Internet Marketing Indian Telecom Sector
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Internet Marketing: Indian Telecom Sector
Coauthor Author
Ghazali A. Akhtar Maksuddur Rahman
Business Development Officer A0101911218
Tata Advinus D-50
#21&22, Phase 2, Peenya Indutrial Area, 09711796967
Peenya, Bangalore-58 [email protected]
09740399551
[email protected]
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A research is being conducted on INTERNET MARKETING in Indian Telecom Sector. The aim of this research is to carry out an in-depth analysis of the online market for mobile phone services in India. This involves application of the Internet marketing framework to two major competitors for the assessment of the contribution of Internet Marketing towards the organizations Business effectiveness, Marketing effectiveness and Internet effectiveness. Following this a competitor analysis will be done to monitor the use of e-commerce in order to acquire and retain customers. The significance of Internet Marketing in context of the overall marketing strategy of the companies will also be assessed to understand the importance of the Internet as a marketing channel. The research will also include a global comparison of the Indian scenario with that of the UK and USA telecom sector.
This research requires the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data which will be a combination of secondary data and independent research.
The Deliverables of this research will be a report covering the analysis of the growth and development of the online market, general market trends, a profile of each companys performance and Internet Marketing Strategy and a forecast of the future likely developments including new technology innovations.
INTRODUCTION
The Indian Telecom Sector is the fastest growing Telecommunications market in the world and hence the centre of everyones attraction today. Supporting 621.28 Million subscribers, it is the third largest in the world and second largest in terms of wireless connections. This sector has undergone major transformations through significant reforms, initiated by the Government of India, which started in the 1980s. Today the sector boasts an exceptional growth rate with about 15 million new subscribers added to the telecom subscriber base every month. The mobile phone market in India is dominated by certain key players. The tremendous growth in this sector can be attributed to the efforts of The Department of Telecommunications of India, which is striving hard to provide world-class infrastructure, at globally competitive tariffs. Major reforms have been taken to increase the teledensity by extending the connectivity to the unconnected rural India and hence their efforts to reduce the digital divide have made India the most attractive telecom market in terms of foreign investments. In addition to this, the Information Technology advancements and innovations in India have landed it among the top 10 Internet using nations of the world with 52 million “active” internet users. As such this scenario provides a huge opportunity for the Telecom companies in India to escalate their online presence and exploit the potential of the unconventional INTERNET MARKETING strategies to their advantage.
The Internet is believed to be the most transforming invention in the human history and rightly so. Internet today has changed everything- our style work, the way we learn, way of playing, the way we communicate and most significantly the way we do business. The factor that has enabled this is the ease of accessibility of the internet anywhere any time. With most of the mobile companies now providing mobile internet, anything in the world is now just a click away. Moreover with about 27% of the worlds population online, we can only begin to imagine the huge potential Internet has to offer for the businesses to market their products and services. The cut-throat competition clubbed with the dynamic market conditions has made Internet Marketing a business imperative because the Internet is an indefeasible trend. Under the existing circumstances a business that follows only the traditional and conventional marketing methods is bound to lose valuable customers without an online presence. People normally search for products and services with their computers and if a business is not on the web the usual perception is that it cannot be trusted and they are more likely to choose another company to do business with.
BACKGROUND ASSESSMENT
Before venturing into the Internet marketing strategies of the telecom companies an understanding of the Indian Telecom Sector and its market structure together with the regulatory framework surrounding it is important. To understand the market structure a research was done into the academic and literature and various topics were explored.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Indian telecommunication sector has undergone a major process of transformation. The Govt. has brought about significant policy reforms. As indicated on the official website of The Department of Telecom, this revolution in the field of telecom began with the announcement of NTP 1994 (National Telecom Policy) which was further emphasized and carried forward under NTP 1999 (New Telecom Policy). There were three main occupants of the fixed service sector before the reforms started in 1994. They were, DoT (Department of Telecom), MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited) and VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited). MTNL specifically operated in two metros Delhi and Mumbai, VSNL provided international telephony and DoT had an all India presence except Delhi and Mumbai. DoT