Marketing analysis of Ufone

                   Executive Summery

Ufone is the second largest cellular network in Pakistan. The head office of the Ufone is located in 13-B, F-7 Markaz Islamabad, Pakistan. Every Organizational whether its multinational, private business or Govt. Offices depend on its people. Telecom industry is growing in Pakistan with new companies is getting license the competition is though as a result is the consumer is getting benefits and enjoy low call rates. With a population of 15 million countries Ufone is one of the best telecommunication networks that generate revenue. Ufone Company commenced its operations under the brand name of Ufone from Islamabad on January 29 2001. Ufone Provide two kinds of Services that is Ufone Prepay and Post pay. In postpaid they provide a lot of packages such as Uwon, Ushare. Public Demand etc. in post paid they provide a Black berry, payment choice, value added service etc.

Ufone has always played a vital role in the development of cellular market in Pakistan. It has been a step ahead in introducing a innovative product in the market. Ufone adopted the policy of simplified tariffs with no hidden charges. Ufone targeted the middle class, by introducing low rates. Ufone has network coverage in more than 5885 locations and across all major highways of the country. Mobilink has 910,000 subscribers and Ufone has 565,000 subscribers. According to the latest marker survey there is 70.64% annual growth in this sector. So when Ufone will change their technology the market is open for them because their prices are low and they are catering to middle and lower middle class which has quite big ratio in Pakistan.

Further more I m going to research on Ufone, the research situation is the consumer satisfaction is going to increase due to its Price, Quality and Coverage. Consumer satisfaction is dependent variable and Price, Quality and Coverage are independent variables. I am using the Primary and Secondary data for research on Ufone.

Title of Research Project & Objectives.

The Customer satisfaction of Ufone is going to increase due to its Price, Quality and Coverage.

• To identify the present Market Scenario of Ufone. 
• To examine the prospects of Ufone in the overall Pakistan Market.
• To know the scenario of its improvement and image.
• To recommend some corrective measures, suggestions and recommendations to resolve the problems.
• To conduct the comparative study between Ufone and other prominent Players in the market.
• Analysis of customer satisfaction and to find out the reason behind customer buying behavior while purchasing Ufone

INTRODUCTION

The company commenced its operations under the brand name of Ufone from Islamabad on January 29 2001. Ufone expanded its coverage and has added new cities and highways to its coverage network. After the privatization of PTCL, Ufone is now owned by Etisalat.

               During the year, as a consequence of PTCL’s privatization, 26% of its shares were acquired by Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat). Being part of PTCL, the management of Ufone has also been handed over to Etisalat. During the years, Ufone continued on the path to success. The Company further expanded its coverage and has added new cities and highways. Ufone has network coverage in more than 5885 locations and across all major highways of the country.

During the year Ufone adopted the policy of simplified tariffs with no hidden charges, which resulted in positive impacts on the usage trends of subscribers as well as total subscriber base, which has increased to 19.4 million. Ufone currently caters for International Roaming to more than 230 live operators in more than 130 countries and introduced International roaming facility for Prepaid subscribers in Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Portugal, Thailand, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Belgium and Kuwait with lowest rates, featuring no security deposit and activation charges. GPRS Roaming facility is available with more than 115 Live Operators across 85 countries. The Company has also been awarded a new License for providing cellular services in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Northern Areas.

HISTORY of Industry:

In 1990, Pakistan introduced its first mobile phone service called “Paktel”. After eleven years in January 2001, a new cellular company with GSM technology came into the market and they named it Ufone. The government of Pakistan granted them the license of Pak Telecom mobile limited to operate GSM 9000 all

Around Pakistan. Ufone succeeded to establish itself in the market by providing quality service at low rates. After it’s opening, initially they started their service in major cities like Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore and on major highways. Later the service expanded to other major cities like Peshawar, Quetta and different towns.

Ufone invested around $ 65 million to setup its modern technical infrastructure to provide high quality crystal clear voice and fast data transmission. Ufone targeted the middle class, by introducing low rates and different packages with Urdu names like Jazba etc to attracted lower and middle class people. Ufone has expanded its customer support in a very organized manner with a planned network of dealers, outlets for people convenient. Ufone is committed to care for its customers even after they have acquired a new connection. Ufone not only focused on the technical capabilities, but to provide subscribers a convenient to get connections and services. Ufone recently started GPRS through which users can connect themselves to the global village via Internet, also introduced multimedia messaging services and worldwide SMS at flat rates. Not only SMS but also provides Ufone Info service through which user can get latest information about news, sports, religion, horoscope, stock exchange etc even live sports updates.

The tariff packages have been designed keeping in mind the requirements of every segment of the society may that be a housewife, a taxi driver, a trader or a student. Ufone started its operation from Islamabad on 29th January 2001. Cellular industry performance in Pakistan before the launch of Ufone was quite dismal, with one of the lowest population penetration rates in the

Whole region. Ufone’s strategy from the day one was to change this scenario and ensure that mobile phones are turned into an everyday business and personal communication tools for all. This approach brought about a revolution in the market; increasing its size five fold in a mere two years.

Ufone’s own performance in these two years has been exemplary, as it surpassed all financial and marketing goals. Despite Ufone’s strategy to provide a high standard of service rather than increasing subscriber base without capacity, it has achieved a substantial market share in a market ten years older than itself.

MISSION:

"Ufone, it's all about U! We are, where you want to be…
At Ufone we aim to provide you with wider coverage, superior connectivity, clear signals & voice quality. Wherever you are, Ufone keeps you connected."

Vision:

“To be the leading telecommunication service provider in Pakistan by offering innovate communication solutions for our customers while exceeding shareholder value & employee expectation.

COMPANY PROFILE:

An organization’s culture usually reflects the vision or mission of the organization’s founder. Because the founder has the original idea, Ufone also have biases on how to carry out the idea. Ufone is one of the main players of the telecom industry. Since its launching, it has gathered a large number of customers. 

Ufone was established to operate cellular telephony. The company commenced its operations, under the brand name of Ufone, from Islamabad on January 29, 2001.

During the year 2006, as a consequence of PTCL’s privatization, 26% of its shares were acquired by Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat). Being part of PTCL, the management of Ufone has also been handed over to Etisalat. During the year July 2005 to June 2006, Ufone continued on the path to success. The Company further expanded its coverage and has added new cities and highways. Ufone has network coverage in more than 750 cities, towns and across all major highways of the country.

During the year Ufone successfully completed the network expansion of Phase IV in existing as well as in new cities and towns which amounted to more than US Dollar 170 million. As a result the asset base of the Company has increased from Rs. 20 billion to Rs. 27 billion.

During the year Ufone adopted the policy of simplified tariffs with no hidden charges, which resulted in positive impacts on the usage trends of subscribers as well as total subscriber base, which has increased from 2,579 k in June 2005 to 7,487 k in June 2006. Ufone currently caters for International Roaming to more than 230 live operators across 130 countries and introduced International roaming facility for prepaid subscribers in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates with lowest rates, featuring no security deposit and activation charges.

The company has also been awarded a new License for providing cellular services inAzad Jammu & Kashmir and Northern Areas.

                                    

Brand:

While keeping its tradition of being the trend setter in the industry, Ufone changed the image of mobile phones from a luxury only affordable by the elite, to a necessity affordable by the common man. Since its inception, Ufone has positioned its brand for masses. In keeping with the upcoming competition and market dynamics, Ufone increased its focus on the youth segment (which comprises 50% of the population), with the Prepay brand. By designing market focused products, Ufone’s brand team launched aggressive campaigns, which further increased the brand equity. The new brand image gained huge popularity amongst the targeted market. A recent marketing survey conducted by a prominent marketing research company showed that Ufone has considerably increased its brand visibility and image. Ufone’s Prepay brand is now considered to be one of the most favored brands by the youth market and is followed by other mobile operators launching their respective brands for the youth market.

Performance:

As mobile users in the country have reached over 28 million at a very rapid pace, Ufone has maintained itself as the 2nd largest cellular operator in Pakistan with a subscriber base of around 6.5 million and a market share of nearly 25%. Ufone has seen a subscriber growth rate of over 200% in the last year, and since the start of 2005 Ufone added nearly 5 million subscribers onto its network. A remarkable achievement indeed, especially considering the fact that two new international players also entered into the market in 2005. Subsequently the growth in subscriber base caused a healthy trend in revenues which have doubled.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Ufone is providing two kinds of services to satisfy its customer’s needs as efficiently as possible. These are: 

Ø     PREPAY.

Ø     POSTPAY.

PREPAY:

Ufone welcomes everyone to its prepay community where everyone can be their self, live life to the fullest and talk up a storm with the most amazing calling and SMS rates.

At Ufone, they know people have a constant need to stay in touch with friends and family which is why Prepay scratch cards are available in three denominations to suit the budget; so a person can charge phone without making it hard on the pocket.

To say nothing of the entire mind boggling value added services it offers; they say a picture is worth a thousand words wouldn’t a person rather send an MMS when you have so much to say? There’s Voice mail for when you are unable to attend your calls, of course one needs to keep in touch with friends all the time and calling isn’t always convenient, that’s where SMS’s come in; so you can put your thumbs to good use. What’s more you can download all sorts of cool picture messages, wallpapers, ring tones, logos and what not from the Ufone website onto your cell phone.

Ufone Prepay is everyone’s brand, hip and always with us, vibrant, innovative and unique, with an identity that’s entirely its own.

A) Recharge Options:

Recharge your Prepay anywhere, any time you want with ease & convenience. UfonePrepay offers you just that. Now recharge your account with our Scratch Cards, Electronic Vouchers, ATM or SMS.

Scratch Cards

Now recharging your Prepay account is easier and simpler then before with the most pocket friendly & affordable scratch card denominations.

U-TOP UP:

            Ufone has launched a recent offer for its pre-paid customers. It is just like easy-load like its others competitors. You can load from as low as Rs. 10 to own wards, whatever amount you want.

B) SMS Bundle Offer:

Prepay offers unbeatable SMS Offer.

Ufone introduces an unbeatable SMS bundle offer which provides lowest SMS rates to any network in Pakistan.

C) U-Circle:

Prepay provides an easy way to call Friends & Family

Ufone makes it easy for all prepay users to call friends & family with U Circle. Now one can talk more for less with the most economical rates to call Ufone Circle.

U-Circle (FNF)

Numbers Allowed	Call Charges
4 Ufone	45 paisas*
1 PTCL	45 paisas*

D) International Calling:

Now make international calls with your Prepay at lowest ever call rates

Ufone prepay offers the most affordable international call rates, letting users stay connected with their loved ones even when they are out of the country.

E) Products and Features:

With a wide range of products and features, Ufone Prepay connection is a complete communication solution that offers:

Ø      SMS.

Ø      GPRS.

Ø      MMS.

Ø      Call Features.

Ø      International Roaming

Ø      Variety of amazing Mobile Products.

POSTPAY:

Endless possibilities of Ufone Postpay, a connection that connects with determination to conquer all odds.

Ufone Postpay is a brand that keeps up with customers, understanding their drive for victory in the business arena and sense of belonging in the personal life. On the road to success, Ufone Postpay is a brand for those who expect more from life, from themselves and from their phones.

A) Tariff:

Ufone Postpay calling tariff

Ufone Postpay provides users with matchless call plans to suit their lifestyle and connectivity drive. Ufone Postpay for business or leisure & stay connected all the time.

Following is our tariff offering,

Postpay ZLR	Postpay Ease	Postpay Value	Postpay Extra
Monthly Line Rent (Rs.)	0	199	399	999
Outgoing Call Charges (per 30 seconds)
Ufone to Ufone	0.90	0.60	0.50	0.40
Ufone to Other Mobile Operators	1.15	1.10	1.10	0.90
Ufone to PTCL & WLL Network (Rs.)	1.00	0.80	0.70	0.60
SMS Charges
Ufone to Ufone (Rs.)	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Ufone to Other Mobile Operators (Rs.)	1	1	1	1
Free
Free Minutes	0	200	400	1000
Free SMS	0	25	50	100
Security Deposit
Local & Nationwide (Rs.)	750	1,000	1,500	2,500
International Dialing (Rs.)	2,500	2,500	3,000	5,000
International Roaming (Rs.)	15,000	15,000	15,000	15,000

International Calling Tariff

Making distances smaller

Now distances have no meaning. Ufone Postpay believes distances matter little where emotions and relationships are concerned.

When one needs to get in touch with a loved one or a business contact no matter where they are, users can count on Ufone Postpay to get them through, and at competitive rates.

Payment Modes

ü      Cash or Credit Card

ü      Pay Via SMS

ü      Direct Debit

ü      Using MCB ATM

Mobile Products

It’s all about U!

Experience complete convenience with,

ü      Virtual Private Network

ü      Call Management

ü      Missed Call Notification

ü      Phonebook Saver

ü      Host of Infotainment and Entertainment services on cell phone.

Coverage

Ufone aims to provide users with wider coverage, superior connectivity, clear signals & voice quality

Covering over 750 key destinations, Ufone is the ultimate means to stay connected wherever your business takes you allowing seamless roaming through the network providing the best nationwide coverage.

It is divided into four regions, which are given below.

North

South

Central-1

Central-2

Corporate Services

Ufone provide users with high-end corporate solutions for their convenience.  Whether one’s on a business trip or in a meeting, in the country or abroad, business needs are satisfied by Ufone corporate solutions. It offers the following features and more.

ü      VPN – Personal Network

ü      GPRS

ü      MMS

ü      International Roaming

ü      Mobile Office

ü      Call Management

ü      Private Numbering Plan

PROMOTION:

For the promotion of product, print media, electronic media, billboards, broachers and leaflets has been utilized for the awareness of various customers.  Ufone promotes its services schemes to their users and general public via using various types of promotion channels. Through the advertisements people get awareness about the product and are able to choose the best one for fulfill their requirement in Mobile Telecommunication.

Electronic media and billboards are the key sources for the promotion of Ufone. Different kind of advertisement can be seen on Television and billboards. Ufone is also a co-sponsor of Cricket World Cup 2007 and T20 Cricket World Cup 2007 and in 2009.

Advertising campaign is special and impressive than other cellular companies, like concept, models, colors scheme and visualizing. The advertisement of post pay has been very much attractive for the business class customers with the slogan of endless

Major Area Focused

Ufone is providing the best quality networking in the Pakistan with its price, quality packages and coverage.

I am conducting the research on Ufone the customer’s satisfaction is increase due to its price, quality and coverage.

Customer satisfaction is Dependent variable

Price, Quality and Coverage are independent variables.

SWOT Analysis of Ufone

Every Organization has some Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and Weakness are the Internal Factors and Opportunities and threats are External Factors.

STRENGTHS:

• They have the latest technology as compared to any other mobile company
• As government is backing them they can get as many fund as required by them to introduce the new technology
• Good quality service
• Pakistan's second GSM network
• Established customer base including lower middle class
• Less  rate than competitors
• Only company present in all four provinces
• Highly motivated and trained work force
• Offering products like mobile office, mobile Internet and MM

WEAKNESSES:

• Less coverage in remote areas
• Not targeting the rural areas at the moment
• No proper planning to cater the excessive demand

OPPORTUNITIES:

• They can start their services in other cities of Pakistan
• As they are the subsidiary of Pakistan telecommunication limited, they can acquire as much fund needed to improve their technology
• They can also target corporate sector
• New Technology

THREATS:

• Legal environment, government interference
• PTCL has been given license for cellular operation
• Mobilink is also going to introduce some new technology and committed to invest more in Pakistan
• Paktel, Mobilink and Telenor phone have more coverage in different cities of Pakistan then Ufone
• High taxes are imposed on the cellular industry in Pakistan
• Paktel also now has the GSM technology that is another threat for Ufone

PEST Analysis of Ufone:

 In PEST P stands for Political, E stands for economical, S stands for social and T stands for technological analysis of industry with respect to their environment. The organization's advertising surroundings is made up from:

1.The organization inner environment e.g. staff (or internal customers), office, technology, wages and finance, etc. 2.The organization external-environment e.g. our external customers, agents and distributors, suppliers, our competitors, etc. 3.The country forces affecting the environment e.g. Political forces, Economic forces, Socio-cultural forces, and Technological forces. These are known as PEST factors.

Political:

Political environment of Pakistan is stable in the current situation and country is not progressing in terms of economic growth that was expected.

·        Environment is investor non-friendly & telecommunication sector is under regulation.

·        Before WTO implementation government already took steps in regulation of telecommunication sector.

Economic Factors:

·        Marketers should consider long term and short term state of a trading market

·        Inflation is being controlled by state bank and under strict eyes but unemployment rate is going up & up with the increase of level of poverty

·        Economic instability is worsening day by day as liquidity crunch is prevailing in the world

 

Socio-Cultural:

·        As Pakistan is an Islamic country and people are very strict in case of Islam any thing against the philosophy of Islam on either print or electronic media are treated as against Pakistan.

·        Most of the people dislike anything extra-ordinary or something which sabotage their culture or subculture.

·        Companies who are targeting upper-end of market mostly published and aired their advertisement in English language.

·        In metropolitan cities women are doing work along with their other responsibilities but other than metropolitan cities it is difficult for women to convince their parents and spouses for works

Technological Factors:

·        Companies have technology with which they can compete in the Pakistan and now companies are investing in their infrastructure to not only expand but also to upgrade their existing structure.

·        Currently all companies except Zong & Instaphone are providing Multi-media Messaging Services (MMS), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Virtual Private Network (VPN), Pocket Stocks, Conference Calling, Wallpapers Animated pictures Polyphonic ring tones (WAP), and Voice Mail at low price and Ufone is proving an addition feature that one can see TV channels on their cell.

·        Ufone shifted its whole network from 900 MHz to 1800 MHz offer Value-Added Services like General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Multi-media Messaging Services (MMS) and Virtual Private Network (VPN) etc

Research Methodology

We adopt the following method to collect the data

• Primary Data
• Secondary Data
• Internet
• Newspaper
• Broachers
• TV Commercials
• Questionnaire

Level of priority

• Customer Satisfaction
• Price
• Quality
• Coverage

Research Questionnaire

I want to conduct the research on Ufone.  The consumer’s satisfaction of Ufone is going to increase due to Price, Coverage and Quality.

Profile of Respondent

Total respondent were 50
Profile	Number
Student	30
Professional	10
others	10

Question # 1

Total respondent 50
Respond	No of Respondent
Strongly Agree	15
Agree	18
Somewhat Agree	7
Disagree	7
Strongly Disagree	3

Question # 2

Total respondent 50
Respond	No of Respondent
Strongly Agree	15
Agree	18
Somewhat Agree	7
Disagree	7
Strongly Disagree	3

Question # 3

Total respondent 50
Respond	No of Respondent
Strongly Agree	9
Agree	28
Somewhat Agree	3
Disagree	6
Strongly Disagree	4

Question # 4

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	12
Agree	20
Somewhat Agree	6
Disagree	6
Strongly Disagree	6

Question # 5

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	11
Agree	22
Somewhat Agree	8
Disagree	5
Strongly Disagree	4

Question # 6

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	8
Agree	30
Somewhat Agree	4
Disagree	5
Strongly Disagree	3

Question # 7

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	7
Agree	23
Somewhat Agree	8
Disagree	7
Strongly Disagree	5

Question # 8

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	5
Agree	32
Somewhat Agree	4
Disagree	4
Strongly Disagree	5

Question # 9

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	10
Agree	24
Somewhat Agree	6
Disagree	7
Strongly Disagree	3

Question # 10

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	13
Agree	27
Somewhat Agree	3
Disagree	4
Strongly Disagree	3

Question # 11

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	7
Agree	30
Somewhat Agree	4
Disagree	6
Strongly Disagree	3

Question # 12

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	9
Agree	20
Somewhat Agree	12
Disagree	5
Strongly Disagree	4

Question # 13

Total respondent 50
Respond	Respond
Strongly Agree	7
Agree	33
Somewhat Agree	3
Disagree	4
Strongly Disagree	3

HYPOTHESIS

Regression Analysis

Hypothesis;

                         Ho: Price, Quality and Coverage cannot cause to increase customer satisfaction.

                         H1: Price, Quality and Coverage can cause to increase customer satisfaction.

       Variables Entered/Removed

Model	Variables Entered	Variables Removed	Method
1	Price, Quality, Coverage	.	Enter

a  All requested variables entered.

b Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction

Coefficient of determination.(R-Square):

                                                                Coefficient of determination of this regression analysis is70.35% which shows that market share is 70.35% depending upon the price, quality and coverage of Ufone. It means that 29.65% other variables which are contributing in relation to market share of Ufone.

Adjusted R Square:

                                 Adjusted R Square is that coefficient of determination which is we can say that, error free result. When we deduct the standard error from coefficient of determination then we get adjusted R Square. In this analysis adjusted R Square is71.1%.

Standard Error:

                          Standard error is the difference between the coefficient of determination and adjusted R Square.

                                           Model Summary

Model	R	R Square	Adjusted R Square	Std. Error of the Estimate
1	.807(a)	.7035	.711	.939

a Predictors: (Constant) Price, Quality and Coverage

 

Interpretation of ANOVA Table:

                                                     Since f calculated value is greater than f table value therefore Ho is rejected. It means customer satisfaction depends upon the price, quality and coverage. F table value is 2.23 which is smaller than f calculated value.

                                                                            ANOVA (b)

 

Model		Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
1	Regression	3.119	3	1.040	1.179	.328(a)
	Residual	40.561	46	.882
	Total	43.680	49

a Predictors: (Constant), Price, Quality and Coverage.

b Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction

Research Outcomes

• According to my research most of the people are Ufone users.
• People showed satisfied behavior towards Ufone network coverage.
• People were of the view Ufone brand is charging high rates and now a days it is charging low rates.
• They are offering messaging packages as well as call packages comparatively better then other networks.
• The advertisement of Ufone attracts the users comparatively more.
• Most of the people viewed that CRM of Ufone is not as effective as other network.  
• They introduce innovative services like call block covers etc.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• Learn to listen to your customer first. Really listen to them ask what you can do help them. This is most important step in preventing problems and the only way you can solve complaints if they come up.
• Look at all complaints about your services as an opportunity to improve. Aim to resolve any complaint quickly and efficiently.
• Establish an environment where great service is recognized and rewarded and poor services is challenged and rectified.
• Have a fun staff melting where good service elements are discussed and role played.
• Lead by example show respect for every person at every level in your company.
• Do things regularly to improve the workplace

                     Happy Staff--------------Happy Customers

• Be sure your employees are aware of your expectations clean services guidelines and knowledge of the company’s mission necessary.
• Should encourage new products like Ufone PCO, Broad Band Services.
• It is necessary that the management must continuously develop technical and managerial skills at all levels and stay abreast of latest technological development in the industry.