From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Sep 19: More than attractive schemes, mobile subscribers prefer good network coverage from their mobile service providers as per the findings of a survey conducted by Opsbuds, a Bangalore-based provider of Customer Experience Management and Market Research solutions.
The survey was conducted across the 4 major telecom circles and the 4 metros in India using the simple random sampling method over a statistically representative sample size of 2,408 mobile users with the objective of enabling the service providers in developing and implementing the market strategies in the current market scenario.
The four metros covered under the survey conducted by Opsbuds are: Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata and the circles A - Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, rest of Tamil Nadu, rest of Maharashtra, Goa; B - Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Haryana, rest of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh-West, Uttar Pradesh-East, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and C - Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh.
Opsbuds found that bundle offers such as packaging handsets with free connection and widespread retail outlets were not a deciding factor for selecting a service provider by mobile phone users, who were more keen on good coverage as the singular top consideration across the circles.
As many as 80 per cent of the respondents termed good network coverage as the top of mind reason for preferring a service provider, while about 37 per cent respondents felt brand image was another key factor. But barely 23 per cent indicated innovative tariff plans as the reason for their choice of a service provider.
The fact that, good coverage is the major reason across age, gender and circles will be a wakeup call for most of the service providers, who were under the impression that brand and good tariff plans alone will make them sail through the customers mind share.
Also, an interesting finding was that IDEA/RCOM were among the top three performers in terms of brand image ahead of Tata, MTS and Uninor.