes that employees should be treated with respect.

Management looks after their employees welfare and allows them the freedom to flourish and be themselves. Virgin actively encourages personal expression, whether it is in their speech, creative and conceptual thinking, or dress code.

All employees are continually faced with high levels of autonomy to stimulate innovation and idea generation; this is especially apparent in the strong organizational culture that exists within Virgin today.

Additionally, communication is effective, as interaction between employees of all ranks is transparent and descending through a long chain of command is not required.

Financial rewards at Virgin for most employees are typically modest; however, the company continues to procure an abundance of non-monetary benefits, which include social activities, company-sponsored weekend getaways This work climate continually encourages positive
38

employee-employer relations, as well as effectively allowing Virgins employees to create social networks while embracing the culture.

Differentiation strategy
1. Targeting the youth
1. The Virgin Mobile Brand, targets Indian youth aged between 14 and 25 years.

2. Though youngSubscribers constitute only 30 percent of the total mobile subscribers, they contribute more than50 percent of the revenues of telecom industry. By 2010 this group is expected to contribute 60-70 percent of total revenues. 3. The distinct mobile phone usage habits of the young users provide a huge advantage to Virgin Mobile.
4. They make more and longer out-bound voice calls, which means huge billing

potential for service providers.

2. Get paid on incoming

1. The company has brought in a regime of getting paid for receiving calls, users will get a credit of 10 paise for every incoming call thats more than a minute long. 2. This was the first time that the operator provided returns on incoming such a service plan was never before witnessed by the market.

3. Taking hassle out of buying a cellphone

1. Try before you use. 2. Champ empowerment. 3. A real returns policy. 4. Welcome calls.

y Low charge for STD calls

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Virgin mobile provides very low call rate for STD (i.e. 50 paise/min) targeting youngsters residing in other states for education or job purpose.

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CSR ACTIVITIES
The key focus area of the Virgin Active, CSR program is Healthy Living. Within this:
y y y

The primary focus is on: Encouragement of Physical Activity The secondary focus is on: Exercise, Health and Wellness Education Virgin Active is committed to being a responsible and contributing corporate citizen. Virgin Actives strategy for community investment is designed to enhance the relationships between the clubs and the communities in which they operate and be an added platform to communicate the brand values and vision to key stakeholders.

Virgins CSR Vision

To engage people, inspire them and activate positive change in their lives by promoting health and well-being.

Virgins CSR Purpose:

The purpose of the CSR Policy is to:
y y

Outline the companys CSR strategy and therefore its involvement in community development and upliftment. Set out the processes and procedures by which the company will select, manage, and support its corporate social investment and donation activities.

Recent Donations by Virgin:

y y y y y y y y

Minnesota House in George Department of Correctional Services Free State & Northern Cape Hans Moore High School, Johannesburg Mosaiek Gym in Johannesburg Twilight Kids in Hillbrow Umsingisi Foundation East London. A donation of computers to Action in Autism in KZN. Donation of carpets to Children's Evangelical Fellowship in Potchefstroom.

Spinathons:
Throughout the year, Virgin supports various organizations with Spinathons to raise funds for their particular causes. Spinathons partnered with to date include:
y y y y y

Employability Spinathon, Hyde Park Beeld Kinderfonds Spinathon, Centurion Mall Steve Tswete high Spinathon, Pretoria Hospice Witwatersrand Spinathon, Nelson Mandela Square and Friends of Child Protection Spinathon in year 2009.

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Enterprise Development
Branson School of Entrepreneurship (BSoE)
y

Virgin Active is a proud supporter of the BSoE, which is an entrepreneurial school in Johannesburg, which develops small businesses through incubation and funding. The school, which is located in Johannesburg CBD, is an important vehicle for the creation of jobs and bringing young people into the economic stream.

Social Cause:
y y y y

Supporter to Tropical Forest Trust, which promotes best social practices in forest management to reduce deforestation. Launched Carbon outreach project which supports low carbon lifestyle. Supporter to an eco-homes project in UK, designed to help our customers become more energy efficient in the home. Provide around 1000 children with free broadband at home in partnership with the eLearning Foundation. Since then weve: Launched our project with the e-Learning Foundation. We provided over 400 children from 5 UK cities with free home access to broadband. In 2008 virgin took back 1,620,000 customer set top boxes and modems; they reused 871,000 of them, and recycled 509,000 of them. None of this Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) waste ended up in landfill. In addition, virgin also took back 7000 mobile phones, the value of which customers can choose to donate to charity with Virgin Media matching that amount. Generate up to 1m of support for the Foyer Federation. Since then virgin have worked closely with the Foyer Federation to give our skills, time and money, including through events like Building for Foyerday. With over 280,000 cash raised, virgin have made a big step towards meeting target. Virgin hosts a event called silver surfer day, where in employees invite senior citizens to come and experience the digital world. Virgin have delivered digital support packages to 17 sheltered housing schemes.71% of participants feedback that they would continue using internet.

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AWARDS AND SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

y y y

Virgin Mobile bagged the Most Innovative Mobile Services award at the Annual Infocom National Telecom Awards in 2009. In the SAARC Countries Mobile User Survey 2008, Virgin Mobile India has been ranked as No. 1 in Customer Satisfaction. On the overall satisfaction parameters Virgin Mobile scored over 95%. Taking the Goa Fest 2009 by storm, Virgin Mobile India bagged 7 Abby awards at Indias most prestigious National Advertising Awards Festival. This included 4 silver and 3 bronze Abbys for innovative and distinctive campaigns across Print, Radio, Outdoor and Event. In the recently held Emvies Awards 2009, Virgin Mobile has won silver and bronze for the Best Media Strategy (Services) and Best Media Innovations (Events) categories respectively. This year, Virgin Mobile India bagged Bronze Effies and earlier it bagged the Silver Effies for its creative ideas and market effectiveness of its clutter-breaking campaigns. It has also been rated 15th in the Buzziest Brands of the year Poll 2009 conducted by afaqs.com and 27th most trusted brand by ET.

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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN TELECOM SECTOR

The telecom sector is a still emerging industry in India and hence it is recruiting inexperienced as well as experienced people on a monthly basis. There is the government run BSNL plus other private players such as Virgin, Aircel, Airtel and The Tata Group. There are plenty of jobs in this sector in the field of engineering and management. There are jobs for the experienced as well as people who are just starting out in their career. Once you get a job in this sector there are several ongoing career opportunities that you can avail of. At the same time the industry demands the very best of technical and management skills and expertise. Every functional level requires people at the grass root levels and the managerial levels. It is imperative that you keep in sync with the latest in the field of telecom industry if you want to sustain your career in this field. Nowadays almost every sector and industry uses telecom technology be it aviation, ports, health, public utilities or the government. Therefore, imagine the reach of telecom professionals. This industry is highly competitive and requires its employees to have a vast knowledge base and to be able to update and restore the knowledge periodically. Nowadays almost every sector and industry uses telecom technology be it aviation, ports, health, public utilities or the government. Therefore, imagine the reach of telecom professionals. This industry is highly competitive and requires its employees to have a vast knowledge base and to be able to update and restore the knowledge periodically.

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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Virgin require self motivated and result oriented individuals who are ready to take up new challenges and can work as a team : 1. Rural Territory Manager Prepaid Sales 2. Deployment and Integration Executive 3. Territory Sales Manager Prepaid Sales 4. Customer Call Representative 5. Business development/Staffing Sales Manager 6. B2B Voice U and R Executive 7. Network Operation Professionals Wire line 8. Assistant Manager - Revenue Reporting (Mobility) 9. Manager - Talent Acquisition and Manpower Planning

PROCESS OF RECRUITMENT
1. Identify vacancy 2. Prepare job description and person specification 3. Advertising the vacancy 4. Managing the response 5. Short-listing 6. Arrange interviews 7. Conducting interview and decision making
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QUESTIONNAIRE
y y y

Brief us about your call rates in CDMA and GSM? Which are the states where you are offering GSM services? What share are you looking at in the GSM market? What is your current share in the CDMA market?

What share are you looking at in the GSM market? What is your current share in the CDMA market?

y y

What makes you different from other players? Now that almost every operator is offering the per second pulse, how do you see the telecom market, going forward?

Do you plan to offer any schemes on VAS and your data card? What is the size of the VAS and data card business?

Volume picking up at a lower tariff was a given earlier. With the changing landscape, do you expect volumes to compensate for the fall in tariffs?

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SUGGESTIONS
y

Virgin mobile is relatively new in Indian telecom sector so company should focus on positioning of their brand image.

y y

Company should market their products more vigorously. Company should try to increase consumer base through provision of good services in rural and in urban areas.

y y y y

Company should focus on other segments of society other than youngsters. Company should increase the number of outlets/galleries. Company should focus on on-field marketing. Virgin mobiles lacks that ability to attract customers even after having attractive call schemes and other services.

Virgin mobile should accept the fact that change is permanent and hence should come out of the policy of virtual network (MVNO).

Company should use their employees effectively (for expansion) rather than cutting jobs.

Dependence on TTSL for a long term will hinder the profit margins for the organisation.

Virgin Mobiles needs to do more market research about the ground realities. (Virgin Mobile recently has reduced nearly 150 employees i.e. from 750 to 600)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

y y y y y y

Busin ss St nd d 12 Sept 2012. www.virginmobile.in www.iimahd.ernet.in/ctps/telecomsector.htm http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/08/24/telecom-sector-trends/ http://telecomtalk.info/indian-telecom-sector-to-be-most-vibrant-in-2010/16167/ http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/02/02/telecom-tuesday-3g-delay-subscribergrowth-industry-consolidation/

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